Chapter 315
**Dagon POV**
Michael Raida, head of Alland-TechSystems, glanced up from his office window on Alland. Up there, in orbit, his fiefdom and the brainchild of his father — which he had inherited — were clearly visible.
For quite some time, Alland had been a repair and construction site for various civilian ships. Hundreds of shipyards formed an open circle a couple hundred kilometers above the planet's equator. On the surface, there were also shipyards, factories, and plants, making Alland a rather prominent industrial world. The Michael family also owned the shipyards and large orbital docks. They were designed for large-capacity transports and could accommodate ships up to four kilometers long.
At that moment, the company was going through hard times. The war had taken its toll. Cargo traffic had dropped somewhat, meaning the ships no longer needed as much maintenance. This, in turn, meant downtime for workers — and losses for both the company and himself. A contract to dismantle captured Confederate ships provided a lifeline, but they only received a small portion. The competition among companies was fierce.
Suddenly, the secretary looked into the office.
"Boss! There's some guy on the line. Looks like he wants to rent one of our docks."
"Bring him to me," Michael commanded.
A minute later, a hologram of a young man appeared in front of him.
"Good afternoon. My name is Dagon Marek. I am a High Jedi General of the Grand Army of the Republic."
Michael straightened in his chair, suddenly much more attentive. A Jedi General wanting to rent orbital dock space? This could be interesting.
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**Scene 2**
My first contact was with Kyle Solomon and Falen Croft. These brave men were the heads of the Natori Association. This "Association" was nothing more than a legitimate private military company that provided military training to members of various species and provided security for commercial organizations. These guys took their work seriously. Their combat training philosophy took into account the physiological, mental, and cultural characteristics of each species. According to the brochure, Wookiees were trained in forest and jungle combat tactics, while Duros were prepared for space combat. Aquatic species were trained for action on and under water, and those accustomed to high gravity were trained as close-combat fighters, capitalizing on their inherent strength and endurance. The "Association" differed from most other similar companies in that it had a clearly defined paramilitary structure — its operatives were organized into squads, companies, and battalions. The company's ranks were filled with retired former military personnel, which added several advantages to their ranks.
My interest in this company was trivial: I needed teachers and instructors who could improve the skills of my auxiliary troops, who would soon begin arriving at the barracks. Of course, I have the galaxy's finest fighters at my disposal — Jango Fett's clones — but their teachers… Yes, they can perfectly well pass on their experience to younger generations of clones, and with some difficulty they could even handle Jedi, but ordinary sentient beings… That's where the rub comes in. Clones with their philosophy and training methods will be ineffective. Ordinary people simply won't understand them, which will certainly lead to misunderstandings, if not open conflicts.
Which means I need to bring in specialists. Yes, hiring them will cost me a pretty penny — the Republic, after all, will fork out a Hutt or two for such an undertaking, and I'll have to shell out at least ten million for it, but it's worth it…
Another company that caught my eye was Carvon BattleTech. It was headed by Dailana Dic Vickt. This company was a subsidiary of the Carvon concern, which had long been known for its wide range of agricultural and mining machines: wheeled, repulsorlift, tracked, and walker vehicles produced by Carvon were in use throughout the galaxy. And recently, the subsidiary had been trying to enter the weapons market, releasing a couple of unusual combat vehicles — the CAVw PX-3 and PX-4, which resembled American armored cars from the Vietnam era. Well, those angular… Wow! They were called "M-113s." Also tracked. Sure, the machines might be fine for locals, especially for outlying worlds, and they might frighten savages, but for a serious war they were a bit weak. However, these guys have potential. They're on the right track, which means we'll have to pay them a visit — we'll be stuck on Alland for who knows how long anyway. To be honest apart from the Juggernaut in my resistance pass life Bradley and infantry fighting vehicles were the core of a mechanised force and while to 130 are good I need a vehicle the same size and speed to keep up with mu doctrine
Another point of interest was Anaheim Cybernetics. In a promotional holotape, a certain Nitin Malfoy touted the amusingly round ZZ-2 droid, which was billed as a sort of universal platform with a Class III brain. With the appropriate modules installed, the thirty-centimeter-long droid could function as a datapad, autopilot, training terminal, powerful communications system, and even — albeit to a limited extent — astrogator. It could also serve as a tactical droid, a medical droid, or an analytics droid. The "Kolobok" could be equipped with a repulsor propulsion system or four flexible manipulators — two legs and two arms. And all of this was equipped with a self-learning and self-improvement unit.
This platform frankly intrigued me, both for its versatility and its features. Take the autopilot, for example. If you add it to an AT-PT, you can eliminate the need for a two-person crew. The droid will handle the walking, and the organic will handle the shooting and general command. And a tactical droid — that's absolutely essential. It's unclear when a tactical droid based on the IM-6 will be suitable.
There were a few more interesting points, but… they required personal presence in order to inspect and weigh them, so they were postponed until later.
There was some news, however, that really pleased me. That same two and a half percent I'd bargained for with Jabba had started arriving. Yes… He wasn't just bargaining out of habit or a love of the art: the 300 million, seven hundred thousand, and thirty-two credits that had arrived in just over a day indicated that the sums the Hutts had received were in the tens of billions. I wonder how much they'd asked of the poor traders? Although, why poor? Law-abiding traders and carriers might complain about taxes and the like, but not bandits and smugglers. Those guys always have some cash. So why not shell it out for guaranteed protection from patrol ships — even in Hutt space and a couple hundred light-years away?
I leaned back in the chair aboard the *Finalizer*, staring at the credit transfer confirmation on the holoscreen. A slow smile spread across my face.
"Finally… some good news."
Zule, who had been quietly reviewing training schedules beside me, looked up with a raised eyebrow.
"Jabba came through?"
"More than came through," I replied, tapping the screen. "This is just the first trickle. If the pass system keeps working as planned, we'll have a steady stream. Enough to start funding some of the projects I've been thinking about without begging the Senate every time."
She leaned over, resting her chin on my shoulder. "And what projects are those, Teacher?"
I glanced at her, then back at the screen, mind already racing.
"New ships. Better vehicles. Instructors for the auxiliaries. Maybe even a proper shipyard if I can swing it. The System Army is going to need teeth, and the Republic isn't exactly handing out top-of-the-line equipment to a brand-new formation. So I'll have to build it myself."
Zule's hand found mine, squeezing gently. "You're not alone in this. We'll help."
I nodded, feeling the warmth of her presence through the bond.
"Yeah… we will."
The war raged on. The Senate bickered. Palpatine schemed in the shadows.
But for the first time in weeks, I felt like I had a real lever I could pull.
And I intended to pull it hard.