Chancellor Palpatine sank wearily into his chair. A long—more than seventeen hours—extraordinary session of the Senate had just ended. After much wrangling, the senators finally agreed to allocate funds for the purchase of an additional batch of clones. There had been loud words, lengthyspeeches, and the usual attempts to pull the blanket over themselves. As always. Yet the senators could be understood—one trillion eight hundred billion credits was not an amount that could simply be ignored.
For Palpatine, however, who had already spent five hundred times more, it was but a drop in the ocean. In addition, nearly five hundred million credits from his personal funds had to be transferred to the Kaminoans' accounts as compensation for losses—but that was entirely within the scope of "current expenses."
The war demanded ever-increasing investments. The Separatists, nurtured by Count Dooku, had turned out to be somewhat stronger than Sidious had expected. He had underestimated the cowardice and greed of Nute Gunray, theenterprise of the Muunilinst merchants, and the cold calculation of the Skakoan engineers of the Techno Union. The behind-the-scenes squabbling among the leaders of the CIS had not yet escalated into open conflict only because of their fear of him—Darth Sidious.
As a result, the Separatist fleet was currently stronger than that of the Republic. The droid army simply overwhelmed by sheer numbers, though it lagged in quality. The Jedi, meanwhile, had proven to be worse commanders than even he had imagined. Only a few were truly worthy of their command posts. Palpatine, being a Sith, hated the Jedi with every fiber of his being, yet heacknowledged that among them were somegenuinely talented individuals. They took either talents or Force, capable of wielding their abilities effectively in war.
Oh yes, this war had many purposes. Among them, not the main one but an important one—to forge his new apprentice. Anakin Skywalker. In war, with his connection to the Force, his talent would unfold completely. He would learn everything—power and powerlessness, honor and betrayal, the joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat. And the moment would come when he was ready...
The Chancellor's thoughts were interrupted by a call from his secretary.
"What is it?"
"Sir, Isard requests an immediate audience." The Rodian bowed respectfully.
"What is the urgency? I believe his report is scheduled for... tomorrow?"
"Yes, sir, but he claims to have news that cannot be delayed. It concerns the Separatists."
"Let him in."
Palpatine straightened, putting on the mask of a benevolent politician.
"Chancellor." Armand Aisard bowed. "We have received information from a reliable source that massive deposits of valuable ores—carvanium, lommite, neutronium, partia, zersia, carbon, millenium, and bronzium—have been discovered on the planet Jabiim, located in the Phelleem sector of the Outer Rim."
Chancellor Palpatine immediately perked up.
"Is the planet under Separatist control?"
"At present, yes. The local leader, a certain Alto Stratus, has signed contracts with the Trade Federation and the Banking Clan to develop the deposits. The Techno Union has also expressedinterest. The CIS has provided Stratus with every possible form of assistance, including weapons, food, medicine, and large sums of money."
Isard stepped forward and placed an infocrystal on the table.
"Here is all the information we've been able to obtain."
"Where did this come from?"
Under Palpatine's piercing gaze, Aisard hesitated, then replied reluctantly, "The information was provided by Baron Papanoida."
"Hmm." The Chancellor exhaled slowly. "You are dismissed, Isard."
The man bowed again and was about to leave, but Palpatine's lingering gaze stopped him. Reachinginto his pocket, Isard produced another infocrystal and set it beside the first.
"Chancellor, here is the information about the Jedi you requested."
"Excellent." Palpatine waved a hand, pressing a button on his desk. "Master Windu has not yet left the Senate building, has he? Good. Tell him I expect him as soon as possible—and ensure communication with the Jedi Council."
After pausing for a moment, recalling all he knew about Jabiim, Palpatine smiled faintly.
"And one more thing. Senator Amidala... inform her that I wish to speak with her."
Something tells me the help of this 'queen' will prove very useful.
Palpatine picked up both infocrystals. This can wait, he decided, placing the one containing Jedi information into a desk drawer. The second crystal took its place in the projector.
At first, Palpatine was puzzled why Count Dooku had not informed him of such a significant event as the discovery of a deposit so rich. But as he studied the documents, it became clear that the Trade Federation had likely carried out this deal without Dooku's knowledge. Nevertheless, Palpatine could not ignore such a development.
All these ores, in certain proportions, composed durasteel, and bronzium was one of the key elements of battle droid armor, giving it its characteristic sandy hue. Durasteel was used in warships and droids alike. The CIS would soon be able to replenish its losses after Kamino, and the situation would again become unstable—especially since Jabiim was located not far from Metalorn, Charros IV, and Dac, the main suppliers of ships for the Separatist fleet. The shipyards on Dac were particularly dangerous; the Quarren were far too close to that tempting prize.
Yet the prospect of Jabiim falling under the Republic's control was not especially appealing either. It would be wiser to preserve such reserves for later times. If they were spent now, there might be nothing left when they were trulyneeded. But ignoring the situation was also impossible... The balance of power was far too fragile.
After examining the details, Palpatine realized that the prospect of a quick victory was not even a distant one. Jabiim was a harsh, inhospitable world: constant torrential rains broken only by brief intervals of sunlight. Ion storms raging through the atmosphere made it nearly impossible to use both aircraft and repulsorcraft—they simply failed.
And the local Separatist leader, Alto Stratus, was a rather charismatic figure. Not long ago, he had led a rebellion against the Republic, overthrowing the planet's legitimate ruler. Yet most of Jabiim's population—just under a hundred million—sympathized with him.
And small wonder. The Republic had long turned a blind eye to the troubles of such remote worlds. A Trandoshan invasion, a terrible epidemic, famine, constant raids by neighboring systems... it was remarkable that, until recently, the planet had continued to pay its taxes, still hoping for aid from the Republic. But neither the Senate nor the Jedi had ever come to their rescue. Only the Separatists had offered assistance—though not without a price—but compared to the Republic, they looked far better.
"Sir, Master Windu and Senator Amidala have arrived."
"Excellent. Let them in."
"Chancellor," said the dark-skinned Jedi, inclininghis head, while Amidala bowed with ceremonial grace. "What is the urgency?"
"Master Windu," Palpatine replied with a somber smile. "I have important news for you..."