Chapter 27
The muscles in my legs and feet flexed as I went through a stretching exercise for them. Also absently using the Force internally to help the blood flow along down there. It was the best that could be done considering I was stuck in the cockpit of my Z-95.
My fighter, along with Wraith and Shadow squadrons, were on stand-by readiness in the hangar bays of Resolute.
Thankfully this form of alert readiness meant my fighter's canopy was still open, my flight helmet off and sitting next to me.
I mentally went through my preflight checklist again, gave a brief look at the ready crews servicing the fighter, who had also found the best seats they could scrounge together, with some even having to sit on the floor. They were still relatively alert and awake.
Good.
My eyes turned to a datapad and I continued reading the current chapter of the utterly gripping academic book, 'Of Supply'. It was part of my command studies and recommended by Yularen for studying the art of logistics as it pertained to military matters. When it came to this, the old Earth wisdom of 'amateurs talk tactics, professionals study logistics' had also developed in the Corusca Galaxy. The only difference was the names of who had popularized its study and the scale.
Here the common wisdom for generals was that if your major supply hub was more than a day away in hyperspace travel, then you were doing it wrong. This was fine in theory, but the realities of the Clone War seldom lined up with the ideal. There was just too much distance between the centers of manufacturing and major hubs in the core and battlefronts on the Outer and Mid Rims. Building the supply bases along an axis of advance was also not something done in a day.
The hub that the Geonosis task force technically relied upon for ordinance and fuel resupply was three days away in the New Cov system and that base was so new, the paint was still drying on its walls. The food situation was both worse and better, Kamino was just two days away, but it was not a route that was serviced by the big freighters.
A Venator could also technically keep its crew fed for two years if it had to, which could be stretched with rationing. The issue was that you always wanted to keep a steady supply line to the ship, so you didn't bite into that leeway of supply. If for any reason, a ship was stranded, only relying on its backup hyperdrive, which in a Venator's case, was a paltry Class 12, then you needed that food and consumable reserve. Especially if you were in enemy space and far from friendly ports.
I had a pretty good feeling that this book was going to need a rewriting of a few chapters after the experience of the Clone Wars.
The reality was, the supply line truly ended at your ship.
If you didn't have it with you and couldn't fab it quickly within a few hours, then basing any military tactic on, 'when our supply ship gets to us, then we can do X', was folly.
These days my mind was rather focused on logistics, considering that our current goal of building the laser satellite net around Geonosis required satellites whose closest supplier was Corellia.
The amount of them needed meant bulk freighters, which required many days to travel to Geonosis with their mass and the 4.0 hyperdrives they generally featured - which was built for fuel efficiency for a given mass and not speed.
The entire stock of these satellites that Corellian Engineering Corporation had on hand, had been on the first freighter and we were still busy deploying them. It would take another freighter load to complete the net around the planet. Now CEC had to start a full production run and even emergency rejig another assembly line to meet the number requirements. Then it had to be tested, certified and loaded onto a freighter and only then begin the long journey.
The most optimistic assessment indicated it would take 24 days.
Then another week of dropping satellites in their proper orbits.
The Geonosians obviously objected violently to that.
The violent protest came in the form of the Nantex fighter.
Far from being swatted out of the sky, the Geonosians were steadily building and throwing squadrons of the blasted things at the Republic forces in orbit.
The brain worm threat had seen all Acclamators and ground forces pulled off the planet. Now the task force was in essence the first prison guards of the planet, and we had to defend the steadily growing satellite net.
I put down the pad with a sigh, checked the time and keyed my com, "Wraith One to Flight Ops, any activity?"
"None as yet, commander," Anakin said with amusement I heard and sensed.
This was hour number four of the six Wraith and Shadow Squadrons would be on standby, when we would mercifully pass on the torch.
"You would think that after all this time, we'd have a good idea of where the underground factories for these fighters are located."
"ELINT is no closer to an answer since the last time you asked, Snips."
"Well, thank you for the update, Skyguy, so helpful," I grumbled sarcastically and cut the link.
The issue was I had a nasty feeling that killing off the Geonosian Nantex production was going to be a far tougher notion than the Allies of WW2 had it trying to stop German warplane production with bombing.
The Geonosians had taken the idea of dispersion and underground living to an extreme degree. There could be factories buried deep underground beyond any hope of even detection, resource extraction was even easier when you practically lived in and among the veins of ore. The only things they might struggle with eventually was the exotic stuff that required elements not found naturally on Geonosis itself - such as certain hyperdrive components and tibanna high energy plasmas.
The Nantex didn't have a hyperdrive and used a laser cannon for its primary armament. It was a perfect product of its environment, which could be made with local resources and I had a feeling the thing was going to be a continuous thorn in the side of the garrison for this planet.
Once the laser grid was up it would be a different story, at least in orbital space.
I bit the bullet and tapped my prescience. It was really becoming a pain in the ass to manage my feelings regarding it. It was so useful, but I found the more it was used - the more a feeling of despondency and even the beginnings of depression would begin. I really needed to talk to Holocron Yoda.
The hangar bays of the Resolute began wailing with an alarm.
"Figures."
I gave a rolling gesture to my ground crew, who was already jumping to action.
My helmet was on and locked, while I started the fighter's systems to full power in the proper sequence.
I was ready before the ground crew was done, but the chief was on the ball and walked forward into my view, giving the ready signal. My own MFD systems board was green and I signaled that to him with a thumbs up.
The canopy lowered as I pushed the engines to standby thrust.
The chief gestured that I was clear to lift off.
My Z-95 hovered into the air about five meters off the deck.
Looking to my left and right I saw Wraith Squadron also steadily push themselves into a hover.
I keyed my radio, "Flight Ops, Wraith ready."
"Stand by, Wraith One."
"Hurry up and wait," I mumbled to myself as the seconds ticked on. I could see on the opposite side of Resolute's inner spine, Shadow Squadron's Torrents were also in the air and waiting.
"Wraith One, Flights Ops, launch, launch, launch."
"Roger that. Let's go, boys."
"Roger One," Wraith Two confirmed.
My throttle pushed forward and my fighter slipped into the spine of Resolute, my repulsors immediately yawing the nose to port. I checked one last time I was in the lane and clear before gunning the throttle to full and accelerating hard out of the dorsal hangar doors of the Star Destroyer.
R3 began beeping at me, "Vectors and intercept tasking received, projecting."
The one thing we had learned about keeping a constant intercept vigil, was that a lot of the formalities and prep of a standard mission had to be cut out. In this case, even the briefing had to go on the chopping block. The squad coming on watch could have a generalized one, but specifics depended entirely on the enemy.
The orbit of the freighter doing the work of laying satellites had crossed into the Resolute's sector of responsibility.
Naturally, it was a primary target, but it also had a constant escort.
No, the big problem was the satellites.
Until there were enough of them in a given sector, it would be easy to isolate and pick them off by throwing enough weight of fire at them.
Wraith was being vectored into an orbit that would catch a squadron of Nantex fighters coming from one of the major northern continents that just happened to be passing underneath. Shadow Squadron was burning to intercept sixteen enemy fighters that had entered low orbit from the southern pole.
They were not alone though.
It seemed like orbital space around Geonosis had suddenly filled with fighters from both sides. Every ready squadron from the task force had been scrambled.
This was far from a pin prick the Geonosians were throwing at the besieging Republic.
"One to all wings, burn hard. We need to get to that intercept point."
I turned my Z95's nose onto the indicated vector and went to max acceleration. Some of it bled through the inertial dampeners, giving me a nice kick. Most pilots never went for full cancellation of acceleration forces and it was up to the individual pilot to calibrate it to their preferences. In barely three seconds my fighter was up to its max rated acceleration of 2780 standard gravities.
Now we had to keep a weather eye on our plotted orbit, the interception point and what the enemy squadron was doing in response.
"29 seconds to intercept, lock them up."
I picked my target and the HUD reticle settled on something that was a small dot still at this distance. The other eleven enemy dots also began flashing red as other members of Wraith achieved their locks.
The intercept began drifting and fluctuating as the enemy began their own evasive maneuvers, activating ECM, and even throwing energized gravitic chaff to try to spoil my fighter's sensors.
We could launch missiles now, but the less range they had to travel, the more on board energy they had to maneuver.
Then the calculated intercept abruptly swerved dramatically, going the other direction as the enemy turned tail and burned hard to change their inclination along the Z-axis.
I turned my fighter to R3's helpfully calculated attitude and burned hard for the new intercept.
The intercept time was now steadily creeping up again and was calculated at 24 seconds.
"Wraith, Flight Ops, fire your missiles and burn back now. You're being led by the nose." Anakin ordered.
"Roger Ops, all wings if you still have lock, fire. New vectors broadcast, follow me."
24 missiles leaped from the underslung hardpoints of Wraith squadron and streaked into space with faint wispy blue trails which promptly vanished from view as we turned into a new attitude and burned to shed our forward intercept velocity.
Anakin was directing us directly towards the closest field of satellites.
I pushed my sensors and Force perception to max, trying to see what he had spotted, while absently keeping an eye on my MFD on how our missiles did.
Both my concussion missiles scored a hit on my targeted Nantex fighter twenty seconds later, despite the best efforts of the defending pilot. The sensor return blossomed into a small fountain of much smaller debris, the computer declaring it a kill.
What I did see now was that the enemy fighters were using their turreted laser cannon in a point defense role.
The computer those fighters had was rather scarily effective in shooting down the missiles.
11 missiles were either shot down or successfully spoofed with ECM.
The remainder of those that hit resulted in only five kills as the Nantex fighters used their bloody close range tractor beam projectors to literally slap away the missiles. Resulting in brief flashes of light as the missiles exploded harmlessly. Most of the kills were due to the sheer velocity of the resulting missile debris that wrecked both deflector screens and what little armor the fighter's had.
Twelve seconds later, Wraith had canceled our initial velocity and was burning on our new course.
I picked them up with the Force a few seconds before my fighter's instruments did.
Another enemy squadron had launched and were streaking out of the atmosphere directly towards the sparse satellite field. The Nantex had, due to its low mass, been observed to achieve over 4500Gs in space and the Geonosians were making good use of it.
Only the Republic V-19 Torrents were able to keep up if it turned into a chase fight in space. The Z-95 pilots didn't bother trying at that point.
Anakin's own foresight had been spot on and R3 managed to generate an intercept solution of 17 seconds and would see battle joined 200 kilometers before the enemy could fire on the satellites.
"Sithspit," I swore, as my prescience spotted a new surprise. "All wings, lock and fire now!"
Now coming from the Z-95s internal launcher, only 12 missiles streaked out and we had to wait another three seconds before firing another volley.
It was already too late.
From the lower pronged hulls of the enemy fighters, concussion missiles dropped and ignited their engines, streaking straight towards the satellites.
'Great, they have missiles now,' Anakin groused at me through the bond.
"Wraith, alter course by two degrees Z negative," I snapped the order over the squadron frequency. "Target enemy missiles with guns. Set your cannon fire to a low yield, high fire rate."
Our missiles reached the enemy, who frantically threw every trick they had to survive. Their velocity was so great that they had little chance to really make a difference given the distance and speeds involved.
Gravitic chaff, IR flares, ECM and their point defense meant only six missiles in the first volley reached them, resulting in three kills.
The second volley was different though as our astromech's refined their missile plots to better evade the enemy defenses and got sneaky - ten concussion missiles made it through and detonated ahead of the supremely fast Nantex fighters.
Their velocities meant that they were fast enough that they literally ran into the still expanding clouds of proton explosions.
No pulsed tractor beams or shielding in the universe would help with this problem as the nine remaining enemies ran into literal walls of energized proton particles traveling in the opposite direction.
Bugs on a windshield, heh, I thought with grim amusement.
My finger twitched on the trigger of my flight stick.
Streams of blue bolts blasted into space ahead of Wraith squadron as every single ship hosed plasma fire ahead, seeking to kill the enemy missiles.
I gritted my teeth as I let the Force guide my path and aim.
My senses pinged as I felt two missiles incinerate and become small debris that became a micro debris 'shotgun' in space.
I felt other missiles die but too few.
It had been a fool's hope.
On my scopes, I saw seven satellites, just over 80 kilometers above me, were hit and shattered into pieces by the concussion explosions and kinetic impact.
"Good kills Wraith, turn to new vector, 1600 burn," Anakin ordered calmly, but I sensed his frustration at having been outplayed.
We were being directed to intercept another enemy squadron that was being hounded by a Torrent squadron from the Negotiator.
The intercept was thankfully more leisurely this time, taking 45 seconds, but our velocity would peak at 354 kps.
The enemy immediately saw they were being placed between a hammer and an anvil and abruptly turned and burned to shed enough velocity so they could deorbit into the atmosphere.
R3 blurted a warning that it would only take 9 seconds for them to do that.
"Wraith, lock targets and fire."
Another double volley of missiles leapt forward, leaping to nearly 6000 Gs of acceleration.
R3 quickly flashed a calculation at me of 8.24 seconds till impact.
The Torrent squadron reached gun range and began filling space with blue plasma fire.
The enemy was already flipped over for their decel burn, so they were instantly also able to respond with their turreted lasers.
Four Torrents and seven Nantex fighters died instantly in a contest of gun accuracy.
Wraith's missiles arrived and most self-destructed in the debris of their already dead targets.
Some astromech's managed to get their missiles to switch targets in time and sixteen struck the enemy with vicious fury.
Despite the odds though, two enemies survived, albeit heavily damaged and managed to accelerate into a course that sent them running for the atmosphere.
"Okay Wraith Squadron, no more targets on scope in our AO that aren't being handled, return to base."
My plot swiftly updated with the appropriate course and I flipped over and began burning.
"Okay, Wraith, you heard the General, let's pack it in."
"Roger, Wraith One."
A few hours later, Wraith and Shadow squadrons were all assembled for the debriefing which Anakin had taken upon himself to conduct in one of the large pilot briefing rooms. In the center, the giant holotank showed Geonosis in a wireframe model along with every ship of the task force, the slowly growing satellite net and included fighter complements as it replayed the battle that had just occurred.
"It's clear that their targets are naturally the satellites, they barely engaged any of you really and it was only when we backed them into a corner that they retaliated. They didn't even try to go for the bulk freighter this time, not with Victory in direct escort."
"How many satellites did we lose?" I asked.
"Of the eight hundred deployed so far, this attack destroyed or damaged 85 of them."
The pilots looked at each other, the frustration and anger was building in the room.
"The Geonosians threw nine squadrons at us from various sectors of the planet and we killed eighty of them. Intel has clearly underestimated what ship building capacity they have underground and it's hoped with this large attack we'll have a clearer picture of where the fighter production hives are located."
I could tell Anakin was not happy with Republic Intelligence's analysts at the moment.
For all we knew about the planet and the Geonosians, the underground hives could be linked to each other with underground tunnels and roads that spanned the various continents like the dwarven Deep Roads of the Dragon Age-verse. That was the pessimist in me talking though.
"They've also adapted their fighters to fire a pair of underslung missiles, no doubt taking inspiration from us. Performance figures on these missiles are still being worked out, but we can safely assume the worst as it's something new and the Geonosian ability to build nice war toys has not diminished at all.
"Also of note is they've clearly done upgrading to the Nantex's turret and targeting computer - it can swivel at a much faster rate and it's clear that they entrusted a lot of the aim work and targeting to that computer as it's now another layer of point defense against missile attacks. This means their accuracy in gun engagements has also gone up. There will be no way to survive charging at them unless you double-front your shields. Any questions or observations you want to add to the record?"
The pilots looked at each other again but there wasn't much that could be said.
They fully understood the brutal calculus at work here. Building the satellite net was going to be paid for in blood all the way.
There might be lulls, where the enemy was rebuilding their fighter forces, allowing more of the net to be built, but they would be back.
It was also clear that the Geonosians had a much larger reserve of the Nantex than had ever been imagined possible.
Even when the bulk freighter finished unloading all it had, the job then would be to protect the unfinished net until the next one could arrive.
Giving more time for the Geonosians to build and rearm fighters for the next time, also improving the fighter itself.
We were facing a battle of industry, not just of space combat.
"All right everyone, dismissed. Get some rest."
The clone pilots shot to their feet and saluted before beginning to file out of the room.
"You okay, Skyguy?" I stopped by his side and smiled briefly at him.
He shook his head, wearily rubbing his face, "This seems somehow worse than what we faced down there."
"All battles of attrition are. We are in effect laying siege to this planet, and in the history of warfare, sieges are awful bloody things."
Anakin's comlink chirped for his attention, which he answered with a frown, "Yes, Admiral?"
"General, a ship has just exited hyperspace. It's a registered Senate diplomatic vessel. It's asking for permission to land on the Resolute."
"Give them permission and I'll be down to greet them momentarily."
"Very well, sir."
He cut the link and gave me a questioning look.
I didn't use prescience but instead simply expanded my awareness through the Force and smiled as a familiar presence registered. Really, I felt like slapping him upside the head sometimes that he didn't sense it the instant the ship had transitioned, but I had to remember that every Jedi had their spectrum of abilities great and small, and I was Consular for a reason.
'I have a feeling you're going to enjoy this visit, Skyguy,' I thoughtspoke to him with mischievous amusement.
It really didn't take long for him to connect the dots and he was figuratively leaving a dust trail behind him as he sped out of the room.
The elegant, silvery Nubian interstellar yacht dipped into the hangar spine of the Resolute and reversed into the largest hangar bay that had been hurriedly cleared for its arrival. No one wanted this ship outside the protection of the Venator in such a potentially dangerous area for long.
A small honor guard company from the 501st had been hastily scraped together to greet the arriving senators.
I stood behind and to the left of Anakin as we waited for the ship to open its embarkation ramp. It was difficult not to sense his anxious worry clouded with an undercurrent of excitement.
When the ramp lowered and locked in place, three people abreast walked down it.
Slightly in the lead, was Padme naturally, looking as radiant as ever and wearing her typical Nubian fashion, elegant, practical and slightly titillating. I felt Anakin was somewhat gobsmacked at her appearance and I didn't blame him. Her dress was a flowing, stately number which changed color from a light beige then blended into a pink and finally ending in a purple. It was secured by an elegant steel collar she wore around her neck and otherwise it was backless. She didn't have any elaborate hairdo, but had it all tied up behind her head into a bun.
Frakking hell. I wish I could pull off looking that good when I was older.
Next to her was Senator Kharrus, and the Gran was now in a stately looking white outfit with purple accents, and looking around the interior hangar of the Resolute with curiosity, turning his three eyestalks in various directions.
The final member of the party was someone I had never expected to see out here for any reason, even if I was somewhat excited to finally meet him.
Senator Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia was a singularly imposing figure, with a severe resting expression, strong jaw, prominent nose and somewhat long curly black hair with hints of gray pulled back into an unobtrusive style that kept it out of his face. He was tall, broad shouldered and had an intense physical presence that dominated the attention of everyone in the room. His flinty dark brown eyes seemed to pierce through everything, assess it, catalog and store it for later.
For our parts, to greet the senators, Anakin and I were in our Aegis armors, with no helmet and opened Jedi hoods.
He stepped forward and bowed, the troopers coming to attention.
"Senators, welcome to the Resolute."
"Thank you for allowing us to come on board, General," Padme smiled briefly but her face was cool business afterward.
"We apologize for our surprise visit causing you some disruption, General," Kharrus stated sincerely in his deep, grating voice.
"It is a surprise, if you'd arrived a mere three hours earlier, you'd have appeared in the middle of a battle," Anakin said neutrally but the inherent implication of his statement wasn't lost on these three politicians.
"A nice bit of luck," Senator Bel Iblis declared. "But our lives are a price we would gladly pay if it meant keeping the GAR and its leadership accountable for its actions."
The Corellian senator had been one of the foremost voices opposing the creation of the GAR and was still staunchly against it, arguing that its costs were just too high. He was also a staunch political opponent in the Senate against the Supreme Chancellor
.
It was hard for me not to cheer every time Bel Iblis spoke in the Senate chamber. Sure, I disagreed with him on the GAR's necessity, but anyone who opposed Palpatine was all right in my book. That wasn't even taking into account what he would do in the other future, the man was a staunch believer in liberty and embodied the Corellian ideal of independence.
"To what then do we owe the honor of your visit?" Anakin folded his hands behind his back and looked frostily at the Corellian senator.
"We are here on behalf of the Senate on a fact-finding mission," Padme explained. "The decision by the Jedi Council and Chancellor to impose the penalty of isolation on Geonosis and its people, while technically legal, must be sufficiently justified in the eyes of the Senate as well. The Chancellor and Council has classified too many aspects of the 2nd Battle of Geonosis and the Senate cannot make that judgment on whether the isolation is warranted."
"There is a very good reason for the compartmentalization," Anakin said stiffly.
"That is understood and what we were told by the Chancellor and Jedi Council," Kharrus explained reasonably. "It's clear that there was information and facts about the 2nd Battle of Geonosis that is potentially very damaging to the Republic or the galaxy in general should it be more well known. That is why a compromise was reached. All three of us have taken further binding secrecy oaths vetted by the Jedi, and if you can convince the three of us, the order of isolation will be accepted by the Senate as a whole."
"Naturally, due to secrecy requirements, you cannot confirm this through the usual channels," Bel Iblis continued, he reached into an inner pocket of his formal suit jacket and pulled out something small that was almost entirely hidden in his large hand.
He opened it to reveal a lightsaber that I needed just one look and a brief sense to determine who it belonged to. It was a struggle not to have my eyes goggling in astonishment.
Anakin frowned at the weapon and met Bel Iblis eyes, "That is certainly convincing."
What could one say otherwise when you were presented with the lightsaber of Grandmaster Yoda himself. He probably had half a dozen spares by this point over his extremely long lifetime, but it was the one token that could absolutely not be faked to the senses of a Jedi.
"Good, then we expect your full cooperation in this matter," Bel Iblis returned the lightsaber to his pocket.
"Very well, Ahsoka?"
"I will bring the relevant materials to Briefing Room 1, master."
"Good, senators, if you will follow me, please."
Setting up a full detailed review of the battle was something quite easy to do, as it was done as a matter of course afterwards in all the after-action reports. The difference came in when the senators required further eyewitness testimony and to see actual physical examples of a brain worm and a dead Geonosian that had an equally dead worm in its head. In addition to further security holos of the brief 'civil war' between infected clones and the uninfected. Anakin and Master Unduli spoke of the 'zombie' effect that even dead Geonosians could be reanimated if they had a living worm in them.
"I want to speak with someone who was infected," Bel Iblis demanded. "Not a clone, they can be ordered to say anything."
And so we had to get Anakin to replace Yularen on the bridge so he could be interviewed.
The admiral was obviously unhappy that his written report wasn't enough but stoically endured the questions from the senators. Bel Iblis was seemingly content to be 'bad cop' for this whole process and it was clear that there was no love lost between the admiral and the Corellian senator.
"Imagine the following for a moment," Yularen explained coolly. "As you see me now in this room, as you hear my voice, as you feel the air over your skin, all the senses you have, you still perceive it all, but you are no longer in the cockpit seat of your own body. You walk but do not will it so. You speak, but it's not your words. Your hands move, but it's not you. You are an effective prisoner in your own body."
Bel Iblis nodded in understanding and sat back, saying nothing. Padme and Kharrus also had good poker faces, but I could sense the visceral horror all of them were feeling at the mere idea of being bodyjacked to that extent.
"Complete control, no resistance is possible?" Bel Iblis asked idly.
"None, as I said, you're not at the controls anymore. Any amount of 'will' or impulse you try to exert on what your body is doing just hits a solid immovable wall."
"Thank you for your time and testimony, admiral. Continue with your duties," Padme nodded at the senior officer with a gracious smile.
The admiral stood, bowed his head briefly and left.
"Padawan Tano," Bel Iblis suddenly addressed me, "would you mind answering a few questions?"
The fact that I was now completely alone with these three senators was not lost on me.
'I'm on my way, Snips, the instant Yularen gets up here,' Anakin declared through our bond.
"Not at all senator," I smiled and sat down in the impromptu 'witness' chair the senators had placed in front of them. "Though what can I say, that hasn't been already said and demonstrated?"
"You can explain how the GAR could possibly fail to the point that they need a nearly sixteen year old girl to pull their feet out of the fire or the wisdom of entrusting six capital ships or 350 million credits of military equipment to said girl's command."
The man was seriously trying to get a rise out of me.
"My record is easily accessible to you, senator," I said easily.
"I want to hear it in your words, padawan, right here and now."
"As to the first point, that has been sufficiently explained. I will be making recommendations to the GAR on training, equipment and stricter rules regarding biological hazard zones especially on planets that are largely unknown. If our troops had simply kept their helmets on and sealed at all times on Geonosis then this wouldn't have happened. On the second point, senator, the GAR values experience and merit. I might have been thrust into this role at an age that might seem crazy to anyone who is not a Jedi, but I have trained myself to the bone to be a commander in this army and be worthy of it, because the call of duty sounded and I was there and able.
"It would've been easy to declare myself rear-echelon and let others in the Order go forth and fight, but that is not me and not my path." I turned to look directly and pointedly at Bel Iblis. "Does that satisfy you, senator?"
He didn't answer, his flinty eyes scanning me like lidar lasers.
Kharrus began to chuckle and turned one of his eye stalks at his fellow senator, "I told you Garm, that it wouldn't work on Jedi."
The Corellian senator huffed, "Had to try, you learn the most about people when they're angry."
"Senator, do you not interact regularly with the Green Jedi?" I asked curiously.
"As you well know, padawan, they do not leave the Corellian system as a rule and my duties keep me most of the time on Coruscant. Even when I'm on Corellia, what use am I to them? They don't even meddle in our internal politics."
I smirked at this point, "I think you're still testing me by now playing dumb and see how I'll call you on it."
Bel Iblis sighed and looked up into the ceiling as if asking for patience and mercy, "It is a wonder I survive my monthly meetings with the sorry lot."
Kharrus boisterously laughed at seeing his fellow senator crack and admit that. "Padawan Tano, I apologize on behalf of my colleague for his patronizing attitude and belittling comments. It is just one of his methods of getting at the truth which he stubbornly clings to."
"I can speak for myself, Kharrus," Bel Iblis groused and his face softened somewhat and nodded at me. "I apologize, Commander Tano. It's as my colleague said. Please also understand that I have visceral aversion to seeing someone your age in the position you are. On Corellia, we cherish our children greatly and believe none of them should pick up a weapon in defense of planet and state until they have matured and have the education to understand."
"I accept your apology, senator and I fully agree with that sentiment. If I was a normal fifteen year old Torgruta, I wouldn't be here."
"I can see that," he idly combed his mustache with his fingers. "I shudder to think what someone normal would do with your power in the Force."
My face was kept serenely neutral. The man truly doesn't know when to stop, I thought in exasperation. He was still probing me, the instrument was just different.
"Thank you for your time, Commander," Padme smiled at me warmly. "If you could please excuse us, my colleagues and I would like some privacy for deliberation."
"Very well," I stood and bowed. "Senators. Oh, do you wish for some quarters on board?"
"Senator Amidala's yacht is roomy enough for us, thank you, commander," Kharrus declared.
I nodded and departed as quickly as propriety allowed.
The doors to my quarters opened and a sense of blessed relief after a long, tiring day washed over me. After a six hour combat readiness rotation, actual combat, debriefing, then being grilled by senators and a command shift on the bridge, I wanted nothing more than just to collapse into my bed and tell the galaxy to frak off.
The process to get out of my armor felt interminably long, but I slogged through it and got everything stowed away properly. Then got dressed in my preferred sleeping attire of a pair of loose shorts and a shirt.
I pulled the blankets open on my narrow single bed and naturally my door's chime sounded at that moment.
Too utterly lazy and tired to give a shit, I absently gestured at the door, using the Force to trigger its opening.
Padme blinked and looked apologetically at me, "Sorry for disturbing you, padawan."
I nodded in acknowledgement and gestured for her to come in and held a finger to my lips, pulling on the Force to give me a boost of alertness and energy.
My hands fumbled a bit at the desk for the 'bug fooler' and after playing on its controls a bit and selecting the appropriate conversation map, it gave me a green light. Then my fingers flicked at the door and it locked.
"We can speak freely now," I went through a few stretches and sat down.
Padme, sharp as ever, understood, "You're under surveillance?"
"Courtesy of Republic Intelligence," I nodded, pushing out an extra chair from the side of my desk for her. "Please, Padme have a seat, I have a feeling this is going to be a long conversation."
"You foresaw this?" she asked curiously as she sat down.
"Nothing special, just an understanding that it would happen sooner or later. So who's idea was it?"
"If you mean the Senate inquiry, that was Bel Iblis, I volunteered and it was the best way to see you that wasn't potentially months from now, given the course of the war."
I began to slowly push forward and lightly brush on the edges of her mind through the Force.
"Good, it's nice to see the Senate is actually holding the executive to account. Though I hope you personally can see the necessity of quarantining Geonosis?"
"Yes, I can see it, Kharrus will too and while he will be stubborn about it, eventually Bel Iblis will agree. He's just using the situation as a way to set a precedent and push for the Loyalist Committee to act as a greater check and balance on the Chancellor."
"Well, I wish him all the luck in the galaxy. He's going to need it. The enemy will only tolerate so much opposition to his schemes. If Bel Iblis frustrates him enough an accident will happen."
Padme looked clearly troubled and I could sense she was struggling with the words. Wonders never cease, she was a very talented wordsmith normally.
"Do you think I should give him a discrete warning?"
"While Bel Iblis doesn't know the specifics, he's an enemy of Palpatine, he's clever, shrewd and knows the powerful business interests that have fallen behind this war. That will put Bel Iblis on guard enough to know that his life will be in danger. Perhaps eventually it may be necessary to bring him into our little inner circle."
"I can certainly imagine that Corellia would be an important world to have on board."
"Yes, but enough dancing around the akul, ask your question Padme."
"Why? Why did you… maneuver me to do that to Clovis?"
I gave her an assessing stare, reluctantly tapped my prescience and said, "What if I told you, from a certain point of view, the enemy has already won."
She barely stopped herself from standing, her thoughts going in every alarming direction, but the discipline was there… nothing leaked, she gaped at me with wide eyes, "What?!"
"Think carefully about this. He has near outright control of the CIS through Dooku. He walks through the Senate, carefully plying his talent of manipulation, pulling the levers of power. He has the executive through his patsy sitting in that seat. He can lead both sides and the Jedi by the nose… so really Padme, what is there left?"
"He can't control the Senate so perfectly," she argued.
"Correct, for all his persuasive ability, even with the Force, he has to be subtle and that means an unpredictable element will always be a factor that on most occasions will derail the plan, but he always hedges his bets and manipulates what he can to his favor. So there we have the first obstacle in his path to power, the Senate. Now we come to the second obstacle, that is where your old friend Rush Clovis comes in."
I picked up a spare credit chit from my desk and flicked it at her. She caught it deftly and it dawned on her, "Money."
"Exactly, or more accurately, economics is the next thing that is frustrating our Sith Lord's plans for galactic domination. Now, he personally has a vast fortune, courtesy of all the Sith who have come before playing the markets, inheritance, as a number of Sith have been rather wealthy monarchs over the centuries. The prior Sith Lord before the current one was a rather prominent figure in the banking clans, a Muun, by the name of Hego Damask the second."
"Damask was a Sith?" she asked in astonishment.
"Correct, we have lot of his machinations through his company of Damask Holdings to thank for the setting the stage in the outer rim and the eventual creation of the CIS. Nevertheless, vast wealth is not enough for quite a few of the plans that the enemy has. No, it would need control of the entire monetary system and that is where Rush Clovis comes in."
"What plans could possibly require all the wealth or even redefine what money is?"
"Projects that are extremely grand in scope, that could never hope to be funded otherwise. As an example, do you think Kuat could actually build their orbital ring today from scratch?"
"Of course not, it was a project of steady investment over thousands of years."
"The enemy doesn't have the patience or the time to wait that long unfortunately, though he is certainly trying for the immortality thing." I held my hands up, "Sorry Padme, but this is a very tangled web and trying to unravel it for you to understand properly is not easy."
It was also a pain in the ass to keep an eye on the probability lines at the same time and judge my words.
"I understand, I think, I mean… you know," she shrugged and gave me a wry smile.
"Clovis is an unique individual, human but adopted and raised by an influential Muun family. This means he has contacts all over in the InterGalactic Banking Clans; his position as Senator and Baron of Scipio in the Senate only added to his influence."
"But he's been disgraced, he lost his senate seat because of his betrayals and dealings, it's likely he's even dead," she argued.
"Yes, but he's clever and canny enough to spin your successful spying on him as no fault of his own. You used your charms and shared history to seduce him and he unfortunately fell for it. He can therefore remain relatively blameless in the eyes of his peers and combined with his wealth and loyalty to the IGBC, he'll move on."
"That's why you had me copy the data," she slapped her thigh in realization. "If you hadn't warned me, it's likely I'd have just transferred it… Clovis would realize it was missing then…"
She floundered, not being able to deduce the next steps.
I raised a finger, "At this point you would've actually been poisoned and I'll give this to Clovis, he would've sacrificed his life for you. Moving heaven and earth to blackmail Lott Dod to force him to hand over the antidote that would save your life."
"But your intervention meant I wasn't poisoned," she frowned, her mind snapping the pieces in place. It was impressive that I could barely make sense of what was going on in her head.
"Yes, and so he didn't make an enemy of Dod or destroy his own standing to the Trade Federation and CIS."
"So how would Clovis keeping himself in the CIS's good graces help us?"
"You could say I'm desperately trying to keep Clovis from doing a good thing."
"Ahsoka, please…" Padme groaned.
"Sorry," I grinned guiltily. "Clovis is underneath it all, still a good man, if prone to greed but that's to be expected due to his upbringing. Had he fallen out of favor with the other side, he would begin an actual campaign to expose and remove the corruption in the ranks of the IGBC. Doing it as an act of penance to you. I won't go into the details of this timeline, but he's aided by you, Anakin and here's the problem… the enemy, to actually achieve the goal."
"Wouldn't keeping the corruption be to the enemy's advantage?"
"No, too many variables for his liking. He wants to streamline things. So, he in effect twists Clovis' good intentions to his advantage. Clovis is chosen by the IGBC, Republic and CIS to replace the Core Five, who had allowed the corruption to fester." The Core Five was the ruling council of the galaxy's banks.
"He became the de-facto sole head of the IGBC? Wow, that's amazing… and dangerous."
"You're starting to see the problem. The enemy now has a very easy time to use Dooku and the CIS to frame and blackmail Clovis. Making it appear to the galaxy that Clovis is siding with the CIS, when they invade Scipio. Naturally, the Republic can't have that and also invades and defeats them in the battle. As a result, the banks are nationalized, taken over by the Republic and completely under control of the enemy. The only outlier is the Muunilist banks, who resist and entrench themselves with CIS support on Mygeeto."
"Your plan is therefore to hopefully keep the Core Five in power, by keeping Clovis happy and fat in the CIS, with no motivation to fight the corruption."
"It sounds so bad when you say it like that," I joked and laughed hollowly. "That is one plan. There are others which it's best you do not know of."
"Ahsoka, you shouldn't have to carry this burden alone, at least… This fight is mine as well. Surely you don't have to come up with all this by yourself? If you're worried about the sanctity of my own mind I've been practicing…"
I held up a hand to stop her, giving a sad smile, "I know, I've been testing you the entire time."
"Oh," she frowned at me. "Did you get anything?"
"Your defense is good, you must've been working very hard. However, mastery will only come with continuous practice," I cautioned her. "Even so, I would welcome your help on further ideas to prevent the IGBC from becoming nationalized. Clovis is just the primary plan of the enemy, there are others that are more extreme. Never write down your ideas or commit them to a computer."
The bug fooler gave a brief warning notification.
"What's that mean?"
"It means that our free time of talking is running out, two minute warning. The fake conversation it's feeding to the listening device," I explained.
"Oh, just what did you give it?" Padme asked curiously.
I couldn't contain my laugh, "Eventually, some analyst in RI is going to be very embarrassed. It'd be interesting to read the report - it's just you and me having some 'girl talk', such engrossing topics, such as the latest fashion on Naboo, with particular emphasis on underwear."
She smirked in amusement, shaking her head. "The reason I'll give for this visit when asked, besides our friendship, is actually somewhat official, Ahsoka."
From a jacket pocket she produced a slim leather bound case slightly larger than her hand. She flipped it open and inside was a beautifully elegant circular platinum medal, attached to a blue strip of silk. It had an eight pointed star embossed on it.
"This is the Star of Shiraya. It's an award that can only be given by the queen to anyone who has performed extraordinary service to the people of Naboo in their defense. There should be a whole ceremony and so on, but Queen Neeyutnee understands the many demands on your time."
"Thank you, I'm honored to accept this. Please convey my appreciation to the queen."
She nodded, "I will, there's more though. This award is not just a pretty medal. If given to someone not of Naboo, the recipient becomes an honorary citizen and you're awarded a decent plot of land."
"That's…" I gobbled somewhat. This was very different. "Again, thank you. There is a problem with me owning anything… Jedi…"
"The queen realizes that, which is why the land is 'officially' being held in trust for you by my family. In practice though, it's yours. I haven't been there myself, but I reviewed the scans. It's a beautiful place, the Solleu River runs nearby, slightly hilly, can be developed into anything really. Though the municipal authority would need to give permission first for whatever you had mind."
I sighed wearily and gave Padme a wan smile, "Thank you."
"Now, I think I'd better let you get to bed, good night Ahsoka."
"Good night, Padme."
The next day had another scramble alert to fend off Geonosian fighters, but it was only a single squadron, which was promptly blown into scrap by a ready squadron from the Negotiator.
By the afternoon, the senators called in both Anakin and I for another meeting. This time rather unusually aboard Padme's yacht. It was held in her small office with its relatively large holotank that she used to conduct senate meetings on-the-go.
"This meeting is classified to the highest level and cannot be discussed or disclosed without specific written authorization from the Jedi Council, Senate and the Chancellor's office," Bel Iblis explained ominously.
"What's this about?" Anakin folded his arms and frowned severely at the senator. He was clearly annoyed at being reminded of such security precautions.
"Our visit is not just about the Senate investigation into the 2nd Battle of Geonosis. It's actually the most legitimate smokescreen that could be constructed on short notice."
"So what? Everything was just… fake?"
"Oh, not at all, not from my perspective, General Skywalker," Bel Iblis was singularly unphased by Anakin's expression towards him. "We're here together to brief you on a plan that is being put together by Republic Intelligence at the highest levels."
"And it's so secret that you won't even trust it to the most secure military holo-channels?"
"Correct."
"Why isn't Resolute's RI representative here then or is this even above his paygrade?" I asked pointedly.
"It is, commander. The plan is something that is going to answer a question that has been plaguing the Republic for months now; who is the so-called 'Illusive General' of the CIS, that replaced Grievous when he died."
"That is going to be a tall order," Anakin declared. "Most think he doesn't even actually exist, that it's just a smokescreen for a CIS strategic think tank or a propaganda and morale tool for the CIS citizenry."
"You know better though, General. In your reports, you indicated you managed to 'sense' him briefly."
"Yes, I did."
"Have you determined or realized anything new about what you sensed?"
"No."
"Would you be able to sense him again if he arrived on a battlefront?"
"Yes."
"At what range?"
Anakin slightly hesitated in answering at this point. "If I truly focused solely on sensing, if he arrived on the same planet, I'd know."
"So under ten thousand kilometers you'd estimate?"
"Yes, what's the point of this?" Anakin's irritation at Bel Iblis's quick questions was only growing.
"I'm asking for specifics, General, because a trap has been devised for the Illusive General. One that he, it is thought, would not be able to resist jumping on and taking to the field."
"Does Intelligence really have enough to be able to build a psychological profile on him?" I asked skeptically.
Bel Iblis looked at me with a raised bushy eyebrow, but his eyes were approving, "Good catch, commander. No, they do not. This plan is not so specifically tailored to him, as it's aimed at being a trap for the CIS Navy that would be juicy enough to draw him out."
"I see where this is going," Anakin declared. "What are we going to hang out there? Is the Chancellor going to play bait? One of the core world senators?"
"Nothing so blatant, General," Bel Iblis smiled. The Corellian inserted a data chit into the holotank, it sprang to brilliant life and in it resolved a ship. If I didn't have the training of a Jedi, I was sure I'd be picking up my jaw off the floor.
This wasn't just any ship - it was over eight kilometers long and featured the overall delta wedge shape that most Republic capital ships coming from Kuat favored, but with a distinctive bulge in its rear sections.
"I present to you, the refitted Star of the Azure." It was a bloody Mandator-class Star Dreadnought! Judging by its name, it was responsible for the deterrent protection of the Azure sector… and we were going to dangle it on the end of a fishing lure for the Illusive General? "And we want you to take command of her."
Anakin didn't react at all, but I sensed the heavy metaphorical weight that fell on his shoulders, just as badly as if it had fallen on my own.
"This is insane," he finally commented.
"I fully agree," Bel Iblis shrugged. "It is, unfortunately, the best option."
"If this ship is lost…"
"A lot of men and credits down the drain, not to mention the morale victory for the CIS it would represent. The political shitstorm in the Senate would be historic. Estimates project over a dozen worlds in the mid-rim would secede to neutrality or join the CIS, and that's the optimistic estimate."
"This plan better be good," Anakin glowered at the senator.
The thought pushed itself into my mind from nowhere and I cursed inwardly.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
Anakin's mental eye turned to me across our bond, 'So do I, Snips… so do I.'
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