[End of 14 BBY]

[Moff's Ready Room, Command Deck, House Stormcrow Capital-class Warship Stormcrow, Mobile Headquarters, Imperial Navy Fifth Fleet 'The Army of Light', in orbit Kamino, beyond galactic Outer Rim, United Federal Empire]

I sat with my hands together at my chin, starring at the received data-packets on my desk displays, at the sheer levels of destruction matching up to what I'd felt mere days ago. It was pointless to ask 'is this confirmed' as this was clearly wide spectrum broadcast from the Core, and while it wouldn't hit civilian channels for days or even weeks…

Well, I'd help create the Imperial snooping systems based on my flagships data-capture and analysis systems – and these all read as clear and true. The question now was….was Darth Sidious actually dead?

'One has to make contingencies even if the answer might be strongly no' were my thoughts on the matter as I sat with Gardan, reviewing the information I'd be discussing with my officer corps within the hour. Currently Coruscant was the scene of what the darkest depths of my mind would have identified as a failed global level ritual working. Or at least Netheril might have consider the brute forcing of life energies…

If I'd been there I could have stopped it. Say what you will about the Force, its practitioners at this level were brutes simply grabbing weaker life-energies and trying to drink it down. Crude and vulnerable…

If. If. If….

'But enough ifs and buts, you were not there and could have died if you had been. Whatever it is…will linger for decades or generations' I reminded myself eyes roving over the footage transmitted from Coruscant before Palpatine had seemingly bit the dust. Then the footage afterwards from the Kuati blaming the Alsakans and Corellians for the destruction and 'murder' of their Supreme Chancellor. Had they? I doubted the Corellians had, but Alsakan could have?

Or did Sheev deploy his own 'stooper-weepon!' and screw himself over?

I didn't know right now, and that concerned me…

"Would have they have really deployed a Rakghoul plague?"

I sighed at Gardan's words "Who? Kuat? Corellia? Alskan?"

He frowned "Any of the above Moff"

"Perhaps, but I'd say their likely already present in the depths" I replied, hazily recalling information from lives not my own that had been granted to be at birth. Coruscant's depths supposedly had colonies of the horrors in the deeper layers, and that was something I'd well believe. The ecumenopolis was a galaxy all of its own when you came down to it, and I'd barely descend more that a dozen layers in time in the Temple "There's things down there that caused the planetary security forces to deploy in power armour and use specialised heavy combat droids long before Republic collapsed"

That was the simple truth of Coruscant – despite being the supposed Galactic Capital for millennia, the planetary authorities barely controlled a fraction of the actual planet proper. The city-world went thousands of layers down supposedly, and the Security Forces only went down a few hundred even unofficially. Entire worlds worth of people lived further down, and, if I was judging correctly, some of the destruction had torn great rents into layers, digging down into said depths. Now those suddenly exposed were clearly emerging…or, at the least, that was my interpretation of events based on what little was available to me right now, along with possibly wrong info from outside context.

Gardan gave a quick nod of agreement "This destruction…it's unbelievable Sir"

"Aye….aye it is my friend" I replied, almost muttered, back in response "Horrors unseen since the Sith Wars used once again. We're lucky Coruscant is largely intact considering what I think they deployed"

He raised an eyebrow and I shrugged "The Malachor system. I wonder if they salvaged something…Gods I hope they salvaged something and haven't built more…"

I rubbed my chin in calculation. It was bad no matter how you looked at it, and, worse, there was clearly more than one 'superweapon' deployed, along Palpatine's Sith Sorcery. So little data, and such an inability to make a proper analysis on what they'd done. Gardan nodded, looking uneasy "And if they have Sir?"

"Then we'll see destruction unseen happen in the Core" I replied unhappily, but let out a sigh "But I'd doubt it, or see it as unlikely"

'And even if it was likely, it'd best not to say it' was my view, and that of the likes of Tarkin as we'd need a means to respond. So, I nodded, pressing on as I motioned at the displays "Coruscant, THE big offensive, and everyone went all in, and here is the result"

"What happens next Sir?" was his immediate query "And our orders?"

'Well, that's to be seen in the longer term, but, right, Tarkin's already sent out Secret Orders' I thought, nodding to myself, sitting back in my chair "Right now, for us? Not much. We continue as planned, then destroy what we were told to destroy and leave Kamino once we've stripped it of everything useful. Beyond that we're to continue operations to bring the nearby OverSectors into Imperial control along with Moff Zsinj"

Unspoken was the fact we'd be likely soon be redeployed to try intel-gathering operations alongside side pacification activities. The Empire was at war, minor-skirmish-war, on nearly every border now, but the internal systems were settling down, and piracy brought under control or outright crushed along the Empire's internal hyperlanes. The brief set of TOP SECRET orders from the Emperor were already indicating a response to this, and for all of us Moffs to be ready to step up our efforts. Militarisation (ie Imperialisation) was likely going to take a big jump in coming weeks and months, especially with notes on an emergency session of the Imperial Senate and Lords being called to address this 'monstrous act' and 'relief needed'. Or, to be crude, sending aid to quasi-allies and try and find out what the fuck they were doing deploying things like this without our knowledge – or at least some of it. The giant waste of resources called the Anvil of Coruscant we'd known about at least.

Gardan gave a slow nod after a moment's thought "We are within projections there Sir, it is just taking longer than I'd like with the bio-chemic protocols. Though with this…"

I shrugged "We can only hope they didn't deploy bioweapons, and I don't think they did, but we must maintain our operations as if they could. Kamino are well ahead of us in terms of biotechnology and cloning…that's why we are committed to destroying their capacity as a civilization to maintain that knowledge and status"

Those were the actual, deeply hidden, orders to deal with the Kaminoans – destroy them, utterly, in response for what they'd done. We were strip them of their capacity to clone after we'd taken every bit of knowledge that they had, followed by banning them from cloning for at least a hundred years on the world. It was revenge, but also designed to shatter something that was problematic to the Empire in that we didn't need clone armies, the Tarkins and many amongst them finding it somewhat offensive separately. More importantly we had plenty of bodies to put in uniform as we're Core citizens with their unwillingness to sign up and fight for the cause…however long that lasted now. Because the Core's economy was melting down, even before this dramatic horror.

Gardan gave another nod. He understood what had to be done "True Sir. Will this make a difference with the likes of the Albrion Sector?"

"Coruscant?" I asked, then continued as he affirmed that was the question, and I sighed "No. Well, no more than it would have before. Coruscant's a city-world, it'll easily feed itself, even if we'd not like what they'd consider food. Agri-imports are basically luxury goods…worse, there's going to be so many deaths on the upper layers that such things won't be an issue. And the lower levels won't barely notice it. Least where the sentients and things living there aren't invading said surface levels"

I shook my head, gave a tired smile "No, we're to secure those regions is same as before. We need farms and control of those hyperlanes. And to make sure they are removed from Confederate hands, and don't fall into those of the Hutts or Bothans"

Because the Bothans were doing…something…in their negotiations, and they were, as always, playing their own games despite being officially Confederates. My analysts were leaning towards a Bothan declaration of independence or something to that effect based on all the intercepts between them and the Hutts, along with negotiations with the Empire. My own, recent, directives from High Command being to leave said furry traitors alone as much as possible backed up that belief. How Coruscant played into that situation was now beyond me to be honest. Which brought up another issue as I gave a snort, eyes on the screens again.

"I've also got Ahsoka to talk to now as well. That'll be fun" I murmured, considering our 'guest' who was very happy of late, but also wasn't going to react well to this series of events "The bright side being she wasn't there to get herself killed in that…whatever the hells was done"

He gave me a curious glance "Within the Force?"

"Coruscant feels like a storm hit a sewage plant" I put it crudely, though it was much more than that. Lots of deaths, the Dark Side everywhere, and many good reasons I wasn't trying to scry the place in any way, shape, or form "You aren't going to see many, sane, Force users rushing to head there any time soon. Which is also on the list of things you'll need to have me do – meet with Celeste and then long-range comms with Grandmaster Rahm Kota"

Largely because I wanted information, and that was a potential source of it back to Obi-wan Kenobi, along with me checking old friends weren't dead due to the suicidal Jedi urge to charge Sith Lords without plans. Dark days had come again, and I needed to plan…because changing fate had brought about things such as thing, and the weapons used were both a threat and a thing to consider with the coming of the Vong in the decades ahead. I had times at least, but, sadly, I had many, many, other duties to attend to as the Empire sought a Reconquista of sorts on the Outer Rim…

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End of: Chapter 07: The New Republic

Next: Chapter 08: Interregnum

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