The Commonwealth's representative to the I.A.P. is now Underwood's second-in-command.
R.S.S. ATRUS, En Route to Reydovan Prime (28 September 2502): The replacement for the late Deputy Reydovan Chancellor Padraig Oliver Norris, III, has been named, and it is not a citizen of the Republic. The new DRC lives in the L'nhraei Commonwealth of Planets.
The Senate and the Inquisition unanimously named the Reydovan Chancellor's choice, Commonwealth Ambassador Natasha Stuart, as the second person to hold the title. As the new Deputy Reydovan Chancellor, Stuart now holds decision making power within the Republic, which can only be overruled by Joshua Underwood himself. She does not know yet, but the news is being personally transmitted to her by the Chancellor.
Chancellor Underwood named the ambassador his deputy because of the year and a half of support she gave him, as well as being the strongest supporter of his regime when it was in the solidification process. The Chancellor said that he rewarded people for this sort of devotion to the Republic. The Emperor would most likely have given Stuart a menial task - "menial tasks for menial people", according to him - but thank the stars above that the Chancellor is a little more forgiving.
This new appointment would be a bit of a problem for Stuart. In the unlikely event of a Republic-Commonwealth war, she would be split between the two, though the Chancellor would understand if she wished to serve her people. "Devotion is a blessing, even if it's not to your government," he said.
THIS JUST IN: There is another small problem, one Underwood had not accounted for - Commonwealth law. After receiving the news, Ambassador Stuart told him that Commonwealth law forbade her from serving a post in another government. Chancellor Underwood took this into his own hands and has diverted course for the capital of the Commonwealth, the planet L'nhraei itself.
