Before - Legends The Sith Hunters - 7/22/16 - September 15, 2016....

The answer, Delight, is........
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Blockade Minus One Day

No sooner had the Lady Angelleia had ended her call with the Palace of Theed the employees of Rapier Technologies began receiving instant memos at their stations or they answered messages waiting for them in their electronic message boxes. Depending on the department the messages varied but they had a common theme at the end: leave Naboo immediately, with all haste. There was no explanation as to why, but the people that have longed worked for the company had learned to trust the word of their employer, especially during the Lean Years.

The Port of Theed was the only spaceport on the planet Naboo; only the privileged had private hangers. The ports had immediate public transportation that could accommodate daily traffic, and some vessels for rent. On this day the port was suddenly overrun by reservations and last second demands for departure. No one cared where they were going, but the lot of them from the providence of Ioessia, nearly all of them, just wanted to leave Naboo.

By the following day, relief came to public transport as hired ships, hired by Lady Juna Angelleia, arrived to ferry more of the people she wanted to leave. Yet in spite of the surge of sudden public transport usage, especially from one providence of people, not many of the people paid any attention; few outside the influence of the Thorn Party did. Some in powerful circles just scratched their heads as one of the justices from Theed took his sudden leave without saying why, a few lowly employees of the Royal Nubian Library that have worked there for years left, and some others of note just vanished along with their private yachts.

The Governor of Theed, Sio Bibble, had received a message from an old friend on the same day the hired ships arrived. It was rather unique and antique in its ways: a simple paper note, baring the modern crest of the Rapier Clan Dynasty, sealed in black wax with the imprint of a rose flower. He opened it quickly and read the short note in haste: ?Old friend, stretch your legs: it?s time to run! Leave Naboo: we?re about to have uninvited guests - Juna, Terese, and Jarah?.

The combined message from Juna Angelleia, Terese and Jarah Landana stiffened the old man and in a bad way. Sio knew the three women very well, and knew them to be wise and serious. This was no joke. Something was amidst and he began to call out to old friends first; until he was certain, he didn?t want to cause too many waves in the new Royal Court. Sio Bibble discovered that many acquaintances of the past, those closely connected to the reign of Queen Angelleia, had unexpectedly left. In their wake were simple messages with no hints of where they were going. He tried one last individual, Miss Weena Welchrest, but found out she had been fired by the Naboo Division of the HoloNet News System. Miss Weena had just recently become senior political analyst director, but unbeknownst to Sio she had been fired because Weena wanted to report about the military buildup occurring at Keterbawn. His first thought was that she was fired because she was Lady Angelleia?s friend and a member of the Thorn Party.

With all the sudden movements of old friends Sio nearly took up the offered advice of the three women. At the same time he had sworn an oath to the current Queen of Naboo; he had to stay by her side, as he would have for the three that had sent him the note, the three he treasured so. Still, he was not going to remain silent on this: he would show Queen Amidala the note, and ask her to find out why there was such uproar of departures from Naboo.

Eventually, Sio?s barnstorming had managed to reach another old mutual friend of his and Lady Angelleia?s: Royal Captain Ric Olie, the Queen?s pilot and leader of Bravo Squadron. When he was much younger Ric had flown under the commands of Angelleia and the late Les Archer. Though not buddies, or even mutual friends, Sio could always get Ric?s attention when necessary; Ric took his duty seriously.

 

Ah. Happy Smile.

Nice interaction about Bibble and Olie.

Now, Dragon Leader, it's been a while! A good thing that she did too, to get her people off Naboo urgently.

Counter-attack!

 

Thank you, Delight. Unfortunately, the before mentioned 'lost mega battle' was given up immediately AFTER that last passage.

I no longer have it saved anywhere, but here was the guts of it: some Rapier Tech people remained behind at the company making sure the transfer of data and secrets were completed. The Trade Federation invades the factory, and so the workers used every bit of technology there to at the very least hold off the attack; one remains so the others could escape; the escapees flee to Rapier Manor and fight to an American Alamo end. Why it didn't work was the length: the end would come just as Queen Amidala and the Jedi returned to save Naboo. It just didn't work with the initial flow.

HOWEVER, part of the idea did survive in a interesting way. But that isn't until later on.....

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The Blockade

When the thirtieth Trade Federation arrived it did not have a moment to orbit Keterbawn as the others did. It had come straight away from Cato Neimoidia, the Hoersch- Kessel Drive heavy freighter converted into a battleship like the rest of them, carrying over five hundred Multi-Troop Transports, six thousand Armored Assault Tanks, fifteen hundred troop carriers, fifty C-9979 landing craft and fifteen hundred droid starfighters as did all the others. It was different for it was the command ship of the fleet, and the Droid Command Ship that would remain in orbit once the invasion of Naboo was complete. For all the Nubians did know once the ships arrived, it was just a strong-arming political tactic. The Neimoidian Viceroy Nute Gunray and his associates knew better well in advance, long before he had began any discussion with the new Queen of Naboo about Keterbawn.

The Trade Federation did not need Darth Sidious to tell them where to launch the assault. The former King of Naboo had given his friend Hidu Bog information on Naboo?s planetary system defenses; he pointed out how weak Naboo was on its boundary facing the Keterbawn System. Lord Tomas Krendel Veruna and his kin had long ago moved from Naboo, fearing no retribution for his actions whether the Trade Federation succeeded or not. Unfortunately no one would ever learn of this betrayal. As far as Lord Veruna was concern, given his popular ouster, the people he once served could just suffer and die.

The weakness Lord Veruna exposed allowed the Trade Federation also to exit out of hyperspace deep in the Nubian System. They emerged from hyperspace at the same time, just over a million miles above Naboo?s relative surface and many light years past the planet?s advance warning sensor system. The command ship issued the deployment orders and began to execute Darth Sidious? plan; within the next ten days the invasion of Naboo would commence.

Darth Sidious of course expected the Trade Federation to not fully obey him; the Sith Master counted on it. The Trade Federation knew what to do in the invasion, which also included their own interests and for some personal gain. One of them was Hidu Bog, and he wanted a pound of Rapier flesh and more than a googlebyte of their technological infrastructure.

The official time of the blockade lasted all of two days. The Jedi had come, forcing Darth Sidious to play his Trade Federation hand. The majority of the carrier ships landed in the equatorial areas of Naboo in order to take it north and south. Lost in the sudden chaos was the detachment of several carrier ships landing in the north, beyond the Kales Land. The northern border of Ioessia was laid vulnerable; the initial target was only thirty miles away.
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TBC


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GESSAPEDIA -

- King Veruna is mentioned on StarWars.com as Queen Amidala's predecessor, but the young man born as Tomas Krendel made his first appearance in 'The Fading Light: Episode Two: The Krayt Dragon'. Prince Tomas Krendel, the son of Rapier rival Pirus Krendel, was the Royal Second to Queen Angel

 

Good stuff. I am enjoying this mode of writing.

Googlebyte!

 

Thanks, Delight, more of it coming tomorrow.

I was hoping folks would want to catch up, but that's okay.

Pretty much the style does move things along, but eventually at some point its broader context must be explained. It will be in the main body of the story, but not here in the prologues.

Until tomorrow......

?Like a Padawan Learner fumbling with a bra strap, they went up against an impossible task."

-- Naressa Rapier, The Sith Maiden Chapter 48.

@)>----'-----`----,----

 

The Invasion

Four hovering transports cut through the frosty entanglements of the Great Northfarthing Forest. It was just past the spring equinox; very little snow was left on the ground. The temperatures were above normal. Not even natural would hamper the progress of the Trade Federation droid army in this region. It was a matter of the unexpected, of breeching the security of the underground facility that was Rapier Technologies that worried the masters high above the planet?s surface.

The transports came to a slowing halt when they breeched the huge clearing before them that was surrounded by the rest of the forest save for the road in and out of the clearing. A small business complex rested in the middle as the main entrance to the factories and laboratories located underground; a quiet building yet imposing with its metallic black architectural design going against the natural scene about it. Statues of dark metal instead of brick and mortar were so sculpted nonetheless in the classic designs often found in the planet?s capital, Theed; of men and of women who had run the company; tall in splendor, great in grace.

Instead of launching the battle droids, the transports unleashed the Droidekas, the main destroyer droids of the Trade Federation ground arsenal for this invasion in general. The forty Droidekas, ten from each transport, rolled quickly for the glass front doors, smashing through them in groups of four, and then unrolling. They were dead ringers in shape to their manufactures, the Colicoids of Colla IV, but of course those insect-like creatures and Trade Federation allies did not roll to get somewhere, and did not sport heavy rapid fire blaster cannons on their arms. There were more of these Droidekas, brought along to augment the strength of the battle droids and to match any possible Jedi involvement that may intervene. They would serve such a latter purpose, in the halls of such a dangerous, as in unknown, place of industry. One from each group had special purposes, weaponless and shield-less, their memory banks and programs designed to infiltrate not buildings but computer cores, terminals, small processors and hand held devices. These were the Drainers, and once deep in Rapier Technologies their purpose would be unleashed.

The Droidekas secured the office floors of the building, finding no one, finding no threats, and finding nothing for the Drainers to access -- not even a hand held device. The groups made their way to the factory entrance, rolling down the steep slope, over and around the locked in ascenders the employees used to descend to the factory floor. The lower blast doors were not closed. Access to the factory was relatively easy.

The factory was as cavernous as the clearing above it betrayed it to be; a smooth wall and ceiling with a primary floor area for mass assemblies with room to reconfigure or add more or new assembly lines for products. The primary floor was surrounded by both automations and manual machinery which both required a Human presence to run and maintain them; Rapier Technologies was that rare company, and ironically given its state of business, that used living entities to do most -- nearly all -- the work. Even during the Lean Years, when many had to be laid off, Lady Angelleia refused to replace them with automation, and slowly she had brought them back. Upon the entrance of the factory was a saying of one of her Rapier ancestors: ?People Need Work!?

The factory still had power going through its wiring, so one of the Drainers activated the ascenders in order for a contingent of Battle Droids to follow them. The Droidekas would secure an area, and the data hungry Drainers would roll in on their wake digitally dying of information thirst! There was no quenching the Drainers, nor appeasing their handlers high above the planet surface. No terminal contained information on the factory floor, and the laboratories and the brainstorming room yielded nothing. There were bare areas on the floor, of equipment obviously taken of high value. There were much

 

Update on the TSH website: what is 'The Game'?

Don't forget to check out EVERYTHING about Project Wettlespear, and just as importantly a snippet of Drade's Bargain.

Remember: check out EVERYTHING!

MORE FORWARD!

 

The Taking of Rapier Manor

To the south the droid army went, with their masters trailing far away as cowards usually did, even with Bog?s unnatural anger. Even if Rapier Technologies was taken without much of a fight it did not mean the great home of the Rapier Clan Dynasty was going to be so easy. Lord Tomas Veruna had warned them that a great share of the statues and monuments on the grounds of Rapier Manor were actually droids made of Saberhide; they became animate when the Head of Household was threatened or removed from the home. That was one foreseeable instance, but that left the Neimoidians to think of a thousand more. The mansion was just so big and held too many secrets; a danger that was ironically too succulent to pass up.

The Droidekas charged through the open gateway of the outer walls and rolled hard for the massive front doors of the mansion of hard wood and dark splendor. All was quiet before the Destroyers had taken the lawn. There were many more of them this time, enough to surround the grounds and all of them engaging every known exit out of Rapier Manor, including the Garden of Mazes. They blasted through the doors, causing cascades of heavy wood to fall dangerous around them; pieces huge enough to compromise a few energy shields and destroy Droidekas. Their audio sensors did not detect a hint of worried voices, of shocked people, but regardless the Destroyers invaded the great halls of Rapier Manor.

It would be many hours before Hidu Bog and Cus Tadlan had arrived to view Rapier Manor by the gates in their open air battle chariot. In those hours Destroyers and the Battle Droids from their Baktoid Combat Automata searched the floors, the rooms, the hidden places used and long forgotten even by the occupants of the ever too large home. The Hanger Bay below the Manor held no ships; the collection of high class speeders were missing; the most treasured of treasures were gone; no one was around to explain anything and tell of nothing. The Drainers had just as much luck as they did at Rapier Technologies, however much of the house that was once meant to be the new Royal Palace of one of the last Kings of Naboo was still not completely explored. There were so many lockouts in the data banks it gave hint to many secrets still to be uncovered. They were still scouring every inch and every byte when their masters decided to enter the great home of the Rapiers, the richest Humans in the galaxy; such a thing always drove Bog?s curiosity.

As it was with the factory it had been an age since Bog had stepped foot in Rapier Manor. In those days of the Senatorial reign of Bendian Rapier -- and indeed he ruled without being the Supreme Chancellor -- many parties were thrown and many enemies came upon his invitation. Much had changed in that time; Rapier Manor had been rebuilt from the attack upon it by the leaders of the Vhinech years ago, and parties had become a thing of the past.

?So much changed, yet not so much,? was Bog?s introspective statement. The taller halls of the ground floor took him back as would any trinket would of memory. ?This place has not lost its splendor, or perhaps there is no one around to ruin it.?

?So much?.wood?? was Tadlan?s observation. ?Who would think, after the rebuild, they would go back to wood. Humans are so sensitive to nature. These Rapiers were clearly not.?

?I keep my admirations for them short,? was Bog?s response. They strolled towards the middle of the Manor; a long walk to the Walls of Vision. ?I believe even as a weakness they understood the purpose of natural resources better than anyone. Wood and simple stone and fundamental ores; in its grandeur, they built it on the cheap!?

Tadlan laughed at the thought. ?Not so rich then, were they??

?Oh, on that I do not laugh about. They are still a threat to us and to all economies. Humans had never been this rich before, and Bendian Rapier made them more so. But his wife?? Bog shook his head in business disgust. ?Women should not have such power to become more powerful. In his death, she made her b

 

Ah, such petty spite. Why leave only the monuments? Why not tear all of it down, Hidu Bog?

Love the roses.

Wait... Dizzy??!!

 

Delight: LOL! Petty spite?!? They just 'Wizard the Ozed' a mega mansion!

Kidding aside, I just got the idea of doing this by just saying 'taking'. I'm like they take Rapier Manor...NO, they 'take' Rapier Manor. They actually take the thing: how screwed up and vindictive can that be. Out of vengeance Bog does it, but there is another reason..........

The leaving of the monuments: Oddly, from somewhere out in left field, I was inspired to do it based on the Roanoke Colony mystery. I just took that main element and inverse it, and in the previous post establish that Bog knows about that Head of Household pendant and knows if he chances removing it, he may set off something he'll regret. Not to chance, he leaves those monuments and memorials alone. He can proudly, if he dares to, pound his chest and say 'I proved I could take what I wanted'. But later on you'll see he can't boast loudly about what he had done, and again he had another reason............

And so, you will see now, does the Sith........ a familiar passage......

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The Wave Washing Away the Sand Writings

It was evening, the eighth day of the Trade Federation?s occupation, and the situation had not lessened to any degree to the inhabitants of Naboo. Most were sequestered in their own homes, but the cities, and in particular the political prisoners, were held in make shift detention camps oversaw by legions of well armed battle droids. It did not matter where one was imprisoned, for they were prisoners and they suffered the indignity of lost freedom and the pains of starvation equally. The Trade Federation had no soldiers to feed, but the food supplies and surpluses were wiped out, and those housed in their homes only had what was in their stores; after that, they would have nothing. This was the tactics of not just the Trade Federation; the Sith needed the dire straits to force the hand of the Queen of Naboo, and it had finally succeeded.

The detention camps were far better than the Palace of Theed to Terra Mirdaduine now. She was plucked from Detention Center A-4 and treated unexpectedly harsh by the battle droids; normally they just provided armed escort, and those who did not comply were just shot, to which many were. The droids? hands acted as clamps to her arms and they escorted her to the once magnificent home of Nubian Royalty. Somehow, be it day or night, it held no comforting luster to any Nubian. On this night the thought of it just caused the young woman to shiver and forget her hunger and her weakened body.

The droids took the prisoner not upstairs where Nute Gunray presided, but in the lower levels which very few had seen. The old rooms of the Palace were evil as a mystery, to which many did not seem hell bent to view them. There was nothing down there, in the old dungeons of the lost memories. It did not make the situation any warmer.

The droids reached a door, opened it, and shoved Terra in. The door closed with an electronic sound. The room was very dark, poorly lit by thin wafers of low wattage illuminators. There was a terrible smell in the cell. She thought her imagination, driven by the madness of hunger and despair, proved her mental undoing as her eyes could make out what she thought to be bodies.

The bodies were real. So was the Sith Lord behind her, turning her around with a slow hiss from his mouth. Terra let out a yelp, but was held still with tremendous fear. She could only see a face, a face of very little red, frowning with great evil, beset with glowing yellow eyes that barely shined brighter than the illuminators in the room. It did not comforter Terra to know this.

A voice of dread, Lord Darth Maul said in demand, ?Woman, I know who you are, and I only want one answer from you. Did you speak to the Lady Angelleia.?

It was not a question: it was a demand. Terra did not imagine a question mark at the end of t

 

Oh, I didn't think Terra had a chance. Great updates, Casper.

 

Ah. Take. Yes. I understand now.

Good update. Good to see Maul, doing what he does best, namely mauling. Hi Maul!

 

Sara: Thanks! In the main story it is explained in greater detail what exactly the Sith are hiding, and how it affected the invasion of Naboo before the invasion. It's once again taking the turkey the original storyteller gives you and making a good turkey sandwich. Hmmmmmmmm....turkey.

Not that SW is a turkey, mind you.....

Turkey, turkey, turkey, turkey! (It's Thanksgiving in the States, so bare with me.)


Delight: It's such a joy to write about Darth Maul, and having done it for two stories I found it wasn't enough. Unfortunately I didn't do enough with him here. I'm having the same hard time with another Sith Lord in the main body of the story, but that's just the way everything flows to a point at the end.

So far, it's becoming that connecting piece TDH was, where it took the past and connected it to a broader story, so in sense everything is coming full circle.

One of the things I wanted to establish early was Hidu Bog's involvement in things as it related to the Invasion, but not tell the whole story of it until much later in the main body. Bog did more for the Trade Federation than Nute Gunray could have ever done, but its Gunray that gets Viceroy, it's Gunray that gets the attention of the Sith: all of this because Bog made a deal with the Devil......

So Bog took Hell in the hope of finding the Devil's secrets.

And now, a simple conclusion to Prologue Two

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The Tides Roll Out

Far away, in the capital of the Republic, Darth Sidious had rid himself of his Sithian dressings and concealed his secret transmitter back inside the sofa of his living quarters. Undoubtedly he would need them again very soon, but matters were moving quickly now. He finished his storing when the privacy field blanketing his door flashed to indicate someone was on the other side desiring to see him. Or rather, they had desired to see Senator Palpatine of Naboo. Sidious could guess what this was about, but it would not be a guess. He knew all ready, he knew everything.

Straightening his clothing, Palpatine approached the field and shut it down; the energy vanished to reveal a doorway with windows clear enough to see through. On the other side were administrative assistants to the Supreme Chancellor. They were unaware of who he was, but that was going to change. In fact they would not be appalled by the admission. They would welcome it, with charitable arms.

The doors opened and the lead assistant said with a smile, ?Senator, the Senior Membership has spoken. You have won.?

Faking surprise, Palpatine let his mouth open. He spoke as if out of breath. ?Oh, this is very good news! Very good!?

The assistants strolled in and stood at ready as the lead assistant continued. ?The ?official? vote?? and he smiled and winked at the notion ?will take place shortly and therefore the candidates must be present in the Senate chamber. You, on the other hand, will be presented on the raising dais of the Chancellor?s podium. You also have to do some formalities with Chancellor Valorum?.?

Palpatine only nodded his head and smiled gleefully as he listened to every formality. Of course there was always a secret vote in the Senate to appoint the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, there always has been; it was done by the Senior Membership, a collection of very powerful Senators that nearly always lead the debate and dictate the voting; the vote people see is just for show, mere procedure. In the past too many would-be Chancellors were presented victory like Palpatine, only to be made to look like a fool when the real vote took place on the floor. Over the years the Senior Membership had changed it in order to ensure the true Chancellor?s appointment long before the public vote was to take place. That way there was no way the appointed would be made to look like a smiling fool in front of trillions if the Senate had changed its mind. This technique was to save the face of the Senate as well, for there were a few who were voted Supreme Chancellor and had

 

Good, good. Nice bit of character story there.

 

Thanks, Delight!

Since the bulk of characters in the Prologues won't get much face time in the main story, it's important to figure in their significance and how they ultimately affect the Gessa Saga, and even the SW Saga itself. Bog's selfish act does not affect him right away as much as Nute Gunray's actions on Naboo do, but we all know nothing happens to Gunray.

However, in RL when you have this and that happen, there's always some other tangent to it that is either a distraction or its rather significant; sometimes it's a little of both. It's a unforeseen complication for Darth Sidious: it's called Project Wettlespear......

FORWARNED!

 

Prologue Three will probably begin tomorrow, but for the interested, a new addition to 'The Game' page:

....In Your Seat!

Poppy the tire!

 

Interesting capture into Palpatines thoughts. Great update, Casper.

 

Thanks, Sara. A little taste of Palpatine goes a long....way......

Oh snorts, that didn't come out right! BAD DOBBY! BAD! BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Speaking of Palpatine, he does come back up later in this Prologue, and why not: he's slowly becoming more and more central to everything. However, even in the main body of the Sith Hunters, he isn't quite everywhere.

But to get there first, we need to get through the rest.

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THE SITH HUNTERS: PROLOGUE THREE: THE PULPIT BULLIES

Forewarned

This is the Game. This is how it?s played. You play it even if you are not. You are being played like it or not.


Part One: The Excavation of the Privileged Stones
Time Frame: After Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen of The Sith Maiden, fifteen years before The Sith Hunters

The Senate Rotunda, often referred to as the Senate House by the lesser, stood squat but no less grand than the Senatorial office buildings that surrounded its secured perimeter and reflected the sunlight of the new day off its wide dome. It housed just over fifty thousand minds of various aspects when the Senate of the Galactic Republic was in floor session, always in vain attempting to behave with one mind. Unfortunately the great good of the Republic ended outside its many doors, and some would say much further away than even that. A fair critique of reality; the right thing to do was always a dream, or a damn good slogan for an election campaign. Though the building represented ideas the folly of such theory laid in the very foundations of its making, and those of the Republic itself. Always it is forgotten the selfishness of the sentient being.

The Jedi Knight Casper Knightshade was only beginning to understand the puzzle of politics; many Jedi dared not to try, although they were demonstrating some form of it, in some manner. In an air taxi heading for his appointment with Senator Bly Coaxial, he knew what was going to be asked of him, and all the Jedi Council wanted him to do was just answer the questions and sit through the rhetoric that would surely come from an overzealous idealists. Casper saw this as part of his ongoing education in how the galaxy worked, about the difference between fair and unfair, between the truth and the truth perceived by the selfish individual.

The matter before Coaxial, which was a matter of the Jedi, of Casper and of his late Master Ros Ofcheck and the late Enothchild Sarch, had became Coaxial?s election victory; in particular the Rapier Clan Dynasty of Naboo. For the Jedi Order it was a matter of the Force and how it was used by the likes of Naressa Rapier and her daughter Juna, but for the politicians like Coaxial it was all about the rich and the powerful and how evil they all were. It had only been a few months ago that Rapier technology -- created by or subsidized by Rapier Technologies -- had rebelled against the Republic, shutting down key systems and causing great injury and death, but little was known who was really behind such evil. Young Bly Coaxial of Chandiss Prime waited no less than five minutes after the Shut Down of the Republic had ended to blame the Rapiers, the wealthiest Humans in the galaxy, and all of wealth and privilege for causing the Republic?s ills. There were many like Senator Coaxial that used the tactic, and their wins paid tribute to the strategy. The Shut Down was not the lone reason for such a large turnover of representation, but it was the final durasteel beam that broke the people?s back.

Entering secured docking and departing Casper made his presence known to security at Senate House and directed him to Senator Coaxial?s office. Coaxial was new to the Republic Senate but had secured the chairmanship of the Senate Panel on Special Duties and Inquires. That was the testament of his winning strategy, not because Coaxial had any real experience in such affairs as the law or investigating anything. Coaxial wanted the number three committee and his fellow majority freshmen Senators ga

 

FORWARD!

More shortly!

 

Shortly shortly!

It's good to see Knight Knightshade again. I hope his legs are fine. Wait.. he answered that, didn't he?

 

Yup.

And you wonder why Obi-Wan was exasperated about politicians.





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Part Two: The Thorns ? After ?The Phantom Menace?

?It is clear to me now that the Republic no longer functions.?

- Queen Amidala, Episode One

The time known as the Occupation Days was long over. Peace Day was celebrated to inaugurate Unification Day with a parade showing Nubian pride from Human and Gungan alike. They honored the heroes, and more appropriately they had honored the fallen. So many had suffered at the hands of their Neimoidian wardens, and the bravery of the few would not be lost. It was still a joyous day, a great time to be alive and to be a collection of people again.

And then, it was over. After celebration, after peace, real life returned; politics did as well.

The reality of occupation was not just in the numbers of dead but in the ruination of the Royal Nubian States? central nation. The capitol of Naboo now and forever, Theed, had suffered some of the damages of war but the Trade Federation for the most part treated it fairly. The Neimoidians viewed the only major city of the planet as their new home; it did not seem proper to them to spite it since the Nubians were no longer in the city when they controlled it.

The rest of Naboo was a totally different story.

The minor cities, the towns, and the connecting infrastructures were essentially destroyed. Thaneed, in the providence of Ambegion not as grand as Theed but the largest city in the southern hemisphere, was leveled into ruin. The town that bordered the Great Baustus Desert, a small desert that held much of the planet?s battery power sources, was dissected for Trade Federation use. The power system itself and the processing ability to run it were compromised by the installation of Trade Federation software looking for secrets. Many homes had been just as pulverized as Thaneed, in order to eliminate the resistances? hiding places.

The Gungans -- the Deep Nubians -- could only do so much to help their fellow Surface Nubians -- the Humans. The Gungans possessed incredible technology, but the technology was predicated on the environment and such an environment were water based. The best their leader Boss Nass could do was take full responsibility for the cleaning of the waters that had been polluted; Thaneed was inconveniently a costal city and most of it had been blasted into the Seas of Ambeg, feed from the Ocean of Anmora; Otoha Madera the Gungans had called those waters. The Gungans advantage had eliminated only one problem of far too many. And so this was how the old days returned, through the politics of reconstruction.

The rebuilding effort was to be monumental even for such a sparsely populated planet as Naboo. Though the Royal Nubian States were vast and so many offered what they could Queen Amidala in good conscious could not impose a rebuilding tariff upon them. No matter how hard the good people tried in such a short time the young Queen could hardly see a reason to burden the rest. Alas help in funding would come from the Republic, and miraculously it cleared the expected hurdles. This was the fault of the Nubian Senator Dace Palpatine being elected as the new Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. As the Chief Executive of the Galaxy he held the sway of the purse. It was also too perfect, for Trade Federation political blood was now in the frenzied waters. As with the Rapier Clan before them, the Trade Federation became the new icons deserving the honor of the public whipping post. Chancellor Palpatine took the opportunity presented, and rightly so, and could write any blank check he wanted to rebuild Naboo. The Senate would approve without hesitation. All that laid at the feet of Naboo was how to rebuild Naboo, and more importantly who was going to rebuild Naboo.

In this, on Naboo in particular, the clouds formed to signal the end of the new days. Again reality returned; again politics had done so as well.

For such a large rebuilding effort on the scale Naboo faced it either re

 

Hmm. Intriguing. A novel take on post-invasion Naboo, the politics of rebuilding and Amidala the good politician. I like it quite a lot.

Bravo!

 

It will be interesting to see where this new decision takes direction for Naboo. Great updates, Casper.

 

Thanks Delight!

If the EU did anything right shortly after the Saga was finished, it was that it showed how ugly things can get after victory (The Union rebuilds the South, The Marshall Plan in Europe, etc.). 'Return of the Jedi' ends, the credits roll: was it that simple, did the War Against the Empire end? Even in pure fantasy, no (Author's NOTE: Juna much later in this story raises the point of whether the 5,000 year long Sith War had actually ended a thousand years before this story, and provides tiny but pointed facts to make her case).

So obviously at the end of Episode One and then with Jar Jar Binks as a Representative in Episode Two, I theorized there had to be some talking between the Nubians and the Gungans, and therefore if there was talking, there were politics. I further looked at it and said, "Okay, so what else did the Trade Federation do?". Well, the kept Theed intact, but they trashed the rest of the planet.

To which I borrowed from recent real life events: once again, I go with what I know.

What this is showing is the inevitable facts: the return of Rapier Technologies to the politicization of the entire Nubian rebuilding process. No matter what had happened, and what good has come, Queen Amidala finds herself playing 'The Game' with the situation like it or not. This also highlights the premise that was shown with Juna in TFL Prologue Two: The Krayt Dragon that Queen Amidala can be surrounded by a million good and honorable and trusting people, even family, and she is still all alone. Its the decisions she has to make, the only person on the planet that has to ultimately make them, and then she has to live with them, which DOES become an issue in TSH, but I won't say how yet....

Don't worry: I won't 'torture' the Queen....brutally.

Now we play on the fears of others, but ask yourselves what do these men really fear? And yes, after you read this you will take a shower to get the filth off.

And now....JOIN THE THORN PARTY!

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Over and over in the heads of many that had retired to the Lower Elders Room of the Palace of Theed were Governor Bibble?s words. These older men were a collection of scholars, lower court staff, members of staff for Governor Bibble, members of the media agencies, and non-biding observers sent by Nubian politicians paid to get the Queen?s attention when possible. The Lower Elders Room served as their official retreat before some retired to their home apartments in Theed, and others retired to their select rooms in the Palace. They expected news perhaps tomorrow, but one of the newly appointed Royal Media Relations members, Lio Garvasa entered the room and poured himself something strong.

Garvasa had fought a long time to get someone like Queen Amidala in politics much less the Throne. The taking of the Throne was a measure of his sacrifice, of how everything was forsaken for the price of power. He wanted little in return, but he did want to be on those Royal Robe Tails where Amidala went. He went into the election cycle, conspiring with as many people as he could, convincing them not of Amidala?s qualities but of the threat of the Thorn Party. He had done so much and told his employer -- Amidala -- none of the sins he had to commit. The elections, in his opinion, were far worse than being imprisoned by the Trade Federation during the occupation, for the Thorns were far worse than the Trade Federation in his not-so-humble opinion.

Garvasa?s actions got the other?s attentions and he said without looking, ?Lady Angelleia has agreed to commit her company?s resources to rebuild Naboo. She will be submitting her plan by tomorrow.?

There was much stirring disgust, mutterings and uttering that could and could not be repeated in open, civil settings. Some left immediately to keep their opinions to themselves, which were not what they claimed to be to the others that stayed behind. One of the long time veterans of the political scene, Chars Beldeng, prodded Garvasa. ?Lio, old boy, what is this

 

WHOOPS!

Didn't see you there, Sara: you slipped a post in on me.

Again, there's enough flexibility in the SW universe to have this kind of little story arc in it. There's plenty of void to fill, you can fill it with interesting, fluff, or trash: I prefer all three, of course.

FORWARD!