II
There is only one thing more dangerous than repercussion after a failed coup. Your fellow conspirators.
Nioclo dei Ber-Noard, third vaan (head of family) of Renarinian house Maichi'Aveli, on the art of intrigue and politics.
Ansion
They were sitting around a large, round, black table. The hall was medium sized, with a high ceiling. Not the richest, most stylish decor, but good enough for the occasion.
Quite a gathering, Gant thought. Lecersen, Daala, Ulric Tagge, a few other high-ranking imperials. The air was thick with intrigue. He just hoped that Lecersen had done his homework well. Hopefully he would start the proceedings soon. If this event did not progress in a promising fashion, maybe he could still grab a supper on-planet before his trip back to Almania.
"Please take your seats, ladies and gentlemen," Lecersen said eloquently. He took a moment until everyone settled down into their comfortable chairs.
"Greetings, my friends," he began. "As the Empire, we have a long and rich heritage and history. It is a history of defeat, but also one of triumph. It is by attending to the principles and ideals that we value and cherish that we have survived, developed, and prospered."
As Gant listened to Lecersen speak, he wondered whether this man believed in what he was speaking, or was attempting to manipulate their minds to make them cooperate.
Gant looked at Lano Narava, the Alderaani amateur of Imperial politics. Gant always thought Narava's black, lightly armoured uniform and helmet looked ridiculous. What was going on in that man's mind?
Narava did not trust Lecersen. He trusted Gant even less.
He knew that there was a place for him among the Empire's elite. And more than that, he belonged right up there with the core of the leadership. He did not have ambitions to be the ruler. He was not that despotic. He could leave that role to Lecersen. He saw himself as the one leading from the shadows... officially second, or at the very least third in order. But the one actually pulling the strings. He definitely had the ability and the intellect for that, unlike most of the others.
Once silence ensued, Daala was the first to pick up the conversation. "So why did you bring us here, Lecersen? You must know we have more important things to do than to sit around and chat about how great the Empire is."
Lecersen did not answer right away. He managed to hold his guests' gaze for a few long moments.
"We have a common goal, my friends. Our objectives are aligned. Alone, we pose no threat to the forces of Reige and the current government. But together, our power cannot be ignored."
Gant shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "And why would we want to join you in your stand against Reige?" he asked.
"Because we all agree that the way that Reige and Fel are running the Empire is absurd. They are losing control of economic and social sectors every day. The Empire is virtually becoming a puppet state to the Alliance."
Abgush, the Gamorrean general with ties to the gambling industry, suddenly got up and left.
"It looks like our friend Abgush does not agree with you," Daala said.
"I also believe that our alliance needs to reach beyond our conquest and continue into the ruling process once the takeover is complete," Lecersen continued.
This time the honorable Gar Ectar from the Calamari System got up and left the room.
"Further, I am planning to make this an enterprise that will be economically beneficial to each of us... equally."
"Equally?" a voice responded derisively from the end of the table. "I don't believe you understand that concept, Drikl. You certainly haven't treated us equally in the past, trying to drive us out of our territory to increase your own. And I recall you trying to do away with Admiral Daala during her tenure as Chief of State of the GA. You can't seriously be expecting us to place our trust in you."
"Moff Rosset, I'm surprised to hear these criticisms from you, given your well-known support of the coup against Grand Admiral Pellaeon that resulted in his death," Lecersen replied calmly. "However, let me assure you that I realize the time for infighting has passed. If it continues any longer, many of our best leaders could lose their lives while we needlessly attack one another, rather than focusing on our true enemy, the Galactic Alliance and the false Empire they have put in place with Fel and Reige, as an insulting attempt to appease us."
"If you truly believe we will buy into that nonsense, you are insane," Moff Rosset bellowed. "Even if you were genuine, the last thing the Empire needs is a committee of leaders like this who would only argue over every decision and fail to get anything done. What the Empire needs is a single person capable of bringing the Empire together to eliminate the puppets installed by the GA and reclaiming our rightful places as rulers of the galaxy."
"While I agree on that last part, you must acknowledge that on our own we do not possess the strength necessary to achieve those results. We have to ally ourselves with pro-Imperial forces from outside the Empire like the Tagge Company, the Protectorate, and Madam Tavira's forces to form a coalition if we are to accomplish our goal of restoring the glory of the Galactic Empire," Lecersen responded.
The Moff became more agitated with each moment.
"Drikl, don't be ridiculous," he countered swiftly. "Each of those groups are traitors to the Empire who abandoned us long ago. The Tagge Company has been doing business with the Galactic Alliance since it was established, and with the New Republic before that. Tavira should be court martialed for desertion, jettisoning her station to play pirate. As for her fleet of mercenaries, the Empire doesn't need that scum. And the Protectorate leader, Jaalib Brandl, is married to a Jedi Knight. Does anyone believe that he can be relied upon to remain loyal once the Jedi become involved?"
"You don't appear to be making very many friends today, Rosset," Lecersen commented as the representatives from the Protectorate, the Tagge Company, and Tavira's Invids shouted their outrage.
"You speak of restoring the glory of the Empire, but all you are doing is diluting the greatness of the Empire by conspiring with this rabble. I refuse to just stand by and allow that to happen."
It was unlikely that anyone believed in what Lecersen was saying. At least Narava did not think anybody did. Nevertheless, no one else left the chamber that evening.
After the talks, a formal dinner was held, and after dinner, a banquet began. All in grand imperial style and worthy of imperial high culture. It was apparent that Lecersen was being generous, trying to sway some of those undecided onto his side.
Moff Malvek seemed furious, "Gamorreans and Mon Calamari? He wants 'animals' to partake in the making of the Empire? Emperor's old bones… He is bringing a filth like that here, and ignoring the Confederates? Ignoring the Empire's most distinguished heroes?"
"Do you think he hasn't tried getting the Confederacy in?" Tagge replied. "Phennir despises Lecersen, flirts with the GA and has ties to Reige. He admires what Fel did to the Empire, just like Reige does. He told Drikl that the only way he will ever want to see Lecersen is 'through a TIE's targeting system'. And for the rest of the Confederates, who do you want? Hutts are just too shady, too filthy, and they would have to get something big to play with, and Drikl doesn't have anything more than pretty words so far. Bothans, besides being an inferior species, are even less willing to have anything in common with the Empire, Corellians and the rest are too loyal to their independence, to Phennir, or to both. And Sal-Solo's party lost both influence and sanity. For the aliens, he despises them nearly as much as you and me. They are just a means to an end, expendable allies."
Accompanied by his aides and security escort, Rosset made his way down the ornately decorated corridors to the building's exit. On each side of the wall were artistic renderings of great moments in the Empire's history: The Jedi Purge, Palpatine's Declaration of the New Order, and Imperial victories on Ralltiir, Polis Massa, Hoth, and dozens of other worlds. Following those were the portraits of the leaders of the Empire: Palpatine, Sate Pestage, Ysanne Isard, Trioculus, Thrawn, Carnor Jax, Burr Nolyds, Xandel Carivus, and Gilad Pellaeon. There were no portraits of Jagged Fel or Vitor Reige.
Rosset was furious with Lecersen. The longer he tolerated this charade, the angrier he became. He did not trust this joker even one imperial ounce of scrap. His rage had started building inside him years ago, during the final months of the Second Galactic Civil War. The recent communication from Lecersen had just caused these highly compressed feelings to ignite. Now, Rosset finally had an opportunity to release some of that tension. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
"What's our next move, sir?" asked a tall, skinny, dark-haired aide to Rosset's right as they made their way past the last of the paintings and arrived at the crimson greel wood doors.
Rosset did not respond until the entire procession was outside the building. "We need to ensure that Lecersen and the other traitors never get the opportunity to sign this agreement and taint the celebrated name of the Galactic Empire."
Rosset withdrew his comlink from his pocket. "Is the package ready for initiation?" he inquired.
"Good to go, sir," came the reply from the other end.
"I don't understand, sir," the aide said as he looked at Rosset with a furrowed brow. "All of your aides and personal security are right here. Who is that?"
Rosset grinned. "All will be made clear in due time, my boy."
The next day, the summit resumed as Lecersen hoped to make a final appeal that would satisfy all in attendance. He had been willing to simply allow Rosset to leave and form his coalition with the others, but Jaalib Brandl had persuaded Lecersen to make one final attempt at convincing Rosset to join them. The chamber felt a little warmer than the previous day.
Lecersen cautiously began the morning's opening speech. "With our integrated forces, neither Reige nor the GA will be able to subdue us. I urge you to visualize what we could achieve by working in concert. Each of us provides key resources that can be utilized, or controls worlds that would be ideal launching points in our campaign. The Tagge Company can supply military craft and Trulalis' proximity to the Core will prove invaluable in the later stages of our campaign. Likewise, the Protectorate's strategic position along the Corellian run and access to several other major trade routes will allow us to easily mobilize our forces in the Outer Rim and quickly move our fleets to various targets in that region of space. Tavira's forces provide us the advantage of being comprised of pirates from a multitude of worlds, thereby allowing us to have fleets in numerous locations that can be rapidly deployed when needed."
Lecersen looked at each person gathered at the conference table in turn to gauge their reaction. It was Moff Calron who spoke first.
"It would appear as though we have no other options but to agree to this partnership. Far too many high-ranking officers have thrown in their lot with Fel and Reige, either because they truly believe Fel's changes are necessary or out of fear that they would be killed if they did not support him. We must not allow their influence to pervade our worlds as well. They must be overthrown."
"Hypocrites!" shouted Rosset. The color of his face looked like that of a sun turning into a supernova. "You accuse Fel and Reige of being traitors to the Empire, while you commit the same crime. Yes, both Fel and Reige must be executed and a new emperor put in place, but I will die before allowing their regime to be replaced by one that is equally contrary to Palpatine's vision of his New Order."
"Moff Rosset, you have made your foolish opposition to these negotiations very apparent by this point. Now, is there anyone else who shares his viewpoint, or can we conclude this agreement and begin restoring the Empire?" Lecersen looked at those seated at the table once more and was met with silence.
"It is settled then. I thank you all for your willingness to put aside past grievances for the good of the Empire."
Rosset discreetly reached into a pocket and pressed the button on the signalling device hidden there.
Blasterfire erupted in the hallway as Rosset's stormtroopers quickly eliminated the other security forces stationed outside the meeting room and burst inside. The first laser beam hit the paneling to Rosset's left. The second one hit lower and to the right. He would need to tell his men to aim away from him next time, Rosset thought. An eye blink later the explosion shook the building. General chaos ensued... as planned…
Gant got hit just under the ribcage. He could feel the moisture of the blood seeping through his clothes. Probably Rosset's men, he thought. That man was never able to control his feelings. Gant was just angry at himself for having come to Ansion in the first place. Now, he would not be able to make Almania great... he would not be able to make Kueller's dream come true... Sithrot! He would not be able to have his on-planet supper before leaving after all… He thought his last and the blurriness took over his vision.
Lano Narava took out his small blaster. Wearing his upper body armor paid off, finally. His shooting practice might come in useful as well. He was away from the initial blast when it occurred, but the aftershock affected his hearing nevertheless. The smell of the laser fire, the burned flesh was becoming difficult to tolerate. Should he fight or should he make a careful retreat? Someone had to attend to the civilians. Narava saw Gant get hit. Unlikely that he is to blame then... surprisingly, he thought. Who then? No time for thinking, though. Time for shooting.
Lecersen left through the doorway in the corner of the hall. He decided to let his guards take care of the situation while he pursued Rosset. He was angry with himself. He should have suspected that Rosset was a fool. But Lecersen was so sure of his ideas and his plan, he was convinced that Rosset would join him once he heard the briefing. He should have been more careful. Rosset would have to pay the bill for this party. Lecersen would just have to get his men to clean up first.
Suddenly, Narava noticed Daala on the floor, lying motionless. Being careful to stay covered, he inched closer to her. Her chest was moving, so she appeared to be breathing. Her vest had a burn hole close to her right shoulder blade. Being mindful of the shots flying around him with the battle taking place relatively close, but not in the immediate vicinity anymore, he picked Daala up and started to move in the direction opposite to the laserfire. He noticed Rosset in the corner of his eye. Was he to blame for this? The motive was there…
Rosset moved towards the doors at the far end of the room, crawling to avoid the blasterfire. When he reached the doors, he hurriedly got up, pulled the doors open, and ran into the hallway beyond. He fired off a quick volley into the room as he made his escape. One shot caught one of Tavira's Invid guards in the upper chest and another caught one of Lecersen's stormtroopers through the neck, but the others harmlessly impacted against the wall.
Lecersen was waiting for Rosset right next to the compound's exit. He was hidden in one of his well-protected guard posts when he noticed Rosset making his retreat. He knew he would only get one shot at the fool, as the man was well guarded. He held his breath... and pulled the trigger. Lecersen's laser burst hit Rosset in the right cheekbone. He corrected himself and the second burst landed just above the left ocular orbit. A swift, surgical end to the first mutiny of Lecersen's new establishment.
Upon returning to the conference room, Lecersen found that Rosset's troops had been disposed of.
Space, the Alderaan System
One standard day later, Narava was aboard his frigate, approaching his home ship New Aldera, named for the capital city of the world of his birth, Alderaan. He smoothed out his uniform suit. A few moments later, he begun to see the familiar outlines of the large, spherical vessel.