Chapter 83: Negotiations and Bunnygirls
Summary: Pulling a prank and political negotations!
Chapter 83: Negotiations and Bunnygirls
Tythe Central - 78 Days Post Start of Hutt Crusade
Izuku was having a devil of a time keeping his desire to laugh down, even with the aid of the Force, and it was entirely his own fault. He'd love to blame Asora and Aayla, but doing so just wouldn't be self-honest, given that he'd given Aayla the idea in the first place, even if it had been meant as a joke. Now, with a serene-faced Shaak Ti on one side of him, and a genuinely smiling Aayla on the other, he was trying desperately not to die of suppressed laugher at Padmé's utterly blank face…which didn't at all match the mixed jumble of confused emotions she was putting out in the Force. Disbelief, incredulity, even a bit of desire, he was interested to note. All combating a desperate attempt for her professional political training to keep to protocol.
He understood her difficulty. He really did.
After all, Shaak Ti and Aayla looked amazing in their Bunny-Armor.
Yes, the two of them, along with Asajj who hadn't yet been introduced, had run with Izuku's joking plan. Worse, they'd gotten in touch with Mei to do it, meaning that what they were wearing was genuinely, legitimately, useful as armor. While it kept the general 'leotard' aesthetic via a skintight nature and offset colors, this 'armor' variant had an underlayer that encased the wearer in a body glove from toes to neck. That skintight underlayer wasn't true armor, but it was cut resistant and temperature-regulating. It would stop most knives that didn't fall into the monomolecular edge or vibro-equipped categories and it kept the wearer either cool or warm in a fairly impressive range of external temperatures.
Then, of course, there was the 'leotard' layer. Which was just thick enough to both stand out, drawing attention to all the right places, and contain a thin layer of tiny phrik armor plates. That 'armored leotard' would actually stop at least one shot from a blaster rifle, or multiple from most blaster pistols, cold. Meaning it legitimately did protect the vitals of the wearer's body unless they were shot more than once in the same place. All, as Mei and Aayla cheerfully pointed out, without limiting mobility at all. Greeves, boots, and bracers that were equally reinforced only increased the protection, though thighs and shoulders were left uncovered. That suited the girls just fine, since it meant they retained full mobility at their joints. Something critical for lightsaber combat.
Hell, Mei had even managed to rig sensors into the 'ears' of the outfit, which fed to an eyepiece that could be projected from a small earpiece (or decorative Montral Mount in Shaak's case) with a tap. The truly ridiculous woman had made a bunnysuit into an effective form of armor, that just so happened to be perfectly suited for Jedi. Female Jedi, anyway. This joke had one hundred percent gotten away from them and he was virtually certain Asajj was going to refuse to give hers back after the joke ran its course. Hopefully, he could at least convince her to let Mei tweak it so that the sensors were part of a pack or helmet, instead of ears…
"Sovereign Midoriya, it's good to see you again. I hadn't expected it to be so soon."
Padmé's voice was almost as flat as her face, her presence in the Force radiating 'I am so done with this' even as two of her Handmaidens were clearly slowly failing at their own desperate attempts not to crack at the scene that was playing out.
"Yes. Well, needs must when the rancor drives, as it were. There is a short break in the Crusade at the moment, and a few things needed dealing with. As it's hard to say when I will be free this way again, I felt I should deal with some of them personally. Doubly so as I'm afraid the Liberty Council is still a bit…new and untested. It has representatives from its first few planets beyond Tythe now, but most of them are a little out of their depth in galactic affairs for now."
That statement finally seemed to cause Padmé's mind to focus. In fact, it was almost terrifying in how quickly it discarded all the confusion and absurdities as she latched onto information within her field of expertise and started intuitively connecting dozens of points at lightning speed. Somehow, he didn't think most of them were related to what she actually said next, though she was certainly fishing for useful information.
"Oh? I hadn't heard any representatives had been made official? I was given to understand that such would be forwarded to me in my position as Ambassador. What worlds have joined so far?"
Izuku fielded the light reprimand, obviously meant to prod him a bit, easily enough. He'd expected it, to be honest.
"When worlds officially take their seats, you will be notified. As this batch is literally the first set, however, we've held off on official announcements. We want to push the first dozen or so through all at once, to make the jump from a single-system 'Council' to a more obviously representative-based polity more clear. As for the specific worlds…so far only Illos, Illos Minor, Sriluur, Riileb and Tatooine are ready. Not enough for the statement we want to make. Several more worlds would have been ready in another month or two, when we'd originally intended to call you back."
Riileb had been a pleasant surprise. Not entirely an unexpected one, but still a pleasant one. The rather remote world was one of the only worlds in Hutt Space to have managed to remain independent. There had been a concern that they would resist any outside influence, but that concern had thankfully proven unfounded. They'd eagerly latched onto the nascent League, wanting a firmer way to keep their hard-won freedom from the Hutts. Still, despite his personal interest and the slight feather in their cap it was for a world to join without the slightest bit of conquest involved, he could instantly tell it wasn't the world that had sparked instant concern in Padmé.
"Forgive me, Sovereign Midoriya, but isn't Tatooine in Republic space? I've…been there personally and know that it was under the control of the Hutts, but it is still officially part of the Arkanis sector, is it not?"
Izuku nodded, doing his best to keep a level tone as he responded. This was something they'd planned for, but it could still be an…issue.
"It is, yes. However, Tatooine has never had Republic membership. Something which is true for a number of other worlds in that supposed 'sector.' The Republic lost virtually all contact with the entire region of space for thousands of years, and they've only been 'rediscovered' in the period of peace since the Ruusan Reformation. Very few of them have applied for, and even fewer have actually received, Republic membership. Tatooine is one such world…and a recent revolution there has removed the Hutt influence and replaced it with a newly forming government that includes the natives as well as the humans and free slaves."
Geonosis was another such world, and one that was behaving…oddly…regarding the League. They seemed simultaneously extremely interested and very nervous. A portion of that was certainly the fact that they were a little bit too much like the Hutts. Their ruling caste was very much of the 'manipulative and domineering' mold. Yet, that didn't explain everything. Not when their people were mostly happy with their rulers and the League's official policy was live-and-let-live regarding species that had biology-based caste systems. Which was, as it happens, the case with semi-insectoid Geonosians.
No. There was something else going on there, but they hadn't been able to dedicate the resources to figuring out what. Something that was itching on Izuku's brain in a way that made him make note of it again. If it was coming to mind so often, it might just be the Force at work. He'd make time to figure it out personally, if he had too.
"That's…possibly not going to be the way the Senate sees it."
Right. Not focusing on Geonosis at the moment. Though the fact his mind had detoured there again meant he was going to track down why. Putting a mental red-ink underline under that as a priority, he focused on Padmé again.
"That is, in fact, a concern we wish to discuss with you. Many of the worlds out here on the Rim that aren't a part of the Republic have been approaching the League already. Though many are still holding us at arms-length until we prove we can handle the Hutts. Even the limited feelers we've already gotten are, however, a strong indication that our likely final borders are not going to be limited to former Hutt Space. There are quite a few systems in The Slice, in particular, that are asking questions as well. Even some that do technically have Republic membership, as it happens."
They had begun moving as they talked, smoothly heading for a pre-prepared conference room. Padmé, to her credit, only paused to twitch a single time when Asajj joined them as an 'observer,' wearing her own suit of Bunny-Armor…
… … …
Sabé had desperately needed the get away to let the giggles out of her system. She knew what they were meeting about was important, the current subject having had their hosts and Padmé dancing around how to deal with 'borders' in areas where there wasn't a clear border between Republic and unaligned space. But watching Padmé twitch every time one of the Jedi present did something that brought attention to their outfits had just been too much.
Thankfully, Dormé was the real expert on the political bits and pieces, and Cordé was their expert on Republic law. Sabé was primarily their security expert and wasn't really needed for the discussions. Doubly so once Shaak Ti had made it obvious that she and her padawan were genuinely neutral. The Jedi Knight had quickly settled into the role of mediator for the back and forth, with what was obviously long experience. Of course, that fact had led to several of the 'twitching incidents' as it brought Padmé's attention back to what the admittedly gorgeous Knight was wearing. But still…security at least wasn't really a concern for the moment.
Which meant that Sabé had been able to escape to spend several minutes having a giggle fit in a nearby refresher, before she died of her attempts at suppressing it.
It had also, unexpectedly, led to Asora inviting her into her office for a 'chat.' Given that she was Sovereign Midoriya's personal assistant, it was a little odd he hadn't kept her on hand for the meeting. Something which had twigged Sabé's professional paranoia enough to accept the invitation instead of heading immediately back into the debate. Now, she was glad she had, as an 'emergency message' was followed by Asora 'accidentally' leaving critical information out on an unlocked dataslate. The whole thing had been done smoothly enough, yet in a way that made it very obvious to Sabé's training that she was intended to read whatever was on that slate.
Mentally shrugging, she noted its position, scooped it up, and began speed-reading. She nearly stopped in shock by the third page, but forced herself to continue, not knowing when Asora would 'reappear.' The fact that there was only a single topic on the dataslate, and it was a collection of files that shouldn't all have been in the same place, it was more clear than ever that she'd been intended to read it. Using several tricks from her training to commit it all to memory, she was able to get through ninety plus percent of the content by the time Asora reappeared. Deliberately making enough noise so Sabé wouldn't be caught, too.
Having quickly and professionally restored the dataslate perfectly to it's previous state, Sabé greeted the Bunny-Uniform clad assistant with her best smile, despite the fact that her mind was racing lightyears a second. At least she now knew why their hosts had warned them about the Trade Federation delegation being present. Even if she wasn't sure what to do with the information she'd just gained. Tell Padmé and the others, of course. But after that? Well, that was a bigger question.
… … …
"Kark."
That was a succinct by less that useful summary on Eirtaé's part, though it was Padmé who they were all looking to for a reaction. Their mistress's expression was twisting and contorting as she worked through all the angles at play, and none of them were at all sure what the result would be. Finally, expression settling on a frown, Padmé spoke. Surprisingly enough, her voice was relatively calm.
"You're sure that there was an indication that they'd sent the information along to the Jedi?"
Sabé nodded instantly and firmly.
"Yes. That particular report was the single most out of place, so it stood out. They passed the information along to Master Tholme. Who, if you recall, was Aayla's own Master in the final years of her training. I've looked into him before as part of background on Aayla herself, and he's apparently some sort of investigator or trouble shooter for the Jedi Order. Not quite an outright intelligence agent, but probably the closest thing their order has to one."
Padmé's shoulders relaxed slightly but noticeably at that.
"Good. That's good. It makes the rest of this make sense, at least."
Sabé nodded her head, though Dormé, Eirtaé, and Cordé all continued looking confused. Since Sabé could see Padmé was still processing and considering what it meant for their own position, she aimed a quick explanation their way.
"The League is covering its bases as best they can, without tipping the TF off that they leaked the information. They can't afford to blow the whistle on the situation directly. The Trade Federation abruptly backing the Hutts, possibly with a lot of those Battleships, would be a complete disaster for their Crusade. Worse, it would be throwing away a useful asset, since the files indicated they were in the process of striking a deal to buy the ships into their own service in exchange for not blowing the whistle about their existence. The Federation doesn't lose money, gets the issue of ownership over Hoersch-Kessel Drive completely resolved before it causes problems, and doesn't get in trouble over the battleships. An acceptable compromise for the Federation…but obviously not one the League is entirely happy with."
Dormé caught on immediately. So did Cordé from the look of it, but Dormé spoke first.
"They still wanted to warn the Republic that something fishy was going on. But the Trade Federation has people all through the Judiciary and Senate both. It's how Nute Gunray got off with barely a slap on the wrist after their invasion of Naboo. The League knows that, so they slipped the information quietly to the Jedi, who are technically part of the Judiciary and can come up with an excuse to investigate. And us…they don't want us caught off guard, and hope we can poke around on the Senate side, where the Jedi are weak, without alerting anyone."
Padmé nodded, seeming to have finally gotten her thoughts fully in order while they all got on the same page.
"Exactly. They know we don't have any love for the Trade Federation and are aware how deeply connected they are. Given the technically illegal way that Sabé came across the information, we can't whistle blow the situation directly, but we're forewarned and can put out feelers simply on the worry that somehow the Federation made a deal with the League even before the Republic. Given our history, no one would blink an eye at us trying to figure out the 'why' and 'how' of that. If we get independent confirmation, we can then blow the whistle without implicating the League."
Sabé, seeing that Padmé might have missed something from the spycraft angle, filled in another bit.
"So can the Jedi, too, with the League able to claim that it was one of the various independent Jedi now roaming Hutt Space that leaked the information. Cut outs for the League either way, with a double shot at the information getting out despite that. Clever, honestly. Doubly so as they made the whole thing obvious to us, making it clear they value us as an ally. Kriff, this entire summons is likely about those ships, even if they are using the completely legitimate negotiations as a cover to pass the information along."
Dormé huffed a sigh at that.
"Which explains the rush, of course. Yes, it all fits. Damnit. What do we do, though?"
Padmé shook her head.
"Nothing. Not for now, at least. As you said, we have completely legitimate negotiations to get through. Better to sit on this until we get back to Coruscant…or possibly Naboo, actually. We can reasonably make a detour there and act with great certainty of information security. If the Jedi already have the information, then this isn't time critical. So we take our time and make sure to properly obscure our source or sources."
They all nodded at that. The League had trusted them with sensitive information, even if indirectly. How they handled that fact would likely color their interactions going forward. Firmly deciding that a new, lighter topic was called for, Sabé grinned hugely.
"Now! The really important thing! Jedi Bunnygirls! Hot or not? And does this mean that I can redesign our uniforms now? Obviously, it's respectable if the Jedi are wearing it this season instead of those frumpy robes!"
Padmé's whimper-groan at the topic shift was everything that Sabé could have hoped for…
… … …
"Oh, Force. That was awful. I thought business negotiations were bad, but those would at least have gotten somewhere. Half of the day was wasted was going around in circles! We barely even managed to agree that there is an issue, let alone on what sort of solutions there might be!"
Izuku snorted, though even that sound came across as somehow tired.
"Why do you think I intended to foist the political machinations off on proper politicians, instead of doing this myself? Thankfully, we can still get away with that after a few days of establishing positions. Probably."
Shaak Ti, was quick to tease. She was looking far more amused than fatigued despite her Padawan looking even more done than Aayla clearly was.
"Oh, that wasn't so bad. Why, the good Senator was positively straightforward for her position. Indeed, one could almost think she was a bit distracted by something?"
The comment, and the artfully innocent tone it was delivered in, revitalized Aayla a bit as she snickered.
"That part was glorious. I honestly didn't think her reaction to the outfits was going to be quite so extreme. I got the impression that one of the handmaidens, Sabé I think, has been teasing her about something related. I wasn't even trying to peek at her thoughts, but the sheer mental volume behind that name and her instinctive desire to wring someone's neck for the situation was hard to tune out."
Asajj perked up at that as well, a smirk fit to match Aayla's on her face. It was a lively expression that Izuku and the others were glad to see there. Her melancholy over Ky Narec's death hadn't entirely vanished, of course. Not so soon. But the Padawan was showing all the signs of dealing with the emotions involved in a healthy manner, slowly returning to the same chaotic energy that had led her to a plan that involved getting a bunch of mercs stoned on the very spice they'd been protecting.
"That part was fun, and the armor is honestly pretty awesome. I wish I'd had something this protective back on Rattatak. Or…well…"
There was a momentary flash of pain as her thoughts trailed to the obvious other time armor might have helped. Though the way her Master had died meant it was unlikely. Enough so for her to quickly shake the thought off and continue.
"…I'm totally keeping it, you know."
Izuku groaned, having seen that one coming.
"At least let me have Mei redesign it without the bunny ears. They are a little impractical, despite the sensors in them. The sensors can be put in a helmet or small back module, maybe."
Asajj considered for a moment, seeming to war between practicality and the amusement value of the ears. Finally, she nodded.
"If she can come up with something that's a little less of a liability when doing flips and such, that would be great."
Glad to have won at least that small victory out of a ridiculous battle, Izuku decided to strategically redirect while he was ahead and shifted direction to another point he wanted to cover. One underlined in mental red ink.
"Getting away from the politics for a bit, in preservation of our own sanity, a thought sprung to mind while I was talking about Tatooine that I think needs chasing down. Mostly because it keeps springing to mind at odd times, despite not seeming like the issue should be critical enough to do so."
Asajj looked puzzled, but Shaak Ti and Aayla immediately perked up, with the older Knight being the one to point out the obvious for her Padawan.
"That sounds like the Force trying to get your attention. Though, in this case that seems very odd. You aren't affected by the Veil the same way we are, so you tend to get more direct guidance. Nudges like that are far more like what the Jedi have been reduced to dealing with for the last decade or two."
Izuku nodded acknowledgement to that, even as Asajj obviously caught on, perking up now in the same way that the other two had.
"I thought that myself. In fact, it was why I ignored the first two or three idle thoughts on the subject. Now, however, it occurs to me that just because I am not covered by the Veil, that the subject matter might not be instead. If the issue is something that's being directly concealed by the Veil, then it would still exist between me and it, unless I was physically close enough to connect to the 'local' Force midi-chlorians and ask for the equivalent of a data dump."
Aayla nodded and pointed out, for Shaak and Asajj's benefit, another example of the same thing occurring previously.
"It's the same issue that has kept you from finding who your mysterious Sith is, when Tholme asked you to try. If you were right on top of them, on the same planet at minimum, you could probably find them easily. But from a random point in the galaxy to another random point, you're swimming in an unbelievably vast ocean of data that makes the gaps caused by a single person's Force Cloak appear so meaninglessly tiny you'd never spot it."
Izuku nodded, scowled, then shrugged.
"It would be nice to have a cheat code to solve all mysteries. But we shouldn't complain about the boons we have, just because they don't solve every problem instantly."
All three Jedi nodded firmly. The effect Izuku had of clearing up the local Force for Jedi nearby was a major boon, one that some of the Jedi who had been exposed to the phenomenon were already using to great effect to make their own impacts on the Crusade. Hell, even just being able to feel the difference between the Veil covered Force and Veil free Force had helped many of those Jedi refine their ability to penetrated said Veil even when away from the immediate effects of Izuku's presence. Complaining that it didn't hand them every answer on a silver platter when it already helped so much would be stupid and ungrateful. Not that some Jedi wouldn't likely complain anyway, but even Jedi could be entitled little brats at times. The ultimate problems with power and egos coming together was a sort of poison that not even the Force could make one immune to.
"Anyway, the nudge in question is about the planet of Geonosis. They've reacted a little oddly to the League, seeming both interested yet nervous at the same time. Really, it shouldn't be anything to be concerned about, but if the Force really is nudging me to make sure we check it out…"
Shaak Ti nodded firmly.
"Then it needs to be checked out. I'm committed to acting as a neutral mediator while the League and the Senator are in talks. But as soon as we're done, I'll take my Padawan and show her some investigation tricks while running down whatever it is that the Force wants you to notice. If you could have the League's own intelligence network do whatever initial work they can, we will take it from there afterward."
Feeling a satisfied pulse from the Force at the firm statement from Shaak Ti, Izuku relaxed and nodded.
"I'll get our people on it. Thanks, Shaak. Now, how about something less serious? I know I, for one, could use a decent bit of exercise after that session."
There were murmurs of agreement from the others, even as they began to debate what form that exercise should take. Shaak immediately suggested another sparring match, having become determined to make some progress against Izuku's odd combat style, but Aayla and Asajj just as quickly began lobbying for something more 'fun'…
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
A/N 1: I couldn't help myself with the Bunny Girl armor, even if I've probably taken the joke too far at this point. Asajj is probably the only one that will be keeping a version of hers, unless people really get a kick out of them :-p.
A/N 2: I'm honestly a little shocked no one has said anything about Geonosis up to this point. But, then, if you haven't taken a peak at the galaxy map you wouldn't realize just how close they are together. There's a REASON that Padme and Anakin beat the Order there so easily, the planets are the next best thing to neighbors.