Stellaris Wars: A Clone Wars Ironman Saga

[Arithmetician]

As in the earlier campaign against the Industrial Combine, the quickest way to Al Dabaran was through the Orantes Corridor, and then the Deneb Sector.

In the Eissam System, the Republic encountered a large contingent of C-9979 landing craft docked near a Separatist starbase, presumably massing to launch a planetary invasion of Al Dabaran.

The clone crews and pilots of the Republic’s fleet saw to it that the clankers and their transports were scrapped.

While the fleet pressed on toward Al Dabaran, a detachment of Clone Soldiers was sent down to the surface of Uggrisch, formerly known as Unity, the capital of the Deneb Sector, which the Industrial Combine had converted into a minor foundry world.

When the Grand Navy of the Republic reached Al Dabaran, General Dolorous had apparently already departed with a sizable chunk of the Industrial Combine’s fleets.

Commanding the remaining Separatist fleet in the system was Chinorr Admiral named Glosch, who had survived the earlier Battle of Deneb and led one of the three fleets there. He was escorting a smaller contingent of droid armies in their transports, and had been about to land them on the surface of Al Dabaran when the Grand Navy of the Republic attacked.

While the Y-Wings flew to deal with the enemy-occupied Starbase, the Grand Navy’s Venators fired their Proton Lances at Glosch’s fleet.

Glosch’s fleet boasted multiple Providence-class carriers and a massive Bulwark Mk. III Battlecruiser, which dwarfed the Republic’s Venators at 2,500 meters and had enough heavy guns to shred one of the Star Destroyers in a head-to-head fight. But he was badly outnumbered, and as his fleet was pounded, Glosch wondered if General Dolorous had intentionally left him there to die. The bio-droid was known to execute organic officers on a whim, or to throw away their lives if he thought it would somehow give him an advantage.

But Glosch did not have to worry about that for long, as the combined firepower of multiple Venators and Y-Wing squadrons destroyed his Bulwark.

“Dolorous isn’t here?” A’Nikori asked, while Akkano stood by her side.

“Our intelligence is now reporting that the Tezekians' Sector Defense Forces are being attacked in multiple systems simultaneously by Separatist fleets,” Admiral Moreau reported.

“So, Al Dabaran was a diversion,” Opalwan said. “Or at least, it turned into one. Dolorous knew that we’d have to rush to defend it. Even with the size of the Armada he attacked with, his victory against the Grand Navy would have been doubtful. But the Grand Navy can only be in one place at a time, so Dolorous exploited that fact, and settled with the damage of a hit and run attack against Al Daraban and its facilities. If Separatist ground forces had managed to take the planet, it would have been all the better for him, but hardly necessary at this point."

Akkano frowned.

“We still need to deliver the supplies and reinforcements for Al Dabaran's garrison while we’re here,” she said after a moment. “We should accompany our clones down to the surface. Besides, I’ve always wanted to see Al Dabaran for myself."

Neither A’Nikori or Opalwan had any objections to that.

But they found that Dolorous’s bombardment had left much of Al Dabaran’s infrastructure devastated and in need of rebuilding. The defenders were relieved to see them with much needed aid.

Away from the city, there was still plenty of idyllic landscapes. But Opalwan and Akkano were further dismayed to see that the planet’s natural beauty had been badly scarred in places from now-extensive Kyber Crystal Mining operations. Pollution had also only continued to spew from the refineries that the Separatists had once built, before they were taken over and expanded by the Republic at Chancellor Eerabik’s direction. The facilities on the surrounding Orbital Ring only further facilitated the strip-mining of the planet.

He had known it was going to happen, but it didn’t make the sight any easier to see.

Al Dabaran’s beauty was yet another casualty of the Clone Wars, and Opalwan feared that the once-peaceful world would never be the same again.

 

[Arithmetician]

The Grand Navy began the work of hunting down General Dolorous’s fleets as they marauded through the Tezekian Sector. The first such fleet was encountered in Unith, blockading the Tezekian colony of Kamak Perch. It consisted of three Munificent-class cruisers and dozens of smaller escorts.

And it was completely outmatched by the Grand Navy.

The Grand Navy caught up with General Dolorous’s own raiding fleet in Ereness, a single hyperspace jump away from Mustafar, where the late and suspiciously similar General Grievous had launched his genocidal campaign that had wiped out both Al Dabaran and Deneb’s original populations.

Dolorous’s fleet was a mix of Providence-class carriers, Munificent-class cruisers, several Hardcell-class frigates, and a Bulwark-class battleship.

While the Bulwark would have been the obvious flagship, Dolorous was actually commanding the fleet from one of the Providences.

“General Griev- I mean, Dolorous,” a Chinorr bridge officer said frantically as he realized his mistake. “The Republic’s Grand Navy, its-"

However Dolorous had been conditioned during his reconstruction, calling him ‘General Grievous’, even by accident, invariably would turn his homicidal rage upon the speaker. And so most of the Separatists organic officers had learned to never mention General Grievous in his presence, even if they all believed in private that he was in fact General Grievous himself, just given an upgraded cyborg body and reprogrammed implants that kept him under some measure of control, if only barely at times. The change in name was a convenient fiction so that the Separatist Council could pretend that they weren’t employing the same bio-droid general who had once gone rogue against them, but Dolorous’s appearance and clear contempt for the organics who worked under him made it all too obvious.

But for the hapless bridge officer who had slipped up, it was already too late.

Gray matter splattered across the officer’s station as the armored fist of the rebuilt General Grievous, now known as General Dolorous, came down upon the molluscoid’s all-too squishy head.

“I see their Navy, idiot! And don’t ever call me that!” Grievous/Dolorous said, not caring that the bridge officer was already dead. He turned to his surviving officers and the droid bridge crew. “Prepare for attack!"

Volleys of long-range fire erupted between both fleets.

​

Meanwhile, the Providence carriers deployed Vulture Droids to intercept the slower-moving but heavily shielded Y-Wings. But the Republic had brought many more carriers into the battle, and kept launching more Y-Wings from the dorsal hangar bays of the Venators, while A’Nikori, Opalwan, and Akkano each took out a number of Vulture Droids.

The electronic reflexes of the Vulture Droids exceeded that of ordinary organic pilots, and they could likewise pull of maneuvers that would be dangerous to beings of flesh and blood, but they behaved according to predictable patterns. The slight precognition that the Force granted the Jedi made predicting these patterns even easier.

“Target their carriers!” A’Nikori ordered.

General Dolorous’s bridge rocked back and forth as his ship was blasted.

The bio-droid general laughed in amusement, as he had already made his way to an escape pod. The battle had only needed to keep the Republic busy long enough for him to do so.

“Heh heh heh. Time to abandon ship!"

General Dolorous’s escape pod launched from his battered Providence flagship, and then jumped into hyperspace before any Republic fighters could shoot it down. A series of randomized micro-jumps before heading back to Confederate space would make it effectively impossible for his trajectory to be plotted either.

As the enemy fleet’s last cruisers were reduced to space debris, no signs could be found of the evil bio-droid General, save for the ion trail of his escape pod before it jumped into hyperspace.

“He got away!” Akkano said.

“He’s nothing but a coward,” A’Nikori said with clear contempt. “Then again, when his crews are mostly mass-produced droids, he isn’t concerned at all about leaving them behind. And he cares even less about organics, from what we’ve heard of his reputation."

“Dolorous is said to be a droid supremacist,” Opalwan said, nodding. “Even though he still has a few organic parts himself. I wouldn’t want to be around him if whatever restraining bolt the Separatists installed into him ever breaks down. But one thing is for certain: we will be seeing him again."

 

[Mímisbrunnr]

All batteries fire, fire! And time to abandon ship. Really meme'ing it up, as always! Keep up the good work with this entertaining AAR.

 

[Arithmetician]

After hunting down the last of Dolorous’s fleets that had been raiding the Tezekian Sector, the Grand Navy of the Republic turned to advance on Chiconaph, the Industrial Combine’s home system.

As a rule, the worlds held by the Industrial Combine tended to be heavily polluted due to their relentless industrialism, with smoke and toxic chemicals belching from their droid foundries, and vast expanses of strip mines crisscrossing the surface. Their worlds were being exploited with a recklessness that made Opalwan wonder how much worse off Al Dabaran would be if the Separatists had continued to hold it, with their unchecked corporate greed freed from the regulations of the Republic. But even those had been weakening as of late in the name of advancing the war effort, so that was of little consolation to Opalwan.

Allied ground forces from the Tezekian Sector Defense Forces assisted in taking the similarly polluted Chinorr world of Weggri, in the Dulshi System. They were nowhere near as capable of the GAR’s own Clone Soldiers, but they had, following their example, started to grow clones of their own. The Tezekian clones only accounted for a minority of their forces though.

A’Nikori felt unease as they entered the Zithri System, where Admiral Ruiz and over half of their old fleet had perished. The Dark Side’s influence lingered here. But they were far better prepared, and had the Separatists clearly outgunned this time.

Explosions lit up the void of space as the Republic’s fleets clashed with those of the Industrial Combine.

The Separatist capital ships were soon fighting at point-blank range with Republic Venators, but they fell prey to flanking attacks from Centax torpedo cruisers that inflicted massive damage upon their hulls.

The Republic lost some of its own cruisers in the fierce fighting, but before long, the Separatists’s own capital ships were going down left and right.

It went, thought A’Nikori, a small measure toward avenging Ruiz’s death.

Though those still responsible for the war were still out there.

While one portion of the fleet continued on toward Chiconaph, another laid siege to the heavily-fortified Separatist citadel in the Wuae System.

The station’s formidable defenses destroyed several Acclamators, but it soon fell to the Republic’s advance.

Then it came time invade the headquarters of the Industrial Combine, Chicora itself.

Anti-air batteries and Chinorr fighters dogged the Republic’s dropships as they made their initial landing on the arid world .

But once the landing zone had been successfully secured, all that remained was to advance and capture the Industrial Combine’s Chief Executive, bringing another co-conspirator on the Separatist Council to justice. Also captured was his chief lieutenant, Riblogg, who had been using the Industrial Combine's ill-gotten gains to fund his expensive Zro habit.

The tides of war could be fickle, but for now, they were turning in the Republic’s favor.

 

[HistoryDude]

A victory is won... but many Separatists escape to fight another day. The war isn't over yet,

Also, kyber crystal mining? Who wants lightsabers? The Jedi's reaction to the planet suggests it isn't them - so is Eerabik looking for a way to arm future acolytes?

 

[Arithmetician]

@HistoryDude (There is another thing that Kyber Crystals can be used for.... a high-energy application...)

 

[Arithmetician]

While the Industrial Combine’s two highest-ranking officers had been captured, there were still a few Chinorr executives who stubbornly held out in the northern portion of their space.

Under General Starflier and Clone Admiral Moreau, the Republic relentlessly pushed forward, hammering away at their defenses.

The development of Swarmer Missiles would see the Victory Star Destroyer start going into production. A prototype had been present and destroyed at the battle of Wacego Iftlar against the Great Khan, but the engineers had worked out a number of the Victory’s design flaws since then.

The Tezekian Sector Defense Forces continued to assist the GAR, landing troops on Schugaschi, where Riblogg had fled to after somehow managing to escape from Republic custody.

“You aren’t getting away from us again!” A’Nikori shouted as they burst into Riblogg’s command bunker.

Riblogg began choking, held tightly in A’Nikori’s telekinetic grip.

Flailing, Riblogg tried to hit a button to activate a self-destruct sequence for the base, but the clones saw what he was trying to do, and opened fire. Blue blaster bolts tore into the Chinorr executive, killing him.

Akkano and her platoon of clone soldiers, who had been taking out battle droids in another part of the base, caught up to them a short time later.

“What happened here, Master?” she asked when she saw Riblogg’s corpse on the floor.

“He tried to take us all with him,” A’Nikori replied. “But we got him first."

Subsequently, the planet’s droid factory was shut down, while its numerous synthetic crystal plants and research facilities were taken over by the GAR.

One of the last clashes of the campaign against the Industrial Combine took place in the Poaa System, as a fleet from the Tezekian Sector Defense Forces intercepted the Chinorr’s last significant fleet on the edge of the system. Despite the Separatists nominally having a slight fleet advantage at the start of battle, the Tezekians held their ground, and routed the enemy force.

As the Republic had pushed to the Industrial Combine’s northernmost holdouts, the GAR’s scientists discovered an ancient “L-Gate” leading to a dwarf satellite galaxy that had no charted hyperlanes leading to it. However, the L-Gate was locked in a maintenance loop, preventing the satellite galaxy, known formally as “Companion Leth”, but also referred to as the “L-Cluster”, from being accessed for the time being. Nonetheless, the Chancellor expressed interest in finding a way into Companion Leth, because if the L-Gate Network could be reactivated and the Republic could move to control it first, that would give the GAR an enormous mobility advantage over the Separatists.

While more insights would be needed to open the L-Gates to Companion Leth, perhaps the findings spurred on the Republic’s physicists to at last unlock the mysteries of how to repair the ancient Gateway in the Advatir System.

And then, at last, the Chinorr Industrial Combine surrendered to the Galactic Republic. Its leaders would be put on trial for crimes against the Republic, and their assets seized, while the Combine’s foundries, mines, laboratories, shipyards, and refineries would be nationalized and placed at the disposal of the Grand Army of the Republic. The Chancellor appointed new, temporary military governors to oversee the reintegration of the Industrial Combine’s worlds into the Republic, while garrisons of Clone Soldiers would provide security during rebuilding efforts.

Naturally, the Republic did not construct any illegal Black Sites in key systems to monitor suspected Separatist saboteurs and sympathizers.

After all, any such sites did not officially exist.

Rebuilding and providing security to so many worlds put enormous strain on the Republic’s finances. But the Chancellor worked quickly to stabilize them.

It was still a matter of necessity to deal with the supposedly loyal members of Orbis Customer Synergies, the Lokken Mechanist Guilds, and the Iferyx Amalgamated Trade Fleets, who continued to have representation and major clout in the Galactic Republic’s senate due to their economic power. As they had maintained throughout the war, any members of their boards who supported or continued to support the Separatists had gone rogue, and had been disavowed by the mega corporations.

This was blatantly false, but it was a legal fiction that allowed the Republic to continue to do business with the galaxy’s megacorporations, without which the Core’s economy would have surely collapsed under the GAR’s new burdens. The Lokken’s ‘loyalists’ were willing to buy excess strategic resources for vast amounts of energy credits. A new deal with the similarly ‘loyal’ Trade Fleets brought in large new shipments of consumer goods, and the Senator from Orbis Customer Synergies was able to arrange the sale of raw mineral resources to the Grand Army of the Republic.

They were profiteers, all of them. And as it turned out, war, and playing both sides against each other, was very good for business. Besides, who could accuse them of treason when they were there in the Republic’s hour of need?

Republic Center for Military Operations, Coruscant...

Supreme Chancellor Eerabik presided over a meeting of the Republic’s Strategic Advisory Cell. Officially, there was no such meeting today, and they were discussing a project that likewise did not exist, as far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned. Anyone present at the meeting had been sworn to the highest secrecy, and the information they discussed was shared on a strictly need-to-know basis.

As far as the members of the Strategic Advisory Cell were concerned, the Jedi, even Grand Army Marshall Stalk of Gold, did not need to know.

They were dealing with a grave Separatist threat to the Republic that demanded a response, not useless Jedi moralizing.

“Our spy among the Separatists was able to secure a copy of these plans for us,” the Supreme Chancellor said to the Cell’s members. “Their name was redacted from the report to maintain the utmost operational security and protect a crucial source of military intelligence, but as you can see, our analysts have been able to independently corroborate that the Separatists were indeed devoting substantial resources for the research and development of a mobile new weapons platform. It also explains why they were so intent on capturing Al Dabaran and exploiting its natural abundance of Kyber Crystals. And given their recent attempt to recapture Al Dabaran, and their continued manufacture of large amounts of synthetic crystals, we can only assume that they have continued work on their weapon."

A hologram with the detailed schematics of the Separatists' planned weapon lit up in the center of the room.

It was a spherical armored battle station, the size of a small moon, to be armed with a superlaser powered and focused through enormous Kyber Crystals, theoretically capable of destroying entire planets.

“If the Separatists manage to construct and deploy this weapon, which we have code-named the ‘Death Star’, then the Separatists will use it to destroy the Republic,” Eerabik said. “And if the war continues to turn against them, the more and more desperate they will be to finish its construction, and perhaps they will even seek to decapitate the government here on Coruscant with a first strike of their Death Star. That is why the Republic must move with the greatest possible haste on its continued preparations for the Colossus Project, also known to some of you as Project Stardust. The only viable answer to a Separatist Death Star is for the Republic to construct its own Death Star first,” she concluded.

“If we had such a weapon of our own, we could also use to end the war,” one of the Cell’s leading members, Military Governor Rashid Jamshidi, said. “An effective demonstration of its power against a Separatist planet or two would show them the futility of their continued insurrection."

“My scientists are working on multiple parallel projects to make the necessary advancements and develop the components we will need to bring together for the Project,” its Director, a Ymorz named Kren’nic added. “Naturally, their work is strictly compartmentalized, so none of them know its true purpose yet. But we still need assembly yards of unprecedented size if we are to actually construct the station and finally provide lasting peace and security to the galaxy."

“We have identified a solution to that problem,” the Supreme Chancellor said, bringing up a map of the galaxy.

She pointed one of her talons toward a system in the Galactic north, in space held by the Voor Techno Union. Readouts of an ancient structure in orbit around its star then appeared next to it.

“The ruined mega shipyard in the Vindemiatrix System,” Eerabik said. “If captured and restored, it would be more than adequate for the Project, would it not, Director Kren’nic?"

After several moments, Kren’nic’s heads nodded, and they smiled. “Yes, it would, Chancellor. Yes, it would."

 

[Macavity116]

Looking at the galactic map, it seems as though the Republic will have to significantly divide its attention if it wants to remain on the offensive. So many distant targets.

The only viable answer to a Separatist Death Star is for the Republic to construct its own Death Star first,

This war is going to be a bloodbath.

 

[Arithmetician]

@Macavity116

(Yes, as you see, we have Orbis Customer Synergies and their subsidiaries in the west, the Iferyx Amalgated Trade Fleets, their subsidiaries, and the Voor Techno Union (which is surrounded by the former) in the north, and the Lokken Mechanist Guilds, their subsidiaries, and the Geonosian Confederacy, in the Galactic south and east.)

(This is a second reason why, besides stabilizing my economy and RP’ing the corruption within the Republic, I continued to do business with the Separatists - by maintaining relatively friendly relations with the three main Separatist overlords, at least at this stage of the Clone Wars, I could focus on independent Separatist factions, such as the Chinorr Industrial Combine, first. And now that the Industrial Combine is conquered, the population directly contributing to the GAR has nearly doubled, making me more capable of taking on the larger Separatist factions when the time comes... which will be sooner, rather than later.)

(And whether or not the Separatists are actually still building their own Death Star, the mere fear that they might is a powerful motivator in the upper echelons of the Republic’s military. And we all know what fear is the path to...)

 

[HistoryDude]

A'Nikori is getting more obviously dark - force choking people and then refusing to admit that she did that.

Eerabik is doing more illegal things, and these Death Stars don't look great. Will we see a Death Star vs. Death Star battle, though? That could be... a strange operation.

 

[Arithmetician]

@HistoryDude (That said, what she said about Riblogg was true...even if she omitted that detail.)

(Just keep in mind that Eerabik loves democracy, and loves the Republic. The Death Star is simply the Republic’s version of the Manhattan Project in response to the Separatist threat, nothing more sinister. And if you believe that, Darth Vidia has some swamp land to sell you on Hoth.)

(Then again, can anything really be illegal when its The Senate doing it?)

 

[Arithmetician]

“Preparations are ready for the next stage of the war, My Mistress,” the hologram of Darth Tyrannis reported. “I have denounced the Republic’s deplorable treatment of the poor citizens of the Chicora Sector in the Separatist Parliament, as proof that there can be no peace with the Republic as it stands, lest it bring such tyranny to the rest of the galaxy. And I have likewise denounced its abominable clone soldiers as slaves, compelled to fight for an unworthy government, whereas our use of droids in the Separatist Alliance is far a more moral way of waging war."

“Whereas the good Chancellor Eerabik need only point out how the unending greed of the Chinorr ruthlessly pillaged what used to be the Deneb and Al Dabaran sectors, and how the unfeeling droids of the Separatists have carried out Dolorous’s massacres without the pause that living beings might have. And then of course, the Republic’s citizens know well that the words that come from your silvered tongue are not to be trusted,” Darth Vidia replied.

“Just as Chancellor Eerabik is a scheming dictator who will do and say anything to maintain her own power, using the Republic’s warmongering to justify and expand it.” Darth Tyrannis paused. “What of General Dolorous? Some are questioning his leadership after the fall of the Industrial Combine, and his defeat at Ereness... though only behind closed doors."

“Dolorous continues to serve his purpose well; his aggression is useful when properly controlled. His attack on Al Dabaran stoked fears of the Weapon among the Republic’s military leadership, motivating them. His cowardice at Ereness allows the average citizen of the Republic to look down on the Separatists all the more, yet he remains feared enough that their hatchlings are warned to behave, lest General Dolorous come for them in the night."

“Obviously, the shipyards of Vindemiatrix cannot be seen to fall too easily into the Republic’s hands,” Tyrannis nodded, while privately detesting that he was still forced to work with the repulsive Grievous, rebuilt as their more reliable minion, Dolorous. “And we must continue to create a climate of fear and supisicion for our plan to come to full fruition. I have the Hazbuzi Syndicate, now a subsidiary of the Lokken Mechanists Guilds, infiltrating dozens of Republic worlds, and Admiral Taranch stands ready to lead an offensive against the Republic’s sectors.” He paused again. “But Starflier may pose a complication to our plans. She is ever growing in strength.” It was a reluctant admission, but true nonetheless.

“The Republic needs its valiant heroine, does it not?” Darth Vidia asked. “But any heroine must eventually fall."

And Darth Vidia would be waiting for her.

She would be generous to Starflier.

She would be patient with Starflier.

And as always, Darth Vidia would win.

 

[HistoryDude]

Darth Vidia and Darth Tyrannis plotting to denounce each other publicly is amusing.

Also, I'm getting a sentiment of "droids are superior to clones because they aren't truly sapient" from the Separatists. How... thought-provoking.

"Fall" has a double meaning. Darth Vidia means it as "Fall to the Dark Side", but Tyrannis might hear it as "Fall in Battle"...

 

[Arithmetician]

The Clone Wars continue! The Republic has liberated the Chicora Sector from the depredations of the greedy Industrial Combine, but the nefarious Separatists, led by the scheming Cor T’Duku and the fiendish General Dolorous are still a force to be reckoned with!

The Republic’s forces are divided as it faces threats on two fronts!

In the North, a Republic strike force races to capture the megalithic ancient shipyard of Vindemiatrix from the Voor Techno Union before the Separatists can repair it and use it to flood the region with an unending tide of warships!

And in the South, attempts to dislodge Hazbuzi crime rings that have infested Tezekian space have led to a massive Separatist counterattack from the fleets and armies of their avaricious overlords, the Lokken Mechanist Guilds, who hold the galactic southeast in their covetous grasp!

​

Leading the Lokken Armada is the wily Admiral Taranch! Once thought to have died in battle before the Clone Wars, he has returned as a hideous cyborg to serve Cor T’Duku and the Separatist cause!

And as Mercenary Companies spread like throughout the galaxy, what role will they play as A’Nikori, Akkano, Opalwan, the rest of the Jedi, and even their Clone Armies find themselves stretched thin?

 

[HistoryDude]

A war on two fronts is not good - or it wouldn't be, if this was anything other than theater.

Are the mercenaries neutral or pro-Separatist? Or pro-Republic, for that matter? Or some mix of the three?

 

[Arithmetician]

@HistoryDude

(Theater to the Sith... but in the moment, it feels very real to those actually fighting the war.)

(In practice, some mercenary companies will be consistently employed by the Separatists, and some will be consistently employed by the Republic going forward. But really, whoever is currently paying them.)

 

[Arithmetician]

“Excellent work, A’Nikori,” Supreme Chancellor Eerabik said, back on Coruscant. “I knew that I could count on you against the Industrial Combine; by far, you have the greatest potential of any Jedi that I have ever met. One doesn’t have to be Force-sensitive to see that; your record alone makes that clear enough."

“Thank you, Chancellor,” A”Nikori replied.

“And you have been training your apprentice, Akkano, as well,” Eerabik said. “How has that been going for you?"

“Well, I’m sure the Council thinks that I’m a bad influence on her, and at first, I thought she was just going to be a burden, but I’ve grown rather fond of her. She’s learned quickly, and has a good heart."

“And what of your old Master, Opalwan Ben’itoite?” Eerabik asked.

“He can be a bit hardheaded at times... pun not intended,” A’Nikori replied. “But we’re still a team, and I wouldn’t trade Opalwan or Akkano for any other Jedi."

“So, you love them like family,” the Chancellor observed. “I can see how attached you’ve become to them."

“The Jedi are supposed to refrain from attachment,” A’Nikori said, yet her words felt hollow, even to her. "The Order is-"

Eerabik shook her head. “I’ve said it before: you’re not some droid, like those that the Separatists use, A’Nikori. You’re capable of feeling - and thinking - for yourself. Emotions are what drive us, and any other sapient beings, giving us the passion and the power to carry onward and face the obstacles in our way. That is as true as it is for you as it is for myself, A’Nikori."

“What sort of obstacles do you face, Chancellor,” A’Nikori asked? “Besides the Separatists, I mean?"

“Petty politics,” Eerabik sighed. “I am doing my best to hold the Republic together, and strengthen it against the Separatists and any other forces that might one day threaten it. But while we are in the midst of a war for the very survival of the Republic itself, the bureaucrats would rather squabble over minor administrative sanctions, hamstring our production lines with new environmental regulations, or engage in religious proselytizing under the guise of providing comfort to the fallen.”

The Chancellor looked so very old and tired in that moment.

“I don’t think the system works,” A’Nikori admitted. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have this war to begin with."

“Then how would you have it work, A’Nikori?” Eerabik asked, leaning forward slightly.

“The politicians need to sit down, decide what’s in the best interest of the people... and then do it."

“If only it were that simple,” Eerabik said. “But even now, special interests within the Republic are so well-entrenched that it’s hard to get anyone to agree on the common good."

“Then they should be made to,” A’Nikori said.

“Made to by whom?” Eerabik asked. “The Jedi? Perhaps even yourself? And I know some of my critics would say that smacks of dictatorship."

“Who cares what the critics say? If it works...” A’Nikori shook her head. “But I don’t think I’m cut out for politics. And that’s not the role of the Jedi either.” She shrugged. “I don’t know who would make them agree... someone wise... someone powerful... maybe someone like you."

“I am but one woman, A’Nikori,” Eerabik said. “And even with the emergency powers granted to me by the Senate, it is still difficult to do what must be done to win this war. But you show power and wisdom beyond your years, A’Nikori. Perhaps one day, we shall solve that problem together. But for now, you have your own battles to fight.”

The Chancellor placed a hand on A’Nikori’s back and walked with her. “Of course, I didn’t call you here simply to congratulate you, or discuss politics. There is a certain mission that is absolutely vital to the Republic, and I would like you to take it on. The Separatists have begun work on repairing enormous shipyard complex in the Vindemiatrix System. If we can capture the shipyards for the Republic instead, that could prove a decisive advantage in the war. So while the Grand Navy goes to face the Lokken in the Galactic South, I would like you to accompany the strike force that is heading to Vindemiatrix. You will then regroup with the Grand Navy once the shipyards are secure. Though... perhaps I am overstepping my role in making such a personal request to you."

“Think nothing of it, Chancellor,” A’Nikori replied. “I’m glad to be of service to you... and the Republic. I’ll have those shipyards secured in no time."

“Thank you, A’Nikori,” Eerabik said. “There are so few people that one can really trust in this galaxy. But it is good to know that you are one of them."

 

[HistoryDude]

*Wince* Well, that certainly isn't good. Eerabik now has support for an overthrow of democracy from a Jedi - and who's to say that the Senate won't agree down the line?

I guess it's nice that A'Nikori loves her friends, but that might only make the betrayal hurt worse - on both sides.

 

[Arithmetician]

Before the start of the new campaigns, the Sol and Sallurian Sectors had briefly attempted to pledge their fealty to the Republic once again.

Unfortunately, after several examples were made publicly by General Dolorous, or less publicly by Cor T’Duku, they were quickly brought back into line with their Separatist overlords.

Exerting her ongoing emergency powers, and enjoying broad support at home for the continuation of the Clone Wars after the victory over the Industrial Combine, Supreme Chancellor Eerabik laid claim to the Systems of the Voor Techno Union on the behalf of the Galactic Republic, and dispatched A’Nikori Starflier to secure their shipyards and technology. Any political influence it cost her to do so had become negligible.

Meanwhile, newly terraformed worlds in the space formerly controlled by the Industrial Combine provided new sites for the Grand Army of the Republic to establish new foundries and laboratories far from prying eyes.

A’Nikori’s strike force made its way to Vindemiatrix and its damaged Mega Shipyard with surprisingly little opposition, other than a defensive orbital ring and a Voor star citadel.

“All too easy,” she murmured.

A quick assault brought down the citadel's defenses.

But a Separatist present still remained on the key Voor foundry world of Vi Talas, and its moon, Vi Sumat, which was also an important foundry for droids and starships in its own right. Rich mineral deposits found under their icy surfaces and on the system’s multiple molten moons, heated by tidal forces, made them especially productive.

Clone Troopers descended on the fortified moon of Vi Sumat first, but some of their transports were shot down in low atmosphere, leading to a clash at the landing zone. The Jedi rushed to the scene in custom TX-130 Saber-class fighter tanks, and helped fight off the Voor Techno Union forces that were converging on one of the downed transports.

Once the landing site was secure, A’Nikori and Akkano took command of a squadron of two-legged All-Terrain Experimental Transports, making use of their powerful mortars to clear out separatist defenses, while their built-in plasma shields absorbed incoming fire.

Once the Republic had seized key Separatist fuel and munitions depots on the moon, it was just a matter of advancing on the droid factories themselves. And when Vi Sumat was secure, the GAR used it as a jumping off point for its invasion of Vi Talas and its larger droid foundries.

But as A’Nikori and Akkano finished securing Vindemiatrix, they learned that the Voor Techno Union had launched its own invasion into the Ymorz Sector.

“We need to help the Ymorz!” Akkano said.

“We will, Squirt,” A’Nikori reassured her. “But we’re so close to Hiverion, and taking the Techno Union’s headquarters. We have to head that way anyway if we’re to help the Ymorz out, so we might as well make it count. And if we don’t take Hiverion first, then they might recapture Vindemiatrix while we’re gone."

She nodded. “You’re right, Starfly. Let’s just make this quick, so we can deal with the Techno Union’s fleet!"

 

[HistoryDude]

Isn't that a convenient path... It's almost like someone's controlling both sides of the war so that the Republic wins...

It is good news that some sectors are realizing that rebelling was a bad idea. It's too late to matter, of course... but one must wonder if they might be more inclined to support a potential rebellion against military rule once the Republic does reclaim them.