Dooku was more understanding of them, though as a Knight, he'd personally put down a Separatist plot on Jabiim. If he was following Sidious' original plan, aiming to make his alliance as frightening as possible to the people of the Republic, he would have carried the title of Separatist openly.
No doubt when the time came, Sidious was still going to tar him with that brush, but if Dooku was going to succeed in his plans to break up the Republic, a more attractive, less tarnished name would be needed.
...
Harad grimaced. "I never wanted to be a bloody Separatist, but here I am at the end of my rope."
"We will not be Separatists." Dooku answered firmly. "We'll form a new government, with a new constitution. We'll be a Confederation of the Outer Rim."
"It's another word for the same thing, Dooku." Harad said dismissively. "We can't have a euphemism. What we need is a wedge, something that will force the issue of Separatism, but leaves our hands clean, and won't scare away the Mid Rim. If we start talking about Separatism openly, you know as well as I do that Duchess Satine and Queen Amidala will be gone in a heartbeat."
"You propose another way?"
"Yes. We'll be Reformers, Dooku. We'll call ourselves the Reformist's Party. We'll field candidates for the Senate elections,-" He held up a hand, to forestall Dooku's protest. "-I know, don't give me that look, I know, but we'll have candidates in the elections, it doesn't matter if they win or lose, they just need to put on a big show. They'll be the Senate facing wing of our program, and they'll be there to calm the moderates."
In the meantime, Dooku would be doing what he already was. Interfacing with the big families, talking to power brokers, making deals. He would continue building their strength all along, and channeling his people's resentment into useful steps. He didn't know how long it would be until the Reformists would be ready to become Separatists, but after a decade or two of being stymied, insulted, and shut out of the Senate, they would start to become very radicalized.
Dooku hated the idea of participating in the Senate's elections, the awful, undignified song and dance, but it would be necessary.
"We can continue with our other programs." Dooku finally said. "We'll call it living by our principles, or something. Because we're a party, we'll have our own senate and internal elections on Raxus. When the time comes for us to assert our independence, there will already be a large power structure ready to govern. We'll continue building up our militaries independently, so that when we're ready they can join together. We'll just say it's part of pursuing local reforms."
"Exactly, Dooku. Now you see it."
Dooku nodded at last, convinced. "I'll talk to Queen Amidala, and Duchess Satine. They could be an excellent choice for our Senate facing moderates." He paused, considering. "We also need an overall military commander. We're still reeling, trying to respond to the Federation's pirates. We need to appoint a military commander to focus exclusively on the objective of securing the safety of our alliance, but we also can't make it clear we have a unified military just yet."
"The New Temple is perfect for that, already. We simply provide the Jedi with their own soldiers and ships, and task them with surgically targeting pirates." Harad agreed, finally finishing with his cigar, and now reaching for a glass of spirits. "They can be our proxy to deal with these."
Dooku agreed. "Yes, an army drawn from our member worlds."
"Who should we give command to?" Harad asked. "Narec?"
Dooku hesitated. Narec was a Jedi who knew the Dark Side. Even though Narec didn't seem to have any grand ambitions, entrusting him with personal command of an army could be risky… "He's done fine work running the Temple, and I'm reluctant to send him into danger when he's doing so well where he currently is."
"Then who?"
"I think that Jedi Knight Asajj, if given the right chance and advisors, would bloom into a fine commander."
Harad snorted. "Fair enough. Just remember, Dooku, if she's not up to it, we'll have to find someone who can do the work."
"Of course."
They sat in silence for a moment, before with a final sigh, Harad filled his cup with more spirits. "A drink, then. To bloody Separatism." He downed it all in a long sip, before hanging up.
"To bloody Separatism." Dooku agreed, in silence. "And a pile of heads where the Senate once stood."
...
Julgut wiped a bead of sweat from the top of his brow with his hat, and tried once again to call his employer.
The fourth Hammerhead had been lifted from the sucking muck of Secundus, and had been cradled in the crawler ready for cleaning, when screaming over the horizon came a line of SIG-80 long range fighter bombers. A dozen of them unloaded their payload right over his worksite, the only warning being when they dropped altitude to close in on his crawler. Julgut had screamed for his men to run, for all the good it did. Thankfully the attack came in the early morning, so most of his crew hadn't started work yet, but fifteen good men, friends of his, had been vaporized in an instant.
The Hammerhead itself had been totally ruined, its superstructure broken in half and white hot fires burning over what was left of its hull, turning durasteel into molten slag. His mobile shipyard, as solidly as he'd built it, was even less able to withstand the bombardment. The machine had toppled over while burning, crushed under its own weight. The fires inside it had burned internally for hours longer, leaving the whole structure too hot to touch, and rocked by the occasional internal detonation.
By the time the flames had died down, Julgut's life's work had been reduced to so much blackened, misshapen scrap, trailing a line of black smog to join the skies of Raxus Prime.
After getting all the injured to a good hospital inside one of the planet's domed cities, and after making sure everyone else got home safely, Julgut had gotten back to his office and cried. He felt pathetic for it, miserable. The Mobile Shipyard was something he'd built with his father, back when the man was still working, and now it was gone. It was his source of income, a machine built of love and with powerful memories tied to it.
He simply cried now that he knew it was gone forever.
Who would even bomb his little business? And why?
Julgut didn't know. He could only guess that it was an enemy of Count Dooku, who didn't want the man to expand his navy.
All around him, every piece of furniture in the room was covered with drawings and ideas. Most of them were mere day dreams he knew he was unlikely to ever complete, but he could never bring himself to fully abandon. Now it seemed like he would have no choice.
This office was rented, consisting of just a reception, a work desk, and a bathroom. It was all he could jam into the tiny space inside one of Raxus Prime's domed cities. Even as small as it was, there's no way he'd be able to afford it without the business from his mobile shipyard. He had termination notices to issue, and payouts to make to the bereaved widows of employees who died in his service. Without the mobile yard, he might have no choice but to go back to fixing up old speeders.
With nothing left to do, he tried to call his client and explain what happened, but it seemed the Heir Apparent was busy. He made a few attempts to reach her through the Advisory, and was told that she would be with him when she could, but currently was busy, and that was where he left it.
He spent a couple days, showering and sleeping in his office, cleaning himself up and getting in contact with his accountant on Secundus, before trying to wrangle a loan out of his bank. Maybe he could get started on a new crawler sooner, if they would invest.
They made no promises, but were willing to arrange an in person meeting. Julgut was just stepping out of the sonic scrubber, giving himself a quick spray of deodorant and running a comb through his beard when his holocom rang. He hurriedly buttoned up his shirt and pulled up his overalls before answering.
He was surprised to see a little girl had called him.
"I am Tan'ya of House Serenno, and Advisor to the Defence." She introduced herself. "I believe you've been trying to contact me regarding the status of the restoration work you've been doing for me?"
She spoke in a way that made it clear she wasn't just some little girl. Julgut didn't know much about her, but knew her father was a Jedi, and so was Sifo Dyas. He had heard rumors that Jedi padawans were made to grow up fast, and so decided to just treat her like an adult until she proved otherwise.
He was still a little shocked at just how young she was, though.
...
Apparently, chapters write themselves faster when Power Stones are involved. Who knew? Feel free to test the theory go ahead, toss a few my way.
...
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