Jedi Insurgency 308

Taking the lead, Padmé gestured towards a trio of starkly contrasting individuals. Although they were all white as snow, with sharp white hair, their attire was greatly different. One was dressed in a tight, form fitting black leather outfit, with several hidden weapons on their form. Another was in wide, sweeping robes that shone like stars. Whilst the last representative was clad in very expensive looking power armor. 

“Honored leaders of Umbara, may I present Order Master Revan.” Padmé said, nodding at Corvus. “These are Shadow Matron S'vala, High Priest Yu, and Merchant Lord Qzin.” 

Glancing at them, Corvus recognized that he was dealing with three out of the top five castes at this moment. Violence, religion, business, science and fashion were the five most influential factions in Umbaran society due to their cultural significance. As a group of people that valued high social mobility, and respect the strong, these five castes had the highest propensity for success. 

“Greetings, Dark Messiah, Umbara welcomes the savior of civilization.” The robed Umbaran-Yu-stepped forward, and said with a bright smile. “Your shadow is rich with knowledge. The Communion is at your command.” Yu bowed. 

‘Dark Messiah?’ Corvus internally frowned, wondering just how this priest intended to use him. 

“Order Master, your healing is undeniable. Please work with Umbara to schedule galactic healing sessions. With our central location, millions may arrive on our world. Once a month, if you should spread your grace, the profits would be astronomical. I better than anyone on this world understand the price of war, please, for the sake of the galaxy, do not allow this opportunity to slip by.” The man in bright gold power armor-Qzin-strode forward, raising his voice so as not to be outdone. 

As for S'vala, she merely cast a disdainful glance at the pair of men, and snorted. Before turning her attention to Corvus. 

“My Shadow Blades will kill for the Republic at a price. But be warned, we are not cannon fodder to be spent needlessly.” She said in a harsh tone, crossing her arms. 

Of the three of them, Corvus sensed the most genuineness from S'vala. However, the Force wasn't all knowing, and the other two were to a large extent, believable. Especially the merchant speaking of profits. As for the religious guy…

“My acolytes have no such qualms, Dark Messiah. I can pledge 100,000 death warriors to mobilize this day. They shall perish whenever and wherever you deem fit. My only request is that a handful of the most devout may serve as your personal guard.” Yu bowed. 

Corvus raised an eyebrow. Between those Sentinel droids Master Kazdan Paratus had sent over, the HK's & the Ongree Revanites, it appeared that the formation of a personal guard very well was taking shape. The offer was honestly quite tempting. Although war was fought between millions, or even billions, 100,000 people was by no means a small sum. Especially when they were Umbarans. 

The only thing was, accepting such political creatures into his inner circle appeared to be somewhat foolish. It wasn't like Umbara owed him loyalty. He had only been on the planet for a couple hours, and this guy was already making such huge promises? 

“I sense the good intentions behind your words, High Priest, however, this honor guard…I feel that you are holding something back.” Corvus said in a suspicious tone, and applied some pressure through the Force. 

Yu was beginning to heavily sweat, and his shadow seemed to cower under some invisible strain. 

Ah. There it is. 

“Those you plan to send over are like us, aren't they? They're Force Sensitive.” Corvus sussed out. 

Yu kneeled down, adopting an incredibly ingratiating posture. 

“Truly worthy of the title. None can hide the truth from your sight, Dark-” 

Corvus gently squeezed his fists applying some base [Telekenesis] alongside a [Shadow] modifier. Strands of shadows swept up from the ground, entangling the man like the bandages wrapped around a mummy. Yu's entire form was trapped, unable to move or speak, save for his right arm. 

“You claim to act from a position of piety. Prove your faith to me.” Corvus said. 

Removing a dagger from his inventory, he floated it over, and dropped it into the man's hand, then wordlessly stared him in the eye. 

“Order Master, is this necessary?” Padmé whispered. 

Corvus remained silent. He'd been backstabbed once before, and could ill afford to add ‘allies’ to his ranks that would do so again. Loyalty and brotherhood were the glue that bound his personal forces together. Shared interests were something to be relied upon, but they were not absolute. If he were to accept untrained Force Sensitives into his honor guard, then they had better be sincere. Religion was a powerful thing, and even in this day & age, the Cult of Revan existed. Who knew if the Umbarans were in any way related to this? Ordinarily, he would never go to such extreme measures, but when a cultist looking mother-kriffer speaks all that jive, he had better be prepared to put his money where his mouth was. He could get on board with true believers or at least respect their resolve, but he'd seen too many fakes back on Earth to know the smell of Bantha Sith. 

Above all else though, he refused to be used. 

Yu tightly clenched the blade, whilst the professional assassin, Shadow Matron S'vala looked on with schadenfreude. As for Merchant Lord Qzin, he revealed nothing outwardly, but the Force showed all, indicating he was quite nervous at the performance. 

Ultimately, the man did not follow through, the blade in his hand clattering to the dusty plateau's floor. 

Corvus sighed in disappointment, then knocked him unconscious with a powerful [Mind Trick], and sent him to the ground without a further thought. 

‘Yon, find the enclave of this religious order. Spread my feats, and the various recordings of my battles. Leave a message to the various leaders that whosoever supports me first shall be the next head of the caste.’ Corvus sent through their [Force Bond]. 

Yon-who was hanging out at the back of the delegation bored as can be-suddenly perked up, and nodded with a faint smile. Discreetly disappearing from the venue, only Crosshair, Master Tapal, and the Trandoshan noticed his departure. 

Whilst he couldn't deal with Yu, that didn't mean he couldn't cycle through High Priests until he found one dedicated to the cause. A handful of Force Sensitives-even if they were adults-was nothing worth mocking. Furthermore, if the claim of death warriors was even partially true, it would make this transaction worth it. 

“How very interesting. You've earned my approval, Revan.” S'vala shallowly nodded. “My blade is at your command.” 

“I shall turn your expertise over to my friend, Councillor Tapal for now. This theater of war is under his command. However, I shall certainly put your assassins, saboteurs, and intelligence officers to great use.” Corvus replied with a nod. 

“The price is exceptional, are you prepared?” S'vala asked in a no-nonsense tone. 

The beautiful woman with bright blue eyes, skin like snow, and a long white pony tail flared her presence in the Force, revealing that she had been hiding her presence all along. 

“Interesting. Are you, perhaps, related to the witches of Dathomir?” Corvus suddenly asked. The similarities between a generic Umbaran & the likes of Ventress were quite apparent. 

“A cousin of ours.” S'vala explained, her cold eyes staring at him expressionlessly. “I wish to form a marriage alliance.” 

Padmé stiffened in surprise, Hunter muttered a ‘no kriffing way,’ and Wreckers's booming laughter shook the air. 

“I believe the Order Master is taken.” Tapal stepped forward, and spoke in a diplomatic tone to help Corvus save face. 

“My union is not with the Order Master, but his pupil, Yon.” The cold woman said without looking away from Corvus. 

“Why him?” Corvus asked at a loss. 

“Although his exploits aren't well publicized, those who know, know. Our spawn shall be remarkable.” S'vala remarked as if it were already a done deal. Like a tigress declaring her territory, she stood tall and proud, refusing to lower her chin. 

“...but Neeyuntee-” Padmé said, before being interrupted. 

“I am well aware of the Queen of Naboo's infatuation. I will share.” S'vala said in an aloof manner. 

“How long have you been planning this?” Corvus asked with a frown. 

To deep dive study this info would be extremely difficult. Very few people would be aware of Neyuntee's crush on Yon. To acquire this information would be expensive.

S'vala looked out towards the perpetual fog of Umbara, a cold smile on her face. “During the Republic's invasion of Umbara several years ago, the Jedi came in force. Amongst them was a boy not much younger than me. He killed my direct superior, granting me the opportunity to advance upon that first crucial rung on the ladder of power. Five years later now, and we have both advanced our careers remarkably far. Yon is like me, I owe him a favor, his proximity to the Order Master benefits myself & Umbara, and I think he's kind of cute.” 

The Umbaran beauty's words were succinct, and to the point, very clearly and concisely saying what was on her mind. From Corvus's POV, there were absolutely no falsehoods in what she said. The Jedi Shadow Prestige class perk confirmed this. 

“But Jedi cannot marry.” Padmé said, shaking her head, barely concealing some bitterness in her tone of voice. “You must know this.” 

“Master Tapal's words seem to indicate otherwise.” S'vala replied, unconcerned. 

Padmé turned to the big purple Lasat, to which he merely shrugged his shoulders. 

“The Council has decided to allow marriage and love.” Tapal replied in his deep baritone.

Upon hearing this, the Merchant Lord seemed to have a devious smirk on his face, and silently rubbed his chin on the sidelines. 

“Thank the Force.” Hunter muttered, much to the snickering and rough-house elbowing of Echo. 

“Do you accept, Order Master?” S'vala asked in a level tone. “I may not have ‘death warriors’ but mine are unafraid of combat. Trained in strategic warfare, most of us are veterans with the skills to contend directly against clone troopers. At least 10 million can be deployed. More if certain elements on Umbara are cowed.” 

Corvus, meanwhile, had entered Pause to briefly go over the pros & cons. Of course, number one, Yon had to agree to all of this. 

Achieving galactic hegemony for the Republic was hard. So far, he'd only subdued a handful of planets. That was nothing in the grand scheme of things. If he was serious about victory, he'd have to construct a coalition the likes of which was rarely seen. Allies were needed across the board. In the future, the CIS would likely be an enemy too, because fundamentally, their interests differed from that of the Republic. To so convincingly possess Umbaran support…that'd go a long way. 

Meanwhile, setting the precedent for marriage alliances with the Jedi Order would inevitably return the Jedi Lords to the galaxy. This would bring hereditary Force Adepts into the fold, further complicating politics. In the past, there was a great schism between the Lords faction, and the Coruscant temple. Due to the loss of the Lords at Ruusan, that infighting had been conveniently resolved. The Jedi Lord system was great for spreading Jedi ideology, and control, but also encouraged personal power, and had the potential to encourage the rise of warlords. Perhaps the remedy to this conundrum would be mandatory education at the Temple? Or some sort of federal/provincial/state system like what Earth governments did? 

Un-Pausing, Corvus sent a message to Yon via their bond. 

‘Yon…would you consider marrying Shadow Matron S'vala if it meant securing the loyalty of Umbara? I want you to know that I am asking you, and not commanding you. Please answer with the utmost honesty. Whatever your decision, Master will back you up.’ 

Corvus sent out the message, and didn't even wait a second before the young adult replied. 

‘Jax doesn't have a wife yet, right? S'vala should have many texts regarding the Umbaran art of shadow slaying…and Master wouldn't be asking me this unless it advanced your cause. I'll do it.’ Yon decisively replied. 

‘You can take some time to think about it-’

‘Thank you for everything, Master, I know what I am doing.’ Yon firmly responded with a degree of confidence that left Corvus stunned. 

‘My own student marrying before me. They grow up so fast.’ Corvus thought to himself with a prideful, melancholy filled sigh. 

He then looked up at the pale faced woman, and nodded his head. 

“You shall have your alliance.”