**Chapter 830: Whispers and Fire**
**Scene 1: Republic Military Headquarters – Conference Room**
Dagon smirked to himself as the discussion continued.
"A repeat of Pearl Harbor, to be honest. Yes, I'm being cheeky, but you don't need to know that, Fleet Admiral. Just like with the Japanese navy's operation. You won't understand the point. Although, yes, we must take Yamamoto's mistakes into account. Actually, there weren't many mistakes there—bad luck, really. Either the American carriers left the harbor a couple of days earlier, or they forgot about the fuel tanks."
"A massive air raid with preliminary reconnaissance."
"And how does that fit in with secrecy?" Anakin looked at me, puzzled. "Care to explain?"
Sumeragi smiled at that moment.
"Do you want to use them, sir?"
"Them?" Tarkin asked.
"Stealth ships," I explained. "Just yesterday, we received the four ordered vehicles. Load them with astromech droids and send them on a reconnaissance mission near Neimoidia for a couple of days. Monitor the patrol schedule and obtain coordinates for aircraft. After that, the ships will retreat and transmit the information to us. That way, we'll be aware of the latest changes in the situation and can deploy aircraft as close to the enemy ships as possible. On signal, we can attack them with large forces."
The advantage of using them should have been tremendous given the status of Saleucami, Metalorn, and Felucia.
"Tell me," I turned to Santorini, our staff spy, "are there any special features in intercepting messages from certain ships?"
The woman looked thoughtfully at the ceiling.
"I don't even know. If you're implying a disinformation leak, it would look very strange. Messages are encrypted, and quite heavily."
"That's not what I'm talking about. Let's say, can the enemy determine who exactly created the code? From which ship? Which communications officer?"
"Actually, yes. Every cryptographer has their own signature; it develops over time, even among droids."
"What if we send our cryptographers to one place and fly ourselves to another? Is it possible to deceive the enemy that way?"
Santorini's eyes lit up. And so did Isard's.
"That's an incredibly interesting idea. Yes, we could definitely pull that off."
"Okay. The second part is rumor. Let's say our 'official' objective is to attack Exodeen, followed by a breakthrough to Quellur. That is, an operation to cut Trench off from his supply lines and strike from the rear, all the way to Cato Neimoidia. That's a suitable route for advance. Or we could come up with something else: that leaves the cards in the hands of intelligence."
"You'll turn off at Fedell?" one of the officers muttered. "And then a dash through Kuat?"
"Through Balmorra," Anakin replied.
"The fleet will be ready to leave Coruscant in sixteen hours," Kernataun reported. "That's if we follow standard procedure. If there's an emergency, we'll make it in seven hours."
"The Invisibles will be able to leave for Neimoidia in twenty hours," Lee Noriega reported. Have you done the math yet? Apparently so.
"Time is against us," I looked at the officers and the Jedi. "Let's not waste it."
The room buzzed with focused energy as officers began coordinating logistics. Dagon watched them, his mind already three steps ahead. The disinformation campaign would buy precious time. Stealth ships would provide the eyes they needed. And when the hammer fell on Neimoidia, the CIS would never see it coming.
**Scene 2: Loyalist Strategy Session**
Looking at the Alderaanian Senator who entered the room, Mon Mothma noticed that the usually reserved man was not in the most complacent state.
"Here, take a look," Organa literally threw the datapad onto the table.
The woman looked at Organa in bewilderment.
"Look, look!" Bail waved his hands. "Palpatine is abolishing the Justice Corps!"
"Abolish it? But how?" the woman picked up the datapad.
"Officially—on the recommendation of a conference held by the General Staff. Other equally alarming decisions were made at the same conference."
"So, all the functions of the Justice Corps will now be carried out by the army?" Mothma quickly scanned the text displayed on the screen, then turned her gaze back to the senator. "But that's a bit odd... A separate structure for such tasks would be preferable."
"Nothing strange, considering that Palpatine has no intention of abolishing or even reducing the army after the war."
"Do you think he will go for it?"
"It doesn't say that outright anywhere, but look at the other documents, which, by the way, were created based on the work of several thousand officers from all these System Armies and other places. They talk about new tactics and a new classification system that screams, 'We will build a large and powerful fleet!' But all of this is only possible if Palpatine retains his emergency powers."
"He'll have to take them off after the war's over, Bail," the woman answered confidently. "Otherwise, it'll be a violation of everything and everyone."
"Sometimes I think he won't do it." The Alderaanian stopped pacing and sank wearily into a chair.
"Will he go against the Senate?"
"What can we do? If he wants, he can keep them. The fleet and army are powerful instruments of pressure. If he gives the sentient beings what they want, many senators will support him. If the Republic had an army, then events like Stark's attacks on the bacta tankers and the incident on Naboo simply wouldn't have happened. Many planets couldn't afford even a weak defense against pirates. Now the fleet will protect them."
Mon Mothma, however, was no longer listening to Bail's reasoning. Her mind was occupied with other thoughts.
She was taken aback by the possibility that all these "emergency powers" would continue after the war ended. She'd thought that once the war was over, everything would return to normal and perhaps she and the other Loyalist senators would become the founders of a new millennium of peace and prosperity for the Republic. But now all that was in doubt.
"The Jedi will not allow this."
"You think so?" Bail muttered. "I somehow doubt it. Fortunately, there have been precedents."
"Yes, you're right, they were. But now the situation is completely different…"
"But we need to prepare for the worst now, because later we might not have time," Bail concluded.
"First of all, we need to consider the political options. Let's say we force Palpatine into a situation where he's forced to relinquish his emergency powers and announce the election of a new Chancellor; after all, the elections themselves have already been postponed once, and once canceled. And each time, the reason cited was war."
"We don't have enough influence in the Senate to push through something like that."
"That's not true," Mothma countered. "If we—a certain group of Senators—were to provide some support for the current course under certain conditions, then it would be entirely possible to impose a series of obligations on Palpatine. For example, in exchange for agreeing to increased military spending…"
"There's a grain of truth in that," Organa nodded slightly. "But still, having backup options wouldn't hurt. Our friends are of the same opinion."
"By the way, how is your business going?"
"Alderaan's capacity isn't huge—just three hundred slipways capable of churning out ships up to five hundred meters long. So, for now, I have three ships in reserve that didn't make it past the official deadline…"
**Scene 3: Dagon POV – Annihilator, Coruscant Orbit**
'According to Sakura, apart from Talon, Atroxa, and Aubrie, the only other girl who she thinks I can share my thoughts with and not betray me is Zule.' Dagon thought.
Geez, as I rubbed my head, man this Force bond is so complicated, as I sat in my office.
"Huh, someone is here," I wondered as I heard noises and opened the closet.
I found Zule tied up, blindfolded in bondage gear as Sakura licked her pussy and Aubrie sucked on Zule's breasts.
"Master, we found Zule being naughty and decided to discipline her," Sakura said sultry.
'Okay, so Zule has a bondage thing. Interesting,' Dagon thought as Aubrie removed Zule's blindfold and gag.
"Master please, punish this slut, fill me and breed me," Zule said as her eyes turned Sith yellow with heart pink.
Dagon kissed Zule deeply, massaging her breasts and circling her belly button with his other hand.
"Oh Zule, you care so much," Dagon said as Zule begged him to stop teasing her.
Dagon then penetrated her pussy with his cock while he fingered both Sakura and Aubrie, who kissed each other.
Zule moaned loudly, her bound body arching as Dagon thrust deep and steady. "Master… yes… harder… please… I've been so bad… punish your slut…"
Sakura and Aubrie pressed closer, their hands roaming over Zule's body while they kissed Dagon and each other. The room filled with wet sounds and desperate pleas.
"Fill me… breed me… give me your seed, Master…" Zule begged, voice breaking with pleasure.
Dagon's pace increased, driving into her with powerful strokes. Sakura whispered in his ear, "She's been craving this… take her completely."
Aubrie sucked on Zule's neck, leaving marks. "Cum for us, Zule… let Master claim you…"
Zule came hard, screaming Dagon's name as her body shook. Dagon followed, burying himself deep and flooding her with heat.
The three women collapsed around him, breathless and satisfied. For a moment, the war felt distant. But Dagon knew the shadows were still there—waiting.