**Chapter 703: Interlude - The Secession**
**Galactic Senate, Grand Convocation Chamber**
**Coruscant**
Raio Cho made a quick note on her datapad, her slender blue fingers moving with practiced efficiency. She was seated in the Pantoran delegation box, one of the many floating platforms orbiting the central podium. Senator Cruy Vandron was currently speaking, his voice carrying a mocking edge as he criticized Senator Fima Baab's earlier proposal on agricultural subsidies. Raio kept one eye on the chronometer projected above the Speaker's dais — Vandron was dangerously close to exceeding his allotted time.
However, the Senex sector representative finished just before the cutoff, his final words met with a brief, uneasy pause. Then the chamber erupted once more into overlapping debates. Several platforms drifted closer to the center, their occupants gesturing wildly. Ni Alavar waved his arms emphatically at Vandron, while Lili Rin calmly but firmly interrupted him. Speaker Mas Amedda struck his staff against the floor repeatedly, his deep voice booming, "Order! We shall have order!"
It took nearly five minutes before the noise subsided enough for proceedings to continue.
Outwardly calm and composed — as befitted a young Pantoran senator rising quickly through the ranks — Raio Cho was inwardly seething with indignation. The Senate had been debating the new war budget for six straight days now. Heated verbal battles raged both in the open chamber and behind closed doors in private lounges and committee rooms. In a time when the very existence of the Republic and democracy itself was under threat, one would expect unity. Instead, the Senate remained bitterly divided.
Each faction, planetary bloc, or special interest group fought not for the greater good, but for their own slice of the shrinking pie — subsidies, tax breaks, preferential contracts, or protection for their home sectors. Raio understood their motivations. Not long ago, she had played the same game. But she had no intention of justifying it now.
Still, not everything was hopeless. The Chancellor's bloc — which included Raio herself, along with rising stars like Lorian Maverick, Kayda Pollock, Tiviola Tardun, and others — numbered nearly three and a half thousand senators and delegates. They pursued a unified policy: strengthening the Chancellor's emergency powers and dramatically increasing military spending to achieve a swift victory over the CIS, even if it meant cutting deeply into social and civilian programs.
Opposing them was the Loyalist Alliance, led by Padmé Amidala, Mon Mothma, and Bail Organa. This bloc of roughly fifteen hundred senators advocated for reducing military spending and increasing social welfare programs. They also pushed aggressively for renewed peace talks with the Separatists — a position that provoked furious backlash from the Chancellor's supporters. A smaller group of neutral senators occasionally sided with the Loyalists, offering to help open back channels to the CIS leadership.
The Loyalists' main argument was that after a string of Republic victories — Saleucami fallen, Mygeeto holding, Selonia secured, Ryloth liberated, and a decisive victory on Felucia — the CIS would finally be willing to negotiate. In response, they were reminded that the war was far from over, and any perceived weakness now could be fatal.
Today's debate centered on healthcare and support for war refugees and the poor. The Loyalists demanded increased subsidies. The Chancellor's bloc argued that maintaining current levels was already generous under the circumstances.
The atmosphere was electric with tension.
Raio glanced at her chrono again. *Half the day is already gone. A break should be called soon…*
"Silence!" Mas Amedda's voice thundered once more. "The floor is given to the envoy of Mon Cala, Nossor Rai."
Raio looked up in surprise as a platform drifted forward from the guest section. Other senators murmured in confusion. This was not on the day's agenda. And why was a Quarren — not a Mon Calamari — speaking from the guest box instead of standing beside Senators Tills and Domeya?
The Quarren waited for the whispers to die down, then spoke in a clear, resonant voice that carried across the entire chamber:
"Senate of the Republic!"
The departure from the traditional "Dear Senators" was already odd. But what followed was far worse.
"I am the envoy of His Majesty Yos Kolina, King of Mon Cala, and I have come to inform you of his will! Effective immediately, the planet Mon Cala, along with the surrounding worlds of the sector, secedes from the Republic and joins the Confederacy of Independent Systems!"
For a heartbeat, the chamber was deathly silent.
Then chaos erupted.
Senators and delegates rose from their seats, shouting, gesturing, demanding answers. Platforms collided as people surged forward. Raio Cho gripped the railing of her box, staring in disbelief at Nossor Rai. She caught a glimpse of Senator Meena Tills' face — the Mon Calamari senator looked as shocked as everyone else. She clearly had no prior knowledge of this.
*Force… this can't be real,* Raio thought. *Not like this.*
She quickly pulled up the latest combat reports on her datapad. A two-hour-old dispatch mentioned an attack on the Republic squadron guarding Mon Cala and heavy communications interference in the Twelfth Sector. But nothing suggested the planet had fallen so quickly — let alone that its leadership would willingly secede.
*How?* Raio wondered. *Even if they were defeated, how did an envoy get here so fast?*
The uproar grew louder. Mas Amedda was slamming his staff repeatedly, but his calls for order were drowned out by the storm of voices. Some senators were already demanding military retaliation. Others looked visibly shaken, realizing what this meant for the war effort — Mon Cala's shipyards were vital.
Raio Cho sat back slowly, her mind racing. This was no random defection. This was coordinated. Planned.
And then, as if the galaxy itself wanted to underline the moment, every viewport and holoscreen in the chamber suddenly flared with brilliant light.
Far beyond Coruscant's atmosphere, a distant pocket nova bloomed — a searing burst of phantom energy shaped unmistakably like Dagon Marek's Dark Star symbol. The symbol hung in space like a burning brand, visible across half the planet, turning the Senate's internal night into blinding day.
The shouting stopped. For a few seconds, the entire Grand Convocation Chamber was struck silent as thousands of senators stared upward in awe and fear.
Raio Cho whispered to herself, voice barely audible over the pounding of her heart:
"Dagon… what have you done?"
The war had just taken a terrifying new turn.