"Get me reconnaissance on that sector. I want to know what they were after."
While his officers scrambled to carry out his orders, Yarrick's thought about what the Imperium was actually planning to do. They had attacked with what appeared to be overwhelming force in certain locations, yet their tactics suggested restraint. They weren't committing their best troops, weren't using their most devastating weapons. It was almost as if...
"They're buying time for something," Yarrick muttered. His communications officer turned towards him confused. "Sir?"
"The Imperium isn't trying to take Alderaan," Yarrick explained, "They're keeping us occupied. Every soldier we have defending this world is a soldier that can't be sent to Coruscant. Every anti-air battery firing at their dropships is ammunition we can't use elsewhere."
"Then what do we do, sir?"
Yarrick didn't say it immediately, but he already knew the answer. They could do nothing as they didn't have a fleet on the way that could reinforce them. All they could do was to continue fighting until they either lost control of the planet or lost the war.
Yarrick predicted that the latter would happen first. But until then, he would fight and no matter what happened, no matter how much they sacrificed, he believed that they would survive.
———
In the Coruscant Senate chambers, Chancellor Thrace stood before the assembly of senators, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. The session had been called to address the deteriorating military situation, and tensions were running high.
"Fellow senators, I understand your concerns," Thrace began, his hands gripping the podium. "Yes, we've suffered setbacks. Yes, the Imperium has proven more resilient than anticipated. But we cannot, we must not, surrender to tyranny!"
Senator Prend Hann of Alderaan rose from his seat, angry at the Chancellor's ignorance of what was actually happening. "Chancellor, with all due respect, calling for continued resistance while our worlds burn is not leadership, it's fanaticism. Empress Teta has fallen and Brentaal IV is under occupation. How many more billions must die before you acknowledge reality?"
Murmurs of agreement spread throughout the chamber. Thrace's militarist faction was losing support by the day, and everyone could see it.
"Reality?" Thrace retorted, raising his voice at Senator Prend. "The reality is that if we surrender, everything the Republic stands for dies with it! The Imperium will reduce us to vassals, strip away our freedoms, and impose their authoritarian rule across the galaxy!"
"That's propaganda, Chancellor, and we all know it." Senator Ama Geibend of Chandrila stood up next, her voice calm despite the rising tensions in the chamber. "I've reviewed the intelligence reports from our prisoners of war. The Imperium isn't executing captives. They're providing medical care, adequate food, and humane treatment. Meanwhile, our own supply lines are collapsing, and soldiers are going without basic necessities."
"The Imperium's treatment of prisoners is a psychological tactic!" Thrace slammed his fist on the podium. "They want you to believe they're benevolent so that when they offer terms, you'll accept them without question! They're manipulating public opinion!"
"Then explain to me," Senator Geibend continued, her voice cutting through the chamber, "why do our own intelligence reports confirm that worlds under Imperial occupation are experiencing better living conditions than what we are seeing in those reports that we all read? Why are former slaves in Hutt space celebrating their liberation rather than mourning after being conquered?"
Thrace could've sworn that he was going insane. It seemed as though he was the only one seeing this for what they actually were. "Because they don't understand what they've lost! Freedom isn't just about material comfort, Senator. It's about the right to self-determination, to choose your own path without some self-proclaimed God-Emperor dictating terms!"
"And yet," Senator Hann interjected, "we've been dictating terms to our own citizens for two years now. Mandatory conscription. Seizure of private assets for military production. Suppression of anti-war protests. Tell me, Chancellor, how are we any different from the tyranny you claim to oppose?"
The chamber erupted in debate, senators shouting over one another. Thrace raised his hands, calling for order, but his authority was no longer what it used to be. He could see it in the way senators looked at him now, not with respect or even fear, but with contempt.
From the back of the chamber, a figure emerged from the shadows. It was Senator Na Bru of Dorin, one of the most respected voices in the Senate after his homeworld was taken by the Imperium. He had remained silent throughout this debate, but no longer would he allow this game to keep going on.
"Chancellor Thrace," he began, his voice coming through the breathing mask he had on. "I believe I speak for many here when I say that we've reached a crossroads. The question before us isn't whether we can win this war. The question is whether continuing to fight serves the Republic's interests or merely your faction's political survival."
Thrace narrowed his eyes. "Senator, are you suggesting we abandon our principles?"
"I'm suggesting we acknowledge reality before reality destroys us," Senator Bru replied. "My world has already fallen to the Imperial forces. Yet all I can do is sit back and wait for this war to end on behalf of my people who didn't want this war to happen in the first place. The Imperium has demonstrated both military superiority and, surprisingly, a degree of restraint we didn't expect. Perhaps it's time we explored diplomatic solutions."
"Diplomatic solutions?" Thrace couldn't believe how many of the Senators agreed with this. "You mean surrender."
"I mean negotiation," Senator Bru corrected. "There's a difference between capitulation and finding terms both sides can accept. The Imperium has made it clear they don't seek to absorb the Republic entirely. Emperor Daimon has stated repeatedly that his goal is to neutralize the threat we posed, not to conquer us."
"And you believe him?" Thrace laughed. "You're willing to take the word of a being who claims divinity, who has conquered dozens of civilizations?"
"I'm willing to consider the evidence," Senator Bru firmly stated. "Unlike you, Chancellor, I don't have the luxury of ideology. I have seen that the Emperor has repeatedly stated that he does not consider himself a God. It is the people who crowned him as such and who is he to refuse the will of the people."
"The Emperor could stop them from worshipping him if he truly wished it," Thrace countered. "The fact that he allows such veneration proves his delusions."
"Or perhaps it proves he understands that forcing people to abandon their beliefs creates more conflict than it prevents," Senator Bru replied. "But we're getting distracted from the central issue. I move for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Thrace's continued leadership of this war effort."
The chamber fell silent. A vote of no confidence was a serious matter, one that could topple the entire militarist faction if successful. Thrace felt his carefully constructed political career beginning to crack.
"You don't have the votes," Thrace said, not knowing that there are many who would agree with Senator Bru.
"Don't I?" Senator Bru looked around the chamber. "How many of you have lost constituents to this war? How many of your worlds face Imperial invasion as we speak? How many of you truly believe we can achieve victory at this point?"
Hands began to rise throughout the chamber. Not all of them, but enough. More than enough.
"This is treason!" Thrace yelled.
"No, Chancellor," Senator Geibend stood again. "This is democracy. Something you seem to have forgotten in your pursuit of military glory. The people we represent want peace, not endless war. They want their children to come home, not die in battles we cannot win."
"I second the motion for a vote of no confidence," Senator Hann declared.
"As do I," another senator called out.
"And I," came another voice.
Within moments, dozens of senators had voiced their support. Thrace watched his power crumbling before his eyes. Everything he'd worked for, every sacrifice he'd demanded from the Republic's citizens, all of it was being swept away by politicians too weak to see the war through to its proper conclusion.
"I refuse!" he shouted as he pressed a button under the podium and dozens of guards rushed in, blocking the exits of the chamber.
"Let us vote again Senators. I don't think the first one was very… accurate." he stated as this time, less than a few raised their hands in defiance, Senator Bru and Senator Hann being two of them.
Seeing their fellow Senators afraid to raise their hands, they were disappointed. They fought a war over tyranny, yet now, when they were facing it themselves, everybody hid behind a wall of fear.
Meanwhile, this particular session was being broadcasted to the entire Republic, yet it cut off just as Thrace pressed the button. Many rumors started to spread about what happened, but none of them were close to the truth of what actually happened.
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A/N: So we have made it to near the end of the war, and I want to hear everyone's opinions on the story as it is. Like what could be improved, what would you like to see more of, what would you like to see less of, and such.
I'm sure one of the things that many will have is Chapter updates, but I can't really fix that, sorry readers.
Also If we would like to see an arc where Daimon goes to another galaxy (Marvel Universe) instead of a time skip. Just put plus one for Marvel here or suggest a Universe or put plus one on any of the suggested that you like.