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Phase 6: Lootforce One

=RK=

Part 5

Senate chamber

Senate building

Coruscant

There was no luck. There was the Force, competent enemies and treacherous allies, Obi-Wan thought. In the past ten hours everything his wife and political allies worked for during the last couple of weeks went out of the airlock.

The raid on Victor Industries, which culminated in a ground detonation of a capital grade concussion missile in the heart of one of Coruscant's industrial zones was bad enough by itself. Leaked footage of Jedi and what might have been a Sith leading the attack – if the colour of their lightsabers and the use of lighting was anything to go by, was a disaster on all levels. The public was going insane, the Clones demanded orders to tear apart Coruscant so they could continue with Order 66... For a few hours things actually looked up despite the disaster at Shan. The Senate looked like would finally act and elect a Chancellor thus allowing Kenobi to do his job.

That was the purpose of this emergency session. Then, only an hour before they could begin, news of the disaster at Kuat reached Coruscant. A Mandator, the flagship of the Kuati Defence Fleet no less was boarded by Jedi led special forces, captured and spirited away in the direction of Corellia. Military speaking, that mess was a mixed blessing. The Kuati finally appeared willing to listen, however they were gathering a Task Force to send after the Pride of the Core. A mistake in Obi-Wan's mind. Despite aggressive scouting and daily skirmishes, the Republic didn't know enough about the enemy disposition at Corellia and most other worlds they captured in the core.

Kenobi grimaced. The GAR, the whole Republic really, was too busy chasing ghosts to concentrate on the real enemy. He could understand it, intellectually. The sheer scale of the betrayal stung. The damage caused by ONI and SI treason cut deeply. In the long term it could cause as much damage as the loss of Corellian industry. In the short term – it was actually worse.

For once, Obi-Wan could command the Clones to go after the Confederacy. They were eager to chase the Jedi who took the Pride of the Core. Depending on what exactly the Senate decided, Kenobi might be forced to do it anyway even if doing so wouldn't be the best military decision. He suspected that a trap awaited whoever went after that hijacked Mandator. Springing it might turn either way. The risk might be worth it if not for a simple fact. Obi-Wan suspected that the Republic couldn't handle many more military disasters.

"I call general Kenobi!" The Senator from Anaxes, Mariah Lindon, shouted loud enough to be heard over the noise of his arguing colleagues. "We need to hear the truth about our military situation before voting. No more evasions, security concerns or half-truth. Perhaps that would be enough to make things clear to some of our esteemed peers!" The regal woman thundered, earning herself a lot of scowls and angry shouts.

Obi-Wan frowned. She was one of those who actually knew better than to demand classified information in such an open setting. She was a retired naval captain before coming into politics so she certainly knew better. What was her ploy? Or did she simply consider the situation so dire that revealing certain operations details might be an acceptable risk? If doing so got the Republic a Chancellor it might even be worth it.

Kenobi activated his pod after the acting speaker gave him a sign to come up. Perhaps... There were too many lies and secrets. The truth might work, besides telling it in this building would be a novel concept.

"What are your questions, Senator?" Obi-Wan inquired.

"Every day we hear how dire a situation we find ourselves in. Here in the Senate, at briefings in the Security council, in the media. What we haven't heard stated plainly is why the Republic hasn't lost the war already if the situation is as bad as you claim." The Lindon raised a hand in a forestalling gesture as her colleagues began whispering furiously. "I'm not accusing you of lying or overstating the danger, general Kenobi. I merely want to hear the situation described in terms that people not familiar with the military and its jargon could understand."

That was actually a fair enough question. Obi-Wan thought furiously. His perception was that the Senate was still very much divided. If he handled this properly he might be able to push some of those people into actually doing their bloody job. If he explained the truth in a way they could understand it... Would that work? Or would they continue to care more about their petty political agendas more than they gave a damn about the Republic as a whole?

In the past month, in no small part thanks to his wife and her expert navigation of the murky waters of Coruscant's politics, Obi-Wan learned more about the dirty side of the Republic that he ever wanted to. What he saw frankly disgusted him, unfortunately the alternative was even worse. At least the Senate and most of the Core were restrained by the trappings of democracy and whims of public opinion – something that could not be said for the Separatists.

"I'll do my best, Senator. To put the situation in perspective, for the past month the strategic situation between us and the Separatists shifted and resembles a mirror image. When the war began, we were forced to cover the width and breath of the Republic, stretching our forces thin. The Confederacy not only had more ships than us, a situation that is still true, they could freely concentrate overwhelming numbers at locations they deemed important enough. That accounted for a great deal of their early victories, a fact made worse by the simple truth that the Republic wasn't ready for a war, much less one on this scale." Obi-Wan paused so his audience could digest his words.

"How things changed? We're still outnumbered and the traitors hold important Core worlds! This isn't a mirror image! If it was we would be safe!" A Senator Obi-Wan didn't know shouted and a lot of people voiced their agreement.

"I'll answer that right now. At this moment the Separatist control most of the explored galaxy, true. That however means they are the people who have to hold a tremendous amount of territory. That was anticipated when GAR High Command planned how to respond to the enemy's offensive. While we don't have reliable avenues of communication with large tracks of Republic space, we do know what orders were given to all Republic forces in what is now Separatist controlled space. A sector fleet equivalent was ordered to disperse in the triangle. That's what we began calling the sector of space between Malastare, Naboo and Kalinda. Those ships were to avoid action in the initial weeks of the enemy offensive when practical, do their best to disrupt enemy activities in the region and eventually converge at Naboo and Malastare from where they were to do their best to cut off enemy supply routes through the region for as long as possible."

"You abandoned most of the Republic and now try selling that as a feature!" Kalinda's Senator snapped to thunderous applause.

"We did. It is a feature of the plan. The cold truth is that when the Separatist offensive began, we had few viable options to chose from. We could either completely abandon the Rim and concentrate everything in the Core, try protecting everything and risk a crushing defeat in detail or get creative. We did the last. It was a risk, true. For all any of us knows, those fleets we left in the Mid Rim were annihilated for no good gain. We do know that general Veil managed to link with our forces in the Western Quadrant before the holonet was cut. We know that thanks to ordering our naval elements there to avoid combat they were available when he arrived and that's what made it possible for him to destroy multiple Separatist fleets on his way to relieve Eriadu. I admit then things become... nebulous. We know he intended to gather as many ships as practical and go to Kamino next to reinforce that system. What happened there..." Obi-Wan shrugged. "All we have to go on is a Separatist propaganda and thus to be suspect. Even if all the forces we had gathered at Kamino were destroyed, that would have happened at heavy price for the enemy. We had some of our best commanders out there. Say what you will about Veil, he knows what he's doing as a military officer."

For the next few minutes Obi-Wan had to answer angry questions about his brother-in-law. Most were innate, some stupid, others were already answered – multiple times. Kenobi crushed his frustration and continued verbally fencing with the Senate. Lately he found himself living up to his moniker, the Negotiator. Curiously, no one mentioned how many nerves one had to waste while dealing with the Senate.

"Yes, the man could be considered to be a monster... No, he's our monster... That's why we keep him around – he is very good at the whole killing people and breaking things job... Killing as many enemies as practical is merely the hallmark of a competent commander..." Again, Obi-Wan found himself defending Veil despite his misgivings about his... what were they really? Relatives? Sure. Colleagues? True enough. Perhaps even friends. None of that prevented Kenobi from seeing Delkatar for what he was and that was a highly functional, often reasonable monster who was on their side. The man needed managing at the best of times.

However, in a war like this... There were few peoples in the Republic that were more valuable than that bloody irritating Sith.

"Can we get back on topic?" The Anaxian matron snipped at her colleagues.

When the speaker managed to mostly calm down the menagerie masquerading as Senators, Obi-Wan could continue.

"As I was saying, the Separatists are forced to cover a great amount of territory with forces that would be better used elsewhere... if they could afford it. "As far as we know, the Confederacy needs to defend its border with our holdings in the western part of the galaxy, perhaps dedicate fleets for further strikes in the region and especially Eriadu. The same goes for the Triangle. Another staging ground was supposed to be Vergesso but we know little about what happened there. Veil and our forces at Kamino were either destroyed or are still a threat the Separatists would have no choice but to honour. The same goes four our holdings on the edge of Hutt space. The last we heard, Rishi, Manda and Pastil are still holding and most of our naval assets in that region converged there before the Separatists could annihilate them. Old Padron is another stronghold that held as of two weeks ago when we last heard from Hutt space. In the central region of the Mid Rim, everything we have left – about half a sector fleet is divided between Lantos and Lorahns. They're cut off and ordered to hold out as long as practical and if the opportunity present itself – make a break for Pastil if its still in friendly hands. In the east, the lines have stabilized. With the exception of Kashyyyk and Mandalore, where we've got expeditionary forces cut off and out of contact, we're holding the line. While there are raids ongoing in both directions, we're confident stopping any new enemy offensive before it could break through to any vital strategic systems. We're fairly confident that baring another major disaster we can contain the enemy for the time being. Having the Clones ordered to cease their fascination with Order 66 by the next Chancellor would allow us to actually go on some limited offensives while preparing to push the enemy out of the Core."

"Why would the Separatists wait?!"

"Confederate and GAR forces in the Core are at a rough parity. We do have the advantage of multiple System Defensive Fleets ready to counter any enemy advance that aren't a part of the nominal Republic Navy. If they were, combined with the Clones receiving a direct order by the Chancellor, our situation would improve tremendously. As I said, the Separatists can't freely concentrate their superior numbers without leaving their rear areas exposed to the forces we've got outside of the Core and the east part of the Rim. As long as those units exist and their supplies hold they tie down numerous enemy ships. More than would be damaged or lost if we had simply ordered those ships home or a futile last stand." Kenobi gladly noted that at least few Senators were actually listening to what he was saying and not dismissing his words outright.

"How can we replenish our troops without Kamino's Clones?" The Senator from Hok demanded.

"New volunteer formations coming online has helped a lot but it would be at least two to three more training cycles before we could begin to fully replace the source of Clones we lost when Kamino was cut off with regular soldiers. At this time I can't promise a swift resolution of this war. With the loss of Corellian industry and a source of ready reinforcements, I can't with a clear conscience even guarantee an ultimate victory. Our estimates are that currently the Republic and Confederacy are roughly equally matched economically. While we still do have larger overall industry, the Separatists have a huge advantage of easily accessible resources in the regions they captured which equals things in the medium to long term. What I can promise is a reasonable chance of victory, if the Republic stands together and allows us to do our jobs."

"Thank you for this summary, general Kenobi." The woman from Anaxes smiled wryly at him. "Can you tell us what happened at Kuat?"

That was a thorny question.

"The accident is still under investigation by Kuat's navy. At this time we have a limited amount of information to go by. My professional opinion is that the Pride of the Core's crew was caught off guard and overwhelmed by Jedi led commando units. I still haven't received a satisfactory answer why the ship wasn't intercepted and its way physically blocked to prevent it from entering hyperspace once control was lost. The few reports we received at GAR HQ on the matter are contradictory and incomplete. As you know, currently our intelligence services are crippled. While we're doing our best to restore lost capabilities and mitigate any damage caused by the traitors, doing so takes time, time which we may not have as the raid at Shan demonstrated. I'm not comfortable in speculating without having access to better information on what exactly happened at Kuat."

"This would be all, general. I call for a short recess to think about what general Kenobi reported before voting for a Chancellor..."

=RK=

A few minutes later, Obi-Wan was sitting in a secure room besides his wife with Senators Organa, Amidala and Mothma in attendance.

"Do you think they will finally do it?" Kenobi asked. He certainly didn't whine to Satine.

"Before Kuat got one of the most powerful ships in existence stolen from under their collective noses? Probably. Now? Confidence in their power and competence is less certain. This would shift people's perceptions. Some would see them as a less of a threat and thus support their Senator. Others won't because they believe we need a somewhat competent Chancellor and this mess reflects badly on our Kuati friend." Satine explained.

"Those accidents stripped even more of my own support and gave additional ammunition to the radicals. I've heard a rumour that they might make their own nomination later today." Bail said.

"Since when are those lunatics important enough to do something like that?!" Obi-Wan asked. This was the first time he hard of that particular madness. So far all he knew of the more radical factions in the Senate was how good they were in making themselves fools in front of everyone. That included the small but growing Sith fan-club who apparently thought that turning the Republic into an Empire would be a great idea, because certainly then the war could be won more easily.

"Don't be so hard to dismiss them. I've heard some disturbing rumours. It turns out that certain powerful families are behind the clique suggesting Imperialism as a panacea. What's odd is the fact that we've heard nothing about contact between them and Veil. Perhaps they're a group of desperate opportunists or it could be something more sinister." Mothma cautioned.

"Let's not forget the crazies blaming everything on the Jedi and everyone who could use the Force. Did you hear about those rallies demanding the 'purification' of the Republic of unnatural elements?" Padme grimaced.

"That brand of crazy was brought to my attention." Obi-Wan admitted. They could be trouble, but hopefully only a minority of people would ever agree to their madness.

=RK=

An hour later, five people were nominated for Chancellor. Senator Danu from Kuat, Senator Organa from Alderaan, Senator Mariah Lindon from Anaxes, Senator Barda Hill from Scipio, who was in the pocket of the Intergalactic Banking Clan and electing him might be considered a capitulation to the Separatists in all but name and finally Kot Ilmo from Bilbringi. The debate raged for hours, various radical groups tried to push for their own candidates too but those didn't get enough support to make the final cut.

Finally, the vote was called in. Everyone eagerly waited for the speaker to announce the results and Obi-Wan knew even before the man spoke that it was another bust. The human's expression told it all. Danu got forty percent of the Senate to support him – a far cry from the majority he needed to be elected, much less the support he would to actually rule effectively. Ilmo came a distant second with twenty five percent followed by Lindon with eighteen and Organa with fifteen. The only high point was Hill getting a meagre two percent of the votes. Still, the mere fact that he got nominated in the first place unnerved Kenobi.

He barely paid any attention to the speaker who called for another session in two days time barring any more unforeseen events.

"General Kenobi, I have a message for you from minister Praji. He needs to speak with you about security concerns and a friend of yours you've misplaced." A Rodian aide intercepted the Kenobis when they were leaving their pod.

"A friend of mine?" Obi-Wan repeated. A Jedi who avoided the madness of the Coup perhaps but then why would the minister protect them? "I would meet the minister at his convenience."

"Now would be convenient. Perhaps ambassador Kenobi should join us too?" The aide suggested.

Well, wasn't that interesting! The first thing that came to mind was that Praji had news of Veil but how and why?! What was the old Sith playing at this time?!