Reviews
RoyalTwinFangs
Thrawn is still with his people at this point, but he could be recruited later, or otherwise be in the story if this new Confederation ever makes contact with the Chiss. That would be sometime in the future since the group has a lot to do in the Outer Rim before they start getting involved with the Unknown Regions.
Selias
What an amusing mistake. Almost a shame that I corrected it.
frankieu
The droid army is just blaster fodder for the coming war so there's no reason to waste time and energy upgrading them.
Jump Chain Gothic 6 - The Phantom Menace
Part 9
Theed. Naboo.
Padmé Naberrie, known by the royal name of Amidala, sat upon her throne as she waited for the meeting to begin.
While she now ruler of this world Padmé Naberrie had rather simple life once, having grown up in an isolated mountain village where her parents instilled in their children high virtues like self-sacrifice and to care for those less fortunate.
Later in life her family moved to Theed and Padmé attended the best schools available to her, while enjoying occasional retreats to Naboo's lake country. In the time line that could have been she would have retreated that part of the planet along with Anakin Skywalker while hiding from bounty hunters.
In her youth Padme volunteered for the Refugee Relief Movement, like her father had before her. During that part of her life she had journeyed to world called Shadda-Bi-Boran in order to aid in the relocation efforts of the natives. Sadly these refugees died when they were unable to adapt to life on another world.
Amidala's rise to power was meteoric, she had joined the Apprentice Legislature at age eight and became a full Apprentice Legislator by age eleven. By 33 BBY, at the age of thirteen, Padmé Naberrie had become the teenage governor of Theed, and was extremely popular, rallying those opposed to the rule of King Ars Veruna.
She became involved in a relationship with Ian Lago, the young son of Veruna's Prime Counselor, Kun Lago. Lago's father opposed the match, but it ended of its own accord when Veruna abdicated and Amidala was able to succeed the King.
Her bid for the throne had initially been suggested to her parents, and subsequently discreetly backed, by Senator Palpatine, who wished to see Veruna lose the election as part of his own plans for greater power.
About five months after her election in 33 BBY, Queen Amidala was faced with what would become one of the most significant events in Naboo's history. In protest of the Galactic Senate's decision to tax users of the galaxy's trade routes, Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation enforced a blockade on Amidala's home world.
With few resources of its own, as the people of that planet were unwilling to ravage their world, the Naboo relied heavily on imports, as such the blockade served as the perfect example of the Republic's reliance on trade.
Amidala tried to use diplomatic and political means to rid her planet of the Trade Federation, yet it was all in vain. The Viceroy, who was secretly following the orders of Darth Sidious, avoided any diplomatic efforts to end the blockage, going so far as to order his troops to assassinate the Republic ambassadors that Chancellor Valorum had secretly dispatched.
Unfortunately for Nute Gunray the ambassadors were the Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and shortly after their escape Gunray was ordered to both sabotage all of Naboo's communications systems and deploy his troops for the invasion.
While Amidala refused to start a war her opinions on the matter were meaningless as the Trade Federation invaded anyway, and swept away what little defences the planet's human population had prepared. Naboo was a peaceful planet so it had no military, only a security force, and a few squadrons of star fighters.
When the Trade Federation forces took Theed, Amidala was soon captured at the Palace, but in the guise of a handmaiden. Her double, a girl called Sabé, assumed the guise of the Queen during this time. Acting on instructions, the decoy refused to sign the treaty authorizing a Federation occupation of Naboo, and they were sentenced to be placed in detention camps.
On their way to detention facilities, the group, which consisted of the false Amidala, her handmaidens, Governor Sio Bibble and Captain Panaka, was freed by the Jedi ambassadors Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Though reluctant to leave her people, Amidala (via Sabé) accepted the Jedi's offer to escort her to Coruscant, leaving Governor Bibble and others behind.
Had the time line carried on as expected Padme would made a pact with the Gungans, and she might have managed this even without the help of Jar Jar Binks, whose fate remained unknown.
If that battle had taken place the Gungans would have fought a battle with the Trade Federation droid army while Naboo starfighters tried to take out the Droid Control ship, so that Padme and others could arrest the Viceroy.
That hadn't happened as a group of people from another galaxy, known to the locals as the Outsiders, had destroyed the Droid Control Ship in a surprise attack, which had disabled the droid army, leaving the Viceroy helpless.
From that point it had been simply enough to arrest the leaders of the blockade and bring freedom to the planet. The Outsiders had even aided in efforts to undo the harm done by the Trade Federation occupation by donating supplies needed to care for the people of Naboo.
Now the Outsiders had made contact again, sending the Queen a box. While the courier hadn't stuck around for long, it had been explained that only Padme could open the box, and that it contained a way to speak with Gothic, the leader of the Outsiders.
The container was currently being wheeled into the room, after being examined, and once all of her advisers were in place, the Queen touched the container. It opened and from the ornate box came a metal sphere, that lifted itself into the air.
Padme was just wondering how she'd use this sphere to contact Gothic when it activated seemingly in its own, however Padme had actually switched on it with her mind.
There was a short delay, but before long the sphere began to show the face of Gothic, the leader of the Outsiders. The Queen couldn't help feeling curious about all of this, and she couldn't wait to find out what the extra-galactic man had to say.
Thankfully he didn't keep her waiting long.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Hutt Space.
On the map Hutt Space was an autonomous region of the galaxy on the border between the Mid Rim and the Outer Rim Territories, near the entrance to a region of the galaxy known as Wild Space. Hutt Space encompassed the entire Si'Klaata Cluster, and shared a border with the Tion Hegemony, which I knew nothing about, yet.
As could be guessed Hutt Space was named for the Hutt species, who dominated the region. Differing accounts attributed different numbers of planets in Hutt Space, but reasonable estimates range from a few hundred to a thousand inhabited worlds.
The different accounts were partly why Seven of Nine was currently mapping this part of the galaxy with her Asgard science ship and long rang probes, but that would take a while so my ship was scouting out the systems that we already had charts for so we could better plan the invasion, and to better understand what was actually going in this part of space.
The ship was remaining cloaked as such the scanners weren't feeding us a great deal of information, but we could get an idea of what sort of traffic the different systems got, and what sort of large scale defences they had.
We were also leaving a number of cloaked probes behind in each system, this slowed things down, however it would ensure that we had up to date information on all the major systems in Hutt Space.
This would be very important if the Hutts managed to gather another fleet. Given what had happened to the last one I couldn't see many pirate gangs and slaver groups joining up for another attack on Tatooine, but when I started attacking Hutt controlled worlds even those scum might fight to defend their homes.
Scanning and launching probes didn't involve much effort from me now that I had an organic crew as well as plenty of bots. Which left me free to plan things, and I was going over some plans right now, not all of them had to do with the coming war.
"Tea, Earl Grey. Hot" I ordered.
I'd installed a mobile replicator next to my command chair so I didn't have to reach far for my drink.
Before my eyes were a number of 2D screens, which were holograms, and they displayed a lot of information, as well as some designs and notes I'd been taking. I even had some news reports up, so that I would remain updated about current galactic affairs.
I was currently reading about how Nute Gunray was stepping down as the head of the Trade Federation due to the board of directors more or less ordering him to quit his job. Which was good for me as it meant he was less of a threat.
Alas he was still quite wealthy and had an army of lawyers to protect him who were using every legal trick they could to keep the Viceroy out of the courtroom for some time to come. He might never be put on trail given that without Palpatine around the Republic leadership was clogged up due to corruption.
While the Viceroy was denying having sent a fleet to Tatooine, laying blame on lesser ranking members of the leadership, the very people I'd sent back to Trade Federation after capturing their ship, I was sure the directors of that firm knew exactly who to blame.
The loss of another Droid Control Ship, the second since the blockade of Naboo, was more than just an embarrassment to the Trade Federation, it was a great of loss materials goods, and future income, since that ship could no longer be used to carry trade goods. They'd even lost an entire droid army.
Since I'd made the Trade Federation fire on their allies, which had killed many pirates and mercs even if the other Trade Federation ships had been able to escape, the Hutts would no longer be allied with them. Not even if the deal they'd made was with Gunray rather than the whole organisation.
Also I suspected the Trade Federation would stay out of my affairs in the future, if only prevent the company from losing more money, but I wouldn't be lowering my guard around them. Those aliens were not to be trusted, and in the future I might need to dismantle the entire shipping corporation.
"What are you working on, Master?" inquired Cameron.
Due to Supi taking up a lot of attention I'd not spent much time with my Terminator in recent weeks, and right now the green skinned alien babe was spending time in my quarters with some educational programs. I wanted to ensure that Supi could have a life once I had left this galaxy and education could help with that.
"I'm working on a proper plan for our future Jumps" I told the cyborg "I've been going over the Final Jumps. My intention for the last Jump is still the Warhammer 40k galaxy, and by the looks of things that will be Jump 20".
Cameron had a quick look at the displays.
"Twenty Jumps would give you minus one thousand CP" she said.
Which was the limit, and while I'd need to take a boat load of drawbacks in order to get any CP to spend for that setting, h didn't think that I'd need to after a total of 19 Jumps.
I was very powerful now, and I was only on Jump Six, just over a quarter of my way through the now planned twenty Jumps. At the rate things were going I should be able to pop a few planets with just the power of my mind by the time I got to Jump Ten.
"While I've made some good choices for Jumps" I was now saying "but I do need to plan things more carefully, and it would be a good idea to expand the warehouse if we're going to do fourteen more Jumps".
I enlarged two of the files I'd been looking at.
"There's a version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with what is called an Asgardian Armoury that I wouldn't mind having as you can upgrade it so that you can take any weapon out of the armour no matter where you are" I explained to Cameron "It also has a hanger bay add on that can be upgraded to hold a lot of space ships. I could end up spending most of my CP on warehouse upgrades on that Jump, but it would be worth it, and I am becoming very powerful so I should be able to hold my own in that reality".
I'd be no match for Thor whose godly powers were somewhat magical in nature I suspected, and while I could escape the Hulk easily enough, in a fair fight he'd ground into a sticky paste. But that was okay as humans with high tech stuff and fighting skills were valued members of the team. Plus one of my visions in the crystal caves had shown me fighting alongside the Avengers, and I rather liked that idea.
"My concern is that I won't be strong enough to fight Thanos" I admitted to the cyborg "And so I've been exploring some options for a Jump to take before the MCU".
I also wanted some more addons for my Warehouse as if I was doing twenty Jumps I would need more room, and support. Also more powerful companions would be nice, but I had ways of upgrading existing companions if needs be, they just saw no reason to further enhance themselves right now.
"The Young Justice Jump has a trophy and training room addons that look nice" I said to Cameron "But I have my eye on the Skyrim Jump as that Jump has warehouse addons, and there's a way to drastically shorten the Jump so that no one has to spend an entire decade in stasis".
Jump Chan had advised doing a couple of magical Jumps, and a trip to Skyrim could enhance my existing magical powers rather nicely. Morgana would benefit to as she wanted more magical powers as well.
Most of my women weren't at all interested in magic, or living in a world without the advanced technology that they were so used to, and because of the way Jump Chain worked, they didn't have to.
I could just leave them in stasis, and from their perspective no time at all would pass. If I missed them too much, then I could simply enter the Cosmic Warehouse and spend some time with that person without them having to leave the comfort of the warehouse.
Also up on the screens were modified designs for ring platforms and Stargates, these designs were much more limited that the real thing, every platform and Stargate would be paired with another in order to limit movement via the gates, and also their range, but on the plus side my modifications greatly cut down on the amount of naqudah required, and that was a very limited resource since only the Matter Furnace could provide the material.
Even now the two Stargates I planneed to use to link Naboo to Tatooine, were under construction, those two worlds were close together on a galactic scale, and my designs would take advantage of this to allow for safer Stargate travel. Less naquadah meant less chance of there being a massive overload that could render a planet uninhabitable.
"But I can worry about future Jumps later" I was now saying "I was just thinking ahead. For now I need to focus on Hutt Space".
I didn't even have to press a button in order to change the display. Now there was only one big 2D screen and it showed Hutt Space. I could see the positions of some of the more important worlds, and the hyperspace routes.
Like many other realites this universe had a layer of subspace, which was known as Hyperspace (called darkspace by the Yuuzhan Vong), and it was used by starships to achieve faster-than-light travel.
Hyperspace was an alternate dimension of space-time that could only be entered at faster-than-light speeds using a hyperdrive, this was true of my ships as well as the locals. Hyperspace was coterminous with realspace, with a unique point in realspace being associated with a unique point in hyperspace.
Every object in realspace, like stars or planets, also had a "shadow" in hyperspace at the same location that it occupied in realspace. Since gravity had an effect on time and space this made sense.
While my research into the hyperspace science of this reality had told me that aspects of hyperspace remained mysterious to astrophysicists and astrogation experts. At least it was clear that hyperspace shortened travel times, allowing starships that were equipped with hyperdrives to cross light-years in a matter of minutes.
In this galaxy hyperspace travel was the backbone of the galactic community, commerce and trade, politics and warfare. Just as the advanced people's of the Star Trek galaxy used warp drive.
While it was different elsewhere for this setting the principles of Hyperspace travel were first discovered by the ancient Rakata. Who thousands of years ago had founded the not so Infinite Empire, and hadn't been the nicest people around.
The Corellians and Duros were the first two known races to have figured out how to create a purely technological versions of the Force based Rakatan devices. Without them this galaxy would be a very different place.
At the start of the Galactic Republic, hyperspace coordinates were plotted with the aid of hyperspace beacons, and many stations placed in open space, distant from gravity wells, where ships would download data provided by the Republic Spacelane Bureau.
Around the time of the Mandalorian Wars, navicomps replaced the beacons, making hyperspace navigation much easier.
The hyperdrives of this galaxy had some big disadvantages when compared the hyperdrive I used. Which was a combination of Asgard and Ancient sciences, my ship was Lantean, bit it had been upgraded by Asgard.
While generally determined by the distance between two planets, hyperspace travel times between two locations seemingly close to one another could be drastically extended by the need to navigate around stellar hazards, such as asteroid fields and nebulae.
An example of this is the journey from Coruscant to Alderaan. In terms of distance, Alderaan was situated close to Coruscant, however such a journey required many hours of travel because stars were much closer together the closer to the centre of the galaxy you were.
It was actually faster and easier to get from Tatooine to Alderaan on the other side of the galaxy, because Tatooine was in the Outer Rim, because out here the stars were much fewer and further apart, so it was possible to chart a more direct course.
Also there were what was called Hyperlanes, which were parts of hyperspace were a ship could move much faster than normal and more safely too. This was because of what could be called subspace currents, which existed in the layer of subspace used by the peoples of this galaxy. Unlike other subspace anomaly these currents were a good thing.
A simply way to look at was to think of normal hyperspace travel as a ship at sea, while you could travel far by sea there was always the sight danger of going of course, or crashing into something. Gravity wells could be like ice bergs in a sense. Precise navigation greatly lessened the danger, but there was always a chance of disaster.
Hyperlanes were more like well known rivers with strong yet steady currents. During the centuries of stable Republic rule stable hyperlanes had become trade routes, which allowed for the easy movement of goods.
The natives of this galaxy didn't fully understand this, but they didn't have access to the amount of information I did. I had knowledge of subspace science from Stargate and Star Trek, and the Ancients were able to utilise subspace to such a degree that that could make their own wormholes. Without that understanding there wouldn't be any Stargates.
I didn't require these routes, and my ships could traverse the galaxy with ease, as we used a totally different layer of subspace, one free of any currents, and one that allowed for much faster travel.
The reason as to why I cared about hyperlanes which were of no use to me was because Nal Hutta, the capital world of Hutt Space and home of the Hutt Clans, sat on several hyperlanes
"Defeating the Hutts will require invasing Nal Hutta, and Nar Shaddaa, the Smuggler's Moon" I was now saying to Cameron "And while we could try to blockade the system with a fleet of Ha'tak I think it might make things easier for us if we weakened our enemy first".
I highlighted part of the 2D map.
"If we had a base on the boarder of Hutt Space, on one of these trade routes, then our enemy might be fooled into thinking we actually intend to make use of these routes" I said to my bodyguard "Then they would underestimate us",
To that end taking a world on a trade route that led to Nal Hutta would be a good opening move as I could set up a military base there, and this would give the Hutts something to focus on. A target for them to strike which was a threat to them so they'd be tempted to ignore Tatooine and attack this base.
"Teth might work" I said, thinking out loud "It's on two minor trade routes, and on the boarder of Hutt Space".
This was when one my asari rushed into the room, she was blued skinned as were all the asari crew and soldiers I'd created. I'd not meant to create any sort of caste system, but that did seem to how things were progressing. I'd been creating more purple skinned asari as engineers, and I'd most likely end up with green skinned asari as workers.
"My Lord, the sphere is active" she said
Good this meant that Tali had been able to deliver the communications device to the Theed palace, and while I was sure that Captain Panaka's underlings had scanned the machine, in case it was a bomb, they'd not broken it.
"If you'll excuse me" I said to the bridge "I have an alliance to create".
(Line Break)
Meeting Chamber,. Geonosis.
Geonosis, which was called Geonosia by some of the natives, was a ringed, rocky planet in the Arkanis sector of the Outer Rim Territories, not that far from Tatooine, so it hadn't taken Count Dooku long to get here in this new ship. What had taken time was making the deals with this world's leadership.
The world was the home planet of the insectoid Geonosians, it was known for its droid factories and violent gladiatorial games. However games weren't of concern here, it was the droid factories that interested Dooku and his new partner.
While this planet was part of the Republic, it had been forgotten by the Senate, and by most of the galaxy, however the leader of the new Confederation had designs for this world. Its droid factories could be put to use building Gothic's security bots.
The Outsiders planned for war with the Hutts, and a war required an army. While building an army for the Confederation on a world that was part of the Republic would be a problem, as such the bots would be for security not warfare, at least not publicly.
To aid with this the bots would be sold to anyone who could afford them, not including the Hutts. They would indeed provide cheap and effective security for worlds here in the Outer Rim, which badly needed them.
Hadiss the Vaulted was the current Archduke of Geonosis, and was he whom Dooku had been struggling to convince to build the bots. Dooku knew that Gothic had been wise to send him as even with his diplomatic talents the former Jedi Master was having trouble convincing the Archduke, someone less experienced would have stood no chance.
The insect alien who more or less ruled this world (there were rumours of queens who outranked the Archduke, but Dooku had seen no proof of their existence) spoke in tongue that humans could learn to understand, however Dooku had no need to speak it as he'd been provided with a universal translator.
"I understand that the retooling your factories will be costly" the Count said "And I understand that the lack of any existing customers for the robots is a concern as well".
The Outsiders would need a lot of bots in order to secure Hutt Space, and while they could build the machines themselves, they needed to support the military they were building, and to produce ships, even with their very impressive technology this wasn't possible. Not if the Hutts were to be defeated anytime soon, and slavery brought to an end.
"Just remember that the Outsiders made an entire city appear in a matter of hours" the Count said "They can control time itself, within certain limits, and I have seen the marvels of their technology for myself. The ship I travelled to your world in should have taken months to build, they finished it within weeks, and they have more on the way".
Dooku had more to say.
"Think about how you could profit from an alliance with this new Confederation" the Count urged "They will furnish you with a design for security bots that are superior to what anyone else in this galaxy can build, and while the Confederation's needs must come first, you will be free to sell the surplus bots to anyone you wish, aside from the Hutts, or to keep them for your own defence".
Dooku knew that it was time to sweeten the deal, but he let the Archduke ponder the matter for a few moments as they sat in the meeting room.
"The Confederation will pay very well for your services" the Count stated "They have access to rare metals, and I am sure that I can convince them to share some of their advanced technology with you".
Dooku knew that while space travel was simple enough for these aliens, they would be able to find a use for ring platforms, and Gothic even had plans for something called Stargates which allowed a person to step through a gate on one planet and simply appear on another.
Once the people of this world got used to having this advanced technology they would become dependant upon the Confederation, and then Gothic would have great influence over the Hives of this world, which would be able to supply with all the droids he would ever need.
The Archduke spoke and the Count listened, as the Confederation's ambassador he knew that he would be spending a lot of time talking and listening to people. He found that he didn't mind this as at least now his work would actually accomplish something in the long term.
"Then I will return to Laneta and acquire the designs as well as the agreed upon down payment" Dooku said.
The Archduke had now agreed the terms which had been sorted out earlier by those more suited to such things. Which meant that the Count had done his job. No doubt Gothic would be very pleased.
(Line Break)
Aurora-class Warship. Hutt Space.
I returned to the bridge with a smile on face. My plans were well in motion. The Queen of Naboo wished to discuss our future trade agreements in person, and Dooku should soon have the hives of Geonosis making bots for me, which I would need to occupy Hutt Space.
Back on Tatooine, ships, arms and armour were being produced while I was scouting out Hutt Space. All was going well for my group.
Sure Padme hadn't actually agreed to anything yet, but given that her world had been devastated so recently I felt sure that she'd allow to use her world as a staging area for greater trade with the rest of the galaxy, and that she would help me to make a proper peace treaty with the Republic.
Plus Naboo was still exporting plasma, but there was no Trade Federation to oversee that operation. Perhaps I could aid the Naboo with that operation.
Once she got a look at ring platforms and a Stargate she'd want to see more, and in time that would led to me recruiting her as she could rightfully believe that I could aid the world she loved so much.
One day I'd own Padme like I owned my other companions. Not in the sense that I owned property, but her heart would be mine, I felt sure of it.
"Now where was I?" I said when I retook my chair on the bridge.
While I didn't really need reminding Cameron mentioned my desire to set up a base on Teth. Which I wanted to do in order to give the Hutts something to attack that wasn't Tatooine. Plus from this base I could raid targets in Hutt Space and have somewhere to store any spoils.
I could sort out the spoils on Teth, sending slaves to Lantea for them to be taken care of while keeping unknown and potential dangerous tech off Tatooine. And if the Hutts did take the base well it wouldn't be a huge loss.
Given the resources I had now I'd need to re-purpose some existing structure that was already somewhat secure. Then I could start moving in people and equipment. Teth would be suitable for this as it was under anyone's control.
It's democratic government had collapsed sometime ago, so perhaps in time I could restore some order to the planet, which was a hideout for smugglers these days, and bring the world into the Confederation.
"Set course for Teth" I ordered.
Before we arrived I would need to check in with Miranda Lawson as she would have a better idea of what resources would be needed to shipped to Teth.
The ship entered hyperspace, and given our speed we would be there in less than half an hour, and it would only take that long because we were in no rush. So I didn't have much time to plan any assaults, thankfully none would be required. I already knew exactly where this new base would be set up.