[22 BBY[Three weeks after the Fall of Falleen]

[Repubic Aegis Guard Gunship, Travelling, North-west of the City of Lessu, Ryloth, Ryloth System]

"You're as bad as that crazy mando boss with the armour"

"Eh..." I shrugged back to Yulan not looking up from my datapad as my gunship, escorted by two TIE fighters and another gunship full of troopers, speed its way towards a reactivated military base "...it certainly cost enough, so I'm going to wear it when I need too. And I count this place as still warranting the need to wear it..."

'Cortosis weave does not come cheap after all' I resisted saying, and it was actually rather comfortable armour by design "...anyway, we're going to a military base, so we want to set a good impression with the militia in the more...crude and blunt sort of way. We, like them, are a bunch of uncouth savages from the Outer Rim according to the citizens of the Core"

'Another reason is that Twi'leks aren't naturally prone to resisting or aggressive combat, Syndulla and his forces aside, and we're fighting an uphill battle against the attitudes of one the galaxy's preferred slave races' I also kept quiet on as the response to my appointment was...odd, at least in my opinion. Outside of Syndulla it was very muted, most people falling in line when they realised they weren't going to be robbed, enslaved, or generally beaten down even more. Oh...and the Fat Man who managed to become Senator and was buddies with Palpatine by all accounts; I had to be wary of leaning too hard on that fellow.

"Huh...yeah, the high and mighty Core..." Yulan muttered back, arms folded across his chest and resting back into the jump seat "...not much coming from then beyond complaints I guess"

"Some, but we're largely being left to our own devices thankfully" I responded studying the tallies taken on property, goods, and general war material we'd seized due to conquering this war, and then going after anyone linked to Wat Tambor's occupation forces. Not exactly standard GAR operating procedure, but General Geen had given me broad discretion and we needed to do many things, all at once, in only a few weeks; and technically it wasn't stealing...in legal terms because we were the law, and they were the enemy.

"...which is fine, I doubt we would have gotten much anyway. The first thing is to get the planetary defences back into some sort of order, and ensure nobody starves or anything else that might make them rebel, or be less than supportive of our presence really. The Hutts are sniffing around, the Confederates are on the advance, so...ya know, work with that we've got. Getting production of combat equipment then comes after that in the priorities list, and then...on and on and on we go"

"Is that why you're sending Admiral Ironhill spinward towards Pantoran?"

I sighed, rubbing at tired eyes "Aye...though taxation collection and begging for support of Ryloth would be the more accurate answer. To build things we need supplies, and that means dipping into the smugglers and other various riff-raff that infest the Sector. We're going to get a windfall of credits from seizing all the CIS equipment and property, and from having a free labour force for construction in the B-1's...and locals being honest...but we need things that aren't here, from parts to minerals. It's a lesson to learn Yulan, wars are fought and won by logistics as much as brave soldiers, advanced starships, and magic force powers"

"And that has to do with creating areas with legal prostitution and gambling...and all the other vices, how Sir?"

"We get to tax it..." I responded simply "...and control it too, which is a big bonus. It was going to happen regardless of what we did, and this way it's organised, not on every street corner, and our military police can stomp on any trouble before it starts hopefully. We're going to be cutting deals with very unsavoury people Yulan, it's why I've sent Captain Shesagora to the various hives of scum and villainy to aid in our efforts to defeat the Separatists"

Yulan gave an amused snort "You mean piracy I believe General"

"Privateers, Yulan, Privateers" I corrected tapping the data-pad "...it's not piracy when we say it's not and we're the government. But, let's be honest here, we're redirecting their attention at acceptable targets right now as much as I'd like to crack down on them, bounties on CIS ships, smuggling, and any scavenger with a space worthy hulk or wreck to sell, or just help us repair what we've got"

"Such as the wrecked Venator in orbit"

I grinned a moment, and then nodded "Yeah, such the wrecked Venator sitting in orbit now that General Geen's got the other one up and running. Now...unto recruitment"

Yulan gave a so-so gesture as our transport flew over the beautiful, but damaged, countryside outside the urban area of Lessu "Less than we'd expected...but better at times, we're getting skilled technicians signing up; but it's heavily leaning towards female twi'leks who were briefly enslaved, nearly enslaved, or were with Syndulla and had some level of university or apprenticeship under them. Most of the males are signed up with Syndulla's lot, or are falling into the star-fighter pilot category...and as you saw back in Lessu there's large, large, crowds showing up to help in clearances and building even with the tiny amount of credits being offered"

"It's the food I've been told..." I replied "...and why I insisted on the better army cooks do it, and why hiring every homeless chef we could get our hands on was started on day two of my governorship"

Honestly the last week or so had been me sitting down, hour upon hour, and setting up grand and noble sounding organisations like the Ryloth Relief and Development Organisation, and the Republic-Ryloth Organization for Aiding Those Made Homeless By War. It was all about forcing the nearly destroyed planetary economy and local governments to function again; even down to calling elections to recreate the planetary parliament after the CIS had killed off, or disappeared, many of its members. Not that it mattered previously, as it'd been a rubber stamp for Senator Free, but I wanted...needed...a functional government and bureaucracy yesterday...

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[22 BBY[Five weeks after the Fall of Falleen]

[Groundside, Republic Command Centre, City of Lessu, Ryloth, Ryloth System]

It was, in a strange way, everything he had feared in allying with the Republic's forces; Ryloth had been occupied by the Republic, and there was martial law. On the other hand for the first time since this disaster had first begun Cham Syndulla was given power to push through what needed to be done to try keep Ryloth safe and independent. He did not like this young alien from the other end of the Outer Rim over much; a failed Jedi he had been told, and many of his 'rulings' merely accepted moral vices Cham despised about his people even as it kept out the Hutts.

On practical matters though the new 'Military Governor' was more than willing to listen to 'General Syndulla' than the coterie of professors, old matrons from the temples, and smugglers he had gather about to 'advise' his decisions. Like now as the green skinned 'Solemite' studied the star-fighter design hurriedly put together before the CIS invasion, and now again in the last week; speaking as the hologram glowed between them "...so, fully buildable based on materials and technical ability on Ryloth and surrounding systems?"

Cham nodded slowly "Yes, though many of the factories involved were damaged..."

"List out whats needed to get them running and I'll have it yesterday for you"

"Thank you" Cham relied bowing his head faintly "...and as said some are damaged, and spread out, but the design is fairly...simple. Primitive others might say, but easy to assemble with our limited resources"

The Chir'daki as their engineers were calling it wasn't much of a star-fighter by Core or Mid-Rim designs, as it lacked hyperdrive, a navcomputer, and its sensors were poor by most standards. Similarly they'd been forced to adopt a aerodynamic winged format with the four engines close to the single pilot hull; they didn't have the repulsor technology to the required standard, only to air-car level in truth. But it was fast, and had four laser canons as weapons, along with two single shot proton torpedo launchers, even if lacking true deflector shields like the star-fighters the Republic had brought in system.

General Daron 'Stormcrow' as the residents called him, after his warship apparently, nodded with a weary seeming smile "Oh, it's perfect for purpose; it's a system, planet for the short-term, defence fighter and that's what we, you, need. It'll free up mine and the others strike squadrons the sooner Ryloth can defend itself in some manner...you've got my approval, make as many as you can. Credits will not be a problem for a cheap and cheerful interceptor like this"

Cham blinked...he'd expected much more resistance to this attempt to assemble a strong defensive force for Free Ryloth "Just like that?"

"Uh-huh, much as you want as long as it works and you can get pilots into them..." the 'Military Governor' replied placing a thumb print on the data-pad and authorising everything Cham had deman...requested of him and the Republic "...and I've got a few captured mercantmen, former Confederate, the lads pull in over the last week so take your pick as long as you can arm and crew them of course. We could really do with more crews for the light freighters to move goods...hyperspace lanes being cut means we're done to smugglers routes and slower workarounds..."

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