The Curtain Lifts

The Curtain Lifts

As they came down from the tower of the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan Kenobi caught hold of Qui-Gon Jinn, who was walking along with his head down. "Master, are we just going to leave this matter hanging? Investigate through the Republic Commerce Guild? By the time they remember there was such a thing, I'll probably be ninety years old."

"You heard them too. That was the High Council's decision." Qui-Gon shook his head and kept walking.

As they passed a room, they saw a tall, white-haired old man holding a holographic communicator and speaking with someone dressed in ornate robes. Sensing that someone was watching, the old man flicked a finger, and the door shut on its own.

"That's Master Dooku. It looks like he's talking to Senator Palpatine. They've been getting quite close lately," Obi-Wan said with a sigh.

"Ever since the battle in the Mandalorian system ten years ago, my master has gradually lost faith in the Jedi Order. He now prefers to resolve problems through political means, so his relationship with Senator Palpatine is hardly surprising," Qui-Gon said.

"Fine, but back to the point—what about the Endor system? Are we really just going to ignore it?" Obi-Wan asked.

"We'll investigate it ourselves." Qui-Gon Jinn boarded the ship and directly set a course for Coruscant's administrative district.

Seeing what his master was doing, Obi-Wan smiled. "So you've started losing faith in the High Council too?"

"It isn't that I don't trust them. It's that there are too many things happening in the Galactic Republic now, and they lack the capacity to cover everything." Qui-Gon Jinn pointed at the copilot's seat. "But we have that capacity."

"...That is the situation, Senator." In the room, Master Dooku calmly addressed the holographic projection of Senator Palpatine before him.

"So, a group of people is conducting colonization activities on Endor aboard an enormous civilian ship, and they also killed the bounty hunter you sent after them." Palpatine smiled. "Well, it does seem worthy of attention, but it truly isn't something we need concern ourselves with. Perhaps in two hundred years, Endor will become a member of the Republic."

"With all due respect, Senator. Endor lies in the remote Outer Rim. Even if a sovereign planet rose up there, the Galactic Republic's administration would be unable to reach it." Master Dooku shook his head.

"And that is precisely what we are striving toward, Master Dooku. Transforming the Galactic Republic into a better, stronger state. A powerful state where orders are obeyed without question, where a single word can mobilize all the resources of the entire Milky Way Galaxy. When that day comes, we will be capable of anything." Palpatine spread his arms, speaking with great anticipation.

"You are a good man, an extraordinary politician, Senator Palpatine. But I must remind you that in this decaying Galactic Republic, people like you rarely live long." Dooku said gravely.

"Even if I am assassinated tomorrow, I will die on the right path. My death will point the way forward for those who come after me. The Republic needs people like me to die." Palpatine's expression turned solemn.

Dooku took a deep breath and bowed. "The existence of people like you proves that the Republic can still be saved. Thank you, Senator Palpatine."

Palpatine returned the bow. "It is my duty, Master Dooku."

After ending the communication, Palpatine left the Galactic Senate Building and returned to his modest residence. He took off the ornate robes that marked him as a senator and put on a coarse gray cloak, hiding his face beneath its hood. After making sure no one was watching, he took a secretly concealed speeder through a hidden passage and left.

In a dark, labyrinthine corner of the lower levels of the Coruscant Industrial District, Palpatine stepped down from the speeder, took out a distinctive communicator, and opened a channel. A fierce-looking, tattooed woman appeared in the holographic projection. The moment she saw Palpatine, she snarled, "So you finally decided to contact me, you skulking bastard!"

"You'd best hope that next time, I'm in as good a mood as I am today. The entire Nebula Front is under my control!" Palpatine's voice became dark and hoarse, like an aged beast with an injured throat howling in rage.

The woman's temple twitched as she visibly restrained her anger. Lowering her head, she said, "Speak. What is our target?"

"The Rima Trade Route. In forty-seven standard hours, a Trade Federation merchant convoy will stop there to resupply while transporting minerals. Hijack those minerals and deliver them to Kalinda Planet. Someone will help you dispose of the cargo." Palpatine spoke in a low voice.

"How will the payment be made?"

"I will have someone launder the money. You will receive half of it—two million credits. The other two million credits will be for another task: use a bank trust fund to transfer that money, in your name, to my agent."

"As long as we get paid, that's no problem. Tell me, who gets this credit?"

"The current Chancellor of the Galactic Senate, Phineas Valorum." Palpatine spat out an astonishing name in that sickeningly twisted voice.

"Ha ha ha ha, interesting. We'll take the job."

Outer space above Dawn Star Planet, lower deck of the mothership.

A solemn military bugle sounded, echoing through the empty deck.

There was no military band. The bugle call was played directly by the Mainframe, yet it did nothing to diminish the tragic atmosphere.

Tang Xiao stood at the front in a crisp military uniform, holding a salute as he looked ahead. Qi Jian, Clement, and the other principal officials of the Fourth Civilization stood in the row behind him, likewise holding their salutes.

Before them, one hundred Marines stood in two ranks, their assault rifles fitted with bayonets and raised toward the sky. Forty-two metal coffins were neatly arranged in the center, each engraved with the emblem of the Fourth Civilization.

This was a newly designed emblem. Its main body was shaped like a Milky Way Galaxy with only four spiral arms, with two crossed longswords representing force and authority behind it. Above it were the words "4TH.", and below it was the word "Scourge," representing the Fourth Civilization—or rather, the Fourth Calamity.

These forty-two coffins held the bodies of the thirty-four fighter pilots and eight transport ship crew members killed in the bounty hunter attack. They were the first batch of soldiers from the Fourth Civilization to die since arriving in the world of Star Wars, and everyone present understood that they would certainly not be the last.

Tang Xiao took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "They were the finest soldiers, the finest pilots. I believe that if they had been given an equal chance, every one of them could have easily killed the attacking bounty hunters. But they were not... All they had to fly were outdated fighters."

His voice gradually rose. "Yet even so, they did not retreat in the slightest! They knew their weapons could not penetrate the enemy's shields. They knew a single blast from the enemy's laser cannons was enough to destroy them. Still, they did not retreat in the slightest! Because every one of them knew that they were guardians... guardians protecting the final spark of our Fourth Civilization!"

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Bonus chapter image 1: Galactic Republic Senator Sheev Palpatine

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