Chapter 106: Political Tour
Chapter 106: Political Tour
-Sovereign of Tythe – 180 Days into the Hutt Crusade-
After returning to Tythe from their eminently enjoyable vacation excursion, the group had spent several hectic days clearing up the issues that had built up while they were absent. After that, only Mei was able to go back to business as usual, as the rest of them had a much more daunting task ahead of them. They needed, now that two dozen or so worlds had formed up enough of a government to properly launch the League Parliament, to go play politics. Not here in the League, where Esa Rotsino had things locked down nicely, but within the Republic.
Many of the worlds that had trade connections to former Hutt Space wanted reassurances or new connections. More worlds that had trade connections to Izuku or Tythe wanted to speak with him about how those connections could be leveraged or, in some rare cases, done away with. Hundreds of additional worlds that didn’t have either but wanted to feel out the new power on the Republic’s border wanted face-to-face time with the new, ‘mysterious leader’ too.
Both Esa and Padmé had been firm that now was the time to start making inroads with various polities and powers within the Republic, in order to help keep the neutrality the Republic was currently holding with them a positive neutrality. Building it into something more than that wasn’t likely to happen quickly, if at all. Yet positive neutrality was very possible if they handled things right. But handling them right meant Izuku spending time in his position as ‘Sovereign,’ rubbing elbows and playing the political game.
“You needn’t look quite so grim, you know. This isn’t going to be all bad. We get to see Padmé and her minions some more, and we’re starting with Esa’s cousin to get our feet wet with this sort of thing, so we’ll have a friendly first stop. Besides, you get to make some of the people we don’t particularly like thoroughly nervous by showing up with our flagship~!”
Izuku’s lips twitched upwards just a bit from their scowl at the last bit of Aayla’s comment. She was right, of course. Both that it would be nice to see Padmé again and that the reactions to Sovereign of Tythe should be amusing at times. There had been long-winded debates about taking the flagship, of course. There were pretty major arguments both for and against. It was a warship, one more heavily armed than any equivalent in Republic Space, and could likely solo the entire defense fleets of many of the worlds they would be visiting. That could be taken lots of wrong ways.
On the flip side, it was Izuku’s personal flagship and not bringing it would have been its own problematic statement. One that could be interpreted as weakness. Worse, there were a lot of people who would love to take advantage of him traveling in a smaller, more vulnerable vessel. The Hutts, of course, would have been virtually certain to try taking him out in space, if they’d used an unarmed or lightly armed diplomatic ship like Padmé preferred. But there were plenty of others, including the extremely well-armed Trade Federation, that might have liked the chance to take a stab at it too.
In the end, they erred on the side of caution and simply made sure to get official approval for taking the ship through any space they’d pass through. Something that, in places, would require them to go a bit out of their way, since some worlds had refused that passage. It would also be going without escort, but there wasn’t much in Republic space that could threaten the Sovereign even traveling alone. Even the battleships that could realistically kill a Paladin tended to be on the slow side, where as the Paladin was actually quite fast for a battlecruiser. Not to mention it was carrying a pair of Toru II scout ships that would be trading off traveling before it, to give warning of any possible ambushes.
“Aayla, Padmé aside, there’s a suitable saying for politicians from my world. That the word breaks down to ‘poly,’ meaning ‘many,’ and ‘tics.’ Which are a blood sucking creature.”
Aayla snorted a laugh, swatting at his side, and Izuku’s lips twitched fully into a grin this time. At least he wasn’t doing this alone, even if they were trying to make him be one of those blood sucking creatures too…
… … …
-Abrion Major – 183 Days into the Hutt Crusade-
“Sovereign Midoriya, Knight Alaya, it is good to see both of you! Even if the two of you have managed to cause quite a bit of chaos for Abrion Major and the Abrion sector as a whole.”
The family resemblance between Senator Esu Rotsino and her cousin Esa was striking. Both had the same hair, so black it seemed to soak in light rather than reflect it, paired with striking bright green eyes. High-cheekbones gave them both a classically beautiful look, which the cousins were equally capable of wielding as a weapon at need. Esu had her own hair cut short, compared to Esa’s that was always kept in waves down to her shoulder. Yet, despite that and a few inches difference in height between them, they could have been sisters only a few years apart instead of cousins a half decade separated. Good family genes, apparently.
She also, despite the comment about chaos, had a genuine smile on her face for them, even as she turned to exchange greetings with Padmé. Senator Rotsino wasn’t directly part of Padmé’s new faction, not having needed the connections to the League that had brought so many to Padmé’s side. Yet the two women were obviously cordial to one another, indirect allies at least, in their efforts to make sure the League of Free Stars was viewed positively. The Senator for the Abrion sector had met them before and was well aware just how much Izuku’s investments in her sector had changed Abrion’s fortunes. Once struggling in a similar way to much of the Outer Rim, Abrion Major and several other worlds of the sector which Izuku had invested in were now economic bright spots among the troubles of the greater Outer Rim Territories.
“Well, come on you lot, there is all sorts of official folderol to get through! Then we can get down to duralloy nails! The Abrion Sector Fleet has been bothering me for more Defenders, and are quite interested in getting some of the Munifex IIs you’ve been starting to phase out. Not to mention that Ukio and Tieos are worried about all the new agriworlds you’ve gotten access to. Sure they sell Coreward plenty still, but Tythe was one of their most reliable customers, and they are afraid you might not be in the market for their goods for much longer…”
Izuku sighed internally as Esu started to list out all sorts of problems and issues that people wanted reassurance on or possible solutions for. None of it was all that troubling, honestly. The Abrion Sector Fleet was just that, an old school Sector Fleet that was answering to Abrion rather than the Republic, so Izuku had little issue arming it with ships they needed to pawn off on someone else anyway. Then there was the agriworlds, who could be easily appeased by lucrative contracts to help teach the Hutt agriworlds how to actually do things right, instead of leaning on inefficient slave labor. Most of the issues should be easily resolved, but he knew he was going to be dragged through days of negotiations over all of it.
Maybe there would be a surprise assassination attempt to give him a break and get the blood pumping? A man could hope and dream, at least…
… … …
-Bothawui – 190 Days into the Hutt Crusade-
Izuku growled in annoyance, telekinetically ripping a piece of nearby wall apart to create a crude shield for Padmé and Sabé to hide behind. To their credit, both of them immediately took cover perfectly, popping out for well-aimed shots using the blasters that they’d liberated from the first set of assassins that had ambushed them. Still not exactly eager to advertise that he was skilled with lightsabers on a world full of spies, Izuku stuck to telekinesis while letting Aayla and Shaak Ti handle the bulk of the blaster fire coming from five other assassin teams, all of whom were competing to kill them first.
Rolling his eyes as yet another dumbfuck tried to launch a rocket at them, Izuku grabbed it with the Force and sent it careening in a new direction, hammering into a sixth assassin team that had been trying to sneak up in the chaos. The idiot who’d fired the thing looked like a non-Death Watch Mando, so Izuku gave him a little bit more attention, using an interesting Force Power rediscovered by the Iron Knights. Mechu-deru might have originally been a Dark Side trick, but the Iron Knights’ unique nature made it incredibly easy for them to produce a version that was neutral in the Force, allowing its users to interface with mechanical and technological systems.
Izuku was by no means a master with it…but it wasn’t that hard to Force a Jetpack to power on at full blast. Which is exactly what he did, at a precise moment that caused the Mandalorian to slam into a traffic control pod and snap his neck. Snorting in a bit of satisfaction at that one, he set about trying to thin the numbers in a specific direction so they could at least retreat out of the crossfire. Unable to help himself, he also commented into their secure comms.
“’Oh yes, Izuku. We should go to the planet known the galaxy over for its spy networks and culture of backstabbing each other. They are a valued and respected Republic world!’ Wasn’t that more or less what you said, Padmé? I hate to tell you ‘I told you so, but…actually no, I don’t hate to do that this time. I told you so.”
He could feel Padmé’s wince, even as she reloaded a new blaster pack. She wisely stayed silent, given how her advice had turned out. Sabé, on the other hand, was quick to quip back.
“Look at it this way, Master Midoriya, this way all the assassins came at us at once! There won’t be any left to bother us at our future stops, at this rate!”
Izuku snorted, a grin tugging at his lips involuntarily. He doubted that was true…but this was less boring than the talks with the locals anyway, which had been aggressively going absolutely nowhere. A fact he was nearly certain was because every one of the local factions had sold him out to a different assassin group, given how many of them were popping up. Ah, well, the furry little compulsive liars had already been most of the way onto his shit list anyway…
… … …
-Druckenwell – 205 Days into the Hutt Crusade-
Aayla was having trouble resisting the urge to strangle the Druckenwell representative. The sleezy little bastard had spent more time staring as her tits than he’d spent on the used-ship-salesman routine he’d been directing at her love. Neither of them had really wanted to stop at Druckenwell. Not only was it a Trade Federation world, but it was also a known center for several legal and illegal slaving operations. They, in fact, were sponsoring a chapter of the Underground Hyperlane operating on the world and had been for years. There was no way they were going to make any real deals with the place…but there had been other reasons to accept the request that they stop and ‘negotiate possibly mutually beneficial deals.’
Specifically, Shaak Ti and Asajj were currently off poking into Trade Federation operations on the planet, looking for any signs of the sort of military buildup operation they’d found on Geonosis. Given that BlasTech had a major manufacturing complex on the world, it was a good bet that they might find something, and the more they found out about whatever was going on the better. Of course, she and Izuku were far too high-profile for investigations like that at this point. Which meant that they were stuck listening to this idiot jabber. With Aayla’s temptation to fall to the dark side and start creatively eliminating politicians for the good of the galaxy increasing by the minute.
Izuku might have had a point about politicians and blood sucking creatures. Though that didn’t account for Padmé. Aayla was still hoping the little talk she’d had with the Senator would produce a different sort of fluid sucking in time. But she was content to wait on that…and stir the pot a little by making sure she and Sabé didn’t forget their interest, of course. Really, Izuku needed to get more on the ball and help her seduce the pair. It wasn’t like he could pretend he wasn’t attracted to them or didn’t enjoy their company, and they would be even easier to convince than Shaak Ti had been if he’d just make a little effort.
Sighing about her loveable knight in shining armor being too noble for his own good, and for her good since she wanted a taste of the pair too, she pushed the thought aside again. She didn’t want to risk tainting any thoughts of Padmé and Sabé with the offal that this moron was spewing, after all…
… … …
-Denon – 215 Days into the Hutt Crusade-
“Well, I have to admit I’m actually quite pleased with how this particular stop is going. Well done in laying the groundwork, Padmé.”
Padmé smiled brightly at the praise, and Izuku tried really hard to ignore the way her emotions had spiked with it coming from him. He was well aware that Aayla didn’t want him to ignore it but, unlike his lover, Izuku understood properly why Padmé hadn’t tried to act on anything. He still wasn’t quite sure what had caused her and Sabé both to hit some sort of tipping point and realize they were attracted to him in a serious way, but he understood the awkward position they were in. Her house of cards in the Senate wasn’t secure enough yet to survive if she was romantically linked with him, as it would put into doubt all the work she’d done ‘negotiating’ with the League.
“Yes, well…I can’t claim all the credit on this one. It was Cordé who realized the world was having some logistics issues that a deal with the League could easily solve. I just took that information and ran with it to get you a favorable meeting. As a conservative, Inner Rim ecumenopolis, they have a louder voice in the Senate than most of the others you’ve spoken with so far. Particularly with how long they’ve been part of the Republic in the first place. They aren’t quite a Core World, but…”
Izuku nodded his understanding. Denon wasn’t a Core World, but it had already been a member world by the time of the Alsakan Conflicts and had sided with Coruscant during those. That had put it in a position to often be treated like it was a Core World, and decent leadership had seen the world become fairly influential over time. Nothing on the scale of worlds like Corellia or Alderaan, of course, but influential still. It was also a highly conservative world, which might not normally have been willing to deal with the League at all. But need and a lot of fast-talking by Padmé had gotten them a meeting, one that had gone quite well. The League was more than willing and able to meet needs Denon was struggling with due to disruptions caused by the Trade Federation and Commerce Guild getting steadily more belligerent in the Republic Senate.
The talks had ended in an excellent deal for both sides, which had thankfully been almost as much business as politics. Much better than some of their other stops to this point for sure…
… … …
-Commenor – 227 Days into the Hutt Crusade-
“Well, we could never win them all, and at least we convinced them not to take issue with your trading concerns.”
Izuku sighed, knowing Padmé was trying to look on the bright side. Not that she was wrong, exactly. But he’d had higher hopes for Commenor. It was a trading world in The Slice, after all. Which made the odd resistance he’d found among the locals very out of place. It had been so out of place that he’d tapped lightly into a few minds, in fact. Which was something he tried not to do very often due to the invasion of privacy it represented. Concerningly, even a very light tap during the failed negotiations had revealed that the Techno Union was leaning hard on the world to shut the League out.
Foundry, a major Techno-Union world, was nearby. Which did explain their strong presence on Commenor. Yet the Techno-Union had always been known more for manufacturing monopolies, not trading monopolies. Their sudden interest in not letting any other big names expand on Commenor was odd and concerning. Enough so that he’d need to mention it to LIS and see if they couldn’t figure out what was going on.
“It’s certainly disappointing, but hardly crippling given the unexpected gains at Denon. Still, it will be nice to see more welcoming faces at our next few stops.”
Padmé was quick to nod at that.
“Yes, my own mentor in the Senate is looking forward to meeting you on Onderon, Kashyyyk is likely to throw actual parties when you arrive, and Lantillies is already friendly with you despite you stealing one of their best shipwrights.”
Padmé’s excited delivery of the first, and dry delivery of the latter two got a laugh out of all of them. Personally, Izuku was most interested in seeing Kashyyyk. The Wookiees he’d talked with had all made it seem like a fascinating and wild world. They were also, notably, quite likely to be willing to let him explore the less safe parts of their world. They, after all, knew he was traveling with Jedi and were rather fond of such.
Though, there was also the complication that they might run into other Jedi, given they were quietly setting up on Alaris Prime. That could be a complication, or not, depending on which Jedi might get involved. Hopefully, it wouldn’t cause any major drama…
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A/N 1: Ugh! Politics! I'm not going to enjoy writing all of this...as evidence by how little actual politics I showed directly :-p. But it's a major thing that the League needs to handle, and there are ways (such as those I used in this chapter) to make it non-horrible to read.
A/N 2: You probably know this bit by now, but I need to say it anyway ;-)! Once per release, I point out that I have a Page with Early Access content. In example, I just released chapters 107-110 of Displaced Hero there, adding just shy of another 16,000 words which will remain in Early Access until next month. Similarly, there are at least a few Early Access chapters there for ALL of my stories, though NONE of them are ever permanently paywalled. All fanfiction content I make ends up here (or on Fanfiction.net and Questionable Questing) eventually, as new content for each story is released. Typically, there are 75,000+ words of additional early access content for patrons at any one time, all for just a dollar a month! As well as chances to vote in polls that influence which stories are updated, pairings, and other such things.