"I agree that Kuat is not the most reliable supplier," Mon Mothma said. "But within the framework that in the past they already jacked up prices for their services. If they even agree, the payment for their work may prove unaffordable for us."
"There's something else," Leia stated. "I think we have a chance to get a new supplier."
"And which one?" Bel Iblis inquired.
"'Santhe Technologies,'" the former princess explained.
Seeing skepticism on her comrades' faces, she explained:
"The corporation is currently dismantled, that's a fact. It is surrounded by pro-Imperial sectors."
"And survived the 'New Republic attack,'" Admiral Juno Eclipse reminded.
"Yes," Leia agreed. "Precisely the New Republic's. We all know that was Thrawn. Now the company is in disarray regarding the seizure of assets. Valles Santhe's son supports the Empire, but her grandson—and we know this for sure—sympathized with the Rebel Alliance. Perhaps we can convince both that it wasn't us who attacked Lianna, we aren't behind their plundering. And that we are ready to help them if they intend to support us."
"That comes off a bit two-faced," Lando noted.
"And suspicious," Karrde chimed in. "On one hand we hit them, on the other—we offer help."
"We didn't attack Lianna," Mon Mothma firmly repeated the common thought, furrowing her brows.
"And how do you intend to explain that to the Liannans, most of whom left the planet for the Dominion?" Karrde clarified. "I can confidently say that most engineers and technicians of flying and star products from 'Santhe Technologies' and related companies went to the Dominion, following the equipment that Thrawn seized. I think without the Grand Admiral rising from the grave and confessing to this provocation, there's no point in thinking we'll be believed. Especially in light of Vice Admiral Pellaeon's recent statement on the 'Holonet' that Dominion forces managed to track and capture ships, as well as equipment, that the New Republic took from Lianna."
"What struck me more in that speech was Pellaeon saying they couldn't capture the 'Lusankya,'" Lando supported. "Allegedly, the Star Dreadnought dropped its cargo, then damaged the Dominion starships and jumped to hyperspace. Do you understand what that means?"
"Like no one else," Bel Iblis said. "The Dominion is once again playing the picture for everyone that they supposedly aren't involved in the 'Lusankya's' actions."
"And simultaneously casting a shadow on the New Republic," Leia added. "Whatever the 'Lusankya' does now, it will be attributed to Fey'lya's government and the New Republic."
"Actually, I wanted to say that Thrawn wouldn't have let the ship escape, and Pellaeon's tales of the fleeing 'Lusankya' made him look quite weak compared to his former boss," Calrissian coughed into his fist.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Mon Mothma addressed all present. "We have strayed from the topic of conversation."
"That's true," Bel Iblis admitted. "First, we need to understand how much the Orinda advance along the Perlemian Route threatens us. In my view, this advance is a direct threat to the Alliance."
"I agree," Rahm Kota said reluctantly. "If we can slow their advance at Lantilles, we can not only show our strength, unlike the retreating New Republic, but also gain a suitable base for our forward forces, with all the necessary infrastructure for basing a large fleet, as it was during the Clone Wars."
"Essentially, holding Lantilles, we can not just slow but stop the enemy," Bel Iblis clarified.
"Not to mention that we will protect our staunch Wookiee supporters," Han agreed.
"And hold the communication corridor with Hapes," Leia added.
"Onderon is there too," Rahm Kota squinted. "In the Clone Wars, the Onderonians proved themselves fierce freedom fighters. Possibly, given the Empire's threat and the New Republic's position, they will want to join the Alliance."
"But now they prefer not to interfere," Juno Eclipse noted. "Perhaps they just want to sit it out."
"Then we need to assemble a fleet and send it to support Lantilles," Mon Mothma stated. "I'll handle the diplomatic nuances. Leia," she looked at the former Alderaanian princess. "I'll ask you and General Solo to go to Lianna to conduct negotiations. I think Mr. Karrde is right—we are unlikely to convince them that the New Republic is not involved in the attack. But we are not the New Republic. We are the Alliance and bear no responsibility for their actions."
Leia, as well as all present, opened their mouths, realizing what the Chandrilan meant.
Not to convince of the Republicans' non-involvement, but on the contrary, to point out that the Alliance is maximally distant from the current New Republic government.
"Honestly, the plan is so-so," Calrissian said. "If they have any brains at all, they'll remember that Leia and you, esteemed Mon Mothma, were on the New Republic's Provisional Council when the attack happened. And now in the same positions in the Alliance…"
"That's exactly why Leia is going there," Mon Mothma said, looking again at the Alderaanian. "You need to convince them that Fey'lya was behind it all, not us. We can't make Thrawn speak from the grave anyway, and this way we have a chance to get not only supporters in the form of this corporation but also production capacity for military equipment."
"Not to mention that there are hyperspace routes leading straight from the pro-Imperial Corporate Sector right to Lianna," Calrissian reported.
"That's true," Karrde confirmed.
"So we simply must gain control over the planet," Mon Mothma stated. "Otherwise, as soon as Taris falls and the Empire continues its march along the Hydian Way north, we face strikes from several sides."
"Probably the Dominion too, though now they are sitting behind their borders in full isolation, won't miss the opportunity to strike us, joining the Imperial coalition," Han added.
"If the Mon Calamari provide us with ships, and Lianna in league with the defected Incom engineers—with fighters, then we have all the opportunities to fully create armed forces."
"Not quite," Bel Iblis interjected. "We have a rather limited number of ground forces. The Wookiees, forming the basis of assault units, are masters of their craft, but we also need ground equipment. At the moment, we have equipped most of our land forces with Republican equipment from stockpiles, but in war it will steadily decrease, break down, be destroyed. I think we need a supplier for it too. Because the companies that produced it for the New Republic have refused to trade with us—I spent almost a month working on each of them, but got only a modest, polite bureaucratic response that I don't want to voice to avoid shocking you with the beauty of its verbiage."
"Don't tell me we'll have to develop tanks from scratch too," Mon Mothma grimaced.
"Actually, no," the Corellian smiled slyly. "I think Lianna will come in handy here too."
"How so?" Karrde asked with interest. "They produce Imperial ground equipment."
"And in fact, only such shops remain with them," Bel Iblis agreed. "But I have something that Thrawn didn't reach during the attack on the 'Peregrine's Nest' during the feint. Because the combat platform was far from the base, and honestly, we forgot about it."
The Corellian placed a small holoprojector on the table, above which a white-and-blue volumetric copy of a squat armored combat and armed-to-the-teeth platform arose.
"This is the prototype of the 520 combat platform," the Corellian explained. "It has heavy armor, excellently protected. The prototype was developed by 'Arakyd' on Carida, but I managed to steal it. The Empire put a cross on the project, which is good for us. The platform is equipped with four heavy laser cannons on the sides and powerful deflector shield generators. Two turbolasers, located front and rear, were capable of penetrating heavily armored machines. According to the developer—they weren't even afraid of the blaster-absorbing armor of AT-ATs, but in practice, it couldn't be tested. For defense against infantry, there are four anti-infantry laser cannons. Yes, no anti-aircraft guns, but my engineers upgraded the anti-infantry guns, and now fending off an air raid is no problem."
"In fact, is this a heavy tank?" Rahm Kota asked, leaning forward.
"Rather super-heavy," Bel Iblis clarified. "The prototype has been delivered to one of our bases, and if necessary, I will hand over the 'Gargantuan' to our allies. I think it won't be much trouble for them, having the schematics, to redirect their capacities not for producing paper Imperial tanks but for manufacturing such combat platforms."
Combat platform 520 "Gargantuan."
"An impressive piece," Karrde stated. "Won't it be too expensive?"
"For starters, we should secure Lianna's support," Mon Mothma interrupted any hints of argument. "Leia, Han, I count on you."
"We'll do everything in our power," Solo replied.
"And last," Mon Mothma looked at Admiral Eclipse, Galen Marek, and General Kota. "We will contact Koensayr to clarify if they need our support. If we save them from conquest by the Empire or one of its Remnants, with subsequent nationalization of the corporation, they will clearly be grateful and supply the necessary armament. I ask you, Galen and Juno, to go there and ensure security if the planet wants to deal with us. As for you, General Kota, you will lead the battle group that will go to defend Sullust. I also ask you to find out from 'SoroSuub' what contribution to our common future victory they are ready to make."
"Honestly," the Jedi objected stubbornly, "I would like to train Lady Organa Solo. As I heard, she is a beginning Jedi. And in the absence of her brother, we will need all the Jedi we can gather to repel Palpatine's attack. I have no doubt he has someone to back him up after Darth Vader's death."
"Or, worse yet, Vader not only had cloning cylinders and my DNA on Kamino," Marek added grimly. "At one time, I had to do the impossible to kill the clones he unleashed on me. And no one can guarantee that the Empire doesn't have a reserve for a rainy day. Though we destroyed the cloning center, I repeat, there's no guarantee that, just like with Vader raising a secret apprentice, the Emperor wasn't aware of his successor's antics."
A tense pause hung.
Each of those present sat and realized how bad their situation would be if the Emperor had dozens, or worse—hundreds and thousands of unmanageable aggressive clones in hand, ready to kill anyone their commander pointed at.
"I suggest not succumbing to despondency prematurely," Han said diplomatically, seeing the faces of those present grow serious from Marek's last words. "If Palpatine has Jedi, even cloned ones, why hasn't he used them yet?"
"Remember Luke's story about Polis Massa," Leia said. "He was attacked by dark Jedi. Possibly clones—without Luke himself, we can't say for sure."
"As we can't reach Kamino to sort out what happened," Marek lamented.
"What was at the Empire's disposal on Kamino, we destroyed," Eclipse said sharply. "And if we sit now, fearing that the Empire has another 'joker' up its sleeve, it's easier to run and hide right now. Personally, I disagree with that. We need to fight."
"Darling," Han's crooked smirk faded from his face when he saw Leia's gaze on him—wary and promising plenty of future trouble, Marek's—interested, Eclipse's—condemning and clearly harboring plenty of barbs in response from her herself, "ahem, Admiral Eclipse, no one intends to surrender. But regarding the 'joker,' I wouldn't count on it. Palpatine prepared for this for years—surely he has a whole marked deck."
"That doesn't change the situation," Eclipse cut off. "We must fight. Period."
"I agree," Rahm Kota said reluctantly, turning his head toward Leia. "Well, Princess, I've managed to show you some Jedi mastery over these past few weeks. I hope we continue the lessons when the galaxy quiets down a bit."
"If everything succeeds, we'll have a chance to create full armed forces to repel the Empire's attack," Bel Iblis stated.
"The Empire—maybe," Rahm Kota said. "But what will we do when Palpatine and his pack crawl out of the Deep Core?"
"Hope that by then the New Republic hasn't fallen and, as Thrawn predicted, becomes a buffer that protects the entire galaxy from this madman," Mon Mothma said.
"An alliance with the Dominion, which now has ships galore, you categorically aren't considering?" Karrde asked.
"Not after Luke rid the galaxy of Thrawn," Han said, looking guiltily at Leia.
"Even if that hadn't happened, we still wouldn't ally with the Dominion," Mon Mothma stated firmly. "In the past, cooperating with Imperials, we already made plenty of mistakes and only brought more problems on our heads. If Thrawn wanted an alliance—he would have surrendered, like Octavian Grant did, told everything he knew, and helped us destroy Palpatine, instead of starting a war engulfing the entire galaxy."
Leia opened her mouth to say that there was their fault too in the confrontation, as well as the demonstrative denial of those truths Thrawn had tried to convey to them, but, meeting the Chandrilan's angry gaze, she fell silent.
"So I take it no one is planning to negotiate with the New Republic either?" Rahm Kota clarified in a grumpy tone. "Together we could give the Empire a proper thrashing."
"I will propose a temporary alliance to Fey'lya," Mon Mothma unexpectedly declared.
"Agent Katarn," the Alliance leader addressed Kyle sitting at the table. "You will make secret visits to several sectors to gauge the local population's mood toward us. The faster the Alliance deals with priority problems, the stronger we will stand to withstand all adversities. I'll send you the list of planets after the meeting ends."
"It will be done," Kyle Katarn replied.
"Mr. Calrissian, Mr. Karrde, I ask you to continue gathering agent reports that are vital to us," the Chandrilan said, addressing both named men.
"You pay—I work," Karrde replied calmly. "Though progress—after Sluis Van, no one attacks me anymore."
"You never found out who was behind the attack on your suite?" Calrissian asked in surprise.
"Of course I did," Karrde grimaced. "Naturally, it was Thrawn's people. They killed my guard and most of my guys at the yards and docks."
"Seems Thrawn intended to destroy your organization at the end of his campaign," Leia assumed.
"For the umpteenth time, he almost succeeded," Karrde shrugged. "And for the umpteenth time, I have to gather the fragments anew. Not the first time. The organization works, steadily gets credits," he nodded to Mon Mothma, "delivers information. Business as usual."
"I think we should focus efforts on the advances of Imperial Space on Taris and Taanaab," Leia suggested. "So we know exactly what to expect from there."
"Thank you for the advice, Princess," Karrde smiled. "I work all fronts at once. I think even before you start your diplomatic games, my people will already know where not to poke and why."
"That would be nice," Rahm Kota grumbled.
"The meeting is adjourned," Mon Mothma proclaimed. "Each of you has an assignment—and I hope it will be carried out. May the Great Force be with us all."
They dispersed in complete silence, each immersed in their own thoughts.
***
Garos IV, orbiting two moons, was a pleasant world of forests, mountains, and oceans.
It was located in the Mid Rim, that is, at a considerable distance from the Dominion's metropolis, on the western outskirts of the oddly named Msst sector.
Msst sector.
Not far from the Mandalorian Sector, which, despite the passions and conflicts raging in the galaxy, remained, contrary to the Mandalorians' eternal belligerence, a quiet and calm place.
The population of Garos IV mainly lived on the single continent in three large centers: a coastal resort town on the ocean shore; an industrial base and agricultural breadbasket—a city called Garan, located on the bank of a beautiful and full-flowing river, not far from an equally beautiful and quiet valley.
And also in the capital itself, called Ariana.
The Imperial mining complex, from which hybrium was extracted—an indispensable resource for our "Asteroid-II" masking fields—was located in the mountains lying on the coastal cape to the ocean.
The planet with a population of just under twenty-five million inhabitants was largely self-sufficient, so fluctuations in the economies of the states it had been part of at various points in history had little impact on this world.
Besides Garos IV, the system also had another inhabited planet—Sundari.
A mining world that received food supplies from Garos, it had once been at war with the latter.
Before I sent Captain Doria here over half a year ago to pacify Republican cells, there had been a simmering "cold war" between the planets.
Doria's Star Destroyer put an end to it.
How?
Very simply and purely militarily—yanked the instigators from both planets, held a public inquiry, found both sides guilty, and shot them.
Having studied the reports on this incident, I must say that Doria acted harshly, but it led to a reduction in confrontation between the planets.
Now both work for the good of the Dominion, and if the summaries of Major General Carner, responsible for the military contingent in the system, are to be believed, there are many among the inhabitants of Garos and Sundari who want to enlist not just in the Dominion's armed forces but directly in the regular fleet, whose glory for actions against the New Republic has spread quite widely across the galaxy.
Not least thanks to the popularization of the campaign through mass media.
I set aside the major general's report and looked at the rear admiral sitting opposite me.
"And how do you intend to resolve the current crisis, Doria?" I asked the commander of the squadron guarding the system.
Three Star Destroyers, a dozen heavy cruisers, two dozen Nebulon-B escort frigates in Dominion modifications.
Not to mention a regiment of stormtroopers on each planet and ground-based aviation—Dominion-upgraded "Ether Fairies."
The rear admiral, taking a large gulp and half-emptying the glass of water, looked at me with a bewildered gaze.
"Rules are rules, sir," he said uncertainly. "I have nearly three hundred thousand volunteers wanting to join the fleet service. Young guys—both humans and aliens, aged fifteen to thirty. Mostly former farm kids or from small industrialist families. Almost every one has clearances for operating or maintaining light equipment. Civilian, of course—tractors, combines, speeders, irrigators, and so on. But it's a good foundation to grow something more from them."
"That's exactly why I changed my route and arrived on Garos," I explained the reason for stopping at Garos. "By our own laws, these sentients cannot immediately enter the regular fleet."
"Yes, sir, they must first serve in the Defense Forces," Doria agreed. "But I must note that there aren't that many star systems of interest in the Msst sector. If I had additional equipment for these recruits, additional ships, I could organize the capture of these systems in a short time and subordinate the sector to the Dominion."
"Using conscripts?" I clarified.
"The sector conquest can be postponed for some time," Doria toned down his enthusiasm. "And send the recruits to training centers for preparation, then transfer them to regular troops…"
"No, Rear Admiral," I objected, looking the man straight in the eye. "No matter the enthusiasm of our conscripts, none of them has experience in the Imperial army service, and therefore—legally—has no right to serve in regular troops. There are only two options. First—they are sent to educational institutions on general terms and serve by conscription in the Dominion Defense Forces with subsequent transfer to the regular fleet based on a personal application and contract scheme. Second…"
Crews for nearly ten Star Destroyers…
Which are practically swimming into our hands.
Just agree.
After all, after recruiting criminals, letting those who rush there themselves to the front—is that as criminal as it seems?
It only requires changing the law and scooping up several million fighters at once?
After all, it's so simple…
Just two papers—one to repeal the previous law, the second—to write a new one.
"Second, sir?" Rear Admiral Doria repeated, clearly hoping for the answer I interrupted with my musings.
"Second, Rear Admiral," I said, making the decision. "These volunteers stay on Garos IV and study Dominion legislation more thoroughly. Without service in the Defense Forces, they are not needed in the regular troops. Tell that to their initiative group just like that."
***
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