The Weaving Force: Chapter 106 (Patreon)

Chapter 106:

Obi-Wan

“I would like to thank you all for coming.”

The Chancellor’s voice was clear and solemn, carrying through the large, expansive conference room that was full to bursting.

He panned his eyes across those gathered here.

All Jedi Council members available planetside were present. Himself, of course, Master Yoda, Gallia, Plo, Yaddle, Poof, Tiin, Bulq and Rancisis; across from them the Corellian Senator Garm Bel Iblis was joined by his many aides and accompanying retinue. Beside him the Corellian Prime Minister Aidel Saxan, the Corellian head of State Thrackan Sal-Solo and the Grand Master of the Green Jedi whom Obi-Wan did not recognize. All three of those men were here by Holo call.

It was a mirror and yet a contrast to the Mandalorian Senator, Alexandria, who was joined only by her lone assistant. And next to her, Duchess Satine and Jedi Master Fay, also joining by holo call. 

They were seated at the end of the long table, opposite the chancellor.

Obi-Wan forced himself to avert his eyes from the duchess, looking instead towards the Chancellor, flanked by Sly Moore and Mas Amedda.

“Your call made it clear that this was an emergency.” Senator Iblis replied with a steady nod. “Given the people here, I can only imagine it has to do with the war or with the Death Watch terrorists.”

“Both or so I understand.” Palpatine nodded, his features strained and troubled before turning towards them. “Masters Jedi- please, the floor is yours.”

“Thank you, Chancellor.” Master Gallia replied, standing up and clasping her hands behind her back. As the Council’s premier diplomat, it was agreed that she would handle the bulk of the proceedings that did not directly address military or logistical affairs, Master Rancisis and Poof’s areas of expertise.

Everyone else was there to simply project unity and solidarity unless addressed directly.

The Tholothian cleared her throat.”As of several days ago, we in the order were able to discover and confirm the existence of a major Seperatist manufacturing plant in the outer Rim on the world of Geonosis.”

With a click from a small remote the rust red planet appeared in the center of the table, slowly circling on its pixelated axis. 

“This information was discovered due to an interview conducted with the captured General Pors Tonith and independent information that corroborated andsupplemented his provided by our allies on Mandalore.

Obi-Wan didn’t quite toss a look down the table, in fact he actively resisted the urge. No one needed to know that Alexandria was apparently, someone who, as Taylor would call it, was a ‘Thinker’ or that she’d been the one to deduce the Star System Pors wished to obfuscate and protect. 

“I understand that this is a significant step-” Senator Iblis nodded. “But I fail to see why we have been called here.” He answered flatly. “The Jedi have the Clone army and full powers invested within them and the Chancellor by the Senate to conduct this war to its ultimate conclusion. If you’ve found their manufacturing plant, why are you not attacking it?”

Adi Gallia took a breath, closing her eyes and seemingly bracing herself for what she was about to say next.

“While it is true that the Senate has entrusted the Jedi and the Chancellor with the powers to conduct the war and that we have control of the Clone army- I’m afraid things aren’t that simple.”

Another click.

And now the rust red planet was bathed in pixelated ‘hostile’ markers.

Ships. Anti orbital batteries, droid battalions, hard points, military fortresses, orbital defense platforms and every other possible weapon one could imagine to turn a world into a charnel house of slaughter. 

Now, the Corellian delegation looked interested, some eyes going wide as they beheld -and understood- the numbers they were looking at.

“As of right this moment-” Master Gallia continued before they could gather themselves. “These are the estimated defenses captured by our probe droids and reconnaissance vessels. As you can likely deduce, its very possible these are, quite literally, surface level estimates. Its unlikely we’ve seen everything they have to defend this, clearly, high value target.” She nodded. “By our current calculations, it will take almost fifteen percent of the Jedi order and Grand Army’s total available battle strength on the galactic scale to breach through these defenses, neutralize the separatists on it and capture or destroy their manufacturing plants.”

“Fifteen percent!” Iblis balked. 

“For one world?” It was Sal-Solo who leaned forward then, his voice incredulous. “That’s…”

“Not a rate of attrition we can sustain.” The woman answered with a nod.

“My friends; the Jedi have called for this meeting-” Chancellor Palpatine cut in “-because to put it simply. This is not a burden we can feasibly ask them to shoulder alone. Not if we wish to prevail in the wider conflict. In short, they need help.”

“And you want Corellia to provide that help.” Saxan surmised. 

“I will be frank.” Gallia breathed. “We have no choice other than to undertake this attack. The Confederacy’s production capabilities will outpace oru Clone production before much longer. But if we attack Geonosis and we lose-”

“Then it turns your loss in this war from likely to unavoidable” Alexandria nodded. “Is that what you’re getting to?”

Master Gallia looked at the woman, nodding with a solemn air of finality.

The Corellian leaders began to speak with one another, the two holo plinths no longer emitting a projected sound but rather redirecting their communications to Senator Iblis’ earpiece

“Chancellor.” All eyes turned towards the Duchess of Mandalore. 

Obi-Wan fought the urge to take a deep breath, guessing the turn the conversation was about to take; especially as Alexandria, ever so subtly tried to intervene with a hissed whisper of the Duchess’ name.

Nevertheless- the Duchess plowed on. 

“Now that the cost of this war in terms of lives lost and how much blood will need to be spilled  Will you finally reconsider your intractable position and open the Republic to a negotiated peace and disarmament to bring an end to this crisis?”

And there it is.

“Absolutely not!” . Saxan snarled. “They-”

“I believe the Duchess was addressing me, Minister-” Palpatine cut in pointedly with a sharp toothed smile. The Chancellor was a patient man. But he did not enjoy others putting words in his mouth.

Turning to look at Satine, Palpatine clasped his hands together, leaning forward, elbows on the table. “I will not lie, while I am loathe to negotiate with those who wish to destroy our democracy if we do not receive sufficient support, and the Jedi are forced to fight this battle alone it may simply be impossible to fully conduct the war and so some negotiations may need to take place as a matter of inevitability rather than choice.”

“That will not happen!” Senator Iblis snarled, leaning forward and glaring at the elderly statesman before turning those heated eyes onto Satine herself. “Let me be clear, Chancellor, Corellia will never agree to any… negotiated settlement with those terrorists. If you move forward with any such deal or settlement; I will do everything within my power to push through a vote of No confidence and see you removed as Chancellor.”

Palpatine seemed utterly unbothered by the very explicit threat, nodding. “That is your right, of course; but that begs the question- if you are so vehement in your disagreement, is Corellia itself prepared to offer military aid to the Jedi and the Republic now to take this world?”

“We are-” The Senator said with a firm nod. “As long as two things can be clarified here and now.” He held up two long fingers for emphasis. “First- That any Death Watch criminals along with any captured Seperatist commanders are delivered to Corellia for prosecutorial proceedings. Including Pors Tonith.”

Obi-Wan frowned; trying to piece together the political ‘move’ being played here, and what for. But before he could, the Chancellor spoke up. 

“That can be facilitated.” The man answered with a nod, easily conceding what Obi-Wan thought to be a fairly significant loss of face, surrendering authority and jurisdiction over the prosecutions of war criminals. Obi-Wan could very easily see Iblis using it as a platform to make a play for the Chancellorship himself soon-

Palpatine however, didn’t seem concerned.

The man wasn’t power hungry- but this seemed… odd. Too easy. Almost like a trap he was allowing Iblis to walk into.

The Senator’s eyes narrowed but, his demand had been met. “Good.” He said, before turning to the Jedi. “Lastly, we will be committing forces of our own to this as we’ve said, we need… projections. Estimates. How does this help long term? How much will it affect droid and war materiel production.”

Master Poof cleared his throat. “Given the sheer size of what we’ve discovered so far. We estimate droid production, just droids, not including weaponry, ammunition, or other war necessary materiel- would be affected by almost seventeen to twenty four percent.”

“And again, that’s with what we’ve discovered at a surface level.” Gallia nodded. “If there’s even more being hidden on Geonosis- well… it could be anyone’s guess how much more we might end up affecting their capacity to conduct the war.”

“Let us get into numbers then-” Sal-Solo demanded looking down at a datapad. “It says here that we have confirmation of no less than twenty Lucrehulk vessels, likely converted to full battle stations- thirty seven providence class destroyers, sixty three Recusants, One hundred and twelve Lupus Class Missile frigates and another One hundred and fifty Munificent class vessels,  and around ninety some odd auxiliary transport and escort vessels of various makes and models. Not including fighters, bombers, the orbital stations or anti orbital weaponry, the defense force of this planet sits at around five hundred vessels, rounding upwards of course.”” He surmised.

Master Gallia nodded “That is correct.”

“How many vessels can the Jedi and the Clones bring to bear?” The man asked. 

Again, it was Master Poof who answered. “As of this moment, the Jedi order can effectively field Sixty Seven  Malestrom class battle cruisers  just under one hundred Venators. One hundred and seventy four Acclamators, Seventy five Carrack Class Anti Starfighter Light cruisers and Fifty four retrofitted Consular Class cruisers. Our Pelta Class Medical Frigates Med Star Class Frigates, Arquitens Light cruisers and other support vessels all combine into roughly two hundred more vessels, but these are not dedicated combat vessels as you might guess.

“So in raw numbers you have a little more than five fifty.” The Corellian noted gravely. “That isn’t nearly enough.” 

“Add to that the fact that I imagine most of those Venators and their support craft are meant to get Clone and Jedi boots down onto the planet rather than slug it out in orbit and that number of dedicated frontliners grows even thinner.” Alexandria drawled from her place at the table. “So how much will Corellia be willing to dedicate here to try and make up the orbital difference.”

“Strictly orbital?” Iblis questioned. “You’re not asking us to join the invasion itself?”

This time, Master Rancisis, to Obi-Wan’s right spoke with a shake of his head. “No. The Clones and Jedi work well in tandem and in cohesion with eachother. Adding in Corellians, regardless of their zeal might jeapordize that effectiveness. Your Talents will be best served in securing the orbital war.”

That seemed to alter at least some of… whatever mental math the Corellian leadership had settled in their minds, with Iblis turning towards the Prime Minister and head of state to whisper between the three of them.

Finally, he returned. “If that is the case-” He continued after a long moment. “Then Corellia will be willing to fully commit the entirety of our Fleet to this endeavor.”

The room went still.

“I’m sorry?” Gallia blinked, stupefied.

He didn’t blame her.

He was half sure he’d misheard too. 

“We-” Iblis enunciated very clearly, staring right at her. “Will commit the entirety of our available fleet assets to this operation.”

Master Gallia’s mouth opened, closed, opened, and closed. “I-I see.”

“What of the defense of Corellia itself?” Chancellor Palpatine asked, but even his eyes were wide. 

“We have allies.” The Senator answered dismissively. “They will be willing to pick up the proverbial slack.” 

Obi-Wan breathed. 

That was almost three hundred vessels. Three hundred, veteran, skilled Navymen. 

“We will also be contacting our allies, to request a handful of necessary auxiliary vessels-” The Senator continued.

“And I will be making a press release soon, calling on any civilians who might wish to volunteer their services.” Sal-Solo nodded, turning towards Prime Minister  Saxan. “Can you make the necessary arrangements?”

The Prime Minister nodded. “I’ll get it done yesterday.”

“Well that is… more than any of us could have hoped for.” Palpatine smiled, turning his gaze towards the end of the table. “Is there… anything that Mandalore would like to contribute?”

Obi-Wan didn’t even have to look to know the expression that must’ve been splayed across Satine’s entire face. The sheer anger and disgust barely hidden behind the thinnest veneer of neutrality.

But her hands, tense and folded at her lap would tell the whole story.

Still, he did look.

He was right.

There was a brief, expectant silence, one which was used by Aleandria to turn away, whispering something into the private line.

After a long, interminable moment. Satine allowed her head to move, up and down. The base of her skull ratcheted to an iron hinge as her every muscle trembled with the emotion she was desperately holding back.

Alexandria stood.

“In the interests of preserving the New Mandalorian’s solemn vow of pacifism. It is with regret that we cannot commit military vessels to your efforts. However-” She continued quickly. “Mandalore is ready and able to provide Fifty Support and medical vessels to the fleets endeavor. All of these will be fully staffed and supplied to provide care for both Corellians, Jedi and Clones. Allowing you to redeploy those otherwise tied down assets elsewhere.”

Senator Iblis snorted but did not comment.

Alexandria ignored him. “In addition to the Mandalorian lieutenants who will be leading Clone troopers on the ground alongside Jedi already, as per previously enacted legislation-” 

Or not. The Reminder was rather pointed. 

“-the Duchess has authorized a cadre of one hundred members of her household royal guard to travel to Geonosis and aid in the capture and elimination of any Death Watch combatants discovered on that battlefield. Death Watch criminals, who, as agreed before will be delivered to Corellia immediately upon capture. This task force will be led personally by the woman who has conducted the investigation and executed it very successfully so far, Hannah Saxon of Mandalore.”

Obi-Wan knew that name.

The Parahuman woman. She would be on the battlefield as well?

Obi-Wan sucked down a sharp breath, almost seeing it, for a brief instance. A window in the Force. The final piece falling into place. The last thread of the tapestry winding together. The pattern and weave of the coming horror visible in his eye and then-

It vanished. 

Slipping through his grasp like water past a net. Gone.

He released the breath a tension bleeding out of his body but the certainty remaining. 

They stood on the cusp… a place where they could not turn back from past this point.

He didn’t know if it should be stopped. Or even if he could.

And so all he could do was sit there.

He wondered, if his fellow council members felt at all the same. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the Chancellor’s wide, pleased smile. 

“It is wonderful… that we have all been able to come to such swift agreements and can join our efforts in preserving and defending our Republic so… vigorously…”

The Elder statesman stood, all eyes on him. 

“I’m sure while the battle will be difficult beyond all measure, we will emerge ahead of our enemies and this will be the first step towards a future where this… tragic institution  will finally be put to rest.”

“Let’s hope so, Chancellor.” Master Gallia nodded. 

The sun cast long rays of light on Coruscant… and even longer, deeper shadows. 

(X)(X)(X)

One more chapter

And then that's it.

We've reached the inflection point.

The last deep breath before the big plunge.

Like I said a few updates ago;

It's gonna be biblical

One thing to note here tho- while the Fleet composition and its numbers are relatively "solid" as in "This is the scale we're going for" some things might be tweaked and altered. I don't always make edits post update but given that there's a lot of Star Wars minutia that goes into "Their fleets" it might be necessary just incase I got something wrong.

But other than that... yeah... Look forward to the next updates.

Because Geonosis is going to be absolutely insane. Largest battle I think I might ever write.