The masses cheered in the streets of Berun. The police who contained the masses also cheered and the elites who watched from their special seats the new figure of the Regime.
And in all of this ruckus. Tanya von Degurechaff rode in a car through the streets of Berun accompanied by the mounted guard.
Tanya von Degurechaff was acclaimed by everyone and had earned so many medals that Zettour had forbidden her from wearing more than half of them for if she wore more than that she would look completely ridiculous. Unfortunately for Degurechaff she was suffering mentally throughout it all.
"How did it end like this?"
Thoughts of the last frenetic 48 hours assaulted Degurechaff's mind. In less than two days they had been invaded by aliens, she had been the first person in this world to set foot in space, and had destroyed the alien invaders.
It was so surreal that if someone wrote a story about it they would say it was a story that made no logical sense.
The advantage of reality is that it doesn't have to be realistic, Tanya thought to herself with a desperate laugh as she continued the military march.
—-
"That Republic, it sounds... inefficient," Rudesdorf said. The two Jedi had spent time working out how the Republic worked, which was of little conviction to the pragmatic military men in the room.
"No, not inefficient," Degurechaff said, interjecting herself into the conversation. "It sounds like a glorified galactic union economy in a galactic government which has created a senate in order to centralize the discussions of all the members of the union and now has ended up being a place of corruption and continuous nepotism totally contrary to democracy."
Everyone in this room had their own way of describing the Republic. The only thing they had in common was one word.
Inefficient
"But it would be beneficial to join such a republic. Galactic trade can provide great benefits and great technological advances in a matter of months. While it is clearly inefficient, joining is profitable in any situation," said Erich von Lehrgen.
Degurechaff, Zettour, Lehrgen, Rudersdorf and the Kaiser discussed for a long time. Even while they contradicted each other they also looked at all the pros and cons of every possible situation imaginable to their minds. The Jedi, sitting in the same room, endured long and continuous insults to the Republic they defended. Being unaccustomed to rationalistic state debate it made it seem like a continual insult to the Republic from their point of view.
"And what would we trade?" Degurechaff asked. They had constantly theorized whether the economic benefits were profitable enough to adhere to such a system. Unfortunately it caused none of them to think about what the imperial market could bring to the galactic market.
"Raw materials" Zettour said, as it was the only idea that came to his mind. It was true and everyone in this room knew that they had little to offer in such a vast galaxy.
"I propose, if you will allow me," Degurechaff said. Everyone in the room except the jedi nodded.
"Good. I propose that the Republic help us explore the galactic market and help us research our own resources, so that we know what resources we can obtain. I believe it is the only way the Empire can join the Republic. With the promise of economic prosperity. Do you think, jedi. That the Republic would accept such a thing?"
The two jedi looked at each other. Qui-Gon however surmised that it would not pose a problem for him.
"Of course not, I don't think the Republic would mind such a thing. Although I think they would rather designate Naboo as the one in charge of such a task."
As the Kaiser stood up the rest of the Imperials looked upon his imposing figure.
"Until we have a report from the galactic market and our market, assisted by the Galactic Republic, we will not initiate a process of joining the Republic."
Zettour nodded, giving his complacency with that decision while Rudesdorf, Degurechaff and Lehrgen leaned back in their chairs, allowing their bodies to relax after the hours of constant discussions and debates. However, Degurechaff did not rest her mind.
I hope that this demonstration of economic conscience will get Zettour to place me in some intergalactic trade ministry. Thought Degurechaff
It was known to no one Degurechaff's hopes for a future outside the combat zones or war command. However, Zettour was old. And he was also thinking about who he would have inherit the dictatorship once he retired...
—-
One week later
In space, a senator looked at the unnamed planet that had appeared near his homeland.
"An anomaly."
Palpatine did not like anomalies, it was a certainty that anomalies destroyed plans, one of which was how the Trade Federation crashed into this planet. He followed the events personally, being disappointed that within 24 hours the Trade Federation had been defeated.
Queen Padme Amidala, or perhaps one of her handmaidens, it was hard for Palpatine to know in this situation, also looked at the planet.
"The Republic has sent us on a mission to secure the union of this planet to the Republic. What is your opinion, Sheev Palpatine?"
Palpatine stopped for a second to think. The situation on this planet appealed to him. Clearly they were manipulating the force in some way, but in which way he did not know. Although his entry into the republic would not be a big change to his plans. To be able to investigate them might be very interesting for his plan.
"I'm interested to see what this new... planet can bring to the Republic."
The person who appeared to be Padme, but Palpatine couldn't be sure, smiled at him and looked back at the planet.
The spaceship soon landed on the outskirts of Berun along with other ships. All were supervised by the Luftwaffe air force and the Kriegsmagie mages. Senior regime figures were also present at the sight of this important visit.
The Queen of Naboo and the Senator of Naboo came down from the spaceship, being received by a great presentation. Soldiers in full regalia holding the flag of the Empire, cars as elegant as possible for the occasion, and most importantly …
The Kaiser and the Crown Prince were in front of all this display of national pride and elegant exhibition.
"Welcome to Earth" Said the Kaiser, being immediately translated by a protocol droid that was gifted by the Republic to facilitate the processes of negotiation and understanding.
"I am flattered by such a great welcome," Queen Padme Amidala replied. However, Palpatine was disinterested in that. He looked at the teenage girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in military clothes and holding an elongated gun next to the leaders of this planet.
She... thought Palpatine to himself.
She is incredibly powerful in the force, he could feel it. It was... strange, her presence in the force.
How interesting. He thought to himself.
"This is Senator Palpatine, who serves as a senator for Naboo in the Republic Senate."
Palpatine smiled with the charisma of a sympathetic older gentleman. However, he noticed how the leader in front of him did not move a single muscle in the face of that knowledge and his personal charisma.
The Kaiser. He was definitely a politician.
"Pleased to meet you," Palpatine said. The Kaiser nodded and moved sideways showing his hand towards the car.
"We will travel to the capital, where you will stay for the duration of the data collection process. We will offer you the best we have to offer" Said the Kaiser, getting into the car. His son, Queen Padme, and Senator Palpatine also sat in the car, which began to move and was followed by a convoy of guards that were both in the air and on the ground.
Very backward technology. Palpatine thought to himself as he looked at the cars. It was unlikely that this planet had an interesting resource, for in such a huge galaxy resources are mostly abundant. Therefore, some kind of very scarce material would be needed for them to be able to develop effectively in this galaxy.
The convoy advanced to the Kaiser's palace. For 5 days Queen Amidala and Senator Palpatine debated about the Republic and conducted negotiations between the planets, for they had not only come on behalf of the Republic. They also came on the behalf of the interests of the planet Naboo.
—-
The resource detection operator looked surprised at the data after spending 5 days on analysis. There were some very common and some strange materials on the planet. However, that is not what surprised him. For a material almost unknown to him appeared in his report.
"Beskar."
But it wasn't just a bit of Beskar. It was huge, massive veins of the material. Something that if the ancient Mandalorians knew about, they wouldn't think of attacking this planet.
The operator quickly wrote up the report with everything he had found and sent it to Queen Padme Amidala.
At the imperial palace, while in an elegant meal with the 203rd as palace guard, Queen Padme Amidala heard a noise that indicated that a report had arrived.
"Excuse me. I believe the result has finally arrived. Do you wish your majesty Wilhelm to read the report aloud for all present or would you prefer it to be a matter for you alone to read?"
The Kaiser thought for a second. He looked around the room. Standing guard were Viktoriya, Tanya and 4 more magical soldiers. Zettour, Palpatine, Karl and him were at the table. He thought for a second until he simply understood that it really didn't matter.
"Please say it directly, I am interested in knowing what the future holds for our Empire in the Galaxy."
Palpatine looked at the Kaiser, remembering the hours of debate between Zettour and Queen Padme about democracy. He knew that every time someone said the word Empire, Queen Padme's young and idealistic heart shrank.
"Well then," said the Queen. She went on to list many mineral materials that everyone knew were nothing new to the galaxy. Senator Palpatine chuckled to himself. Rejoicing at how his predictions were correct. However, he dropped the silverware when he heard a specific material.
"Beskar."
Zettour and the Kaiser listened attentively, for both the Queen and the Senator were silent at this realization.
The Senator began to process.
He began to think and manipulate in his head.
The Empire had become an interesting piece for his future...
—-
At a meeting table the Kaiser looked at Zettour and Zettour looked at the Kaiser in what could be called a staring contest. Both were going to decide the future of the Empire one way or another.
"Do you wish me to report on the general situation or shall we get straight to business?" Zettour asked, with a cigar smoking in his mouth.
"Full report" the Kaiser said. He wanted to understand all the possibilities that were before him.
"Gunray is currently under arrest and will not be released from jail until we join the Republic. Thanks to the cooperation of the Naboo and the prisoner along with the assistance from the Jedi we have managed to reprogram the droids that were in our space in our favor. In regards to the Beskar…"
The Kaiser held up his hand, causing Zettour to fall back.
"I think that in the case of the Beskar we are both sufficiently informed already. Continue."
Zettour nodded, pausing to blow smoke and review the hundreds of reports he had read.
"This all points to the same thing. We have a chance to join the Republic by having something to compete with the rest of the galaxy. The Queen said it. We have the current monopoly."
The Kaiser nodded. However, he felt he had to ask this question.
"Can we counter engineer the Trade Federation ships? Do we have the capability to turn
the Beskar into something that we can use?"
The lack of response from Zettour gave him the information he needed. If they wanted to advance technologically they would have to join the Republic and trade for economic privileges.
"We will remain a colony... In part" Zettour said, partly frustrated by the situation. However, the Kaiser refused.
"The Aki could dictate over time under what conditions trade with them would work. We just have to assert ourselves as the Aki and grow technologically at the expense of our allies."
Silence fell again in the room, with Zettour smoking and the Kaiser drinking Scotch whisky. Albeit with a certain irony, for it was not really possible to do such a thing again. Foreign whiskies would become a collector's item, the Kaiser thought wryly.
"Karl would make a good senator for the Empire."
The Kaiser, who already had someone in mind for such a position, looked indifferently at Zettour.
"That would be a bad idea, he hasn't even seen enough combat."
Zettour wryly removed some papers, pulling out a report from Tanya von Degurechaff.
"According to this report he performed well. Ten tanks destroyed and 20 space fighters destroyed. On his first deployment, he endured the training excellently. Tanya von Degurechaff, the most demanding person I know when it comes to the military, said that he is one of the best soldiers she has ever served with. If Tanya von Degurechaff says that then I think so too."
The Kaiser raised his glass of whiskey, which had ice in it, and looked at Zettour through the glass.
"It doesn't matter how excellent a soldier he is, he's still a child. It's like alcohol, it doesn't matter how good he is if you don't give him time to improve."
The Kaiser didn't trust his son. He thought he was a softy, an idealist, and most worrying of all …
He was a socialist.
His son was a socialist. It was the greatest humiliation he had ever suffered in his entire life and was a secret kept by the royal family. No one else knew about it and the last thing he needed was to give power to his son before he could get the idea of socialism out of his stupid young head.
"That he's a socialist is not really a problem. He's from the more democratic branch so it doesn't really conflict with the imperial ideology" Zettour said, with a devilish grin, which would remind some of the devil of the rin.
"How did you know?" Said the Kaiser, in full control of his emotions and concerns, not allowing himself to show even a hint of worry.
"I see everything, I hear everything. I know all the secrets of all the people. Even those of Tanya von Degurechaff. No one escapes my eyes and ears. I even know your personal secrets Kaiser."
The clear threat that Zettour had insinuated had left the Kaiser with no options. He could only look ahead and accept Zettour's poisonous demand.
"My son Karl will be the senator."
Unaware of this, the 203rd and Tanya von Degurechaff, who finally got time off, were celebrating with alcohol and gambling games in Degurechaff's personal home. Without any knowledge of what was in store for the 203rd and the Empire. Tanya had a bad feeling.
"Something bad just happened," she said quietly, but quickly ignored it. She laid her cards on the table.
"King and Queen. I have won."
