Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Star Wars movies, shows, books, comics or games. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not for sale, or rent. The Mobile Armors, and later Mobile Suits mentioned in the story are inspired by the various Gundam shows. They obviously belong to their respective creators, and, or copyright owners.


Chapter 7

=FG=

Part 7

=FG=


Pilot briefing room besh

Palpatine Class Star Destroyer Dauntless

Coruscant system

Tano and Yularen shared looks at Pellaeon's statement. The Captain, on the other hand, was becoming frustrated by their answers. From what he could gather so far, while they did sound good in theory, the picture they painted was not too different from what the New Republic claimed it stood for. Just like it was somewhat similar to what the Galactic Empire proclaimed it stood for when Palpatine announced it.

The truth was infinitely more complex.

"Beyond the military and generalities, you need to speak with the Senator," Yularen said. "We've been quite busy these past years to pay much attention to politics. Rebuilding the Imperial military after the war and dealing with all the outstanding threats has been extremely time-consuming."

"From what we've gathered, your Clone Wars was much shorter and less bloody than ours," Tano added.

"I would need to know more about your war to be able to comment one way or another," Pellaeon admitted. The little he heard pained a dark, if plausible, picture. Without the Emperor for the Republic to rally around during the height of the war, he wasn't sure what would have happened.

"That's a conversation for another time. It would require more than a few drinks." Yularen spoke in a distant tone before shaking himself from his obvious dark thoughts. "Ask your next question, Captain."

"Military structure. What can we expect if we decide to join your Empire?" Pellaeon inquired.

When all was said and done, that was one of the essential points his people would care about.

"Well, first, there are the old System Defense Fleets and Planetary Defence Forces. You should be familiar with them." Yularen began, and Pellaeon nodded. "Second, and above the first, we have the military forces maintained by certain big alliances. The Mid Rim Alliance and the Mandalorian Freehold are key examples of this. Groups in the Core do emulate their example. Finally, and most relevant for you, is the Federal Military we serve in." He nodded at the Togruta. "We were the Grand Army of the Republic during the war, and now we are the military of the Federated Empire."

"As for expectation, Imperial R&D would love to get their hands on working examples of the future technology you have, alongside engineers who know how to best maintain it." General Tano went into details. "As far as your ground forces are concerned, I'll be blunt in that regard. From what little we've seen, it's hard to believe how you've neglected them. Any army or Stormtrooper units you have would need to undergo training and familiarization regiments for their new equipment."

"The rest of your battle line will likely undergo a review and upgrade program to make sure it's better suited to face certain threats on our side of the galaxy." Yularen pointed out. "The last thing we need is for Black Rebellion remnants to take over modern warships from your side."

"What exactly is the Black Rebellion you're talking about? It sounds like trouble." Pellaeon didn't like the way both of them winced at the question.

"As the war escalated, our Confederacy kept improving their war droids, making them smarter, deadlier. They also fully networked some of their fleets to better take advantage of their newer generations of war droids and better counter Battle Meditation uses by certain Republic assets. They took extensive precautions against droids going rogue; fortunately for everyone, those precautions often work." Yularen's words were foreboding. "We also know of at least one fully networked fleet that remained loyal. However, a few of their fleets went rogue during the campaign, which broke the Confederacy as an offensive strategic threat. In the aftermath of those battles, no one could chase them. We were too busy recovering our dead and consolidating our positions for future offensives against the broken Confederacy. The enemy was too busy fortifying key hyperlane nodes in preparation for our future offensives. At the time, our military was exhausted, and many formations were at their breaking point, if not outright combat ineffective."

"The rogue droids managed to retreat to Fondor, which was still a major confederate stronghold. Instead of breaking fleets on its defenses, GAR's strategy was to cut the whole sector off. We would have dealt with it after neutralizing the core Confederate threat." Tano's expression matched her dark tone. "The Rogue droids managed to infiltrate Fondor's defenses under the guise of serving as reinforcements after breaking through our blockade. Then, they took over and repurposed Fondor's significant industry to building legions of state-of-the-art war droids, new ships, and all kinds of cybernetic horrors."

"By the time we had any idea what we were dealing with, the Confederacy had to put down fires at key industrial centers. We were busy pulling back our forces to deal with an unexpected, subversive threat. At the time, there were Droid armies abandoned on many Core Worlds. We were busy slowly grinding them down to nothing. Almost all of them switched sides to the Black Rebellion when contacted and reinforced. It took us over a year of total war to reasonably contain the threat, and we still struggle to eradicate it." Yularen finished the explanation.

That was much worse than anything his GAR had to face, Pellaeon decided. As if that wasn't bad enough, he was sure he just got the sanitized summary of events. The whole truth tended to be more complex and usually bloodier.

"I don't believe we would be having this conversation if you and your people had good options left, Captain. What exactly are your realistic options at this junction?" Tano asked.

"Without fighting through the forces of the New Republic or a strong Warlord, our options are either Warlord Zsinj or Isard." Pellaeon bitterly admitted.

"From what we hear, your Zsinj is a treacherous snake just like our bastard. And Isard? That's the crazy hut-spawn who unleashed a bio-weapon on Coruscant? The same one, which is the primary reason we're here in the first place?" Tano asked. "I don't envy your position, Captain."

Tano's communicator beeped at that point, interrupting their meeting.

"General, your presence is required at the CIC. The New Republic people finally saw the light and are ready to begin working on delivering supplies and medical personnel to Coruscant." An exciting young voice came over the comm.

"I'll be right there, Lieutenant," Tano answered. "Duty calls. Captain, Admiral." She nodded at them and saluted before making her way out of the briefing room.

"That isn't something you often see on our side." Pellaeon grudgingly admitted. "Our New Order tended to be human-centric in the extreme and had some odd idea of the place of females in society."

"We've heard of that idiocy, and let me tell you, Captain. We reject it outright." Yularen made it clear that some of Pellaeon's officers wouldn't quite like the Federated Empire, even if it lived up to its promises.

Well, that couldn't be helped. It wasn't like those same people would like to work for Isard anyway, and Zsinj was a particular kind of bastard that you either loved or loathed with your whole being. Needless to say, Pellaeon wasn't a huge fan of that man.


=FG=

Part 8

=FG=


Pilot briefing room besh

Palpatine Class Star Destroyer Dauntless

Coruscant system

The conversation turned to the failings of their respective Zsinj problems. Pellaeon was still trying to wrap his head around the strange and deadly Clone Wars the other galaxy fought. It was unfortunate, to say the least, that parts of their Republic's intelligence agencies went rogue. They apparently backed an early Jedi Coup, though the open presence of a Sith Warlord fighting for the Republic successfully, at that might have 'helped' in that regard. While Yularen admitted he wasn't sure, many indications pointed to Naval Intelligence being involved with their Zsinj defection. That directly led to him taking over their Corporate Sector and holding it with the quiet approval of the Confederacy to this day.

In contrast, Pellaeon's own Zsinj problem was arguably the most powerful Imperial Warlord in their part of the galaxy. He had a massive fleet and more than sufficient financial and industrial backing thanks to implicit support from Sereno, where he established his primary base after Endor. Zsinj was the man who popularized the term Imperial Warlord. By doing so, he undermined Imperial rule across the galaxy. Zsinj was busy taking over and assimilating or eradicating the forces of smaller Warlords in reach. Among his current targets were the rapidly shrinking holdings of Ennix Devian, a man rumored to be one of Palpatine's hitmen. His faction of the fracturing Imperial intelligence services greatly benefited from the New Republic capturing Grand Moff Nivers. The bulk of his military forces and systems he controlled defected to Devian shortly after Endor.

The other major rival bordering Zshj's expanding domain was the infamous Terrinald Screed, whose increasingly erratic behavior didn't help matters. Nowadays, Screed's fleet and holdings were a pale shadow of what they used to be. Pellaeon didn't expect to see the old man survive until the end of the year, even with the Federated Empire's arrival providing a distraction for everyone involved.

This state of affairs left those like Pellaeon in the Core in a tough spot. Their only realistic options were to back either Zsinj or Isard. Until recently, the Captain has been doing his best to conserve the lives of as many people as possible among those who still believed in the New Order. He did it by using them as training cadres and keeping them away from the front when possible. In that regard, his record as a survivor of Vader's Death Squadron helped. Everyone did want properly trained crews, after all. Sadly, Pellaeon knew he couldn't continue playing the game for longer. Sooner or later, Zsinj would require his allegiance in a way he wouldn't be able to refuse. Then it would be a choice between that man or the crazy that was Isard.

Talking about the character flaws of Zsinj across two galaxies ended with the arrival of three people. Two of them were supposed to be dead a long time ago. There was no mistaking Anakin Skywalker, if with more scars and older than the last time Pellaeon saw him on the holonet. The same was true for the famous Senator Amidala, now Skywalker from Naboo. That confirmed in his mind where Luke Skywalker came from and who his parents were.

Seeing these people on screen was one thing, and quite different from being in their presence.

"Senator Skywalker, Knights Astra, and Skywalker," Yularen nodded politely at their arrival. "This is Captain Pellaeon from the Galactic Empire."

"Well, he's a bit old to be ours." The Chiss woman, Astra, looked at him from head to toe with a smirk.

Gilad had to wonder if his counterpart slept with her or if it was their shared reputation.

"Captain, I must ask, why aren't you commanding a fleet as an Admiral?" Any trace of amusement vanished from the face of the Chiss. "Granted, due to my Master going out of his way to nurture and promote talent, your counterpart rose through the ranks faster than he would have otherwise. However, considering his skills, he would have made Admiral by the end of the war."

"I might have slept with the daughters or wives of the wrong people at the wrong time?" Pellaeon shrugged. It wasn't like it was a secret.

"Our Pellaeon did the same." Skywalker, the famous General, drily noted.

"The Galactic Empire has been more interested in appearance in certain cases than merit, it seems," The distaste in Senator Amidala, ahem, Skywalker, was clear. Her grimace helped express how she felt and made the scars on her face stand out.

"There were and still are elements within the Empire who keep certain traits in higher regard than skill and proven capability," Pellaeon admitted.

"Loyalty and purity of belief?" This time it was Skywalker, the Knight's, time to grimace. "From what we gather, that's not how your Empire is supposed to operate. The same is true for ours, though sadly, we can't always avoid political considerations."

"That has been my understanding so far." Pellaeon nodded. "Compared to the Galactic Empire, your New Order, your Empire is young. It hasn't had the chance to reshape the galaxy in its image, and at the same time, it hasn't had the chance to tarnish the ideas of the New Order." He paused. "Even if it isn't precisely our New Order."

"There are some distasteful, if not outright foolish, notions built into your New Order," The Senator smiled thinly at him. "If we are to be brutally honest with each other. "Knowing our Palpatine for a long time, some of these notions aren't things he would have cared about."

"I can't speak for our Emperor's counterpart on your side." Pellaeon honestly admitted. "Ours didn't stand against the tenets of the New Order, you might find… odd." That, of course, was an implicit support of COMPNOR."

"Ah. Those people." The Chiss smiled pleasantly. "We've got ours properly muzzled and pointed in the right direction."

"How did you manage that?" Pellaeon demanded.

"The Empress got sick of their meddling and certain foolish policies select members of the organization were pushing. She let the Sith deal with them. That was one of the few cases everyone agreed someone deserved the Sith unleashed on them." The Hero Without Fear explained.

"Now, let's focus on the here and now. Captain, you're exploring the possibility of your forces joining the Federated Empire as part of the Federal military. Is this the case?" The Senator inquired.

"That's the case, ma'am," Pellaeon confirmed. He made a mental note to inquire about the so-called Sith in detail.

"That is something that I can provisionally approve of. To be clear, if you join, until we are sure we can trust you, you and your people will operate under various restrictions. You will accept infantry detachments to each of your ships. Their purposes will be twofold. First, they will keep an eye on you. Second, they will make it harder for Droid boarding parties to take over your ships and re-purpose them."

"From what we gathered from Cal-Seti, in your part of the galaxy, no one has bothered to issue a state of the art weapons, armor, and other equipment to the ground forces. With certain exceptions, your troopers' gear is comparable to what we had in use in the early to mid-Clone Wars. It would be outclassed by what everyone who can afford it uses on our side of the galaxy." Knight Skywalker elaborated. "If your Stormtrooper components are comparable to those who joined us at Cal-Ceti, you're so outmatched on the ground, it's not even funny."

"I can't possibly answer this insinuation without more data." The blunt statement and its implications did annoy Pellaeon. However, they weren't too surprised after he saw the soldiers' equipment in the hangar.

"We'll need to discuss at length if you decide to join us. At this point, our lines of communication pass through a quarantine sector with active Black Rebellion forces." Skywalker, the Knight, pointed out.

"If we're to talk bluntly, Senator, if we're to join you, what are we looking at politically, culturally, and as far as the treatment of our people is concerned?"

"Politically and culturally, the primary changes we've seen since the time of the Republic and now are generally direct consequences of our Clone Wars. That includes the rise of the Federated Empire." A pained expression flashed over the Senator's face. "The Senate and the democratic foundations that were key for the existence of the Republic proved not up to the task of handling Chancellor Palpatine's murder and the crisis it created. That, in conjunction with the Confederacy's Grand Offensive that culminated with the fall of Corellia, was arguably the end of the Republic. Politically and culturally, you're looking at a divided galaxy in which militarism and respect for the military are at an unprecedented height. Pacifist movements and cultures, as well as most anti-war movements, have been compromised by cold, uncaring reality. If presented right, our side of the galaxy can see you as heroes. You will be among the last honorable adherents of a New Order that the current leaders of your Empire threw away for expediency or in their lust for power."


=FG=

If you want to support my writing or discuss this story, see the following links:

Pat re on: Delkatar's writing corner

the space battles forums - this is where most discussion over my stories takes place

the sufficient velocity forums

the alternative history forums