28.7 BBY: Palpatine flees Coruscant after the Jedi Order discovers he is the Sith Lord responsible for so many of the Republic's recent troubles.
28.7-28.6 BBY: Darth Sidious's contingency plan to make it appear to the public as if the Jedi Order has kidnapped or done away with the Supreme Chancellor enjoys short-lived but notable success. Although public belief in what the HoloNet News coins "The Jedi Coup Theory" is badly damaged by the release of civilian footage showing a man both dressed as the Chancellor, and exactly matching his physical dimensions voluntarily boarding a vessel that vanishes shortly after lift-off. Large crowds of protestors continue to demonstrate on Coruscant before the Jedi Temple and Senate Building for weeks to come. While smaller, but no less significant protests of Jedi overreach, Judicial Branch ineffectiveness, and well-worn accusations of Core World corruption continue on many Mid and Outer Rim worlds for months to come. Conspiracy theories related to the Chancellor's disappearance continue to abound, but slowly die away as attention shifts to a "What now?" mindset.
28.6 BBY: The sudden and mysterious hospitalizations of more than three hundred Quarrens working in and around the unfinished city of Morjanssik results in the mystery disease being identified during the autopsies of the first three patients to die after experiencing irreversible respiratory arrest. News of a Blue Shadow outbreak reaches King Yos Kolina within the hour. Prompting the Mon Calamari monarch to quarantine an area more than a thousand kilometers in diameter centered around Morjanssik, and order the immediate antibody-testing for exposure to the virus of anyone wishing to leave the planet's surface. The move sparks widespread protests as the operation of the planet's extensive shipyards grows increasingly hampered by the slowdown of goods and personnel between the surface and shipyards, but Yos Kolina remains resolute despite the increasingly incendiary accusations being levied by his Quarren counterpart.
28.6-28.5.5 BBY: Accusing their Mon Calamari neighbors of colluding with unnamed elements of the Republic to deliberately release the Blue Shadow virus among them, a Manager Kanit Wolg of Morjanssik announces the creation of the Quarren Isolation League. Joined by numerous prominent Quarren figures in denouncing the Mon Calamari response to their suffering, and accusing them of caring only for the output of the shipyards that buys them the favor of off-worlders. The Q.I.L releases a manifesto advocating for Dac's secession from the Republic after a convoy of vessels emblazoned with Separatist Coalition markings arrives from New Holstice carrying experimental anti-viral treatments paid for by ex-Jedi Master Sora Bulq, of the Ruul Bulq's.
28.5 BBY: After it becomes clear the anti-viral treatments donated by the newly emerged Separatist Coalition are proving efficacious in treating the more than twenty-five thousand Quarrens who have by now been stricken by the virus. Sora Bulq publicly expresses his sorrow over the deaths of more than five thousand older or immunocompromised Quarrens for whom help arrived too late. Calling the building tensions between Quarren and Mon Calamari an "internal matter", Bulq was nevertheless openly suspicious of the fact that no Mon Calamari had been sickened by the dread virus. When the story of Mon Calamari-only vaccinations against Blue Shadow is leaked to several interstellar news outlets, Bulq, in his role as Chief Executive of the Separatist Coalition expressed anger and horror. Announcing the Coalition's position of solidarity and support for the Quarren people in their time of trial, he denounces the Republic for it's role in the disaster, witting or unwitting as a whole. Citing this as a perfect example of why a change in government was needed.
28.5-28.4 BBY: Thanks to a Kaiburr Crystal enhanced vision, Yoda directs the Jedi to a secret Coruscant hangar and landing-pad. A fierce battle pitting the nine Jedi and an accompanying dozen Coruscant Security officers against what prove to be the last eighteen Sun Guard awaiting transport off-planet results in two injured Jedi, six injured or dead C.S.Os, and ten deaths among the Sun Guards before the badly injured surviving mercenaries finally surrender. Despite being charged with a laundry-list of serious crimes, and the significant material evidence against them recovered by the investigators, none of the mercenaries prove willing to provide statements despite offers of transactional immunity. Jedi and C.S.Os stake out the hangar in the hopes of waylaying whoever has been moving the Sun Guards off-world, but no one ever arrives.
28.4 BBY: A quintet of IG-86 assassin droids attempt to infiltrate the infirmary of the Coruscant Security central headquarters. Attempting to silence the injured and captive Sun Guards, their attack inadvertently coincides with an attempt by Coruscant Security officers to move two of the prisoners to bacta tanks due to medical complications. The ensuing firefight damages a significant portion of the infirmary and adjacent areas of the station. Several officers are killed or injured before three of the droids are forcibly deactivated, and the remaining pair withdraw. While most of the prisoners are killed during the shootout, among the three survivors is the Twisuns Legate Canis Jatt. Embittered by the distrust and betrayal implicit in the effort to silence them, Jatt agrees to turn Republic's evidence. Revealing (among many other illegal acts) Sate Pestage/Legends was the one who ordered him to plan and carry out the assassination of Naboo Senator Vidar Kim . A Judicial Branch B.O.L.O is issued for Pestage, who is wanted for questioning in connection with the crime.
28.2 BBY: HoloNet News runs an expose piece on the (briefly) reopened Judicial investigation into the death of Senator Kim. Calling attention to the fact the case was once more considered inactive by the air-date of their news piece. The high-profile expose triggers a day of accusations and counter-accusations on the floor of the Galactic Senate, but results in no meaningful action. Four days later, the air-car of senior HoloNet News journalist, Togruta Tasia Ilano explodes. Killing the investigative journalist instantly. Many media outlets replay the leaked Judicial footage of the statue being opened in the Chancellor's office, the lightsaber being removed from the concealed cavity, and the Red Guard momentarily igniting the red blade. Vagir Ilano appears during the memorial piece on HoloNet News. Unequivocally stating his belief the former Chancellor had his wife murdered not only for her expose concerning the assassination of his political predecessor on Naboo, but because she was working on a piece which focused on Palpatine exclusively. Mid-interview, the studio cuts the feed with an artfully worded apology. Stating the interviewees views concerning the missing Palpatine's "religious convictions" could be construed as an attempt to instigate the illegal religious persecution of a well-known public figure.
28.1 BBY: Vice-Chair Mas Amedda's six-month term as Interim Chancellor of the Republic comes to an end. Bail Organa of Alderaan, Ainlee Teem of Malastare, and Seti Ashgad all gear up to campaign for the election. When a deal is struck between Ashgad and Teem that will result in their respective coalitions of Senators supporting Teem for Vice-Chair and Ashgad for Chancellor, the election seems to be in the bag. Bail Organa expands on his previous campaign promise to expand, streamline, and eliminate corruption within the Judicial Forces. Ideally, this would allow the J.F to begin making progress against the many pirates and slavers active throughout the Mid and Outer Rim. Little seems to come of this and other attempts by Senator Organa to brand himself as more than a Core-Faction politician, and support for his political opponents continues to increase. Until Bail Organa announces the success of the search he's been funding as a private citizen to locate the missing and presumed lost Katana fleet . When Judicial Forces personnel begin returning the heavy cruisers to the Kuat yards where repairs and refits of the long-adrift ships will be done, huge numbers of media outlets cover the event. Despite a significant effort, Senator Organa proves incapable of unmasking the anonymous individuals who suggested and ultimately facilitated his success in the recovery of the two hundred warships.
28 BBY: In the narrowest decision in more than three centuries, Bail Organa is elected Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. The struggle resulting from the breakdown in the Teem-Ashgad deal sees Ashgad edging out the Malastare Senator for Vice-Chair, as his Militarist-Centrist coalition finds considerably more common ground with Organa's Core-Faction supporters than Teem's Rim-Secessionists. Chancellor and Vice-Chair inherit a Galactic Senate more at odds with itself than any since just before the end of the New Sith Wars.
27.9 BBY: Understanding Palpatine could tell the wider galaxy about the Fett-clones at any time, Anakin Skywalker discusses the possibility of revealing what Master Sifo-Dyas has done with Master Dark Woman. After extensive meditation and thought, Dark Woman informs her young apprentice they could both conceivably be sent to the Prism for concealing such information, so they have no choice except revealing what they know. She accompanies her Padawan to speak with Grandmaster Yoda at the Mimban Enclave under construction. Unfortunately, after confirming the veracity of their account, Yoda immediately informs the rest of the High Council.
27.8 BBY Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas is called before the High Council to answer a charge of having violated the precepts of the Ruusan Reformation by commissioning a clone army. Before the High Council is able to complete their deliberations and hand down a decision in the matter, however, Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi escape undetected from Geonosis. The pair report to the High Council that the already considerable Baktoid Armor Workshop/Legends foundries present on the desolate planet were in the process of being expanded, and that all manner of weapons, ordinance, battle-droids, war machines, even bombers and starfighters were now being produced as swiftly as capacity and ever-arriving resources would permit. Unfortunately, the High Council remains unmoved with regard to Sifo-Dyas's fate. Expelling him from the Order for the position he'd placed the Jedi in as much as for any actual wrongdoing.
27.7.5 BBY: Master Dooku and Master Ood Bnar complete their respective meditations on the High Council's decision. Each resigns in protest of that decision, with Dooku soon returning to Sorenno to take up his title and estate as ruler of the planet. Rumors quickly proliferate of talks between the three ex-Masters, the Altisian Jedi, and even other Force-traditions, but to what purpose none outside their group can say. The resignation of not one but two legendary Jedi Masters causes many Jedi to look askance at their High Council for what many perceive to be an extremely high-handed and highly politicized decision on their part.
27.7 BBY Grandmaster Yoda reports to the newly elected Chancellor Organa concerning both the existence of the commissioned Fett-clones on Kamino, and the egregious violations of the Ruusan Reformation's precepts by the Geonosians. The Chancellor takes the matter under advisement, but gives no immediate clue as to his thinking in either matter.
27.6 BBY: Sora Bulq accepts the invitation of HoloNet News to speak as to the rumors swirling of a hidden Jedi army. In the course of that interview, he "regretfully" confirms the details, and walks the public via the interviewer step by step through the process of how the Kamino Commission came to be. Lying only in that he declares Sifo-Dyas sought and obtained the financial support of radical elements within the InterGalactic Banking Clan to fund the project after experiencing horrific visions of galactic war. He initially refuses to speculate as to the Jedi Order's intent in commissioning such a large and well-trained military force, but when coaxed by the interviewer, delivers the quote in every periodical the next day. "No one ever raised an army without intending to use it, and I fear my former comrades are no different."
27.5 BBY: Seeking to create a lightning rod to draw attention from the rampant anti-Jedi sentiment proliferating throughout the Mid and Outer Rim, as well as to remind everyone why there was a Jedi Order, Chancellor Organa calls an Extraordinary Session of the Senate. Proffering charges against the Geonosians for numerous violations of the Reformation's precepts, and calling on the Separatist Council they named themselves a signatory of to desist from their illegal military build-up. Accusations fly in all directions, but the Geonosians refuse to so much as permit Judicial inspectors to examine their facilities. The Separatist Coalition soon offers a statement to the effect the existence of the Kamino Commission justifies their efforts to "Provide for their common defense, even if it be technically illegal to do so."
27 BBY: Negotiations with the Geonosians break down completely. Prompting the Judicials at the behest of the Senate to begin a blockade of the planet. A binding resolution passed by Core, Militarist, and Centrist Senators levies economic sanctions against the Geonosians until such time as they provide evidence the expansions and retooling of their foundries has ceased, with all accrued war-gear being recycled or destroyed. Dependent on the importation of food, famine soon threatens, but the Geonosians refuse to yield.
26.8 BBY: When Rim Faction Senators (now belonging to what amounts to a Secessionist Faction) fail to vote down the sanctions or the removal of the Judicial blockade, heavily shielded, unmarked, and transponder-free blockade runners begin smuggling large amounts of food down to the surface of Geonosis despite the best efforts of the Judicials. When the number of such blockade runners quadruples over the new three months, and scans manage to penetrate one of the vessels during a near-collision with a Judicial cutter, it's revealed raw materials are once more feeding the Geonosian foundries.
26.1 BBY: The Judicial Forces begin laying fields of sky-mines in Geonosis's orbit to prevent the passage of the blockade runners after other efforts short of beginning overt conflict fail. Momentarily stymied, the opposition ceases it's efforts around the foundry-world, but begin a propaganda effort to depict the Geonosians as brave holdouts against the heavy-handed government's demands. Pointing to the blockade and subsequent orbital mine-laying as exactly why secession from the corrupt, ineffective, and ultimately Core-serving Republic is the only reasonable, rational choice for Mid and Outer Rim systems tired of being exploited but otherwise ignored to make. The growing size of the Secessionist Faction in the Senate proves the words of the Separatist Council are not falling on entirely deaf ears.
26 BBY: In partnership with Allanteen Six Shipyards, Kuat Drive Yards unveils a modular-design prototype Alpha-Venator-cruiser. The many strategically placed yet unfilled blisters on the hull make the vessel's design technically Reformation-compliant, but anti-Militarist shipwrights accurately criticize designer Lira Blissex for the creation of a warship which not only cuts as close to the tonnage restrictions as technically possible. It can be successfully refitted to dramatically increase firepower and shielding with the most minimal of facilities. The already connected power conduits leading to the unused blisters elicit particularly heated debates.
Prompting the unrepentant designer to publicly respond to her critics, saying "It's my job to create what the customer wants. A ship which will do the job for which it has been designed, and do it well. If my designs are easily modified, and even more easily mass-produced into something which violates the Reformation Precepts, then that is what I call a feature in the design's favor. Anyone who believes we aren't in the last days of the Reformation-era has been using Bando Gora deathsticks, anyways. Don't single out Kuat, Rendili, or any of the affiliate-shipyards for your pacifist posturing, either. EVERYONE is creating post-Reformation war designs. All awaiting the day the traitors, I mean Separatists, strike at a Republic world. Forcing the Senate to abandon antiquated ideals and protect the Republic from it's enemy."
25.9 BBY: Terrible worldwide damage is done to important elements of the JanFathal power grid in just two weeks. Bulq and the Separatists initially point to this as an example of how little practical cooperation exists between the Judicial Branch and the planetary defense forces of planets with more modest economies, but soon fall silent when responding Jedi investigators manage to capture numerous insurgents discovered in possession of materials with which devices capable of powerful E.M.Ps. Much of the Fath Sector, which had been considering aligning themselves with the secessionists, reaffirm their loyalty to the Republic after word of this development spreads.
25.6 BBY: Refits of the two hundred slave-rigged Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers are completed, and sixty of the newly crewed Judicial Force vessels are launched to much fanfare on anti-piracy/anti-slaver missions in systems upon the Corellian Run or Hydian Way. HoloNet News does a piece on the newly launched missions. The news anchor remarking how refreshingly novel it is to see a politician actually uphold a campaign promise.
25.5 BBY: Qui Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi return to the Jedi Temple from their latest investigation prompted by the suggestions of Jedi who shall remain nameless. They brief the High Council about the Munificent-class star frigates being mass-produced in the Gwori system, and describe their courier-ship being fired on without provocation. The pair goes on to outline their infiltration of the droideka foundries on Colla IV, and pass on the report of Jedi Master John Antilles. Who stated he stowed away aboard a freighter bound for Metalorn. One carrying a hold full of purified cortosis purchased from the Hutts. Jinn and Kenobi then turn over the holo-camera footage of the convoy of freighters disgorging hold after hold full of purified cortosis. None of the three Jedi were able to say what the Cortosis was being used for. Master Windu subsequently briefs Chancellor Organa as to these latest violations of the precepts by Separatist signatories.
25.4 BBY: Dark Woman and Anakin Skywalker return from a trip to Mestare with sixty Mestarren lightsaber-crystals beyond the half-dozen they retain for themselves. Dark Woman recommends to the members of the High Council they come to some accord with the wildcat miners active on the frontier world, or resign themselves to khyber crystals reaching the black market. Anakin Skywalker presents the Temple fabricators with a viable circuit adjustment schematic to use the Mestarran crystals as traditional Adegan crystals are used. Battlemaster Drallig sets him to recalibrating and servicing Temple droids for ninety days because he didn't take the schematic to the Council of First Knowledge first.
25.3 BBY: High Council member Yaddle leads a contingent of Jedi consisting of Dark Woman, Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mawan for the purpose of negotiating the end of a horrific three-way gang war. Aware that the expertly disguised "Striker" is actually infamous master criminal Granta Omega, and that the real dangers are the chemical weapon and radiation bomb Omega has planted, Skywalker's warning to his fellow Jedi begins the unraveling of Omega's convoluted attempt to assassinate them. In the ensuing confusion, it is his hurled lightsaber which finds the mad Force Blank's heart. The Jedi subsequently reach an accord with Decca the Hutt and Feeana Tala, ending the strife on the embattled planet. Omega's death is the sixteen year old's first kill. One which troubles him for some time to come despite the knowledge his actions had saved Master Yaddle's life.
25.2 BBY: Two flights of old but refitted and more heavily armed Valor-class cruisers numbering two dozen appear in the Geonosis System. Flying in support of ten equally antiquated mine-sweepers, the Tactical Droid in command of the naval group hails the Judicial Force blockade commander. Identifying itself as "Commodore Mark of the Rim Autonomy Force", the droid demands the J.F's blockading vessels leave orbit and quit the system, or be fired upon. His dozen Hammerhead-class cruisers and ten Interceptor-class frigates slightly outgunned by the R.A.F group, the blockade commander nevertheless refuses to comply. In the ensuing battle, most of the R.A.F cruisers are destroyed, but their willingness to expend themselves in ramming attacks against the Judicial vessels turns the tide in their favor. The two surviving Interceptors flee the Geonosis System as the mine-sweepers begin their work.
25.1.5 BBY: Calling an Extraordinary Session of the Galactic Senate, Chancellor Organa condemns the Separatist Coalition for the destruction of the Judicial Forces blockade. Rim/Separatist Faction Senators bridle at the accusation their worlds had anything to do with the attack, but while no one believes the S.C's protestations of innocence, there's no actual proof the R.A.F are anything but well-funded stateless terrorists. A full squadron of Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers are ordered into the Geonosis System to reinstate the blockade, but it will be some time before anyone outside the Coalition of Independent Systems realize the extent of the breakout which occurred in the interim between the breaking and reinstating of the blockade.
25 BBY: Militarist and Centrist Senators begin drumming up support for Proposition 211-A. Calling for increased funding of the Judicial Forces, the Anaxes War College, plus the creation of economic and educational incentives for recruits joining the J.F or enrolling for training at the War College. Many of the Core-Faction Senators support the bill in the wake of the broken blockade, but the near-universal opposition of the bill by Rim and Separatist Senators is enough to temporarily defer the bill's continued debate. A result reversed by the Senate's next regular meeting. The bill's passage drives many of the Outer Rim worlds not already a part of the Senate's Separatist Faction into said group.
24.8 BBY: Responding to the passage of Proposition 211-A, Sora Bulq publishes the Articles of Secession. Calling on signatories to formally abandon attempts to engage with the Republic, and focus entirely on already ongoing efforts to forge new economic links between signatories, as the reallocation of tax revenues no longer pouring into Republic coffers can "Begin providing tangible, quantifiable benefits to signatory worlds."
24.6 BBY: Attempting to counter Bulq's influence, Chancellor Organa and Vice-Chair Ashgad open discussion on the proposed Financial Reform Act. The controversial bill would, if passed, do a great deal to reverse the damage done by Palpatine's machinations with the Trade Federation, InterGalactic Banking Clan, and Commerce Guild, but it is twice deferred to committee by a coalition of Senators lead by Ainlee Teem who are uninterested in reforms the Core worlds find less than laudable.
24.5 BBY: Dark Woman and Anakin Skywalker discretely approach Commonality Senator Jheramahd Greyshade. Explaining the threat to his life due to his ardent support of the Financial Reform Act, they convince the Senator he would be better served by two Jedi hiding out in his expansive 500 Republica suite to capture the assassin, rather than being surrounded by a host of Senate Guards who will only delay and put off the assassin for so long. Eventually, the Senator evicts the Jedi from his dwelling when he wishes to "entertain" an apparently amorous Tsian. Making a show of leaving, Dark Woman phases through several ceilings to reenter the suite, catching the assassin by surprise, and saving the Senator's life.
24.4 BBY: Senator Greyshade hurls himself from the roof of 500 Republica shortly thereafter. His suicide note is leaked to the press, and in it, he expresses his regret for supporting the Financial Reform Act. He is succeeded as Senator by his cousin, Simon Greyshade. Who emerges as an ardent opponent of the Financial Reform Act. Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos reports the datapad the suicide note was composed on is drenched in Dark Side energies, but the Judicial investigators prove remarkably uninterested in "Subjective impressions granted by a poorly understood energy field."
24 BBY: The defeat of the Financial Reform Act causes many Mid and Outer Rim Senators to sign the Articles of Secession at the instructions of their planetary leaders. His four-year term at an end, Bail Organa is nearly ousted by his own Vice-Chair. The ever-growing numbers and influence of the once-tiny Militarist Faction, plus the growing power of the Core Loyalists pass several bills expanding funding of the Judicial Forces to a much greater degree.
22.9 BBY: Dr. Nuvo Vindi is captured by Dark Woman and Anakin Skywalker on Naboo. Preventing his attempt to release the now-airborne Blue Shadow virus, the Jedi are honored by the present Queen of Naboo for their efforts. Later, during the formal ball, and despite his best efforts to the contrary, Padawan Skywalker and Senator Amidala meet for the first time. Jedi Slicers will later extract data from Vindi's lab linking his projects with the outbreak of Blue Shadow virus on Dac.
22.3 BBY: Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, her Padawan Barriss Offee, Master Dark Woman and Padawan Skywalker are dispatched to the crossroads world of Ansion to prevent it's secession, and through Ansion, the secession of many other worlds. After extensive trials and travails, the quartet succeeds in making peace between the nomads and city-dwellers. Preventing Ansion's secession from the Republic. Surprising no one, the orderly and highly orthodox Unduli/Offee pairing gets on like oil and water with the unorthodox and individualistic Dark Woman/Skywalker team.
22.1 BBY: Concerned he is overseeing the beginning of full-scale galactic war as the Senate readies itself to vote on the revival of the office of Minister of Defense, Chancellor Organa invites the Separatists and Loyalists to a Reconciliation Summit. The idea is almost still-born when arguments break out as to where it might be held and who would provide security, but the Tynnans eventually offer to host the function and provide the bulk of the security. Concerned die-hard secessionists will attempt to disrupt this final bid for peace, the Chancellor requests and receives a small contingent of Jedi to provide discrete security against extraordinary threats. The High Council dispatches Master Yaddle to lead this detachment, with Knights Olin, Swan, and Tassu, in addition to Master Dark Woman and her Padawan.
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Tynna, Tynna Government Building, 22.1 BBY
"Your pacing is becoming a test of my self-control, Apprentice. Either discover something productive to do, or meditate to purge yourself of this pointless restlessness" Dark Woman chided from her cross-legged seated position on the floor. Watching from the corner of the room, where she could observe both her Padawan and the ornately carved hardwood door leading to the corridor from their adjoining two bedroom suite. Her voice lacked any bite, however, because she could so easily empathize with her sensitive student.
"Anakin has grown as controlled as any Jedi Knight over the last few years, but the arrival and subsequent crowding together of so many minds filled to the brim with negative emotions challenges even a Jedi Master's composure." The tall, blue eyed, short straight silver-haired Jedi Master silently considered as she studied her tense protege.
Long accustomed to immediate obedience, Anakin had come to a halt as soon as she'd spoken. Still, his dropping into a "parade rest" stance did nothing to exorcise the obvious tension in every line of his lean, well-muscled 6'2, 190lbs frame. His dark blue eyes, matching the tunic otherwise cut in the Jedi style, had grown even darker with the worry lurking in them. Although the strong handsome features of the young man he'd become gave little sign of his disturbed equilibrium, and then only to one who knew him intimately. Denied the ability to prowl as was his wont on the rare occasion he was this troubled, the nineteen year old apprentice had begun toying with the red, blue, and yellow bands in his long thin Padawan's braid. It was a bad habit the Jedi Master had never once scolded him for, because she had sworn never to scold her future apprentices for doing so during her own Padawan years. After her own departed Master had driven her up a wall with his scolding about the bad habit for what had seemed the millionth time. Jedi were only mortal, so one or two harmless tics which bled off nervous energy could be accepted. At least in her opinion. Knowing the Council would likely disagree with such an assessment touched on her own reservations about their notions as to the definition of the "ideal" Jedi.
"I was trying to do something productive, Master. There's something important I'm failing to recall about Tynna. Something I already tried moving and rising meditation to coax into my conscious recollection after Force-assisted recall failed to do more than bring the information into what I'd call tip-of-my-tongue range. I thought something mindless like counting paces taken might allow me to come at the information from another angle" Anakin replied while struggling to keep the frustration he was feeling out of his voice.
Now it was the Jedi Master's turn to look worried. "I haven't seen you so clearly unable to release your feelings into the Force since it came down to a spear-throw of your saber. Preventing Granta Omega from releasing his chemical weapon on Mawan." Seeing her apprentice's body language, as well as the muscles in his face grow subtly tighter, she regretted having brought the subject up almost before the words had finished leaving her mouth.
The faintest shadow of an old pain crossed the young man's face. Momentarily distracting him from the tension and anxiety he was currently grappling with. Sensing his Master's regret, Anakin's expression softened as he replied with a quiet firmness "It meant the galaxy to me. You never questioning my decision to kill that mad dog. Many Jedi would have insisted I had an obligation to try and disable him."
Without a moment's hesitation, Dark Woman replied with obvious conviction "I would have killed Omega myself, rather than tolerate any risk of the toxin's release inside the city, or the detonation of the radiation bomb he intended to poison the planet's surface with. You acted in complete accord with the training I have given you. Not to mention saving both our lives and Master Yaddle's."
Obviously weighing his reply for several seconds, the young Jedi finally shook his head as he answered "It could have happened any number of ways. Originally, that madman succeeded in releasing his poison before making his escape. Master Yaddle would have sacrificed herself absorbing and neutralizing the toxin before it could kill you and I, Master."
"It could have happened some other way, but it didn't, Anakin. Humility is one thing, but you're taking self-effacing behavior to an unhealthy extreme. Why do you think that is? I noticed you chose to end the accounting of your foreknowledge with Omega's escape. Is that because he would have taken still more innocent lives, and you'd rather not acknowledge you were the one to prevent those deaths?" The Jedi Master observed with mild exasperation. Firing off a barrage of questions meant to get at the root of her Padawan's tendency to downplay his own role in whatever events transpired.
Quiet for a considerably longer period this time, the teen finally responded in an almost haunted manner "I think it would be very easy for me to grow arrogant and prideful, Master. You've done your very best to train me not to make comparisons between myself and other Jedi, because it's an unproductive practice. Just as you taught me everyone has their own path to, and destiny from, the Force. In so doing, you helped me unlearn a very self-oriented way of looking at myself and others. Which is something I will always be grateful for. For all that, I'm not insensible concerning how easily many things come to me. The Force has given me such profound gifts, I want to remember my strengths and talents should be enough for anyone!"
Shaking her head vigorously, there was genuine heat in the venerable Jedi's voice when she shot back "The truth is never evil, and neither is a healthy sense of pride in one's achievements or feeling satisfaction due to the realization of one's goals. You're making the elementary mistake concerning fear again, Apprentice. Failing to remain rooted in the present, in favor of focusing on a future which does not now, and may never exist! I have never known you to be prideful, and while you grew a little arrogant after your capacity for several Sense techniques suddenly leaped forward, it was something you eventually found the proper perspective on. You've been trained better than to plan and act as a result of possibilities you find frightening."
Anakin grew still as he turned Dark Woman's words over and over in his mind. Examining them from all sides, as a tumult of emotions flashed across his face to vanish just as quickly as they'd come. Finally laughing rather ruefully, before remarking "I never thought of it that way, Master. It seemed to me simple prudence, but I suppose it's always easy to rationalize and justify any position we take. Thank you for reminding me to inspect my foundations, rather than-" The words suddenly died away, as what he'd been trying to remember prior to this conversation finally crashed in on him.
Paling as the realization of what was likely occurring flooded to the forefront of his attention, he hurriedly exclaimed "I remember what was nagging at me, Master! We need to find Master Yaddle immediately! I'll explain on the way!" Restraining the impulse to race for the door, Anakin considered Dark Woman's most recent words to him. Dashing into his own bedroom and returning wearing a small pack, with a smaller pouch hanging from his belt. He clicked a control interface about his right wrist, then hurriedly followed his Master from the room. Doing his best to control his impatience and worry, as he fervently hoped his recollection hadn't come too late.
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"The Judicial Forces blockade around Geonosis is an assault upon our sovereignty. It must be removed, and the J.F must quit the Geonosis system entirely. Otherwise, I have been instructed to inform you there will be significant consequences, Chancellor Organa!" The short, green skinned, brown haired Jedi Master heard the chief Geonosian diplomat's pledge. Sensing both the finality underlying his statements, and their underlying duplicity as she did so. The insectoid's outburst in accented Basic had been entirely out of order. Coming as it did in response to the Chancellor's formal greeting to the just-assembled dignitaries. Right after he'd eloquently expressed his belief that a settlement to preserve the unity of the Republic was still possible.
Watching while some diplomats raised their voices to condemn the outburst, and others all but shouted their support for the Geonosian pledge, Yaddle's sigh was nearly silent as she sensed the rising level of discord among the delegates expanding to fill the room like a pall of bitter-smelling smoke. Moving smoothly and unobtrusively to stand beside the Jedi Master standing seven or eight paces behind the Chancellor's position in a center seat on this side of the huge triangular table, Ferus Olin calmly remarked "Not a very auspicious beginning, is it, Master Yaddle?"
Looking up at the young man as he spoke, Yaddle studied the Knight for a few moments before offering a reply. His straight, gold-streaked brown hair hadn't yet grown out enough to lose the look of the classic Padawan cut. Whereas the young man's extremely well-developed six foot, one hundred eighty pound frame, and the confident grace with which he moved gave a different impression than what was conveyed by his dark brown eyes. Filled with a worry he otherwise gave no sign of, Olin Ferus nevertheless radiated a taut readiness the diminutive Master had long since come to associate with the newly knighted. She knew it would take awhile for him to grow accustomed to serving without his Master looking over his shoulder and correcting every mistake made. When he ran an idle hand through his hair, Yaddle pretended not to notice the young man suppress a surprised start at failing to find a Padawan braid.
"Only a beginning, this is. Uncertain, beginnings often are. The undecided and the caught up. Upon these, should the Chancellor's focus remain" Yaddle declared with a quiet and dignified calm. Favoring the young Jedi Guardian with an encouraging smile in response to his concerned expression a moment later. The more than five centuries old Jedi Master saw immediately that, much as he tried to hide it, Ferus didn't agree with her assessment. He was struggling to find an appropriately respectful manner to express his disagreement with the High Council member beside him. Something which only convinced her not to make it any easier on him. The smile on her lined face vanishing as if it had never been. Becoming an intently expectant glower which seemed to say "Well?"
Part of the compassionate Jedi Master hated pushing Ferus like this, but the larger part of Yaddle reminded her the Knight needed to become accustomed to disagreeing with figures of authority when necessary. It was a difficult lesson for some Knights to learn, as up until this point, obedience was the primary virtue demanded of them. Now, in moving from Padawan to Knight, Ferus Olin had himself become a figure of authority. He simply needed to learn to trust his own judgment to realize as much.
Opening his mouth to do just that, Yaddle suddenly held up a small three-fingered hand to forestall him. Frowning, she watched as the smaller door within the two immense conference-chamber double doors carved with naturalist scenes prominent in Tynnan history opened. Revealing Master Dark Woman and her always controversial apprentice, as they both began the process required to make their way through the large detachment of visor-wearing Tynnan/Legends .
Armed with compact blaster carbines, and the stun-batons hanging from the belts which were the only clothing the Tynnan security officers wore. The eight officer squad manning the conference room's main entrance was only the first of four such units. The second covered the smaller emergency exit opposite the main entrance, such as all Tynnan buildings contained. While the third and fourth squads covered the remaining sides of the large square chamber. It had only been the Tynnan government agreeing to provide all the orbital and planet-side security, plus the Jedi detachment's willingness to accept the primacy of the planetary defense force's authority that had finally broken the deadlock of objections between Loyalist and Secessionists. Allowing the summit to go forward as otherwise planned.
Now, however, it was obvious to Yaddle the Tynnan security's dogged insistence on following protocol was delaying the other Jedi communicating the nature of whatever threat they'd uncovered. Nothing else could account for the grave concern and extreme focus she could sense equally in Master and apprentice. Turning the unfortunate delay to her advantage as she crossed the room at a serene glide intended to cause as little stir as possible, both she and Ferus reached the main entrance just as their counterparts were being allowed through. Albeit with one of the aquatic mammalians retaining possession of two bags Dark Woman's apprentice had seen fit to bring along, the Jedi Master noted in passing.
Bringing up a holographic display with the wrist-unit they'd all been issued by the Tynnan planetary defense force, Dark Woman pointed to what Yaddle quickly recognized was one of the primary maintenance tunnels beneath the huge stone edifice that was the Tynna Government Building as they come together. Not wasting any time on a greeting, she declared with grim seriousness "My Padawan has given me reason to believe subversive elements put in play by the Sith either recently have, or are about to release Stone mite/Legends to end the summit. If not kill some or all of the representatives, once the structural instability is detected and the evacuation begins. Given there's no way to control the things after they're released, that tunnel is the only release point that guarantees the mites will find their way into the load-bearing portions of the sub-levels as soon as possible. Release them in either of the two secondary tunnels east and west of the main maintenance passage, and they'd be risking the mites deciding to chew through an outer wall. Let them out on a higher level, and they not only have to contend with the increased summit security, there's still little chance of collapsing the central portion of the complex."
Accepting what she was told at face value for the sake of brevity. Yaddle intently queried "A course of action, you suggest?" An expression of intense concentration deepening the creases and lines of her wizened features, as the Jedi Master's mind whirled past one option after another while waiting for a reply.
Now the blue-eyed, silver haired Jedi Master's tone grew grim as death. "I tried to contact Knights (Bultar) Swan and (Nicanas) Tassu. The schedule states their patrol with the roaming security detachment coming on-shift began sixty-five minutes ago, but neither is answering their communicator, and the Tynnans report being unable to raise their team. If you can think of anything except Sith or Dark Jedi which could neutralize two Jedi Knights and ten Tynnan soldiers without any of them reporting enemy contact, I would respectfully ask to be informed of such a threat's existence, Councilor."
While Yaddle was weighing her response to her fellow Master, Ferus took the opportunity to interject "Perhaps we should make further inquiries of Padawan Skywalker. He does have a penchant for concealing immensely important information, after all." The Jedi Knight's voice was cool and controlled, but the other three Jedi standing there could all sense the lack of respect he had for his old rival.
Rather than answering an accusation about his choice not to inform on Sifo-Dyas concerning the clones for as long as he had, Anakin suppressed a flash of anger and calmly replied "I told my Master everything I know, Knight Olin. The Tynnans don't possess any readily available oxidizing foam, so we only have two potential means of preventing an infestation of stone mites from growing out of control. Master Yaddle's Morichro can shut them down, and I believe I can rupture any mites I can detect via Force Breach of their Shatterpoints. Assuming she gave me permission to do so, of course. I realize Force Breach is a proscribed technique with regards to living beings, but the mites are engineered weapons of bio-warfare on the order of a virus. I only bring the option up because I can't imagine Master Yaddle having the energy to force all the mites into hibernation on her own. Not and have enough stamina remaining to defend herself from those who released the things."
The venerable Jedi Master raised an eyebrow at these assertions. "This far, your studies with Master Windu have progressed?" When Anakin nodded a trifle hesitantly, then more firmly as he considered what was at stake, Yaddle looked up and locked eyes with him. "For myself only, Padawan Skywalker, can I speak. If this path we travel, called before the High Council, you may be. Willing to do this, you remain?"
Before answering the tiny Jedi Master he'd come to have so much respect for during several shared missions in pursuit of Granta Omega, the tall, curly haired apprentice glanced questioningly at his own Master. Yet Dark Woman only shook her head. Answering his unspoken question by making clear "It has to be your decision, Anakin. I can't stop the High Council from doing whatever it is they might do in response to what I consider at most a technical violation of the proscriptions, so I can't tell you what you should do. You know what's at stake."
Ferus had a positively predatory gleam in his eye. One which Anakin was certain he'd been the only one to see before the other young man turned quickly away. He knew Ferus and the rest of the "Clique" back at the Temple deeply resented the prodigy so many of their instructors had held up to them as an example. Even Battlemaster Drallig, one of Ferus's patron-saints, and a Jedi Master constantly expressing his various "concerns" about the apprentice who hadn't been raised in the Temple, grudgingly admitted Skywalker's talents as a Djem So and Shien stylist were already great and still growing. Raising a Thought Shield of his own with every iota of skill at his disposal, the Jedi Knight turned back to face his rival and calmly remarked "You just got through telling us how urgent the situation is, Padawan. There are two Jedi Knights missing, and possibly K.I.A. Assuming you finally pass the Trials, you won't have time for this kind of hesitation. What's it going to be?"
Raising his head after several long seconds wrestling with his doubts, Anakin's brief grin at the Knight was a challenge. Yet when he spoke, his voice was clear, calm, and full of conviction. "I give up my fear of the High Council's judgment to the Force. It would be my honor and privilege to assist you, Master Yaddle."
Ferus Olin's eyes narrowed as Dark Woman briefly laid a supportive hand on her apprentice's shoulder and Yaddle patted one of his adversary's legs in passing, but he wisely elected to remain silent as the Councilor directed the two of them to continue watching over the conference. With a last look back over his shoulder before following the diminutive green Jedi now hurrying for the guard-station at the main entrance, Anakin murmured to his Master "Please be especially cautious, Master. If this is being done merely to flush all the dignitaries out into the open during an evacuation, then the chief threat(s) will emerge up here. Master Jinn and Knight Kenobi are a well-oiled team, but they only narrowly bested the Zabrak."
Instead of dismissing his words or palming him off with a platitude, Dark Woman smiled and told him "I'm not too proud to accept the help of as many Tynnan soldiers as I can lay hands on, Apprentice. You just keep your head on a swivel, your senses wide open, and your lightsaber ready. Those tunnels will make Ataru next to worthless, but they'll do much the same to Juyo. I have taught you everything I know of Djem So, Shien, Ataru, and Trakata. If you remain rooted in the present and follow Master Yaddle's lead, you'll do fine."
With his Master's encouraging smile held firmly in memory, Anakin turned and jogged from the room of arguing diplomats. Stopping just long enough to collect what he hoped might prove to be equalizers during the coming trouble from the guards at the door. Yaddle was already through the check-point and hurrying for the nearest lift leading to the lowest service tunnels, so he had to run once he was clear of the conference room to catch up.
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Unlike the ground floor where the summit was being held, the service tunnels remained at a normal temperature for the Tynnans who serviced the various pipes and conduits down here. Meaning they were only a few degrees above freezing. Which would have made hurrying along in Yaddle's wake a miserable proposition, if it hadn't been for my Matukai training. I noticed how cold it was, but the cold didn't touch or slow me, if that made any sense. I wondered about the two foot tall, five hundred year old Jedi Master's tolerance for the cold in clothes no more suited for these temperatures than mine, then I experienced a sharp desire to slap myself for being an idiot. Only now remembering that Yaddle had survived a century trapped underground, with her Padawan's garb rotted off of her back, fed meager scraps only when it suited generations of her captors, and enduring Force alone knows whatever other privations. All the while defending herself constantly from deadly predators with what amounted to a pair of chop-sticks!
I stopped worrying about the Jedi Master, then much more prudently began worrying about myself. Someone, or multiple someones, had prevented two Jedi Knights and an entire squad of Tynnan soldiers from reporting in. A big part of me was trying to hold out hope they'd all just gotten stunned or otherwise non-lethally incapacitated, but the bigger and more realistic portion of me was quietly whispering "Since when do Sith, Dark Acolytes, or the minions of same show the slightest hint of mercy? If Knights Swan and Tassu are alive, it's only because someone thinks they can be Torture-Turned."
Looked at in that light, I found myself wondering whether or not it was selfish of me. Hoping they were still alive, if that meant they were becoming everything they'd both spent a lifetime training to oppose.
Suddenly, I shook my head briskly from side to side. Grimacing, as I reached out with my senses slowly yet surely. Already nearly certain of what I was about to find. Traces of fear, anger, pain, and interwoven with it all in a nauseating swirl which even now made the Force's natural song in this place shriller and less harmonious than it should be. The Dark Side's emanations, faint yet definite. The tunnel we were jogging down was only perhaps eight or nine feet wide and a little more than eight feet high, but the presence of the Dark Side made it feel even tighter and more restrictive. The walls and what portions of the ceiling I could see amid the pipes, power-conduits, and occasional junctions were a polished off-white. The same color as the floor, actually, but that at least had been left rough enough to prevent one from slipping easily. Implicitly, I understood my cataloging of environmental minutiae was to prevent my becoming tight and anxious while playing follow-the-leader. The part of my mind concerned with survival was doing what it could to keep me from pissing away energy I was going to desperately need in the very near future.
Yaddle had just begun to turn the corner ahead and to our right when she suddenly back-flipped. I saw numerous bright orange blaster streaks hit the wall just ahead of her with the hiss of evaporated condensation and scorched stone. Reaching out through the Force to enhance my hearing, I heard a low, rasping, older masculine voice speaking to someone I guessed wasn't present. Given that he was describing what he'd seen of Yaddle to whoever-it-was, I surmised the leader of these ambushing scumbags was speaking to someone via communicator and glanced downward. My own wrist-comm had gone dark sometime in the last few minutes. Telling me the shooters had some kind of short-range jamming device. A theory confirmed when Yaddle quietly conveyed her comm was inoperative as well.
Reaching over my shoulder with my right hand, I plucked the spider-droid I'd brought with me from my pack. Holding it up so it could leap atop the pipes overhead, I quietly informed the Jedi Master "If our assailants aren't in possession of Mandalorian or Echani-grade battlefield communicators, my spider-droid can jam their communicators so long as they remain within one hundred and twenty meters of Spider-R2. Should I go ahead and jam their communications, Master Yaddle?"
Nodding her assent, I gave the requisite order and heard the quiet skittering of the reconnaissance droid atop the pipes as it worked to draw as close to it's targets as possible without getting seen. My presently Force-enhanced hearing caught the sounds of men cursing beneath their breath, then a deeper woman's voice reporting their communications were now being jammed. This was followed a couple of seconds later by a pair of clink-trrinnks, but Yaddle and I were already throwing ourselves backward as a pair of thermal detonators were artfully banked off two walls to get them rolling in our direction. I began reaching out for the explosives with the Force as it trilled sharp notes of warning at me, but my superior had already beaten me to it. Sending both gray and silver orbs on an arcing course that got them around the corner and perhaps a third of the way back to their point of origin before exploding. I just barely had time to discontinue my Force-assisted hearing before the explosion. Meaning my ears were only ringing and my stomach a bit unsettled, rather than permanently deafening myself or ending up on my ass.
Glancing downward at the interface screen on my wrist below the darkened comm-band, Spider-R2's half-dozen eyes simultaneously offered me high-resolution and infrared imaging of the view down the hallway occupied by the shooters. Minimizing the IR-feed, I counted four big, fairly muscular human males, a lean six foot plus woman with white skin and silver hair I took for an Echani mercenary, and a Rodian wearing two nearly full bandoleers of grenades that otherwise looked like an anemic child in the presence of his physically imposing companions. They were all perhaps fifteen meters away. Crouching no more than a half-dozen pace beyond the closest of the two basketball-sized craters in the granite like off-white corridor's floor at the mouth of a T-intersection.
What very much disturbed me was the fact that nothing I was seeing would have been a problem for Knight Swan or Tassu. Let alone the two of them together, with an entire squad of veteran Tynnan soldiers to support them. Everything about these mercenaries, with the exception of the Rodian's grenades bespoke gear choices which would have been easy to either smuggle onto the planet or acquire from Tynna's local criminal element. Nondescript easily disassembled and reassembled blaster carbines, basic breastplates, and simple wrist-communicators. All things being equal, with this being everything the six could bring to bear, it would be simplicity itself for me to disarm and incapacitate them on my own.
Which made the warning the Force was keening at me even more piercingly than during my close call with the hssiss something of a mystery. Albeit one I was in absolutely no hurry to disregard by charging in and getting myself killed.
"Your perceptions, a credit to you and your Master, these are. Lies of the dark side, confronted with, we are. Something altogether more perilous, they conceal" Yaddle murmured after reaching up to touch my right hand. Causing what remained of the ringing in my ears and the slight disturbance to my physical balance to fade and finally vanish a few moments later.
I glanced down at the small holographic display on my wrist as the Jedi Master spoke. Finding that I needed to suppress a gasp of alarm, as the previous image wavered and shifted like a heat distortion. Revealing the true nature of the threat before us, or at least that portion of it ready to show itself.