"You could consider it so." She nodded. "Long ago, in a small island on a planet far, far away, the Emperor was the ultimate authority. However, he delegated most of the 'mundane' tasks of ruling, such as managing finances or running the military, to the Shogun and his followers, while he focused on higher pursuits like art or religion.
In doing so, he put himself at the Shogun's mercy, as he ceded all the real power to him. A mercy that the Shogun lacked."
...
Damask nodded, opening his mouth to respond, only to abruptly close it, as his brows creased, and he took a long drag from his rebreather. In the Force, Tan'ya could feel his tightly woven mind stirring, if only with a twitch of anxiety. Evidently something about her story must have given him pause.
"...Indeed." He whispered, deep in thought. "Perhaps the Emperor took Shogun's loyalty for granted, willfully blind to the consequences should his trust prove to have been misplaced. And it is too late for the Emperor to claw back his influence as well - the Shogun has grown too powerful, and too entrenched in the Empire; any attempt to subvert his power would either destroy what they've built, or lead to the Emperor's demise.
The only way for the Emperor to ensure the survival of both himself and his Empire," the muun said in a hushed tone, a calculating gleam in his eye as he regarded Tan'ya, "is for him to raise a secret weapon the Shogun knows nothing of."
Tan'ya couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at how painfully the banker had extended the metaphor. "So is this your intention for the Clone Army, mister Damask? A secret weapon intended to pacify the powerful once the Republic implodes?"
"Oh, yes," the muun blinked, returning from his thoughts. "Once the corporations come to reap in blood what they no longer can in credits, the clone army will be there to prevent another invasion of Naboo from happening, and kill the age of warlords in its infancy. There will be peace, and the Republic will slowly rebuild, wiser for its past failures."
"And what do you get out of this?" Asajj asked, a hint of mistrust in her voice.
"War might be good for business, Knight Ventress, but anarchy certainly isn't," Damask smiled genially. "For securing my holdings and retaining my status, peace is a far more lucrative alternative."
"What about Father?" Tan'ya pressed. "What did he want the army for?"
"The Count had discussed using it to stabilize the Outer Rim." Damask explained after a moment. "He's always been greatly concerned by law and order, and the anarchic state of the Outer Rim offends him greatly."
Tan'ya pursed her lips, nodding. Her father had a love of order, something that served Serenno well when he brought peace to the planet, but caused him to overlook the deplorable state his people lived in once he was done driving out the invaders. Rather than looking to build up his domain by working on the economic problems his people faced, he cast his eye outward, seeking more enemies to fight.
To be fair to him, he had a pretty limited set of options available to him thanks to the Senate's meddling, but it couldn't be denied that a majority of the Count's energies had been spent on expanding the reach of the New Temple. Maybe that was a worthy endeavor, the world's he'd drawn in had benefited massively from having dedicated Jedi Knights rooting out raiders and criminal syndicates, but it revealed that ultimately her Father was a Jedi Master who sought to fight disorder, before he was a Count who shepherded his people.
Serenno didn't need a knight lost on crusade, it needed a prince.
"Then who killed Sifo?" Asajj asked. "Maybe the army is needed, maybe not, but the murderer must face justice."
"The assassin was a Sith, my contacts in the Jedi Temple can tell me that much." He answered, taking a long breath. "As for who sent him, I can only speculate. Even the Jedi haven't been able to learn much about him, but I suspect there was another party involved in this plan. Someone I had considered to be subordinate to me, who worked for me in the Senate and had influence over the bureaucrats to give us the cover we needed to evade the Republic's notice, but he's revealed himself to be ambitious, and uncontrollable. He's profited greatly from recent events, and though I can't prove anything, my suspicion falls on him."
"Who?"
"The newly elected Supreme Chancellor." He took another puff of his breather, shaking his head as he did, scowling. "Palpatine has definitely turned events on Naboo to his own advantage, and there were two different Dark Side users that attempted to assassinate Queen Amidala. If the Queen had died, he would have been acting head of state, able to call for a vote of no confidence himself."
"You believe Chancellor Palpatine was behind the invasion of Naboo?"
"He betrayed us." Hego replied simply. "And now that he has his office, I fear he's beyond reprisal."
That would make sense, and it would explain why Tan'ya's father rushed off to fight the Trade Federation beyond just his former padawan being threatened. Of course, Tan'ya would have to talk to her father about all this.
Whenever he had the time.
"So what's the plan now?" Tan'ya asked. "Why are you here tonight?"
"I'm here to get the plan back on track." Damask replied. "And for that, I have to ask you to refrain from talking to the Jedi Council. There's no way they'll accept the Clone Army now, not this early on. It's a weapon I will thrust upon them when they're desperate enough to need it, but now they'll discard it. Not to mention the damage it would do to the Count and your family.
I don't think it's out of the question that you and all your siblings would be taken into the custody of the Jedi Order. The reputational blow to the New Temple." He shook his head again, taking a long puff. "In your shoes, I would consider very carefully before I make that call."
Tan'ya and Asajj looked at each other, reaching a wordless agreement. Hego was right, and informing the Jedi Council would have dire consequences for the dreams of both of them.
Damask continued. "I took a stroll by the landing pads, and to me it looks like the New Temple would benefit from a large donation. I've noticed your Jedi are flying about in YT-100's, second hand ones by the looks of it. As reliable of a ship as it is known to be, it seems beneath the dignity of your Order." He looked towards Tan'ya.
"And your world struggles to raise the capital it needs to really start building a brighter future. I'm sure I would have a lot to gain by investing in an up and coming power of the Outer Rim."
He leaned back in his chair, watching the two of them. "So, what do you plan to do?"
...
Finally, with the ceremony over and all the guests either sleeping in rooms provided by the New Temple or leaving, Dooku let himself into his office and held the door open for Ky Narec who stepped in behind him. They'd both been drinking that night, but they were Jedi and able to suppress the toxins running through them fairly easily.
Without waiting for an invitation, Narec took the seat in front of his desk, as Dooku closed and locked the door behind them. When he sat down he took out his compad and turned it off, laying it on the desk in front him as Narec did the same.
After that Dooku took out that nice bottle of fortified wine he had in his cooler and a pair of glasses for the both of them.
"So, I guess I might start with, how long have you been using the Dark Side?" Ky asked him, taking a glass.
"Not as long as you, I suspect." Dooku replied. "I was forced to rely on it in the battle to retake Serenno from my brother, Ramil."
"And you've been using it ever since then? You revealed yourself in the Dark Side, I felt your hatred aimed at someone. Who was it?"
Dooku grimaced. So Narec had picked up on that much? He may have to reveal more than he intended in this meeting… "There is a Sith Lord on Coruscant, hidden in the senate itself. He operates through intermediaries, assassins like Aurra Sing. Two of those I love have been slain at his word, Sifo Dyas and Qui-Gon Jinn."
Ky stared at Dooku, his gaze not quite disbelieving, but not quite trusting, either. "How certain are you of this?"
"Absolutely."
"But how do you know?"
Ky looked surprised by that. "Not strong enough? But you're the greatest duelist in the Order."
"A large fish in a small pond, I've come to learn." Dooku said. "To defeat him, I will need powers much greater than those offered by the Jedi Order."
They sat in silence for a long moment, Narec considering his words. "Is Asajj in danger?"
Dooku nodded.
Narec frowned, gazing down into his drink. "Does she know?"
"Not yet."
...
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