Thanks for the nice reviews, which are always welcomed. I hope you've all been enjoying so far, and if you did, you'll like this chapter. I hope to keep things interesting before actual fighting starts. These chapters will be mostly filled with filler and what the Sol system is doing.

Without further ado…

Chapter 3

"What do you think?"

"We can still make this work."

"How? America is leading, the capitalist opportunities are too great."

"We can manipulate what goes on out there, who is allowed and who isn't."

"I can do that, depending on how the masses will react to the possibility of expansion."

"Industries are going to jump on it, I think it's time for some company takeovers."

"Good."

"And what about me? Kinda difficult to influence the church when people are losing their faith."

"Just say you had another vision, I'll think of something. This meeting is adjourned."

Jabiim

Shelter Base

A thick column of smoke slowly rose from the back of the crashed AT-TE walker, after taking several hits from the enemy's heavy cannons from artillery and droid walkers. The walkers were the very first targets during the Separatist assault, since disabling the armor of one's opponent often left their infantry demoralized. But that wasn't always the case when it came to the heroic troopers of the Republic.

Even with immediate losses of armor and defenses, the clones and Jedi both held their ground steadily against the Separatists and the Nationalists, who launched a surprise attack right after cornering other Republic forces.

Blasted droids. Obi Wan deflected a wild blaster bolt with his lightsaber, and casually ducked under another. A pair of clones blew apart a few feet in front of him from random cannon fire. As soon as the two died, two more clones filled their position, the same pattern occurring for what had to be hours now.

The droid's were making another attempt to take Shelter Base, the main stronghold of Republic forces on Jabiim. Their efforts caused thousands of casualties, the droid's and Nationalists seemed to have nearly every advantage, especially with the hostile natives fighting on their home turf.

The harsh conditions caused dozens of walkers to be halted from planned assaults, and were often attacked by groups of Nationalists and commando droids when the walker's got stuck and left in the open. The battles were costly, and the legions of droids far outnumbered the clone battalions defending the ore reserves they fought so hard to control.

Obi Wan rubbed his forehead, wiping away the sweat and mud with a sigh. After nearly two hours of fighting, the droids finally started pulling back. Shelter base was still standing strong, although the same couldn't be said about the lines of defenses. Attacks came from both sides nonstop, neither wanting to give in and surrender. Both the Nationalists and the Loyalists fought valiantly, both believing they fought for the freedom of their people.

While the natives fought for freedom, the Republic fought for ores. Not exactly patriotic.

Droids continuously marched into the perimeter of the base, the slow B1's had some trouble trekking through the mud, and were quickly taken out by a stationed turret.

"Come on boys!" A trooper yelled in defiance of the approaching droid troops. "Let's turn these clankers into scrap metal!"

It was enough to motivate the tired clones, who were ready to engage the enemy head on, this time with Jedi help. A dozen droids marched through the large crater, not slowing a bit from the constant rain.

Obi Wan leaped into the air, catching them off guard and bamboozling the simple droids, which tried to fire upon the Jedi, not realizing how they left themselves exposed. Obi Wan deflected several shots before landing a few feet behind the droid's. Clones fired their blasters into the droid line, pouring in the refined plasma until the enemy was no more. The dozen droids were easily dispatched of with the loss of but a single clone. With that taken care of, Obi Wan stepped away from the crater covered line and back to the downed AT-TE. The clones could mop up the rest. A familiar commander marched up to Obi Wan, who was glad to see his friend still alive.

"Cody!" Obi Wan turned to his second in command, smiling at Cody before asking. "What's the status on the droid armies?"

Cody scanned the battlefield with a pair of macrobinoculars, a sigh of relief came when he saw what remained of the Separatist forces had finally pulled back after taking too many losses.

"Sir, the droid army is in full retreat!"

"Good." Obi Wan managed a smile. "What about the other's?"

"Kepp, contact General Sirrus!" Cody yelled to the clone trooper a few feet away from him.

"Yes sir!" The clone saluted and quickly went to work under the covered workplace. The tarps over his head barely kept the rain off his communications equipment. He was thankful for his younger self ceasing boredom by learning about it from a tech clone many months ago on Kamino. His knowledge saved him from having to work in the constant rain, a bit of a blessing if you asked him.

Obi Wan's comlink flashed twice, he was being hailed by his former Padawan and friend, Anakin Skywalker. He rubbed his eyelids with a tired hand, and answered Anakin's call. A moment of static, as expected by the weather, before the young Jedi's voice cracked through.

"Obi Wan?" Anakin asked, a tone of worry could easily be found.

"I'm here, Anakin. Although I wish we switched places for a moment, the conditions down here are atrocious."

"Ah but I thought you didn't like flying?" Anakin quipped on the other end. Knowing full well on his mentor's dislike towards piloting and his preference to stay on the ground. Unlike Anakin's incredible skill and natural love for flying adventurously, Obi Wan was more cautious whenever in space.

"Anakin, regardless on how I feel on why droid's should pilot fighters and not Jedi, it sounds much more comfortable than this." He sighed.

Kepp gestured Commander Cody to come over. "I'm getting word from Captain Gilmunn and General Norcuna, both their forces report heavy casualties. I've got numbers running on the screen now." He pointed to the holographic screen that flashed with aurebesh.

"General!" Cody called for Obi Wan. "Casualty reports are coming in." Cody shook his head after looking again at the numbers.

"Anakin I-"

"By the force…" Anakin's voice trailed. "Sorry master, a fleet just arrived by the planet's moon, I got to go."

The link went dead, Obi Wan sighed as he walked towards Cody.

"It's bad, General, real bad. The platoons near the southern supply depot are completely overrun, and the forces marching against the Seppies are just too dug in to move any farther."

Several troopers cursed and shook their heads in despair. Losses were rising heavily, and the CIS clearly weren't giving up any time soon.

Explosions shook the ground as reports of attacks in the east quickly came to the Jedi's ears, which left him in an exhausted state. Kenobi shook his head and slowly rubbed his beard. This wasn't good, definitely not good.

Earth-Corellian Gas Fields

Saturn

Sparks flew atop the new emergency doors being constructed as several crewmen worked tirelessly on new adjustments needed for the gas mining station above Saturn. The man in charge of everything around the gas giant marched towards his quarters, briefly waving at a pair of bothans taking a small break to enjoy some rations.

The door opened and closed abruptly, Edwin rubbing his neck as he entered the air conditioned room, practically falling down in the new soft chair he was recently provided.

Edwin sighed happily as he stretched his arms back in the chair, smiling after finishing his daily overview of the manifests of freighters going to and from the Sol System.

Another shipment was leaving Saturn, a heavy freighter, the Bearskin. On route to the Bebel Gas Company for the gases to be processed and sold. Raw materials like simple gases were very common, Edwin found out, and he hoped to supply as much as possible to buyers. More gas, equals more credits.

His desk made a constant beep sound every second, he was getting a call. He cleared away his work and activated the holoprojector. He rubbed his eyes before the blue hologram of his boss appeared.

"Mr. Chairman, good to see you again." Edwin tried to look professional while clearly looking like a tired mess.

Chairman Kypp was a husky man, with a bald head and weary eyes, holding a clear posture of authority. Being Chairman, he held responsibility over maintaining the investments of the Corellian Trading Company.

"Greetings, Edwin. I trust you're doing well with our investment in the Sol System?" He got to the point.

"Yes sir, business with the human's in this region is going smoothly. The locals are very eager to trade." He responded with a confident smile.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Men like you deserve rewards for making us richer."

"Sir?"

"Edwin, you're being promoted." Chairman Kypp replied quickly. "News of our investment is reaching other companies; agriculture, mining, all want to get to this new system full of new things. Someone's gotta be in charge of handling company interests."

"Thank you Mr. Chairman." He smiled proudly. Then blinked as his smile faded. "But what about you? You are the chairman after all."

"Oh I'm too busy, it seems Earth wants to negotiate a sort of alliance, which I'm all for, I'd like to taste what treasures they possess."

"Of course." Edwin nodded. "Are you by chance coming to Earth?"

"Within the next few standard rotations. I'm bringing blueprints for vehicles they may want to purchase from the Engineering Company."

"Excellent news, sir. I hope your arrival will be pleasant." He certainly did.

"It better." The call ended. Edwin rubbed his eyes again and slowly descended into sleep. He could use it, just a little.

Earth

Missile Test Site, North Korea

May 29

The rhythm of simultaneous clapping from the two dozen individuals continued for several minutes, until the Supreme Leader waved his hand; then the clapping stopped immediately. Kim Jong Il smiled as he shook the hands of his close Generals and foreign delegates as the results came.

Today would be historic in the eyes of the people in North Korea, a successful missile test. A Nodong-1 missile reached its target in the Sea of Japan, proving they could hit targets at far ranges. Months of planning and securing materials from Iran were responsible for this.

Muhammad Ahmadi kept his handshake with the North Korean dictator brief, not wanting to waste time he needed.

The two conversed over their previously established deal, Iran supplying North Korea with oil in exchange to the now proven effective Nodong-1 missiles the Korean Dictator promised. All eyes were focused on the two, not one noticing the man in the back slowly leave the room and into a supply closet.

David Kim Lee quickly brandished his Nokia cell phone and dialed the number he was waiting to call for hours now. The US operative had been spending months infiltrating North Korean command for exactly what was going on right now. Not only was North Korea, a dangerous communist country, prove it's missile range capabilities, but they were working closely with Iran, both countries that weren't exactly fond of the United States. It was definitely something to worry about. North Korea was becoming a heavy supplier to Middle Eastern countries like Iran, selling weapons and missiles to them so they could have a plentiful supply of oil.

The phone rang for a mere second before being answered by a South Korean of the National Intelligence Service. He kept his voice quiet, stopping whenever a guard was doing his rounds.

"David? Thank God! Japan's confirmed a missile striking the Sea of Japan just a few minutes ago!" The agent on the other end said quietly.

"I've spotted Iranians. Heard something about oil and trade, I think Kim is making some sort of deal with Iran."

"That can't be good." His voice had a hint of worry.

David covered the phone with his hands, a guard came by again, sooner than normal. He had to make this quick.

"Listen, I gotta go, I have a bad feeling about this." David's voice went quiet as two new pairs of footsteps entered the hallway, stopping just before the closet. He held his breath, staring at the door with fear.

Right before he even blinked, the door was kicked into David by two large men. He didn't even have time to react before being punched and grabbed by the two, he tried to grapple free, only to receive more punishment by the two. An Iranian security guard kicked David in the stomach, twice, making him gasp for air while on the dirty floor. He could taste blood in his mouth.

The big Iranian yelled at David in a language he couldn't understand, and wouldn't care to if he could. David tried picking himself up, only to be pushed over by the other man as several North Korean guards arrived, rifles drawn and pointed at David.

The South Korean on the other end of his phone shouted for him until it was kicked away by a Korean guard. Everyone was shouting, his ears couldn't make out what everyone was saying. He shook his head, trying to reach for anything that could save him. David looked up at the Iranian, trying again to get up, then his vision went black.

White House, Washington D.C.

War Room

The British Prime Minister nodded before ending the holographic call. President Colin Abrams took a deep breath as he heard conversations between several members of his cabinet. With treaty and trade becoming more and more important, the US had been discussing with its allies of the need for funding for the space programs.

A four-star general was reading from a handout faxed to him, detailing growing tension in countries. NATO was keeping its eyes on Russia, who had chosen to remain more and more secret as the years progressed. The US and many of its other allies were neglecting its duties of keeping others in check, recent reports indicated North Korea testing a Nodong missile in the Sea of Japan, which understandably grew the worry around the communist country.

I need a vacation. Colin shook off the thoughts, he didn't have time, too much work was to be done for him to even consider taking a break for now.

The door opened, with a face Colin was familiar with. Vice President McElroy smiled as he approached the President with a firm handshake. He was relieved to see the man again after several days.

"McElroy, how was your trip to Mars?" Colin asked his friend in a polite manner.

"Fantastic Mr. President, the droids working on the base expansion are pretty impressive." The Vice President stood straight when speaking to Colin, like any good man to his leader and friend.

"Glad to hear it." He gestured him to sit, McElroy happily obliging.

"I've spoken with Edwin, the Chairman of their trading industries is coming to Earth within a few days." He informed the President, relaxing his posture.

"Good, we must make an alliance with Corellia if we can hope to keep up with this insane galaxy."

"Interesting enough, he sent me some things you'd definitely want to look at." He pulled out a small disk from his pocket and quickly loaded it into the holotable.

"As you know, people in the wider galaxy possess immensely powerful warships, a feat we could only picture in science fiction. Unfortunately, we are a sort of ant in comparison to some of these massive groups. We are in a fledgling stage, whereas these people have been roaming the stars for centuries."

"It's, hard to imagine. My mind has been stressed enough, but to try and grasp how much is out there is, incredible." Colin shook his head as his mind thought about too many things at once.

"Surprisingly, many of the ships we could purchase from our trade ally aren't actually that expensive. In fact, defunding most our sea navy spending can be used to purchase half a dozen well-equipped ships easily."

"How the hell can that be?" The President responded in surprise.

"I guess after centuries of them being so common, they just got cheaper over time. When a technology becomes so common and widely used, of course, it can slowly get less expensive."

"Alright." Colin nodded, taking a deep breath to collect his thoughts and the new information. "We're going to need a security force. And people to train us on how to use it."

"Right. Now some ships are more expensive than others. For example, a single DP20 class frigate could cost us nearly ten million dollars, mainly due to it being designed for warfare. But we'd also need to figure fuel, cargo, and tools to maintain it. Whereas a much smaller Gozanti class cruiser would only cost us a fifth of a million dollars."

Holograms of the two ships lit up on the table, an aide brought up calculations of costs for each vessel and handed it to the President.

"Hmm. I'll need to run numbers with military and economic advisors. From there we can cut costs on now irrelevant projects and focus resources on obtaining…" His words trailed off as he focused more on the information in front of him, one could notice his left hand tapping finger by finger, counting in his head before continuing. "I think we should purchase three or four of these Gozanti cruisers. They seem to be well equipped and at a good price. Maybe even one of the frigates or a Corvette."

"Should we cancel the Levia-"

"No. But we should adjust the plans for that project. We can't rely just on foreigners." Colin figured they needed to prioritize reverse engineering foreign technology in order to improve their own. Find the flaws, and improve upon them.

"Of course, Mr. President." He started to turn away from the President, then smirked as a thought crossed his mind. "I think I know just the man you'll wanna talk to."

Be sure to leave reviews, as they are my main motivation for writing. Whether good or bad, I take all types of criticism. I need to know if I'm doing well or not. Really, I just like getting reviews. Sorry again for having this chapter being shorter than some would expect, but like I keep seem to be saying, life is busy, and I've been stressed. I just need to stay motivated, your reviews and follows are what do, and I thank each and every one of you that has taken the time to read so far.

May your days be happy and full of joy as summer arrives.

Swordofsangheilios, out.