Chapter 16

714 (24 BBY)

Month 7

Coruscant, Mandalore Tower

Tanya Kryze

"Well, there goes my timetable." I muttered as I watched the speech from Raxus again. When I first heard about the growing issue in the Senate, where there might be a "divorce" between the Outer Rim and the Core Regions of the Galaxy, I thought that 4 years was how long it would take for the divorce to be getting into its final phases. Maybe another 3 years after that for a war to get declared, as long as there wasn't a repeat of the American Civil War where some garrison decided to be stubborn about surrendering the forts. Now things were a bit more fluid as the speech I had just watched pretty much made it an inevitability that this divorce would happen and the time scale was more unknown.

Though to give credit where it was due, Count Dooku's take over of a holo-net relay was an impressive feat, considering they were supposedly stationed in hyperspace. You would think that something so vital as a major artery of galactic communication and information would be more heavily guarded.

As for the speech itself, that was a doozy. Count Dooku had claimed that the Galactic Republic was a Feudal Enterprise, hopelessly burdened by corruption and favoritism towards the Core Worlds. That was of course true from my point of view and I'm sure anyone with a political mind for the subject would agree with him as well, althoughblaming the Jedi for the degradation of the morals of the Republic was a bit of a stretch. That line of thinking only works if you believe the Jedi should be ruling the Republic as they had during the Old Republic.

Which itself was a concerning thought, as I don't believe that a theocratic republic was in any way a good move for the galaxy. Perhaps in practice, it wouldn't be as bad as I imagined it to be, but if this Count wanted the Jedi to play a larger role in governing, I can't help but suspect that there may be a bit of a power grab going on.

All in all I would have to take a deeper look into Count of Serenno, as he would most likely be a key figure in the coming years of politics. At a bare minimum he had at least declared himself the president of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which was the main reason I was now on a fluid timeline for when exactly the war would start.

Prior to this declaration, the Republic had no true enemies of its own, simply a bunch of separate parties levying complaints and threats of withdrawal to the senate. Now, however, there was an enemy, one focused on gathering these disparate worlds under a singular banner that the Republic could propagandize against. There were no greater means of channeling the dissatisfaction of the masses than an enemy at the gates, after all, it was only a matter of time. The most concerning to me, however, was why the Count seemed to be meeting with the senator of Mandalore.

Oh, I had certainlyrecognized him as soon as the speech had begun, that this was definitely the individual who had been in the senator's office several months ago. Most likely, Dooku had been attempting to bring Mandalore into this Confederacy. It would make sense to get our support, as militarily speaking Mandalore did have a largely trained population and I had no doubt that our proximity to a major trade lane would serve well in holding whatever front line the Confederacy planned to hold if a war broke out.

Such was my assumption in any case and considering Senator Merrik had mentioned a Jedi running around and entering politics as well as warning her to stay away from him then no doubt Senator Merrik had been dealing with Count Dooku's efforts to draw Mandalore to their side this entire time. I would assume the senator was in contact with the security bureaus and that those charged with dealing with this sort of thing, were told to keep quiet about it in public which is why he hadn't mentioned more than just that. Either way I was sure Mandalore was not joining this Confederacy, Duchess Satine would have wanted nothing to do with it, of that I was sure. With the amount of effort I needed to get her just to approve armor construction, there was no way she had gone full warmonger in secret.

I replayed the speech for a third time as I sat back on a fine luxury chair in my apartment, looking out at a sunset, dipping beneath the horizon of Coruscant. I had no doubt that over the next few months there would be attempts to draw Mandalore into this conflict from both the Republic and the Confederacy. Whether that be for manpower, strategic resources, or simply the ability to navigate our space unhindered didn't really matter, things were going to get complicated and I would especially need to be on guard. There were less effective ways of gaining leverage over my world than a simple good old fashioned kidnapping of someone of importance and who could fit that bill if not the niece of its Grand Duchess. There would be attempts, of that I was sure to convert me to their individual causes in hopes that I would influence Satine in turn but I knew where my influence came from and I had every intention of staying loyal to my aunt. Still, the captured princess was a well-used trope for good reason which begged the question in the event of my capture. Would the Duchess play ball with my captors or would she stand strong and defiant in the face of such demands?

I didn't want the answer to either one of those questions, considering the wide variety of technologies and quasi magics that apparently existed in this galaxy, I didn't want to be a victim to any of that so I would just have to be on extra guard against any efforts.

Looking over at X4 as he was pouring over economic data, I thought that I probably should also get him some upgrades. There's always a chance that my Royal Guards and my Handmaiden would not be enough, having a droid who could help defend me is a nice contingency plan to better ensure my safety. Maybe I was being a little bit paranoid? Probably, most people wouldn't even think about all the defenses they would need in case war broke out. But then again, most people did not have the past life experience of having an angry entity with powers beyond their comprehension attempting to convert them into a choir girl that worshiped them. Once I had experienced something like that, taking any threat to my safety seriously seems like a wise use of my time.

Well at least I could deal with this, the prospect of a civil war rupturing the galaxy with hatred and violence until only one side is left is one that I can understand. Stumbling across fanfiction of yourself on the holo-net? That was just utterly horrifying.

I already had agents out looking for this False Silver with thanks to Bo Katan, so I didn't need to focus on that situation just yet. I was sure she would find something and I would then make moves to deal with it. Perhaps find a way to discredit the person or publish my own updated version and hope that it would detract enough power from the growing Second Codex and let people abandon it eventually. So I had some free time over the last month to peruse the holo-net and I had been greeted by an absolutely horrifying moment when I realized that whoever owns the camera that had caught the fight in the stairway had decided that it was such a good fight that he was going to post it online.

It did not come out immediately, it had only been in the last 2 weeks that this situation had developed. But oh had it screwed with my head seeing not only the fight from another angle but seeing the comment section of the video. All my efforts to try and hide my little adventure had been for naught. Apparently someone had recognized me and pointed people toward the Mandalorian Representative holo-page, which had my face as well as my name.

So not only had my unfortunate fight that I had gotten involved in been recorded, my face and name were now firmly attached to the images of that fight and any chance to attempt to make this go away had firmly been destroyed. The only good part about this was that at least half of the people in the comment section were on my side since it was obvious that I had wandered into the fight by accident and simply responded to violence with violence. Though I didn't like the other half of the comments, comments that belonged in the dark corners of the holo-net were extremely… what was that term that was used in my first life? 'is horny on main'.

But frankly, I was so embarrassed by the whole thing I was considering possibly putting in a request for vacation time to get away from Coruscant until the whole situation calmed down. Stepping away from politics until I could have a conversation without people going, "Hey weren't you the person in that video a while back?" would probably be the wisest move. Thankfully my infamy or fame, whichever you preferred, was still a minor problem. Only a concern to a few of the politicians I've met, as most had apparently better things to do than spend time watching holovids and not paying attention to the whole situation with the Confederacy. Which was good and the only reason I had not gone for the vacation days immediately.

Though when Satine had heard about it, she had called me up directly on the holo-net to ask what had happened and why I had been involved in such a conflict. Which had been a rather nice experience all in all. Having your boss look out for you is a generally good feeling as that meant you were still a valued member of the organization.

Frankly the amount of worry in the Duchess' voice had made me wonder if she saw me as some sort of surrogate daughter, which was a funny thought and useful for my political future. I never really thought much about the fact that that could be a thing. Before I had always just seen myself as a ward in her care but if she saw me as something more, that was frankly a useful advantage for my continued efforts to improve the conditions on Mandalore and the rest of the sector. That level of trust also meant I really couldn't run away from a small setback like this.

It would frankly be a betrayal of that trust if I took advantage of my boss's emotional connection to me over something as small as this, so I calmed her down the best I could and informed her I would be staying for now on Coruscant working out the situation.

Besides that, this was the center of political talks in the entire galaxy. I need to be here to understand exactly what was going on with this new Confederacy. At least until how many systems were pulling out of the Republic to join this Confederacy was made clear. The more that pulled out, the more likely there was a chance of war and that would give me a better way to predict how long Mandalore had before we were forced into taking a stance on the conflict.

714 (24BBY)

Mandalorian Sector, Gargon

Bo-Katan Kryze

Out of all the places I could have ended up within the Mandalorian Sector, this was one destination I would have definitely avoided. I had been here once before, decades ago, during the Clan Wars. At the time it had been a planet broken up between two types of people. The Nomads, who roamed the planet and lived what they considered a Traditional Mandalorian lifestyle, living off the countryside and trading for gear once in a while. And the people of the City of Gargon, who could best be summed up as criminals and sleazy businessmen.

Gargon was right on the edges of the main trade way, running by the Mandalorian Sector as well as having been a defective trade port at various points in history that also served as a pirate port at other points. Just 30 years ago a Hutt had even run the place, though the local clans had pushed him out eventually, just before the Clan Wars took off.

However those clans were not exactly the most noble in the Mandalorian Sector, they tended to be more criminal in nature and would work with whatever illegal enterprise was interested in running resources through the edges of the Mandalorian Space.

Mandalorian and Republic laws were paid no heed here, instead it was the laws of the families who ran the illegal industries and casinos that held power. At least that's how it had been when I was last here during the Clan Wars. Tracking down grandfather's silver beskar sword after it'd been taken from my father's body at the last battle he had fought in.

I had managed to track down the mercenary who had been hired for that battle and get a little bit of payback, maybe a lot of payback, for the crime of taking my father's life. Unfortunately, the sword had been sold, so that disgusting mercenary could have a night on the town and I had never been able to recover it. No doubt it had been lost or melted down for armor by now but it had always ticked me off that I had never recovered it.

Things seemed to have changed since my last trip here. As I said, last time I'd been here the city had been fairly well run by a mix of gangsters and Mandalorians under the control of local clans who ran the underworld. The city was as much a territory divided up between criminal organizations as it was a single city.

But things were definitely taking a turn towards consolidation. Where once there were gangsters and Mandalorians holding positions on street corners to remind all of who ran their individual districts, now soldiers clad in black armor, helmed with T-visors tinted a faint orange and displaying proudly upon their shoulders the insignia of Mandel Hypernautics, stood in their place. Some of them carried themselves as if they were Mandalorians, as if the armor was a second skin and there were a few that were definitely beskar but others were plasteel or plastoid and carried themselves as if they were unfamiliar with the armor they wore. If I had to make a guess they were non-Mandalorians brought in to augment the numbers of actual Mandalorians serving Hypernautics.

Hypernautics had been there after the Fall of Mandalore, before the Clan Wars, so their influence had not been as large the last time I'd been around here. I believe I saw soldiers in similar uniforms around their factory, which had only been one at the time, but this was different.

Even factoring in them growing their number of factories on this planet to a large enough number, I don't think they would have this many troops just wandering the city protecting the peace. Especially considering the Clans who had run the illegal markets on this planet before had done that job fine enough.

The whole situation was putting me on edge, because it looked more like someone was trying to raise an army and not like they were trying to secure the city. Hell, I bet if I looked around I'd find a recruiting station, I might even be able to find out what the whole plan is. But that wasn't my goal with this little trip. I'd come to Gargon because after I got on Tanya's ship to get off Concordia, I hired a slicer friend of mine, someone good with tech, to research where the Second Codex had come from. And apparently the new Silver was not doing as good a job at hiding as the old one did and that is solely because the original Silver made his or her codex in analogue form before it was spread across the net by independent civilians. My attempts to track the old one had never turned up anything substantial as they had done a good job by not posting it directly to the holonet and just dispersing it in enough places that it would make its way there on its own. This new one apparently didn't care and had posted it directly to the net. With the data on it, it was not hard to track down from where it came, which led me to Gargon.

Now narrowing something down to a planet was a good step in the right direction, I wanted more though. So I had come to Gargon in hopes of meeting with an old agent, the same one who helped me track down the bastard who killed my father. In the hopes that they would have more details. Said agent was a member of the Tutt clan, one of the clans that ran the gambling institutions on this planet. They would have as many details as I was willing to pay for, of that I was sure, as long as it didn't interfere with their own operations and if it did interfere with their own operations at least it would give me a direction to point towards.

If I could just avoid these patrols though I would get to my meeting much faster. The black armored Mandalorian wannabes were proving to be problematic in getting to the section of the city my contact told me to meet him in, as they were cordoning the area off, it felt like. It finally got so bad that I had used my jetpack to get up to the roof of one of the larger buildings and carefully maneuver my way from rooftop to rooftop in the way I wanted to go. But once I got past the main blockade I was able to jump down to the street again and make my way towards a warehouse district.

Carefully, I scanned the area to make sure this wasn't some sort of elaborate trap before making a move to enter the building, keeping one of my pistols closed at hand as I entered a dilapidated warehouse made up of more rust than steel by the look of it outside.

"Ah Bo, I was wondering when you would make it here." Said a voice from the shadows of the warehouse before a man I did not recognize steped out of the shadows into a central lighted area. Before me stood an overweight gentleman wearing a pair of sunglasses and a large overcoat to hide the fact that his armor appeared to have been made for a younger and thinner man. He was definitely wearing Mandalorian style armor, though the orange and maroon coloration of the armor was a bit strange.

"Where is Lerus?" I barked immediately, going on the defensive upon seeing a stranger.

"At home most likely, I told him to take the day off and that I would take this meeting for him, after all I had a feeling our goals may align."

"And our goals would be?" I asked. I still had no idea who he was though I figured he must be connected to Lerus's particular clan just from his previous statement.

"Dealing with White Silver of course," he said with a smile before continuing, "also known as the CEO of Mandel Hypernautics, Bresug Gerr."

"Okay, now you have my attention. How do you know that he is White Silver?"

"It's quite simple really, my good Kryze, he's made it apparent to the families that run this city that he's going to be taking it over. He's pushed us out of the streets and has told us quite frankly that soon Gargon will be his new Mandalore. Someone with aspirations that large has to be playing politics somewhere else and the moment I saw the Codex appear a few years ago and he started aligning his company to aspects of that Codex, I knew he was responsible. Just as I knew that sooner or later the Duchess of Mandalore would take note as well and send someone to deal with him. And though I would prefer Mandalore keep its hands off the going ons of Gargon, I know that in order to maintain that preferred environment I would need to ally with whatever agent they sent."

"Uh-huh." I said tilting my helmeted head. I had not expected to run into a situation like this, it looks like there was about to be a bit of a clan war on this planet between the Old Guard of Gargon and the New Guard who were trying to muscle in on their territory. Maybe they'd knock each other out, but she's never that lucky. "So he's muscling in on your territory and pretending to be the White Silver. Why is he doing this?" I asked, a bit curious.

"I have no idea yet, it's not like he's often invited to the inter-clan meetings for running the city. We attempted to bring him in when he first arrived but he's always been a bit standoffish. If I was to twist several arms I would say his goals are quite larger than just a new Mandalore on Gargon. He's been running his arms industry at full capacity for the last few years and a lot of those ships don't seem to be going to Hutt Space."

"You think he's going to try and take over the sector don't you."

"I don't know if he plans to take it through military force or just find like minded men and make sure they have the weapons necessary to overthrow the local governments. But yes I believe his designs are on the entire sector."

"If he's such a problem why don't you just take him out?" I asked, as that was the most reasonable question.

"He's a problem on a small scale. He doesn't interfere with our legal businesses so we don't care that much at the moment and there is the unique possibility that we could expand our businesses if he's successful." The gentleman said matter of factly before continuing. "There's no reason for us to raise a hand against him but there's also no reason for us not to make sure those who would raise a hand against him don't succeed in gathering the intel they needed. If the Duchess and her Royal Guard decide to smash up Gargon we'd simply prefer if they focus on Hypernautic's forces and not, well the rest of the planet."

I nodded my helmeted head in understanding before asking. "So if we move against him, none of the other criminal organizations on this planet would interfere as long as we stay clear of them."

"Of course, as long as you don't cause too much mayhem, we will stay as quiet as the dead." He said matter of factly with a shrug. "Though if I were you I would get moving, word on the grapevine is that he's planning to take over the spaceport tonight. And when that happens it's very likely any ships stashed there will be confiscated for his new fleet and no doubt all signals in and out of the planet will soon fall under his control as well, if you want to tell the Duchess about this or even escape the planet, best to be moving on, you understand."

I nodded my head immediately, taking my hand away from the pistol before saying, "Thank you for the intel Mr. Tutt." guessing that he was from the same clan as my contact. He nodded his approval before I continued and said, "I'll see about getting this whole situation with Hypernautics dealt with as fast as I can." Before I backed up and opened the door, never really taking my eyes off him just in case. Once I was outside, I looked towards the city's neon lights and sighed. I probably didn't have much time but I would try to get to my ship and out of here before everything is locked down and hopefully get off the planet too. Though if I ended up stuck here I'm sure I'd find some way to hold out till everything was under control.

714 (24 BBY)

Coruscant, Mandalore Tower

X4

Standing in front of a console, I perused the various companies and stockholdings I ran for my mistress. Mando Logistics is having a very profitable time moving resources out of the Mandalore Sector to Coruscant where their items were novelties and to various hot zones prone to conflict, where they were most likely to be used as intended; defensive armaments in line with Tanya's musings on what a company should do in order to maximize profits. Often I would use the vessels that were contracted to work under the logistics company to bring in resources for the armorers as well as luxury items, though those were a smaller component of the business.

Profits are up across the board and I was able to purchase ships directly for the company. Negotiating those contacts with Mandel Motors was such a wise move on my mistress's part and now Mando Logistics has several cargo haulers running long haul missions across the galaxy. I am considering getting some of the new smaller cargo ships that have just come on the market from Mandel Motors. It appeared to be a redesign of the Lancer-class pursuit craft used by the Royal Guard for operations off-world of Mandalore.

While the cargo haulers were slow affairs and had to stick to the safer trade ways in order to move resources around, there was quite a lot of credit potential in these smaller yet faster crafts as they could travel through some of the more pirate infested areas of space. Skimming Hutt territory, was a profitable venture in my robotic mind, but finding capable pilots and smugglers was a harder task since many had criminal records and could be seen as potential thieves who would run off with the ships if given the opportunity. I had toyed with the idea of purchasing droids for that purpose. The funding coming in would make that more than possible though he had concerns about owning other droids. While it would cut down on the overhead, droids weren't exactly the best for those particular types of missions. Perhaps I should look into buying droids for the cargo haulers or at least to augment their crew.

Stepping away from the computer he walked into the main living area of the Tower where mistress Tanya and Vai were watching an episode of the Silver Ranger, the hero was in a hand-to-hand fight with a group of thugs by the looks of it. I stood there, waiting to be called upon not wanting to interrupt, Tanya noticed me right away and said, "X4, what's on your mind?"

"Mistress, I was having a thought and wondered what your own would be on droid ownership?" I said as clearly as possible

Vai immediately stopped munching on the popcorn she had and looked up worried. "Well," Tanya shrugged and said with a chuckle, "The old 'do droids have a soul?' question, I'll ask in return, do you think humans have a soul?"

If I could tilt my head I would have, though given that my head was firmly grafted onto my neck the most I could do was spin the cylinder a bit in thought. This wasn't exactly the answer to the question of 'is it okay for me to own droids?' but it felt like she was trying to present a teachable moment so I played into it. "I don't know, mistress."

"And that's the answer to that question, we don't know if biological life has a soul. Why do we even believe that droids don't have a soul? Either way they're both forced to endure forms of indentured servitude or slavery depending on where they end up in life. In a perfect galaxy such barbarism would not be allowed, but it's not a perfect galaxy so the best we can do is treat those who are forced to live in such conditions with as much respect as we can grant them. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I tilted my body forward in a shallow bow, "Yes mistress, I understand completely." Mistress was okay with me owning droids, as long as I treated them with as much respect as she treated me. Perhaps even more, perhaps I should give droids stock options within the company to accrue more loyalty than restraining bolts would. I would have to give this much more thought.

Before I could step away a message beeped on Tanya's vambrace, causing her to look down. She pressed a few buttons and a moment later was smiling broadly.

"Got the bastard." she said, causing Vai to look over from the Holo-screen.

"Got who?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"False Silver, Bo located the name of the charlatan trying to take the White Silver name for himself. Now I can go about the process of discrediting him. "

"How and why would you do that mistress?" I asked frankly curious why she was so concerned with the goings on of the Silver Codex.

Tanya looked up at me, deep in thought and then said, "The Silver Codex is a prime example of good free market principles being applied correctly. At least the first one is, the second one is an attempt to end the free market and create a corporate market, if not move to a full corporate government, which is never good for the free markets. It's a threat to a prosperous and peaceful Mandalore which is why I would prefer to expose this False Silver as quickly as possible if not outright hamper and destroy his efforts."

"How will exposing this False Silver hamper his efforts?" Vai asked from her seat.

"Simple, as long as this person's playing the anonymity game, they can claim they are the first writer without having any evidence to say otherwise. Strip away his anonymity though, you can compare the first writer's writings to the life of the person claiming to be the writer and if they don't match up too well, there's a good chance it's a fake and that's what I need to do. I need to create a document to show that he is not the same individual who wrote the first Silver Codex. If I do that, his ability to manipulate the document is hampered if not outright stopped. Of course it'll take me a while to do the research, knowing someone's name does not mean you understand everything about them. But once I have research done, I could write a paper under another false name and have this False Silver business wiped away within the year."

"So who is this guy anyway then?" Vai asked as she munched on a bit of popcorn.

"Bresug Gerr of Mandal Hypernautics huh, that's the company Kark Trig was complaining about a few months ago, a thief and possible warlord in the making." Tanya said, tilting her head a bit. "What game are you playing that you would need a fleet of ships and commandeer the…" her eyes wide and does she seem to have some revelation before asking, "X4, you're more efficient with holo-net searches, can you do a cross reference of the CEO of Mandel Hypernautics and White Silver."

"Of course, mistress." I said moving over to a console and starting to run the search requested. "I will have the information within 5 minutes if there is any."

"What are you thinking Tanya?" Vai asked, sitting up.

I couldn't see it from my angle but I could hear a disturbed tone in Tanya's voice. "Building a fleet of ships and converting a defensive ideology, into his own idea? Well it almost sounds like something someone would do if they were planning to be the center point of a rebellious movement. Make yourself as big of a threat as possible so when someone tries to bring you down in the government, surprise them with the fleet of ships they couldn't have known you had to make it appear like you've won a great victory and then all of a sudden you have a steady supply of volunteers from across the Mandalore Sector willing to fight for White Silver."

"You think this guy is trying to start a civil war?" Vai asked.

"Might be the ultimate end goal, even if he doesn't try to start a civil war outright. If he can play up the threat, with the New Mandalorian government taking issue with his version of the Silver Codex he could draw in people who simply dislike the current government to work for him. Good old use of spite against a common enemy to increase your workforce and loyal supporters."

"Yeah, but if they did that, he would have to tell them where to go, he would have to tell them that he is White Silver. Wouldn't that expose him like you said?" Vai questioned.

"That depends on him remaining anonymous, if he is planning to take the title of White Silver or not. Whether he becomes a public figure as White Silver changes the situation greatly."

"How greatly?" Vai asked, sounding worried.

I interrupted before Mistress could answer by saying, "Mistress, I have found a recent holo-video uploaded to the Gargon relay about White Silver shall I play it?"

"Yes, X4. Play it."

Turning my head to face the screen, I paused the Silver Ranger and brought up the video. Said video had a title card showing a man wearing silver Mandalorian armor sitting in a fine black chair next to a roaring fire. The room was richly decorated in woods and brick as well as fine tapestries of battles long since condemned to history over the fireplace. As well as a sheathed traditional beskad hanging just below that. Sitting on the table next to him was a pile of books and a glass of liquid. Not wanting to waste my mistress's time I started playing the video.

The silver armored warrior looked to the screen as he said, "Good afternoon my fellow citizens of the Mandalorian Sector. You might recognize me as White Silver, but in the case you don't," he reached up and pressed a button on the side of his helmet before pulling it off revealing a gentleman with long dark brown hair and green eyes. "You may also know me as Bresug Gerr of Mandel Hypernautics. During the Siege of Mandalore and the Bombardment of Kalevala, my factory stayed operational to use the last bit of resources we could scrounge up to produce fighter craft."

Setting his helmet down on the wooden floor in front of his boots he continued. "Those were great and terrible times, times of legends and times of failure. I look back on those times with both sorrow and fondness for it showed how dedicated the Mandalorian people were to maintaining our independence, and even if we were to go out we would go out fighting."

"It's been long 20 years since the Fall of Mandalore and the rise of the New Mandalorians. Over those 20 years I have attempted to try and mend bridges with them. Tried to get them to see reason and let Mandel Hypernautics bring back wealth to the sector."

"But the ruler of Mandalore is set in her ways of pacifism. Oh sure, she has recently let some companies take up efforts to try and make money again to bring our people out of the dirt they were thrown into by the Jedi and the Republic, but this was led by the people not by her own effort, she was forced into."

"If I hadn't published the Silver Codex the way I did all those years ago and attempted to try and get my way of thinking out there, she would have come down on me like a hammer and made sure that no one was making any improvements in this sector. At the time, secrecy was needed but now it is no longer necessary. I have secured the planet Gargon for the people of Mandalore. It'll be the basis by which the new system of government I proposed in my second Codex can be practiced. Where our people will be allowed true economic freedom in service to the government. And not have to be worried about being crushed by an uncaring and unfaithful Mandalorian government headed up by Kalevalians who see themselves as saviors but have shown themselves to be nothing but our cultural executioners. Here on this planet we will build a new and better Mandalore and show the New Mandalorians the error of their ways."

"We will unleash the economic power of Mandalore's potential and show the entire sector that our way is the future. Gargon will become a new Mandalore, a new start for those held down by the Republic and their lackeys. And we are waiting for you to join us here, my brothers and sisters of many clans."

"Here on Gargon we will reforge our people's strength, our honor, and our pride." He said as if offering it in friendship. "The future of our people is here my brothers and sisters, not on Mandalore with the dogmatic factions that will inevitably fight each other to the end of time, and not on Kalevala with their pacifism. Gargon is waiting."

The scene changed from that of the expensive richly decorated room to a picture of the planet Gargon rotating in the distance as a ring of words saying "A Better Future Awaits" circles the planet.

714 (24BBY)

Coruscant, Mandalore Tower

Vai Viktis Visla

As the video ended I watched Tanya let out a sigh that could mimic the dead before taking a few steps away from the TV and sitting down in a very plush chair.

It appeared that she was trying to calm herself down but I could tell it wasn't working as I could basically hear her grinding her teeth as she looked at the screen still showing the planet Gargon.

"So he revealed his identity himself?" I asked.

"Exactly in the worst possible way to have his identity revealed." Tanya said, with a cold sharpness I hadn't heard in her voice before. "What he has just done is claim that the Silver Codex is not only his, but a work in progress that he's been working on for years. Not only that, he has implied that the only reason I was saying that Duchess Satine was the proper Mandalore was to keep her from going full genocide mode on his people."

"I?" X4 questioned from where he stood causing Tanya to look over at him.

"Yes", Tanya sighed before saying "I'm the real writer of the Silver Codex. It was my attempt to try and straighten out the unequal opportunities presented by going full New Mandalorian and not embracing some traditional ways from the Old Mandalorians."

X4 twitched his head a bit before saying, "This makes perfect sense." Then he walked further into the room saying, "I'll go get you your tea mistress, it'll help you think."

"Thank you X4." Tanya said before turning to stare at the screen with a look that would kill planets if she had the ability to.

"He is creating a narrative where the Duchess is a mad monarch who needs to be deposed for his version of madness, that she is going to attack him and any of his supporters."

"Yeah, but his identity has been revealed, shouldn't that just allow people to look through his records and see that he's most likely not the person who wrote it?"

"Won't matter, the Codex doesn't matter anymore. What matters is the title he's made, the title is the focus, he is Bresug Gerr CEO of Mandel Hypernautics and White Silver. Those who notice the differences between his personality and the codex will just shrug it off as him developing as time goes on. And anyone who tries to claim that he isn't White Silver without quite a bit of evidence will be laughed at, as taking the name White Silver is too potentially dangerous a prospect for anyone but the person who made it in most people's mind. They're not wrong, I suspect every organization that's got an issue with White Silver will be gunning for him but if I have to take a guess he wouldn't be doing this unless he has complete control of Gargon, possibly military control."

"Well then I guess the Duchess will have to step in." I said, not sure what to do.

"She can't or I would prefer she wouldn't, if she steps in to try and restore order on Gordon now she will appear to be the dictator he's claiming her to be and will start a civil war as factions that generally dislike her will join with him seeing the potential in the situation to gain power."

"He's framed it quite nicely 'compete with me on economics or come at me and start a civil war'. No, I don't think he'll have the ability to win the war through economics but I wouldn't be surprised if he uses that nice fleet of his to make sure that the proper Mandalorian government doesn't win either. Scare off enough trade convoys and you can start an economic crisis on a planet then use that economic crisis to get your fingers in the planet's government."

"Then maybe assassinate him?" I said, thinking of a few people who may have bounty hunters and assassins that could be hired for this situation.

"That would just start the civil war early if it failed or turn him into a martyr and then start the civil war if it succeeded. It wouldn't matter who was responsible, he's created a situation where it looks like if he dies, Satine is responsible and will take the blame."

"Then what options do we have available?" I asked, shrugging and putting my popcorn down to the side of the chair I was sitting in.

"We have two options, but neither of them are good. The real White Silver must kill him or humiliate him in such a way that it proves that he is not the real White Silver."

I blinked and said, "Tanya, are you suggesting you need to murder the CEO of Mandel Hypernautics? I know you're a good fighter but I'm not sure you're ready for that yet. I don't think I'm ready for that?"

Tanya simply chuckled and looked at me, "That is not a concern you need to worry about. What we need to worry about is the fact that of the two options both of them include me having to defeat him in combat in some way. I either have to raise an army to fight this theorem stealing bastard, bring the Mandalore Sector into its second civil war in the last 20 years or infiltrate his complex, get past his guards and remove him from power of the planet of Gargon."

I could immediately tell she was not going with the first option so I said, "Okay let's think this through Tanya. First we would need to get past the Planetary Security, second you would need to find allies on the planet to keep that Security Force preoccupied so you could even get close to him, and third you would need to beat a 40 something Mandalorian who served in the Siege of Keldabe. I know you're a good fighter Tanya but I'm not sure you can pull off all three of those things."

"I'm going to have to." Tanya said matter of factly. "The Silver Codex represents the best chance for a peaceful Mandalore and this man is destroying that chance. If I can't stop him, the peace we've lived in for the last 20 years will be gone within the next few years…. son of a bitch." Tanya stopped mid-sentence as her eyes widened.

"What?" I said, wondering what had spooked her.

"This corresponds with the Confederacy's little uprising a little too well in my thinking. This is most likely a revenge action because Senator Merrik has told Count Dooku, no."

"Wait what?" I said, confused sitting up. "When did Senator Merrik meet Count Dooku?"

"Remember a few months ago when we entered his office and there was an old man in the corner?"

"Vaguely, I did recall being a bit surprised when the man had been there and sworn when we first entered the room no one was there and then all of a sudden poof I assume he just blended into the background good enough."

"There's no way Satine wants to take part in this current conflict that's brewing. But getting Mandalore on their side would be useful so what better way than to create a situation that puts a pirate fleet of Mandalorians right on the border of the main trade way? The Republic will be forced to send ships and the Mandalore Sector will be angry, wanting nothing to do with Satine or the Republic."

Tanya shook her head, "There's no "waiting him out", there's no "hoping he goes away", and the actions needed to unseat him by government means, will result in a civil war in the Mandalore Sector. The only option is for someone claiming to be the real White Silver to step forward, to defeat him, comment, and then bow out in such a way that no one will try to take the title again."

"Alright let's take this one step at a time. You're going to need a ship that could get to Gargon and I don't think any ship in the Mandalore sector is going to be going anywhere near there anytime soon for official business." I said trying to poke a hole in the plan.

"I have access to a new style transport ship." X4 said, coming back with a cup of tea and setting it before Tanya. "Sorry, I mean my contacts at Mando Logistics can get us access to a new type of transport vessel from Mandel Motors, it could easily make it to the Mandalore Sector within a week or two depending on the skill of the pilot."

"Okay, well cool you have access to a ship. How are you going to gather allies on the planet?"

"According to Bo, the planet is mostly populated by criminals and nomadic peoples. I don't think they're going to be a big fan of Mr. Corpo Authoritarianism over there. We just need to have a few conversations with the right people and then we would have allies for this operation."

"Alright so you have possible allies and a ship, there still seems to be a lot of holes in this plan. How would we even get permission from Senator Merrik to leave Coruscant?"

"Not as many as you think. I've already filled out a few holes you haven't even thought of, but as for how we would get out of this system. Well I did suggest I might need to take a little time off to recover from the alley fight and the embarrassment that it has put on my record. Engiz has always wanted to show me the library on Ordo. A good opportunity to win hearts and minds by exploring the Mandalorian Sector and meeting the people I represent." Tanya said with a smile before she sipped her tea.

Before I could try and think of anything else to talk her out of this she said. "Give me 24 hours and I will have this all sorted out, Vai. Trust me I know what I'm doing when it comes to military operations of this type."

"I don't think history books are going to teach you how to perform a decapitating action against enemy leadership." I said with a sigh. I wasn't really going to fight this anymore as far as I could tell Tanya was right. Bresug Gerr had turned the White Silver into a title no different than Mandalore. As long as he held that title or those who attempted to use that title after he fell existed, who were not Tanya, things would not go well.

Shaking my head I saw X4 place a cup of tea in front of me at my side so I picked it up. I would just have to trust Tanya on this. There was no other option and for that matter she'd set her mind to it.

714 (24BBY)

Concordia, Governor's Mansion

Pre Viszla

Letting out a deep sigh, I shook my head as I stepped away from the console. I knew I should have killed that man, he's been on my list of potential problem characters for a long time. It was nothing personal per se, I just didn't like someone threatening my position in Mandalorian society even if that position was a secret.

But I have been too busy the last few years. Concordia was in a bit of an improvement boom recently and I noted a slight lessening of my people's will to get rid of the New Mandalorians. Or at least the ones that were willing to accept the Silver leaning ones. I wondered how well that would go off now that someone had attempted to turn the name White Silver into a title no different than the title of Mandalore.

I think even if this situation doesn't get sorted out in my favor I might have a few more supporters back on the train for removing the New Mandalorians from power. Such an abuse of the ancient titles would tick off most of the more zealous clans that was for sure.

Well, it's not the worst outcome then, it's just some fool who has tried to declare himself the head of a new ideology. And this would serve his goals too in a way, as the way he positioned himself was in such a way that Satine would probably not try and remove him, not for a few months at least, a weakness that would be on display for all the Old Mandalorians.

The real question though was who would give this man the go ahead to attempt this. I know I've been busy for the last few years prepping for the inevitable conflict between New and Old Mandalorians as well as getting sidetracked more recently by both the great economic growth of Concordia, the Jedi poking around where they shouldn't be, and Dooku's machinations which may give me the opportunity to finally put Mandalore back under the house of Vizsla again.

But I was damn sure I had not missed this, this was too early for Dooku to have given the go-ahead and Merrik definitely would not have signed on to this plan as well, he wanted to return the noble titles to full power instead of the democratized version that the New Mandalorians had brought in. And I really doubted that he was the person who'd put together the original Silver Codex. My agents may have never found that person, but I had suspicions that they were from New Mandalorian stock, and there was no way a New Mandalorian would be so openly brazen about attempting to draw the Mandalorian Sector into war.

I guess there was the possibility that this was just some unknown player on the board that finally flipped his cards to reveal himself, it's not impossible but it seems odd. And I guess it was also possible that one of the members of the CIS had their own goals on Mandalore outside of Dooku's plan, given that the man was pushing for a corporatist state.

Either way though I needed to make a move against this Silver Corpo. As long as he was around he would be a threat to my leadership of the Old Mandalorians and Death Watch. I have worked too hard, suffered too much, and then been way too patient to let some fool screw it all up.

On one hand, I wanted to stop waiting, rally Death Watch, and then march on Gargon, take the planet for myself and then start the coup d'état by getting rid of a potential competitor. On the other hand, I knew we weren't ready yet, even with the lifting of restrictions on armor, the construction of weapons was still proving a bit difficult, and Mandel Motors was being a little cagey about those ships they were supposed to deliver. They would come around eventually, but if they didn't, well, I know where several other factories are. I know where they stored a lot of their ships, and it wouldn't be too difficult to organize a raid to acquire as many as possible.

If I could take some of Hypernautic's fleet that they've been building, that might improve my odds of winning a civil war. But that still meant I needed to figure out a way to deal with this Silver CEO. Perhaps I should send in a few agents under the guise of joining his faction and find out as much as possible about this Gargon situation before I make any moves.

'Yes,' I thought, nodding my head, turning away from the console to look at my fully decorated office. Thinking hard about who is loyal enough to the dream of an independent Mandalore and would not fall for the lies of a corpo slick talker, I settled on the Wrens. They have always been loyal to the secret Mandalore and I doubted they would jump ship for the pipe dream this man proposed.

I would have to contact them and tell them to get some agents over to Gargon to get me as much intel on the situation as possible. Then I would contact Dooku and make sure that he realized that this was not part of my plan and inquire if this was part of his plan or not. Finally, after that, I'd contact the Duchess and find out when she had scheduled a meeting on this situation. Surely it would not be too long from now, but probably within the next 24 to 36 hours. I'm certain she would not do anything against this little uprising, not yet at least.