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Phase 8: An alliance tempered

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Part 3

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Secure conference room

Trade Federation Enclave

Raxus

After the parade was done with, Ilroth retired along with his guests – remaining members of the Triumvirate. They settled themselves in sinfully comfortable chairs around a table with in built holo-tank and got their favourite drinks while security sealed the room and activated the jammers.

"Sullust's going to be expensive." San Hill complained.

He should know. As the Chairman of the Intergalactic Banking Clans supporting the Confederation among other things he was the de-facto Financial Minister.

"Further industrial disruption." Kleo Vombra sullenly admitted. He looked at the holo-tank and it activated.

Huh. Upgrades, Trest thought. Outwardly the cyborg didn't look any different but this wireless capability wasn't something he displayed before. The Techno Union people got the nicest toys! The envy burned a lot.

Graphs scrolled down a transparent window. Beside it hovered a galactic map with various sectors blinking orange and amber displaying where a lot of Sullust's industrial output went.

"We'll have to expedite the industrial expansion across various secondary hubs, pour more money to further stimulate the economy and further cut on certain consumer goods to make up for the loss. I estimate we could have it covered in three to six months without unacceptable delay in starship construction." The cyborg outlined his plan.

It might work. Trest carefully examined the graphs. It was going to be damn expensive but it was feasible. There might be a hit with the public, however Veil's actions might be the panacea there – any hardship could be explained as a necessary one if they were to be protected from more atrocities like Sullust. Perhaps a call to Resa was in order once they were done here. Shadowfeed would know how to spin it best.

"We're going to do it. I can find the money and we have more raw resources than we know what to do with." San Hill scowled at the images.

That much was true. With the capture of so much territory and the GAR often refusing to stand and fight, a lot of mining facilities were taken intact. Now the CIS had access to all the rare elements that were traditionally one of the big bottlenecks in warship construction. In fact they had access or potential access to more resources than their industrial base could utilize. Even with a constant expansion going on it was often a trade off – would they build more industry or use the existing one to build the weapons they needed to win the war? The biggest boon of the offensive, besides the control of the Corellian system was denying the Republic the resources of most of the galaxy. Insider estimates told an unpleasant story – the enemy still had a larger industrial base. Fortunately they no longer had the unrestricted access to resources that would allow them to use it to its full potential. The Republic had the opposite problem compared to the Confederacy, they did have the industry in place but lacked the resources to use it at a hundred percent.

That's why the destruction at Sullust hurt – that system used to produce a lot of heavy industrial and most of it went into further expanding the CIS industrial base. The loss, while painful wasn't going to change the equations in the short to medium term. In the long term it would give the Republic a slight strategic advantage. However, by that time the war was likely to be decided one way or another.

"That still leaves this Mid-Rim Alliance. What are we going to do about them?" Trest started the ball rolling.

"The military gave me two viable plans if we don't want to escalate." Vombra looked at the holo-tank again and it blinked to display a zoomed in section of the galaxy covering Eriadu, Naboo and the perceived borders of the alliance. "We still have significant forces in the area. While Malastare fell to the Republic at the same time Sullust happened, our forces repulsed an enemy incursion at Sanrafsix while only losing a moderate amount of ships and a low amount of the industry there. Then our navy proceeded to counter-attack at Naboo. That battle is still ongoing. The other large naval formations we have in those sectors are converging on Eriadu. They will attack in six hours unless we countermand them."

"Any reason to do so?" Hill sipped his wine and asked.

"Veil is expected to arrive there before our forces could properly concentrate. Intelligence isn't sure what assets Eriadu has called on from its allied systems. They did suffer a lot of casualties during the offensive, however they've been completing their construction cycles after forces were repulsed. That accounts for some of the ships Veil used on Naboo. We might not have the assets in place to score a decisive victory at Eriadu. The same might be true for Naboo. It's going to be a close call."

"What else can we do? We can't have Veil running around with a large fleet. He tends to kriff us over when he does." Trest grimaced.

"That's one of the options. Pull back, reinforce our choke-points on the trade lanes and contain that Alliance of theirs until the war is decided in the core. That problem has some glaring problems – the enemy isn't just going to sit and wait. Besides, Veil shouldn't have been able to get to Eriadu from Naboo the way he did. Our best estimates is that he used his abilities to figure out a hyperspace route outside traditional lanes. My people estimates that doing so isn't guaranteed to work. However, everything in the galaxy is constantly in motion. Veil finding out a temporal route that would allow him to get a fleet out of the pocket if we go for containment is feasible." The cyborg sounded disgusted by the implications.

"That's certainly useful. Can we reproduce it using technology?" Trest perked up. If they had a way to strike deeper in the Core without having to directly clash with the Republic fleet covering the hyper-lanes... The possibilities were staggering.

"Feasible. In theory. Advances in miniaturizing hyperdrives and making them somewhat economical would be the key. However, we're looking at hundreds of thousands of dedicated hyperspace capable sensor platforms for every single sector of space. Each would need relatively expensive active sensors that would make them obvious to anyone who is looking and we'll need them permanently in place to gather data so we could attempt to predict when feasible routes for hyperspace insertion would form. Space is big." Vombra deadpanned.

"Not practical at all. Perhaps..." Hill thought. "Can we make just a few batches to use in the Core without compromising the naval build-up? A single successful deep strike might pay for itself."

"It's a risk at best. There is no guarantee that a route would open in the first place. Nor that we would be able to go over the vast amounts of data in time to mount a successful operation if it does. I'll have to calculate the odds before giving a definitive answer if we should seriously consider something like that." Vombra answered.

"Please do so. So that's are our options? Try to contain the Alliance or go for the kill?" Hill inquired.

"Yes." The cyborg flatly responded. "The military is favouring the second approach. Even if the Alliance and the Sith survive, our offensive should cause enough damage to de-fang them for the time being. We can go on with containment anyway. The SDFs on our worlds along the hyper-lanes. should be able to handle incursions from a depleted enemy forces. We might win anyway. What the military is afraid of is letting Veil dictate the initiative and terms of engagement. Then he might be able to break out of Alliance space and cause even more damage. What we can't afford to do is send any meaningful reinforcements in that region. We've got Republic naval units that went to ground all over the place and need forces in place to protect against them. The Hutts are supposed to be friendly business partners but we need more units to keep them honest. There's the Core, where we're busy sending every spare ship and the campaign in the eastern part of the galaxy bogged down. If we continue our offensives there we're liable to take unacceptable damage against fixed defences bolstered by SDFs and Republic naval elements."

"That's my understanding as well." Trest sighed in frustration. The simple truth was that the grand offensive ran out of steam after achieving successes beyond any expectations. The logistics train of the Confederacy was strained, there was a very long list of damaged ships needing repairs and a big part of the Navy was concentrating in the Core and digging in for an inevitable Republic counter attack.

If the Confederacy could weather it while suffering acceptable casualties, that would buy them time for the next major construction cycle to get completed. Everyone estimated that it was going to decide the outcome of the war – there were a lot of new and upgraded powerful ships just being laid down across every Confederate shipyard. Once complete, they might be enough to break deeper in the Core. Either finish crippling Kuat's industry or isolating that world while striking lesser industrial centres, perhaps even Coruscant. For a month or two the CIS was going to have another window of opportunity before the enemy got their own major construction cycle completed. Causing enough damage in that period of time would either finally shatter the Republic or give the Confederacy the strategic advantage it needed to win the war. And this time they weren't going to squander it as the previous leadership did at the beginning of the conflict because of the Sith.

"I hope we'll be finally able to get rid ourselves of that Sith." Trest grumbled.

"We do have Jedi allies. Why don't we send them against him?" Hill asked.

"Oh, their leader is willing. Before the Freedom was destroyed it wasn't really feasible and now... As I understand it its more strategically viable to have them build up their numbers in preparation for our next offensive. Unless Veil could be compelled to go to fight on the ground, their skills are less useful in countering him." Trest explained.

Veil did kill Perrion's wife after all. However, they shouldn't let the Sith blind them of the real prise. Once the Republic was dealt a death blow they could hunt him down as the mad dog he was.

"What's next on the agenda?" Trest inquired.

"Domestic issues." Vombra was clearly displeased with that part. "We need to increase recruitment to bolster our numbers. Setting up production lines for more capable droids is proceeding on schedule, however we could build a lesser absolute number in any given period of time. While they will be a significant jump in capabilities, easily to go toe to toe with the new equipment fielded by the enemy, having more troops would be very useful. We in the Techno Union have... qualms in further updating the droids' software or proceeding with large scale implementation of the current upgrades among the rank and file. Two words: Droid Rebellion."

Both Ilroth and Hill winced.

"We're proceeding with those upgrades anyway, I understand? Despite the danger?" San asked warily.

"Sullust. It was a fully upgraded and updated droid led fleet that almost took out Veil. They're our best counter-measure to his abilities. We don't have the capacity to upgrade the bulk of our fleets and ground forces anyway. However, we're going to need a solid force to throw at the Sith and the Republic in the Core. We'll use them and attrition would ensure there won't be a large enough force left to be an issue. We're taking precautions with the programming of the new droids as well as their networking capabilities. They should stay loyal no matter what. I'm more concerned about those we're upgrading in the first place. The older models needs those advantages to remain a viable threat to the enemy and we aren't a position to let them be as they are."

"I hope you are right." Trest muttered. He was going to increase his organic guards numbers more than he already intended. Perhaps he should offer some to Hill? Vombra... if anyone was prepared to deal with any droids with delusions of grandeur that was the Techno Union. Ilroth hoped so at least.

"What are we going to do if you are wrong, Kleo?" Hill asked.

"Then we will have a problem."

"We need a plan if our upgrade efforts backfire." Trest looked thoughtfully at the map of the Alliance. He used the map controls to zoom it out and call a close in image of the Core.

Before the grand offensive, the strategic situation was painfully clear – the Confederacy needed to reduce as much of the Republic industry as possible or they would face a defeat in a few years no matter what they did. Nowadays, it wasn't as clear cut. The enemy had more industry still, the Confederacy more resources. In theory time actually worked in their favour now, though in practice that wasn't necessary the case. The Confederacy didn't have the time or industry to properly utilize all those resources. If they got a breather while keeping the Republic contained in the Core...

"I have the beginning of an idea..." Trest smiled. The danger pointed out by Vombra was unsettling. However, there might be a way to make it less of a disaster and something resembling an opportunity...

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Part 4

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Senator Amidala's office

Senate building

Coruscant

"Admiral Coburn, prepare your ground forces for deployment if the situation down here goes out of hand." Obi-Wan told the holo image of the ageing Flag Officer.

"My people are ready. However, I would very much prefer not to use them."

"We can all agree on that at least." Mon Mothma muttered the only sentiment they all shared.

The Senate was under siege. Coruscant's security forces augmented by two regiments of military police clashed with vast crowds of protesters who as often as not fought among themselves. So far the security cordon held. The Senate itself did nothing but throw fuel into the flames. The rhetoric grew more and more vicious during hours long session they just managed to escape for a short recess. A loto f people blamed everything that happened to the Republic on Veil along with the Jedi. They wanted someone to take the blame and redirect the public's attention from the still continuing broadcasts from Palpatine's dead man's switch. Security managed to locate and shut down various servers where the broadcasts originated from, however security measures, including combat droids were able to slag all data cores.

The daily revelations continued along with accusations that the authorities, what was left of them anyway, were attempting to suppress the truth. That was bad enough. Veil's acts at Sullust – they made Coruscant erupt. Obi-Wan had to order the Clones on the street in force. The ground component on board Coruscant's own defence fleet was already on the ground along with a significant portion of Yularen's people. Kenobi kept Coburn's own Clones in reserve and they might be needed sooner rather than later. He had to order a rush deployment of the green armies raised on Anaxes, because they were the only ones ready right now. A few more weeks and there would be at least thirty million more soldiers ready for deployment.

Coruscant didn't have weeks. The Republic was falling apart around them and the Senators were busy slinging accusations at each other. Obi-Wan had to break the law to be sure what really was happening. He ordered what Military Intelligence people he had on the planet to tap the communications coming to and from the Senators. Those intercepts were enlightening – Minister Praji was right. The great majority of Senators had beskar clad instructions from home. They were not to vote in a Chancellor who wouldn't be aligned with their interests. With the Senate as divided as it was that meant the chance of successful vote was virtually nil. There was no candidate that people might agree on.

"We need a solution. I've been in talks with my colleagues. The Republic bureaucracy is at the breaking point." Praji informed them. "That was before this madness. At this point I'm loath it to admit it but the Republic simply isn't working."

"We need a legally elected Chancellor if the Clones are to follow orders as before. We'll need years to fully replace them with volunteers and that's not getting into the political cost when casualties by the hundreds of thousands if not millions begin coming home." Obi-Wan couldn't hold his frustration at bay. The Clones were people too! Brainwashed, indoctrinated, left without any real choice. None of that changed the fact that they still fought and died for a Republic that largely didn't care about them. If the Separatists actions weren't so loathsome, Obi-Wan might have begun to think they had the right idea about the Republic.

He was already beginning to reluctantly agree with them that the Republic was a dysfunctional corrupt mess. By design no less!

"We need Kuat and the Clones. Everything else..." Yularen struggled with what he was attempting to say. For him, Obi-Wan and Coburn was especially hard. They all had served the Republic for decades at this point.

"If I didn't know better... No. I don't know better." Obi-Wan whispered. He walked around Padme's desk where she was leaning on it, and looked out of the window. Gunships flew above the Senate in formation and an Acclamator hovered ominously above. The crowds below didn't care. At least they lacked easy access on foot and the airspace was locked tight.

"What do you mean?" Organa asked absent-mindedly. He was busy checking something on a data-pad.

"The Sith, perhaps Veil included, couldn't have done this better if they planned it in an excruciating detail. They've won!" Obi-Wan spat in frustration. He turned to face the gathered Senators, military officers and Republic bureaucrats. "They've won. The Republic is dying around us and the only options any of you can give me is likely to get it destroyed for good!"

"You have doubts about your brother-in-law?" Yularen asked.

"Always. He is a Sith. If somewhat sane one."

"At least he's on our side." Satine pointed out.

"Sometimes I wonder." Obi-Wan admitted. "If that's what means to have him as an ally I certainly don't wan him as an enemy." Kenobi remembered that time on Mandalore. If he had acted as a Jedi should, he would have died fighting the Sith. He knew that for a fact. Obi-Wan would have lost. Instead, he chose to continue living along Satine and align himself with Veil so he could attempt to mitigate any damage that infuriating man could cause.

The doubt was back. Did Veil know Palpatine was a Sith? Did they work together since the beginning? Did they play everyone for fools? That was certainly a possibility. It was also possible that the Jedi had been too arrogant and blind to see what was under their noses. Palpatine might have simply hidden his true nature to avoid persecution, while he went for power the legal way. Or as legal as things got on that level of politics on Coruscant. Either option was possible.

There was no proof! Was Palpatine so good as to play everyone for fools? Obi-Wan might never know. He could see a frustrated man tired of bashing his head against the Senate making alliances to circumvent them and gain more power. The past month of constantly directly dealing with them certainly made such an option bloody tempting and Obi-Wan was a Jedi!

"We have about twenty minutes or so." Bail put down his data-pad. "I would be very much surprised if there's any change when we go back."

"That bad?" Yularen sounded incredulous.

"That's what my contacts just told me." Organa shrugged glumly.

"Obi-Wan, it's your call." Padme looked at him imploringly. "You are our best and last hope."

"Do you really think I would get enough votes even with all of you backing me?" Kenobi looked at everyone in turn.

"Potentially. If you make a deal with Kuat." Coburn said. "It's plain to see that her Senator can't get enough support. It will be even more imperative to make a deal if this scheme fails. Then we'll have to do something regrettable."

"Admiral Coburn, please establish a secure connection to Kuat. We all will talk with Sonar Kuat right now." Obi-Wan said.

Kenobi closed his eyes for a few seconds and began a few quick meditative exercises to centre and calm himself. He needed to be at his best now. If somehow everything worked as intended, he would be a dictator in all but name shortly. After that he would have to... There were no easy or simple answers. Another such crisis couldn't be allowed to happen if he was killed. He might have to break the Republic in order to save it. And if the plan didn't pan out... The few viable alternatives they came with would be worse.

It took five minutes to get Kuat on the comm. Time was running out. For Obi-Wan and for the Republic.