Star Wars : Tanya

( 38 BBY )

At first, the City World of Coruscant looked exactly like Athemeene had always imagined it would. An entire planet set aglow with the light of civilization, with great glowing cracks of gold running across its surface like oceans of molten lava.

There were even great yellow strings of light draped across the world that stretched far out into the reaches of space. Athemeene gaped when she realized that string of lights was actually a staggering array of ships in all shapes and sizes, ranging from personal vessels to freighters.

Then she noticed the vast quantities of cargo haulers. The massive vessels were dedicated to nothing but maximizing storage space, and were crewed almost entirely by droids with multiple space lanes dedicated entirely to them. The number of these ships that the official Serreno Diplomatic Transport passed by on the way to the planet's surface was beyond Athemeene's ability and interest to count.

"Some call this world the Mouth of the Galaxy." Dooku said, watching his wife's reaction with some bemusement. "It does nothing but consume and issue demands for more, while loudly expounding on its own greatness."

"Where does all the food come from?" Athemeene had to assume that was what most of the cargo ships were carrying.

"No single place." Dooku replied. "There are several planetoids in this sector, terraformed exclusively for the express purpose of growing food, but even they can only supply a fraction of Coruscant's needs.

There are greenhouses on the planet, vast ones, but I dare say the whole galaxy exports to Coruscant in one form or another. Plasma, hypermatter, food, water, durasteel, even sentients." Dooku looked out the window to a cargo hauler they were passing, bearing the registry of Nal Hutta. "The mouth hungers for all, and cares little for the taste."

Athemeene was unsure of what to think of that. It was horrifying in a way. An entire galaxy of sentients bound irrevocably in service to an insatiable, ungrateful, unstoppable ecumenopolis.

As they closed in, the horizon of the world changed from an indistinct blur to visible towers with lines of speeder traffic passing between them. Below them, the planet's surface was a maze of utterly dwarfed buildings, crisscrossing alleys and streets, the occasional opening that revealed a tunnel of glowing lights and crisscrossing traffic.

"You would be shocked at how expensive housing is." Dooku frowned in vague disapproval. "Some of these towers are worth more than the GDP of a small planet, particularly those closer to the Senatorial District."

"How can that be?" Athemeene boggled.

"Coruscant is dangerously overpopulated. The cost of even a basic aboveground apartment is beyond what most families can afford. A landlord who owns one of these towers can charge any price he pleases, and receive an income that would make a Hutt blush."

"Then… How does anyone afford to live here?" Athemeene murmured.

"Most don't." Dooku replied. "The Under City has an even larger population than the surface. No census data is available, but most estimate that there are two to three times as many unregistered sentients below the surface as there are above.

Even the area below Coruscant's surface was populated by teaming, uncounted billions. No, Trillions. "How can they be unregistered?"

"Much of the lower levels are controlled by criminal thugs, and populated entirely by illegal immigrants. The deeper you go, the worse it gets. To those at the lowest levels, the idea of a 'sun' is a bizarre myth, as alien and distant as the idea of the Republic and the Jedi. Construction work happens up here, causing tunnels to collapse and move, crushing thousands in what must seem a natural disaster, and severing routes and highways that connected communities for generations, never to reopen."

Dooku turned to regard his wife. "As the Count of Serenno, it is humbling to realize that criminal gangs collect protection funds from populations greater than those of entire planets, including mine. These vast empires rise, and fall, and rise again, with unique languages, religions, cultural signifiers and rich, ancient traditions. All this happens unnoticed, unrecorded, undiscussed by the galaxy at large."

A strange, primitive shiver ran down Athemeene's spine, and she grabbed Dooku's arm instinctively for warmth. "It's too much." She murmured, strangely overwhelmed and horrified. "This world is just… it's too much."

For a moment Dooku hesitated, then he reached over to put an arm around his wife's hip, hugging her close. "You have just described the greatest problem the entire galaxy faces. Even the other ecumenopolises like Nar Shada and Empress Teta are utterly dwarfed by the scale and needs of Coruscant. It truly is, too much."

They were silent after that, until finally the Jedi Temple came into view. For such an ancient and important pillar of the Republic it was actually almost underwhelming to Athemeene. Compared to the vast building that it rested on, or even the galactic senate that sat off in the distance, it looked quite humble. It was carved out of ivory colored stone, in a simple square shape that tapered inwards at the top, and came to a flat surface. At the top of it there were four small towers in a square formation that surrounded one central tower.

Next to it there was a large landing area that was full of all kinds of ships, some diplomatic and some from members of the public who wanted to petition the Jedi for help. As their ship came in closer, Athemeene was able to make out a man in Jedi robes standing at the port, seemingly waiting for them.

When the landing ramp lowered, Athemeene got her first taste of the air on Coruscant. It was thin like the top of a mountain and smelled of old metal and ozone, probably from all the plasma burning in the endless numbers of speeders. It was also as cold as Dooku had warned her, with a chilly breeze that ruffled her hair as she stepped down the landing ramp of their ship. Compared to the warm dry grasslands of Raxus Secondus, or Serenno's humid jungles, Athemeene found it quite bracing.

"Qui-Gon." Dooku greeted as he stepped down the ramp towards his friend.

"Dooku, it's good to see you." The man replied.

From their warm tone as they spoke to each other, Athemeene sort of expected them to hug, or clasp hands, or maybe even kiss cheeks, but instead they just stood at a respectful distance.

It seemed oddly cold to Athemeene, but if this was as close as two good friends among the Jedi would get to each other, it would explain things about Dooku's and hers relationship. It wasn't that her husband in particular was the odd one when it came to physical affections, it was just that all the jedi were really awkward.

The two seemed like they were about to launch into a conversation she couldn't follow, so Athemeene took it upon herself to remind her husband that she was there by lightly bumping his elbow with her free hand. Dooku smoothly introduced the two of them like he'd meant to do that all along, when she just knew he hadn't. "Qui-Gon, this is my wife Athemeene, and my daughter Tan'ya."

To Athemeene, Qui-Gon seemed polite as he greeted her, but his real focus seemed to be on her daughter. At only a year and change old, Tan'ya seemed more interested in watching the long lines of exotic speeders flying overhead than Qui-Gon.

Like many children, she'd been born with blue eyes but they might still darken over time. Right now her wide blue eyes moved constantly, taking in every sight and sound of Coruscant with obvious fascination. Compared to a city planet how could a mere jedi knight hold her interest?

"It's lovely to meet you." Athemeene said to Qui-Gon, and his eyes turned to her. "Dooku talks about you often." Dooku's eyebrow shot up, probably because it was an outright lie. He rarely if ever talked about his time in the Order, but that didn't matter. The point was making a good first impression. "I find it hard to imagine my husband ever being a dashing young knight."

Qui-Gon smiled at that. "That was even before my time. Dooku was the one who trained me to be a Jedi Knight."

"Oh, wow." Athemeene smiled with interest. "Was he a good jedi in his time?"

A sad look crossed Qui-Gon's face, and he said in a quiet voice, "Your husband is the finest Jedi I know." There was some kind of unresolved tension there.

"...I thought he left the Order?" Athemeene feigned some bubbly ignorance just to keep the conversation going.

Qui-Gon blinked at that, shaken out of his reminiscence. "Yes, but there's more to being a jedi than the Order and the Council." He gave Dooku a look. "Isn't that right, teacher?"

"A topic for another time." Dooku demurred. "It wouldn't be wise to say ill of the council when I'll be speaking to them soon."

"Yes." Qui-Gon hesitated. "That's actually what I needed to discuss with you. The prophecy about Tan'ya. It's very important that-"

"Old friend, there will be plenty of time to discuss that later." Dooku cut across him firmly. "Right now I'd like to get my wife and daughter settled into a guest room."

Qui-Gon blinked. "You're not going to see the Council right away?"

Dooku shook his head and smiled. "We came here straight from Serenno. It was a long journey, and quite taxing to us. It would be foolish to address the Council at anything less than our best."

Qui-Gon looked surprised. "Dooku, they've been waiting for you since you arrived in system."

"A simple mistake. None on the council are parents, they don't understand the needs of a newborn."

"You're deliberately missing the point." Qui-Gon insisted, and to Athemeene's ear there was a hint of frustration in his voice.

"In politics I have learn one very important thing." Dooku said in a low tone to avoid being overheard. "Any vote is decided before it's cast. I would not wish to come before the council, only to learn that they have voted against me too late to change it."

"You mean to manipulate the Council." Qui-Gon sounded disapproving.

"I mean to keep my daughter." Dooku countered. "Qui-Gon, you should consider observing me and what I do now. Perhaps your old master still has something to teach you."

...

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