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Phase 22: The seeds of an Empire

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Part 5

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Unconfirmed details – often second hand knowledge and hearsay, claim that the Coruscant Summit had a domino effect going. First, it was the Kenobis and Veil and through them the Mandalorian people and the Mid-Rim Alliance backed the ideals of further centralizing and restructuring the Republic government. They were almost immediately backed by multiple Senators representing the then cut off Alliance, high ranking military officers like Admiral Coburn and General Valentra along with many Ministers within the Republic government itself and with them support of their departments generally followed. Next came Kuat, which in hindsight shouldn't have been surprising. The Skyfall put into motion the events that would change how KDY and the Kuati government would be ran and the first sing was their backing for what would become known as the Imperial faction within the Republic.

Those were the first dominoes to fall and they had profound power behind them…

Rise of an Empire: The Coruscant Summit

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Chancellor Residence

Senate building

Coruscant

Obi-Wan's mind froze. He had suspected that Palpatine might have been traitor, not simply a Dark Side aligned Force Adept too afraid to reveal himself. Suspected, but without proof he didn't want it to believe it for many a reason not the least of them being that it would be an admission of how easily and completely he and the rest of the Jedi had been played for decades at that. Perhaps it was his pride in his skills and abilities, or just pride itself with nothing to really back it that made him for a moment dismiss Veil's words.

Then they hit in full force and he had to ask himself the logical questions – how the Sith knew, how long he knew and why didn't he say a thing about it until now. Mistrust flared in his chest and his arm closed protectively around Satine. The Force trembled around him stricken by his shaking emotions. His lightsabre began twitching because of the need to grab it and bring it down to the smug bastard sitting across the small Kaff table.

Yet, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a former Jedi, the Negotiator and the Supreme Commander of the Republic Military just sat because he was a husband too and a father to be. He had a perfect opportunity to go after Veil back on Mandalore yet stayed his hand for a simple reason – he wasn't convinced he stood a chance in a direct confrontation and the very thought of risking Satine then brought pain.

Now? It was right there, in this room that Obi-Wan fully comprehended why the Jedi forbid attachments. He suspected, was ready to bet even, that Veil has been Palpatine's accomplice in their desire to build an Empire on the ashes of the Republic. As a Jedi his duty would be to cut down the menace calmly sitting across the table.

His lightsabre began quivering in anticipation and the Force itself felt eager, yet Veil appeared unconcerned – as if he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what the outcome of a confrontation would be. Or perhaps he knew Obi-Wan as well or better than he knew himself. After all, he was still when he should be acting.

"How long did you know?!" Kenobi didn't recognize his own voice in the angry hiss that escaped his lips.

"Known? For a long time. Had a shred of proof? I don't even now." Veil had the audacity to shrug nonchalantly.

"I must say, you can't buy this kind of show with money." A damningly familiar voice announced just as a new presence made itself known in the room.

Finally, Obi-Wan was able to act. He surged to his feet pulling Satine up and pushed her behind his back even as he stepped towards the sound of the voice. In the same time he snatched his lightsaber and ignited it in one smooth motion then he levelled it at the intruder.

"Obi-Wan! What are you doing?!" Satine exclaimed when she caught her wits and saw that her husband wasn't pointing his blade at Veil.

"Did I forget to mention that Palpatine is now a Force Ghost and has been haunting the general area for some time now? Those sensitive to the Force can see, hear and speak with him." Delkatar nodded to what both women perceived as an empty space near the entrance.

"Sith." Bo-Katan sighed in exasperation while Satine simply stared at the place where Obi-Wan was aiming. Kenobi could feel his wife's fear and apprehension at the very idea.

"Nice to see you again, Obi-Wan!" Palpatine, the Sith behind this whole mess waved cheerfully. It was obvious that he considered this a great deal of fun and for some reason Kenobi didn't find it surprising. He was a Sith, of course he would appreciate misery! "Congratulations to both of you!" He nodded at Satine and Kenobi instinctively took a step back to better cover her from the apparition.

"Would you have believed me, Obi-Wan? Remember, I lacked… tangible proof that he's a Sith." Veil actually smirked the bastard and Palpatine snorted in amusement. "And even if you and the Jedi did believe me, do you really think that I would have helped the Council to declare an open season on the Sith?"

Obi-Wan wanted to rage. To deny that the Jedi would have turned on Veil if he helped expose Palpatine… yet the actions of the Council, the Coup… Phantom pain flared at where one of his old friends cut him down during that insanity. He wanted to scream that a better man would have taken the chance, sacrificed everything to prevent more bloodshed and bring the war to swifter end… then he remembered who he was facing. Veil certainly wasn't the better man and in the end… why should he sacrifice himself for a Republic and Senate who kept spiting him?

Obi-Wan remembered that right now neither the Republic or what passed for it, nor the Confederacy were ran by the Sith, yet there was no end to the war in sight. And just like that, his building fury deflated.

"I know its hard to accept..." Bo-Katan spoke in a soothing voice. "We don't ask you to fight for Sith ideology or anything like that. What I implore you, Obi-Wan is to do what's best for my sister and niece. To help us bring stability and peace to our people and the galaxy as a side effect."

"What about justice?" Obi-Wan muttered.

"If you want to prosecute everyone who conspired to begin this war or profit from it, you'll need more power than anyone had ever wielded in this galaxy… and that's what we're offering Satine and you." Veil smiled wryly. "You've finally went over the intelligence we recovered from that ORR facility, right? You knew that for year before the war, those madmen had been infiltrating the Confederacy and manoeuvring to make this war worse so the Republic would collapse."

That sudden change of topic short-circuited Obi-Wan's thoughts. He had in fact went over said intelligence during a quieter period after the Coup and Veil was right about it. The picture it painted… "You want to use it too – that fool Perrion doesn't seek to merely bring down the Republic but reshape it in his image and to do that he'll need to break the powers in the Core."

"Now he is in a perfect position to influence the new Confederate leadership. They replaced Dooku and his ilk with a group of powerful and dangerous fanatics."

No one had to say it out loud that along with Veil, Obi-Wan and even Satine would be primary targets for Perrion – after all, from the outside it would look like they were all corrupted by the Sith. The worst thing was that Obi-Wan was beginning to think that such accusation might hold more than a grain of truth.

"On the bright side, as Emperor and Empress, the two of you will have the tools to keep my darker impulses in check. I might even insist you do it once the war is over." Veil suddenly went on an unexpected tangent.

"What brought that out?!" Obi-Wan suspiciously asked.

"Let me tell you about the stunt the Dark Side pulled when I engaged Perrion on Kuat..."

That explanation and the machinations of the Force would help fuel a lot of sleepless nights for all involved.

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Part 6

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Representatives from over three hundred of the most powerful still Republic aligned systems in the galaxy converged to Coruscant in the aftermath of the Skyfall. They came in a response of summons issued by Chancellor Kenobi, General Kenobi and General Veil acting in his position as Mandalore.

The agenda? Deciding how to preserve the Republic and end the war on favourable terms, something understood at the time as seeking Confederate unconditional surrender. At least that was the official agenda.

The details of the summons themselves are to this day classified within the Empire with non-aligned and hostile powers constantly speculating. However, certain assumptions and conclusions can be drawn, especially now when we have the benefit of hindsight. Highly placed officials from Alsakan, Anaxes, Corulag, Caamas, Eufornis, Brentall and many more powerhouses within the Core. Even occupied systems like Duro and Corellia had representatives in the Summit and they were rumoured to be amongst the first to back up the newly formed Imperial faction and their drive to consolidate power…

Rise of an Empire: The Coruscant Summit

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Chancellor Residence

Senate building

Coruscant

Obi-Wan didn't know what to think. Too many world view shattering revelations coming in too fast, no doubt just like Veil intended. For him the Force has always been an ally. He wanted to think that what the Sith experienced at Kuat was merely an artefact of the Dark Side. That very well might have been the case too but could he take the chance?

His mind drifted towards the more esoteric teachings about the Force he head overheard during conversations with older and more experienced Jedi Master. Tried to remember all he knew about the nature of the Force itself and already knew his understanding woefully lacked. Perhaps the holocrons left behind by the Jedi before they ran might be of help… if, when he found the time to go over them. What was that saying, that the real conflict, the real war the Jedi would ever fight would be against the Dark Side and the Sith? Something to that effect anyway.

If that was how the Council saw things, even if the Force itself didn't influence them and push them to act against the Sith, then he could almost understand their actions. For a moment he could almost see where they came from, yet the man who he was today couldn't accept their reasoning. Or could he? He was considering Veil's proposition, something he should have rejected out of hand.

Obi-Wan wondered how far could one fall before there was no turning back and he couldn't recognize himself. He had to worry about the Force, those Old Republic Jedi fighting for the Separatists, the Sith, those in the room included, the Jedi who managed to escape Order 66 even those who might still be loyal… at least until they saw where Veil wanted to lead the galaxy. That was the real war, or at least a very real conflict that had to be fought and dealt with. Yet, Obi-Wan wasn't sure it was more important than the war with the Confederacy. They were connected and it was clear that you couldn't win one of those wars but lose the other, unless you lost yourself, which unfortunately was a very real danger.

Force, he was a living example of it!

"Satine, what do you think?" He asked wearily.

Obi-Wan's wife stirred and gave him a bleary-eyed stare. "I can't speak about the Force and people who should have stayed dead." She snipped in Palpatine's general direction and her predecessor rolled his eyes. The former Chancellor was too busy discussing with Veil how best to make multiple powerful governments back the rise of an empire and damningly from what Kenobi could gather, it sounded perfectly doable.

"What do you know about COMPOR?" Palpatine asked. "Some of its members are your fans, including Ryloth's Senator who the last time I checked was still live and kicking."

Obi-Wan recalled something like that being mentioned by some officers back in HQ – wasn't it an organization busying itself with spreading propaganda to support the war effort? He tuned out the Sith and looked back at Satine who he cradled in his arms. Due to his brief distraction, Obi-Wan missed some of her words.

"…I'm spent, Obi-Wan. I'm tired of all this pointless toil. Everything I've done as a Chancellor has been for nothing!" Satine seethed. "I can see it clearly, the illusion of the Republic slipping through my grasp and shattering and with it, Mandalore will follow. Was it always this bad, here on Coruscant?"

"If you asked me this question a year ago..." Obi-Wan trailed off. "I'm not sure if everything that happened since then twisted me. Perhaps it did or those experiences merely opened my eyes. Those same people we met with over the past couple of days, their governments, they're the same who existed before the war began. What they want from you, from us, those ambitions and interests had to be around for a long time." He glared at the Sith. "Otherwise he wouldn't have come so close to achieving his Empire."

"Then my efforts to keep things together were doomed from the start. I think I always know it might turn this way, yet… I was desperate, Obi-Wan. I saw what the Civil War did to my people, then Grievous and Vizsla's goons and now the Separatists… I am still desperate and for my people," Her voice broke. "I'm ready to make another deal with the devil." She was looking at Veil and the empty space where Palpatine's ethereal visage spoke with a glam in his eyes.

Obi-Wan hugged his wife closer and glared at the Sith. Palpatine caught his eye and gave him a knowing look. It was at that moment, when Obi-Wan didn't know who despised more – the not so dead man who began the war, Veil for being the harbinger of doom, the Separatists for existing or all the politicians in the Core minus Satine for nearly driving Satine to a nervous breakdown while she was pregnant no less.

Duty and emotions clashed within his heart and while all he wanted was to pick up his wife and disappear somewhere far away from this chaos, he knew she would never accept running. Mandalore, her people, they meant that much to Satine.

It was no real choice that he had in the end and Obi-Wan hated that too.

"What do we need to do?"

It was such an innocent question and with it, Kenobi knew he just sold his soul to the Sith. The things we do for love and duty…

Veil looked him in the eyes for a long moment, then his gaze fell upon Satine's form and his eyes softened, something that shocked Obi-Wan. Their eyes met and an understanding passed between them. There was something odd in the Sith today. He seemed more open, more human, which had to be a deception… or perhaps what the Dark Side did affected him this much…

Kenobi didn't know any more.

"It's decided then!" Whatever that moment was, Palpatine's gleeful voice shattered it. The bastard of a Sith clapped joyfully too! "First thing we need to address is whose support we absolutely must have..." And with that, the man who engineered the downfall of the Republic began to explain exactly what made it possible. Needless to say, the lecture that followed was enlightened and made Obi-Wan wonder why in the name of the Force he ever felt he needed to protect the bloody thing. He had to remind himself that while it might have been almost by accident the Republic did manage to bring an unprecedented age of peace and prosperity before petty politics drove it straight to the Sith.

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Strategic Planning Amphitheatre

Coruscant

This was one grand ancient building, the military seat of the Old Republic no less. The place was taken out during the Sack of Coruscant, then painstakingly rebuild and if it wasn't for my mishap above Korriban that sent me to this future, it would have been one of three primary targets when I led an Imperial conquest fleet to seize Coruscant and finally end the war.

Walking through the halls of this building, just like being within the depths of the Jedi Temple and the Chancellor's Office in the Senate – once upon a time that would have been a sign of triumph, a proof that we had won the forever war.

Today? Actually it was almost as good. The Sith in me rejoiced at what I was doing. The Republic was dead, torn by internal divisions and now, I was busy setting the foundations of an Empire… though not a Sith one. That was the last thing the galaxy or I needed. Still, I took a moment to relish being here today before Obi-Wan's stiff presence brought me back to the present.

We were about to meet with a number of important GAR officers – both army and navy. Coburn, Yularen, Valentra, hell most of the current general staff working for Obi-Wan would be attending. Meanwhile, Satine held a grand meeting with civilian members of COMPOR and once she has gained their support, or failed in her task, she along with Onara would be entertaining a delegation from Alsakan. The gears were in motion now and we had mere days to persuade hundreds of governments to see things our way. If it wasn't for the set up done by Palpatine, it would be an impossible task. Frankly, without his support it would have been a very long shot and even with it, it was far from sure thing. We had our ducks in a roll for when the time came to meet the politicians tonight. The plan was audacious, held a great deal of deception too and certainly was something born from a Sith's sick mind. It might very well work too.

Now however, it was time to make sure that the military would support our scheme if we gained political backing. We reached a set of ornate wooden doors and the guards swung them open to reveal a large auditorium. The place was shaped like an amphitheatre, one of the reasons for the name in fact, with rows of seats rising up on steps above a central podium for the speakers. Over a hundred general and flag officers stood in small groups and the first thing that dubbed this meeting as exceptional was the complete lack of aides or the expected smattering of colonels, captains and commanders that should have surrounded those men and women.

"Supreme Commander on deck!" A sergeant announced when we entered the proceeded to seal the doors behind us and the room went dark and secure from outside interference.

"At ease. Take your seats, we have some grave issues to go over." Kenobi ordered.

And so it began...