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Phase 8: An alliance tempered

=RK=

Part 1

=RK=

Audience Chamber

Royal Palace

Theed

Naboo

Half an hour. That's how long it took for Veil's broadcast to set the whole planet on fire. The capital was no exception. Queen Neeyutnee's throne room was no different. Spontaneous demonstrations rocked Theed. In places the RSF and army had to step in where people cheering Veil's actions at Sullust clashed with the ever decreasing pacifist faction of the population. In front of her, the esteemed leaders of the Mid-Rim Alliance were little different. Neeyutnee's security watched them like wary Krath hounds in case they got particularly unruly.

"He's doomed us all!" Zurch exclaimed. "Don't you see?! The Separatists will burn this world in retaliation!"

"Really?" The Hegemon sneered. "They did their best to turn Naboo into a poisoned wasteland. What makes you think they wouldn't bomb this world to rubble regardless of what the General did? What ever gave you the idea that we aren't fighting a clique of ruthless power-hungry maniacs? What happened at Sullust might finally give them pause! Along with Geonosis this is the second time the Separatists actually felt the price of this war they're waging!"

"It might not matter. Are we in position to hurt them to such an extent again after the losses Veil and Tigellinus suffered at Sullust and Sanrafsix?" Ryndellia's Prime Minister asked.

"While Sanrafsix was a painful blow, Admiral Tarkin won his battle and is back with his force." The Queen explained. She was glad she got a complete security briefing on the campaigns in progress just before this crisis hit. "Malastare is secured and preliminary reports suggest our forces there managed to recover some critical supplies. We can expect at least a part of the fleet we sent there to come back to reinforce us." Neeyutnee smiled radiating as much confidence as she could muster. "Admirals Tigellinus and Tarkin agree that the most likely enemy response would be to go after Veil, who should be falling back to Eriadu after he's done at Sullust. After his victory the Separatists lost another Sector fleet at his hands. They're unlikely to have any meaningful reinforcements left to commit to the battle for Naboo."

"That's wishful thinking. Despite their recent setbacks the Separatists still have the largest navy in the galaxy!" Zurch pressed on. "They..."

"They still have to secure a very big part of the galaxy." A new and unfamiliar voice added. "I'm sorry for this interruption, Queen Neeyutnee. I was compelled by circumstances to seek an unscheduled audience with you. I beg your forgiveness for this disruption." A tall robed figure no one paid attention until now walked from the middle of the gathered ambassadors and heads of state.

He removed his hood revealing a weathered old face under a very tall head.

"I'm surrendering into your custody Queen Neeyutnee until such a time my lack of involvement in the Jedi Coup on Coruscant could be determined. I come in peace." Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi smiled benevolently when RSF personnel rushed to surround him. The people around him just stared for a few long moments while their minds caught up with the fact that a famous, perhaps treasonous Jedi had sneaked among them. Their own security acted promptly and bodily pushed them away from the danger interposing themselves between their charges and Mundi.

"Really? Is all of this excitement necessary? I'm merely an old and tired man." The Jedi looked like he was enjoying himself, the smug bastard.

The Queen swallowed a curse. She could already feel another headache beginning to form at her temples. They were getting more and more frequent as the stress of her job increasing beyond any reason.

"Jedi Master Mundi, please explain yourself!" Neeyutnee's voice carried across her throne room.

"I was actually hoping to get an explanation, you know." The tall Jedi shrugged. "One day my Clones turned on me and shot me in the back. There was no warning. No attempt to capture me. If it wasn't for my armour and its built in shields I would have been cut down. Only the Separatists taking advantage of the ensuring chaos allowed me to get away. I spent most of the past month in hiding evading both my own and the enemy forces until I could get away from Malastare. Naboo looked like a good bet for a place where I could find some answers. I've been planet side for about a day and learned enough. The Jedi Coup..." Mundi shook his head and briefly a grief stricken expression passed over his face. "I don't know what those fools on Coruscant were thinking. While here in Theed I learned what has been happening while I was out of touch. I know my duty, Queen Neeyutnee. When I learned that there are at least three Jedi not complicit in the coup working with General Veil I decided that I should not hide any longer. I know my duty. I'm placing myself at your mercy and service if you would have me."

"No matter what happened on Coruscant, the Jedi had been good friends of Naboo. Nevertheless, as a Queen we can't afford our personal feelings on the matter to cloud our judgement in this matter. Jedi Master Mundi, we do hope your worlds are genuine. However, we cannot allow ourselves to be swayed. You will remain under guard until such a time General Veil or the loyalist Jedi working with him return to Naboo and could determine if you are telling the truth." Neeyutnee declared in her royal voice.

"That is acceptable, your majesty." The Jedi Master bowed respectfully.

"Before you get carted away to what I hope are comfortable accommodations, I would want to hear your thoughts on the current situation." The Hegemon interrupted. "You're still a Republic general. One of the better ones my people tell me."

"Am I still a general?" Mundi asked mildly.

"Until we hear from Coruscant you might as well be." Feneti smiled good naturedly.

"If the Queen gives me leave to do so."

"We would hear your words, Jedi Master Mundi."

"While I do lack up to date intelligence, I kept my ears open." Mundi sent a mild jab at all the people in the room who never noticed his presence until he revealed himself. "It's a question of if the Separatists could afford to deploy more forces to crush you. They would inevitably take casualties doing so. Your best bet in the short term is to make defeating you too expensive. The Separatists need to further reduce the industry in the core, especially now that they lost Sullust." Mundi grimaced when he mentioned that name. "By now, new construction at Kuat and all lesser shipyards the Republic has left should be online and finishing their shaking up cruises. Barring political complications, the GAR should be counter-attacking the Separatists positions in the Core soon if they haven't done so already. If your forces can cause enough damage to the Separatist fleet attacking Naboo; if Veil succeeds foiling their next attempt to take him out, because after Sullust they will have to try, for domestic political reasons if nothing else, then your odds will be decent to good."

"We thank you for your insight, General Mundi. Take the Jedi Master to his new accommodations." The Queen ordered.

"Are you really going to listen to a traitor?" Zurch sneered.

"His guilt is unproven." Feneti sneered back. "His advice is sound and that is more than could be said about you. Where do your loyalties lie, Zurch? What are you still doing here? You made your views of the Alliance painfully clear."

Neeyutnee's headache grew in magnitude. Those two were at it again. Lately she felt like she has been acting more akin to a school teacher for a particularly problematic group of children with very powerful parents.

"Just one question if I may be so bold?" Adi-Mundi asked when the security people began to escort him out.

"You may ask." The Queen was quick to accommodate him. Anything to stop that worm Zurch and the Hegemon from bickering.

"Was general Veil authorized to do what he did at Sullust or did he do it by his own volition? I don't mean the way he wrecked their industry, because I doubt he would have sacrificed the Freedom that way if she was salvageable. He could have reached the same death toll and devastated those moons conventionally too if he so desired. The same goes for announcing the alliance in such a way."

The ever constant bickering between Neeyutnee's guests and sometimes allies paused and they actually began paying attention to what the Jedi was saying.

"Not by us!" A CEO exclaimed.

"Didn't we? Oh. We didn't order the General to announce the formation of our Alliance." The Queen pointed out. "We knew Veil went to reduce as much of Sullust's industry as possible. The same was true for Admirals Tigellinus at Sanrafsix and Tarkin at Enarc. Did we stop to think what that would mean for everyone working at the places they would target? About the people living in range of orbital bombardment?" She should have. She really didn't. Neeyutnee saw a way to relieve the pressure on Naboo, perhaps secure it for good and she jumped at the chance. How many of the people in the room did the same? How many of them would ever admit it in public?

"Is he yours to command?" Mundi asked over his shoulder while walking away surrounded by SRF people.

That gave everyone pause. Veil was a head of state in his own right. A Republic general too. While he did pledge his support to the Alliance, the fleet under his command too, legally speaking he wasn't bound to obey any directives coming from them. Oh, politically they might have leverage to... guide his actions. If the Alliance survived. She shouldn't forget where the proposition for this whole mess came from. Eriadu was aligned with Veil. They had some kind of deal and she wasn't naïve enough to believe that anyone currently in the system bar Tarkin knew all the details and he wouldn't be telling them everything.

What did they get themselves into? Could they disavow Veil's actions at Sullust? Neeyutnee knew that she could. Technically. With the mood of her people being overly militaristic and vengeful... Her headache spread making her whole head throb in a very unpleasant manner. If she didn't openly support Veil she might find her political support vanishing. It was unlikely she would survive as a Queen if she did so. He viable potential replacements... if she was charitable Neeyutnee would describe them as not the best for Naboo. Most of them were warmongering populists full with vitrol and hatred for the Confederacy. She was afraid where they would lead her people.

To be honest, she was terrified where those same people demanded she led them even when she was able to somewhat temper their emotions with reason. She was their servant. She had to listen to them, even if she personally didn't wholeheartedly agree. There was still a pacifistic streak left in her despite everything that happened. Neeyutnee hated what she had to do. Yet she hated the Separatists for what they did to her people and world. At least she was able to hold onto her morals and that was more than could be said for some unsavoury elements who managed to get themselves elected to replace people dead or broken by the consequent crises hitting Naboo.

Neeyutnee didn't have an acceptable alternative. She had to support Veil. Her people wouldn't accept anything less. He saved them twice already. She only hoped that doing so wouldn't doom Naboo.

"We can hide behind useless platitudes. Or we can admit the truth. When we formed the Mid-Rim Alliance, we cut a deal with a Sith. For all intents and purposes we handed him our armed forces and agreed that he should prosecute the war against the Separatists as he sees fit as long as his actions serve one overreaching purpose – force them enemy to back off from our worlds. Some of you were reluctant to do so yet you agreed. After Geonosis and Crimson we all knew that General Veil is a ruthless man. We know for a fact that some of you saw that as a feature. He's the kind of man who would do whatever it takes to make the monsters running the Confederacy pause and think twice about attacking us. Sullust proved a point – there are consequences for their actions." Queen Neeyutnee steeled herself. What she was doing, it fled in the face of tradition. It might very well be the final death knell of the old Naboo that has been dying ever since Blue Shadow poisoned her world. The real harm of that weapon wasn't physical. It was what it did to the heats and minds of her people. "We wholeheartedly support General Veil's actions at Sullust. They were a measured response to the Separatist atrocities committed on Naboo. They are a declaration, that when the Separatists attempt to burn our worlds, poison them and our people, we will respond in kind. Can any of you do anything less for the people you are responsible for?"

"Not really." Feneti clapped. "Nice little speech, your majesty. You're right. We have to support Veil. I certainly do if for no other reason that if we condemn him, we would be declaring an open season for our own worlds. If we don't back him up to the hilt, the Separatists will know beyond shadow of a doubt that they are free to do whatever they feel like it to our worlds and people and there will be no consequences they care about. We aren't facing people of high ideals and morals. We're fighting against a pack of power-hungry opportunists who hasn't suffered an iota in this war before Veil arrived. There is only one language people like that understand or respect."

The arguing continued for hours. By the end of it, Neeyutnee felt like she wanted to curl into a dark corner and die from the headaches. At least enough of them agreed to officially endorse Veil's actions. The Mid-Rim Alliance wasn't going to die in the cradle. Not yet at least.

She only hoped it was going to be worth it in the end.

=RK=

AN: Reading about the Neimoidians on the wiki makes for some fascinating horror stories. How the hell didn't the Jedi and Republic step up to do something about it I would never know. The same goes for the people running the Trade Federation. By the time of the Naboo Crisis they did have their own droid army and navy. Perhaps fear of a Republic intervention when they weren't strong enough to handle it alone?

Part 2

=RK=

Trade Federation Enclave

Raxus

An opulent stand towered over a large plaza built near the ocean. In the shade, Trest Ilroth stood proudly before his guests as they reviewed a military parade. Colourful banners fluttered in the cool breeze and crowds of Confederate citizens cheered on.

Tens of thousands of Neimoidian soldiers marched in precise formations. There were whole battalions clad in the finest armour money could buy and armed with powerful if often illegal weaponry. Next came the armour. First APCs and AFVs followed by tank regiments. All were upgraded to be state of the art. This parade was merely a symbol, a small part of an army Ilroth was still busy building. It had a dual purpose – the first was practical one. The Confederacy needed all the soldiers it could get.

The second, was much more important to Trest. After the Naboo crisis when his predecessor was defeated, the reputation of the Neimoidian people across the galaxy hit a historical low. His people has always been seen in a negative light, for admittedly real reasons. Their homeworld was a hell-hole. The way they were raised if it could be called that was a skewered natural selection. Even those who were chosen for a higher position and thus got enough food during their first seven hellish years as grub lavas were left scared by the experience. The partial hive-mind of their species only made that much, much worse. It was no surprise that anyone who could fled as soon as they could. Their so called culture explained why his people in general had little regard for others. The greed they were accused of, well it was real, but that was simply an expression of the need to accumulate enough resources to feel that they now had enough, that they were finally safe from starvation and privation. A need that could never be fully satisfied. Trest knew that very well – he achieved the highest position one of his kind could hope for, had close to divine status within the Neimoidians in the Trade Federation as far as obedience to his order went, yet it simply wasn't enough. He knew his desires were unreasonable. Ilroth was aware what drove them – it was the influence of his people through their hive-mind that created a vicious circle that fed upon itself.

In theory that was a good thing. That's why the madmen and women back on the homeworld persisted in their insane culture. It was supposed to ensure the survival of the fittest. Those that had them in them to fight for survival. Even if his personal situation was better, the hive-mind ensured he remembered his clutch-mates fates. For the first seven formative years of their lives they were kept together, given not enough food so they had to fight and hoard to survive. The weakest were weeded out. The "best" ran as soon as they could and the rest were consigned to a wretched existence toiling in the spawning hives of the homeworld. He knew of real horror stories from overseers setting to work on the same job with the incentive being the successful one being allowed to eat the losers. Such madness was common enough on the homeworld. It warped even the lucky ones who managed to get away.

The majority of his people were too rigid, often incapable of making most important decisions without direction from above. That combined with the odd hive-mind they had going on could incapacitate them wholesale if their leader was removed. That's how Ilroth got the job in the first place. He was the most suitable candidate at the right place and the Trade Federation couldn't be left dysfunctional in the middle of the war.

A procession of missile launchers was passing by now. Their armament was an upgrade of that used back on Geonosis during the first battle of the war, however the platforms carrying it were sensible, not those odd contraptions used by Poggle's people.

What Trest saw below, gave him hope. Not only for victory, because despite some unpleasant setbacks the war was going better than anticipated. That would be discussed after the parade.

The army, this army, was his. With it, Ilroth hoped to shape the galaxy's perception of his people for the better. When they finally defeated the Republic, he was going to unleash it upon his homeworld and change it for the better, with fire and blood if that was what it took. To do that, he had to break the Republic.

The Republic. Ilroth sneered at the thought about that corrupt dysfunctional organization. Where was the Republic when his clutch-mates had to eat each other or stave? Where were the Jedi and their high ideals when that was a matter of course on a Republic world, not some forgotten hell-hole in the Outer Rim?!

All the Republic had ever done was its best to break the Trade Federation and the Neimoidian people who saw it as their best chance to escape hell. It was the Senate's unreasonable taxation laws that drove his predecessor in the hands of the Sith out of desperation. That was the real reason for the invasion of Naboo.

Ilroth loathed the Republic with a passion he rivalled his hatred of the people who shaped his species culture into the madness it was in the first place. He was going to change it. One way or another. Even if it killed him or the Confederacy lost the war. He had plans in place if something happened to him.

Trest let those unpleasant thoughts fade and enjoyed the parade. Soon enough he'll have to deal with the disaster that was Sullust and that damnable Sith, Veil. Why couldn't that man finally just die?! What would it take?!

At least the bastard gave Shadowfeed enough ammo to run wild for weeks and Resa rose up to the occasion. That Twi'lek was a woman on a mission and she didn't even had to demonise Veil, he did that himself in his own in-imitable fashion. Who turns a gas giant into a kriffing star to destroy its moons and their industry?!

That man had to die. At the worst he had to be contained somehow. That was one of the reason Trest's colleagues were here. The parade was merely an excuse to meet away from Raxulon City and the eyes and ears of the Senate so they could get some actual work done before figuring the best way of presenting the new course of action to the people who supposedly ran the Confederacy. As if the Council was insane enough to let the Senate has real power. They all knew how that ended up for the Republic. The events on Coruscant were a literal divine intervention and worth a lot of laughs at the Republic's expense.

Finally, the parade was coming to a close. Last came the most controversial formation within Trest's army. Those were people hand-picked by individuals of the same mind as himself, those he could locate through the hive-mind before some enterprising rivals could dispose of them as a way to advance themselves. Only Trest's position and relative control that gave him allowed him to survive as long as he could given his true sentiments. In a sense it was almost easy – all he had to do was push the hatred he had for the Republic and the need to excel to achieve his goals to succeed, especially since the Naboo fiasco.

The group of soldiers marching below were all volunteers. They were augmented in such a manner to rival Grievous as cyborgs. Many didn't survive the process or went insane after losing so much of themselves. The cybernetic technology available to the Trade Federation was relatively crude, very crude when compared to what the Techno Union could make, however Ilroth simply couldn't trust his colleagues with that particular project. Those soldiers were one of his contingency plans. They would be taking over his personal protection as much more reliable than the droids that currently made it. Coincidentally, that would mean much less surveillance that he might be subjected to. Who knew who the supposedly loyal droids might be made to report to even if his personal guard was exclusively built and maintained by his own people?