ooc:This Takeover includes Varonat Prime(Varonat's Moon).

Bakura
Salis D’aar
Deacon Residence
Day –7

“And today Bill 35-C was passed with a slim majority. Vice-President Meer introduced this bill. In it the Sovereignty Armed Forces are to be revamped. Specifically the Army would be formed into a number of Corps under the command of a Lieutenant General. The first of these corps is primarily made up of Assault Division 1, Assault Division 2, Assault Division 3 and Assault Division 4. It will be called First Armoured Corps. The Bill also calls for a large increase in military recruitment. Also all citizens over 18 years of age except if they have physical or mental disabilities or religious complications are to be active members of the reserve for 5 years. They are to report to their duty stations for one month a year. All members of the reserve can be mobilized by an order from the Commander in Chief of all Military Forces, which is the president. This section of the bill was the most disputed section. The bill comes into effect in one week.”

Ranth Deacon leaned back in his air cushion chair. It sounded like the Sovereignty was preparing to go to war. The Prophet would be interested in this.



Varonat
Varonat City
University of Varonat
History Complex
West Wing
Lecture Hall D
Day 0

“Trillions of years ago long before the invention of space flight, blasters or any of the modern military technology of today armies relied on what is know known as trench warfare. Battles would last for weeks or months as one side or the other slowly advanced over a stretch of around a kilometre. They were armed with what were then considered modern heavy automatic projectile weapons, which are strikingly similar in basic makeup to the rudimentary projectile weapons used, by the sand people and other un-civilized natives on some of the less civilized worlds of our galaxy. Trench warfare was a very deadly form of combat with thousands of people dying for the most insignificant of gains.”

Professor Vant paused as he looked out over his Ancient Military History class. Some of them were paying attention, others were just staring at him with blank looks in their eyes. He was proud to see the different religions represented here in the University of Varonat. There was no segregation like there was on the rest of Varonat. Differences in religion had become an increasingly larger and larger problem on Varonat.

“The solution to this problem was the development of the tank. The original tanks were
driven by powered by petroleum products engines and were extremely capable of climbing over obstacles in a battlefield including trenches thanks to their tracked wheels. These tanks were nearly impervious to the anti-infantry that were widespread. The development of the tank allowed for the development of what is known as the Blitzkrieg.
The Blitzkrieg was a lightning assault using armour teams and air-mobile troops to assault and take an area in a very short period of time. This “lightning war” as it became known to the general public took the world by surprise. It turned out to be the one of the most effective strategies involving invasions of countries. In fact this strategy is still taught today at the Armed Forces Officer Candidate School.”

The bell rang signalling the end of the period. With a rustle nearly every student in the hall stood up at the exact same time. Vant waited for them to leave the hall before he stood up and left. Sub-consciously he followed the route back to his office as he contemplated his latest speech. In two days he would make a presentation to various local religious leaders in Varonat City. With luck they would listen to his words of wisdom and all these petty religious squabbles would end. When the leaders of Varonat started to treat each other as equals maybe then the other leaders of the galaxy’d treat them as equals.





Varonat
Village 867
Day 0

John Edwards stared at the wailing scum before him. These pathetic people didn’t deserve to live. They were nothing, wastes of air, infidels. He smiled at their cries of mercy begging all their make-believe gods, from Autn to Zers to save them. But none of them cried out to Varan, the only real god. Had they begged for the Varan’s forgiveness they might have been saved. Unfortunately for them they never repented even in these last minutes of life.

John’s chrono beeped, it was time for these people to meet their real maker. With a wave of his hand the gunmen lined up behind him raised their rifles, and opened fire into the crowd. They didn’t fire with regular blasters rather they fired with specialized devastator rifles set for a lower power setting. A single blast can maim but not kill. Only after repeated blasts could somebody be killed. This way each and every one of them would die in the utmost agony a just fate for things like them.

Smiling at the carnage in front of him John drew his own pistol and sited down the short barrel on a little boy no more than 8 years old. So far he had escaped the painful bolts. Laughing John blasted the boy once in the arm, and once in the gut. The boy opened his mouth screaming as all his nerves were shot through with pain. But his screams weren’t heard above the screams of a hundred others. Knowing that the gunmen behind him would finish off this group he left them to their holy work.

Over on the other side of the building the finest of the young females in this village were being taken. They would be punished for their sins but only after they’d repaid Varan by providing some good time for his followers and helping bring into this world sons and daughters of men who followed Varan. These children despite their mother’s lack of faith would follow the path that Varan laid down before his followers. He didn’t think of it as rape. Varan had quite specifically through the mouths of his various prophets condemned rape. These women didn’t deserve the status of women. As such it wouldn’t be rape.

“Excuse me sir.”

John turned around to see a young man no boy shaking, whether with fear, anger or any other emotion John didn’t know.

“What is it?”

“The prophet, he’s called to enquire about how things are progressing. I told him that all things were going perfectly to schedule.”

John nodded, so that explained the boy’s shaking. He had been blessed by a conversation with the prophet. The prophet was Varan’s mouthpiece in the galaxy. As such it was like the boy had been talking with Varan himself. This boy would no doubt become an object of envy in his barracks.

With a wave John dismissed the boy and then brought out his datapad to check his next target. A Professor Vant, it appeared was very outspoken about uniting the two religions on Varonat. He would have to be silenced. His orders were to capture and escort to the Prophet. Soon there would be no need for unity as there will be only one religion left.

Varonat
Varonat City
Prophet's Residence
Day 0

The prophet smiled as he closed down the link with Village 867. Everything was going perfectly. The people would follow him when he showed them the truth. They were devoted to him and through him Varan.

He hadn't always been called The Prophet. He'd been born Joeseph Bourdon, the son of a police officer. His father had been one of the people who had helped turn Varonat away from it's lawless past to it's new bright future. Once the blight of the Ison Corridor Varonat had appeared as a shining star. Perhaps one day they would lead a coalition of the other worlds of the Ison Corridor. But then The Jutraalian Empire, The New Order and a host of other governments based on far-off planets had staked their claim in the Ison Corridor mainly because of Bespin's Tibanna Gas Production. And know the Outer-Rim Sovereignty had come. All of Varonat's neighbours had sworn their allegiance to one godless government or another. And know it was time to show the error of their ways to the people of the galaxy. The infidels on Varonat would be made an example of. And if that didn't work there was other neighbouring worlds with infidel populations that could be cleansed.

A rustle of fabric announced the presence of his Chief Acolyte Rob Hahn.

"What news do you bring me?"

The prophet's question resonated through the room, not too loud and not too softly. The perfect voice to command attention and respect something which he did very well.

"News from Bakura oh great one."

"Well what is it?"

"One of our devoted followers has reported that the Outer-Rim Sovereignty has passed a law that includes a massive increase in their military."

"That is not of our concern. We will deal with them when it is time. Is there any other news?"

"There is none. All teams report that the original stages of the cleansing has been accomplished per schedule. Their preparing for the second stage. So far we are on schedule."

"Good. What time is my broadcast scheduled for?"

"In two hours."

"I will retire to refresh myself. Prepare my outfit. Dismissed."

Hahn genuflected once before he scurried out of the room.

The prophet smiled, yes everything was going perfectly.



Varonat
Varonat City
Gateway Complex
Building 2-C
Day 0

Professor Vant sighed as he settled into his favourite chair. The day had gone rather well so far. On the table beside him was his favourite datapad and he picked up thinking that he should maybe do a bit more work on his speech. Suddenly the doorbell rang. With a sigh Vant put down his datapad and rose from his chair to see who it could be.

He opened the door to see a younger man dressed in fashionable clothes. He had close cropped brown hair and striking blue eyes. And the V tatooed on his forehead showed to all that could see that he was a follower of Varan.

"Good Evening Professor. I am, John Edwards from Varonat Comm Network. One of our guest speakers cancelled for our audio-only channel and I was wondering if I could have an interview with you."

It bothered John slightly to be using his real name in an illegal activity such as this. But he figured it wouldn't matter since by the time the Professor would be able to tell anybody his name The Prophet would be in control of Varonat.

"I'd by honoured Mr. Edwards. If you could step into living room."

"Thank you sir."

John waited untill they were both out of sight from any door or window to strike. Quickly and silently he took a tiny syringe out of his pocket and stabbed it into the back of the professor's neck. Within seconds of the first droplet of the substance entering the professor's bloodstream. Almost immeadiately his body's nervous system shut down. Soon he was unconcious. Then John double clicked his comlink. A minute later two of his men were beside him. Their closed bed landspeeder was pulled up at the door and the professor was shoved in the back. Then they were speeding away from the professor's house heading to the already cleansed Village 867. The village had been modified to serve as a detention camp for the prophet if he needed it. After all it's former inhabitants wouldn't be needing it.

Varonat
Varonat City
Prophet's Residence
Day 0


The people were ready, he was ready, this would be the beginning of triumph, he would be the mouthpiece of Varan and bring the light to the galaxy, Varan had decreed it.

"Are the holocameras set up?"

"Yes oh great one. Your devoted servants are prepared to reroute all planetary communications on your signal."

"They are not my servants Acolyte Hahn. They are the servants of Varan, I am merely their link to him."

"One Minute."

The voice of one of the minor acolytes rang out through the room. He was doubtless disappointed that he didn't have a greater part in the cleansing of Varonat, but his technical expertise made it a neccesity for him to be removed from the actual cleansing.

All the acolytes cleared the area around the prophet. He was to appear all over Varonat in seconds. Slowly the seconds on the wall clock ticked down to zero. The prophet took a deep cleansing breath and settled his shoulders.

"I greet you....."

Varonat
Varonat City
Hall of Unity
Day 0

"The chair recognizes Senator Bennington."

John Trieve, Speaker of the Varonat Senate settled back in his chair. Yet another one of these squabbling religious fanatics this time a Khazaun. He probably wanted to complaing about some temple or another build by the Varanians which was of course on sacred Khazaunian ground. Then the Varanians would say that it was their sacred ground and that they'd been there first. Then the Khazaunian would make up some bullshit about how one of their many gods said it was to be their land. And in the end all that would happen is one more child on the street would end up being killed.

Suddenly the huge holo screens that adorned the walls stopped showing the rotating emblem of the Varonat Senate. In it's place a human male robbed in blood red stood in front of what appeared to be a white screen. John didn't recognize and saw that for the most part the senators didn't either. The V tattoed on his forehead showed him to be another follower of Varan.

"I greet you loyal followers of Varan. For those of you who don't recognize me I am the prophet. I am the messenger of Varan the Allmighty. He has sent me to give you, the people of Varan this message. It is time to bring the Galaxy to the light. All the other religions shall be abolished and the deluded people of the galaxy shall follow the light of Varan. Already the cleansing of Varonat has begun. I offer you this sign."

The image of the prophet disapeared, being replaced by the Great Temple of Khazau, the most holy of Khazaunian sites. Situated right beside it was the Temple of Varan, one of the holier sites of Varan. The proximity of the two temples had long been a cause of dispute. Then suddenly there was an explosion and the Great Temple of Khazau was demolished but the Temple of Varan remained standing without a scratch. Then the temple was replaced with the prophet again.

"As you can see the Temple of the Pretender was demolished while the Temple of Varan sustained no harm. It is an act of Varan himself rewarding his followers. To you faithful followers of Varan, complete the cleansing of Varonat destroy the infidels."

Suddenly John was aware of a group of men all wearing black and all armed. With deadly precision they began shooting, taking out the Khazaunian senators one by one. There was no bodyguards here, these men must have snuck in the gallery. John jumped to his feet with no other thought but to stop them.

"Stop!" He yelled as he ran towards them.

One of the men turned towards him and leveled his blaster rifle. John had just enough time to notice the V emblazoned on his forehead before the man pulled the trigger. John Trieve fell to the floor and did not move.

Blasterfire. Screams. Death.

President Xander Griff of the Outer-Rim Sovereignty watched in horror as thousands of civilians were tossed into one massive pit and summarily executed. Griff watched one person, a man, walk up to the pit and fire repeatedly into the pit, hurting a little boy. Another, a soldier by the looks of him, fired, hitting a young man in the face.

Griff closed his eyes, imagining the screams.

Commandant Ilem sighed quietly, stopping the recording, "This holorecording was taken by a Black Hand Agent stationed on Varonat. With the recording comes a short report. Apparently, religious uprisings on Varonat have become, as you have seen, violent. Based on the agent's report, we estimate no fewer than a hundred thousand people have been killed by these 'Followers of Varan'."

Griff massaged his temples, "Varan?"

"Their god. The usual...maker of the universe, maker of the galaxy and all the peoples within it."

"Stereotypical."


"Yes."

"Did the agent report on how long this has been going on?" Griff asked, standing and walking slowly over to the window, which showed a beautiful view of Salis D'aar, the Bakuran capital.



"A few weeks." Ilem said.

Griff nodded silently.

"Ready the Avenger. It is to depart in three hours" He said.

Ilem nodded.

"Also...alert the Black Hand."

Ilem gave Griff a meaningful glance before leaving the office.

***

Agent 318 moved, under the cover of darkness, across the street.

Varonat City was a big place. It covered three square
kilometers. Even Salis D'aar was not that big.

318 had spent the last week carefully tracing radio and comm signals throughout the city. Using an advanced Black Hand anylizer computer, he had managed to find all the transmissions that the Followers of Varan had made, and he had found a unique frequenzy setting embedded in all of the transmissions. They all used the same type of commlink, to reduce the danger of being caught. But in the end, it actually worked against him. It took him three days to locate all the transmissions, another to find the sources and locations, and the rest of the time he had sopent going over the transmissions.

He had finally found what he had been looking for. The Prophet was extremely careful of traps, but that also said something about his personality. Either he was extremely carefull, or he was a coward. These religious types, the liked to think themeselves somehow 'invunerabole' to outside threats, probably thinkling their revered dieties would save them.

318 moved in on the target street, and then made his way across a darkened plaza. He was now in Varan-controlled territory, and they Followeres enforced a strict cerfew, and if you were caught outside your home after cerfew, you were given two warnings- probably shouted at you -and then shot. 318's training took over and he made his way across the plaza. After a moment, he ducked behind the huge statue of Varan as two sentries passed by, converssing in low tones.

"What is the Prophet doing?" Asked the first one, who seemed perplexed by something.

"I have no idea. What about Varan? The Prophet is killing thousands...hundreds of thousands! Would Varan really sanction that!?" Asked the second one, who seemed terrified.

"Shut up you idiot! Would you like Varan himself to hear you?" The first sentry asked, slapping the second across the top of the head.

The very thought of speaking to Varan seemed to make the second sentry immobilized with terror, and showed it.

"Anyway. We should get moving. I hear the Prophet is going to speak to all of us soon." The first sentry said, and both began to walk into the darkness.

318 stood again, and counted the houses from left to right. Three left, six right, two left, and one right. There...that was the house.

318 moved on the house, which he knew contained this 'Prophet'.

Bakura
Salis D’aar
Deacon Residence
Day 14

It was something that intelligence analysts and spies all over the galaxy had hid for years. Large news networks in nations that have various laws that protected reporters and their stories are the most capable real-time intelligence gathering device. Every year trillions of credits would go to intelligence organizations all over the galaxy when a company worth maybe a billion credits would be much more effective. And in this case the Sovereignty News Network coupled with various other news sources made Ranth Deacon an excellent intelligence source. But he also had other sources, one of them was Colonel Gonan Deacon his cousin and chief of starfighter forces on the Avenger while not a follower of Varan he was a useful source of information and the information that the Avenger was going to quell a religious uprising in the area of Hoth was most helpful indeed.

Varonat
Varonat City
Prophet's Residence
Day 15

The prophet sat in the governor's palace. While he still stayed in his old house during the night for the added protection he liked to co-ordinate the religious movement from the governor's palace. The vast Command Centers made it easy for him to communicate with anyone that he so wished. Luckily there wasn't much co-ordination needed. Most of the major fighting had been done and over within the first week and a half of the uprising. The ban on intra and inter-planetary communications had added him as it eliminated the chances of any resistance groups being formed. And any remaining pockets of resistance were soon discovered because of the lack of other communications to clutter up the communication scanners his security teams used. All in all everything was going perfect.

In front of the prophet there was a massive command display screen for the commanders or his use only. A light had started to flash in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Frowning for a second he tried recalled what the light meant and then how to activate the message it represented. Suddenly, a text message popped up on his video display screen. It was from one of his many agents situated throughout the Outer-Rim and the galaxy. The header on the message told him that this agent was Ranth Deacon, stationed in Salis D’aar. He was a minor civil servant and his primary job was to pass on any information he received from anything possible to the prophet. It would have seemed peculiar for somebody on Varonat to subscribe to every news service in the sovereignty and the galaxy so instead he got other people to do it for him.

Outer-Rim Sovereignty aware of a religious uprising on a planet in the area of Hoth and the Ison Corridor. Likely to be the uprising of the Followers of Varan on Varonat. Imperial Star Destroyer mk. II Avenger is to depart to the location of the uprising.

End Message.

The prophet frowned an incursion by the Outer-Rim Sovereignty into Varonat Space would not be welcomed. The military had been cleansed of the Khazaun's within the first 3 days of the operation. At the moment Varan was a de-populated world with less than 50% of the military strength it had had a few weeks ago. The equipment for the most part was still there but what was really lacking was the men. You couldn't run a war fleet with droids nor could you run an army.

Behind him keeping his eyes elsewhere untill he was needed was the prophet's chief military aide, General Hausan Soudine.

"General..."

"Yes great one?"

"The Outer-Rim Sovereignty plans an incursion into Varonat space with one Imperial Star Destroyer. We need to fortify the system as well as prepare a trap for this Star Destroyer. Don't bother capturing it, we already have more ships than we can crew and a single Imperial Star Destroyer won't be worth that much. We need to devise a way to defend the system and more specifically the planet against a determined attack by a large enemy force. If you have any suggestions at the moment I'd be pleased to hear them?"

"Sir, as for trapping the star destroyer and destroying it that won't be much of a problem. One destroyer even an Imperator-class Star Destroyer would not prove too be much of a difficulty. I suggest that we fortify Varonat Prime. We can stage troops there as well as starfighter forces to first off eliminate it's usefullness as a staging point for any invasions and also to provide a surprise starfighter attack force. There has never been any military installation on Varonat Prime so they won't look to hard for one there."

"Excuse me, Imperator-class Star Destroyer? I don't believe that I'm familiar with that class. Exactly how powerful is it and more importantly do the sovereignty have any of them?"

The general smiled.

"They have several. The Imperator is the real name of what is commonly known as the Imperial class. There is no difference."

"Thank you general. I will try to remember that. Procede with your plans to fortify Varonat Prime."

"And now this brings me to my next problem. Religious difficulties on Varonat."

Griff stared down the entire Sovereignty Congress, which numbered one hundred and ten people. Most of them were representatives from Sovereignty worlds, some of them were Sector Governors, some of them were Commandants. All of them were not happy with him.

One particularly obese Congressman, whose name escaped Griff's mind at the moment, stood. The Speaker acknowledged him.

"Varonat? Varonat isn't even a part of the Sovereignty." The fat Congressman said.

"I know." Griff said, "But I must bring to the attention of Congress, just what is going on on Varonat."

The fat Congressman waited.

Griff signalled to Commandant Ilem, who stood nearby a holoprojector, at the center of the room. The Commandant pressed a button and the holo taken by the Black Hand Agent on Varonat suddenly came to life.

Griff did not look at the holo, he instead glanced at each of the Congressmen, and watched their reaction. When he came to the fat Congressman, who was still standing, he frowned. The man was smiling.

The holo ended and Griff stared at the fat man, who turned to Griff.

"What is this, Mr. President?" He asked.

"Murder. By the hundreds." Griff said, "These 'followers of Varan' are murdering innocent people. People who were thrown into that pit merely for the reason that they didn't beleive in the Varan religion." Griff said.

The fat Congressman scoffed at him.

"Congressmen Tenet." Commandant Ilem said, who had taken his seat at CN-1653's table.

Griff searched his memory, and then he remembered the fat Congressman's name.

Tenet

Ilem continued, "What more proof do you need?"

Tenet ignored Ilem, and zeroed straight on Griff, "Mr. President, we already went along with your private little war against the Empire. Tatooine will not stand for another war."

Tatooine..o so that's where he's from. Griff thought.

"Congressman Tenet, what resources does Tatooine contribute to the Sovereignty's war effort?" He asked.

Tenet glared at him, "Nothing."

"No resources whatsoever?"

"No."

"And is Tatooine located in any invasion path?" Griff asked.

"No."

"Then why does it particularly matter to you what war I choose to fight?" He asked.

"The protection of the people of Tatooine." Tenet said.

"Tatooine contributes next to no resources and is not in any invasion path, therefore it isn't a military target. You aren't in any particular danger."

Tenet pounded his fist on his table, "What if our enemies want to kill civilians?"

"Then they might want to go to a high-population planet." Griff said.

The Congressman was growing increasingly agitated, although there was no reason to be so, "Mr. President, why must you continue your path of warmongering?" Tenet asked.

Griff was slightly taken aback, because the question/accusation was so direct, "Warmongerong? he asked.

Tenet stayed silent.

Griff sat back down in his chair, the Speaker noticed this and called Congress to a recess.

Warmongering?




"Reversion."

The chaos of hyperspace turned to the little white pinpricks of stars as the Avenger reverted from hyperspace in the Varonat system...

Varonat Prime
Base Alpha Two
Day 20

General Soudine stared at the stars. What a magnificent view. All around him the stars were shinning brightly and there was no moon to mar their image. Off on his right a star twinkled faintly. That would be Bakur the star that the planet Bakura orbited around the stronghold of his enemies.

"General Soudine long range scans report a large vessel entering the system. It appears to be an Imperator Star Destroyer. IFF Codes identify it as the SS Avenger."

Soudine smiled.

"Notify the fleet to prepare to initiate Plan Omega."

Warmongering.


Griff finally threw off the simmersilk blankets onto the floor. With something that sounded like a grumble and a sigh, he stood out of bed and headed to his small coffee pot that rested on a stove-like apparatus near the back of his personal quarters.

He didn't like that coffeeish stuff that came out of the food synthisizers. It was almost like coffee, but it wasn't. It wasn't quite right. Griff had asked a Salis D'aar mechanic to create something small so he could boil his own water to make good coffee. The mechanic replied that he would happily do such a thing and had it delivered to the ORS HQ building a week ago. So far, Griff had not tried it out.

He turned the old-style dial as the mechanic had instructed him too, and watched intently. The burners slowly heated up and turned red. Griff placed a container of water on the burner and turned towards the window.

Tenet had said he was warmongering, by threatening the planet Varonat. And Griff had stayed up all night thinking about it. He glanced at the chrono, it was about two in the morning, and Salis D'aar, the Bakuran capital and seat of the Sovereignty's power, was silent and dark - except for the lights that dotted the city. This city trusted him to make the right decision, and it trusted him to keep them safe and organized.

The Sovereignty refrained from passing laws that would directly affect some citizens of their member worlds, and not others. Religious laws, for instance. The Sovereignty genuinely wanted to provide freedom to it's citizens, and not to take it from them. It was an organization built for and by the people.

But this Tenet fellow. Griff had taken the liberty of looking up the man's political record. Parts of his past were shady, and he could have ties to unknown organizations. He was originally from Tatooine, serving as a low-ranking Imperial official. When the garrison was recalled to fight the expanding New Republic, Tenet bribed the powerful men in the cities on Tatooine and set up a small government. Aftetr ORS took control of the world, Tenet became it's representative in the ORS government.

But it was the records provided by Black Hand, it revealed that Tenet had paid some money to Jabba the Hutt, who in turn had provided him with unknown services. It was not known what those were for but it was almost customary for Imperial officials to gain promotion via assassination. But for now that was merely an assumption. Griff had Black Hand anylists digging through the past. Tenet behaved simply in a way that did not... fit right.

And Griff remembered that it was Tenet who was pro-war with the Kathol Sector.

Warmonger indeed.




"Captain Grissom, there are no readable forces anywhere near the planet or it's moon."

The captain of the Avenger frowned. He had been with the ORS military four going on eight years... and he had never attacked an unfortified hostile system...

And Varonat was decidedly hostile, if Black Hand reports were to be beleived. As he thought of the shadowy intelligence bureau, he glanced to his left, where one of the blasted agents was calmly standing now.

The man was a Shi'ido, one of those strange shapshifters. After the Sh'shuun Alliance (or Treaty of Sh'shuun), waves of the tall, gray-skinned beings applied for positions in the intel agency. The Black hand was more than happy to accept.

Grissom didn't know his real name, the alien went by 'Karron'. A code name, probably.

In any case, the agent caught the captain looking at him, and spoke with clear, precise tones.

"Something wrong, Captain Grissom?" Karron asked.

"No... no. What did your agent report again?"

"Varonat has experienced political and religious turmoil and is currently dominated by a religious dictatorship presided over by someone who they call 'The Prophet'." Karron said.

"Who are 'they'?"

"The Followers of Varan, the dominant religious group."

"I see. So we will be fighting religious fanatics?"

"Yes."

"Damn."

Karron returned his view to the BAC, just as vessels swarmed at them from Varonats moon, Varonat Prime.

"Come in."

Griff, accompanied by two Sovereignty bodyguards, quietly entered the office of Congressman Grigory Tenet. The politician did not even look up, so consumed by paperwork. He obviously thought it was some low-ranking clerk, asking for something.

"Nardus, I am very busy," Tenet said, still not looking up, "Set the Doxin reports on my desk and get out."

Griff restrained his smile, "I would, but the Doxin reports have not made it onto my desk, sir." Griff said.

Tenet seemed to freeze, he had obviously not expected a visit from the President. The Congressman stood from his chair instantly in respect. Griff motioned for him to sit, and Tenet guestured for him to sit in turn.

"What can I do for you, Mr. President?' Tenet asked, smiling a fake smile and folding his hands on his desk. He assumed an air of superiority, almost as if he didn't have any interest in speaking to the President. Griff knew it was a ploy, he knew these politicians almost too well. They would start out with asserting their authority over you, then they would press it to gain the advantage, then they would drive the advantage as far as they could.

But Griff was no ordinary visitor, he knew, as Tenet did, that the Congressman had no authority here, and the two bodyguards were a silent reminder of that fact.

"I wanted to speak with you on Dantooine." The President said.

"Sir, with due respect, I have made my decision and stance on the issue."

"Oh I know," Griff said almost causually, "And frankly I am not here to change your decison. Because I have already ordered a vessel to the system to put down the mass murders and place a real leader in control." Griff said, smiling.

"What!?" Tenet just about exploded, "Congress was not consulted, you do not have the authority."

"That, " Griff said, "Is where you are wrong. When it comes to the entire population of a planet being wiped out in a murderous fashion, I will not stand by and do nothing."

"But Congress..."

"Is a very good base of government, but people, like yourself, can be wrong in their decisions. I would now like you to tell me the reason behind your stance on the matter." Griff said.

"Simple. We should not get ourselves into other people's affairs."

Griff nodded and looked at one of the bodyguards, who handed him a sheet of holophotos. They all clearly Tenet, taking hold of what looks like credit chits. Another photo was a magnification of the first and showed the item to be several, thousand-chits, being placed into Tenet's hands. The planet was clearly Tatooine, due to the sand all around them.

"Explain these then." Griff said.

Tenet looked at him coldly, Griff smiled again.

"I suggest you alter your stance."