Today is a momentous occasion, one of the defining moments in my long and arduous campaign. The great game to win a thousand-year war against the Jedi and establishing myself as the sole dominant power in the galaxy. After years of exerting relentless pressure on the Republic, the system had finally cracked. It had finally snapped the system across the Core and Outer Rim divide.
In the next few years, I would continue to manipulate and reshape this system as needed from my newfound power and influence within the political realm. It is only a matter of time before the Republic is transformed into a new Empire, but this would require careful planning and execution of numerous steps along the way.I am nearly ready to consolidate the Core and this conflict will give me the opportunity I need to strip the local militias and defense forces of their power and autonomy, and incorporate them into a unified Imperial Army and Navy.
The same process will be applied to the minor forces that operate both within and outside of government control. In due time, even the judicial division will be abolished and absorbed into the Grand Army of the Republic. The Outer Rim malcontents will eventually fall in line as well, though they may need to be convinced by force. I'm certain they will resist in some ways, depending on the situation, and it could be a hard sell to convince them to rely on the Republic for defense.
No matter, the Separatist are stocked with enough callous and careless corporations, the local population will eventually welcome our protection. They will eventually sell away their freedom, both theoretically and completely for the safety and prosperity of the Empire. The Core would be the new heart of my Empire and it requires resources. Obtaining those resources would require amendments to certain laws that I would be more than happy to help with.
Of course, those are things I would worry about in the future. Today is just a good day. The reports of the combat were not fully in yet and what exactly is happening is still unclear due to it still being an active warzone. The Grand Army had landed on Geonosis and assaulted the Separatist's Droid armies there.
The Jedi army seemed to have disappeared and was in full retreat after the massacre at the arena, which is in line with the opening act I planned for this war. If Geonosis remained an active droid production factory, the Separatists could amass such an army that they could theoretically take over the Republic. Of course, because it is such an important target, the Grand Army would make sure to keep Geonosis out of the Separatist's control even if that means that we are willing to spend as many clones as necessary. Should the Jedi fail to keep Geonosis and the Separatists start to encroach into Republic territory ahead of schedule, setbacks and victories could be engineered elsewhere to slow them down or free up enough troops to retake it.
I plan on slowly converting the Republic into an Empire over the course of the war. In time, the re-ordering and full exploitation of distant territories will be necessary for my projects. And then my Empire can expand to reclaim Separatists worlds en-masse. While the current crimes of the Separatists are shocking to ordinary Coruscanti, Alderaanians, and Corellians, in the fullness of the galaxy, they are nothing.
My Empire will eventually face the same security challenges as the Separatists, so it's in our interests to observe and learn. Eventually, the constant low-level conflict and large military apparatus necessary to ensure order and resource extraction will seem ordinary and unremarkable to the citizens of the Core. After all, the Hutt's have demonstrated the effectiveness of allowing perpetual, low-level conflict to continue as a method of retaining political power. So, I would rather have the Republic win eventually, but be transformed in the struggle into my Empire.
That is the main plan, and then I could activate my trump card and have the political structure that kept the Republic in place completely removed with a single command. The day I could launch that command will be wonderful, but that is for the future. For now, I bide my time and exercise patience, carefully constructing the trap that will ensnare my enemies beyond their wildest imagination. When they believe they have fully grasped my machinations, they will find themselves hopelessly caught, powerless to resist.
I must use that moment to accomplish the thousand-year mission that the Dark Lord of the Sith Bane had set before the Rule of Two Sith - the destruction of the Jedi Order and bringing balance back to the Force under the control of the Sith. It still amazes me how arrogant the Jedi really are. To think that they built their grand palace upon a Sith Shrine. I channeled the Dark Side energy emitted by the Shrine directly into the Jedi Temple, clouding their visions of what is to come.
Some Jedi in distant lands may receive true divinations about what will befall the Order. However, the war and the conflict within the Senate will distract them long enough for my plan to come to fruition. And I knew that it would work because the Force itself is sending visions of the future, warning anyone who would listen of the tragedy that would befall the Jedi. I regularly receive visions of the plan succeeding through the Dark Side and I'm sure the Jedi would have seen it too, had the Veil over the Temple not clouded their vision.
I have a certain gift for masking my presence in the Force, but even in a room with the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, they couldn't sense the Dark Side within me. I take great pleasure at the thought of the Jedi's own arrogance as the reason for their downfall. They had become so accustomed to the Sith openly declaring war on them or hiding in the shadows like cowards, adhering to the outdated and ancient Sith ways. The Force technique of Buried Presence also played a large part in fooling the Jedi into believing I have no Force potential at all and not consider me a threat.
All the Jedi would sense is a threat to the Order that they cannot see. They could not imagine that the source of their troubles was hiding in plain sight in front of them. There is still the matter of Starfleet, the United Federation of Planets and the Milky Way Galaxy itself but at the moment, their Prime Directive forbids them from interfering in the war. I will of course keep a close eye on them but fortunately, the war and Senator Amidala's actions on Geonosis has caused them to stall Naboo's entry into the Federation.
I always said Amidala was young and naïve.
In the last decade, I have observed the Federation closely. While small compared to the Galactic Republic, they appear to be expanding and have a stable government, a united democracy no less. All the more reason to keep them from expanding too far in our galaxy as following the war on Naboo, they have become greatly popular. They have technology like those transporters that shows them to be highly advanced and there is little knowledge on their weapons technology.
Still, they should not be underestimated as the Trade Federation did against only one of their ships. The reports submitted to me suggest they are not only advanced but highly knowledgeable and adaptable. Luckily, they have their own galaxy affairs to worry about so they are not likely to be focused on watching us but they no doubt will be keeping an eye on all galactic affairs. I will be doing the same and over the years, I have drawn up several contingencies and future plans to deal with them as I slowly consolidate power.
With a sigh and a stretch from sitting at my chair for several hours, I rose from my desk. Reports were still trickling in about the battle, but it seems that victory is leaning on the Republic's side. Of course, it didn't matter to me which side won, as I will be the ultimate victor either way. However, there is no reason for me to stay up to receive the exact details of the win immediately.
Tomorrow, I had several speeches to give in the Senate about various subjects, most likely about this very conflict on Geonosis. I needed to be at my best for those speeches, so there is no better time than now to go get some sleep.
