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Phase 8: An Alliance tempered

=RK=

Part 7

=RK=

Senate Chambers

Senate building

Coruscant

Even under these extraordinary, frankly insane circumstances, Obi-Wan was glad that staging a flat out military coup was simply not feasible. It gave the Republic one last, theoretical chance to step back from the brink. That knowledge did little to reassure his torn conscience.

Nearby, Yularen barked orders so he could be heard over the clamouring of the Senators. It was done. While not precisely a coup, his actions broke the framework that made the Republic as it was possible. There were going to be consequences, probably grave ones. Many would accuse Kenobi and anyone who followed him of treason.

Obi-Wan surveyed the Senate Chambers. Those were the people supposed to make the Republic work? It was only now, after he crossed the line that Obi-Wan admitted it to himself. The Republic he spent decades protecting was gone. When he was just a Padawan, the Republic was dying. The Senate did nothing when the Trade Federation invaded Naboo. That should have been an eye opener.

Was he really that naïve or merely wilfully blind for the rot he saw during all those missions that led him all over the Republic? No. That wasn't it. Obi-Wan had hope then. He believed that the corruption he saw could be fixed. With a new Chancellor on the helm, one who everyone saw hard at work changing things... Obi-Wan wanted to laugh and cry. After the last month, he would have supported Palpatine even if he knew the man was a Sith. He might be tempted to do it even if he knew for a fact that the former Chancellor was behind the war, well at least until this madness could be resolved.

How far had I fallen without even realising it, Obi-Wan pondered.

Satine squeezed his hand hard enough for him to feel it through the armoured glove he wore. The reassuring gesture helped him centre himself in the present. The dice was cast.

When the GAR went rogue, the Senators didn't notice it immediately. They were too busy arguing and calling for Kenobi's head to pay attention to the infantry platoons entering the Chamber. The various stealth systems of the Clones armours did help. It wasn't until the few Senate Commandos who survived the Jedi Coup were surrounded by overwhelming numbers that someone finally noticed that there were a lot more people in the Chamber. To give the Senators credits, the Clones who took control of the building were all wearing smart paint on their armours that made them hard to see to unenhanced eyes. Besides, traditionally the Chamber wasn't particularly well lit up during a Session.

Cries of alarm and accusations of treason followed. Obi-Wan used the Force to activate their pod and rose until he was in the centre of the Chamber where he could be clearly seen by everyone.

"Esteemed Senators!" Kenobi's voice thundered. It was fuelled by the cauldron of emotions wrestling in his heart. "I have an announcement to make. As of this moment, Coruscant is in a state of emergency. The Senate building is under a lock-down. None of you is leaving this Chamber until you've legally chosen the next Chancellor and they countermand Order 66. Have a nice day." Obi-Wan did his best to keep the sneer out of his voice and expression. He really did.

He failed miserably.

=RK=

A few minutes later, the conspirators gathered in one of the Senate's operations rooms. It was the closest locations with enough communications' equipment to keep them appraised of what was happening across Coruscant as well as provide comfortable conference connection with multiple local governments.

"Phase one is complete, Admiral." A Clone Commander reported to Yularen.

"There are protesters battling all over Coruscant. Your announcement lit up all those smouldering fires." Praji said. "It looks like there are a lot of people supporting your perceived bid for power, General Kenobi." He smiled with grim amusement etched on his face.

Obi-Wan groaned. Public support was nice. It also made stepping back in the unlikely happened and the Senate actually voted in someone who could get the job done. If they could agree on anything besides wanting Kenobi's guts for breakfast.

"We're receiving calls from all over the Republic condemning your actions." A comms officer reported. "Multiple requests for you time too.

"List the later by descending order of importance." Obi-Wan ordered.

"Director Onara Kuat, Senator Iblis from Corellia, Director Kelly Roch from Serapin. Prime Minister Gregory Holt from Anaxes demands to speak with you and Admiral Yularen..."

"Put Kuat on first." Obi-Wan decided to bite the blaster bolt.

"General." The Director appeared even sterner than before. "We find ourselves at a crossroads. I trust that Senator Danu will be... disciplined for his actions."

Obi-Wan looked at the older woman who wore one of those ridiculous hats that were all the rage among the Core Nobility lately. They were casually discussing the fate of a good man, even if Danu just kriffed over the best chance the Republic had left. A few months ago, Obi-Wan would have diplomatically told Kuat to go to hell. Today? Today he took another wilful step down the slippery slope.

"He will be. The Senate proved itself not only useless but the deterrent to the continued survival to the Republic." Obi-Wan's voice became flat and emotionless. Saying it out aloud... it felt like taking another fateful step. One too many today and the effect it had upon him was much lesser that it should be.

"I have to agree with that sentiment. Minister Praji?" Onara looked at the highest ranking civilian servant in the room.

"The Republic government concurs, madam Director."

"General Kenobi?"

"The armed forces of the Republic concur, madam Director."

"Senators?"

"The Senate concurs, madam Director." Bail spoke with a voice like gravel.

"Kuat concurs too." Onara Kuat stated. "Well, that's done." The Director sighed. "I didn't want this, you know?" When she said it she looked her age for the first time that Obi-Wan saw. "Let's see how many of the relevant governments would agree. I hope you'll be able to get that pesky Order 66 out of effect before we are done."

"Me too, Director."

"Good luck with that. I need to make a lot of calls." Kuat cut off the connection.

"I can't believe it." Padme muttered. "We just killed the Republic."

"Now we have to end this war and rebuild it." Mon Mothma's voice was like a whip. "Get a hold on people or this would be a pointless exercise of futility!"

"Get Ben Iblis on, lieutenant." Obi-Wan spoke to the comm officer. "Minister Praji, can you oversee the Judicial forces on Coruscant? We need the riots taken care of before they wreck half the planet."

"I'll do my best. Can I call more men if I need them?"

"Admiral Coburn is ready to send what reinforcements we have left. There are trillions on Coruscant and too many of them are out on the streets. Try not to cause a massacre."

"Please. Do I look like Grievous?" Praji looked disgusted at the very notion.

Obi-Wan wondered if he was more disgusted by the dark stain on the reputation of his family that a massacre would cause than about the people who might die if the riots weren't stopped cold.

With allies like these who needed enemies?

"General Kenobi." Gram Bel Iblis face was a mess of static from jamming. His voice was little louder than a whisper, though he could be understood. "What in the nine Corellian Hells is happening on Coruscant?"

"We're doing what we have in order to prosecute the war to the best of our abilities and to protect the galaxy from the Separatist threat." Obi-Wan answered.

"Who is 'we' and can you help us? The situation here is deteriorating." Iblis admitted.

"If we can get Order 66 countermanded then I'll be free to move on Corellia ASAP. I promise you, we haven't forgotten nor abandoned you."

"In that case, you General Kenobi, has our support and that of our allies. For what that's worth nowadays." Iblis smiled. "What you're doing is almost Corellian like."

"I appreciate it." Obi-Wan nodded.

"I won't keep you then. General Kenobi, I'll hold you to that promise."

"That went better than expected." Bail muttered after finishing a call of his own to Alderaan.

"It won't be all good." Satine warned.

"It never is." Mothma agreed.

"Next? Anaxes was it?" Obi-Wan asked the comm officer. "Put them through."

"Yularen! Kenobi! What in the name of all that's unholy did you two idiots do?!" Prime Minister Gregory Holt's ghostly visage glared at them. He looked like a thirty or forty years older Yularen, betraying a close family connection.

"Uh. Uncle Gregory, I can explain!" The Admiral stammered.

=RK=

Part 8

=RK=

Officer quarters

Republic cruiser "Avenger"

Eriadu

Gideon Tarkin twitched a lot listening our account of Sullust. His face went from pale to bright red and then purple. At least he didn't splutter, though I'm quite sure it was a close thing.

"We did recover a lot of supplies. Enough to keep a sector fleet fighting for a few days straight, so the operation was overall success despite the severe losses." Joanna finished the summary.

She still hadn't forgiven me for getting her precious Freedom gutted, however she at least agreed that the funeral pyre we arranged was one for the history books. I probably should do something nice for her – competent minions were very hard to find and while I was pretty sure there was no chance of her betraying me, her mind might just break if I pushed her too far. The uncertain fate of Corellia, the losses Joanna's crews suffered ever since we left to deal with Crimson... Yeah. Perhaps when I got myself a nice new flag I might christen in the Freedom too and give her overall command. That might help a bit. Doing something for the Separatists running wild in her home should help too but we wouldn't be in a position to deal with them for the foreseeable future.

We had more immediate concerns after all.

"All that Shadowfeed chit was true?!" Gideon finally exploded. "What the kriff is wrong with you, Veil?! Destroying moons, igniting stars?!"

"I've done worse before." I shrugged. I was sure more people died on Geonosis and we went after industrial and infrastructure targets over there too. Not to mention the whole second Crimson affair and that was just what I did since finding myself in the future.

"That's not the point!" Tarkin the younger snapped.

Even Joanna looked like he agreed, the traitor. I might reconsider giving her command of a nice star dreadnought when I got my hands on one again. What was their malfunction anyway? Orbital fire was relatively fast and painless way to die. It certainly beats the Emperor damned bloody mess that is counter-insurgency, Sith style.

"It's not like I went after and actual planet, much less one that's densely populated." Bloody Sculags! "Tarkin, get yourself together. It was you who pointed out that the Separatists are gathering their forces for another push at Eriadu. Give me a status of the repairs of the ships we left you. Any new construction coming online or further forces released from local SDFs?"

"Two squadrons from Gerrenthum arrived last weeks. They are quite reluctant. It looks like you left quite an impression when you passed through." Tarkin glared at me. "You can't help it, you just have to make 'friends' everywhere you go. Did you threaten to burn their world or something?"

"Or something. They waited until it was clear who was going to win before committing. I unnecessary lost a lot of ships because of that stunt." It didn't matter if their actions were prudent. Their was a Republic system and what they did was treason. I went easy on the bastards only because I couldn't afford to waste assets... well there were the political considerations too. Damned Republic and their insane system of government.

"Riiight." Tarkin didn't sound like he was convinced.

I thought I mentioned that mess to him the first time I got here. Eh. Perhaps not. A lot happened since then even if it wasn't that long ago.

"My sister-in-law would want to talk about the political ramifications of your actions." Tarkin said.

"Sure. Status of the ships first."

"Most are open in the available shipyards. However, there should be a squadron or two coming from Gerrenthum, from those you left for repairs there. A mix of cruisers and escorts. It's another question if they get here on time. We've got a few odds and ends coming in after you left. The high point is that we got a large shipment of weapon platforms and satellites. They will give us a nice offensive punch if we use them as you did on Ryloth."

That's something. I hoped. I frankly had no idea what forces the CIS had available to throw at us. A lot would depend if they would dare to strip what local SDFs they had in the region. I knew that the Confederacy had much free hand when deploying such forces than the Republic, though even they had to face some political ramifications and opposition when doing so. Still, it was better than having those units locked in often strategically insignificant places for good.

=RK=

Gideon and Joanna went to coordinate our forces into something cohesive and I had to deal with more bloody politics. Why did I become Mandalore again?!

"Madam Tarkin." I bowed at Wilhuff's wife.

She wore a sparkling silver dress that pooled around her feet. It was form fitting in just the right places, made her look stunning, or at least blinding and it was damn impractical to move in. It was irritating to see that the sense of fashion the nobility had hadn't improved over the millennia. At least the dress looked good on her, not like some of the blinding eyesores certain Imperial nobles preferred, the masochists.

"General Veil." She scowled at me. "Why did you have to go on and make our lives that much more difficult?!"

"I can ask the same, my Lady. Your husband. A certain alliance proposal to Naboo and everyone gathered there. Does that ring a bell?"

"It was only logical." She sniffed disdainfully. "I'm sure you like the possibilities such an alliance creates."

"That's why I went with it instead heading home to see if Mandalore is still standing. That's also the reason why I had to reduce Sullust's industry by the most practical manner I had available."

"Many people need reassurances we didn't bind ourselves to the stereotypical insane Sith." The scowl was back.

"If I had gone on the deep end, you couldn't miss it, Madam Tarkin." She would be screaming right now for being a pain in the ass if I had lost it.

"Not good enough."

"It has to be. I won't give you promises unless I know I can keep them. I will continue to exercise the best military options I have available. What I can promise you is that I won't be the person to escalate the war needlessly by going after civilian populations for the hell of it. That's the Separatist's favoured past time." I snarked.

"After Sullust some of our allies are reluctant to commit their forces because they feel they need them to protect their home-worlds form Separatist retaliation."

"Tell them the best way is to break the Separatist forces still remaining in this region of space." The one thing I was reasonably sure of was that as long as they were committed into the Core the Confederacy couldn't afford to release significant forces our way.

"You'll have to convince them. You're the General."

"Arrange a conference call and I would do so." Emperor's balls, I loathed dealing with politicians. It was like dealing with a bunch of spoiled kids but infinitely worse!

My fears weren't particularly off the mark. Attempting to explain military realities to civilians and what acceptable risks meant was like slamming your head against the outer hull of a battleship in an attempt to make a hole, but just a bit more futile. Of course no risks for themselves were acceptable. Risks were for other people!

Typical politicians. I've seen them in three different dimensions now and they're generally the same. Were they some multiversal constant? Why couldn't I end up somewhere where the politicians were generally competent and interested in doing their jobs for a change instead of almost exclusively looking to cover their backsides and profit?!

Four kriffing hours wasted in explaining again and again that I went only after legitimate targets on Sullust. That compared to what the Separatists were doing on regular basis my actions couldn't be considered and escalation in any way shape or form. Yes, the bloody bastards might decide to go genocidal again. That would be a surprise because? Plagues on Naboo and Coruscant? Does that ring a bell?! They already went there.

By the time the political situation was somewhat salvaged I needed to kill something.

There was no sight of any Separatist fleets. Kriff it all.