[18 BBY]

[Landing Pad, Castle Ventress, City of The Cauldron, , Rattatak, Guter Wade System, Trilon Sector, Outer Rim Territories]

"It certainly is a nice view" I told Asajj as I gazed out over the city and expanse of land from up atop the landing pad on the tower-citadel that she'd established….actually had built, soon after she'd taken over the savage techno-barbarian world of Rattatak "Castle Ventress too, sending a message are we? That's usually for ancestral holdfasts I find….planning on establishing a ruling dynasty, hmmm?"

She looked the part of a proper warrior-queen at least, wearing armour, albeit lighter than I favoured, all in the new white-grey-black colours of the Eriadu Republic's new uniform theme. Pushing up along the Outer Rim minor hyperlanes, scouting as we went, had brought more oddities to light, but nothing concrete yet either so Asajj's world was a useful forward operating base. It was also useful to help ensure it remained secure, and help keep up momentum in these far edge Sectors now trouble was brewing on the horizon. For now though it was a source of recuits for our armies and fleets, mostly from the native Rattataki who seemed intent on sending credits back to family remaining here while they served.

With Yulen and his Task-force also having reached Bakura, and was negotiating with the planetary Senate per his last report, mutual support was feasible now. I'd contacted High Command, which was Tarkin, and the general order was to deal with the problem…and await further instructions as 'a package' was on the way. So I'd been 'stocking up' on whatever the task-forced needed as we advanced along the very edge of explored space ensuring it stayed in our control. In the short time we'd been here my, and Yulen's, Task-forces had eliminated a pirate base and three groups of would be raiders….hardly indicating this place was peaceful.

"Hmmm…." Asajj muttered, giving me a look as she raised an eyebrow "…are you offer to help me with starting that dynasty?"

"Only in the political sense, as I suspect Barriss would be very annoyed if I helped in the more active part" I replied deadpan as she tried to get a rise out of me, then gave an amused snort, looking out over the cityscape again for a moment "Your actually quite close to being acknowledge as Senator for Rattatak, despite….your colourful history. Give it a year or two and I reckon, a few campaigns with your troops….and not dying of course"

"Of course, being dead would make ruling hard I expect" she deadpanned back at me, rolling her eyes at the seeming obviousness of the statement. Months training and fighting together really did have some degree of familiarity breeding contempt…or, well, more human-like reactions than just anger and bitterness all the time like at fist "You are still disturbingly eager to ensure I rule a planet, and yet you, yourself, do not currently have one"

I chuckled at that "Oh Asajj, I'm really rich now thanks to all the war and looting, so, once things settle down, I'll get around to get a nice colony somewhere. Maybe a nice little tower with giant libraries, and students to annoy the Jedi with its existence"

"Hmmm, considering your efforts on my behalf then you are welcome to establish such a thing on this world if the needs demand" she replied in a bored tone as we turned to move into the building proper "Now, what do you think of the reports my warriors bring?"

"I think there's a Confederate base out there something, and I'd suspect it has something to do with those disturbances in the Force we've been feeling in this region" I answered honestly. Asajj had left a small group who were loyal/afraid of her, along with a repurposed Tactical Droid and a Protocol Droid. Rattatak was backwards, and savage, but she'd hammered it into some degree of obedience…and our presence here was going to bring some of that again I knew. Her 'warriors', the Planetary Defence Force, were a few gunships and some Scarab and Vulture droid-fighters to go with a squadron or two of people flying their cobbled together star-fighters….

"That would be very much like Dooku…" Asajj replied, anger burning a little brighter in the Force swirling, tightly controlled around her "…a potential leash for me, or a dagger in the dark ready to strike"

"Possibly, or a hidden resupply base or fortress maybe" I partly agreed as we walked "Though what's concerning me most is the mystery raiders reports. Too many unknowns out here"

"It is called the Unknown Regions you understand my Moff"

"Why thank you Darth Obvious, I would never have realised that without your sage wisdom" I replied with amusement back to her snark with my own causing her to let out a snort and roll her eyes again "But, to be serious, I don't mind those unknowns if they were staying away from here. Since we've a war to fight. Thing is I they're raiding it'll only get worse if left alone. One cannot show weakness out here, or it will invite attack"

She nodded at that "Navigating the hyperlanes out here won't be easy you understand?"

I gave my own nod of agreement as we walked side by side into the 'Throne Room' of her Castle "Yeah, Force-users like us get double duty, and it'll put more pressure on recon patrols with short jumps. Fun times. Now, I think you want to go intimidate and if need be kill….I mean meet and greet…some of your more rebellious subjects?"

--

[18 BBY]

[Docking Bay, Undercity of Zhell-in-the-Dark, Coruscant, The Core]

The Endeavour was a good little ship Alwin Kvoord found, even if that wasn't the ships real name. After all Alwin wasn't his real name either he thought with amusement, slipping into the role, shaking hands with the tired and hungry looking human before him. A typical Undercity dweller of Coruscant really, and probably had some Separatist leanings at well as loyalty, of sorts anyway, to the True Republic. He could live with that, as his men, dressed like himself as mechanics or poor traders, watched the worse dressed, but also watchful, people down the miles deep tunnel from the surface.

"Spring looks to be on the way"

The human woman nodded, shaking his hand, eyes wary and calculating "Springtime for the peoples, it would be good see the dawn come again"

Spoken code-phrase were correct. The electronic code-transfer in the glove buzzers was correct. 'Alwin' nodded, smiling, and gesturing with his hand so that the crates began to roll forward. They already had eyes on the area, and they needed to move fast unless they wanted to attract attention. The military-junta were proving particularly competent, and merciless, in their repression of Republic loyalists like himself and what these people claimed to be.

He gestured as the box was opened enough for their contact to see the blasters and grenades and other goodies tucked within the first of several small agri-storage container. Smuggling in support to freedom fighters for the day of liberation was proving….difficult, and thousands of his comrades had died to help the cause of democracy.

Despite those setbacks the Chancellor and the true Grand Army of the Republic would find a way, had found ways. 'Alwin' had even heard rumours of new, fast grown, clones and warships ready to fight….thought that could be just rumours to boost morale. In his view freedom would only come when the people rose up, overthrowing the tyrants, and restoring the man who'd tried to save the Republic from the vile traitors and decadent oligarchs "As promised, please put them to good use…"

--

[Conference Room, Command Deck, Eriadu Authority Republic Capital-class Warship Stormcrow, Republic 5th Fleet , In Orbit Rattatak, Guter Wade System, Trilon Sector, Outer Rim Territories]

We'd been here at Rattatak a week and a bit, awaiting the arrival of 'the package' while my task-force performed exploratory patrols…and it wasn't showing good things. No, it was not I thought as we sat, studying the various findings from our long-range patrols….

Including a surprising amount of activity at our next destination, as well as signals from systems further out shortly after we deployed probe droids in those systems. I sat back in my chair, hand on my chin, looking over the various holo-images "So, do we have any records of those ship designs?"

The response was, as expected, in the negative, though that wasn't by itself a major shock considering where we were "I thought that might be the case unfortunately"

"Especially since they are trading with the Separatists apparently…" the hologram of Yulen, coming over a long-range, secure connection, through the relay network we'd established with mobile ships "…as that freighter they were trading with is down as a known runner for them. The Larkrer"

I nodded, hand on my chin and frowning in though "Yes, but one thought lost….curiouser and curiouser the situation becomes. Our landing party on Batuu send a brief data-burst to us that hints at trade here between the Confederacy and an outside faction….that died down in recent months"

"After Dooku was slain" Asajj stated simply and I nodded "who are they trading with now though, with lanes as they are"

"Possibly, but it's only bar rumours right now. We need to investigate more on it" I replied not fully sure what we were seeing yet "As to trading. I'd reckon Yag'dhul, Mechis. Sure we've patrols, but not so much out in this direction and they could easily be working around known space on unknown hyperlane routes. What we need to do is figure out where this base of theirs is, what they're doing, and also the extent of whatever it is. I really don't want to face an attack in the rear if the Confederacy tries to take back Kinyen for instance"

Yulen's hologram looked thoughtful "Do you want us to reinforce Sir?"

I shook my head "No, we don't have any indications of any major presence yet and Bakura needs to be dealt with along with the pirate problem too"

"We need to interrogate some of these pirates"

Asajj nodded faintly to Celeste who ended her silence till now "I loathe agreeing with Jedi, but she is correct, they may have answers we need. Smugglers at Bantuu would be another option"

"Best to avoid showing up in force either to this small world…" Celeste followed up with "…as scum are prone scatter when they sense danger"

I nodded, and that also concerned me. We hadn't been here more than a short period, and we were discovering a concerning level of activity from would be pirates, all matched with a lot of rumours of disappearances of vessels, and loss of contact with further out colonies. I had a decent Task-force here; the Stormcrow my city-sip turned warship, the Swiftsure one of our new Venerable-class Star Destroyers, and the Reaper's Due a refitted Lucrehulk forming my 'heavy' core around a dozen light ships including four new Cataphract-class escorts to deal with star-fighers.

"Yes, your right. We'll try sniff out the areas first, and I don't want to walk into a trap either. No one seems to know we're here yet…so let's try keep it that way. We'll do some investigation with special operations teams and…."

My communicator buzzed, and I cut off, offer my apologies as I answered the coded alert "Stormcrow here"

"Sorry Moff…" Garden's face came up on the communicator "…but we have received a coded signal from an approaching vessel, the one you ordered me to alert you too immediately upon arrival"

"Thank you Captain, arrange screening and docking for them, and raise the alert level. I'll be able to arrive down to meet them in an hour. Link in whatever details are passed on the passengers to my comm unit here…"

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