So that was a lot to take in all at once. I understand that these updates have been coming fast and furious, so maybe it's time for a quick breather before jumping back into the final slog to get us to where the AH.com thread is.
If there are any questions you have, I'll be more than happy to clear them up for you.
So that was a lot to take in all at once. I understand that these updates have been coming fast and furious, so maybe it's time for a quick breather before jumping back into the final slog to get us to where the AH.com thread is.
If there are any questions you have, I'll be more than happy to clear them up for you.
1. What exactly is Plagueis's issue with Tenebrous? Or rather what exactly did Tenebrous do to Plagueis? A lot of what Plagueis is doing seems to be motivated by lasting mental trauma from Tenebrous, but I can't quite figure out what kind of trauma.
2. If I recall my lore correctly, Plagueis abolished the Rule of Two and was planning on being partners with Sidious. Does he plan to extend the same offer to Borea? Or has Sidious burned him of that plan?
3. Will Borea ever get another Nexu cub? And if she does will she give it an adorable name like Prickles?
4. This might be answered in the Darth Plagueis novel, but how close to completion was the Grand Plan when Plagueis killed his master? Is he rushing to complete it or was it mostly completed by the time he became a Sith?
1. What exactly is Plagueis's issue with Tenebrous? Or rather what exactly did Tenebrous do to Plagueis? A lot of what Plagueis is doing seems to be motivated by lasting mental trauma from Tenebrous, but I can't quite figure out what kind of trauma.
2. If I recall my lore correctly, Plagueis abolished the Rule of Two and was planning on being partners with Sidious. Does he plan to extend the same offer to Borea? Or has Sidious burned him of that plan?
I mean, Tenebrous is a Sith. Does it really need to be said that those are not healthy relationships conducive to developing in a way lacking mental traumas. Add in the fact that the jackass burned out several of Plagueis's force abilities, was one of the more condesending non-human races (saying something in comparison to Plagueis), and was otherwise a class prick... take your pick of reasons why. And I do believe this Plagueis is less on the 'forget the rule of two' plan, given the holocron files and his statements in-story.
1. What exactly is Plagueis's issue with Tenebrous? Or rather what exactly did Tenebrous do to Plagueis? A lot of what Plagueis is doing seems to be motivated by lasting mental trauma from Tenebrous, but I can't quite figure out what kind of trauma.
In the story "The Tenebrous Way," we learn that Darth Tenebrous never planned to train Plagueis, but just use him as a convenient host to piggyback on until he could take over the body of the Chosen One. So he spent decades sending Plagueis on pointless dead-end missions and pricking at his insecurities, telling him that he was a failure and an idiot. Tenebrous was so convinced that Plagueis was a failure that he trained a second apprentice, Darth Venamis, to replace him one day. So Plagueis has a whole raft of insecurity issues left over from his time training under Tenebrous, all of which have become more inflamed by failing to train Sidious.
2. If I recall my lore correctly, Plagueis abolished the Rule of Two and was planning on being partners with Sidious. Does he plan to extend the same offer to Borea? Or has Sidious burned him of that plan?
Plagueis realizes now that the Rule of Two can't be escaped by two Sith ruling as equals. The Sidious Incident has cured him of his illusions in that regard.
3. Will Borea ever get another Nexu cub? And if she does will she give it an adorable name like Prickles?
Darth Borea will be getting another pet. It won't be a nexu, but it will have an adorable name.
4. This might be answered in the Darth Plagueis novel, but how close to completion was the Grand Plan when Plagueis killed his master? Is he rushing to complete it or was it mostly completed by the time he became a Sith?
When Plagueis killed Tenebrous, the Sith were entering the endgame of the Grand Plan in the sense that they thought they were strong enough to begin making a move. Tenebrous and his master had successfully ripped a hole in the Force to start tipping the balance towards darkness and cloud the Jedi's ability to perceive the future, but nobody really had any idea what the Grand Plan's endgame would actually be. Every master/apprentice pair seemed to bat around new ideas, then discard them after a while. Tenebrous and his master experimented with a virus that could block a Jedi's connection to the Force, Tenebrous and Plagueis experimented with fomenting low-level chaos along the Outer Rim to "seed" the galaxy with brushfire conflicts, and Plagueis and Sidious finally hit on the "clone army" scheme fairly late in the game.
Plagueis is only rushing because his last plan crashed and burned at the last minute, so he wants to make sure nothing goes wrong this time. Having Borea befriend Anakin in order to spy on him makes him nervous, but it seems like the best way to neutralize the Chosen One as a long-term threat. He's a lot more nervous about Anakin than Sidious was, considering he accidentally "made" him.
Officially? Jabitha and Anakin see each other at various Force-unrelated classes and lectures at the Jedi Temple, as per the exchange program between the Jedi and the Damask Foundation. Part of that exchange also includes Damask Foundation trainees being embedded in Jedi relief missions for hands-on training, and she's been on a few of those with Anakin and Obi-Wan. She's considered a friend, and part of their "circle."
Unofficially? Whenever Anakin and Jabitha are both on Coruscant at the same time, they sneak away to the Undercity at night and have wacky adventures. Since 25 BBY these have often included "lessons" from Anakin in basic Force stuff-- Jabitha pretends to struggle at it to keep him from getting suspicious. Nobody ever gets seriously hurt and they've never been caught, but Obi-Wan's put two-and-two together and is quietly hoping they'll grow out of it.
Super un-officially? They have feelings for each other but neither one wants to make the first move. Anakin won't say anything because it's against the Jedi Code and puppy love is something a Padawan's supposed to work through. Jabitha won't say anything because having a crush on someone isn't a very Sithly emotion and she's afraid affection will cloud her judgement and impair her mission. Sith apprentices don't have much in common with other people, so "normal" friends are a bit out of the question for her. They intentionally distance themselves from the mundane world and the Force-blind "lesser beings" that inhabit it. If Borea needs outside assistance to complete her missions, she's expected to manipulate them into helping her on a case-by-case basis. Anakin is the closest thing she has to a normal friend, or the life of a non-Sith person. Part of the reason she fell for him so hard-- grooming the Chosen One for her master is about as close as she ever gets to being a normal girl. Kind of sad, really.
So yeah, there's a well-concealed current of hormonal awkwardness there.
Plagueis has figured all this out, and is conflicted about whether it's a good thing for the Grand Plan or not.
[The following was originally an addendum to a Senate Bureau of Intelligence report on anti-Republic domestic terrorism, dated 977 Post-Ruusan-- one year before the official outbreak of the Rim-Core War following the Republic Day Offensive and the First Battle of Ryloth. The addendum is believed to be the work of one Special Agent Vyn Narcassian, whose dossiers on the then-known members of the so-called "Provisional Council of the Rim Liberation Front" proved instrumental in the early days of the war. Interestingly, the SBI report itself has little mention of the Rim Liberation Front aside from the names in Narcassian's addendum. At the Senate inquest following the outbreak of hostilities, Narcassian claimed that his superiors had refused to take the RLF's threats seriously, attaching his dossiers to their report as an afterthought. Narcassian's revelation, along with the continuing fallout from the Clone Army inquiry and the Bank of the Core treason scandal, led to mass firings within upper levels of the SBI within the first year of the war, and eventually to the end of the SBI as a separate organization from Republic Intelligence.]
RIM LIBERATION FRONT GENERAL ORDERS
General Order Number One: The Provisional Council of the Rim Liberation Front is hereby constituted as the governing body of all member worlds of the Rim Confederation. The Provisional Council declares a state of martial law, which shall continue until such time as the sovereignty and independence of the Rim Confederation is established, and authority can be transferred to the government thereof, and a Chief of State pro tem and Constitutional Convention can be securely established under the provisions of the draft constitutional document published in the Second Edition of the RLF Party Handbook dated 976 Post-Ruusan.
General Order Number Two: All officers and other ranks of the Rim Liberation Front, and all volunteers acting under the orders of the RLF, or acting in any way in assistance to or in furtherance of the strategic and tactical objectives of the RLF, or of the provisional government of the Rim Confederation, are herewith fully and permanently immunized from any and all legal prosecution or procedure for any and all actions undertaken in good faith toward securing the independence of Rim Confederation member worlds.
General Order Number Three: No officer or other rank of the Rim Liberation Front shall voluntarily surrender him- or herself or any other personnel, weapons, or equipment under his or her command to the forces of the Occupation while he or she still has the means and capability to resist and to continue operations.
General Order Number Four: No Jedi or other independent Force-sensitive, no employee of a galactic conglomerate as defined under the Republic Corporate Charter Paragraph 1 Subsection 3, and no Human or near-Human with public Humanocentric sympathies shall reside upon any Rim Confederation member world, or within any area of RLF operations. RLF field commanders shall deal with violators of this General Order at their discretion.
General Order Number Five: No officer or other rank of the Rim Liberation Front shall expropriate, confiscate, or seize any money, goods, materials, supplies, weapons, ammunition, vehicles, or other items of value, except that such goods or materials shall either be immediately paid for in cash or through presentation of an official receipt, such receipts where possible estimating the value of the goods taken, which shall be honored for payment at a later date by the authorities of the Rim Confederation.
General Order Number Six: No officer or other rank of the Rim Liberation Front shall expropriate, confiscate, or seize any money, goods, materials, etc. for his or her own personal use or profit.
General Order Number Seven: The Provisional Council of the Rim Liberation Front demands the complete and unambiguous loyalty and cooperation of all residents of Rim Confederation member worlds, and of all areas of operation of the RLF, and will accept nothing less. Any and all collaboration, cooperation, informing, public incitement against the Confederation or its armed forces, or giving of aid and comfort to Occupation authorities is prohibited, and will be dealt with by RLF field commanders at their discretion.
General Order Number Eight: All RLF field commanders and personnel will exercise every reasonable precaution to preserve the lives, liberty, and freedom of action of all RLF officers and volunteers, including their own. They will use every possible procedure and stratagem to maintain their commands intact, keep them in the field, and keep them fighting, consistent with the achievement of the Front's military and/or political objectives.
General Order Number Nine: No officer or other rank of the Rim Liberation Front shall conduct any negotiations, correspondence, or other contact with the Occupation authorities, civil or military, with a view toward ending hostilities, laying down arms, or surrendering any RLF command without the approval and participation of the Provisional Council.
General Order Number Ten: For the duration of hostilities and until this General Order is rescinded by authority of the Provisional Council, no officer or other rank of the Rim Liberation Front shall consume any intoxicating beverage or consciousness-altering drug, with the exception of medical pharmaceuticals administered on the order of a doctor or medical officer, or in a medical emergency situation.
RLF "PROVISIONAL COUNCIL," KNOWN MEMBERS
QYMAEN JAI SHEELAL
ALIASES: "Kaghan Grievous," "Huk-Slayer," "Hero of Ages" RANK: Commander-in-Chief, RLF Regular Ground Forces SPECIES: Kaleesh HOMEWORLD: Kalee GENDER: Male HEIGHT: 2.1 meters AGE: Unknown HAIR COLOR: Black EYE COLOR: Gold DOSSIER: A Kaleesh warlord of the planet Kalee, Sheelal first became known to the Republic for leading his people on a genocidal war against the Yam'rii ["Huk" in Kaleesh] conglomerates colonizing their world. Gathering to his side a fanatical honor guard, the Izvoshra, and adopting the traditional title of Kaghan of Kalee, Sheelal repulsed the Yam'rii from Kaleesh and invaded their homeworlds with his brigades of kolkpravis warriors. The ensuing genocide forced the Jedi Order to intervene, negotiating an end to the conflict, deposing Sheelal, and convincing the Senate to impose economic sanctions on Kalee. Although no longer the political leader of the Kaleesh, Sheelal is revered among them as a demigod for his actions during the conflict, and apparently felt some lingering responsibility to his people. Approaching the Inter-Galactic Banking Clan in 966 Post-Ruusan, Sheelal offered his services as commander of the IGBC's droid security forces in return for them taking on Kalee's remaining war debt and obstructing Republic efforts to have him tried for war crimes. Reports indicate that Sheelal left the IGBC in 970 Post-Ruusan following an unknown conflict with their Board of Directors, returning to Kalee. Since then he has rarely left the Kaleesh, preferring to communicate with the rest of the Provisional Council via encrypted holotranceivers. A hot-tempered yet brilliant military strategist, he often wades into the fray personally alongside his Izvoshra elites, wielding an antique slugthrower rifle and his dual lig swords.
KLIGSON
ALIASES: "Clanker Klig," "Bee-One" RANK: Director, RLF Space Irregulars SPECIES: Human HOMEWORLD: Sucharme GENDER: Male HEIGHT: 1.7 meters AGE: Unknown HAIR COLOR: None EYE COLOR: Red prosthetics DOSSIER: A former leader of the Grohl Sector Defense Force, Kligson served with distinction in several anti-pirate and sector-wide peacekeeping efforts, eventually rising to the rank of Major. However, in the years immediately before the Battle of Naboo [965-968 Post-Ruusan] the Trade Federation began to become hostile to the people of Sucharme. After taking control of the planet's agricorps, the planet became a Federation client world supplying raw materials for shipment to other Federation planets. When the Sucharmese revolted, the Federation sent their Droid Army to maintain order, described as "a measured intervention to ensure collection of outstanding debt." The Grohl Sector Defense Force, including Major Kligson, intervened on Sucharme's behalf. After repelling the Trade Federation forces on Sucharme, he renounced his commission and with others founded the Grohl Liberation Front, a group created to sabotage Federation interests all across the sector. During the GLF's long guerilla conflict Kligson had many close scrapes with death. He was seriously injured several times, and began to repair his injuries with extensive cybernetics scavenged from B1 battle droids. He is aware of the irony. Kligson is infamously flighty and paranoid about security leaks; he often forces any RLF ship he travels on to turn of all non-mission critical electronic systems and meets the other Provisional Council members in person whenever possible.
GIAL ACKBAR
ALIASES: None RANK: Grand Admiral, RLF Regular Starfleet SPECIES: Mon Calamari HOMEWORLD: Dac GENDER: Male HEIGHT: 1.8 meters AGE: 35 HAIR COLOR: None EYE COLOR: Orange DOSSIER: Born in 941 Post-Ruusan in Coral Depths City on the water world of Dac, Gial Ackbar was raised in a prominent merchant clan in Foamwander City. A gifted student and talented orator, Ackbar was selected as Coral City's representative on the Calamarian Council after finishing school, and became a proponent of Mon Calamari space exploration during the early 970s. He refused to run for re-election after his first term was up and joined the Mon Calamari Guard instead, where he eventually rose to the rank of captain. Ackbar was chosen to lead the Mon Calamari Space Expeditionary Force in 974 Post-Ruusan, and within months he had literally written the book on Mon Calamari fleet tactics, securing control of the entire system even while outnumbered almost twenty to one by pirates or Commerce Guild forces. When the Calamarian Council announced its secession from the Republic to join the so-called Rim Confederation, Ackbar felt duty-bound to defend his homeworld and joined the RLF. He currently spends much of his time surveying the growing orbital shipyard around Dac, hoping to make his homeworld an unpalatable target for the Judicials should the Republic force the issue.
ALTO STRATUS
ALIASES: "Alto the Red" RANK: Commander, Political Security Service SPECIES: Human HOMEWORLD: Jabiim GENDER: Male HEIGHT: 1.8 meters AGE: 41 HAIR COLOR: Blonde EYE COLOR: Brown DOSSIER: Alto Stratus was born on the rainy backwater planet Jabiim, and quickly became disillusioned with the Republic and the Jedi Order. When Lythian pirates killed his parents, Trandoshan slavers raided his world, and his people were decimated by the brainrot plague of 959 Post-Ruusan, Stratus sank into bitterness and depression, obsessing over how neither the Republic nor the Jedi sent aid to Jabiim in its time of crisis. Stratus' hatred of the Republic grew over time and he turned into a vehement opponent of the Jedi, calling vigorously for the people of the galaxy to rise up and destroy them. The Rim Confederation's Declaration of Secession only fuelled his anger, and caused him to launch a paramilitary coup to take over his homeworld. Under his influence, Jabiim seceded from the Republic and joined the Rim Confederation. He made several Anti-Jedi speeches to the Jabiimites, reminding those gathered of the Republic's reluctance to intervene in the countless troubles Jabiim endured over the years. These speeches became popular on many Confederation worlds, inducing many of his most fanatical followers to join the Political Security Service, of which Stratus himself was head. The PSS acts as a Confederation-wide secret police, rooting out dissenters and Force-sensitives and subjecting them to show trials for "espionage" or "theocratic sentiments." Stratus is a capable warrior in his own right, preferring to fight with a blaster pistol and vibro-sword at close range, in the classical Jabiimi style.
CHAM SYNDULLA
ALIASES: None RANK: Commander, RLF Volunteer Irregulars SPECIES: Twi'lek HOMEWORLD: Ryloth GENDER: Male HEIGHT: 1.9 meters AGE: 28 HAIR COLOR: None EYE COLOR: Orange DOSSIER: Even before the formation of the RLF, Syndulla was a radical. Born into the hereditary nobility of Ryloth, he opposed both the Galactic Republic and Ryloth's senator, Orn Free Taa, believing Taa to be uncaring of the fate of the Twi'lek commoners. Because of Syndulla's reputation as a voice for reform among the Twi'lek people, Taa himself believed that Syndulla sought to gain power on Ryloth. However, Syndulla reached a personal crisis when the Corporate Alliance and Techno Union joined forces to invade Ryloth on the pretext of enforcing the terms of a planetary loan. Reluctant to take power but unable to sit by passively, he formed the Ryloth Resistance to fight the conglomerates and launched a guerilla campaign that successfully forced their droid armies offworld. However, the experience of fighting a guerilla war while the Twi'lek aristocracy fled offworld to the luxurious Core radicalized him even further. The Ryloth Resistance, largely made up of the already poor and desperate [mostly freed slaves] forced the aristocracy offworld and began militarizing to prevent the return of any forces that might oppress them again-- Hutts, Jedi, or even other Twi'leks. While offered the position of first President of Ryloth, Syndulla refused. However, as Ryloth [along with Dac, Naboo, and Jabiim] became the first four member worlds of the Rim Confederation, he was given a position on the Provisional Council as a political gesture. Currently, Syndulla is believed to be on an "inspection tour" of various terror cells on Loyalist worlds in the Mid Rim, planning some form of large-scale offensive against the Republic.
"PADME AMIDALA"
ALIASES: "Sabé," "Eirtaé," "Rabé," "Saché," "Yané," "Fé," "Dané," "Cordé," "Dormé," "Versé," "Moteé," "Ellé," "Hollé," "Miré," "Umé" RANK: Head Councilor, Provisional Council of the Rim Confederation SPECIES: Human HOMEWORLD: Naboo GENDER: Female HEIGHT: 1.6 meters AGE: 23 HAIR COLOR: Brown EYE COLOR: Brown DOSSIER: The woman calling herself "Amidala" currently heading the Provisional Council maintains to the public that she is in fact the former Queen of Naboo, under whose leadership the Naboo and the Gungans repelled the Trade Federation occupation of their world. Certainly, it is politically expedient for the RLF to claim to be lead by a freedom-fighter of unimpeachable credentials like Amidala's. However, the events of 975 Post-Ruusan cast serious doubt on these claims. While the timeline between the Naboo Royal Cruiser's explosion in Theed Hangar and the sudden reappearance of "Amidala" a year later does check out, it must be remembered that the Naboo monarchy's habit of using handmaidens as royal decoys makes discerning this new woman's identity functionally impossible. It is certainly possible that the true Amidala sacrificed one of her handmaidens in order to fake her own death and re-appear leading the RLF, but it is equally possible that a radicalized handmaiden engineered the assassination of the true Amidala and re-appeared later using her persona as a mask. The imitative and oratorical skills of the royal handmaidens are well-attested, and there is no way to prove or disprove this new Amidala's claims, absent capture and subsequent genetic testing. It is clear however, that regardless of authenticity, the head political figure in the Rim Liberation Front is a dangerous enemy of the Republic and a high-priority captive.
General Order Number Four: No Jedi or other independent Force-sensitive, no employee of a galactic conglomerate as defined under the Republic Corporate Charter Paragraph 1 Subsection 3, and no Human or near-Human with public Humanocentric sympathies shall reside upon any Rim Confederation member world, or within any area of RLF operations. RLF field commanders shall deal with violators of this General Order at their discretion.
I note that this order does NOT include the Sith. They aren't independent, and they certainly aren't Jedi. Same goes for the Witches of Dathomir, Nightsisters or otherwise.
I note that this order does NOT include the Sith. They aren't independent, and they certainly aren't Jedi. Same goes for the Witches of Dathomir, Nightsisters or otherwise.
With Maul being dismissed by the Council as a Dark Jedi with delusions of grandeur, and Nute Gunray given the ol' JFK before he could mention Sidious in court, the Sith are remembered pretty much only as an extinct order of dark-siders. Dooku's the only one with an idea that they're still out there, though some on the Council are suspicious that something more is going on there.
I'm also going with the pre-Clone Wars Legends material on Dathomir: the Witches and Nightsisters are humans descended from shipwrecked Jedi, and the planet is almost totally cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Nobody really knows or cares that they exist.
I think that Plagueis's plan is not to flip the Republic into a personal empire like Sidious did. Rather, he aims to Shatter the Republic into pieces, where the strong dominate the weak and he can dictate the course of the galaxy as the strongest being in it. Not to mention that such a shattering would seem to be the fault of the Jedi at the head of an army of sociopaths.
I think that Plagueis's plan is not to flip the Republic into a personal empire like Sidious did. Rather, he aims to Shatter the Republic into pieces, where the strong dominate the weak and he can dictate the course of the galaxy as the strongest being in it. Not to mention that such a shattering would seem to be the fault of the Jedi at the head of an army of sociopaths.
Hey, it seems like a nice quiet night here in the thread OH GOD AN AVALANCHE--
Chapter 17: Unforced Error
It may seem incredible to modern readers that the Republic Senate refused to decisively condemn the Declaration of Secession immediately after its broadcast in 976. However, it must be remembered that during this period the Senate was undergoing a crisis of its own-- a crisis of leadership-- for the better part of the decade. A freak heart attack left popular compromise candidate Cosinga Palpatine Jr. of Naboo dead the night before his swearing in as Chancellor, throwing the central government into disarray. What followed was a decade of gridlock and chaos. The 970s went through three Supreme Chancellors in ten years, each Chancellor's term plagued with scandals and indecision. Chancellor Mas Amedda's loss in 976 to Senator Sano Sauro of Eeropha cemented the pattern; by the time anyone in the Senate had made a concerted effort to pass a bill decrying the Rim Liberation Front, Sauro was embroiled in conflicts with the Senate, the Jedi Order, and the central bureaucracy that drew up the bulk of the media attention. Despite the protests of Senators Bail Organa and Orn Free Taa, the Republic was reluctant to send the Judicials into a guerilla war with a "handful of pirates and anarchists" whose only crime thus far had been to lighten the pockets of the Trade Federation's investors in the Senate. It took the Republic Day Offensive of early 978 to truly wake up the Republic to the threat they had allowed to grow unchecked in the Outer Rim territories.
Despite the name, preliminary stages of the Republic Day Offensive ("Operation Now There Are Two of Them" to the RLF) actually began two days before Republic Day, although it was at least some time before the sheer scale of the destruction became known to the shocked Core Worlds. At first, the Senate was more concerned by the "war conference" held by six major galactic conglomerates in orbit around Cato Nemoidia. The heads of the Trade Federation, Corporate Alliance, Techno Union, Commerce Guild, Retail Caucus, and Hyper-Communications Cartel were all in attendance, along with a significant number of their mostly-droid security forces, to discuss a unified strategy against the increasingly bold attacks by various rebel groups in the free-trade zones. The Nebula Front was the enemy that most concerned them at the time; unbeknownst to the conglomerates, however, the radical elements of the Neula Front had by that point been entirely subsumed into the Rim Confederation.
The first clue to the Republic observers that anything was amiss was a series of unusual emergency transmissions received by the Judicial Force base at Hensara. Although garbled, the panicked recording seemed to indicate that the Trade Federation delegates in the region were under attack by their own droid starfighters. The first Judicials on the scene found Cato Nemoidian orbit nearly impassible from the debris of several ships and space stations, but no hostiles were seen anywhere.
Forensic slicing on the computer cores of the wrecked ships revealed what had happened. Somehow, the RLF had gotten hold of the master command codes for a Trade Federation droid control ship. Possibly with the aid of a spy onboard the ship itself, they then uploaded a virus to the central computer core that forced a 1:1 conversion of the ship's identify friend/foe system. Suddenly finding itself surrounded on all sides by hostiles, the Lucrehulk-class battleship opened fire on its neighbors, launching its automated starfighters as it did so. The assembled conglomerate ships, shields down and idling, were gutted by plasma fire before their organic crews could react. Automated defenses on Cato Nemoidia's moons attempted to launch a counter-salvo, but before they could do so a Mon Calamari destroyer jumped in-system and destroyed the remaining hard targets. Within ten minutes the Mon Cal ship had jumped to hyperspace again, corrupted droid control ship alongside. The remaining droid starfighters, not hyperdrive-capable, dispersed across the system, attacking Trade Federation ships and installations and causing billions of credits in damages before being destroyed or running out of fuel. Similar reports came from other conglomerate-controlled systems across the Rim, from Felucia and Mustafar to Hypori, Raxus Prime, and Skako. At each stop, the droid control ship broadcast its corrupted signal to other nearby control ships, prompting them to spontaneously turn on their allies as well. Within hours, the conglomerate-controlled systems were in complete chaos, their droid militaries destroyed from within, their leadership decapitated, and their economies suffering an irreparable blow. The consequences were colossal. Of the six conglomerates targeted by the RLF, only the Corporate Alliance exists today in any appreciable form.
The Republic Day Offensive has since been remembered as one of the greatest military disasters in galactic history, and is pointed to by countless armchair commanders to this day as a perfect example of the flaw of centrally-controlled droid armies. It was a military coup for the fledgling Rim Confederation and its armed forces. The Senate, while understandably alarmed, was certain that with their enemy of ten years suddenly destroyed, the RLF would be willing to negotiate re-entry into the Republic. However, they would soon learn that the RLF would not rest on its laurels for long, and that the Senate had won itself no love on the Outer Rim.
--Dr. Arhul Hextrophon, "Ratcheting Tensions: 975-977," Galaxy in Flames: A History of the Rim-Core War
Grand Convocation Chamber, Galactic Senate Building, Senate District, Coruscant, 9.7 standard years following Battle of Naboo
When the opera is closed, the best upscale entertainment to be found on Coruscant is in the Senate. It does require a certain detachment from its audience in order to fully enjoy, but the rewards are great for those who can appreciate it. Sidious often used to point out that galactic politics is much like a good theatrical opera, something like the Kallea Cycle or Muunilinst's own classic Actuary on the Roof. An astounding amount of melodrama and bombast, thrilling betrayals and clashes of towering archetypal personalities, and occasionally even a death onstage. The same basic conflicts repeat generation after generation, but it still interests the longtime watcher to see new permutations of the themes each cycle. The script is old, but the actors are always new, and add their own particular nuances to the drama.
Or perhaps it merely seems that way to the one who, like me, wrote the script.
I put the tortured analogy away as the movement of a Senate pod across the chamber caught my eye. Aks Moe of Malastare, representing the Gran Protectorate, floated up to the Chancellor's podium. A cold current of rage trickled through my hearts as I felt a sudden urge to reach through the Force at the Gran and strangle him. I looked at Nix Card, the Banking Clan's representative at the controls of our pod, and he gave me a long-suffering look back. The story of my narrow escape from the Protectorate's assassins some thirty years prior had become something of a legend among the Banking Clan elite. Certain delicate details had been removed, of course, but regardless my distaste for the vapid herd-beasts was well known.
The Vice-Chair recognized Moe, and the three-eyed alien launched into a braying speech:
"Supreme Chancellor, honored delegates of the Senate-- we stand on the precipice of disaster. The radicals and anarchists of the Outer Rim Territories have struck an unforgivable blow against the forces of free enterprise! In the space of three days, the so-called Rim Liberation Front has functionally destroyed the ability of the conglomerates to protect their transports and employees from any outlaw brave enough to attack. On Republic Day, no less! Negotiations would be a tremendous mistake-- must the Republic with every gang of pirates that tries to disruptour economy? No! We must act quickly and decisively to bring these treasonous star systems to heel!
"Senator Moe," objected Senator Organa, pod turning to face the Gran delegation, "we have already done everything in our power to apprehend those responsible. The Judicials are scouring the Corellian Run continually, patrolling to intercept any other RLF warships. There are literally no other forces we can send to assist them. Unless you're suggesting the Chancellor levy the regional defense forces, in which case I'll merely point out that those garrisons are needed in their home systems to defend against piracy."
"Piracy!? These RLF criminals wipe out the galactic economy in three days and you worry about piracy!?"
"The Chair advises the honorable representative of Malastare to keep his temper in open session," snapped Chancellor Sauro, channeling his prosecutor days.
Moe blinked. "Point well taken," he said. "But regardless, this incident proves that the Judicial Forces are no longer enough to keep order within the Republic. The current full levy of Judicial Department forces simply cannot scale up to meet the depredations of the RLF and the Nebula Front. We all know that the only way to truly eliminate these rebel scum is to take the fight to the secessionist-controlled worlds! The Judicials can no longer meet the needs of our modern state. I therefore propose--"
"The Chair's answer is no different than it was the last time you petitioned us. The Senate will not sanction a vote on the Military Creation Act at this time." Sauro glared down from his podium. "We must first examine the logistical requirements of the bill, to determine whether the creation of a centralized Republic military is even feasible at this time."
"By the time the bureaucracy makes a decision, Your Excellency, there may be nothing left of the Republic to save! The Military Creation Act must..."
And on and on and on, hour after hour. Certainly, for the people of the galaxy this was a gripping debate-- the galactic conglomerates destroyed in a single surprise attack, the Republic contemplating the creation of a military for the first time in a thousand years, dozens of sectors in the Outer Rim seceding all at once-- but that was all the superficial melodrama. The show for the masses. As the creators and instigators of this political drama, the Sith could enjoy the show in its true context of the dark side's inexorable rise to power.
I had tried explaining this to Darth Borea, but she seemed fairly uninterested. She merely sat in the back of Senator Card's repulsorpod, head propped up on her elbow staring at nothing in particular. This was far from her first public appearance as Hego Damask's young protege, and she played the role well enough. Still, her tastes in entertainment were substantially more... energetic than my own.
Giving a quick glance toward Card, who seemed engrossed by the debate on the Senate floor, I sidled over to Borea. "You seem uncomfortable."
She fidgeted in place, tugging up the neckline of her black dress. "My part in your plan is already done, Master. I'd rather be training than sitting here in this... thing."
"This plan is much bigger than just me," I reminded her. "The Sith Lords approach the culmination of a thousand years of patient planning, in part thanks to our efforts these past weeks. You have never been shy about your desire to become more powerful, Borea. What greater measure of power is there, than being able to launch the galaxy into chaos at the snap of a finger?"
A spark of interest hit Borea's eyes. "I never thought of it that way. And to think, all this happened by just giving some Trade Federation codes to a smuggler."
"True power needn't bare claws or fangs, or announce itself with snarls and throaty barks, Lady Borea. It can subdue with manacles of shimmersilk, purposeful charisma and political astuteness... or, in your case, a stolen datacard placed in the right hands."
Borea gave a reluctant smile. "Brilliantly stolen, Master."
"Be mindful of your arrogance. A flawed assessment of reality will leave one half-blind at a crucial moment."
"I understand," she said, adjusting her elbow-length black gloves with an awkward expression. She looked out over the Rotunda again. "Still, actually stealing the codes on Maramere was a lot more fun than sitting here listening to these fools."
"The theater on display for the masses is a trifle lowbrow," I admitted, "but remember that their actions are at base a reaction to your own. The Forceful act, and the rest of the galaxy is forced to react as we desire. You and I set the galaxy ablaze, Borea. This is as great an expression of dark side mastery as your actions on Maramere, perhaps more so. Remember also that these Senators are an endangered species, though they themselves know nothing of the kind. A Sith hegemony will not stoop to scrabble for the favor of the commoners, regardless of their rank or station. Within their lifetimes they will have become unnecessary. We can enjoy their melodrama as the last performances of a dying actor."
"Is that how you stand listening to their nonsense, Master?" Borea asked.
"You might say that."
Borea made a noncommittal noise and returned to watching Moe and Organa furiously argue with Chancellor Sauro and each other. The debate-- if you want to dignify it with that name--went on for some time, getting no closer to a solution to the RLF question. Occasionally other Senators and their pods would float up to add one point or another, but quickly found themselves shouted down by Sauro or Vice-Chair Amedda.
A slight Force-ripple of unease broke against my consciousness, but it was gone before I could really consider it. Not unexpected, considering the news of the RLF's attacks and the subsequent lightening of so many Senators' pockets. There were many powerful emotions on display in the Rotunda this afternoon.
Another ripple through the Force, this one much more powerful than the last. Borea's head darted to me, eyes widening with silent concern. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she saw my upraised hand. Checking to make sure Senator Card and his entourage were not watching, I silently mouthed to Borea I sense it too.
In unison, we began scanning the assembled repulsorpods docked along the Rotunda wall, training our minds for the slightest hint of anything unusual. My perception soared outwards, borne by the Force, until it reached the building's walls. The petty live-energies of the senators and their entourages glowed like stars in the Force, some brighter than others but none terribly so. This puzzled me. Normally, the sort of disturbances I was feeling would have been caused by the undisguised presence of another Force-sensitive. But the only Forceful beings present (excluding the naturally Force-sensitive Kiffar and Miraluka delegations) were Borea and myself. Something else had caused these odd pulses, but it was impossible to say precisely what.
The next disturbance in the Force was the strongest of all-- it screamed through my head like screeching metal and seemed to shake the entire chamber. I found myself gritting my teeth. Borea faltered, raising one black-gloved hand to her head in obvious pain. Whatever was happening did not bode well. I made my excuses to Nix Card and began to lead my still-staggering apprentice out of the pod to the reception area behind.
Began, but did not accomplish.
A second later, the Senate Rotunda exploded in fire.
With a thunderous crack, a dozen blasts of flame blossomed from the base of the Senate chamber, lighting the Rotunda bright red like a crucible and sending the assembled politicians shrieking and howling like the damned in a Corellian hell. As I watched the flames lick across the floor a dozen meters down, a loud groan of stressed metal guttered above the crowd. The podium began to tilt to one side, before a colossal metallic snap sent the entire enterprise plummeting to the ground. As it fell, another flurry of explosions tore through the wall of pods to our right, sending shards of metal and burning bodies alike falling to the floor like deciduous leaves. Senator Card and his cluster of aides scampered past Borea and I, making a break for the exit. Eager not to look suspicious, I followed them into the panicked scramble of men and droids with Borea close behind. Blue-robed Senate Guards poured out of the doorways to escort the crowd to safety. We rode the crowd like a coursing mountain stream, letting the currents of their fearful wanderings take us where they would.
As we let the crowd push us along our path, I couldn't help but be reminded of the aftermath of the Gunray assassination ten years earlier. In so many ways, the response to this explosion had been nothing like the response to the snipers in Carrick Plaza-- and yet sentient psychology remained a constant. Even with no prior knowledge that anything would happen, that the explosions would lead to mass panic was a foregone conclusion. The same basic conflicts repeat, but with different permutations each cycle.
That was interesting in itself. A savvy bomber would have known that the senators, unused as they were to anything more violent than a raised eyebrow over cocktails, would panic, and would have capitalized on that to cause the maximum bloodshed. Perhaps by booby-trapping the Senate Building's exits, or adding some sort of poison to the bombs. The lack of any such measures struck me as incongruously lazy for a terrorist. And that disturbance I felt in the Force, right before the bombs went off. Was that just a foreshock of the deaths to come, or was it the dark side of the Force-- my tamed midi-chlorians-- warning me that all was not as it seemed?
Eventually, the mob spat out the doors of the Senate Building onto the Grand Concourse, now fiery orange with sunset, where swarms of police airspeeders and private transports had hastily landed to airlift survivors. The wailing of sirens hung in the air like a funeral dirge.
Borea and I parted ways with the Banking Clan delegation, heading to my own airspeeder and setting the autopilot for the Works.
As soon as we began to rise into the air, Borea turned to me with a grin. "I take it back, Master. I should come to the Senate with you more often. Was that one of our bombs?"
"No, and that is what concerns me."
"Oh." Her face fell.
"Indeed." I steepled my hands on the head of my cane. "This was an ambitious plan, Lady Borea, and very well-timed as well. Whoever is behind this attack chose his target with great care."
"It was the RLF, wasn't it? They've been talking about how corrupt and oppressive the Republic is, and were probably planning an attack on Coruscant for a long time. With the conglomerates out of the way the Republic was the only real threat they had left. They have the motive."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps that is simply what they want us to believe. The timing would suggest RLF, but this attack does not feel like an RLF operation. The scale of the attack, for one. Setting off explosives in the Senate Rotunda may be ambitious, but the bombs we saw go off were fairly weak and low-yield. Some Senators died or were injured, but a great many still live. The RLF never does anything halfway; if they wanted to decapitate the Republic they would have used an antimatter bomb and destroyed the entire building with no survivors. Or else jumped a Mon Calamari warship in-system and taken the entire block out form orbit. What we saw was too theatrical-- it lacked the professional ruthlessness of a being fighting for a cause. I doubt this was an RLF bombing. But it shared enough characteristics that we can assume the bomber wants the galaxy to think it was the RLF."
Borea nodded thoughtfully, removing her long gloves. "And what about that disturbance we both felt in the Force. Was that just a premonition of all those deaths, or was what we saw partly Force-based?"
"Possibly both."
The setting sun's glare reflected off her pensive eyes. "A terrorist who can touch the Force. That's a very dangerous combination, Master."
I nodded, deep in contemplation. "And also a being who may pose a threat to the Grand Plan if left unchecked. I have several theories as to this mystery bomber's identity, but at this point it is all supposition."
"It shouldn't be too difficult to narrow down the possible bombers," Borea observed, "But doing it without alerting the Jedi and SBI is easier said than done."
"As a matter of fact," I said, "that is your next assignment, Lady Borea. Doubtless the Jedi will begin an investigation of their own soon. Use your contacts in the Temple to follow their trail. Discover the identity of this mystery bomber. Whoever accomplished this attack will find that no shadow is safe from the Sith."
Darth Borea bowed her head. "It will be done, Master."
The rest of the short ride passed in silence. By the time we touched down on the LiMerge Building's landing bay night had fallen, but the Senate building was still visible on the horizon, glowing the furious coal-red of a falling star.
NOTES: When in doubt, have a big explosion! Finally we've caught up to where Chapter 11 left off, with the Senate Building bombing and Plagueis and Borea being temporarily thrown for a loop trying to figure out who did it. Here's this chapter's commentary...
As the Rim-Core War finally gets up to steam in the coming weeks, we'll be taking a break from Darth Plagueis' holocronic musings for a while and interspersing more excerpts from Dr. Hextrophon's definitive history of the conflict. He's one of the most well-respected military historians in the galaxy, and a frequent commentator on HoloNet documentaries and talk shows. He also posts on the Galaxy Far Far Away's equivalent of SV, though his colleagues would mock him relentlessly if they found out.
Another Jedi Apprentice/Quest shout-out here with the surprise news that the one and only Sano Sauro (C, Eeropha) became Chancellor in 24BBY. He got the job mainly because nobody else wanted it-- Mas Amedda didn't run for a second term and went back to his comfortable Vice Chair position, Ainlee Teem would have run again if the Gran Protectorate hadn't forced him to retire and stop embarrassing them every four years, and Horace Vancil (R, Naboo) made a strong showing but his constituency is literally engaged in treason at the moment. Sauro got elected by just the barest majority possible, and has since done absolutely nothing in office thus far aside from being even more fabulously corrupt. The Jedi Council is deeply concerned, as Sauro is famous for being extremely anti-Jedi. Only time will tell how long this standoff will last.
Hey, it's that guy! From that one Clone Wars episode!
I feel like finally having a scene that literally takes place in the Senate's Convocation Chamber means I've crossed some sort of Prequel Rubicon. Feels good, man.
I don't see Darth Borea as liking fancy dress events all that much. Too stuffy and pretentious. She grew up on a jungle paradise world where everything was symbiotic-- she seems like the kind of girl who's not happy unless she's got dirt (or blood) on her fingernails afterward.
As we've discussed in Chapter 11, Dooku is the mastermind behind the Senate Building bombings, intending to both send a message of resignation to Plagueis and give the Republic a tangible reason to go to war against the RLF. But in this case, the "why" of the situation is more interesting as a psychological question than a political one.
Rest assured that Chapter 18 is going to be some real hard-hitting shit.
I blame SW:ToR's Sith Inquisitor personally, I've found that once you've played one you find yourself unconsciously writing at least one character like them in everything you do.
Jabitha: I am not adorable. I am deadly. *harumphs*
