Chapter 129: Pressure Cooker
Warning! Chapters 127-130 were all posted back-to-back! Returning readers, make sure you pick up the story in the right place!
Chapter 129: Pressure Cooker
– Alderaan – 22.9 BBY –
“The information the Jedi have provided is…disquieting.”
Bail Organa’s expression said he was more than merely ‘disquieted’ by the information he and his wife had been going over for the last several hours. Included was not only the information of an emergent Sith threat, something that Alderaan had entirely too much historical evidence of the danger of…but also of the military buildups going on behind the scenes.
Buildups as in plural.
That the separatist movement was choosing to arm itself was not particularly surprising, given some of the bad actors that filled its upper echelons. The Trade Federation was only the worst offender, not the only one, in the area of misuse of private armies and barely-legal military forces. That they were quietly building up proper warships, as proven by him receiving separate reports from both the Jedi and Senator Amidala, was disappointing but not unexpected.
What was unexpected was the Jedi having discovered similar building programs on the Republic side of the fence. Major, hidden fleet buildups by Kuat Drive Yards and their subsidiary Rothana Heavy Engineering were only the tip of a distressingly deep iceberg. Vast orders of blasters from Blastech and WESTAR disappearing under layers of obscurity, but tracked back to major players behind the Military Creation Act. Slayn & Korpil producing massive numbers of a new starfighter design called the V-19 Torrent. Incom Corporation and Subpro doing the same with something called the ARC-170, which even the Jedi hadn’t been able to find out much about. Though Incom was also massively upticking production of a new Z-95 variant that was just vanishing into the same void that the blasters seemed to be.
The Republic was arming up for a galactic scale fight…without the approval of the Military Creation Act.
Worse, in a way, was that with a few of the people involved? There was absolutely no way the Supreme Chancellor was unaware of the buildup. Given that Bail was, himself, a member of the Loyalist Committee, yet hadn’t heard a word of this before the Jedi dropped all the data off via a courier? To say it was extraordinarily alarming was to understate things dramatically. His wife Breha, Queen of Alderaan, put down the dataslate she’d been studying and rubbed her eyes, sighing before addressing him.
“It’s war then. Neither side would spend tens of trillions, possibly hundreds of trillions, of credits without building the momentum to go through with the conflict no matter what happens in the political space. It also explains why the Jedi abruptly went on the offensive, ceasing their pacifism and going for the throat with every bit of corruption they could find.”
Bail connected the dots at that moment, catching up to his wife’s thought process, and nodded.
“They are stalling, buying time while attempting to visibly prune enough corruption to limit the systems willing to leave over the Republic’s problems. At least some systems that might have jumped, haven’t yet, as they are seeing something properly being done to improve the corruption issues. With the Republic apparently wanting the war too, though…they aren’t making any friends on either side with their choice of tactics.”
Breha shook her head at that.
“No, they aren’t. But when have they ever cared about that? You know your history as well as I do. The last thousand years have been an aberration for them. Normally, the bulk of the Jedi Order does what is right, rather than adhering so tightly to what is lawful. Faced with reemerging Sith on one side and a brewing galactic war on the other? They are reverting to type and focusing on protecting the people as much as possible, rather than the government.”
Bail hummed, mulling that over, comparing his history lessons regarding the Jedi Order to their current actions. There were times in the Jedi’s history where they’d outright split internally, between those who couldn’t stand aside while terrible things happened, and those who were more political animals. Yet it was almost always the ‘doers’ that altered the course of galactic history. Acting as a firebreak against everything from the Sith to the Mandalorians.
He wouldn’t have thought the modern Jedi Order capable of it…if not for the near-fracture caused by the Hutt Crusade. The Crusade, which even he could now admit had been warranted and done as cleanly as realistically possible for such a large-scale conflict, had nearly caused another such split in the Jedi. Now that the near-fracture was healing again, it was obvious that the faction that wished to take action was once again ascendent. Spurred on by an ancient enemy and awareness of a galactic-scale threat.
That didn’t mean he had a very good idea what they would do about it, though. For that matter, that wasn’t the big question of the moment. No, the bigger issue was closer to home.
“What are we going to do about it? We’ve already quietly stepped-up recruiting for the security forces, and have been increasing protection around our colonies. But the scale of this…”
There was quiet between them for long moments, before his wife spoke with reluctance and pain in her voice.
“With the Sith involved? It is time to put peace aside for a time, I think. Our world has suffered from their depredation enough in the past, as have tens of thousands of worlds throughout the Republic. Reach out to Garm, see if an infusion of cash and resources can pry loose some of Corellia’s shipbuilding capacity. For that matter, I think we need to talk to Dac about repurposing the next round of Relief Cruisers we had ordered into something with a few more…teeth.”
Bail recognized the steel in his wife’s tone, under the pain. This was no longer a wife speaking to her husband, it was a Monarch commanding her Viceroy. Alderaan may have chosen peace whenever it could, but it had wielded the sword more than once in its long history. Apparently, it was time to do so again.
“At once, your majesty. If the worst comes,” he glanced at the pile of datachips and pair of dataslates between them. “No…when the worst comes, Alderaan will be ready.”
… … …
– Kashyyyk – 22.6 BBY –
“You have the report?
Attichitcuk nodded to his King’s growled question. King Grakchawwaa was only first among equals, with there being several royal families on Kashyyk, but his was by far the dominant voice on the Council of Kings at the moment. While many clans had gained influence as a result of sending support for the Hutt Crusades, Grakchawwaa was the only royal head who had directly sent many of his own forces to participate.
Attichitcuk himself, whose clan was one those under Grakchawwaa’s leadership, had ended up handling the bulk of the negotiations between the League and Kashyyyk as a result. Something which, combined with his own son Chewbacca coming out of the Crusade as a respected warband leader, had tipped the scales of local politics. Even before the Crusade, Grakchawwaa had been the most influential of the various kings, but now he easily had the influence to make wide-ranging decisions for the planet as a whole.
Something which was going to be important, given what Attichitcuk had to report.
“Yes, your highness. According to the investigators, there is no question that the attackers were entirely made up of Trandoshans using Trade Federation supplied equipment. They were far too well equipped for a normal raiding force, and would easily have overwhelmed the shuttle and captured all 215 passengers aboard, if not for a patrol of Defender IIs being close enough to intercept.”
Those Defender IIs were a very generous gift from the League of Free Stars. Not payment, which would have been an insult, but a gift of thanks given to the warriors who had participated in the ground fighting of the Hutt Crusade. Unlike the vast majority of the class that were sold to outsiders, the Defenders gifted to various Kashyyyk clans were the most up-to-date military models used by the League itself. While the League might be phasing them out from anything but police actions now, their latest generation Defender IIs were still extremely good corvettes. Most likely among the best, if not the best, system patrol ships in the galaxy.
Given that Kashyyyk had always lacked much of a naval force, the two dozen of them that had ended up in Wookiee hands had been a major boon. A boon which, after their experiences in the Hutt Crusade, the various clans now legitimately had some idea what to do with. Alongside a few larger captured or purchased vessels, the clans had come together to create a proper Kashyyyk System Defense Force for the first time in their history. Given the inability to mine on their homeworld, as there were very few places it was safe to get near the surface, such a thing had been out of reach in the past. Even with the relatively recent acquisition of Alaris Prime, that hadn’t yet changed.
They could, however, now build enough parts to maintain the small-but-growing defense force they’d pieced together.
Something that, much to the approval of the Wookiee people as a whole, had resulted in a dramatic decrease in successful raids by Trandosha. Their vile neighbors had hunted their people for sport for thousands of years, despite numerous appeals to the Republic for intervention. Worse, the fact that more of the lizard bastards people left for dishonorable careers as smugglers, bounty hunters, and mercenaries? That little detail had always meant their ancient enemy had more access to ships and modern arms than the Wookiees did. Trandosha was poor, with their culture being so barbaric that they could never really get ahead as a people. Which was the only thing that had kept the situation from being completely untenable.
Now, however, it was increasingly obvious that the Trandoshans had sold out to the CIS, and were being supplied with ships and weapons to harass their neighbors with. Undoubtedly a direct result of the Council refusing the services of the Kashyyyk Pathfinders Guild to the separatist movement. The new ‘Confederacy’ had wished to make use of both the secret trade routes known only to the Wookiee people, as well as the skills of Wookiee Pathfinders, renowned for their ability to scout new hyperlanes. Given their people’s collective hatred for the Trade Federation after the Alaris Prime incident, the CIS had been summarily kicked out of the system and told not to come back.
Apparently, they’d decided if that was the case, they might as well back the Trandoshans instead.
“This must stop. Reach out to the clans, I want a plan to blockade Trandosha until a way to cut their access to the CIS is found. Reach out to our League contacts as well. We might want to see about buying more hardware from them. It’s better quality than what we could get on the open market, and I have little doubt they’ll sell it to us at a discount, particularly if they know we’re using it in anti-slaver operations.”
Attichitcuk nodded, telling his king it would be so. Privately, however, he wondered if this latest failed attack had only been another sign of worse things to come. He’d been paying a great deal more attention than he used to, to events off Kashyyyk, and a pattern of aggressive raids along the border between Republic loyal worlds and Separatist systems was beginning to become increasingly obvious. Well, either way, getting some more ships from the League would likely help against whatever came their way…
… … …
– Onderon – 22.5 BBY –
Mina Bonteri gritted her teeth in frustration. It was becoming increasingly obvious via her connections to the various factions that the Japrael sector was going to be right on the border between where Count Dooku was forming ‘Separatist’ space, and the remaining Republic. Much of the sector would, she knew, be willing to make the jump. There were plenty of dissatisfied worlds nearby, after all. Sure, the Inner Rim wasn’t nearly as bad off as the Outer Rim, but The Slice had traditionally suffered more corruption from the Republic than other parts of any section of the Rim because of the Hutts.
The Hutts might be gone now, and the worlds of The Slice better for it, but the Hutts being slaughtered by the League didn’t change the Republic corruption. Onderon had never been allowed to grow under the Republic, and they finally had a chance. Dooku was a great man and his success in rallying disenfranchised and disillusioned worlds was proof positive that the Confederacy was going to work, at least as far as she was concerned.
Yet, her stubborn, stupid king was unwilling to bend. He’d have them continue to kowtow to the Republic, begging for scraps, when they could finally be free of its bureaucratic dead weight! Without Onderon moving, the rest of the sector wouldn’t either, as it was both the Sector Capital and, as of late, the most influential world in this section of space. That fact, of course, was coming from the investment and resources offered up by the League of Free Worlds. Which, admittedly, were helping improve Onderon’s situation greatly. Including providing their forces with decent ships for pretty much the first time in Onderon’s long history.
But it was not enough. Not nearly enough. Not when they were right where the front lines of the coming conflict would be. Something had to be done. She just wasn’t sure if she had the will to do it…
… … …
– Hidden Sith Temple: Coruscant – 22.4 BBY –
For once, Darth Sidious was pleased with events. While he was still annoyed with the League of Free Stars, the loss of the Prophets of the Dark Side, and the increasingly competent actions of the Jedi Order, what he was seeing in the Senate was proof that none of it mattered. Just as he had foreseen, a steadily escalating series of terrorist strikes and assassinations across the galaxy were polarizing the two sides of the Separatist Crisis.
Disruptive actors dancing on his apprentice’s puppet strings were producing all the bad press with the ‘loyalist’ members of the Republic that could have been desired. A successful attack on the Iron Tether, a Republic Rescue ship, an attack on the Wookiees, a bombing on Naboo that he’d acted properly outraged by. Those and several dozen other acts of violence or terrorism, combined with galactic protests, had begun the final slide towards violence. The recent assassination of two senators, Aks Moe on the Republic side of the fence and Daggibus Scoritoles on the Separatist side, had farther enraged and terrified the Senate in particular. Making the threat a personal one as well as a matter of what their sectors were demanding.
By his best analysis, using both the powerful droid brains he’d assigned to track the Republic for him and meditations on the Dark Side of the Force, they had another three quarters of a year before they hit critical levels. Perhaps as long as a full year on the outside, given how the Military Creation Act had been slowed by the Hutt Crusade. That was the longest before a large enough flashpoint occurred to incite the war that was needed. If not naturally, then certainly there would be a large enough degree of tension to create such a flashpoint artificially by that point.
For all the Jedi’s pointless struggles, for all the League’s irritating presence was sucking in some sectors that would have broken way to the CIS…it mattered not at all. It was too little, too late, to disrupt the Grand Plan the Sith had worked for centuries to create. He would be the one to bring the plan to fruition, to end the Jedi, and reign as the Immortal Emperor of the galaxy. He had foreseen it, and the way every attempt to slow the slide toward his goals failed was merely more proof that he was right.
Yes, everything was going exactly according to plan. No matter the small delays.
Though, speaking of those small annoyances, that stupid chit Amidala was doing something irritating again. He hadn’t expected her, of all people, to begin tentatively offering support for the Military Creation Act. Unfortunately, as part of the negotiations for her power blocs votes, she was poking holes in the act that Sidious would have preferred remained unnoticed. Highlighting the lack of an officer core and recruitment centers, demanding to create a pay structure for troops and figure out where that money would come from.
It was pointless, of course, since the Clones and Jedi would be filling those roles.
Irritatingly, he couldn’t give that away just yet, as the Clones needed to be a surprise. Since even many of his own supporters were enthusiastically agreeing with some of her points and acting to refine the bill, it was something he couldn’t fully stop. In fact, several worlds that already had military academies were now expanding them, while others were increasing their planetary or sector defense force recruitment. No matter. There wasn’t enough time before the crisis point for the academies they were proposing to turn out enough troops and officers to outweigh the Clones. In the long run those very institutions would help him replace the Clones with proper people, once he announced his new Empire.
Even his enemies’ actions were benefiting him. Truly, the Force was with him, and he would come out on top…
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A/N 1: Obviously, Bail and his Queen getting the information is the result of the Jedi choosing who to send stuff to in the previous chapter, if anyone didn't make that connection. Alderaan isn't NEARLY as pacifist before the Imperial Era, possessing a sizable security force. Meaning them gearing up is going to have some effects. Same with Kashyyyk, though with them it's more a strategic position as their fleet won't be huge.