Such an akward chapter to write! I've decided that for claritys sake, I'll post an introduction to the chapter. Its lengthy but neccesary, I think, so enjoy.
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Like a Jewel shimmering upon black sands, the suns of the Kobarra System showed brightly through the windows of The Serpents Tongue. Anyone who was lucky enough to make it through primary school on Kobarra, would likely recall the educational film they were shown about the System. Senator Reigen was no acception. As he sat looking at the stars, the cheesy voice once again filled his head.
An astronomical oddity, the Kobarra System revolved around not one or two stars, but three. Over the span of their seemingly immeasurable lifetimes, the three suns (Draakan, Wobistdu, Mergan) reached magnetic and gravitational equilibrium, and eventually mustered a force strong enough to attract 4 wandering planets. The first (according to Kobarran National Astronomical Law) called Yuana, is a planet of large, apparently sterile seas. Once the capital an aboriginal empire in the Kobarra System, life on Yuana was wiped out by diseases brought by Coruscanti settlers prior to the Sith Wars.
The second planet, Teilde, is a frozen planet with temperatures ranging from -126 standard near the ancient continental shelves, to +34 on the plains. Inhabited by the stout and ill tempered descendants of aboriginals, Teilde is a favorite retreat for Kobarran aristocrats during the summer months...which can be particularly humid and, for lack of a better word, nasty on Kobarra.
The third and most important planet in the system is the lush and tropical planet of Kobarra. Hosting nearly 35 million inhabitants across its 3 continents, Kobarra is a hub of commerce in its region of the Labacht Sector. Most Kobarrans have a mixed aboriginal and Coruscanti heritage.
4th, Groumann is a stable and relatively untouched planet. Apparently lacking an atmosphere, Galactic Astronomers have long debated its status as a planet...
Yet, none of that was important at the moment. That all too familiar tug of hesitancy in his chest was an unwelcome reminder to the Senator that he had come to do a Martyrs work.
Or at least it seemed that way. After rising to power, Reigen recalled, General Uparte worked to establish a apartheid against those on the planet who were "More than 30%aboriginal". As arbitrary and idiotic as it may have seemed to most people at the time, many on the planet supported Uparte's radical visions of "Core World Superiority".
When aboriginal groups, like the Cabaas Organization and Regular ARs, started to oppose the racially charged actions of Uparte's administration during the Naboo Conflict, Uparte's response was quick and unrelenting. 120,000 aboriginals were rounded up and killed indiscriminately. The Holonet paid no attention to (what the editor at the time described as 'a pointless Xeno story') the slaughter and no action was taken against Uparte's government galactic ally.
As a result of the massacre, Reigen remembered looking down at the canopy of one of Kobarras many rainforests, the Legislative branch attempted to reign in Uparte's Executive authority. Naturally, Uparte resisted and soon the planet was engulfed in Civil War. The DUKP (Democratic Union of the Kobarran People) tried, desperately, over the course of 10 year period before the Clone Wars to have the Republic intervene on the behalf of the DUKP. Their attempts were met, at first, with apology and eventually with scorn. Disenfranchised with the Republic, the DUKP officially allied itself with the Separatist Movement one year before the Battle of Geonosis.
Not long after this, Uparte traveled to Coruscant where he delivered some of the most famous words of the pre-war era: "The Barbarians and their Battle Droids must be stopped!" Upon returning to the capital, Uparte learned (with the help of DUKP Z-59s) that the city had fallen in his absence. The occupation was to be short lived, however. When the war finally started on Geonosis, it is said that Palpatine personally ordered troops to Kobarra to reinstate Uparte's government.
Thud!
"Turbulence?" Reigen inquired.
"Just a bit, Senator." The captain replied.
Captains had a way of replying on Kobarra. For example, when Captain Trevador Istante of the 134th Battalion was captured by Confederate Spies during the siege of Ante-Oche, he was shocked to learn of Uparte's radical xenophobia and attempts at Genocide. Renouncing his ranks as a Captain of the Grand Army of the Republic, Istante joined the CIS backed DUKP and quickly rose through the ranks.
"You know what I heard, Senator?" The captain said interrupting Reigens train of thought.
"What's that?"
"They're going to torch the Orchovilas to get rid of the remaining of the DUKP cells."
"I wouldn't hold it past Uparte, Captain."
The Orchovilas, for the less informed, is the name of the area of dense rainforests south of Kobarra Ciudaht. It is suspected by the 'Shield and Saber' (the Defense Department) that Istante and his band of rebels are HQ'd there and have used the region to stock pile Confederate built weapons of "immense chaos".
After the DUKP's defeat at the hands of the Republic two years prior, Istante took charge of the remnants of the organization and fled into the wilderness. As the planet rebuilt from the Civil War, the DUKP and it's hero Istante were largely forgotten. It wasn't until the attempted assassination of General-Executor Uparte (an assassination attempt that left the president irreparably scarred at that) that Istante and the DUKP were in the news again. Being the irrational and all together unstable man that he is, Uparte launched a campaign to "route out the DUKP once and for all in the name of His Majesty, The Emperor."
"You were there for the bombing, right?" Captain Tourpak asked.
"You're very interested in Xeno history for a Core Worlder, Captain."
"My apologies. However, not all of us young folk are Empire-thumping COMPNOR officers, Senator."
Just then, The Serpents Tongue touched down. Reigen tried to formulate a reply, but the urgency of his visit was too much. Within seconds, he was down the hall heading towards to exit.
