Chapitre 23: 01.18 : The Light Begins to Dim
[22 BBY]
[Gai'Solem, Groundside Solem, Solem System, Lipsec Sector]
Ardal Bren, Elder of Clan Fell, First Among Equals of the Clans of Solem, stood impassively atop the balcony of the Governmental Palace as the great mass of booted feet marched in unison along the main street of the planetary capital clad in the colours of the Galactic Republic. An amusing irony that was he found giving another traditional fist salute to the brave warriors of the clans, and for the great crowds that had assembled here and in other cities as these divisions were seen off-world so they could join the fighting. One major problem being solved even as it would bring badly needed credits into Solem; the bored veterans and agitators were off to somewhere that wasn't Solem to cause trouble, and they would were being paid to do so.
Paid little by Core standards, but a fortune by those of the Outer Rim he knew. Above him the sky screamed, and like the others he looked up as a squadron of TIE star-fighters and Vulture droid-fighters rocketed through the sky over the marching ranks, dropping fireworks that detonated in dazzling hues as he watched the crowds below cheer their approval. A sharp contrast to mere months ago when there'd been fighting in the streets as his forces, and those of the Solemites surrounding him on the shielded observation balcony, had crushed the Reformist clans. With their new allies in Executive Security Solutions of course, and it had been a bloody fight in several areas.
'More bloodily than we had too perhaps, but peace for a time at least because of it' he admitted to himself clapping at the aerial display above him. For the first time in generations....centuries in truth...Solem did not have to fear the threat of pirates; oh, they had danger of a Separatist Fleet appearing instead of course, but such things had always been the case under the 'rule' of the corrupt and incompetent Galactic Republic. Out in the Rim you could never know when the Trade Federation, Techno Union, or even an Unknown Regions force, could decide to enforce its will upon you as had nearly happened at Naboo a decade ago. Now...now at least they had the means to resist such forces, even if they would likely lose if they came in strength.
"Hard to believe, seeing the day, eh?" Nargat Saia, Elder of Clan Thund, muttered to him, and Ardal nodded in agreement at the sentiment. Fighting for the Republic, and their dark enforcers the Jedi, was an odd thing of course. Something that would have been much more in line with their Reformist foes till young Daron, son of Yolan Hammerhand; one of Clan Fell's loyal guardsmen, and now with a son with contacts and contracts with groups in the Core and Mid-Rim. A former Jedi at that, a loyal son of Solem who'd managed to escape that cult of religious extremists with their ability to manipulate exotic energy forms. In time Ardal hoped he could persuade the, now General of the Republic, Daron to sire a few younglings and train up a few of their own 'Force' manipulators. That might keep out the child-stealers and enforcers of the unjust demands of the Core Worlds; a way to be free of such arrogant outsiders who spat upon their own 'primitive' beliefs.
"Aye Nargat, aye, but a good sight nonetheless?"
The ancient warrior and clan elder nodded "Yes, we can grow strong again, and the battles will kill off the weak and bring in much wealth one can hope. Can't say much I like bout' who we're fight for, or with, at times but look at those star-fighters....the shipyards in the skies"
'Yes, and the need to keep everyone allied behind that continued success, and not plotting against us to take it from us' Ardal didn't reply but nodded calmly after another warriors salute "And the droid factories, the wealth backing our wandering friends has yielded is great, and we must weld ourselves to them in the coming years"
"Eh, of course" the ancient greybeard chuckled "....now, we're going to have to make concessions Ardal, be mag-nami-ous in victory and such things"
Ardal nodded "Aye, female rights be fine, open up senior clan positions to'em if they've experience..." which really meant ones who'd gone off-world, and those were largely allied with ESS and Republic Express now, so by association Traditionalist Clan allies "...and we'll bring in the mining regulations they wanted....we can switch to asteroid mining and digging into Soltilas moons Two and Three easily now. That'll be a give to our putting anti-slavery measures into the rewrite of the Constitution, along with maybe a droid tax to handle the new foundries output"
Change was good, it was leading to great improvements and renewed strength; but like the need for this great Galactic War to drain away unemployed warriors and youngsters, it was creating problems to be solved. Even such as the fact they could build their own droids and starships for the first time in over nine hundred years when the Republic and its Knights had destroyed the Ur'Soltas shipyards during the enforced demilitarisation on the outermost of the Outer Rim. Having these things again were leading to change, both needed and unexpected, and it was a juggling act to keep the world stable during it.
In part that had meant reaching out to the other worlds of the Sector, firstly those like Karksis and Nuea Solemna, but also the human worlds such as Lipsec to ensure they weren't completely dependent upon the likes of ESS and its backers. Eriadu too, though it was distasteful at times it was certainly beneficial as their worlds had a commonality of interests in how the region developed during the war. Efforts by ESS, the 'Aegis Guard', and Eriadu's 'Outer Regions Security Force' to organise a Sector Defence Conference under the umbrella of the Governor of Eriadu had as such been broadly supported by most of the Lipsec Sector worlds. Bespin and Isde Naha were also supportive, so one could only hope that...
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[22 BBY]
[Confederate Army/Trade Federation Droid Command, Beneath the Surface of Cato Neimoidia, Colonies Region]
Sentepeth Findos, now Viceroy of the Trade Federation since the....unfortunate...death of Nute Gunray at Geonosis nodded his agreement with mercenary vermin Calvik Toth's holographic avatar "Of course, of course, the Trade Federation will support your noble efforts to further grow the military strength of the Confederacy of Independent Systems"
The human bowed...not low enough, but it was an effort of sorts, and the tone polite at least "Thank you honourable Viceroy, our Fleet will be ready to hit Republic forces within the Colonies and edges of the Core within the next month. Only the orders of Count Dooku to..."
Sentepeth slashed his hand commandingly "No. Count Dooku is irrelevant in this matter! You work for the Trade Federation! To help protect Cato Neimoidia! So you will do so, I will inform the Council of the Confederacy of these things!"
Gunray had been far too conciliatory too the human Jedi; Sentepeth's slicers and accountants had found significant evidence of bribery and other matters that would prove great blaster fire for crushing any remaining resistance within the Trade Federation to his ascension to power. He'd had to be careful till his position had become clear within the power struggles that had taken place after the death of Gunray and his aides; and far too many had access to droid codes for his comfort till recently.
Now though it didn't matter, as his loyal soldiers controlled Cato Neimoidia Droid Command, along with those of a hundred other worlds, and those codes had been rewritten so the old ones would be now defunct. Especially usefully since Gunray's Uncle and Cousin had controlled large infantry divisions here in Cato Neimoidia and the droids had been needed to...persuade...them to accept his ascension to Viceroy. If they were to try turn on him, as he expected they would, they'd find those old dummy codes would be very much ineffective in any confrontation.
"Thank you Your Excellency, I will do as you command"
"Good, good, the only stipulation is no atrocities....unless I deem it necessary. Make your colleagues in the Mandalorian Protectors and ShadowGuard aware of this. Our credits are clean credits, and if you work for me, my orders are followed. You will rise high when we are victorious I assure you" he replied and leaving out 'despite failing Dooku and Gunray several times'
"I understand Viceroy, your word will be law for regions we take in your....I mean the name of the Confederacy of Independent Systems"
"Excellent, now I will let you plan your assault. Goodbye.....Admiral Toth"
He ignored the predatory grin on the hologram before it vanished, turning instead to his nephew standing to his side in the uniform of a Captain of the Trade Federation Security Division "Ah, Yenthoth, how goes the situation with shipyard and foundry production?"
"Good Viceroy..." he replied handing over a data-pad and Sentepeth began to flick through it "...and I have listed three scenarios at varying degrees based upon the level of....fees...that the previous Viceroy was claiming and could be transferred to yourself and the allies of the family Sir"
"Hmmmm.....you recommend little, very little..." he stated calmly looking at the younger Neimoidian and opting for informality and hopefully some degree of honesty "...nephew"
He nodded "Win the war first Uncle, we can loot the worlds of our enemies in the Core in the worst case, and even if we can just end the fighting with our control of the Great Hyperlane Routes assured the profits that can be reaped...."
Sentepeth nodded thoughtfully "Yes, yes, a long term investment with short term losses, a better strategy than short-term profits for risking potentially bankrupting the business. Then we will go with this scenario, encourage efficiency nephew, the more we can build the greater our influence in the Confederacy will be. Especially with Tambor's blundering in Ryloth"
The situation was very fluid at the moment; fleets were being assembled and while the Confederate Fleet had suffered some setbacks it would soon be able to start proper offensives by all accounts. On the other hand the defeat at Geonosis had been a serious blow, as had the destruction of the Malevolence and failure to gain the Dark Reaper....and now Wat Tambor was trapped on Ryloth. Good riddance in Sentepth's opinion, but the public relations of selling slaves would be a big problem, and it meant figuring out how to deal with idiot's eventual information leaks to their enemies.
'Dealing with Hutts! Doesn't he know they are the competition!' he thought with irritation '...and slaves? Useless! Droids are superior for labour and slaves undercut the need, and value, of our worker products!'
"He insists he can hold the world"
Sentepeth shook his head at that "He insists many things, and he is no General, nor is he a Jedi. No, he will be defeated and make a mess of our cause. So I want options; get hold of the best public relations firms on our payroll and have them prepare potential outcomes based on pubic impressions of slavery. And, of course, to prepare campaigns if we need to place the blame upon Tambor and his supporters as a personal failing. Less slaves, more droid sales!"
"Of course Uncle, but the Council may be less supportive"
He shrugged "Then we shall make a big show if it in the Parliament of the Confederacy, outlaw slavery....it would be very popular and a fine blade to stab our enemies with. Only we in the Trade Federation have the righteousness to rule the trade routes and economy after all nephew! Neimoidians are not Hutts, we are a superior breed! Now we need to concentrate the Trade Defence Fleet to aid Toth and his privateers in the coming assaults"
"And Rodia?"
He frowned, ah, yes "Ensure they receive double the promised shipments of humanitarian aid, and reinforcement by the Security Forces fleet being deployed to the world. Ensure they are treated with respect, and supply them with whatever arms they require, after the idiocy on Naboo and Ryloth it would a boost to our position both publically, and strategically when we move to relief Geonosis and support the assault upon Christoposis...
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
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