SENATOR XIZORS PERSONAL SKYHOOK, CORUSCANT
Being prince, with a father being the king over several planets, had its advantages. Immense wealth being one of them. It had allowed Prince Xizor, also senator of his homeworld, the opportunity to purchase a skyhook; a large hovering platform located high up in the atmosphere of Coruscant, away from the overcrowded concrete-jungle that covered the entire planet. Reserved for only the filthy rich and influential, Prince Xizor fitted that requirement with ease.
The falleen prince and senator stood at the edge of his skyhooks biodome and studied the city, the curve of the horizon and the stars that were clearly visible at this altitude. From up here, Coruscant was a beautiful place, an astonishing achievement, aweinspiring and mezmerizing. But Xizor knew, all too well, that once you went down there, nothing could save you from its greed, its lusts, its vile influence on your moral compass. A place where coldhearted creatures such as Xizor thrived.
He turned to face the lush landscape of his biodome, designed to mimic the environment of his homeworld of Falleen. Hot, humid and filled with a lush jungle, with amazing flowers and a wonderous birdlife. Xizor, with hands on his back, enjoyed a short stroll through the vegetation, finding comfort in the scents of home and the sounds he remembered from his youth.
Stepping out of the jungle, the falleen senator found himself on a marble floor in the middle of the biodome, complete with marble benches and seats. And joining him were several guests who were treated to all manner of delicacies and expensive liquor. He studied them for a moment, these so called guests that were currently enjoying his hospitality. How he hated them all.
A late arrival, Borsk Fey'lya, the bothan senator, was the last of the invited to arrive. The bothan, looking confident, did not even excuse himself for having kept the others waiting.
"Finally" Xizor said. "All are present."
"Good" Braga, the Hutt senator, said with his booming voice. "Let us get down to business."
"All good things comes to those who wait" Fey'lya said as he joined the others.
"Indeed" Xizor agreed diplomaticly. "Am I to understand that everything is proceeding according to plan?"
Representative Tentac nodded, his facial tentacles twirling as he did. "The quarren are prepared to free themselves from the tyranny of the mon mal, once and for all; with the promised support, it can and will be done. Once the quarren people will be allowed a senator of their own, we will inquire to join with the Trade Federation. The mon cal will have little support from the Aquatic League in challenging the Federation."
"And Corellia will supply the hutt clans with hundreds of ships" Braga explained. "When the time comes, Clan Durgiljiic and its allies will have a fleet strong enough to support the Trade Federation against any that intend to interrupt our plans."
"The members of the Trade Federation are most greatful" Senator Lot Dod of Cato Neimoidia said with a nod of his head, the neimoidian then raising his drink as a gesture of gratitude. "You will all be rewarded for your loyalty. The Trade Federation will not forget how you all have contributed to ensure our mutual success and to ensure the formation of the New Republic."
The obese twi'lek that was the senator of Ryloth, Orn Free Taa, was next to speak. "I am pleased to inform that the chancellor, just an hour ago, signed the document to create a committee to investigate the benefits of installing regional governors throughout the Republic. When Lot Dod becomes vice-chancellor, he will be free to approve of their installment at his leisure."
Senator Dod, the aged neimoidian, chuckled and nodded. "I assure you all, that you and your friends will be considered for most of these positions of power. Trust me, these regional governors will have more influence than any senator."
Everyone joined in on a toast. Even though Palpatine would expand the senate with more than ten thousand more senators, something that would potentially cause tremendous turmoil in terms of politics and economy, Lot Dod would be able to shift a massive amount of power and influence away from the senate by apointing regional governors to oversee vast regions of the Republic. So even if the large guilds would lose power in the senate, they would gain power throughout the Republic through such governors; almost rendering the senate useless in the longrun.
"As was expected" Borsk Fey'lya said after retrieving a drink offered by a protocol-droid.
"Will the quarren people receive such a position?" Representative Tentac inquired.
Lot Dod merely grinned. "Of course, of course" he acknowledged before sipping his drink.
Xizor listened and nodded. Confidence filled his chest. "Excellent" he said with a viscious smile. "With Valorum gone and Palpatine voted into office, we will have a fool and a pawn acting as Supreme Chancellor."
"A fool and a pawn controlled by us" Representative Tentac smiled and drank from his drink.
"This is very reassuring" senator Lot Dod grinned and nodded approvingly. "However, I fear there still remains one important lose end. And if it is not secured, we run the risk of the jedi discovering our plans."
"What lose end would that be?" Braga wondered, his voice deep and rumbling as he spoke in his native language of huttese.
"The bothans" Lot Dod said and everyone turned to look at Borsk Fey'lya. "Their spies could ruin everything."
"No reason to worry" senator Fey'lya said and placed his drink to the side. "A domestic issue has arisen on Bothawui, and the bothan clans are currently more interested in seeing that situation resolved, rather than dealing with intergalactic politics. Things will escalate, I assure you. You have nothing to worry about."
"So it's true" senator Taa, the obese twi'lek, said. "You have made a move to rule that planet."
"I have made a move" Fey'lya said, "to ensure we are not discovered. And I did it by making sure that every bothan spy has recieved an order to support their clan back on the homeworld. Without the bothans, the Senate is both blind and def. My move to secure control over Bothawui will ensure our success."
"A commendable initiative, senator" Xizor said with a smile and offered the bothan a toast across the room.
"Most commendable" the neimoidian senator nodded in agreement. "Such initiative will be richly rewarded in the new Republic."
"All hail the New Republic" the overweight twi'lek said. "Our Republic."
They all raised their glasses in a toast.
XXX XXX
It was some hours later, all the conspirators had left for the surface and Xizor was alone with his servants up on his personal skyhook. Standing by the immense windows of the biodome, the falleen studied the planet below, as he so often did when he visited up here.
"Quite the chaos your jedi has set in motion."
Xizor turned, recognizing the voice well enough. A short, yet muscular, human casually walked over to the tall and slim falleen and joined him by the windows. The human did seem impressed by the view offered from the topmost reaches of the atmosphere.
"The other senators" the human continued, "they have no idea that Dooku wants to start a war, do they?"
"None what-so-ever, Grand Vigo" Xizor confirmed.
"I do find this Palpatine a strange pawn, I must admit" the human, that the falleen senator refered to as Grand Vigo, then said. "Of what use is he?"
"He will make sure that the quarren have reason to rebell against the mon cal" Xizor explained. "That event will be the spark that starts the war proper."
"I see" the human said and nodded as he gave it all some thought. "No matter" he then said, "once the war begins, Dooku must die and the Trade Federation has to be destroyed." He sounded almost casual, as if it was the most mundane thing to discuss in the entire galaxy. "With Dooku out of the way, we can safely remove Palpatine and secure your position as Supreme Chancellor. Then we will expose all of these traitors, destroy the Trade Federation and take every action required to ensure that Black Sun governs the Republic."
"Yes, Grand Vigo" Xizor said to agree with the rhetoric.
"Stick with me, Xizor" the Grand Vigo said and patted the falleen on the back. "Together, we will see all our enemies dead. The hutts, Pyke, the Federation, the Jedi, the Sith... Everyone."
"Wont be many left alive in the galaxy then" Xizor said and both of them smiled.
THE DUNE SEA, TATOOINE
The grav-train flew over the dunes of the planets never ending deserts, gliding along with the use of its gravity-repulsors. Comfort was none to be had and passengers had to do the best of it. One wagon held the swoop built by Anakin and Kitster, the two youngsters sitting on their creation and talking to Cordé, one of the Naboo queens handmaidens. Qui-Gon was sitting in a corner, meditating, while Jar-Jar inspected the landscape through a narrow viewport and at times spotting a Jawa Crawler in the distance, the odd moisture-farm or herd of bantha.
The youngsters discussed Naboo and Tatooine, their flora and wildlife, culture and legends. It was clear that Anakin made an impression on the four year older handmaiden, with his tales of hardship, slavery, pod-racing and survival. She was intrigued by his will to live, his view of life and his perspective on what truly mattered. Her sheltered life seemed awefully insignificant compared to his life as a slave on a hutt controlled world.
Late at night the train still glided across the ocean of sand, following the waves of sand-dunes as it sped along on its trip to the planets main colony, Bestine. Anakin woke up with a jolt, breathing heavily. Next to him, Qui-Gon sat on a knee.
"You were having a nightmare" Qui-Gon said. "I believe it was about your mother."
Anakin nodded. "Yeah... I dreamt I was a jedi knight and came back here and freed all the slaves. I killed Kitster and burried my mother."
"Try and focus on the race instead" Qui-Gon adviced. "No need to try and seek meaning in a dream this close to your big day."
Anakin did not seem so sure, but nodded in the end. "I'll try."
"Now go to sleep" Qui-Gon smiled and the boy pulled his blanket up over his shoulders once more.
The jedi master remained by the boys side for a while and pondered. It was clear to him that Anakin would become a jedi, that much was certain. All doubt had vanished and Qui-Gon Jinn was at peace.
CITY OF DULAC, NABOO
Sola Amidala and lieutenant Typho sat in cover behind some crates located by the landingplatforms. Patrols searching for them were still out in force, and leaving the city undetected seemed almost impossible. But they had both agreed that swimming across the river to the other shore was their best option. As it happened, the landingplatforms were located along the riverbank.
They saw their chance and made a run for it, from cover to cover, into hiding and out of hiding. Coming up to an old and rugged YT-2400 Corellian light freighter, they were surprised by the sudden apperance of a patrol of House Gelda troops and Federation securitydroids; having no other option in order to stay hidden, Sola and Typho ran up the lowered boarding-ramp and took refuge onboard the ship. Sola kept an eye on the enemies outside, while Typho kept watch so that no crewmember belonging to the ship stumbled upon them.
"Looks like they are moving away" Sola said.
"Good" Typho replied. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"Ok, when I give the word, we head for the river? Ready?"
Typho took his eye from the interior of the ship and nodded at the former steward of House Amidala. "Ready, my lady."
A blaster was pressed against the back of lieutenant Typhos head at that very moment. "Not so fast, if you don't mind."
Sola took instant aim at the nautilan, that somehow had managed to sneak up on them and now had Typho at gunpoint. But Sola found herself soon with a blaster pressed against her back.
"Ease down, little lady" the redheaded human said that had his gun up against Solas back. "Let's not do anything stupid."
A droid made its presence known. "It is statistically probable that it is these two that the authorities outside are looking for."
"Really?" Eadan, the nautilan, said. "You think so, buckethead?"
"Smart remarks does not suit you, master Eadan" the droid said and retrieved the blasters from the two prisoners. "Mostly because you are not that smart."
"Alright, pipe down" the redheaded human, more known as Dash Rendar, said with a sharp tone. "Come on, everyone outside" he said and waved his blaster to get his point across to his captives.
"Wait" Sola said and managed to buy some time. "Yes, they are looking for us. And the reason is that we are not collaborators. We are still fighting the invasion. Fighting the Federation."
"So you are part of the resistance?" Dash said, not so much inquiring as he was stating simple logic.
"Yes" Sola nodded. "To free Naboo."
"Good" Dash pushed the two resistance-fighters out onto the boarding-ramp. "That should mean a bigger reward."
Sola and Typho were forced out of the ship by Dash, Eadan and their droid, Leebo. Within moments, Federation security-droids and House Gelda guards had them all surrounded and at gunpoint.
A neimoidian officer, escorted by two neimoidian soldiers, pushed through the lines of troops and came face to face with the crew of the ship and their prisoners.
"I am lieutenant Nueb of the Trade Federation. On behalf of Naboo, I wish to thank you for capturing these two terrorists."
"I trust there is a reward?" Dash asked, holding on tight to Sola, both to keep her under control but also to hold on to his bargaining chip.
"I am sure we can come to a mutual agreement" the neimoidian lieutenant said.
"Twenty crates of Naboo spice" Dash Rendar said. "And free passage through your blockade."
"I do not have the authority to make such a deal" the lieutenant pointed out. "I am sure we can compensate you in some other way. House Gelda will more than likely provide you with both spice and credits, no doubt."
"I'm on a tight schedule, lieutenant" Dash replied. "Why not contact your superiors, someone who can make such a deal? I need that spice and I need to be on my way."
"You are nothing more than a simple spice-smuggler" the neimoidian officer said with scorn. "A criminal and a pirate. On the hutt payroll no doubt, with Tatooine so close."
"What's it to you?" Eadan cut in.
The neimoidian turned to his troops. "They are all wanted for crimes against the Trade Federation and the Republic. Arrest them, arrest them all!"
"Swell" Dash said with a sigh.
There was a brief moment of silence, no-one moving a muscle. Then, blaster-bolts filled the air and sparks from dozens of bolts exploding against solid objects errupted all around. Dash, Eadan, Leebo, Sola and Typho all fled up the boarding-ramp and found cover within the Outrider, Dash Rendars ship. Dash jumped down behind the controls and quickly had his ship take off, leaving the city of Dulac behind in a hurry. It did not take long before three Vulture-class fighter-droids took chase and began bombarding the light corellian freighters shields.
Dash activated the ships intercom. "Will someone please shoot back at them?!"
Typho and Leebo aided Sola and Eadan into the ships small infirmary, the girl and nautilan both wounded from the previous firefight. As soon as Sola had been placed in a bed and was able to relax to some extent, Typho left in a hurry and climbed up a ladder to man the Outrider's dorsal turret. Meanwhile, Leebo took care of the wounded pair.
Dash proved to be a skilled pilot as he evaded incoming fire and the tactical crossfires the pursuing droids attempted to trap him with. Typho strapped himself into the turret and grabbed the controls and soon enough was returning fire.
"This trip is so not worth it!" Dash growled through grinding teeth.
Dash made a hasty dive down towards a river and pulled up in the last second, the hasty maneuver resulting in a cascade of water being thrown into the air, catching one of the fighter-droids and causing it to spin out of control and crash into the forrests growing along the riverbank.
The chase continued and the Outrider took one hit after the other, despite Rendars excellent flying and Typhos much required shooting. But before long, the fighter-droids blaster-rounds began punching through the shields and striking hullplating. Leebo had trouble keeping his balance in the infirmary and both Eadan and Sola groaned and cursed as the ship shook with each hit against its outer hull. In the end, Typho unstrapped himself from his seat and almost threw himself down the ladder leading up to the turret, as a full halfdozen blaster-bolts struck the dorsal turret. Behind the nabooan lieutenant, the turret was torn apart by a series of explosions thar ripped the structure of the corellian freighter apart.
Dash struggled to keep his ship flying. Typho landed hard in an uncomfortable heap at the bottom of the ladder. Sola and Eadan both were tossed out of their beds and Leebo fell over and was thrown out of the infirmary.
Smoke and flame leaked out of the Outrider from the ruined dorsal turret as the ship crashed through the topmost layers of the forrests, setting several trees on fire in the process as the ships engines ignited branches and leaves. Typho, his body aching from the pain of several broken bones, climbed into the seat of the bellymounted turret in which he had landed. Strapping himself in and grabbing the controls, he placed the intercom over his head.
"Flip us around" Typho said. "Flip us around so I can shoot at them."
"Hang on back there!" Dash said and then did as Typho instructed.
Outrider flipped over, exposing its underbelly to the chasing Vulture-class fighter-droids, but also allowing Typho to fire his guns at the hostile fighters. One of the Vulture-droids came apart in a ball of fire and smoke, debris scattering all over like tiny, vobbling flares.
"One to go!" Typho said over the intercom.
"Turn to cover the front arch" Dash replied. "Get ready!"
The Outrider fired its retro-thrusters and decreased speed at a dangerous rate, the sudden move taking the chasing fighter-droid by surprise and it flew past its target. Dash hit the afterburners and took chase, while Typho opened fire and trailed the Vulture-droid as it began with evasive maneuvers. In the end, the fighter-droid lost an engine and crashed into the ground, resulting in an impressive explosion. The Outrider hurried to escape the scene, and the Riverlands.