Glad to see we had a substantially greater reception to the last chapter, things seemed rather slow for a while yet, but hopefully this will be a trend that continues till the end of the story? In any regard, on with the new chapter, and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.
Chapter Forty Nine
Alterations of Power
Fae Coven noticed that Lord Berethon still seemed uneasy about his new position on the Jedi High Council; as the man was a bundle of tightly wound energy as they sat in opening meditation prior to officially starting the first meeting since his instatement. It came as no shock to her personally that he accepted within a week of arriving, even if the other members of the Council had voiced their great surprise at the Jedi Lord's ready acceptance of the office.
After several long minutes where they all centered themselves upon the Light Side of the Force, Master Antross called the meeting to begin. "Firstly, we wish to mark this historic occasion, and recognize the newest member of the Jedi Council, Jedi Lord Berethon of Corellia, welcome."
This did little to ease the tension emanating off the man, Fae noted, but she remained silent. Many Masters had had great misgivings during their first few sessions, and it was a thing that would pass with time and experience on how the Council operated.
"Now the first matter, which I truly wish was not something we had to strongly put such emphasis on, is the state of the war with the Sith Empire." Master Antross continued.
"An unfortunate part of life during these troubled times," Bith Master Aaro Cater commented, "but hopefully there are still some glimmers of possible victory, even with an entire armada of ships burning their way through to Coruscant as we speak."
"Yes," Master Antross agreed. "And therefore a problem that we need to find solutions quickly to, as we are losing more and more Jedi Knights and Padawan in these pitched battles, something that I still argue was not part of the original intent of the Jedi Order, but thing are as they played out nevertheless."
"For the sake of peace, we are now committed to the fight," Falleen Master Ir Trangrin said soothingly, bring a measure of peace back to the proceedings.
"It seems to me," Lord Berethon said, speaking for the first time, "that you are exceptionally worried, Master Antross, regarding the possibility of the Knights of the Order falling to the Dark Side amid this war?"
"That is most assuredly what I fear, Lord Berethon," Master Antross replied, and Fae sensed a small amount of gratitude pass from one human Jedi to the other, for clarifying the point he was trying to make. "We ought to be keepers of the Republic's peace, not their soldiers to fight against a foreign entity."
"Be that as it may," Lord Berethon continued, "since the foreign entity is Sith in origin, should not that specifically be our targets throughout this war from the beginning? We are not generals to lead forces into battle, although we can consult generals and admirals on their own level, but we are meant to fight the members of the Dark Side directly. Is it too late to pose that change of the Jedi's stance in the war to the Senate?"
"You propose that we become effectively assassins?" Master Naol'lar asked, the Twi'lek's voice sounding disturbed. "Is not that worse than being a soldier?"
"It would be, if I was suggesting that we go like thieves into the night to murder them in their beds," Lord Berethon countered, and Fae had to suppress the smile that threatened to form on her face at his words. Yes, electing that the Jedi Lord to join them on the Council was the perfect solution. The Corellian was bold enough to build up his points and more than wise in dealing with the Council to present a fresh perspective in a way that all could understand its direct meaning.
"We are sent to battlefields, to challenge and defeat their leaders, these Dark Adepts and their Sith Masters, in open combat, like true Jedi warriors of old, then withdrawing to allow the other soldiers to fight as they see fit. We are not part of the battle, although we must sometimes wade into it." Berethon explained, speaking again before anyone could comment, "Yes, there will be times that our Jedi must fight enemies of the opposing faction, but that is no more than what is to be expected with any mission, is it not?"
From the low murmurs around the room, Fae got the feeling of great approval over the Jedi Lord's words.
"We'll put it to immediate vote," Master Antross said, "those in favor of withdrawing to this level of specific mission oriented combat regarding the war, show so by the uplifted hand."
Master Coven raised her hand in favor, but was unable to see who else had voted. "Any opposed by the same sign," Master Antross declared, and there was a brief pause, "motion carried seven to five. We will draft an official statement to the Senate to be sent as soon as possible."
Master Coven had rarely heard of such a close vote within the Jedi Council until this war began, which was why she was so very glad that their participation within it was going to be reduced. It would lower the number of Jedi deaths, as well as assist the Republic far greater as the Jedi could go about what they needed to do, eliminate the servants of the Dark Side, and leave the fighting to those who had truly volunteered for it.
"Master, if I may add one final thought before we move on from this topic," Lord Berethon continued, to which Master Antross obliged.
"What are the Council's thoughts in reaching out to the rest of the Jedi splinter factions? I know that Master Coven had specifically reached out to me and the Green Jedi, in hopes that we would at least assist against this menace, but I know of a few more potential allies that we ought to sway back to our cause, namely, Lord Teepo and his vassals, not to mention the remaining forces that were under Lords Hoth and Farfalla respectively, which dispersed throughout the Galaxy when they fell in battle against the sith."
If such a concept had been suggested not a year ago, Master Coven would have expected it to be roughly shot down, but only the presence of the Jedi Lord on the Council itself, suggesting aid of his fellow Knights that were estranged from the central core of the Jedi made it even seem a possibility. "We would welcome any and all aid that was to come, Lord Berethon," Fae said, smiling appreciatively in the man's direction.
"If you were to handle the details of reaching out to the other factions, we would be most grateful." Master Antross added, "The Sith seek the extermination of all Jedi, not just this or that faction, so it would be most beneficial, despite our differences, to unite once more to combat them."
"So long as another Army of Light does not form, to challenge and fight the Sith head on once more," Master Rekara added, the Mon Calamari glancing sidelong as the Jedi Lord.
"To be fair, Master, the Army of Light did succeed in eliminating the vast majority of the Sith from the Galaxy, in the end," Lord Berethon replied sharply, "But no, I agree that such measures ought not occur again, there was far too much suffering throughout the Galaxy as a result, both within and without the Jedi Order. We are, as Master Antross stated, Keepers of the Peace, not soldiers."
Master Rekara's voice softened, and she accepted the reply as sufficient. "Meanwhile," Master Dolik volunteered, "shall we give the word to start the reorganization of Jedi away from frontline commanders, and I will start spreading the word to the Generals and Commanders with Jedi in their fleets."
"Some of our Order will not wish to cease leading their units," Master Cater said, "there are some that have additional motives to aiding the Republic in this time of crisis."
Master Coven knew that the Bith was referring to Luna, but she said nothing, allowing the others to say their piece first. "To those we will reiterate that they are not departing from their positions, merely handing the reins of command back to those military men and women whose job it is to lead their fleets and armies. They may continue in a supporting position as long as they realize that it is the Dark Adepts that they are to focus on eliminating." Lord Berethon restated, and there was a general air of consent to his words.
"Very well, this is how we shall proceed with the war," Master Antross said, sounding far more relaxed about the subject than he had at the beginning of the meeting, "now we must move on to other matters, such as the defense of this Temple if the Sith do make the attempt to strike at us here."
From there on the entire air of the room seemed far lighter, so greatly contrasting their moods before that Fae Coven was content to sit in silence for the remainder of the meeting. Lord Berethon seemed to sense it as well, although the Corellian Jedi was no longer hesitant to voice his opinion, after seeing how readily it was taken into account.
It was something that every new Council Member had to learn, once you became a member of the High Council, your voice had a certain weight to it, even among your fellow members, and you would be listened to with utmost care, even if it was for hidden gems of wisdom that you did not intend when you spoke.
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Zhar could tell that the planet of Mandalore was not going to be an easy challenge to take the moment that they arrived outside the system. Already there was a wide ring of destroyed ships in orbit, both Imperial and Mando in origin, and the fighting was almost ground to a standstill as the remaining capital ships of the Empire stood far off from the planet, holding a wide blockade but unable to do much more than that.
It seemed that at the same time that the Republic had demilitarized themselves, the Mandalorians had done exactly the opposite, training up generation after generation of soldiers just in case they were invaded ever again, and now that preparation was paying off for them in spades. But Zhar was confident that he would eventually succeed where these petty Imperial officers had failed.
Hailing the nearest command ship as the Basilisk pulled into an open slot in the blockade, Zhar was momentarily displeased at the sight of an overlarge uniformed man with an almost lazy attitude when it came to their war. "My Lord," the man said joyfully, "thank the stars you've arrived, we're nearly out of forces capable of pushing these despicable savages back down to the surface, let alone actually putting troops on the ground to take their excuses for cities."
Zhar remained impassive for a moment, allowing the man to squirm in the sudden and abrupt silence. "Commander I sense a great deal of effort has gone to waste during the course of this battle here, and most of it stemmed from you," he accused, sensing correctly that the man was desperately trying to hide his own ineptitude.
Reaching out with the Force, Zhar grasped the man around the throat, strangling the life from him as the rage against such wastefulness of the Emperor's resources was allowed to show, mixed in with some of the anger that Zhar felt for being sent here in the first place. The man died quickly, to say the least, collapsing to the floor with a heavy thud.
Opening channels to all Imperial ships, Zhar spoke. "I am High Prophet Zhar Quelmok, leading member of the Dark Council, and I am taking command of this blockade, and the entire battle fleet over Mandalore. Prepare for battle and turn ships to face the planet."
System reports and other statistics were sent rapidly through the various officers of the Basilisk, notifying them of their total resources, which were much higher than the previous commander had told, much to Zhar's lack of surprise.
"Launch fighters, and start for the planet. I want to see just what we are actually up against." Zhar ordered, and the entire blockade started to move in on the world, tightening a noose around the Mandalorians that they would be forced to come out of the holes and struggle against, as their warrior codes would demand.
And Zhar was not disappointed, as like the stirring of an insect hive they swarmed from the surface, many hundreds of small fighters, up to several larger transport type ships, although very little in the way of cruisers or even frigate styled ships, but it was likely that those were already destroyed during previous skirmishes.
Zhar nodded once, giving the signal for them to engage, and space erupted in a storm of blaster fire, as the dozen or so cruisers unloaded their arsenals, many fighters of the Mandos going up in plumbs of flame, while many more of their shots went wide, falling toward the planet itself. Let the warrior race think about that for a time, Zhar thought savagely, even if the Sith fleet missed, their precious planet would take the hits directly.
"Launch missiles and other long range ordinance at their cities along the surface, let them feel the pain as their families suffer our wrath," Zhar commanded, to a chorus of acknowledgement. The Mandalorians swarmed around their fighter escorts, trying valiantly to tear the new ships apart, but Zhar's squadrons were far more sophisticated in ship designs than the other cruisers had previously deployed, and his pilots were significantly more experienced. They held their own against the storm of defenders from the planet.
Meanwhile, the orbital bombardment commenced, and explosions rippled along the surface of the planet as settlements were utterly annihilated under the salvos of the war fleet. Sensing through the Force the outrage of these warriors, Zhar waited for them to come after him directly. Once more, they were utterly predictable in their actions, abandoning their attempts to harm other capital ships and gunning directly to the Basilisk, which they clearly identified as the new command ship.
"All clear ships, launch shuttles with fighter escorts, land surrounding the capital city, and move in to engage on the ground." Zhar commanded, looking for what he possible could have missed. This was simply too easy.
"My Lord," one of the officers announced, "We've been boarded, engineering reports at least three dozen warriors trying to destroy our engines from within."
There it was, "Come Euka," Zhar ordered, also signaling for some elite troopers to follow, "we have the smallest of hitches to deal with before we too can join the battle planetside."
The Iridonian smirked in pleasure as she fell into step directly behind Zhar, already unclipping the saberstaff from her belt in preparation for the coming bloodshed. The lifts rocketed downward several levels, heading straight for the heart of the conflict, before with a small explosion somewhere below them it shuddered to a halt.
"They cut power to the lifts," one of the troopers reported as Zhar mused over the latest development.
"There's more than one way to get out of here then," Euka declared, activating a single blade and quickly cutting a circular hole in the ceiling, leaping out and beginning to assist the troopers onto the roof of the lift car.
"Is this the best that they can muster?" Zhar wondered aloud, even as his apprentice wrenched open the doors to a different floor, and they dashed into the corridor, already set on the path toward a different set of lifts that ran off a different power generator.
Apparently the boarders had had the same idea, as by the time the Imperials entered another set of corridors, which splintered off into crew quarters and various storage for the arsenals for the ground troops, the Mandalorians had already arrived from the other side, starting a vicious firefight between the caught off guard reserves and the highly trained warriors.
Charging into the fray, Zhar activated his weapon, and leapt over a stunned line of half clothed and barely armored Sith troopers, deflecting blaster bolts with well place Soresu blocks, turning in tight circles to wind up momentum as he closed the distance between him and the attackers.
Euka on the other hand had a vastly different strategy, roaring with rage she charged, opting to dodge more than deflect, rushing the line of heavily armored boarders with both blades of the weapons primed to strike them down. The ranks of the Mandalorians may have been able to fight off Jedi once long ago, but they were thoroughly unprepared to deal with the raw magnitude of a Dark Adept's anger.
The High Prophet and his apprentice crashed like ocean waves onto the front lines of the Mandos, sabers spinning in deadly arcs, slashing limbs and blasters, stabbing through bodies and returning blaster bolts as quickly as they were fired. The Elite Imperial commandos formed a line in front of their reserves, laying suppressing fire on the back while Zhar and Euka carved a path through the corridor toward the lift they desired.
Idly, in the midst of submerging himself in the raw currents of the Dark Side, Zhar noted how efficiently he and his apprentice worked in tandem, and at last in his own mind he accepted that she was indeed a good match for him as a student. Her future would be bright, rising to a grand height within the ranks of the Empire that would span the entire Galaxy.
But only a brief thought was allowed such concepts, before Zhar had to return to the bloody task before him. The last of the Mandalorians tried to pull back, possibly seeking to destroy the lift during their retreat, but with a swift backward wrench of his hand, Zhar caught one of them with the Force, drawing them toward him through the air, only to land squarely on the end of his lightsaber.
Euka meanwhile had leapt, aided by the Dark power that flowed through her like a collapsing star, and cut off their path to the lift, her twin bladed weapon spinning ferociously as she diced the last pair of warriors up limb from limb, leaving a burning mess upon the deck for them to run past.
The commandos piled into the lift behind them, and Zhar once more hammered the button for the engineering decks, hoping that the delay wasn't going to hinder them from getting there in time to stop anything catastrophic. Luckily, the main power for the entire ship was located elsewhere, but from the engineering bay where the engines were housed they could still do plenty of damage to his ship.
That was unacceptable. The lift clattered to a halt, and everyone within raised their respective weapons, ready to strike. The doors opened with a hiss, and the two Dark Adepts darted out, just as the commandos opened fire upon the unsuspecting guards on the Engineering floor.
Charging through the initial bay, Zhar could tell that these Mandalorians were quite unfamiliar with the Sith designs of their ships, as many of the systems that he personally would have destroyed immediately upon boarding were left untouched. Granted, the genius of the design had altered those that were truly important into placements that made them seem inconsequential, while those systems that would be irrelevant to the survival of the ship and its crew were given the supposed places of easiest access and most likelihood of attack.
If Zhar ever met the engineering mind that created these designs, he would have to profusely thank them for the many times that their ships had saved countless Imperial lives. And if it was who he suspected, she would be most wroth for him saying so.
Nevertheless, the invaders needed to be repulsed, before Zhar could refocus on the ground battle that was about to take place. Charging, he switched from Soresu to his more favored Djem So, opening with a highly powerful overhead swing that cut a war pike in half, a strange choice of melee weapon that the first Mandalorian he encountered had decided to wield.
Following it up with a sharp upswing, he left the man dying on the floor with a deep gash through his chest from hip to collar, before moving on determinedly, watching for a moment as his apprentice became a whirlwind of destruction, taking on four of the warriors simultaneously, and screaming in pleasure as the lust for battle pulsated in her veins.
These warriors seemed to have been appraised about the battle above, as they were slightly more prepared to face foes with lightsabers, vibroblades and other melee weapons drawn and poised, while their rearmost lines had heavy repeating cannons on their hips, ready to spew dozens of bolts of white hot plasma down at their commandos.
But these fools underestimated the power of the Force, let alone the might of the Dark Side, and Zhar felt the world slow around him as he immersed himself once more in its captivating power. A long line of Mandos blocked his path to those heavy cannons, and the first was already slowly swinging for his head, sword upheld. Dodging to the left, Zhar brought his weapon upward once more, scoring another fatal hit on the chest of his newest opponent, and severing an arm completely, even as he moved forward to the next.
The next strike, just as agonizingly slow as the first to one so surrounded and charged by the Force as he was, Zhar met with a blow of his own, knocking the offending weapon away and opening the warrior for a gut piercing stab, which was then removed out the side of the man, nearly bisecting him as Zhar pressed onward.
Warrior after warrior fell in like manner, totally unprepared to match a servant of the Dark Side so in tune with its drum-like call. Not that Zhar would have said that these Mandalorians were unskilled, as clearly they were to inflict so much damage already before Zhar had arrived in the system, but against the power of the Darkness there was no other victory.
Breaking through the line, Zhar immediately rushed the heavy repeating cannon wielders, the Force surging around him. His saber, crimson splaying around the darkened corners of the engineering bay, became a flurry of motion as he hacked and stabbed relentlessly, working quickly to prevent even a single shot from firing in the chamber where the fuel lines were held. One stray bolt would detonate the entire room, killing them all and severely damaging his ship.
When he finished, there was a final struggle of motion to his left, and he turned to see Euka rise from felling the very last of the Mandalorians, who were trying to sabotage the fuel lines independently of their other warriors. "So, cowardly in defeat, then," he stated flatly, turning back toward the entrance so that they could locate the means by which the invaders had boarded them.
The nearest hangar was crowded, scattered scrap metal blasted from different Sith ships and other sections of the bay itself knocked from walls and ceiling. The Mandalorians had not allow themselves to enter the ship in stealth, rather the roaring blaze of open combat. The odd thing was their complete dispersal from the ship once they had landed, as though they had known that it was a suicide mission to disable this capital cruiser.
Still, their shuttle would provide an excellent means for Zhar to land upon the planet without fear of being shot at. Comlinks chirped all across those who had any authority among them, and Zhar was the first to answer, "My Lord," Admiral Setis reported, "the Mandalorians are at long last pulling back, preparing to engage with the forces that we've put on the ground.
"Good, prepare all shuttles to take down reinforcements, I want every division and weapon we have on the ground in three hours. I will be taking my commandos and my apprentice down presently in a stolen Mandalorian craft. Send word to the ground forces not to fire upon us as we make our approach."
"As you command my Lord," the Admiral replied, before the connection was cut.
"And now we bring the fight back to them," Zhar said, a tight smile spreading across his face as he gestured at the shuttle, ordering his men without words to board and take control of the vessel, killing any who might happen to have remained in hiding.
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Hermione smiled viciously as she finished the latest addition to her prototype war droid, having reinforced the plate-like armor surrounding the primary chasse for the fifth time, so that it would shrug off even the toughest of blaster bolts for a short time before going down. For this concept, she had pulled out all the stops, throwing every destructive thought she could think of into the design, and what a marvelous weapon of war it turned out to be. Draco would be extremely pleased.
Standing no taller than an average humanoid, the droid seemed harmless enough at a glance, no more identifiable than a standard protocol droid, until its combat sensors registered an enemy contact. Then it would start to change, rapidly activating systems that were in part mechanical, in part pure transfiguration, sub routing its power to maintain a new form, which would tower over even Wookiees, with a small arsenal at its disposal as well as even several magical energy blades that Hermione envisioned would match well against a lightsaber wielder.
In either form it had several powerful options at its disposal to seek and destroy targets, as well as many stealth capabilities, which was something as a droid would normally be ignored anyway. The simple process of building the first model was completed, but now came the more complex part of duplicating it, the true key of Hermione's great success with her work.
There was no shoddy technicians that had to build based off her design, just a powerful runic circle and several long incantations to literally duplicate her models right out of scrap metals and other material components, literally making the work of mass production capable by one mage-born with moderate strength. Hypothetically, given enough materials, and if they could manage a portable system of runes, she could furnish a compiler with every army of droids, who could replenish their losses and make new battalions at a whim.
It was almost as gruesome as the stories of the old Necromancers that Theodore would tell her sometimes, which moved along in the wake of their hordes, scavenging the dead for fresh soldiers in their cause. Thinking of her late husband was painful however, so Hermione quickly deadened the memory, and returned to work. There would need to be other prototypes, naturally, for other variations of the design, possibly one that could move about easily in space, or underwater, but for basic defense and attack from within ship to ship or on the ground of a planet, these would do excellently.
"Let's see what you make of this, Harry," she said snidely, letting her rage at the evil boy turned Sith Lord drive her magic into a frenzy, powering the circle much faster than normal and allowing her to generate copies of her design with several swift slashes of her wand, the incantation already imprinted on her mind to the point where she barely had to think of it when casting this spell.
Within moments, a small squad of droids stood before her, awaiting a command. "Come with me, we go to the Senate building to showcase you to the Chancellor of the Republic, your supreme commander in this war." She declared, and the droids acknowledged her with sharp salutes.
She had seen many droids that could speak, naturally, but she found that their voices were usually rather annoying and somewhat pointless. True, she had programmed these to be able to speak when needed, but for the most part she had hoped that they would also prefer silence, which would show their superior processing by the need to not speak, like some biological that were more intelligent than others. What was the old saying? The wise man held their tongue… or something like that, Hermione honestly did not remember anymore. There was too much else that she needed to focus on to remember such useless things as direct quotes anyway, as much as her younger self would have been appalled to consider such a concept.
Forcing herself out of the nostalgia, Hermione hurried to her transport with the droids following close behind. None tried to stop her once she reached the Senate Rotunda, all recognizing her and admitting her to the highest levels, where the Chancellor's office resided.
By extreme luck, he was both in and alone for the moment, which gave her all the time she needed to meet. "Draco," she called, walking in with her droids behind her. The Chancellor looked up, momentarily taken by surprise before setting down the datapad he was reading from and smiling, standing to shake her hand and offer his personal welcome.
"Ah, Hermione, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Last I heard you were hard at work tearing apart half of the Works to make room for your future expansions of Magi-tech industries…" he teased lightly, guiding her back to one of the plush seats across his desk.
"Well, you know, building permits and all that," she jested back, before growing serious once more, "in reality, I wanted to show you my prototypes for the reinforcements you suggested."
"That I suggested?" Draco asked, glancing between her and the droids, "are these war droids? But they look like standard protocol units…"
"Well, we can't have then just waltz in anywhere declaring that they are going to rip the faces off of just anyone, can we?" she said, only slightly mockingly, before ordering one of the droids to showcase their full battle mode.
Relishing the look of amazement on the Chancellor's face as the droid transformed into its full devastating beauty and back again, Hermione sat in her seat, a smug expression of her face when he finally turned back to her.
"You truly are a wonder, Hermione, I hope you know that," he said in all seriousness, "An army of these would make the Sith think twice about engaging us on land or in our ships. How quickly can you manufacture them?"
"At the speed of magic…" she deadpanned back, relishing the look of minor confusion.
"I see, well using some of my executive authority, I give you full permission to develop and weaponize these droids, and supply them to every corner of the war with the Empire. We need them desperately, especially as their fleets are starting to push into the innermost reaches of the Colonies and toward the Core itself."
"As you wish, your Excellency," Hermione replied, only momentarily allowing the rites of ceremony to enter her voice, before returning to a more jovial nature. It was rare that they were able to meet these days, what with their separate and vastly important jobs in maintaining the state of the war, among other things in Draco's position. Hermione did not envy him for a moment with how busy he always appeared to be.
"I will start filling the next few fleets with hundreds of these droids immediately," she stated, jotting it down in her datapad to transmit back to the factories, where her workers would begin the process of duplicating her design in mass.
"Very good," Draco said, standing again and walking to the large window overlooking the wide expanse of sky scrapers and other buildings that made up the city planet. From the view one could see all the way to the Jedi Time, its spires reaching higher than most buildings around it. "Hermione, do you think we can win this war?" Draco asked flatly, not looking back at her. "The Republic I mean, do we have the strength in our democracy, with its convoluted opinions and political backstabbing to defeat an Empire totally ruled by a sole individual, especially one so twisted as Veneficus?"
Hermione sensed the tone of the question, and gave the matter a few moments of dedicated thought, "It would be extremely difficult, but possible through the total unity of the Republic, the Jedi, and all other major factions working in harmony." She answered, and she meant it. a group working as one was always more powerful than an individual, no matter the personal strength of the one.
"Therein lies the problem, does it not?" Draco said, turning back to her and pacing his office, clearly desiring to stretch his legs after what have been hours of sitting and signing paperwork. "So many of the Senators are vying to sue for peace between the Republic and the Empire, thinking that we cannot win through strength of arms, and wanting to preserve what we have left, while many more are starting to think that the Republic fighting this war at all is a loss regardless of the outcome."
He paused, sighing deeply and looking to Hermione to collapse in upon himself slightly, "the Republic is fracturing under the stress of this war, and I fear that it might come apart at the seams before we can secure victory. I may be a strong leader, but if the people I need to protect are too afraid, or unwilling to do what is needed, what can I do?"
"The Republic should hand over more power to its leaders in this time of crisis," Hermione suggested, seeing the plight that her old classmate was going through, and understanding.
"And they have, and are doing so again right shortly, but still, that would only help in the short term," Draco agreed, resuming his pacing, "but still there would be those that demand that I lay down such power almost as soon as I received it, and work tirelessly to prevent any lasting changes that I, or any other for that matter, would seek to enact. The corruption of the Senate is starting to darken me…"
"Should I make a visit in person, and move for such a thing I wonder?" Hermione asked aloud. Despite New Terra being conquered by the Empire, she and Senator Longbottom were still the leaders of the world, regardless of whatever puppet was placed in charge by Harry, and they had staunchly declared their loyalty to the Republic. Her appearing in the Senate would annoying as it would halt her work for a day, but if it meant that progress could resume on the political front, then it would be tolerable.
"I would be grateful for whatever support I can receive in the upcoming vote." The Chancellor said, "In return, regardless of the outcome, I will do what I can to see that you are given more space to house multiple full capital ships for refitting and construction. I cannot see the Senate opposing a safe dock on the capital to produce our fleets."
"That's very generous Draco," Hermione replied, unexpectedly pleased as the gift for a pledge of support.
Draco paused as a small chirping on his datapad distracted him, "By sheer coincidence the upcoming vote is less than a few hours from now," he said, raising his eyebrows at whatever note was on the pad, "I apologize for the sudden surprise of it, as I myself was only just notified myself." He added, raising the pad to indicate the message.
"I suppose I'll have to return to my lab to change into something more befitting a Senatorial appearance," Hermione said, "but perhaps I will leave these with you, and bring more with me to the Senate, as a show of my prowess?"
"I think that is an excellent idea, my dear," Draco said, always the charmer, and bowed as Hermione departed the office. Her droids recognized the command, as well as who they were guarding, and took strategic positions along the walls, acting as silent sentries for the Supreme Chancellor.
Quickly she returned to the Magi-tech labs in the Works district, changed into her fanciest set of robes, which reminded her of the last party on New Terra that she had attended, and worn them to. This brought a new pang of regret that she could not save her world from the tyranny of the Emperor, and she vowed to make him pay once again, even as she commissioned a full escort of twelve new combat droids to attend her to the Senate Rotunda once more.
As they appeared as no more than standard service droids, there was no problem in leaving eight to guard her shuttle, just in case, and took the remain four to meet with Senator Longbottom just outside where the pod reserved for New Terra was berthed.
Despite knowing that the man was merely a clone of the Gryffindor boy she had briefly known long ago, Hermione was still impressed with the influence and command that Neville radiated. The boy she remembered was shy and clumsy, but clearly either age or the cloning process had changed that forgetful boy into a graceful and assured adult, capable of winning over the hearts and minds of others as a Senator in the Republic.
His wife, a clone of Hannah Abbot, served as chief secretary and representative in addition to her husband, and was there as well when Hermione approached with her guard contingent. "Ah, Director," Neville said, his face turning to a bright smile at seeing her, "I was only just notified that you would be joining us in today's session. What can I assist you with? More contracts for building permits perhaps?"
"No, no nothing like that today," Hermione said, gesturing for two of the droids to guard the entrance to the pod, while the last two followed the three humans into the Senate Pod, "I'm here to assist our fellow countryman Draco Malfoy as the Senate votes to give more direct power to him to influence the war. I fear that many want to sue to peace, and that simply won't do if it means our world is lost to the Empire forever."
Neville's round face turned extremely serious, "I see," he said even as the rest of the Senate started to fill, and the podium for the Supreme Chancellor lowered to the offices below to receive its occupants. "You will be faced with extreme resistance, just so you are aware. Many of the Senators from the Core and Inner Rim worlds just want the violence to stop before it reaches their planets, and care little for whoever else is hurt along the way."
"I understand," Hermione agreed, "but surely there are far more Senators who's planets have been conquered that will ally with us?"
"One would have thought so at first," Neville said, looking graver still, "but many of them have been forced, due to the captivity of their worlds, to recall and join the ranks of civilians on their own worlds, ruled over by the Empire, abandoning the Republic by force, rather than choice. Others still have little power, as their systems are all but evacuated. And then there's the matter of money…"
Hermione spotted Hannah frown at this as well, "Those Senators from these Core-ward planets hold the most money, and therefore the most influence within the Senate, and therefore are able to get their way by greasing the right pockets. You will see one the motion is brought to the table how many will start to argue against giving Drakis more power than they feel he needs."
"Fear grips the hearts of many," Hermione said, remembering another old saying, "but courage is what is needed to fight off evil."
"True," Neville agreed, even as the Chancellor's podium started its ascent back to its place, bearing Draco and the other members of the Executive branch of the Republic's government, "but some are failing to even see the Empire as a perfect evil."
Hermione fell silent then, as the speaker of the Chancellorship called the Senate to order, and they started the meeting. Normally, Hermione would have found these important matters that they spoke of an openers to be somewhat interesting, but as her mind was wrapped up in fighting both the Empire and the corruption within the Senate, she found it to be quite dull, and was more than expectant for the important matters to begin.
"The chair recognizes the representatives of the Jedi Order," the speaker announced, which caught Hermione off guard, and she turned with many others to see a repulsorpod float out from the sea of many others, carrying a delegation of the robe-clad warrior monks.
Momentarily Hermione forgot her express purpose, and focused solely on the almost shining light that reflected from the pod as the Jedi Masters addressed the Senate directly.