Three of ten. Three left to carry on the dream, pushing on each step after the other. They gathered in Escher's office overlooking the legislative sector's main courtyard, children accompanied by adult chaperones passing by the door every so often. After finalizing some documentation, Hannah turned her full attention to the two other women in her office.

"The developments in Pianosa are moving along well," she said, sitting back in her chair, "We might even get the school year back on track after that incident last month." She eyed Maria with that last comment, a slight tone of irritability in her voice.

Sabrina stepped forward, a small folder in her one hand, motioning the other out and eyeing both of them.
"Please, end it. What's been done is done, Hannah. None of this has been easy for anyone, especially us."

"Maybe, bu-"

"Nein," Sabrina retorted. She was notably difficult to anger, and while this wasn't quite that, it certainly wasn't her typical calm demeanor speaking. "It will end. We've kept this together for the last three years, and neither I nor the people who depend on us will allow it to be torn apart by this petty bickering."
She looked to Maria, who remained quiet, arms crossed as she returned the glare.
"Contain the soldiery. This is not me ordering, this is me asking."

Maria gave a short nod.
"I'll keep them in line, as I always have."

Hannah let out a deep sigh, sitting up and propping over her desk.
"Whatever," she said, eyeing the folder in Iltzmann's hands, "Did the collections team finally deliver the referendum results?"
Sabrina nodded, walking over and setting the folder down on the desk, opening it and sliding out the results sheet. Paper may have been archaic, but it afforded the island's populace the security a poll over the neural net wouldn't have provided.
At least, that was the belief.

Hannah turned the sheet her way, reading it over. As she did, Maria stepped over, arms still crossed, gleaning what she could from her inverted perspective of the sheet.
"Bringing the vote to the people directly was a foregone conclusion. We all knew what they'd choose, but we can't possibly know if they're ready."

"As if keeping them barricaded behind guns and curfews would prepare them any better. I told you, both of you, that it had to end. Martial law served its purpose, and the people are ready to get back to their lives."
Sabrina turned the sheet her direction, reading it over.
"We've spent more than four years subjecting our own people to every indignity we swore to abolish save for slapping them in irons."

"For their own safety," Maria retorted, "We lost the majority of our leadership and hundreds of our people in such a short period of time, we needed the stability, even if it meant stepping on freedoms."
She placed her palms down on Escher's desk.
"None of it was pretty. You need to quit pretending that we thought it was."

Sabrina slapped the desk.
"Enough," she called out, the two eyeing her. "It's done. We put it to the people, and they spoke. We're duty-bound to honor it. Hannah, please prepare the settlements for the redeployment of troops. Maria, please begin consolidating the soldiery aboard the Capitol. Once we've formally ended martial law, you can begin downsizing."
The two nodded, one after the other. Sabrina slid the sheet back inside the folder, picking it up.
"The two of you are going to need to learn to get along. All this back and forth isn't helping anyone, and persisting despite that is idiotic."

Maria stood up, eyeing Sabrina, then Hannah.
"Fine," she said following a rather lengthy pause.

"Yes, very well. As long as she doesn't make this transition any more difficult than it has to be, I won't have any reason to perpetuate my disdain."
Hannah began eyeing her terminal as Iltzmann began to walk to the door.

"Maria, if you would, I need to talk with you about something unrelated."
Sabrina opened the door, with Maria soon joining her as they left, Hannah began typing away, subject line 'To all Department Personnel'.

Located only a mere klick from Minato's mooring terminal sat a small 'Regent'-class liner, marked with the old grey sigils of its home. Fuenlabrada, a temporary stand-in for the Republic's capitol vessel, was host to some of the less exciting debates undertaken by the nation's remaining leadership. Still, the three gathered aboard the vessel as they did in Escher's office almost two weeks before.

Deck 2, Cabin 13. The office for the Secretary of State, officially vacant, but occupied by a former refugee trusted with the day-to-day runnings on. Changes made between then and now were slowly taking root, and none of it smelled Maltesian.
The office door slid open, Cortez and Iltzmann stepping through, the latter holding a datapad and a small device. Inside waited Escher, as well as the stand-in for the late Secretary Esposita. The two arrivals were smiling, likely a conversation on the way in.

"Finally," Hannah said snapishly. She and Cleese, Esposita's stand-in, had been waiting for the better part of ten minutes, called upon at Cortez's request.

Maria took the device from Sabrina's hand, turning her attention to Escher. "We got distracted. Besides, you said you needed to speak with Ms. Cleese about some things."

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Just tell us what you're going to. The way you made it sound in your cabinet-wide message didn't feel as important as you're making it out to be," she said, sitting against Cleese's desk.

Maria clicked the device, which enabled the room's holo-projector. In the room's center appeared details concerning Outcast expansion into the Taus, complete with infographics regarding Crayter's loss of the Hades and the incursion of Bretonian elements into the deeper systems.
"The 'way I made it sound' was exactly how it sounds. As far as the facts are concerned, continuing this effort in being the 'True Malta' is beyond our capacity. The Nationalists may have faced an unprecedented slave revolt, but their capabilities far outclass anything we can field."
Maria clicked the device again, the projector transitioning to a display of each of the Republic's cabinet members, each slowly ticking off as they passed away.
"We've had a succession crisis for the last half-decade, and only recently have we had the opportunity to deal with that. Anyone native to Malta itself is dead, and only Senor Santiago remains of anyone from the original 72nd Fleet."

Escher crossed her arms, visibly unmoved by Maria's speech. "I'm not seeing your point."

"We are Maltese in name only. The only parts of our nation that remain native are the warships we field," she said, clicking the projector off. "We don't have any business calling ourselves 'Maltese'. I would sooner exile myself than step a single unfiltered foot on that planet."

Cleese, silent so far in this conversation, spoke up. Bretonian, she nonetheless held herself welll; not as confident in her demeanor as her predecessor, but capable regardless.
"Are you suggesting a.. 'rebranding'?"

Maria snapped her eyes to Reyna. "Si. That is exactly what I'm suggesting."

"And to what would you suggest, then? How would the people react?" Escher retorted. "Do we just sweep our past under the rug, forget who got us here? I won't authorize curriculums whitewashing our history."

"You won't have to," Sabrina said, stepping towards the desk, setting her datapad down on it. "This will be a matter the Congregation will need to vote on, but we have the benefit of our populace knowing who greeted them when they arrived. We needn't lose ourselves to a simple name change, but we cannot continue pretending we speak for a nation that would collectively string us up from the highest points of the tallest structures."

Hannah sat quietly, her internal debate as loud as the ship's Collective Hall.
Again, Cleese spoke up. "This will need a careful balance to be done right. Our people just left martial law; subjecting them to this too soon might be too much all at once."

"Agreed. Let the Congregation take an informal vote, but we should make sure this is something the people want."
Hannah let out a brief sigh.
"I'm so tired of living in interesting times.."

"I think we all are."

It had been a busy day aboard the Capitol. Between Outcast attacks into the Taus and Gallic followthrough threatening the fragile peace of the region, many were lucky to avoid the raiding strikes as the cabinet met for the first time since the declaration of martial law. With its recent end, however, and the assumption of Iltzmann to the office of President nearly a month ago, the time was finally decided to get things back on track. Positions needed to be filled, offices reopened, and a session of the Executive called to determine the nation's direction.

The Presidential Cabin had been vacant since President de la Zerda's passing, largely out of respect. Though Iltzmann wasn't close to Maltesian, the office was nevertheless hers, and the Cabin left to her discretion. Even over the last month of preparation, she felt little interest in moving many things within the Cabin, with only the essentials adjusted simply out of necessity. The abode itself was quite large; On a typical Shukensha, it would be the Grand Suite left only for passengers of extreme renown. Now, it was the gilded abode to a psych minor representing an island's worth of people.

The conference room door was held open, each member of the cabinet walking in as they arrived. First through was Escher, then Cleese. Some time passed before Secretaries Hudson and Bayner entered, followed closely Dr. Alan, still wrapped in his lab coat. It was another quarter-hour before the last three arrived, with Maria leading Secretaries Bourcier and Gill in. With the cabinet gathered, Maria relieved the door, closing it and making her way to her seat at the conference table.
She shot a small glance at Escher. "Found your nominee wandering near the lounge on Deck 5," she said, chuckling a little.

Without hesitation, Sabrina smacked the table. "Secretary Cortez, that will be enough. If we're going to move forward, then let's leave the bickering in the past, ja?"

Somewhat startled, Maria sat a bit straighter, eyeing Iltzmann. "Of course.. Madam President." There was a small quip of sarcasm in her response, though nothing quite as antagonistic as her previous comment to Escher. Even still, those two words made the whole room somewhat queezy. The last five years had been an absence of this kind of decorum, with only military protocol and procedure the order of the day. Getting used to that level of civil attitude was sure to be something everyone would need to get used to.

Sabrina looked over the room, hands clasped in front of her on the table.
"Now, then.. We have, for the first time since the Congregation declared martial law, a full cabinet of officials. Some of you are filling positions at the moment, while others are aware of the role they play in this administration. For the newer people, you've all been given an overview on how your departments are run, and should you perform these duties well there is the potential for a permanent assignment."
She took a moment for her words to sink in, the eyes of the recent additions to the cabinet fixated on her. After a moment, she continued,
"When this Republic was declared, and Ms. de la Zerda called her own cabinet to session, she began these meetings by conducting a small prayer, followed by an addressing of each department to determine their state and what would need to be done. It was fluid, condensed, and with the kinks worked out ran like greased lightning. I intend to follow that example."
She motioned to Cortez, Escher, and Alan.
".. these three know exactly what I'm referring to, and can attest to it," she said, Escher nodding a little in agreement. "Now, I'm not that religious, but I would like to offer each of you a moment to speak, softly, to your higher being. Once everyone's heads are back up, then we'll continue."

Cortez, Bourcier, Cleese, and Hudson each lowered their heads, their mutterings some of the only sound in the room. For some, it was somewhat awkward, but at least to Iltzmann it filled her with a measure of pride. Once each of them had finished, she smiled, turning her head to Ms. Cleese, who was sitting to her left closest to her.
"We'll begin with Secretary Cleese, going clockwise. Updates, concerns, or recommendations from the State Department?"

Reyna cleared her throat a little before she spoke. "Construction of Ferrol is coming along well. Pressurization of outer modules will allow for larger housing of Lipari hopefuls, and station administrators are requesting additional funding for expansions. I'd.. still like to know what exactly these empty module slots are planned to be for. It would help with allocating the workforce aboard."

Sabrina nodded a little.
"Ferrol is the State Department's to do with however you see fit, Reyna. Whatever the administration at Lipari needs, Ferrol should be used to support them," she said, Cleese nodding herself. "As for additional funding, that is the Congregation's prerogative. I'll pass along my support to the Chairman, though."
She turned to Alan.
"Doctor Alan, anything of note from Civil Development?"

Eli sat up a little, crossing his arms and leaning over the table.
"Some, very little of it promising," he said, an air of exhaustion in his demeanor. "Our current research projects are at a standstill until we receive more materials from the deep Omicrons. I've asked the shippers to return with what they can when they go out there, but the Order are stingy bastards. I'm also at a wall with my developments into Mr. Santiago's condition. I'll speak with someone from Fox Tech later in the week to discuss a potential mission to Malta for flora samples."

"Do what you can, Eli. I recommend talking with Commerce about that first issue, and I'm sure Maria will have no issue loaning you support for the second."
Past Alan was Bayner, of whom Sabrina was very interested in hearing from; Foreign Affairs was, after all, her domain before her ascension.
"Secretary Bayner, anything to report from the Foreign Affairs office?"

Bayner was something of a odd card, but was nevertheless a well vetted one. Iltzmann had hand-picked him from the applicants following the lifting of martial law, and had high hopes for his tenure.
"Still going through the paperwork you left behind, ma'am. Efforts are currently focused on ensuring a stable supply line for Ferrol, as well as potential trading opportunities to reinforce the treasury. I anticipate directing communication towards Crayter on Yuma by the end of the month, and am looking at securing something with the IMG and maybe even Gallia, by the end of the next."

"Very good. Perhaps you'll have better luck with Ms. Ward's ministry than I had lately," she said in reply, looking past him to Cortez. "Maria, I'm sure you have much from both Defense and Homeward Defense. In those order, if you would."

"Very well," Maria said in response, "Regarding Defense, our force is stretched thin. The recent incursion by nationalist and Gallic forces tested our response force, and we were found lacking substantially. I'd like to submit a formal proposal to Crayter's Defense Ministry to redeploy our reserve destroyers to Sulawesi until positions for them at Ferrol are finished. We'll also need a recruitment drive to properly man these ships; Abaddon has been working on a sub-standard crew allotment thanks to improvements made by the Hellfire Legion in the past. I'd like to begin efforts to modernize these older vessels and equip them for local defense operations."

"We'll need quite the drive to man those ships, Maria, but see to it that it gets done. Perhaps you can even convince them to transfer that old Legion dreadnought to our control as well." Sabrina's comment was more of a jest, given how close Crayter had held the Ven'Gyr to their chest. Still, one would've seen the corner of Cortez's mouth crest a little at the comment. "Now, anything on the other side?"

Maria shook her head somewhat.
"Little. Frankly, there isn't much to be done given our relationship with the.. homeworld. I'd personally recommend a full departmental reshuffle to put the tools to better use. Perhaps espionage or internal security, maybe."

"We can go over it later, then." Sabrina moved on, eyeing the body across from Cortez. "Mister Hudson, is Colonial Affairs settling with you well? Anything of note to bring up?"

"No, madame. The department has been largely uncumbersome."
What some would call perhaps a 'violently Bretonian man', Theodore Hudson composed himself well at the table, in contrast to the rest of the Leeds refugees that had been brought in to fill the gaps. Before the evacuation, he had been a senior oversight official for one of Leeds' largest civilian centers, and this showed in his work ethic. Unlike his predecessor, he had practically taken his new department by the horns, both in an effort to prove himself, and perhaps to help his fellow refugees.
"I've had no issue addressing the day-to-day affairs, and have begun discussions with some of the folks down in the colony at Lipari as to how we can get things running better. There are some lobbying for allocation of more farmland to increase local food production on the surface, as well as some demand for an increased manufacturing presence. It's my hope that Ms. Bourcier and myself can come up with a plan moving forward."

"Excellent. I look forward to seeing the results. If there are budgeting concerns, send them my way." Hudson gave a firm nod, Sabrina looking to the woman to his left next. "Speaking of which, Ms. Bourcier, I trust your adjustment is going well. Ms. la Huerta left the Commerce department in something of a shambles if I recall."

Roseline nodded. "Yes, it will take perhaps a week at the least to go through the leftover documentation, but do not worry. My assistants are already cataloguing everything and sorting them by association."
Her rather strong Gallic tone was something of an extra bump for some of them to hop over, given the largely Anglo-Hispanian roots of the nation she had found herself serving. Despite this, her straightforward approach to tackling Commerce was quite a stark difference to la Huerta's.
"As Monsieur Hudson said, I look forward to coming up with a solution to this dilemma. I also have some proposals for Madame Cleese in regards to this orbital posting. On top of this, there are matters pertaining to some of the organizations Madame la Huerta had allowed to operate through the department that I hope to address."

Sabrina smiled. "Good. Gabriella did some good before, but perhaps your efforts will be a new leaf. If you encounter any hurdles, do let me know." Roseline nodded, which left Iltzmann to turn to the last of her cabinet secretaries. "And finally, Miss Gill. Education was the new VP's brainchild. I'm assuming she's been largely walking you through the goings-on over there."

"Yes, ma'am," she said. Gill was, in contrast to nearly everyone else in the room, rather timid in her demeanor, and similarly unlike each of the other fill-ins was the only one chosen by Escher instead of Iltzmann. Unorthodox, even given the people brought into the cabinet, but nonetheless given Sabrina's approval.

"I've been going over the critical aspects of the department with her, so as to ensure things transition smoothly. The middle of the school year isn't the best time for major adjustments, so we've had to make do where possible," Escher said, butting in somewhat. Given how seriously she took her job prior to her ascension, this sort of attitude was to be expected; It didn't put some of the others at ease, but there also wasn't much that could be done.

Sabrina nodded. "You'll make it work, Hannah. You always do." She looked over the table, eyeing each of her department heads. "I suppose, unless there is something final any of you wish to bring up, that will finish this appointment. I look forward to seeing any further reports you file, and if there are any concerns, submit them in writing or in private."
Sabrina stood up from her chair, prompting the rest of them to do the same, with Gill being marginally slower than the rest. She stood there for a moment, eyeing everyone, waiting for any objections, though none would present themselves. After a few seconds more, she continued.
"If there is nothing else, then this meeting is adjourned. We will meet again at this table in one month's time." She thought for a brief moment before speaking one final time. "Go with honor, everyone."

Maria, out of a sense of responsibility, responded in kind, repeating the first three of the last four words Iltzmann spoke. This prompted the rest of the secretaries to respond in kind, albeit far more awkwardly, in a sort of staggered manner that would've been humorous otherwise.
Cortez was the first to leave, with the rest slowing trickling out until Iltzmann was alone at the table. She stood there for some moments, debating whether speaking those words was worth it. She was the first since Santiago to do so at a cabinet meeting, so perhaps this would yield fruit down the line. Time would only tell.

Indeed, time would tell.