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Phase 9: Shattered union

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Part 6

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In the days following Chancellor Kenobi's controversial election, the Republic experienced a cataclysmic political shift. Many worlds did support the new "Mandalorian" administration, though the reasons did vary. Some did so of security concerns, others because of economic interests or political pressure by the powerful entities that backed Satine's regime.

Yet, a lot of systems were horrified by what they saw as a silent coup blessed by Kuat. The consequences of that perception were soon to reveal themselves.

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Bothan Council Building

Bothawui

Eighteen men and women sat around a round table made of ancient wood that stylishly concealed all luxuries of modern technology needed to rule over one of the galaxy's most important systems. They were the representatives of the major nation states that still survived in one form or another on the homeworld. The Eighteen, were the equivalent of ministers presiding over an assembly made by representatives of over 600 Clans that for all intents and purposes was the legislative body of their people.

They were locked in debate for days now, ever since their agents brought the latest round of disturbing news from Coruscant. Events on the capital world once again threatened Bothan neutrality in this senseless but often lucrative war. Spynet operatives across the Republic kept feeding the Council the truth of what was happening and none of the Eighteen liked what they saw.

The Republic was tearing itself to pieces. Many ordinary citizens were fortunately blind to the reality of the situation, yet what they knew and did about it by rioting all over the galaxy was bad enough. The truth... The Bothan knew it. The Republic was done for in its current form. Kuat and their pet Mandalorians saw to that.

"Options?" The First Secretary, better known as the Council Chief – the elected leader of the Council asked.

"Go on with this charade and hope for the best?" The Councilwoman overseeing the Industry jested. Her fur and whiskers were raised in apparent irritation at the newest mess they had to clean up. Why the Republic counterparts of Spynet couldn't have made a clean sweep and taken out the Mandalorians too?! That would have made everyone's life so much easier... Bloody amateurs.

"Continued neutrality, support the Republic or risk aligning with the Separatists. We'll need to take an official stance soon." The Councillor in charge of the Bothan Diplomatic service growled from deep in his chest. He would have to sell whatever policy the Council voted on both their allies and enemies.

"We need to decide our real stance first." The official contact with the Bothan Spynet looked at her colleagues through narrowed eyes.

The First Secretary took a moment to appreciate how fierce and desirable it made her look before he kicked himself for falling for such an obvious distraction and got his head back into the game.

"Officially? Do we have any reason to break our neutrality at this time?"

The debate continued. There were few benefits of supporting the new regime on Coruscant, thought they were currently outweighed by the negatives by a lot. The Council Chief called the vote and neutrality won by a landslide. Now it had to be sold to the general assembly, however he didn't foresee many problems in that regard, though some political capital had to be spent to ensure it.

"Unofficially, Mandalorians, Sith, Separatists, they will be bad for our business. Any reason to offer the Kenobis and Kuat support beyond what they might need to ensure that they and the Confederacy tear each other apart?" The middle aged man looked at each one of his colleagues in turn.

There were reasons to offer more support to the Republic for the time being at least. Separatists victory, at least one that didn't bleed them dry to the point of impotency wasn't desirable. Without Bothan spy-craft and data-net magic, the Republic might not hold together for long enough to guarantee a favourable outcome. Besides, endearing themselves to the new regime so they could better manoeuvre Spynet operatives in a position to deal a killing blow when the time came could be very, very useful.

This time the vote came without dissent. Orders were cut and the Bothan Spynet was let out of their leash.

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Another place where similar debate took place was the lush agriworld of Chandrila. Members of the Chandrilan House hid themselves behind closed doors – a notable event considering that on their world law dictated that all major decisions would be voted on through direct democracy that gave every single citizen a voice.

A direct consequence of that state of affairs was the fractious and often divided nature of their political discourse. While Chandrila had a tiny population – just 1.2 billion souls thanks to government imposed restriction on family sizes, that didn't really help make their brand of democracy work better. At least it was somewhat workable – something that would be close to impossible with a larger population.

No one was really surprised when despite Chandrilan House and Senator Mothma's official endorsement of the new government, a large and very vocal block emerged on Chandrila decrying what they eloquently described as a dastardly coup supported by traitors who sold themselves to Kuat.

What very few people took note of was the direct link between the growth of that block and the decline in military related production not only in the Chandrila system by those closely allied to its government. Officially the blame was placed by the ever increasing disruption in the economy caused by the war, economic turmoil and systems seceding after Satine Kenobi was elected as a Chancellor.

The truth was a bit more interesting. Shipments got lost, mislabelled or accidentally sent to the wrong destination. An ever increasing number of them. Despite multiple inquiries by Chandrilan House, no tangible link was ever found between this distressing decline in production and the ever more concerning rise of very well equipped separatist groups in the region...

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Some systems had much stronger reaction to what they saw as the death of liberty in the Core. A number of them supported the new government anyway. Virtually all of those under immediate threat by the Confederacy did so gleefully trading any notions of opposing the coup for security against the damning sword of the Separatist war-machine.

Other system had the luxury to make a meaningful choice about their future.

At Ixtlar, the Mercantile Guild ruling the system had terrible concerns about the future. Their Guild-master Shu Li made a deal with Chancellor Palpatine almost a decade ago that would ensure the future of his world when the Republic was reforged into something better. The same was true for almost a hundred systems in the Deep Core that had Ixtlar as their only fast connection at the galaxy at large. If the hyperlane anchored to that world was ever severed or just blockaded they would be cut off and left more than a month away from the closest Republic system. Their economic prosperity was intertwined with that of Ixtlar and its Mercantile Guild and when Shu Li chose to oppose Chancellor Kenobi, they had little recourse but to follow.

Ixtlar was one of the first systems to formally secede from the Republic. It wasn't the last. Not only that, but the Guild-master was one of the engineers that ensured such an act wouldn't be seen by history as a short lived act of defiance...

Mere hours after Ixtlar declared its independence from the Republic, Shu Li signed an accord with President Mia Roselind from Boruga – a quite typical Core world with a decent amount of industry and still possessing a significant amount of easy to reach resources ready for extraction. The Alliance between those two systems and eventually their allies would have far reaching consequences beyond what President Roselind and Guild-master Li intended. All because of the events that took place at Aargau...

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Bank of Aargau HQ

Aargau Bank Arcology

Aargau

Zug system

Zebulon Mae stood at the top floor of a gleaming tower that symbolized all the power at his disposal. He was the newly elected Director of the Bank of Aargau after his predecessor perished amidst the chaos on Coruscant a few days ago. Zebulon surveyed the arcology that was a shining example of what his world and the bank that owned it could achieve. Thirteen billion people worked and lived in reasonable comfort and luxury below him.

For until millennia, Aargau managed to retain its neutrality, profit and prosper no matter what war the Republic was currently fighting. Their neutrality used to be respected. Their power in the Zug system – absolute. Mandalorians, Sith – it didn't matter. The barbarians never came close enough to tangle with the state-of-the-art navy protecting Zug. Even the Sith were content to do business and respect the only three laws that really mattered on Aargau... even if they could gleefully take advantage of a convenient loophole …

As the Director, Mae was bound by the Three Statutes. Even he didn't dare break them. The first governed the exports of precious metal that the whole system was rich on. It was the most complex and heavily regulated of the three. The third – well it was in Zebulon's best interest to see it was never breached. It guaranteed that the integrity of the Bank of Aargau must be maintained at all times and at all cost.

The second absolute law was deceptively simple. No outsider was allowed to carry a weapon while on Aargau and every local was required to be armed at virtually all times. It was simple. It was clear.

When the Clone Wars began, the Republic breached the second Statute and thus infringed on the third. If it wasn't for the madness that gripped the Separatists when they unleashed Blue Shadow on Naboo, Aargau might have seceded. They were in talks with Republic diplomats at the time and under pressure by the Intergalactic Banking Clans that technically owned the Bank of Aargau not to but in the end it wasn't their call.

Zebulon glared at what he saw through the window. A Republic Assault ship rested on the roof of the Arcology. One of ten that he could see from his vantage point.

When the war began, the Republic deployed a significant number of Clones to Aargau thus breaching the law. They were armed, heavily at that, outsiders on the surface. Most of them were even concentrated in the Arcology, which only added insult to injury. For months the Board of Directors that ran the Bank argued, bribed, used diplomacy, yet they couldn't throw the Clones out without using force and for various reasons that was an unpalatable outcome.

Aargau was the seat where dozens of major intergalactic corporations had their HQ's. None of them wanted open warfare even if they weren't thrilled by the GAR presence. Mai's predecessor found her hands tied by politics and the reality of their situation.

She was now dead, lost thanks to the chaos burning on Coruscant. The... creative way the Mandalorians and their allies stole the leadership of the Republic presented an opportunity. Thanks to its central location, resources and all the corporations calling Zug home, the Bank of Aargau had options that most systems lacked. For all intents and purposes they owned most of the sector and had very close ties with the systems they did, not to mention with everyone in the local region of space.

The current situation of the GAR was as important... the Clones in the Arcology were in an armed stand-off with loyalists opposing the Mandalorians and Kuat in open rebellion against their former comrades.

"Director, the Board is here." Zebulon's personal assistant informed him.

"Thank you Irina." Mae smiled. Chancellor Kenobi presented him an opportunity he couldn't possibly fail to grasp.

Ten men and women from half a dozen species walked in Mae's office... and two of them were already in his pocket. He had to convince just one of the others that his plans for the future had merit and then he could unleash Aargau's private army upon the interlopers. The Republic was too busy falling apart and he was determined to ensure that Aargau would emerge as the leader in the Core when the dust settled.

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Part 7

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Prime Minister's office

Government House

Xenvaer

Alsakan

Alsakan System

Calisto Fird ran a delicate finger over a hair thin face marking that framed the contour of her heart-shaped face. Similar decorations were tattooed around her eyes making her sharp green orbs even more striking. Carefully styled mane of fiery red hair fell like waterfall around her face giving her a wild and untamed appearance.

The Prime Minister's looks were one of the weapons that helped her achieve her office, though she held it thanks to her acute political sense and the allies she made during her long years as an elected official in three different governments. The past year marked the pinnacle of her career yet it often made her regret running for the highest office on her homeworld.

The madness that took over Coruscant lately should have made her happy. After all, Alsakan and the capital world of the Republic were ancient rivals, often enemies who used both the unparalleled strength of their economy and the might of their vast fleets to resolve their disputes. While those open warfare ended millennia ago, the two mighty Ecunomenopolises often clashed in the political arena even during the Golden Age of the Republic.

As time passed the galaxy changed. While still mighty, Alsakan was left behind by the unparalleled expansion and prosperity that Corellia and Kuat enjoyed. For hundreds of years even the best efforts of both government and corporations weren't enough to reverse that trend. That thought made Calisto grimace.

The Separatists and the ineptitude of the Republic Senate did what Alsakan best and brightest were unable to achieve – in mere months they brought not only Corellia but the Republic on their knees. This was a new age, one of opportunity and deadly danger.

The Prime Minister took a moment to look over her office. Everything was in place – from ancient murals on the walls showing scenes of historical significance to the smallest piece of antique furniture. The whole place was steeped in history in power bound in one tasteful package. It was a declaration that Alsakan and those elected to lead her knew their place in history, knew their strengths and would never bow to external pressure. Half the murals of battles won and not just on the battlefield were a loud declaration of that fact.

Tastefully placed around the room were busts of the most famous and successful of Calisto's predecessor and their sharp eyes were looking at her desk judging her worth. It was tradition – so she could never sit too easy nor forget her duty. Sometimes it even worked as advertised.

A chime rang, interrupting Calisto's musings.

"Ma'am, ministers Davis and Juko are here." Fird's secretary announced.

"Please, invite them in Marisa." The Prime Minister stood up. Those two were some of her closest and most experienced allies. Without their council and experience she would have faced many more problems in the course of her career.

A member of the security detail opened the decorative wooden door leading into her office and the Ministers walked in. Boru Juko was first. He was a tall broad-shouldered man who resembled a walking tank. The side of his face was a mess of scars – a painful reminder of his days in the navy as a marine hunting pirates. Despite his fierce appearance he was an easy-going and generally good-natured man. Some claimed that his temperament didn't suit his post as the Minister of Defence, however Juko successfully held the post in two governments now and he had ample time to prove his qualifications. Under his stewardship, Alsakan possessed one of the best and largest armies and navies within the Core. With the fall of Corellia, that made their system the third largest military power within the Republic right behind the GAR and Kuat.

In contrast, the Foreign Minister, Roger Davis was a short, almost stumpy man who appeared like a dwarf next to his giant friend. He was an experienced diplomat who thrived in the cut-throat world of interstellar relations. In the past year, Roger and his ministry's efforts were crucial in negotiating deals that placed Alsakan in position of power within the Republic that their system hadn't seen in centuries.

Now all those efforts were threatened by the fools on Coruscant.

"Gentlemen, it's good to see you again. Please, be seated." Calisto beamed at her guests and after they exchanged the expected pleasantries guided them to a kaf table and the comfortable couches surrounding it. An order to the security protecting her and the room was sealed from the outside world. Additional jammers came online and a wave of static washed over the Prime Minister and her guests.

"Roger, Boru, it's good to see you again." Calisto smiled pleasantly and allowed herself to relax a bit. Those two were among the few politicians she could ever afford to put her hear down so to speak.

"Same to you, Cal." Juko returned her smile.

"It's shame we couldn't meet back at Lia's gala yesterday." Roger sighed. The man loved every chance to go out and mingle with the shakers and mover whom made Alkasan's prosperity possible.

"Blame Coruscant." Calisto let out a long suffered sight.

"Oh, I do, my dear. Tomorrow evening Parliament will vote on our continued support for the Republic. What will be our stance?" Roger asked. "As instructed I've been preaching our support to the new government on Coruscant however Satine's no fool. She knows our hands might get tied or worse."

"Boru? I need your honest thoughts on the military situation." Calisto inquired.

"Fluid. The Republic has most of its fleets and sufficient ground forces concentrated on the hyperlanes leading deeper in the Core. Sufficient reserves are available to block any Separatist offensive that actually breaks through in force. The situation to the East is more or less stable. However, the Clones are a wild card. They still make the bulk of the Republic military. There are new volunteer armies ready for deployment or in the final stages of their training and most of the new construction is crewed by regular people." Boru grimaced, which stretched his scars in a grotesque smile. "The Clones are the issue. Some formations are refusing to acknowledge orders from the new Chancellor. The last we heard there were no live fire incidents between them and the loyalists, however the number of the rogues is significant. Twenty to thirty percent of the GAR. Even if some kind of peaceful resolution is found the disruption would slow down or derail any plans for counter-offensive in the core."

"Should we fear another major Separatist attacks in the foreseeable future?" Calisto inquired.

"Doubtful. All Intelligence sources I've seen indicate that the enemy is content in digging in and securing their new gains. They spent significant resources going after Veil and that Mid-Rim alliance he latched to not to mention locking down all the territory they gobbled up. There should be at least a system fleet equivalent of Republic naval units bidding their time in Separatists controlled space, units that had avoided action so far. They're binding a significant number of enemy resources in patrols and hunter-killer squadrons. I expect that the Separatist will be on strategic defence until their next major construction cycle is complete and then they will throw everything they have at Kuat. If they reduce its industry and we can't respond in kind at Fondor they're likely to win the war. Kenobi knows that and is doing everything in his power to prevent such an outcome."

"So military we're reasonably secure for now?" Roger asked.

"Emphasis on reasonably." Boru nodded.

"Good enough. What are we going to do with our new Mandalorian overlords?" Calisto grumbled and stared at Roger. "With Kuat, Anaxes and the Corellian Remnant backing them, they do have a veneer of legitimacy. Our tactic support all but cemented it at least as far as the citizens are concerned."

"Many local governments won't agree. I've heard whispers of secession or worlds bidding their time until the Separatists are kicked out of the Core. Even with our official support backed by Parliament the Republic is liable to fracture even further. Without it..." Roger shrugged. "Should we continue to provide such support?"

"That's the big question, isn't it? Kuat is the Separatist's primary strategic target. If they suffer significant damage, that would create an opportunity for us to change the Republic from within to better serve our interests." Calisto thought aloud.

"We can do very well for ourselves even if the Republic fractures. We'll be an island of stability and our armed forces will be able to provide security." Roger added.

"True, my friend." Calisto hummed. "Parliament appears to be in favour of supporting the Republic however there's still time to change that, though it would cost a lot of political capital better spent elsewhere."

"What's our strategic goal here?" Boru asked. "It certainly isn't a return of pre-war status quo."

"If you asked me a month ago..." Calisto pouted. "Roger, arrange a call with Chancellor Kenobi. Let's see what concession she and her Kuati friends are prepared to offer for our continued support. I'll want her to tell me what exactly they plan to do with the Republic in the future too. I want to talk with her tonight at the latest."

"I'll handle it." Davis nodded. "What's our play?"

"With the Senate sidelined and mired in investigations, we have a priceless opportunity. Coruscant won our historical conflict about the direction and shape the Galactic Republic should have taken. Now we have a priceless opportunity to change history. Let us not waste it, gentlemen."