Hardcore Realpoliticking (Or Bismark's wet dream)(3)

Coruscant, The Senate

The session returned back and I was giddy with what I had planned to say. I wonder if we will get some Jedi there in this reunion now.

It sound unlikely that they would spare someone with their duties- wait, there is no war but... what are they doing now then?

Training, meditating or napping.

This crude summary surprisingly makes justice to their pre-Clone Wars activities.

I entered back the room and I had to hold back a chuckle from leaving my throat.

They had chosen Mace Windu! We should try to get him snap in his Samuel L. Jackson self.

'You motherfucking droid are a pest, you motherfuckah!'

You do remember that Mace Windu is one of the strongest right now?

Like Dooku and Palpie?

...Like Dooku and Palpie- No, I refuse to call the 'Emperor' Palpie!

C'mon! He is dead and cannot tickle you in your sleep-

Actually, yellow, don't bring up that mental image up ever again because I sure will make the sad corner your newest living quarter!

...We have living quarters?

Kinda, but don't believe to this threat. He is just bummed because he knows he can't put Padmé's political career in jeopardy once again.

Such is the burden of wasted opportunities.

Tarkin took the lead in the interrogation and decided to reach the most important question for him.

"Once the alliance led by Tatooine joins with the Republic, the mixed army will become part of the Republic?"

That question was expected by the entire coalition, many willing to donate funds to accomodate the immediate increase of their current military strength but... I had some grey news for them.

"The droids will join the Republican Army. Sadly the clones cannot do so."

The chancellor looked confused at this last bit. "Truly? May I ask you why the Kaminoans don't wish to integrate them in the Republican Army?"

"The Clone Army was commissioned by... a former Jedi. Master Sifo-Dyas ordered 1,000,000 clones to fight... 'unknown dangers' after he was removed from the Order."

The Vapaad Master blinked in surprise from his seat in the room, unaware that this was the reason why the Clones came to be. "Are there documents that can be used as evidence for such accusations?"

I nodded and uploaded the certificates proving of the late Jedi's actions to the Jedi Master, a grim expression replacing his previous stoic one.

"This still doesn't... explain why the Clone Army cannot join in with the Droids in the new Republican Army?" Tarkin voiced out loudly, drawing my attention.

"The main reason why the Clones cannot be trusted to be an army after the War with the Hutts is... their curious programming."

I took a pause, hoping that I wasn't going to get force-crushed to death with what I was going to say.

"The Clones' programming was... altered prior to the beginning of the process, one man being the main responsible for such change."

A massive holographic image appeared by the Chancellor's booth.

"Count Dooku?" Tarkin merely blinked at the picture but... I continued nonetheless.

"The man had turned into a Sith, the newest apprentice of Palpatine after the Zabrak's demise in Naboo. He implemented a specific order that would cause a massive purge of the Jedi commanding the troops."

"The Count has been a trusted Jedi, Droid. What kind of proof do you have for."

The former lightsaber of the Sith ignited, showing its red color and causing several senators to yell in panic at the sudden action. Mace's hand was on the hilt of his own saber when I turned it off and placed it back on my holster.

"This was the blade I found on his body when he tried to use the force to gain the Droid Army. He wished to escalate the situation regarding the Trade Federation and start a Galactic Civil War, all to enpower Palpatine thanks to emergency powers."

The various senators shared loud whispers on the matters, some questioning how they had not see this happening and other questioning the truthfulness of this discovery.

"What was Palpatine's mission, Governor Shinhachi?" Mace Windu demanded outloud, taking the lead of those curious about this very important question.

"Turning the Republic in an Empire for him to rule alone and eternally, Jedi Master Windu."

"And how are you aware of this, Governor?" The question might have been problematic.. if I had not dealt with a cocky Dooku.

To think that this little detail would come to save our cover now..

Luck is attached to our badassery!

"Count Dooku had been quite.. eager to boast such situation in his last moments of life. Something that worried me quite so."

"A terrible discovery to witness, I am quite sure." Tarkin butted in the discussion, trying to gain some popularity with this stance. "Thankfully, the horrible plot has been revealed and dealt with by a loyal member of the Republic."

I nodded and soon the interrogation devolved in some simple questions about Trade and settlements in the newly-freed planets.

I had to direct many members of the Trade and Bank factions to the newest governments of the planet to avoid showing any tyrannical streak in my current role as 'Moderator' in those negotiations.

The session continued for another hour before it was concluded with some proper signing of the various documents and treaties.

This was the start of a new era for the Galaxy.

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Aboard the Yamato-class, 'Caliburn'

Now that we got on some stable platform with the Republic, what should we do with the last few problems?

I am quite sure the Yuuzan Vong are not ready to face a massive droid army as they are ready to face force-sensitive foes at best.

They were prepared for Canon but now? Now they are going to face quite the unfair disadvantage.

Indeed.

Maybe we could build something similar to the Death Star as a battering ram for the future war-

Nonsense, the material required to create something that powerful and acceptably big would cut deeply in our funds and drain badly our income to keep it operational.

...Yeah, you are right but... I wanted to make things go Boom and all.

Everyone wants to make things go Boom, yellow, they just don't have the money, the target and the time to do so.

I slowly rested my robotic head on the chair as I contemplated further on what I should do now but- everything started to tremble loudly.

Red alarms blurred with their loud noises as several metallic footsteps moved around quickly in the near hallway.

The battleship was a day from reaching Tatooine and... who would be so dumb to attack us now?

I knew the Jedi were fine with us officially and they wouldn't risk their faces like this, the Sith being too much underdeveloped right now to truly have ships to try and board us from Coruscant of all places and-

An holographic communication opened. "Governor, there are intruders trying to make way towards you." A smaller picture appeared, showing the cameras' point of view of the attackers.

One was donning an unfamiliar Mandalorian armor while the other...

WHAT IS GRIEVOUS DOING HERE?!

The stark white pseudo-droid spared just a blink around as he continued to butcher the force sent against them with four Vibroblades.

Why the hell is he here?! Shouldn't he just have gone away with Dooku and Palpie dead?

It might be the Mandalorian, a man if the armor is a clue of the one inside it but... truly, why should he be there?

Right now we need to focus on the major issue: He is here and sowing chaos in my ship!

I took Dooku's lightsaber and the E-5 Blaster on me, ready to face this unexpected threat.

Whoever had planned this... they knew that I was too dangerous to be left alive.

Without further thinking, I rushed out of the command room and skipped through the hallways, ready to face Grievous and end the remains of the Imperial plot.

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The fourth lesson of Obscure History of Warfare started with the holographic image of Shinhachi spinning with a moving chair.

A very... childish way to begin an importan lesson, Thrawn thought as the droid spoke.

"Today we shall explore a particular section of Warfare you may as well never face in your life, since it require certain negative prerequisites to force you to take this unfair role."

The image showed the Ottoman Empire's lower zones, deserts and.. tribes.

"The Ottoman Empire is defined the 'Sick Man of Europe', a nickname deriving from their pitiful military and administrative state, still stuck with Napoleonic's tactics and weapons."

Several soldiers wearing white uniforms, were trying to hold off some enemies donning green clothes. Those were Russians, Thrawn reminded himself, as it was detailed in the documents of Von Hutier.

"When for some dumb reasons the Empire was brought in the Great War, Austria-Hungary and Germany were quick to pass over some spare equipment to the weakest member of the alliance. The troops fared well with their newest equipment, using the terrain in the Russian border to contain the foes there and almost reaching Egypt with their massive army on the border."

Yet the map moved away from Egypt, going to the Arabian Region and highlighting the nations there.

"Formally, the Arab tribes are 'vassals' of the Ottoman Empire, since the Empire was also the main ruler of the religion they all shared and was capable of demanding a 'holy war' against its foes. Yet the growing dissent towards the violent rulers soon proved to be their own undoing."

The scene now showed several bandit-like men and women hiding in some dunes as a black train was passing nearby when- *Boom* the railways exploded right when the train was passing, pushing it away and onto the sand.

The arabs rushed with their guns at the supply cargo, shooting down visible guards trying to regain their bearings from the unexpected explosion.

The camera moved to a smiling man, an european approaching the captured train together with the natives.

Lawrence of Arabia

"Quite the explosive entrance! Thomas Edward Lawrence was initially an archeologist when the Great War broke out, trying to find several antiquities within the arab domains owned by the United Kingdom. His particular fluency with the Arab language and his amiable attitude with the natives made him a good choice as the English diplomatic liason to the Hejaz tribe."

Photos showing the man posing with various well-dressed royals further showed his importance with the arabs.

"His role further gained power the moment the United Kingdom noticed that the Ottomans troops were still capable of holding off the army they had placed in the Egyptian border, conceding to Lawrence the role of military advisor and a large amount of old guns to arm the nationalists in the area."

The scene showed several conflicts between the natives and the Ottoman troops.

"Some fights were in the open but soon those proved to be quite ineffective against the better equipped turks and so Lawrence decided to switch to a full guerrilla warfare. Sabotages, night attacks and raids to steal more guns and equipment from the measle garrisons in Arabia."

"But wouldn't that cause the Empire to deploy more troops in Arabia?"

"Of course it would, observer Yularen! That is the main objective of Lawrence after all, soften up the major fronts so the English army there could spearhead a breakthrough against the Ottomans."

The human blinked as the map indeed showed that the red-colored occupation of the United Kingdom had conquered now most of the Arabian peninsula.

"The Turks lacked coordination and their tactics were obsolete, Lawrence played with those factors and managed to defeat a 500-years old empire with a few men under his leadership."

The map changed as the Ottoman Empire was shattered in three different regions: Turkey, French Mandate of Syria and the Kingdom of Iraq.

"The Great War saw a victory for the Allies but a total betrayal of the promise of a free Arab country from the remains of the Ottomans, drawing further anger against the imperialists... but this is something that goes beyond our lesson about Lawrence and will be possibly be given... much later."

They all nodded as the lecture ended with the classroom stuck in quite the gloomy mood.

Many of the newest students were part of Hutt-controlled planets and knew from their parents' words that the Republic had played in the past something similar. That is why not many found the idea of joining the Galactic government a good idea but... Shinhachi believed in this and they agreed to this development, albeit quite disgruntled by it.

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The end of this first bit of Star Wars is next chapter and... the next world will be showed in a very, very confused way at first but.. it will all have a sense when we reach the climax of the 2nd 'World'.