Breakfast the next morning was very awkward for obvious reasons to Padmé and Anakin, though less so for the rest of their contingent. Bail, Mon and Rush all sat glumly and chewed their Corellian toast in silence, uttering nothing but the most meaningless pleasantries like 'good morning' and 'can you please pass the blue milk', though the latter seemed to bear a smugger expression than usual. Padmé decided that it was her who needed to break the silence.
"So I had a very odd encounter last night," she said as she spread the shaak butter over her bread. "A Muun gentleman...purporting to represent the banking clans...offered a too generous donation to one of my Naboo welfare charities. I refused...but it seemed a bit too convenient that he would show up as the only one present in the small lounge next to our quarters."
This was all true, of course. After arranging for all the hired hands individually tailored for each member of the senate, a chore that took her endless hours outside her normal work hours along with millions of credits, less valuable as she retained full control of the accounts of the late Darth Plagueis ever since the death of Sidious. Every detail had to be perfect, including the own plants she hired to, for appearances' sake, tempt even Senator Amidala, who briskly and politely declined the offer, departing immediately back to her own quarters to fuck the shit out of her husband.
She noticed Bail's face pale. He gulped down his bread and, breathless from his irregular eating, made the decision to speak up. "I had someone approach me as well. A temptress. She resembled...someone dear to me from the past."
"Dear to you," Rush asked. His face remained blank, but Padmé could sense the anxiety within the man. "In what way?"
"She resembled very closely a...love interest from my youth. It was a...must have been an attempt of...seduction," Bail said, the last word emerging out of his mouth with such disgust that Padmé though he was going to throw up the breakfast he had just eaten.
"My cousin," Mon blurted out suddenly, as if the words had been weighing upon her soul all morning. "She's always been trouble. I don't know what type of people she's running with these days, but...she approached me with what I think was a...bribe! From the Techno Union!"
"The Techno Union," Kara said out loud. "That was who the dug that approached me purported to represent. He said something about very sizable donations to the Ryloth slave fund...but only in exchange for votes on certain issues..."
Padmé had arranged for Kara's contact as well, though she had vaguely warned her to be extra aware on Cato Neimoidia ahead of time. Kara had learned quickly in her few short months in the Senate, and Padmé knew that she would be smart enough to resist the barely veiled attempt at outright bribery and extortion.
They all looked at Rush, who had remained mostly silent throughout the exchange.
"What about you Rush," Mon asked. "Did anyone suspicious approach you?"
"I turned in early," Rush said calmly. The man was a good liar, Padmé mused. He betrayed no physical tells of his deception, but the imprint he left in the Force told an unmistakably different story. "After hearing everything, I'm glad I did so. Force knows what would have happened had I stayed out for a nightcap."
"This is...this is just outrageous," Bail thundered, his embarrassment now turned to anger. "This entire trip was just...an attempt at mass blackmail of the entire Senate?"
"Are you surprised," Padmé asked. "I mean, just yesterday Gunray basically threatened all of us out loud in the open. It's like they're not even bothering to hide their villainy here."
"But still," Mon Mothma's eyes widened as the realization, "all the other Senators. They must have done this to everyone. All of us here has the integrity to reject these advances, but there's so many who would not." Her words trailed off as her mind tried to imagine the implications if the Trade Federation had dirt on an untold number of Senators. "I know my colleagues. Unfortunately, I know them too well. For all we know, the Trade Federation already owns more than half the Senate."
"I expected something like this to happen," Padmé said calmly. "Of course the Trade Federation had something up their sleeves. Why do you think I chose to attend? Whatever they are trying to pull, it is good that all of us are here to uncover the truth." She sensed another pang of nervousness from Rush as she said the last word.
"What about the Jedi," Bail asked. "There are many on the planet now and more on the way. Surely they could have prevented some of these...attempts."
"I don't know," Padmé said skeptically. "The Jedi are here to protect the lives of the Senators, not their integrity. For them to actually intervene and prevent one of us from taking a bribe would actually cause the order severe repercussions. It's sad, but such is the state of the galaxy these days."
"Well," Rush exclaimed as he drank the last of his caf, "as pleasant as all of your company is, I must get myself ready for the 1100 meeting. I'll see you all there."
"1100 meeting," Mon asked, confused. "What meeting is that?"
"It came in this morning. None of you received the notification?"
"No, and I just checked my comm," Bail replied, shaking his head.
"We're not scheduled to arrive until 1320," Kara said, checking her datapad.
Rush examined every one of his fellow senators around the table, who all shook their heads. "Well," he said finally, "I guess I'll fill you in on what happens there."
"Where's your husband," Bail asked Padmé. They had wandered off away from the other Senators to a picturesque room with windows overlooking the vast ravines and canyons surrounding them. Even Padmé had to admit that, her feelings for the Trade Federation aside, there were exceedingly beautiful locales even in a place like Cato Neimoidia.
"He's on the comm with his mother," she said fondly. It was his determined and unwavering loyalty to the few that mattered to him that made him so much more endearing to her, that made her love him so much more. "It's just after dinner at the homestead."
"Ah. Anakin's a fine young man."
"He certainly is," Padmé said. She could tell that Bail's mind was distracted, that he was barely present in their conversation. She also knew why.
"I had an odd dream last night," he said after a moment's silence while they both admired the views.
"Really," Padmé asked, feigning curiosity. "It must have left an impression."
"I was back home on Alderaan, at my family's estates. But then I was in space, above Alderaan, and there was a small moon...but it wasn't one of our moons. It was almost as if that moon was actually a moon-shaped...space station. And then I definitely don't think I was on Alderaan anymore, because I saw...up close...this moon shoot out this beam of light and...I swear...I saw Alderaan blow up. The entire planet, in less than two or seconds was gone, destroyed and I felt it. It was like I felt the agony and terror of...billions of lives...crying out in terror and then...nothing."
Padmé saw that he was shaking and sweating by the time he had finished recounting his tale. She hated to do this to Bail. He was a good man, and a friend, but what had to be done, had to be done. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It was just a nightmare."
"But it felt so...real. So vivid."
"Don't take offense to my words Bail but...you're not a Jedi. You're in hostile territory, in a place where we are all worried for our lives, and I'm sure that attempt at entrapment last night only exacerbated the stresses that have been weighing on your mind."
Bail sighed. "I'm sure you're right, Padmé. I'm sorry for burdening you with some trivial nightmare...like I'm a child or something."
"Don't worry about it Bail. Sometimes we all need someone to hear us out. I'm lucky, my husband works for me, so we have each other at all times. You must miss Breha a lot."
"I do."
"Give her a comm. Talk to her. Maybe a taste of home is what you need right now."
He saw Quinlan Vos amidst the hordes of politicians streaming through the grand banquet hall and breathed a sigh of relief. And hordes they were, Obi-Wan thought, mindless packs no better than non-sentient beasts driven by the basest of instincts. His Jedi friend walked up to Obi-Wan and both turned to watch in silence the procession.
"Lazy, base, vile, corrupt, completely complacent...and I love it." Obi-Wan said this with all sincerity as, all things considering, this was his most relaxing assignment in a long time. "Not a wildcard among them."
"I'll bet you especially appreciate the lack of rogue senators trying to overthrow the legitimate government of an entire planet," Quinlos remarked knowingly.
"And succeeding in doing so," Obi-Wan added. He brought his hand to his chin, playing with the hair of his lightly colored beard. "Master Unduli has the unsavory task of safeguarding Amidala. Though, surprisingly, she reports that our favorite senator has been shockingly well behaved thus far."
"Thus far being the keywords," Quinlan joked. Honestly, he liked the Senator from Naboo and admired her guts and her balls, something far lacking in the rest of her compatriots. But he could also appreciate how difficult of a detail she presented for his friend back on Ryloth. He studied the Senators walking into the meeting hall, noticing Rush Clovis amongst the crowd, the only one present from Amidala's contingent. "Do you find it odd that we are not allowed inside for this meeting?"
Obi-Wan surveyed the hall and saw all the other Jedi standing guard in every corner, having to be satisfied with the notion of protecting their charges from an outside lobby. "Yes. The Trade Federation is up to something, alright. But what's the worst they can do?"
"Funny, that coming from you. You were there on Naboo after all."
"I know," Obi-Wan said defensively. He gestured at all the other Jedi, Knights and Masters alike, around the room. "But this place is teeming with Jedi. Surely you know by now that the Viceroy and his retinue are cowards at heart. But what are they going to do? Invade their own planet? Or hells, bribe these Senators to death?"
Quinlan narrowed his eyes. He leaned closer to Obi-Wan, so that his voice came out in a whisper that only he can hear. "Funny you mention that. I have heard rumors..."
"Yes, well that's to be expected, isn't it? Why else do you think the Trade Federation would extend their coffers to the Senate. Surely not out of charity?" Obi-Wan paused in a deeper reflection. "It's strange though. Any shenanigans by these guys I would be able to sense parsecs away. But I feel nothing but...shadows. The Dark Side seems to cloud everything here on Cato Neimoidia."
"Master Yoda was right then," Quinlan said, shivering. "The Sith are behind all of this."
"Have you any luck in eliciting a reaction," Obi-Wan asked, referencing his friend's recent discovery of the sith's super weapon.
"I've mentioned Geonosis to more than a dozen Senators and gauged their reactions. Nothing registered, and most seemed to never have heard of that backwater dust ball."
"Hmmm," Obi-Wan covered his mouth in thought. He saw Siri Tachi out of the corner of his eye and gave her a cursory nod, a sign of respect from one Jedi to another. "Perhaps you should try a more direct approach."
"That's a new one," Quinlan said laughing, "Kenobi being direct."
"I'm serious though," Obi-Wan insisted. "Mention the weapon directly, its capabilities. If the Sith are unaware that we know of the weapon, then it will be sure to elicit a response."
"It reveals our hand."
"What's the harm in that," Obi-Wan asked. His Sabaac playing friend was too caught up in the game to see the big picture, apparently. "Let them know we know what they're up to. Surprise them, let them think we're ahead of the game for once. Maybe it will actually push them into acting rashly, enough to finally reveal themselves."
Quinlan raised one eyebrow, and Obi-Wan saw a glint of a smile in his friend's features. "An interesting approach, though risky. I'll give it some thought, Kenobi."
"I do see that it is becoming more and more critical that we unmask the sith," Obi-Wan concluded. "The Trade Federation is emboldened because the Sith have emboldened them. Force help the Republic if this keeps going."
"Then maybe we should do something," Quinlan said loudly. Not meaning to have uttered those words beyond the ears of Obi-Wan, he looked around sheepishly, happy that no one seemed to have noticed except Tachi across the hall. Lowering his voice, he continued, "right now there's more Jedi on Cato Neimoidia than any other planet in this kriffing galaxy save Coruscant. Yet we stand helplessly while Nute Gunray plots the corrosion of the Senate."
Obi-Wan shrugged his shoulders and waved his arms more forcefully than he meant to. "You're talking like Senator Amidala now. What more can we do? Our mandate is to protect these Senators from external threats, not to protect them from themselves." He shook his head, knowing how cynical he sounded right now. "I'm sorry Quinlan. I don't like any of this any more than you do, but if you think it's the role of the Jedi to end corruption as a whole in the Republic, then you've been spending too much time with Master Dooku."
The two of them stood in silence as the last of the errant senators made their way into the conference room, and a very smug looking Nute Gunray closed the doors himself. Obi-Wan looked across the hallway again to Siri, who seemed to be purposefully directing her attention at the gathering hall rather than the two Jedi opposite from her. She had clearly sensed the turmoil from their argument, and was keen to stay away from it.
"The Jedi obey the Senate," Quinlan said, breaking the silence. "If the Senate is hopelessly corrupt, then what does that say about the integrity of our Order."
"Well," Obi-Wan started, but to be honest with himself, he did not actually know how to respond to Quinlan. Fortunately, or unfortunately, his friend did not give him the chance to.
"Hear me out," he continued. "If the sith use this corruption as a means to take over the Senate, and the Jedi obey the Senate...then where does that leave the very existence of our Order?"
Obi-Wan could not even pretend to be able to answer his question.
Rush Clovis shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He recognized most of his fellow senators in the room. Few of them, save the small group around Chancellor Antilles, had unsullied reputations. Not that his group were a hundred percent pure either. Amidala had her scandalous marriage and even more scandalous actions on Ryloth, and there were constant whispers about the financial dealings of Mon Mothma's family. As for Bail Organa, he was so much of a stiff that many in the Senate just assumed that he was hiding something nefarious. But nevertheless, they were known as the incorruptibles, and Rush had been quick to see the advantage of associating himself with them. It didn't hurt, of course, that Amidala was part of that caucus, and being with them allowed him to bask in her presence at all times.
Yes, it was indeed true that most of the senators gathered in the room here stood for exactly the opposite of his friends. At the head of the room was an amply shaped human representing the industrial world of Kuat. It was he, Tub'r Fafi, that decided to take upon himself the burden of speaking for all his colleagues.
"What is the meaning of this," his deep sonorous voice echoed indignantly across the room. Rush could see that, like many of the Senators gathered, Fafi's eyes drooped with weariness, the deep circular bags sagging under them physical evidence of his indulgences the night before. As he spoke, the murmurs died down, and many of the Senators covered their heads with their hands to shield their hangovers from the noise.
"This is costing me several hours of sleep," Fafi continued angrily. "I'm hungry, and I don't see any food in the room. I should be in my quarters still sleeping right now. For fuck's sake, I have a delivery of sugared eelheads arriving at my bed right now that I should be eating. They're going to go cold." He mumbled the last bit like a spoiled child denied dinner before bed.
Other senators murmured their agreement, and while Chancellor Antilles eyed the rude senator with coldness, he nevertheless spoke up to the three Neimoidians gathered on the stage with the same disgruntled sentiments.
"Pardon my fellow senator's protocol," Bail said, his smooth politician's voice hiding his dissatisfaction with the situation, "but the last minute announcement of this meeting is highly irregular. I would appreciate it, Viceroy, if you can let us know why we are here."
The leader of the Trade Federation grinned loudly at the senators gathered, if that were possible. He bowed, and Rush swore that he was mocking them. "I'd be happy to, Chancellor Antilles. And Senator Fafi, I apologize for the lack of refreshments. I guess I just assumed that you have consumed enough of them last night. All of you, in fact."
As the politicians gathered in the room grumbled uneasily, Senator Lott Dod of the Trade Federation activated the holo at the head of the stage, and to the horror of all, the image of a butt-naked Bail Antilles plowing away at some young raven haired prostitute appeared on the screen.
"Who's your Chancellor? Who's your Chancellor?" The grunts of the leader of the Republic filled the ears of all gathered, and while Senator Fafi watched the scene with undisguised bemusement, his irritation all but dissipated for the moment, a second later footage appeared of him agreeing to undermine, take over, and sell several of the shipyards on his own planet owned by his rivals to the Techno Union. The montage of horrors continued as all the Senators witnessed the base evidence of their crimes played before their colleagues, with one even agreeing to sell his own children to Hutt slavers.
Dod pressed a button, and the holo stopped. Everyone sat in stunned silence, unable to speak or react in any way.
"This is extortion at the basest level," Bail Antilles finally said, his face somehow even paler than usual.
"We are not responsible for your actions," Gunray asserted triumphantly. "You did this all yourselves."
"This is entrapment," Fafi protested loudly.
"This was a setup," Senator Kharrus yelled loudly. "You set us up, this is all your fault!"
As the room exploded in screams and shouts worse than even the most contentious debates Rush had witnessed in the Senate, he felt the urge to protest himself. "I am a young Senator, single and unattached," he screamed, his voice echoing above the din. "What fault is there in my actions?"
Nute grinned at him. "Do you really want the entire galaxy to know whose name you screamed in the throes of ecstasy?" He put his hands on the side of his face and yelled out in a high pitched voice that no one thought him capable of. "Amidala! Amidala! Oh, Amidala!"
"Enough!" Despite the loss of his dignity, the voice of the Supreme Chancellor was enough to get the room to quiet down. He stood and bravely faced the Viceroy. "This is a mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life. All of us here, clearly, have embarrassed both ourselves and the dignity of the Senate." He struggled, trying to get the words out. "What do you want from us, Viceroy? Is it the Trade Freedoms Act? Is that why you went through all this trouble to...destroy our reputations?"
"Thank you for your kind words," Nute said, raising his hands high in the air in a grandiose manner. "First, I would like to baks in this, my greatest moment, and tell all of you, you are so lucky and privileged to witness this moment, my greatest moment. Secondly...yes, the Trade Free..."
To his shock, Lott Dod stepped directly in front of his own Viceroy, interrupting him. "Not so fast," the only smiling senator in the room said.
"What is the meaning of this, Dod," Nute asked angrily. "Have you gone completely mad?"
"My fellow senators," Dod started, ignoring Nute Gunray completely, "I would remind you that I, and I alone, have control over this footage. I, and I alone, know where it is stored and I, and I alone, have the codes to activate it...or destroy it."
"Are you...," Nute started angrily towards his senator, but Lott Dod, with one forceful shove, pushed him to the back of the stage. The Viceroy stumbled, caught himself, but stared at Dod in confusion. Turning away from Gunray purposefully, he moved to continue his speech.
"My fellow senators. What I want...not what Nute Gunray wants, is for you to not pass the Trade Freedoms Act." As if those gathered in the room had not survived enough surprises for the day, this latest revelation left everyone, even Gunray, still and slackjawed. "In fact, I request...no, I demand, that the Senate refuses to even deal with the Trade Federation. To acknowledge our presence. To grant us a voice and a place in the Republic at all...with Nute Gunray as its Viceroy."
As he said his name, Dod looked back at Nute, who was finally beginning to understand what was happening. Dod continued. "It is logical, of course. Viceroy Gunray's crimes against Naboo have yet to be answered for. It is time, it is finally time, the Senate to bring him to account for his actions. With a new Viceroy at the helm, the Trade Federation will commence a new era and move on from some of the regrettable actions of our past. Then, the Senate will know that they can pass the Trade Freedoms Act with full confidence and trust in the great and grand and unlimited benevolence of the Trade Federation."
Chancellor Antilles looked around the room in complete confusion and befuddlement. It was as if what had just occurred in mere minutes had overloaded his mind completely, and indeed, he found himself completely unable to process what had just happened.
"It is a not an entirely unreasonable request," he finally said mindlessly, as if he were a broken protocol droid. "I believe all gathered would concur that Senator Dod's suggestions...are certainly the most reasonable way forward."
"All hail Viceroy Lott Dod," Senator Fafi, much less diplomatic than his Chancellor, yelled across the room.
Rune Haako watched the shoulders of Nute Gunray slump more and more as senator after senator voiced their support of Lott Dod. Gunray was vicious, Haako knew in his years of serving him, and though he was not the brightest, he knew when he was defeated. And this defeat was certain and complete. Haako watched as Lott Dod, who would obviously now be his new boss, if he deigned to keep him around, walk up to the man that he betrayed, and he swore that the now former Senator seemed almost apologetic.
"This betrayal," Nute said in a low, dejected voice, "will not long be forgotten."
"What had to be done must be done," Dod whispered to the former Viceroy, now visibly sapped of all spirit and hope. "If it makes you feel any better, I do not want to lose your talents completely. I will allow you to take your old seat on the Senate floor, so that you continue your great service towards the glory of the Trade Federation."
"I do not like this," Gunray said after a moment's pause, "but I accept."
Rune Haako was surprised to find himself genuinely sad for his old boss. He had never seen Nute Gunray so vulnerable, so helpless. But more than that, he wondered whether his life was about to get better or worse.
Nightshade's sydneylover150: More chaos, apparently!
SilverDaye: Or one leading the other on...