6 Senatus proditione corrupta democratia
On Nal Hutta, in person and on holo call, dozens of representatives of criminal empires were arguing, their joint fleet had failed miserably.
"Our plan has failed, time has proven me right, but for what? Now I am isolated and facing a superior enemy all on my own." Tyber Zann was not confident that the battle would end in their favour, as such he committed only a small part of his fleet. The massive fleet that came was a surprise for everyone except for him. Not that he had much to worry about there, as most of his fleet was still operational, but being isolated and surrounded was dangerous.
"Little can be done now," said one of the Hutts, "Resist as much as you can until we can send help."
Tyber Zann smirked, he knew the help would never come, as such he was making a new plan for his survival.
"Understood."
With that Tyber cut the call, leaving the criminal council whispering.
"No help will be sent to him, we need all the resources here," declared the same Hutt who had just promised help.
All the criminal syndicates, big and small, knew that the Hutt was right and that abandoning Tyber was the logical choice. There was no honour among criminals and expending resources when they needed them to defend themselves was inconceivable. Then another Hutt started to talk.
"Our agents inform us of a slow extension to accommodate a safe zone that will be the core of the Imperial activities, once that is done, they will attack Ryloth, controlled by Tyber Zann and then begin an offensive into the galactic north until they take Nal Hutta."
Pyke Syndicate ambassador Ran Linx thought about their situation. The most obvious thing to do would be to create fortress planets along the hypervia line connecting Nal Hutta to Tatooine, avoiding a major concentration and forcing the warlord into a constant war of attrition that would cause the Empire to retreat or collapse in on itself.
"We will invest all our efforts in creating a fortress planet on Molavar, with mercenaries and ion cannons, forcing the Empire into a battle of attrition on the planet."
Ran felt disgust at that, while the big criminal syndicates more or less accepted the idea and the smaller ones were forced to accept it, Ran was not going to go along with it. Leaving the meeting, he went to his private quarters, accommodation he received from the Hutts for being the ambassador of the Pykes.
Calling Marg Krim, the leader of the Pyke Syndicate, he waited quietly. He had checked his room hundreds of times, so he was confident he would not be spied on.
"News from the Criminal Council?" Marg asked.
Ran could only nod.
"They're not good for business."
Not good for business was a code word, which meant only one thing, humiliation and subjugation was preferable to destruction. In this context it meant that it was preferable to deal with the Golden Heiress.
"How bad are they?" asked Marg, trying to get more precise information.
"They put all the cargo in one place, easy to steal or destroy. Anyone who does that will bring the business down and their partners with it."
Marg nodded, cutting the call, leaving Ran to ponder the situation. They had already been humiliated and subdued by Darth Maul once, they would survive a second time.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leia and Luke were face to face, eating at a table on Coruscant, in Palpatine's former palace, where now the government of the New Republic resided.
"How's the government doing?" Luke asked Leia, trying to break the silence and hopefully lift Leia's spirits, but Leia seemed to resent his comment.
"Fatally, I have brought the Senate against me for trying to stop demilitarisation, they have rejected the proposal to start an offensive against Golden Heiress and demilitarisation is going so fast that we've already reduced our fleet by a quarter. I started a rebellion that resulted in the deaths of billions to bring democracy and freedom back to the galaxy. Only to see it slip through my hands through sheer incompetence."
Luke was about to comment but then Leia, taking advantage of the fact that she was alone with her brother, stood up, starting to pace around and raising her voice higher and higher.
"We should never have accepted the surrender of the Core worlds, the former Imperial politicians that are continuing to work in their positions now their imperial senators are affecting the government of the New Republic, corrupting it into the mess it is becoming. We should have conquered every single one of those damn planets and executed all the Imperial politicians so that the subsequent New Republic would only have senators who were proven people with their ideals and not this scum!"
Luke continued to eat, quietly waiting for Leia to stop screaming in rage, wiping his mouth when she stopped complaining.
"I've been reading some things, why do we have slave labour?" Luke asked, wanting to divert the conversation to one of the things that struck him the most when he started researching what Tanya von Degurechaff had told him and hopefully skipping the rage of Leia.
"Because they are soldiers of a genocidal empire! They are scum, murderers who should be executed, but instead of executing them we put them to better use rebuilding the galaxy they destroyed. You want me to care about the lives of these scumbags? They destroyed planets with billions of people, they're all vermin and they should be grateful they can still breathe!"
Luke sensed the hatred in Leia, she had a very strong character.
"I feel that there could be a much less confrontational way to deal with them than putting them in concentration camps and forcing them to work themselves to death."
Leia looked at Luke and then sat down in front of him.
"You take care of your Jedi business, I'll take care of the politics," she said, finishing her meal in silence and then leaving. Leaving Luke with a bad taste in his mouth.
"I guess I will come again in some days to talk about it," he muttered to himself, finishing his meal and leaving the former Imperial Palace.
"Maybe it's true that I should start a new Jedi Order now. Maybe doing it here so I can help to affect a real change?" he continued speaking to himself, as he walked back to his X-wing. Before entering it, he felt something behind him. Turning around, he saw his father.
"Hey father, what are you doing here?"
Anakin smiled a little bit.
"I will help you to create a new Jedi Order, but I will also teach you their flaws so you don't repeat their mistakes. We have only around 20 years, no time to mess up."
Luke raised his eyebrows.
"20 years until what?"
Anakin ignored his question and disappeared in thin air. Leaving Luke without answer and confused.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leia looked at the Senate from the position of Supreme Chancellor, the position of ruler of the New Republic, surrounded by so many former Imperials that it disgusted her. They were not people who were forced to work with the Empire and fought against it at the same time, but people who simply accepted the Empire and fought for it.
"Start of the second vote against the demilitarisation of the Republic fleet, all senators may now vote."
Quickly the screen displaying the votes began to show numbers, which increased so fast it was dizzying but after several minutes the vote was over, all senators having voted.
"4,531 votes against, 1451 abstentions and 2,311 votes in favour, the demilitarisation of the Republic will continue" Leia said, feeling rage fill her. An intrusive thought came to her, of using the influence she had in the military to take absolute power of the New Republic. But that wouldn't make her any different from the Empire if she did, her rationalism told her, almost physically striking Leia for having that thought in the first place.
As the senators began to leave. Leia sighed, lowering the platform she worked on during the Senate sessions and looking up at the Senate ceiling.
"So much for nothing," Leia said, as once the platform stopped she left her position and defeatedly went to her government office, this situation was untenable.
"Unemployment, corruption, demilitarisation, instability and I have yet to recover the economy of the New Republic."
At this moment Han entered the room, Leia's mood improving slightly at the sight of him and she approached him.
"What's going on, what happened to your diplomatic mission?"
Han lifted his shoulders and laughed.
"It went well, what do you want me to say? But I think you have a new mission for me..."
Leia laughed and gave him a small peck as she continued walking, being followed by Han.
"I need you to go on a secret mission on Tatooine, collect enough evidence to convince the Senate that there is a real threat and we must stop this rampant demilitarisation, will you do me that favour?"
Han stood and looked her in the eye.
"Are you asking me as the Grand Chancellor or as Leia?"
"As Leia," she replied quickly, sighing as she knew she could not simply send someone on such a mission without senate approval.
"Give me two days' rest, you and I together, and I'll leave on the third day at first light."
Leia laughed, giving Han a little kiss.
"Thank you." answered Leia.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter entered Leia's room, waking her from sleep. As she woke up, the first thing she did was to look at the time, confirming that it was only an hour before she usually got up.
"Leia, read the holonews."
Leia took the tablet from Winter's hands, beginning to read the headline.
-Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker, children of Darth Vader!
According to a recent investigation by the New Republic's De-Imperialisation Committee, holo-documents have been found in Darth Vader's palace related to the suspicion that Darth Vader had fathered two children who had joined the Rebellion. Holo-call records have also been found where Darth Vader referred to Leia and Luke as "His children".
Today at 10 o'clock, this team will be in the Senate to ask Chancellor Leia for her statement on this matter. Stay up to date with Coruscant News!
"What do we do?" Winter asked Leia, but Leia just sighed with anger at the biassed media.
"We have senators from the Imperial era, we have senators who are related to Imperial admirals and Palpatine's direct rule, this won't be a problem even if the biassed media would like to make it one."
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leia looked angrily at the Senate, when she came to the chambers, Senator Alduin had made a motion of censure against her and now they were voting. They had not taken into account that she had caused the fall of the Empire, they had not taken into account that she had created the New Republic, no one came out to defend her in public and she was not given the floor.
The votes began to come in, soon showing a clear victory for the motion of censure.
The no-confidence motion of the Old Republic involved first a vote to oust the government and then a vote to elect a new chancellor, however Leia changed that to the proposer of a no-confidence motion taking the leadership immediately. It was intended as a quick way to solve the problem of having several months without a government. She would never have thought that such a thing would have been used against herself.
Having finished the vote, Leia lowered her gaze, looking at the votes.
5,593 votes for, 2,700 against.
Angrily Leia pressed the button to lower the Chancellor's base and when it stopped she left, remembering the mistakes she made.
She then called General Ackbar, who responded promptly.
"Leia, I have just read the news, I don't understand why they would kick you out of the government for such an unimportant reason."
Leia tried to play by the rules of this stupid Senate for so many months and now this! But she allowed herself a slight smile, as the New Republic did not have a system to control who became leader of the army. They could give orders to the Army but not manipulate the structure of it.
"Is there a place for me in the Army?"
Ackbar looked at her, a hard glint entering his eyes.
"I can put you in the New Republic High Command, our military reorganisation ended a month ago and we are still searching for competent officers for the position, it wouldn't cost me anything to put you back in the army. But I need to know, what is on your mind?"
Leia continued walking as the Senate building's lighting-fixtures were ignited in response to the onsetting dusk. Leaving a big shadow of herself trailing behind her, as she walked outside the building.
"The Senate has worked against the Republic from the start, the entire system is rotten and doomed to fail. As such, we, the ones who made it, need to start planning how to lead the New Republic to its intended purpose as a beacon of democracy, a beacon of freedom and liberty."
Ackbar heard these words with some fear, as it sounded as if she was planning to dissolve the Senate.
"And how are we going to do that?" asked Ackbar with curiosity.
"First I need to gain the loyalty of the navy, the army and the local self defence forces. Then we will talk, as you haven't closed the call yet, I assume you are in agreement?" Leia asked.
Ackbar was a little bit disillusioned with the Republic and what it was doing, but he never dared to even think of doing something like this.
"It would be treason," he said, giving no indication on whether he was for or against it.
"The Senate betrayed the New Republic."
Ackbar knew Leia, she wouldn't be able to grow immense political power, she was too direct and her methods harsh. But she believed in the ideals of freedom, liberty and democracy. He even thought that, should she ever be in the position of a tyrant, Leia would abandon her power once she made a perfect meritocratic democracy that did not allow the New Republic to fail as it was doing now.
And so, Ackbar gave his assent, "I am in."
Leia smiled. She would restore a fair democracy, even if it took some yearsk.
"I am glad to hear that, I will come to the Ministry of Defense now."
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anderen was navigating one of his cargo ships, loaded with food. As a good businessman Anderen thought about business even when he was forced to travel to one of the galaxy's crime capitals by an Imperial spy.
"Money is money," he said to himself as he passed a Star Destroyer.
"That sounds like a criminal's motto," said the cargo pilot, who heard what Anderen had said to himself.
"As long as it's legal, money is money," Anderen justified himself.
"Land at these coordinates," ordered a monotone voice from the radio, the pilot unthinkingly obeying. The Empire was known for its harshness to lawbreakers and he doubted that what was left of it would be any different.
Minutes passed until they landed, Anderen stepped out of the ship, being hit by the glare from the two suns of Tatooine. The difference between his air-conditioned ship and its pleasant internal temperature and the heat of Tatooine almost knocked him off his feet.
As he got used to the heat he saw arrayed in front of him 10 officers, 20 Stormtroopers, someone with strange robes and a golden, almost religious seeming figure that for some reason had a billowing red cape despite there being no air draft and although her golden armour seemed to reflect its shine all around her, Anderen knew it wasn't the gold. As a trader he had met the most eccentric beings in the galaxy and the natural glow of gold against the sun did not cause that effect.
"You're not one of those weird gods, are you?" Anderen asked hesitantly. To remove any doubt, the figure approached, looking carefully at the ship.
"The only difference between me and a God is that I am real and a God is not. Wha have you brought?"
Anderen turned with a nod.
"Food in preservation, it will last over 1000 years in perfect condition, it belongs to the old Imperial Army but is being auctioned off in lots to merchants who want to buy it."
The New Republic owned these products and sold them at open auction to raise money and boost the economy.
"They only sell food?" Golden Heiress asked, Anderen shook his head.
"They sell everything except spaceships, and not long ago they sold a lot of over 100,000 Imperial weapons."
The Golden Heiress looked at the trader, somewhat appreciative of his fluency, speed and efficiency in communicating.
"How many heavy and light space freighters do you have? Can you buy all the materials legally at an auction?"
Anderen was no fool, he knew what this almost religious figure wanted from him. And so he quickly put on his successful trader's smile, and approached the Golden Heiress. Only to see the Stormtroopers raise their weapons when he was about 2 metres away from the figure.
"Okay, okay, calm down," Anderen exclaimed, holding up his hands. "I have around 200 heavy freighters and about 500 light freighters, enough to maintain several trade routes from one end of the galaxy to the other, as long as there are no pirates. And yes, I have licences to trade and buy everything on auction."
The Golden Heiress nodded with satisfaction.
"I will leave this planet in a day, but my Prime Minister will take care of writing up a contract and sign it on my behalf. We will buy all the food you have brought, and welcome to the Empire!" she said, shaking Anderen's hand. He accepted it like a good businessman.
"How nice to negotiate with civilised people with a good understanding of mutual benefit," said Anderen, causing Tanya von Degurechaff, unseen to all, to smile under her mask.
"I feel that we can develop a successful business friendship."
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anderen looked at Prime Minister Draneir, a rather young man for what he expected from such a high-ranking position within the Empire.
"This is the contract, read it," said the Minister, handing over the contract as he quickly began to write something on a document. Anderen surreptitiously looked at what he was writing and saw that he was filling out a report on a new acquisitive policy.
'Well, that's what I call hardworking,' Anderen thought to himself, putting the matter out of his mind and reading the contract.
"A 23% tax on gross profit, a fleet that will protect the charges, trade permits with the state, permission for private trade except for illegal products declared in the Law of Protection and the Law of Extraplanetary Products of each planet, no tariffs on the product being traded…," Anderen read softly.
"Fair enough, I'll sign it and we'll get down to business," Anderen said, but Draneir didn't even flinch, continuing to write. Anderen signed the contract.
"The contract will be sent to you in a few hours, now if you don't mind I have to go, I have a lot of work still."
Anderen, frustrated by Draneir's attitude, interrupted Draneir before he left.
"What is so important that neither you nor the golden figure can treat me with any respect after forcing me to come here?"
Draneir looked Andered in the eyes, with a stoic face.
"We have to rid the galaxy of scum and now we are fighting several severe battles while we organise a government, so the Golden Heiress has gone to negotiate and fight, while I am here creating the government. The lives of billions of people depend on us, so we must work hard, without even the time to have a quiet glass of wine or a few hours of chat before we get down to business. Efficiency and speed is everything. I apologise for the discourtesy."
And with that Draneir disappeared behind an automatic door. Anderen could find no reason to be angry at his attitude considering the situation, so he sighed and walked off to where his ship was.
"Well, money's money I guess, next time I should just shut up".
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I looked at the fleet in front of me. When I thought I could destroy the criminal empires I kind of expected them to start killing each other in their usual ways. But if that started, it hadn't shown yet. And most importantly, in front of me was a relatively big fleet belonging to the Zann Consortium.
The reports about the Consortium show that they are more than capable of dealing with space battles and winning them, they probably deceived the criminal alliance, putting only a small part of their fleet in their shared fleet.
"Incoming transmission," said the communications officer.
"Accept it."
In front of me appeared a middle aged man with grey hair, a rough face and designer stubble.
"Hello, Golden Heiress."
I had little to no information about him as a person, and that in part put me at a disadvantage in this conversation. But I guess I had nothing more to do than to talk to him.
"Have you come here to submit yourself?" I asked.
He smiled, showing an amount of self-confidence that would be better described as arrogance.
"More to talk about an alliance that would benefit both of us."
"What can you offer?" I asked.
"The entire black market."
Searching for an alliance, offering me the black market, this could be the best deal of history. But this scum didn't want an alliance, he wanted to survive on his own terms. An alliance, setted in a situation where both sides will constantly try to betray each other, is not beneficial for me and for the Empire I am creating.
I don't need people who will constantly be paranoid around me and force me to do the same.
"Subjugation or death, accept it or die trying to make an unnecessary last stand."
The Roman Empire had a lot of treaties with barbarians and nomads, including paying them so they wouldn't molest them. Following the same concepts would be a mistake, considering how the barbarians and nomads destroyed the First Roman Empire.
"A shame," said the figure before disappearing. I sighed and looked at my ships. As he was probably trying to make a surprise attack on us, I didn't think that it would be wise to stay here any longer.
"Retreat to the Khubaeie system, we will reorganise a larger strike force, no ship will be allowed to attack first until I give the order to do so."
The Admiral on board looked at me, then at his men.
"Understood!"
I then left the bridge for my personal room. I looked at it with a little bit of sadness, as in the end, social interactions gave serotonin and dopamine, which were good for my brain.
I sat in the coach and relaxed myself when combat alarms started to sound, but it didn't matter, as only seconds later we went into hyperspace.
'I guess I was right, I would have done the same in his situation, strike after a failed negotiation, cut resources from the enemy.' The best doctrine wasn't keeping your resources safe, it was taking them away from the enemy.
Just then, the sound of an incoming holocall could be heard, making me smile. I took the holocommunicator as fast as I could and accepted the call, seeing the barbarian Togruta.
"Did you complete your mission?" I asked.
She looked at me with some amount of hate but sighed.
"Yes, I have infiltrated Ryloth." Then cutted the call.
It was a shame for Zann, but I also had my own cards in this game called geopolitics, or should it be called 'galactipolitics'?
I looked at my sides, ignoring the stupidity of this thought and sighed.
"I guess social relationships are a drug in some sense. Now that they are lacking, it is not as enjoyable to be in my room as it always was…"
