Rise of Emperor Phantom (Star wars x DP crossover)

Chapter 45: Interest

A.N. Sorry for taking so long, guys. I have been preparing for the competition. It payed off and now I'm a medalist of the regional history competition! Now I can have extra points while applying to Moscow Institute and also concentrate on the story again.

"What is the meaning of this?" Phantom asked, crossing his hands.

"We are not sure, sir," the patrolling droid responded.

"The explosion of such scale couldn't be caused by accident," the man responsible for solving the crime said.

They weren't alone, however, and the raging crowd was thirsty for blood. Danny couldn't blame them, honestly. It doesn't happen daily when the entire city block in the heart of the Confederacy gets blown up sky high. Hundreds of dead, many more were wounded. The detective's words only increased the shouting. And the most common of all were the yelling adressed to the Republic. Of course, who else could cause a massacre of such size? For Danny, however, the situation wasn't that obvious. It was a great blow to his reputation if it was the Republic, and the people believed it.

"Please, calm down, everyone!" Phantom called, raising his hand.

"My sister died in there! And you want to negotiate with that monsters?!" Someone called.

Danny realized that it was pointless to deny the Republic's involvement. They wouldn't have believed him, anyway. Besides, Chancellor didn't seem to be fulfilling his end of the bargain, and the negotiations were stopped dead. Phantom narrowed his neon eyes.

"The Republic has slapped away our peace offer by committing such an atrocity. It was answer enough. Our dignity and consciousness are clear before ourselves and our children. I will personally make sure that Coruscant feels the same way as we do know."

It caused the crowd to shout louder, but this time in agreement. Phantom didn't believe his own words, but it was said to calm down the populace. That's how he explained this to Mina. They both didn't believe that it was the Republic. The point is, just an hour before the hearing in the Republican Senate, a massive explosion obliterated about ten square kilometers. It was unknown how such a bomb was sneaked into the capital. Judging from the colorful power wave, it must have been rhydonium, one of the most volatile liquids in the Galaxy.

But it was one thing talking to the crowd, and another was talking to the Council. Especially the one which was pissed off.

"You were supposed to tell us beforehand, Phantom!" Hill spat, pointing his eight inches long finger at him.

"To tell about what? This is not your decision to make. Neither I decided anything, I merely supported one side," Danny remained calm.

"It is not a question of shooting the clones."

"Ah, yes, it's a matter of filling your purses."

"Look who is talking," Gunray responded. "You are getting profit out of this, and that's our droids you are using."

"Just like you. Without my fuel your ships won't fly just as well. Only because of me your rustbuckets are able to fight back. It is you who are thinking too much of yourselves."

Before the corporate leaders could respond, Danny's communicator beeped. Dooku wasn't around on that meeting, which was weird. Phantom activated the transmission device.

"Sir," the agent hit hic chest and bowed. "We have finally received the recordings of the events."

"Really?" Danny smirked as his colleagues shifted almost unnoticeably.

"Yes, My Lord. Our operative on Coruscant also reports about the explosion in the generator district. The entire night half of the planet shut down."