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Fondor, a world well known for its orbital shipyards—a world whose economy had been chafing under Galactic Alliance military production restrictions—announced its resignation from the Alliance and signed articles of friendship with Corellia and her allies. It was just one more world, increasing the size of the Confederation—no longer being referred to as the Corellian Confederation, at the indignant insistence of Bothawui and Commenor—from three systems to four. But of those four systems, two, Corellia and Fondor, possessed ship construction yards that were critical to Alliance military development. Fondor’s loss lit up the holonews services. Soon after, Bespin, with its crucial production facilities for Tibanna gas, and Adumar, with its munitions industry, also joined the Confederation.

And other worlds were wavering. The worlds of Hutt space made no secret of their preference for the Confederation—or of their willingness to remain staunch, warm friends of the Alliance, so long as they received special trade and aid privileges that would pour wealth into their accounts. Several planets of the Imperial Remnant, long uncomfortable with being part of the Alliance, suggested that they favored the Confederation, but the Moff Council continued to abide by its treaties with the Alliance. Grand Admiral Pellaeon, recently retired and returned to the world of Bastion, participating in the ongoing process of rebuilding and repopulating the Imperial throneworld, spoke openly and often of the Empire’s need to remain associated with the Alliance.

During these weeks there were only sporadic clashes between the Alliance and the Confederation. Admiral Limpan’s task force at Corellia made frequent raids against the Corellian shipyards, the still-intact Centerpoint Station, and industrial facilities on the other worlds allied with Corellia, though these were largely inconclusive. The Confederation forces in the Bothawui system succeeded, with minimal effort, in driving Alliance observation vehicles into retreat.

Neither side pressed an assault. The Confederation worlds sat back, tightened their defenses, sent diplomats with offers of friendship to scores of systems, and cranked up their ship production to epic levels. The Alliance brought military forces back from distant stations and patrols, gathered information, and enhanced security. Mostly the war was fought in the news feeds, with analysts predicting where the next major action would be fought, who would start it, and how it would end.

Admiral Matric Klauskin, recently vanished from a hospital on Coruscant, turned up on his homeworld of Commenor. His handlers transmitted to Coruscant the resignation of his commission with the Galactic Alliance military. At a dinner on Commenor, he was recognized as a hero of his planet and was ceremoniously retired. He was not observed to speak much during the celebration, and close observers described him as unresponsive and glassy-eyed.

GALACTIC ALLIANCE MILITARY HEADQUARTERS SENIOR OFFICERS’ BRIEFING ROOM

“The so-called Chasin Document,” said General Tycho Celchu, “is authentic.” A tall, elegantly handsome man with blond hair frosting to white, he radiated confidence and competence.

Admiral Niathal was not concerned with what the human military analyst radiated. Her eyes vibrated with her agitation. “It can’t be, General. We had no plans to invade Commenor.”

“Yes, we did,” Tycho assured her. “Thirty years ago.”

That settled Niathal a bit, piquing her curiosity. The statement obviously had the same effect on the other senior officers present; Niathal heard muttering from up and down the long table. “Please continue,” she said, cutting off the side conversations.

“Back when the Rebel Alliance was mounting its campaign for the liberation of crucial planetary systems of the Empire,” Tycho said, “General Garm Bel Iblis drew up a number of plans for individual systems. The Chasin Document, recently obtained for us by Intelligence, is a revision of Bel Iblis’s Operation Blue Plug. Blue Plug was never launched, because Commenor voluntarily ousted