Reviews
sandmanwake
I didn't consider this. I'll need to double check my facts on Dooku. I guess he can live for now and Jumper Gothic can just keep an eye on him in case he goes darkside because it's his own stupid fault.
skelly4128
Even with molecular furnaces the introduction of replicators could play havoc with the galactic economy.
Keep in mind that virboblades and lightsabers are different from swords. Plus it was free so why not take the extra training.
He might use VIs at some point.
doug89
Because of the way I have this story planned out I needed certain characters to have certain perks, and this left me with some characters having more CP than required so I just gave them some stuff from what was on offer so that no CP was wasted.
Also using CP to get the ships means that they become fiat-backed meaning that if they are lost or destroyed then Jump Chain will replace them, like what happened with the runabout. Ships brought with credits don't have that feature.
Technically the R2 droid is a companion since its listed as a companion option rather than as an item to buy, but it would be silly treat a R2 unit like the other companions as then in the next Jump it could be imported and get perks, or an organic body, which would be silly. Best to treat it like Cortana and Cameron, have it blur the line between item and companion.
Jump Chain Gothic 6 - The Phantom Menace
Part 2
Aurora-class Warship. Orbit of Tatooine.
As I had planned we'd been able to get intercept the ship which had the contained the people fleeing Naboo, and after some exchanged words I'd been able to convince them to dock their ship with mine so that I could give them a lift to the Republic's capital world. Which I could go to as I'd gotten my hands on some up to date star charts while down in Mos Espa.
The amount of trust placed in me by Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his companions was quite a lot considering that we'd only just met, however they'd not exactly had a lot of choices in the matter. Their ship was badly damaged and they couldn't have known if it would ever take off again, leaving them stranded on Hutt controlled planet. Plus I was sure that a Jedi Master would be able to sense that I too was strong in the Force, that may have had an impact on what choice was made.
In order to bring the local vessel on board I'd needed to make some room, but I'd done that in advance, having emptied one of the docking bays. Which meant there were a number of Puddle Jumpers hidden down on Tatooine. I could have docked them with the shipyard I'd been gifted at the end of the last Jump, but as of yet I hadn't had time to go and explore it. Until I understood what it could do I didn't want to mess with it.
"Cameron go make sure that the Skywalkers stay in their room while the Jedi are on board" I ordered "I don't want Anakin meeting with Master Qui-Gon Jinn or Jedi Kenobi".
The Jedi Master might try to claim the boy, and since I'd freed the Skywalkers from slavery I couldn't stop them from leaving if they so wished. Well actually I could stop them, but since I needed Anakin to trust me it would be counterproductive to try restraining him, nor did I wish to use his mother to control him unless I really had to.
Before long Qui-Gon Jinn, his padawan, the queen, her security guy, and her handmaidens arrived on the bridge. Right away I noticed that Padme was pretending to be her own handmaiden while the 'queen' was in fact a servant in elebrate makeup.
I also noticed a complete lack of any non-human life in the party. Jar Jar Binks was not with them, and even when I used my connection to the ship to scan for non-human life signs I only got the one, and that was Tali who down in engineering.
Since I hadn't selected the drawback which transforms the annoying alien into a super powerful Sith Lord I had to wonder what could have happened to him. Of course I couldn't just ask because I wasn't supposed to know anything about what happened on Tatooine.
Then I realised that this could be one of those situations were it wasn't a good idea to look the gift horse in the mouth. With that in mind I decided to simply get on with things.
"Your Majesty, welcome to the Thunderchild" I said by way of greeting.
The woman in makeup replied to me, but I ignored her. I just sat in my seat and smiled.
"There's no need to hide yourself, Your Majesty" I said to Padme.
The 'handmaiden' stepped forward. I noted that while Obi-Wan was surprised his master only grinned, he must have at least suspected that the handmaiden was in reality the queen.
"How did you know that I swapped places with my double?" she asked.
Because I'd seen the movie, but I couldn't tell her that.
"I'm possessed of abilities beyond of normal humans" I explained.
There was more to it than that, but this wasn't the time or the place to spill my secrets.
"I sense that you are strong in the Force" the Jedi Master stated.
With a nod I signalled that this was the truth.
"We can discuss that later" I said Jinn "It won't take us long to get to Coruscant. I suggest that you get some rest".
I turned to Miranda.
"Show our guests to some quarters" I ordered.
The group soon left the bridge, and while I was sure that they had many questions I didn't feel inclined to answer them right now.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Coruscant System.
"We have arrived at Coruscant" Miranda reported "and we are being hailed by what passes for traffic control around here".
Gothic had ordered Miranda to stay at the communications station for this trip. It wasn't her normal position when on the bridge, not that she minded as it was good to try new things.
"Open a channel" the Jumper ordered.
-This is Coruscant Space Traffic Control, to unidentified vessel. Please identify yourselves-
"Traffic Control, this is Captain Gothic of Thunderchild" she heard her lover say in reply "We're transporting Queen Amidala of Naboo, and Jedi Master Jinn. They need to speak to the Naboo Senator as quickly as possible".
There was a delay, which was to be expected. A 3 kilometer long vessel of unknown design had just appeared in what had to be the most busy planet in the galaxy. Which explained why they had to wait so long, and why Gothic ended up all calling Master Jinn to the bridge so that he could give traffic control some sort of code.
-I will inform my superiors, and they will arrangements for your ship to enter orbit. I am sending you the coordinates for the landing site for to land a shuttle-
Since the Naboo ship wasn't in working order, the trip here hadn't been long enough for even Tali to repair it, Miranda understood they would have to take a Puddle Jumper down, but that was okay as long as they didn't cloak the ship or fire its weapons no one would realise just how advanced it was.
"I'll ferry them down to the planet" Miranda offered "No sense having the captain play taxi cab".
Gothic agreed to this and soon the former Cerberus operative was making her way to the hanger bay.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Coruscant System.
While Miranda took the queen's party and the Jedi down to the planet I went to check on young Skywalker, who like most ten year old boys hadn't been able to resist a chance to explore a new environment. That he'd been able to unlock a few doors didn't surprise me in the least as this was a kid who build droids and racing pods in his spare time.
"Anakin" I said "How are you?".
The boy had been so transfixed by the view of the world we were orbiting that he hadn't even noticed me enter the room. Which had given me a chance to look the lad over. He was a little skinny, yet this might not be due to a lack of food, rather he might just be very active. He was also dressed in much finer clothes than he must be used to. I'd ensured that the room he was sharing with his mother had a replicator, as well as entertainments, so his mother must have replicated him some new clothes.
"Oh hello, sir" he replied "I'm fine. I just wanted to see the planet".
For that I couldn't blame him, at his age I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to go have a look.
"On that world is the Jedi Temple" I told the Chosen One "That's where you'd go if you wanted to become a Jedi, but you're a little too old to start the training, and you'd have to leave your mother".
If his mother felt it was best for him to go to the Jedi then I'd let him go because I highly doubted they'd accept him without a Knight or a Master willing to take him on.
"I don't want to leave my Mom" Anakin told me.
That I understood, or would have back when I was his age.
"I'll be busy for a few days" I told the Force Sensitive "So I need you to be patient for me. Once we return to Tatooine, things will change".
With that I left the boy to look at the planet. Only I didn't get far as R2 came rolling into the room.
"Wow is that an astromech droid?" Skywalker asked.
I nodded.
"This is my R2 unit" I told him "Feel free to hang out with him".
That should keep the boy amused for a while.
(Line Break)
Senate Building. Coruscant.
As hoped making contact with the Jedi and the Queen of Naboo had opened doors for me. One of those doors was to the office of the Supreme Chancellor. Currently running the Republic was a man called Finis Valorum, who while mired in scandal, which limited his ability to actually do his job, he was still a very important man.
It was Master Qui-Gon Jinn who took me to met the Chancellor, since I'd prevented him from meeting Anakin and he'd never seen Maul, the Jedi Master was not as busy with the Council as much as in movie, and as such had time to aid me. No doubt the Jedi Council wanted to know more about me as well so having Master Jinn escort me around allowed them to learn more without making it seem that they were overly interested.
"Please, allow me to introduce you to the Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, of the Galactic Republic" said one of the Chancellor's aides.
I bowed in respect and the Chancellor responded in kind. I was used to dealing with leaders by now, be they kings of small kingdoms, bureaucrats with inflated egos, or presidents of powerful nations.
"It is good to meet you, Supreme Chancellor" I said "I am Captain Gothic of the Thunderchild, the commander of our expedition to this galaxy. I have some other titles as well, but they won't mean anything to you".
During my time I'd been an Alliance Officer, a Council Spectre, a Knight of the Round Table, the military commander of the Confederation, and a few other things.
"On behalf of The Republic and the Senate let me say that we honoured to have you here" Valorum said to me, with some charm "I must admit at first I didn't believe the reports that crossed my desk, but having seen holos of our ship, and shuttle, and having had confirmation of your honesty from the Jedi, I must believe that you are in fact from another galaxy".
I could have told people that we were from the Unknown Regions, however given the speed of my ship no would have accepted that an entire civilization with such advanced tech would have remained hidden for so long when they could travel at such speeds.
"Yes, Supreme Chancellor my ship is from outside of what you would consider known space" I confirmed "I am from a planet called Earth, which is in a galaxy far, far away".
How far I didn't know, this was something I'd leave Seven of Nine to find out, for now she was trying to find the Yuuzhan Vong worldships that were making their way to this part of the universe. Once we had proof of their existence we would warn the peoples of this galaxy.
Once that was done I could have Seven of Nine seek out the Milky Way galaxy, she had a modified Asgard ship which wasn't well armed when compared to my ship, but it was fast, and I badly wanted her to find the Earth of this reality if only because I was so curious about it.
"I see, and I assume that the Republic need not fear an invasion" Valorum said.
Well it should, just not from me.
"I can't speak for the rest of the universe" I told the man "But if you're worried about my people conquering Republic worlds then you have no reason to feel concerned. While I am a military man myself my crew is made up of scientists and explorers. We're here on a ten year mission".
We'd be here for thirteen years, but I didn't plan to spend all of it in this one galaxy. There was a whole universe out there to explore and like in the Stargate Jump we'd most likely spend the last few years of the Jump exploring the far reaches of the universe.
"A ten year mission?" Valorum asked.
I nodded.
"Yes a ten-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before" I said with a straight face "And while we are here, we'll trade our some of technology, which can help your Republic, and perhaps learn from you as well".
What followed was talk that didn't led to anyone actually committing to anything. The leader of the Republic spoke about the history of this galaxy, and also let me know about some parties that might be interested in talking to me.
Before long the appointment came to an end and I was escorted out while the Chancellor went to address the senate. I had an idea on what would be talked about in that session.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Coruscant System.
"Cortana any luck with this holonet they have here?" I asked.
I was currently in the galaxy map room of the ship, a feature I'd installed many years ago, back before even the Confederation was founded, normally it showed an interactive map of whatever part of the universe I was in, but right now the computer was trying to process information from thousands of data sources.
"There's a lot of raw data here" she told me "Might help if I knew what I was looking for".
"Hego Damask" I said.
Better known as Darth Plagueis, Hego Damask, was Dark Lord of the Sith and heir to the lineage of Darth Bane. He was Sidious's master, and hopefully he was dead by. Palpatine was due to kill him a few hours before becoming Supreme Chancellor, and that would soon be declared. When it was I needed to be ready to offer Padme my aid in liberating her world, so that in years to come she would see me as an ally.
While Cortana searched threw a vast amount of information I went over what I knew about the Dark Lord in case he was alive, and I needed to face him.
I knew that he was obsessed with eternal life, and that he'd experimented with ways to cheat death as well as ways of creating new life using the midi-chlorians.
His work meant little to me as I'd achieved eternal life during the last Jump, I no longer aged and nor would I get sick. I couldn't even be killed with mortal weapons, but I imagined that this had limits as I could still be injured.
In his public guise as Magistre Damask of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, Darth Plagueis backed the rise and fall of certain star systems, supported businesses, and backed crime lords, earning him many enemies. His actions were aimed into placing the Galactic Republic into a state of turmoil, as such his death would benefit the galaxy.
One of Plagueis's greatest contributions, if that was the right word for it, to the history of the galaxy was his training Darth Sidious in the ways of the Sith and the dark side of the Force, whom he incited to take control of the galaxy and bring about a new age of the Sith.
Plagueis helped Sidious, known publicly as Palpatine from Naboo, rise to the position of Senator. While working together, they instigated the Yinchorri Uprising back in 34 BBY, the Invasion of Naboo which was happening right now, and all to bring about a war that would destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic.
Not that I intended to let this happen as while the Republic did need some shaking up, replacing it with an evil empire after a massive war really wouldn't improve things. I had a few plans to help restore the Republic over the next decade, and none of them involve galactic civil wars.
The Dark Lord was also unwittingly responsible for the creation of Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One. Who was meant to bring down the Sith, not that he was required to do that now as I was well on top of things.
Plagueis planned to be appointed Co-Chancellor of the Republic so that he might advise Sidious from the dark, I found this a little odd as such an appointment would draw a lot of attention, and Plagueis was a banker so putting him in charge of the Republic's fiances made more sense. I assumed that ego was the reason behind this poor idea.
In the original timeline his apprentice decided not to share the role of Supreme Chancellor, Sidious, convinced that his master had outlived his usefulness, killed the Muun in his sleep the night before his election and eventually rose to become ruler of the Galactic Empire with the aid of Plagueis.
However if the Sith Lords had detected my entrance into this galaxy, and had a sense of the changes I would bring about then Sidious might decide to delay the murder of his master. I was powerful, but I didn't want to take on two dark lords. Better for Sidious to kill his master, for Maul to die on Naboo, and for me to kill Sidious using my beaming tech.
"According to a news report I found Hego Damask died a few hours ago" Cortana told me.
I'd not felt that in the Force, but this power was still new to me, and the darkside was still clouding things. Hopefully it would soon be unfogged.
"What about Count Dooku?" I asked.
Dooku was a Jedi Master who in original timeline fell to the dark side of the Force and became a Dark Lord of the Sith, known as Darth Tyranus.
According to his files, which Cortana had now brought up, he'd been born into a noble family on the planet Serenno, he was the heir to vast wealth and the noble title of Count. If he'd remained on his homeworld he'd have been a noblemen and ruler.
However Dooku was taken by the Jedi Order as a child and apprenticed to Thame Cerulian. As a Jedi Knight, he took Qui-Gon Jinn as his first Padawan, and later trained Komari Vosa. Dooku was a respected instructor in the Jedi Temple and one of the most renowned swordsmen in the galaxy, surpassed only by Grandmaster Yoda and equal to Master Mace Windu.
Dooku had spent nearly seventy years as a Jedi, but a disastrous battle on Galidraan shook his faith in the Order and the Galactic Republic.
In the original timeline he fell under the influence of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of Naboo, and left the Jedi Order. After learning that Palpatine was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, Dooku turned to the dark side and became a Dark Lord of the Sith himself, replacing Darth Maul as Sidious's second apprentice. His new master bestowed upon him the Sith title of Darth Tyranus.
Reclaiming his birthright as Count of Serenno and his vast fortune, Dooku conspired with Sidious to force the galaxy into a war that would bring the Sith to power. He forged ties between corporations and planets which were discontented with the Republic, and became the leader of the Separatist movement that later coalesced into the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Thousands of star systems flocked to Dooku's banner and seceded from the Galactic Republic.
As the political leader of the Confederacy, Dooku led the organization against the Republic in a conflict that would become known as the Clone Wars. He recruited and trained four of his greatest warriors to lead the Separatist Droid Army: Durge, the brutish Gen'Dai bounty hunter; Asajj Ventress, Dooku's protégé and Dark Jedi apprentice; General Sev'rance Tann, Chiss commander and Dark Acolyte; and General Grievous, the infamous Jedi-slaying Kaleesh-cyborg and droid leader.
The war culminated in a great battle over the Republic capital of Coruscant. In a duel aboard the Separatist flagship Invisible Hand, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker defeated Dooku. Skywalker then executed the dismembered and helpless Dooku at the instigation of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Tyranus's own Sith Master. He would quickly be replaced by the very man who had killed him, Anakin Skywalker, who would soon fall to the dark side and be transformed into the fearsome Darth Vader.
To my surprise that man was still in the Jedi Order, he'd appeared on a number of news reports, and had publicly spoken out against certain actions taken by the Senate and the Jedi Council, but that was it. I knew that Palpatine and Dooku knew each before the Phantom Menace, and that Dooku had been considering joining Palpatine, but perhaps Sidious hadn't gotten his claws into Dooku yet. Therefore if I got rid of Sidious I might prevent Dooku's fall.
Only time would tell so I would have to keep tabs on Dooku somehow. He might still go over to the darkside once he formally left the Jedi Order, but for now I had other matters to deal with. Starting with the liberation of Naboo.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Naboo System.
"Your Majesty, there is only one ship" I reported.
My Aurora-class had moments ago dropped out of hyperspace before cloaking, the regular kind not phase cloaking, and while the scanners were somewhat limited when we were cloaked it was clear that the sole remaining Trade Federation vessel was not prepared for a fight. I guessed they must have cheaped out when it came to buying sensors or they'd they picked us up for a second or two when we left hyperspace, or perhaps they had dismissed the reading as a glitch.
"The blockade's gone" said Captain Panaka.
I enlarged the hologram of the remaining Trade Federation vessel. It was clearly a converted bulk freighter, not a true warship.
"The war's over" Obi-Wan stated "No need for it now"
Padawan Kenobi was correct. The droid army had control over the most of the planet, so there was no sense keeping a large fleet here, not when those ships should be delivering cargo, and since the Trade Federation were denying the occupation they couldn't keep a big fleet here anyway as that would be easy for the Republic to detect.
"It's a droid control ship." I told my passengers "We're picking up a lot of signal traffic coming from it, and by the looks of things they haven't picked us up".
If they had I was sure that they'd have launched fighters and would have raised their shields.
"So what's next?" I asked.
No one spoke for a while. There was no Jar Jar Binks in this version of events, so the queen had no way to contact the Gungans, the Jedi might not even know they existed.
"I could blow up the droid control ship and then when their droid army has shut down you can just go down to the palace and capture Gunray" I suggested "He should still be in the palace".
Which should draw out Darth Maul allowing to me lock on to him and beam him into space should the Jedi fail to kill him. I'd rather not use my beaming tech on anyone other than Sidious in case he figured what happened and didn't come to Naboo for the big peace party. But if needs be I'd kill Maul myself.
"Can you destroy that ship?" Captain Panaka asked me.
I smiled.
"Captain this is an Aurora-class warship" I said to him, not caring that my words wouldn't mean much "Its technology is more advanced that you can possibly imagine".
I closed my eyes, and a moment later the ship de-cloaked. Then I blasted the Trade Federation vessel into wreckage thanks to awesome fire power of my Tollan ion cannons
"Your ship has been repaired, Majesty" I told Padme "You can depart when ready, and I'll send some of my security droids with you in order to ensure your safety while you reclaim the capital. Then we'll stay in orbit for a few days in order to provide to your people".
She needed a moment to gather her thoughts. She'd been expecting a hard struggle to reclaim her world, and now it was almost over aside their being a Sith down there, and one way or another he wouldn't be a concern for much longer.
"Yes, thank you, Captain Gothic" she said "I welcome your aid".
Oh she would so be mine one day.
(Line Break)
Theed. Naboo.
Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn's body was set aflame in a formal ceremony, which was watched by many people including the new Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and Captain Gothic, who had been invited due to his support during the recent events.
To one side, Mace Windu turned to Yoda. The two Jedi whispered so that there words wouldn't be over heard, but both Sidious and Gothic were able to listen in.
"There is no doubt. The mysterious warrior was a Sith" said the human male.
Yoda grimly nodded.
"Always two there are...no more...no less. A Master and an Apprentice" he said.
Mace turned to look at the burning body of Qui-Gon.
"But which one was destroyed, the Master or the Apprentice?" the dark skinned man wondered.
Palpatine, who stood not far from the Jedi Masters, outwardly appeared sad, however what he actually felt was fear. The darkside was warning him of great danger, but his visions were unclear, the balance was shifting away from darkness and back towards something more neutral.
A thousand years of planning by the Sith was coming undone all around him, and there was nothing he could do about it. Perhaps he had made a mistake when killing his Master, and he knew he'd done wrong by not ensuring that the Trade Federation was fully prepared for changing circumstances.
How was the Dark Lord to have known that people would come from outside of the galaxy to interfere with his plans?
No one could have predicted it, and the Force had not given him enough warning. To make matters worse there wasn't much Palpatine could do about these newcomers, if he'd had more time he could have prepared and made plans, but with him becoming Supreme Chancellor so recently he'd no opportunities to take action.
At the moment of his triumph, when he should be enjoying the success he'd worked so hard to obtain, he felt so uncertain, and even scared. He was right to feel this way, and had the Dark Lord truly understood how much danger he was really in he never would have left Coruscant.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Orbit of Naboo.
I actually felt it when Palpatine died the Force had rippled for lack of a better term, and while I was no Jedi Master, I was fairly certain that the darkside's hold on the galaxy had been weakened. Which was good news, only now the Jedi might be sense me better. Not that they were likely to take aggressive action as long as I didn't harm the Republic.
Killing Palpatine had actually been rather easy. I'd had him followed by a cloaked probe, which if he'd been able to sense he hadn't acted upon, and then I'd simply waited until he was alone, even Dark Lords need to use the bathroom, before beaming into space. Unlike a normal beaming I'd made sure that the atoms that made up the Sith's body didn't recombine.
"So you've defeated the bad guys?" Cameron asked me.
We were alone on the bridge, and alone on the whole ship as everyone else was on the planet having taken Puddle Jumpers down to the planet. I'd been sending aid to the people of Naboo to help them while they recovered. Mostly this involved giving food, basic medical supplies, blankets and clean water. I'd done stuff like so many times that my companions and I could help entire populations recover from a disaster in our sleep.
The Trade Federation hadn't remained in control of the world for long, but they'd killed a lot of people, and they began exploiting the planet's resources in a destructive way, thankfully they hadn't gotten very far, but they'd done some damage minor to the ecosystem that would need to be sorted out by the eco loving folks on the planet. I'd leave that to the people of Naboo to handle as I couldn't afford to bog myself down by trying to do too many good deeds.
"More or less" I told my Terminator "As far as I know the Bane line of Sith have come to an end, there are other darksiders out there, but they aren't a real threat. At least not right now".
It seemed too easy until I reminded myself that this was hardly the first time I'd altered the fate of a galaxy for decades to come. In fate I was rather practiced at it.
"Dooku might still fall to the darkside" I informed the cyborg "But we can keep an eye on his activities, and I'll take action if it's required".
No sense killing the man because he might do something.
"With the Sith no longer stirring the pot, things ought to calm down" I said to Cameron "Which will be good for us as peace is what we'll need for our enterprises".
Setting up a new civilization wasn't exactly in line with the goals I'd told the last Supreme Chancellor about, but it hadn't been a total lie. We were here to explore, it was just that I wanted to have a decent base of operations to explore from and have the means to improve things for people. Plus once I had my own little kingdom I'd could install a sweet throne room, that would be fun.
For now I could spend some time mediating, in an attempt to better understand this Force that I was now connected to. Which would require some quiet so I requested some silence from my bodyguard and began to mediate.