Beyond - Legends The Fields of Tesserone (AU,OC)

Wow. This is going to have some implications!

 

All the Nuna coming home to roost?

 

Tesserone, Roon

​

The smoke that hung low in the air was thick and oppressive. What had been one of the more beautiful areas of Roon had gone up in flames as one by one the farmers, out for blood, out for money, out for justice, torched their crops in the ultimate act of defiance against the dying capital of Nime. Word had quickly spread throughout the remnants of RTO space that the economic organization that had once stood as a shining beacon of reform and civility in a lawless quadrant of the galaxy had collapsed. The currency of the RTO was now worthless, the economic ties that usually bound the member worlds together were frayed and nearly destroyed, and those planets who had personally funded the RTO Defense Fleet had recalled their portion of the navy leaving the rest of the planets to fend for themselves.

Complicating matters since the collapse of the RTO, three Tribunes representing lesser member worlds had been strung up in their hometowns and hanged. Pirates, long since kept dormant by the heavy guns of the RTO Navy, availed themselves of the chaos along the well traveled hyperspace lanes making interplanetary travel absolutely unsafe for anyone or anything of importance. The once strong borders with the Hutts and with the Republic were now a breeding ground for violence, pillaging, and illegal trafficking of all sorts. Where once there had been order now there was utter chaos and that was how the dreams of Joaquin Vehn, grandfather of Eleanor, died a slow, bloody, miserable, death.

Eleanor sat quietly in her family’s kitchen listening to the clock ticking on the wall. Tick! Tick! Tick! The sound was monotonous, heavy, foreboding, as if it were a countdown to the end of the world. It might very well should’ve been. Eleanor felt like an absolute failure. On her watch, under her guidance, the RTO had collapsed. She’d tried her hardest to keep the dream alive. To keep people believing that cooperation and good will would carry the day. But money always won and the landed interests and political powers that were the Tribunes of the RTO had spoken and made it absolutely clear that in no uncertain terms were they going to rejoin the fold. They had seen the writing on the wall. They knew that the RTO was a flimsy organization not built to withstand the onslaught of modern government. With no unified chain of command, with no way to really enforce the rules of the RTO Charter, powerful member worlds such as Druckenwell, Rothana, and Kamino had warped the system to such a terrifying place that it ultimately broke under the strain. The way had been shown to them. A way without Roon as the titular head of the RTO. A way without the Vehn family guiding anything and everything.

“Tea?” Verity called from the kitchen.

“I suppose,” Eleanor replied.

She felt deflated. She felt absolutely defeated. This was worse than losing her election bid on Naboo. This was worse than her time with the Galactic Senate and her suffering under Senator Rhom Cardaas’ perversion, no, this cut deep and would not heal quickly. Not now, maybe not ever. How could she be a Vehn and allow the dream of her grandfather to die?

“There you go, dear,” Verity said as she slid a cup of tea toward Eleanor.

“I’ve let everyone down, Mama,” Eleanor admitted.

Verity shook her head and smiled. “You’ve got it all wrong, Eleanor.”

“Have I?”

“There’s something I never told you about your family. Something you should know,” Verity said.

“Mama, I’m not in the mood for stories,” Eleanor groaned.

“This one you’ll want to hear,” Verity replied.

“Very well,” Eleanor replied, “Go on.”

“We Vehns have been a transient family since our inception. Going all the way back to Airen Vehn who lived on Tatooine and got himself involved with the Triestes and the infernal Jaded Emerald of Solost, which mind you, was rightfully destroyed by Niall
Trieste. Eventually the Vehns moved on to Ord Mantell, effected some labor reforms, and learned self-respect, underneath the tutelage of Derek Vehn who fought admirably for the GFFA and gave his life at the Battle of Taris in 214 ABY,” Verity said.

“Mama, I’ve heard all this before. What’s your point?” Eleanor asked.

“We Vehns have had some crushing blows in our history. We’ve had times where everything seemed lost and forsaken. Somehow, some way, we’ve survived. We carry on and we believe that we can effect a great change, however misguided, upon those around us. Sometimes that’s worked and other times not so much. In the end it is not the policies we write or the speeches we give that people remember us for but the positive, tangible, impact of good will we as a family have created for millions around the galaxy. Every time we suffer a setback we spring back stronger than ever. The galaxy cannot keep us down.”

“I’ve lost our purpose, Mama. I’ve lost it all and killed Grandfather’s dreams,” Eleanor said as she rubbed her temples. “Our entire fortune, everything this family believes in, it’s gone.”

“My dear if you think the Vehn family is going to collapse because some flimsy, economic organization fell apart you’ve got a lot to learn,” Verity said. “Besides, the dream of the RTO was just that, a dream. In reality that dream became a nightmare and a heavy burden for my father. Did you know that my father would take me into his counsel at times and admit that he never had a complete vision for the RTO? Why for years he tried to get someone else to take over and you know what happened?”

“What?”

“Chaos, misery, a close war with the Republic one time, a near miss on a civil war at another, and the problems of governing such a loose coalition of worlds was incredibly difficult for him, stressful, and nearly broke apart his marriage with my mother. One day she took him aside and gave him an ultimatum. Either he let the RTO chart its own course, to whatever end, or he end it all and focus on their marriage,” Verity said recalling memories from long ago.

Eleanor sat quietly, listening.

“What do you think he chose?” Verity asked.

Eleanor looked up from her cup of tea and wiped a tear from her face, “Family.”

Verity smiled and rested her hand on Eleanor’s. “Family, my dear. In the end that is all we can count on no matter what the galaxy throws at us. Love and family. You’ve got a daughter, a beautiful daughter, a capable and handsome husband, and if I were you I would hold them close to you at a time like this. Governments and dreams, they come and go in your life, but family, family is what you have forever and nothing is going to change that, nothing.”

“I feel like my life has been one failure after another. First Naboo, then Coruscant, now this,” Eleanor said.

“Not a failure, Eleanor. Your life is never a failure unless you truly believe that. Are there challenging times? Why yes. It’s how we rise out of those challenging times that define us. I never told you this but your father and I deeply regret sending you to Naboo to be Queen,” Verity said.

“That was Uncle Liam’s idea,” Eleanor replied referring to Verity’s estranged brother. “You can’t blame yourself for that, mother, you mustn’t. My time on Naboo wasn’t all bad.”

“Your life would’ve been so different had you stayed here,” Verity said.

“It would have been less exciting that’s for sure,” Eleanor replied.

Verity laughed and shook her head. “Grandfather Joaquin would’ve been very proud of you.”

“How so?” Eleanor asked.

“Because you did the one thing he could never bring himself to do. You did the one thing that he was too afraid to do,” Verity said.

“What’s that?”

“You killed the RTO. You freed this family from the burden of that wretched government and all those politicians. You have given the Vehn family freedom, dear child, and I thank you so much. At last we are free,” Verity responded.

“There may be consequences to that freedom,” Eleanor replied.

“Then we will meet them together as one family,” Verity said as she gave Eleanor a hug.

“Together,” Eleanor replied.

Tag:Trieste,jcgoble3,CPL_Macja....

 

Verity Vehn's putting the "free" back in "free falling."

 

Tesserone,Roon

​

“We’re surrounded!” Verity cried out as she grabbed an old slugthrower from the wall that had been passed down the many generations and crouched beneath a window overlooking the veranda of Tesserone.

Eleanor cursed and nudged aside a curtain to look at the hundreds of farmers, torches illuminating the light casting their faces in and out of the dark shadows, and she could tell they were furious. She could tell they had come to burn Tesserone to the ground. She could tell that they wouldn’t leave until the people who had ruined everything, who had let their dreams, their hopes, their desires, slip through their fingers like the star systems that had once rebelled against the Galactic Empire, were brought to justice. Justice on Roon so often meant a violent end, a wretched end, one fit for tyrants and traitors.

The farmers had descended quickly upon the Vehn family ranch. They hadn’t wasted any time since burning their crops. They hadn’t wasted any time since the RTO had essentially crumbled under their back breaking labor. Eleanor didn’t want to fight them. Knew that her own family, her mother, this family home, wouldn’t survive a direct confrontation with the very people that had once cheered their name in victory and that had once respected their leadership.

Eleanor rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She could feel their anger roiling off them like the heat on the beautiful fields of her family’s ranch. She couldn’t run away. Not now. Not anymore. She was surrounded. Unlike her time on Naboo, she couldn’t run away. Unlike her time on Coruscant, she couldn’t run away and unlike her time as Tribune of Roon, well, again, she couldn’t run away. No, she needed to face these people head on. She needed to quell the fear that churned inside her gut and seemed to grab a hold of her legs weighing her down like the darkest burdens of a tortured soul.

She made a move for the front door. Verity reached out a hand and tightened her grip. “What are you doing!”

“The right thing, Mama. The only thing I know how to do,” Eleanor responded and shook off her mother’s grasp as she opened the front door and stepped onto the porch to face the mob.

“You know why we’re here?” One of the farmers called out.

Eleanor nodded.

“You ruined us, Eleanor, you ruined us,” another farmer cried out.

“Your entire family threw everything away. What about us? What about our families!” A third voice shouted.

“You ran away just like you did everywhere else you’ve been,” a fourth voice added.

“You’re no good to us alive,” a fifth urged.

“I say we make an example of her!”

“Kill her! Kill her now!”

The farmers surged forward ready to draw blood. The first row of them was nearly on the porch when a loud, resounding, bang resonated across the night. Eleanor jumped and turned around only to find her mother staring intently at the farmers, a look of defiance, of years worth of standing up for herself, written all over her and the evidence all right there in the barrel of a smoking gun.

“I’ll ask you kindly to get off my porch!” Verity yelled.

The farmers backed off. They knew Verity meant business.

“There will be no killing tonight. There will be no blood spilled tonight. You’ll listen to my daughter speak or I’ll have every last one of you strung up from the nearest barn to rot in the sun!”

That got their attention.

“Eleanor,” Verity said, “you say what you need to say. We don’t have much time.”

Eleanor gulped and nodded. She gathered her thoughts and then addressed the crowd. “You know me. Some of you are my dear friends. Some of you I don’t know. What matters is that we are all settlers of this beloved world of Roon. We work the land, hard, thankless work, and at the end of the day sometimes our efforts go wasted. Sometimes we struggle. Other times we overcome. I understand your crops went with the winds. I’m sorry. I truly am.”

She made her way down the steps of the covered porch and dug her hand into the soil in front of the house where her mother routinely gardened.

“You see this!” Eleanor exclaimed showing the farmers the shriveled roots of her mother’s garden. “We’ve got the same problem. We reseeded our garden about a year ago. Bought the seed from some laboratory on Druckenwell. Only year we’ve ever done that and if I have anything to say about it, well, it will be the last year that we ever buy seed from them again!”

The farmers were starting to settle down as the cold reality sank in.

“Our crops suffered too. We lost money just like you. Hell, you all know how hard it is to make a living farming. Now that the RTO is gone, which I’ll remind you is not my fault, we’re going to have an even harder time making every credit count. Forget about the past. That’s gone. Forget about the RTO, that’s gone too. No, we need to look ahead, we need to work together, to create a better future for our children and their children,” Eleanor said.

“How you going to fix this, Eleanor?”

“How am I going to feed my family?” another farmer asked.

Eleanor knew what she had to say. She knew what she had to do.

“What I have in mind won’t be popular. It won’t even make much sense right now. I am asking you to place your trust in me. To trust that I can provide for you and your family by serving as your elected leader,” Eleanor suggested.

“Why should we trust you? You failed everywhere else you’ve been,” one of the farmers countered.

“You’re right. I did fail. I ran. I got scared. I made mistakes. But I never really felt comfortable on Naboo. I never really knew Coruscant. I know Roon. I was born here. I was raised here. I know what it is to work the land. I am not going to run. I am not going to hide. Not anymore. I will lead Roon to a better tomorrow. Trust me, please,” Eleanor said.

The group of farmers gathered around and talked quietly for a few minutes. When they came back, their spokesperson, whom Eleanor did not know said, “We’re giving you three months. You fix what is wrong or we’ll not only come after you but we’ll burn your home to the ground.”

Eleanor knew they meant business. Roon was a rough and tumble planet. A threat was a threat and could never be taken lightly.

“You have my word. Things are going to get better. I promise.”

One by one the farmers disappeared into the night taking their torches with them.

“Eleanor, what did you promise them?” Verity said disapprovingly.

“Hope, Mama, hope, and that’s all I can do.”

“If this fails,” Verity warned.

“Then we’re all going to be dead,” Eleanor finished as she headed in to catch some sleep.

The next three months were going to be busy indeed.

 

One chance. One chance to make things right.

Good luck, Eleanor. You're going to need it.

 

Farming is a risky thing to make a bet on...

Unlike sports, of course. That's something that has little risk at all.

 

​

Nime, Roon
Some Time Later

“Be careful my lady,” Robert Norden, longtime guardian of Eleanor Vehn, advised as Eleanor picked her way through broken glass, fallen marble columns, broken statues, and tattered remnants of the RTO’s power.

Eleanor needed to see firsthand what had become of the symbols of the RTO and what had become of the dream of her grandfather. The mobs had acted quickly once power had decentralized. Nothing of value was left in this once mighty building that had housed the Board of Tribunes, the Chairman of the RTO, and all the trappings of power contained therein. This was just a shell. A mere fragment of what had been. Everything was black and charred and nothing had gone untouched by flame or vandalism. It was as if the RTO had been burned from the memory of the people.

Eleanor walked up the old sweeping staircase to the room that had held the round table where the Tribunes once gathered to decide matters of government. Pushing the upstairs door aside she was relieved to see that the round table had escaped the terrible fires of the lower levels. Before she had gone off to Naboo she had often snuck into this very room and listened to the Tribunes debate important policy, delegate authority, and ultimately secure the best price on goods they could arrange for their world. To her eyes the RTO had seemed infallible and had seemed so stable. The truth of it all, she realized, had been far from that.

Her fingers gently picked up the frayed fragments of a copy of the RTO Charter resting on the table. She read every line of the one page document and examined the signatories at the bottom. Each signature represented a member world. There had been twenty when this was signed nearly 30 years ago. Over the years membership in the RTO had begun to decline. First Tatooine left and then Naboo and then Nar Shaddaa as pieces of the economic organization slowly broke away to pursue their own fortunes.

Some had returned to independent status while others returned to their historical allegiances, for Naboo that had been the Republic and for Nar Shaddaa that had been a reunion with the Hutt clans of Nal Hutta.

“It was a beautiful dream, was it not, my lady?” Norden asked as he leaned against the doorway of the assembly room.

“That it was, Robert,” Eleanor replied and then added, “I don’t know how we got here.”

“I think you do,” Robert said.

Eleanor felt her fists tighten around the RTO Charter as anger roiled inside. “Damn the Ypres family. They ruined everything.”

“Perhaps they gave your family the political freedom they needed,” Robert replied, “but on the other hand they destroyed your legacy in one fell swoop. They voided the treaty between the Republic and the RTO, a treaty you worked hard to push, they ripped the RTO Charter you now hold in your hand, and I hear now they are building warships to enforce the space beyond Druckenwell. As an independent system nothing is going to stop them. Not with money and power sitting on II Avali. Besides, I seem to remember that you were quite close with one of the Ypres at least.”

Eleanor, in the darkness of the room, felt a lump form in her throat. “She turned from the path my family asked of her and paid with her life.”

“So they say,” Robert replied, “but that assassination was far too neat for the Hutts. Far too professional for the Republic. Only a family with enough influence, enough power, could have pulled off such an attack. The truth will come out, Eleanor. Maybe not now. Maybe not tomorrow but mark my words there will come a day when the galaxy will find out who really took Kaitlyn Vehn’s life and I fear the consequences. I really do.”

“Druckenwell was on our heels for years to move the capital to II Avali. We refused them time and time again. They didn’t know when to stop. They didn’t know how to stop. Kaitlyn didn’t know either. Once she got an idea in her head she acted it through without thinking of the consequences. Her death was tragic but necessary,” Eleanor replied.

“Sounds like the Ypres and Vehn families are more alike than they realize,” Norden observed. “Both are powerful, both command a great deal of respect, and both have much to learn about the galaxy around them.”

“We’re nothing like them,” Eleanor spat out.

“I’ve known you ever since you were a little girl, Eleanor, and I know that you of all people are kind, caring, and gracious to those who deserve it. I also know that there is a dark side to you as there is to us all. I’m afraid in the last few years I’ve seen a side to you that I would never ask to see in a leader. Not one I respected anyway. Not one I could die for,” Norden observed.

“What are you saying, Robert?”

“I’m saying that whatever is troubling you needs to be made right. Somehow, someway, you need to steer a course for yourself that is one you choose and not one someone would have chosen for you. Your entire life you’ve served someone else’s agenda.
Today, start by serving your own. What do you want?”

“I want to stop seeing my friends and their families starving because their crops are no good. I want to stop seeing pirates hoard the travel lanes and make life a miserable experience for people who might’ve always wanted to see this part of the galaxy. I want the Ypres family to be humbled and beg for forgiveness for what they did to my family and for what they did to the one thing keeping peace together in this galaxy. I will not be the one that will be remembered as the woman who started a war but I will be the one who is remembered for finishing it!. Can you stand there, Robert, and stop me?” Eleanor asked.

Robert took a step back and held up his hands defensively. “You are treading a dangerous path, Eleanor. You go down this path and there may come a time when your words will haunt you. Do not provoke a conflict with the Ypres family. They have very powerful allies.”

“And I do not?”

“You are one woman putting back the pieces to a shattered mirror. What can you do to stop them if they come after Roon?” Robert asked.

Eleanor punched a button hidden underneath the round table. On the far wall a display rolled around and illuminated as one by one five faces, five very recognizable faces, appeared. They were all former Tribunes of the RTO who had been in the minority that sided with Eleanor the day the RTO disintegrated.

“Eleanor, you’re earlier than we expected,” the former Tribune of Kamino said.

“I am speeding up our timetable,” Eleanor replied.

“We’re not quite ready to send you what we arranged,” Kamino responded.

“Double your efforts,” Eleanor said.

“As you wish, Lady of Tesserone,” Kamino replied.

Eleanor hit the mute button and looked over at Norden. “Do I look so weak now?”

Norden jaw fell to the floor. “You mean to say you’ve kept in touch with Rothana, Kamino, Pzob, and Hypori ever since the RTO fell apart?”

“I had to. They were my family’s strongest allies during some of the RTO’s darkest days. Now I need them to fly under my colors. I need them to swear their loyalty to me,” Eleanor said.

“And how do you expect to maintain their loyalty?”

“One of the oldest tricks in the book: Feed them. None of these worlds could even grow what Roon is capable of producing in three months. Kamino has already given us the necessary seeds that will fix our muddy fields, replace our terrible crops, and in return we supply them with food,” Eleanor pointed out.

“And when they no longer need Roon’s food?” Norden asked.

“It will be too late,” Eleanor replied.

“I named four faces I recognized. Whose is the fifth?” Norden asked.

“Why Robert I thought for sure you’d recognize the emblem in the background,” Eleanor teased.

Robert’s aging eyes studied the fifth holographic face and the background beyond and then his eyes widened. Buried behind the military figure was the old royal seal that Eleanor had used once not so very long ago on Naboo to represent her monarchy.

“Maker above, this must be—“

“Now you’re getting it.”

“That must mean the RTO Navy is still-“

Eleanor’s eyes flashed with excitement. “They’ve always been hiding there, my dear guardian, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, waiting for their master to call them home.”

“How have you been hiding the RTO Navy in Republic space!” Norden cried out.

Eleanor laughed and brought up a map of the galaxy. She pointed at Silver Station, located in the Chommel Sector, dangerously close to Naboo and technically in Republic space. If the Republic ever found out about the fleet it would change the nature of her plans for Roon and that was why she was about to bring them home for the first time in nearly 8 years.

“Silver Station went offline years ago. Nobody is going to go looking for something that’s not broadcasting anything. Besides, the current Queen of Naboo and I have an understanding. Old connections run deep. Admiral Quorro, are you listening?”

Horatio Quorro, grandson of the famed GFFA admiral Anya Quorro, older and more wise, stood at attention and replied, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Bring the fleet home and turn the lights off at Silver Station as you leave,” Eleanor ordered.

“As you wish, ma’am. Bringing the fleet home and glad to be doing so. We thought you’d never ask.”

“Safe journey,” Eleanor killed the transmission.

“Now, Robert, tell me again all the reasons why I can’t win a war against the Ypres family should they start one?”

 

I love it when the hero pulls an ace out of their sleeve and changes the entire game. Well done.

 

Admiral Horatio Quorro...does he ever blow his own horn?

I like this growing antagonism with the Ypres family. It makes my life more difficult interesting now that I've got a Ypres in the Annals banging around. Literally--she runs into things a lot.

 

Oh, he blows his horn all right

 

​

Nime, Roon
One Month Later

“I, Eleanor Vehn,” she repeated, “do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of Roon and defend, uphold, and honor the Charter of Roon all the days of my life.”

“It is done,” Captain of the Guard Robert Norden stated as he tucked a Vehn family heirloom under his arm.

Eleanor turned and hugged her mother and father, her husband, her daughter, and then took to the podium for her first address as President of Roon. The crowd roared its approval as a new era dawned for Roon.

“Three months ago I was standing in front of my home begging a very angry group of farmers to give me a chance. Back then nothing was going right. The RTO that my family built had utterly collapsed. The promises that we made had gone unfulfilled. I didn’t want to continue that legacy. I chose a different path. A better path. I acted quickly and secured good, high-quality seeds for our destroyed crops, from our allies on Kamino. I acted quickly and secured a government that could lead Roon to new heights. I brought our navy home. I hope in some small regard I have earned your favor today. I hope in some way I have helped create a foundation that will last for generations to come.

“Many challenges await us. Our path will not be easy. Our path may not bring peace, not right away and may require sacrifice. I cannot stand here and promise that Roon shall not know the hardships of war or suffering. I cannot stand here and promise that the enemies of my family will sit idly by and watch us grow and do what is right. But I can stand here and promise that I will do everything in my power to take care of all of you.

“My name is Eleanor Vehn and I swore to myself long ago that Roon would always hold a special place in my heart. It is with great pleasure that I accept this position with all the humility I can muster. Roon deserves a strong leader. Trust in me and believe that I can do what needs to be done to make our planet strong again. Together we can do anything. Together we can make a better world for our children. Thank you.”

Eleanor waved to the crowd and was guided into her armored speeder by Norden.

“Aren’t we leaving in a hurry?”Norden asked.

“I’m late for a long overdue reunion,” Eleanor replied.

“Oh?” Robert asked.

“My fleet,” Eleanor replied.

---

II Avali, Druckenwell

“Eleanor Vehn was sworn-in as Roon’s president today in a crowded ceremony in Nime. Her victory caps a three month tour through Roon generating support for her cause in the wake of the collapse of the RTO. She faces an uphill battle to exert much influence on the surrounding space with piracy running rampant in what was once a relatively quiet corner of the galaxy. Lawlessness took over when the Tribune of Druckenwell, many claim at the orders of the powerful Ypres family, pulled out of the fragile RTO and brought about the end of nearly 30 years of stability. The Ypres family has declined to comment and has largely avoided any public media relations in the last few months….”

William Ypres, father of Kaitlyn and Corrie, grumbled and turned off the Holonet. The media was constantly hounding him for an interview. Everyone wanted to know if he really had a hand in bringing about the destruction of the RTO. Truth was, he didn’t know anymore. He’d never loved the way the Vehns had collected the planets to their pitiful mud hole and if he had to listen to another speech about how poor and destitute the people were he’d pull his hair out.

William had always been of the mind that the Vehn family should’ve packed up their operation a long time ago. Real power was with the banking and defense industry that Druckenwell had cultivated. That was how the Ypres had made their money. Some choice controlling stock in Blastech Industries here, a few shipyards there, and some lucrative deals with any side that was willing to buy their goods went a long way in this part of the galaxy. Not to mention that Druckenwell sat on a very heavily traveled trade route that went straight into the heart of the Republic and out into the wilds of the known galaxy.

Druckenwell had always been in pole position and William had grown very tired of carrying the dead weight of Roon and paying homage to a dead ideal known as the RTO. Roon was not on the way to anywhere. In fact, the trade routes that did pass by hadn’t been heavily traveled in decades. He’d pushed to have the RTO capital moved to II Avali but the Vehns had fought him on it. Fought him on defense spending, fought him on strengthening the border with the Hutts, fought him on allowing Naboo to leave the fold even though the historical record showed that had been Kaitlyn’s error, not his own.

William finished his drink. Kaitlyn’s death had hit him especially hard. Hard because he remembered riding her into the ground on her mistakes and spending very little time praising her when she had done something right. Perhaps that was something he’d picked up from his own father and inadvertently used on his daughters. Now, Kaitlyn was dead, and the investigation into her assassination had turned up something disturbing.

Number one: the job had been done far too professionally for a two-bit crime lord like Markel Drexel. Number two: the rifle used by Drexel had come directly from Blastech Industries R&D department on Druckenwell. In fact, Blastech Industries had only made a handful for testing with the Druckenwell military. Field tests had been positive. Sadly, one of those tests had been done on his oldest daughter. Number three: A sizeable amount of money was wired through the Hutt clans in order to pay Drexel in an effort to make it look like the Hutts were behind the assassination. Anyone who knew anything about Hutt clans knew that they were never this meticulous about eliminating a political adversary. Sure, Kaitlyn had irritated a few of the Hutt clans but she had not done anything that the Hutts weren’t secretly applauding her for, well, perhaps some things had been frowned upon but the point was that the Hutts were not behind the attack. The investigation had gone cold in recent weeks. That wasn’t good. That was never a good sign.

A knock resounded at his door.

“Someone from Nar Shaddaa to see you, Mr. Ypres.”

Nar Shaddaa? What the hell?

“Come in,” William said as he took a seat in front of the fireplace.

The woman who entered his office was easily recognizable. He’d seen her face plastered on the Holonet in the days after Kaitlyn’s death. He knew that she’d been close to Kaitlyn. Perhaps even loved her. Who couldn’t? Who didn’t love Kaitlyn? Who didn’t love the pride of the Ypres family? Why was she here?

“I believe you know who I am, sir,” the woman announced.

“Sit down, Lilly,” William suggested as he poured himself another drink.

Lilly Vehn took a seat across from William and crossed her legs.

“What brings you to Druckenwell? William asked offering to pour Lilly a drink which she declined.

“Your daughter,” Lilly responded.

“Corrie? What has she done now?”

Lilly shook her head. “My apologies, sir, I meant your eldest daughter, Kaitlyn.”

“What about Kaitlyn?” William asked.

“She adopted me, you see, and—“ Lilly began.

“Adopted you? I had no knowledge of this,” William replied nearly spilling his drink as he set it on a nearby table.

“She found me when I was an orphan. Took me in, cared for me, gave me everything I could ever hope for,” Lilly explained as a tear came to her eye, “even helped me walk again.” “Kaitlyn did all this for you?” “She did so much for the entire Smuggler’s Moon, Mr. Ypres,” Lilly replied.

“Please, call me William. You’re practically family.”

“Perhaps I am,” Lilly said. “I think you know why I am here.”

William felt the old anger, the old sadness, the old grief, return. He nodded and motioned for Lilly to continue. “If this has to do with her death it’d better be good. My investigators are stumped. Do you know something?”

Lilly nodded her head. “I talked with the police officer who took the shot that ended Drexel’s life. He said that he thought one of his superiors had been paid off by someone powerful. Powerful enough to delay the response time of the team.”

“Paid off? This is getting more outrageous by the minute,” William said.

“Corruption runs deep on the Vertical City. It’s almost a profession,” Lilly responded.

“Go on,” William said.

“My own team of private investigators followed the money. It was hard, at first, as it went through Hutt space and through several side businesses before seemingly dead ending,” Lilly explained.

"Yes, my own investigation turned up something similar,” William admitted.

“Except I didn’t give up. Call it something I learned from Kaitlyn. I knew that something was wrong about the money trail. Something was dead wrong. That’s when my team had a breakthrough. They were able to keep digging and what they discovered,” Lilly stopped and wiped the tears that were now coming down her face, “is terrible.”

William leaned forward and put a hand on Lilly’s shoulder. “What did they discover?”

“The very family that Kaitlyn married into,” Lilly said through tears, “took her life.”

William felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. Never in a million years would he have suspected that the Vehn family would kill one of their own, his own flesh and blood, his daughter, Kaitlyn.

“I’m so sorry I had to tell you this, I had to speak with someone!” Lilly moaned.

“You did the right thing,” William weakly responded, “you did the right thing.”

That left only one option and it did not set well at all with William Ypres, founder of the Ypres Initiative, owner of the Druckenwell Marksmen, and patriarch to one of the most powerful families on Druckenwell. The Vehn family had to be brought to justice for what they did to his daughter. William picked up his comm. link and knew what he had to say.

“Call the Council together,” he ordered.

“Sir?” the voice on the other line asked.

“We’re going to war,” William responded.

 

The secret is out! And now we're headed to war!

 

It. Is. ON.

And the Triestes could easily get stuck in the middle. I am so excited by this.

 

​

Flagship Rowena

Orbital Shipyards, Roon

The Gathering

“Gentlebeings and ladies, war has come to our borders,” President Eleanor Vehn announced to a crowded conference room filled with dignitaries from the old member worlds of the RTO who had sworn allegiance to her cause.


“I did not ask for this war. I did not provoke this war. No, that was done by someone who masquerades as a Vehn on Nar Shaddaa. That was done by a frightened little girl who discovered a truth that I will not hide from you. A truth that I will not step away from and a truth for which I take full responsibility. Many of you know that I loved Kaitlyn Vehn dearly. Many of you also know that Kaitlyn Vehn came from the very power-hungry family that now threatens to destroy us. Had Kaitlyn lived we would have an even greater conflict with our neighbors, specifically, the Hutts. Evidence has come to light that Kaitlyn Vehn’s hard earned reforms on Nar Shaddaa nearly broke the back of an alliance that has saved millions of lives since its conception in the aftermath of the RTO Civil War. She was deemed an enemy of the state and was dealt with accordingly. Many of you in this room voted to have Kaitlyn removed from power when she was Chairman of the RTO. I ask that those same people, those same strong voices, stand with me today in recognition of the woman and in condemnation of the woman’s politics.”

“Here, here!” Voices cried out as they pounded the table in support of Eleanor’s speech.

“Now we truly find ourselves in the snake pit. Now we find ourselves with our backs against the wall. Our trade deal with the Republic is gone. Our alliance with the Hutts is limited to one of economics. Believe me, I’ve tried to get them to help us out militarily but they refuse. They are waiting to see which family emerges victorious in the coming struggle. They are waiting to see how the great struggle of our time will be decided. I am tired of waiting. I am tired of allowing others to make the first move. And that is why today I am asking the former Tribunes of the RTO to join with me in creating a new union, a stronger union, one born of common purpose, one born of common currency, one born of common beliefs, to help not only ourselves but future generations to come.

“Today I stand before you as your leader, as your friend, as a woman who has been many things to many people. I promise you that my dedication, my heart, my soul, belongs with Roon, belongs with you, and that is why I am asking you to stand with me and help me create something new from something borrowed, from something old, out of the blue. Today we make history. Today I am calling for a vote to officially organize a new central government. A government for the people, a government for our way of life, a government for all, a union of member worlds, stronger, united, into a singular entity: the Roon Federation.

“We shall have a Senate. We shall have courts. We shall have a unified and indisputable constitution of the people: the Roon Charter. From this day forward we shall have an understanding that the central government and the member worlds have an unbreakable bond. Never again shall we have a collapse like what destroyed the RTO. Never again shall we have a fragile alliance built upon the false bonds of friendship and economic cooperation. We are a federation. We are a union of beings who see that together we can be stronger. Together we can build a beautiful future. Together we can overcome all.”

The conference room erupted in cheers and applause. Everyone in that room knew that Eleanor had learned from the mistakes of the RTO. She’d learned why that economic union had collapsed. She’d learned what had gone wrong. Now that was behind them. Now they could move forward as one people, one voice, stronger, together.

“Are you with me?” Eleanor asked the crowd.

“We are with you!” The crowd roared in response.

“All in favor?”

“Aye!” Came a chorus of voices.

The Roon Federation was born and with it the hopes of a people were lifted once more even as the threat of war loomed and even as the very political landscape of the galaxy was reshaped in the blink of an eye.

---

Twenty minutes later



“Rowena, that’s a beautiful name,” remarked the former Tribune of Rothana, Sam Cullen as he looked about the flagship of the Roon Navy.

“It was my mother’s,” Eleanor replied as they shared a drink and looked out the window at the beautiful world of Roon down below.

“This ship is old,” Sam remarked.

“One of the oldest in the fleet. I believe she served in the Lannik campaigns of 264-265, the skirmishes with the Hutts in 267, the RTO Civil War of 271-272…” Eleanor said offhandedly.

“She’s seen a lot of action,” Sam said.

“Has the scars to prove it,” Eleanor replied.

“So why have you brought me here?” Sam asked.

“You have experience that I lack. You have a personality that challenges mine. You have vision that I often mistake for idealization. I need a right-hand man, Sam,” Eleanor said.

“You’re not suggesting,” Sam started to say as Eleanor nodded.

“I am and I need you to accept. The fringe planets respect you. If this federation is to work it is going to require a union of people who come from different political backgrounds,” Eleanor added.

“You know that I voted to have the RTO shut down, right?” Sam said.

“I know. That is why I am picking you to work with me. It sends a good message to the people,” Eleanor replied.

“I don’t like your family.”

“Fine.”

“I don’t like your politics.”

“Fine.”

"You know I could take you out if I wanted to," Sam suggested.

"I'd like to see you try," Eleanore replied.

“But I’ll be damned, Eleanor, I like the way you lead, I like the way you bring people together, and I like the way you are able to work across the aisle,” Sam said.

“So what do you say?” Eleanor asked.

Sam finished his drink and extended his hand, “When can I start?”

“Welcome to the Roon Federation, Mr. Vice President.”

 

I think Eleanor forgot to mention a very central truth in her opening part there.

 

I'll have to rectify that in a future speech

 

I thought she was just engaging in some very clever screening of her real actions!

 

​

Tesserone, Roon

Eleanor may have been President of the Roon Federation, she may have been Senator of the Republic or a Queen of the Naboo, but deep down she was an avid gardener who enjoyed the beautiful moments that so often availed themselves to her in the gardens of her family home of Tesserone. Here she knew peace and quiet. Here underneath the comforting warmth of the sun she could break away from the busy demands of the coalition she now commanded. Here nothing, not even the coming war, could bother her as she plunged her hands into the soil and worked the earth, worked the ground, breathed the freshness of summer soil, the crispness of summer air and watched in delight as hawks soared high overhead looking for prey: the eternal hunt.


A shadow suddenly fell over Eleanor. She looked up, raising a hand to block out the sun, and saw that it was her younger brother Austin. He was a year younger than she. They had been close and had always kept in touch. No matter what was going on in their lives they could pick up a conversation and go with it allowing the words and feelings to take them anywhere they wanted to go.



“Hello, Eleanor,” Austin said as he looked at his older sister in the army uniform of an officer of the Roon Federation.

Eleanor stood and allowed the trowel in her hand to fall away from her.

“What are you doing in that uniform?” Eleanor asked.

“Joining the cause and serving my government,” Austin replied. “War is coming, don’t you know?”

“What are you thinking, Austin? Did you even bother to talk to Mom, or Dad, or even me about this decision of yours?”

“I didn’t realize I needed to check in with you, big sis,” Austin replied.

“Well you frakking should!” Eleanor roared as she tore off her gloves and headed back in to the family house with Austin hot on her heels. “I could stop you, you know!”

“Don’t you pull the executive order sithspit with me!” Austin shouted. “I want to serve. I want to do something meaningful. You always went and did things for this family, Eleanor. Well, now it’s my turn. Now is my chance. Can’t you understand that?”

Eleanor stopped on the porch and spun around to face Austin. She looked him in the eyes. Suddenly saw how much he’d grown up. Suddenly saw a man standing before her. Not her little brother. Not that annoying brother that always pulled pranks on her as a kid. The one who some corners of the family whispered as trouble. No, Austin was standing her as an inducted officer of the Roon Federation, her government, a man that she would have to send into battle soon. Frak, this was all wrong. This was not what she intended.

“Austin, please reconsider,” Eleanor pleaded, her voice softening.

“You have spent your entire life making a difference, Eleanor. Everywhere you go people love you, people worship you, and I want that same feeling. I want people to remember me. I want people to remember that I too made a difference. You’re not the only Vehn in this family,” Austin said.

Eleanor looked away and fought back something snarky. Austin had a point. She’d carried the Vehn name like a heavy burden ever since she could remember. She was the last of her line, well, not anymore with Kaitlyn’s son Jack living on Tesserone and going to school in the rural community nearby. But Austin, her younger brother, the man asking to serve in the coming fight, it was nearly too much.

“This isn’t going to be an easy fight, Austin,” Eleanor said, “I’m mobilizing our forces this week. I,” she stopped to gather her thoughts as birds chirped in the trees nearby, so beautiful, so unaware of the coming conflict, “what am I going to tell Mama if you go and get yourself killed? How will I live with myself knowing I sent my own brother to his death?”

“I’m not going to die, Eleanor,” Austin firmly stated.

“You can’t promise us that. You can’t promise me that. Frak, Austin, I will have you assigned to some supply depot if you force me to,” Eleanor said.

“No, Eleanor, you won’t. Not this time. The 1st Roon Division is ready to go. We’re well trained, well supplied, and nothing is going to stop us. I can’t be reassigned now. My men need me,” Austin replied.

Eleanor looked down at the deck and allowed the imperfections of the boards to soak into her very being. She loved this ranch. She loved Roon. She loved her brother Austin even more. Damn he could be stubborn just like she was.

“I won’t stop you then,” Eleanor said, “I can see how much this means to you.”

“Thank you, Eleanor,” Austin replied.

“There’s just one thing,” Eleanor said.

“Yeah?”

“You go on inside and you tell Mama what you’ve done. You look her right in the eye and you tell her that this was your decision and I had no part in it. Don’t you make promises like you’re not going to die. She won’t fall for that. She isn’t an idiot. You tell her the truth, Austin, you tell her the truth,” Eleanor said pointing toward the screen door that led to the kitchen.

“I will, Eleanor. For you,” Austin said as he walked up the steps of the Vehn family porch and into the kitchen.

Eleanor watched as Austin and Verity’s silhouettes stood out from the kitchen interior. She couldn’t hear what was being said but her mother’s body language was clear as she suddenly clutched her stomach and lowered her head, shaking it again and again. Tears were coming now, Eleanor was sure. The hardest tears, Eleanor feared, were yet to come. She saw them embrace and then Verity left to go to her bedroom. It was all too much. This was all too much.

Austin was on the porch again. He was only a few feet away. He was so close. Eleanor wasn’t sure what to say but he spoke first in that calm, unassuming voice, “I love you, Eleanor.”
Eleanor felt her own tears coming now. She tried to put on a brave face but it was hard, real hard.

“Come here, damn you,” Eleanor cursed as she drew her brother in for a hug. She held him tight. She never wanted to let him go.

“I’ll be just fine,” Austin whispered in her ear.

“You come back safe to us,” Eleanor replied as she gave one more squeeze.

“I will.”

Austin was about to get into his speeder when Eleanor yelled, “Austin!”

“Yeah?”

“I love you too,” Eleanor called out.

Austin gave a wave and guided the speeder out of the family home leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

And just like that Austin was gone.

Two weeks later the Vehn and Ypres family formally went to war with one another and as one scholar noted,

“The lights are going out all over the old RTO and I doubt we will see them go on again in our lifetime.”

Tag:jcgoble3,Trieste,CPL_Macja

 

He's most definitely a Vehn...but I'll be darned if he didn't get his looks from his dad.

 

So true He got the looks from his daddy-o alright.

 

I half expected Eleanor's secret passion to be singing

Sent from a Galaxy far away via my comlink

 

LOL! I've often thought of using that Pitch Perfect song...

 

​

Border Space

For weeks now the aging frigate Tawntoom had been operating at silent running in the depths of space behind the unofficially recognized border that separated Federation territory from that of Druckenwell. Communications with Roon had been sparse as they’d only sent transmissions from relatively safe communication zones in the dark abyss between worlds and systems. They couldn’t afford to be caught. Not now. And so they slipped in and out of nebulas, across abandoned shipping lanes, and dwelled on the far side of planets to mask their presence. Their mission was simple: recon the Druckenwellian navy and report numbers and strengths to command back on Nime.

“Contact! Bearing 275, four klicks, speed ahead full,” a voice whispered in the cramped bridge.

Captain James Hawkes, younger brother to Eleanor’s husband Rowan, pressed his eye to the targeting computer and zoomed in on the location. A hint of sunlight from a nearby star illuminated the Druckenwellian cruiser as it steamed ahead, unaware that it was falling into a deadly trap. The size of the frigate was modest and the blaze from the engines told Hawkes everything he needed to know about the mood of the captain. They were going somewhere in a hurry and they didn’t care that they could be easily observed.

“Torpedoes loaded?” Hawkes asked his gunner.

“Hot and ready to trot, sir,” came the reply.

“Bring us in nice and slow, nothing quick. Keep the darkness around us, I don’t want us being seen,” Hawkes said as the lighting on the bridge changed from a piercing white to a soothing red.

“Aye, Captain, ahead slow.”

Tawntoom lumbered forward out of the darkness heading in a perpendicular attack to the course of the Druckenwellian frigate. She easily closed the distance and was soon within acceptable firing range.

“Firing solution locked in,” the gunner announced.

“Taking over firing control,” Hawkes replied as his fingers slipped across the firing mechanism.

“Captain has control of the weapons.”

“Keep her steady,” Hawkes whispered.

Hawkes smiled as his targeting computer gave him the go ahead. Everything was ready. Everything was good. Calculations looked correct. It was time. The Druckenwellian cruiser was nearly dead to rights. Just a few more seconds. Sweat beaded down his forehead and his heart raced in his chest. He refused to let his fingers twitch. No, right now he needed his aim to be true, to be solid, one solid spread of torpedoes, that’s all it would take. He could almost see the fireworks now. The cruiser slipped right into place on his screen and with a smile Hawkes depressed the trigger.

“Torpedoes away!”

Tawntoom lurched as the torpedoes roared out of their tubes and into the depths of space. Fiery trails marked their course as the crew of the Tawntoom held their breath in nervous anticipation.

“Torpeodes closing, three hundred meters, one hundred fifty,” his gunner called out.

“Come on, come on,” Hawkes whispered as the commander of the Druckenwellian frigate had just now discovered that he was under attack and was slowly bringing his vessel to bear on the Tawntoom. Flares and countermeasures started to flood off the port bow of the Druckenwellian frigate. Hawkes was sure that the torpedoes were locked in. There was no shaking their aim. There was no shaking their resolve. There was only death.

Hawkes lost sight of the torpedo trails for a second. He was concerned that perhaps the countermeasures had worked. Then his eyes stung as enormous flashes of light and debris flooded the bridge as the Druckenwellian frigate was hit hard, its keel shattered in two, bodies and supplies flinging into space for thousands of meters in every direction.

“That’s a kill,” Hawkes said as his crew roared in approval. He exchanged handshakes with his fellow officers. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Transmission from High Command, Captain.”

Hawkes stopped celebrating as he read off the message on his datapad. His face fell as he looked back toward the remnants of the Druckenwellian frigate. He turned to address the crew.

“As of this moment,” James announced, “the Roon Federation and Druckenwell are officially at war.”

“XO, how many beings were aboard that frigate?”

“375 souls, sir.”

Rowan lowered his datapad and turned off the targeting computer.

“Captain, what’s wrong?” His XO asked.

“Our fight, gentlemen, has only just begun,” Hawkes replied as he collapsed into his command chair. “We’re fighting for survival now. We’re fighting for our way of life. Maker help us all.”

 

Was it preemptive warfare by the Federation or a carefully timed plan to hit Druckenwell just at the formal outbreak of hostilities?