Star Wars: Battle for Talamo

by Senu Meji

When the CIS attacks the Duro planet of Talamo,a major resource of the Republic for fuel and bacta,the council summons temporary Council member Senu Meji to repell the CIS, which might lead to a confrontation with his old master,Count Dooku

1. The Distress Call

Battle for Talamo: Chapter I

One Week before the Battle of Coruscant

The Jedi council was already deeply worried about the state of the Clone wars, members of the Council have died gruesome deaths
at the hands of our enemies, and The Senate had already passed the Regional Government act given to them by Chancellor Palpatine himself.
We all felt that the Chancellor was getting ahead of himself when it came to the war, he was a politician, not a warrior by any means, but most of
the Jedi council felt a certain respect for him, a respect for the calm and collective feeling that always resonated off of him. Much like the same feeling that they got from me, I joined the Council three days after Coleman Kjac led his raid on Duxn. He would be back before the final battle centered above Coruscant. On the third day of my service on the council, we got a distress call from a small Duros colony on Talamo, a large outer rim planet usually called the "Galactic Wasteland", for it's barren wastelands covered with black ash and volcanic lava. Talamo had one moon that floated above it, which the Duro colonists aptly named "Ijil Ca'min", in Ancient Duros, it meant "The Forgotten Area", and that's what it was. You would think that Talamo was a peaceful planet, and it was, the only form of government was a member of the Duros Royal family, whose position was called the "Taq'u Esktamn", the "Illustrious Leader". It was said by the Royal family, for every one thousand credit given by the people of Talamo to their credit account, they would send one member of the Duros Defense Militia to protect the planet. Apparently, the Separatists found out about this exchange and sent their technicians to freeze the credit account, which would in turn, freeze any shipments of militia members to Talamo, thus leaving it vulnerable to attacks by the CIS forces. The Council was surprised enough when the distress call came in.

A loud fizzing sound was heard in the circular hologram projector in the Council chambers, I had been sitting in the fourth chair to the right of Master Yoda, so I only could see the back of the horrified militia member whose body appeared in a flash of blue light. Broken basic was his language, but all of the Masters could understand it well enough to try and help. "Jeedai Council! This is Duros Defense Militia member 22-7, I reporting a breach of our shield generator around the capital city, all shipments of fuel and bacta have been halted by the Separatists military!" The Duro screamed to the Council, holding his outdated blaster rifle in his slimy hands, he wore a worn out flight suit with military insignia of a gunnery sergeant in the DDM, and his helmet was equipped with micro binoculars which could be used for sniper shooting. "The Separatists already took Austl. Kami two days ago, the port city is our only shipping port and only way to get civilians on and off Talamo!" The soldier yelled quickly, firing off five shots from his rifle towards a foe out of the holoprojectors range of sight. Master Mace Windu, the Korun master of Vaapad, said calmly in his deep and collective voice "Stay Calm, 22-7, we need to know how many CIS forces you can see, can you tell us this?" His hands were clasped together as he leaned towards the blue hologram of Gunnery Sergeant 22-7. "Ummm..."22-7 hesitated, lowering his micro binoculars onto his large eyes, he turned his head slowly and looked around his position, firing off two shots towards the east. He continued "I see many battle droids, around two hundred tops." Windu sighed heavily and buried his face into his hands, he then said slowly "…Do you see any other military vehicles and weapons that the Seps are using" 22-7 squinted his eyes and then looked towards Windu, saying in a quick tone "Yes…I see five other droids, not droidekas, they are larger than regular droids and have long capes, Carrying staffs of electricity..." Windu turned towards the green tridactal creature next to him and said slowly "Magna Guards.." Grand Master Yoda nodded his small, green head and said quickly "Retreat your men, you must..In the stalagmite caves you and your militia will hide."22-7 nodded slowly and then said to the Council, his mouth literally dropping to the floor "It...Can't be…Why here!? How could he be here!?" Sweat dropped from the Duro's face as he screamed to those of his men who were still alive "Full Retreat! General Grievous is-"Before 22-7 could utter the rest of his words, a light saber sizzled straight through his neck and back towards the way it came. The feed cut at that moment, Yoda shook his head mournfully and then said "Discuss a plan of action, we should…" Mace Windu nodded his head slowly and said "I agree. We should discuss a full scale re-supply of the DDM and an attack on the Separatists forces on Talamo, the fuel that the Duros mine off that planet is essential to the War effort." The other members of the council nodded in agreement, Ki-Adi Mundi, the two brain Cerean said in response "I would support this move, if we had enough troops to spare, but the fact of the matter is we don't, Master Windu." Mace nodded to Mundi and said to him "We have more than enough troops stationed as police on captured Separatists planets, perhaps we should put this task into the hands of Jedi only?" Master Plo Koon, the masked Kel Dor Jedi, said through his breathing mask "This is outrageous! Our numbers are stretched too thin already, we have had to find masters and knights for more military position than in the Great Sith War! We are keepers of the peace, Master Windu, Jedi are not meant to play on the battlefield, commanding soldiers who look the same as the last one!" Shaak Ti and Agen Kolar both nodded their heads in agreement, while I had enough of this, my turn to speak was to come. "Master Meji, You are our newest addition to the Council while Master Kjac is in the fighting, tell us your thoughts.." Master Windu said graciously, as I stood up, my bald head shining as the light hit it "I think that with all of this squabbling, you are all sounding like the Senate! What we need now is a unanimous decision to what our course of action shall be, as we argue about how to stop the atrocities that are happening on Talamo, more and more civilians are mercilessly being slaughtered by the CIS. "Saesee Tiin, the twin horned Master said in his gruff voice "But isn't true that your Master is leading the CIS itself?" I was not going to let this hinder my resolve to stop the inevitable slaughter on Talamo and it's moon. "Yes...It is true that I was an apprentice of Count Dooku, but let us not forget that my own padawan was gunned down on the sands of the Geonosian battle Arena by Dooku's droids, she died in my arms as I held off the forces of my former master, so don't try and use my apprenticeship under Dooku against me.." As I finished that statement, the calm voice of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi rang in from his seat two chairs away from me, his hologram appearing as he was on his flagship, orbiting Cato Neimoidia "Senu is right...This is not getting us anywhere, and we still have not uncovered the identity of Darth Sidious yet..."Mace Windu nodded and said to them all "I see..I believe that the only way to strike the Seps on Talamo is to put a company in the hands of a highly qualified Jedi Master. "He looked around with his brown piercing eyes and then waited. I sighed heavily and stood up, placing my hands calmly behind my back. I looked outwards towards the dark skies of Coruscant, the lights of millions of building lighting up the dark skies. "I will go...I request my good friend, Commander Thire of the Coruscant Security to accompany me that is all I request..." Mace shook his head and said slowly "I'm sorry, Senu, But Chancellor Palpatine has complete control of the Coruscant Security forces, we cannot request anything from them without approval from the Chancellor himself..."I bowed deeply and then said to them "I see, Master Windu...I will have to put in my request personally...Excuse me." I walked towards the turbo lift which would take me to the hangar, and my first step to meet with Chancellor Palpatine himself.

"Next!" The Rodian secretary of Chancellor Palpatine screamed in basic towards the several people sitting across the room. They were all there for a number of reasons, from autographs to begging and heckling, two Red Guards, the personal bodyguards of the Chancellor, flanked the large door which led to Palpatine's office. Each of them wielded a Force pike, medium sized spear-like pikes that emitted a strong, electrical shock if one were to be stabbed by it. Their faces were concealed behind a large red helmet, the only other color on the helmet was the black visor which allowed the Guards to see. I stood up and walked over to the Rodian and said slowly to him "I am Senu Meji, Temporary member of the Jedi Council, I am-"I was rudely cut off by the secretary, who said with a sigh, please place all weapons in the box to the left of you and you can pick it up on the when you are done. I stuttered and said "But...But I am a Jedi Master, You can't-"the secretary interrupted me again and said "I don't care if you are Darth Sidious himself trying to buy a cup of Mandalorian wine for the Chancellor, Either put your weapon into the box or you will be arrested by the Guards." I sighed again and unclipped my unique double bladed light saber from my belt, a symbol of Meji tradition and a family heirloom from the Great Sith War, and slowly placed the polished hilt into the box, the doors to the Chancellor's office immediately opened and the Red Guards stepped away from it, allowing me to enter. When I did, the door quickly closed behind me, I placed my hands into the long sleeves of my cloak and strode silently towards the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Palpatine himself. He was waiting for me in his large, throne like chair, wearing an ornate robe that could sell for at least two hundred thousand credits on the black market. As I approached him, I noticed the security camera in the corner of the room, He stood up slowly and outstretched a hand towards me, saying in a friendly tone "I am just as annoyed with those cameras...and I am sorry about you having to remove your light saber, it is very nice." I grabbed Palpatine's wrinkly hand with mine, which was inside a black leather flight glove, as was the other one. "It is alright, Sir...I'm sorry to have disturbed you so late, but it is urgent..."Palpatine sat down into his chair, I did the same."I see...You are speaking of the crisis on Talamo then?" I shook my head gravely and said "We got a holomessage from the DDM forces on the planet, the Separatists broke through their security perimeter around the planet and took the port city two days ago, restricting any shipments of fuel and bacta...which are desperately needed here on Coruscant and for the Military." Palpatine's face sunk and he said with a sigh "...Yes...This is something that must be taken care of, Master Jedi, and I will support any military action that you have planned..."He finished with a quaint smile. I bowed my head slightly and then said "Yes, But I came here for a favor from you personally, Chancellor..."Palpatine raised an eyebrow and said "Oh?" I looked at him and said respectfully "My tactical team is being assembled and I wish to have Commander Thire as my second in command for this mission, I have worked with him on several occasions and we have been known to work quickly and get our objective done..."Palpatine's eyes went upwards and then back towards me, he said with a sigh "I see...Commander Thire is one of my most trusted men, I assure you that he will be more than willing to accompany you on your mission. If I may suggest a certain plan of action?" I bowed my head in confirmation "I think you should send your fleet to the far side of Talamo...there is should be stay until called for." I stood and bowed deeply towards Palpatine. He grabbed my hand and shook it, saying gratefully to me "Your work is almost finished, my friend...Soon this war will be over and peace will return to the Republic, thanks to the Jedi." I nodded, a smile on my face, saying to the Chancellor "I hope so...many of us long for this to be over..."I started to walk towards the door and then turned back towards the Chancellor and said to him "May the force be with you.. "He nodded his head and turned towards the large window behind him, watching the night skies. I walked out of Palpatine's room and grabbed my light saber from the small box that I put it in earlier and gave a gesture to the secretary that she particularly didn't like. I smirked as I walked away from the waiting room for the Chancellor's office, a group of musicians walked past me towards the office, their beautiful music filled the air as I walked past the beautiful fountain in the atrium of the Chancellor's building and towards my ship, which would take me to the Military headquarters of Coruscant.