"Casualty reports- Clones included- are in the hundreds... Thousands... The Senate's gonna want answers, sir, and I've still got no idea how a literal bomb somehow got through our defence grid."
Extract from a conversation between Officer Honor Salima and Admiral Tarkin
Agamar
On the surface of Agamar, deep within CIS space, a Separatist supply ship was patiently waiting for orders, its armour rusting in the sun, yet still glistening brightly, as if it was newly mint, and straight out of the dry-docks. At the helm of the supply ship, stood the Super Tactical Droid, General Kalani.
If droids like Kalani could understand frustration, then maybe he would admit that he was feeling it. Since the failed attempt to keep Onderon in the fold, he and the droids under his command have received no new orders from High Command, or even any updates on the war as a whole. He was beginning to feel abandoned by his superiors, who simply seemed to have left his ship to rust.
Was this punishment for his failure at Onderon? It would seem logical. Sometimes, the best kind of punishment was ostracism, so maybe Count Dooku was excluding him from the war until a certain time, where he had time to reflect and learn from his failure. But what was more logical was that Dooku has simply forgotten all about him, and had no idea that he even existed anymore.
That, to Kalani, was the worst kind of torture.
Suddenly, a massive influx of data began to fill Kalani's head, causing him to temporarily shut down. While he was 'asleep', mass amounts of data began enter his brain from an unknown source, and then, just like that, that same overload of data quickly began to disappear, leaving behind small pieces of info, data, and coding.
When Kalani awoke, he looked at his internal clock, and found that only a few minutes had passed. He then looked around the bridge, and saw that several pilot droids and other B1 droids had also been subject to the strange influx of data. Even his own droid commander, B1-268 was picking himself off of the ground. He then decided to pause for a moment, to take in the pointless chatter of the droids.
"ERROR. ERROR. REBOOTING."
"Err, what just happened?"
"Beats me. Go check if we were just cyber attacked."
"Roger roger."
"All systems seem operative... with coordinates to the 6th fleet over Raxus logged in?"
"I fell in an awkward position and now my leg is behind my head and I don't think its meant to do that."
Kalani then looked at B1-268, who had now gotten to his feet.
"B1-268, order all droids out on patrol to return to the ship, and set course for Raxus. We are to take command of the 6th fleet, then depart to the Chrelythiumn system."
"Roger roger", replied B1-268, as he walked to the main pilots chair.
If Kalani could smile, he would. that mass data influx had given him something he had not felt in a long while...
A purpose.
[[[[[]]]]]
Coruscant
Republic Medical Centre.
"It's unlike anything I've- we've seen before", said Kix as he spoke to Obi-Wan, Rex, Mace windu and Yoda and Plo Koon over hologram, and Anakin, who was laying in a bed, with a bandage over the top of his head. They were all currently in a patients room in the Republic Medical Centre, with the lights out, and the blinds down, the holograms acting as the only source of light.
"How so", asked Windu over the hologram.
"All of the organic corpses on the ship were made up of different species- most of which I don't even recognise- but they all seem to have the same bodily and chemical makeup in them. They seem to share the same types of organs, blood types, and genetic makeup. Not only that, but they seem to all lack certain organs. There's no intestines, no waste disposal organs, no sexual reproductive organs. I just don't understand how they work."
"What- nrgh- what about the droids?" asked Anakin, as he tried to get comfortable in his bed, "One of them was able to get the jump on me, even half intact, and it even registered in the force as alive." He'd look at them himself, but Kix and Obi-Wan weren't letting him leave until they could make sure that he hadn't suffered any other injuries, hence the meeting in the hospital room.
"Our scientists and technicians are having a look at them", replied Obi-Wan, "But they can't make heads or tails of them either. These droids are incredibly advanced. from what the scientists have told me, their armour is denser than any standard armour we have now, and their droid brains are incredibly advanced. They also seem to have organic veins inside them, to transport what we assume is blood across their bodies, and what seems to be a substitute for a heart."
"The death toll, what about?" asked Yoda through the hologram.
"I've read the reports", said Anakin with a sombre tone in his voice, "It's estimated to be about 9,000 now, until they find more bodies."
"This has to be the work of the Separatists", said Windu, "Only Dooku would do something this cowardly."
"With all due respect, sir", chimed in Rex, "I saw the bodies of the Droids and people in that ship, and I didn't recognise the markings of any of them. Plus with what General Kenobi said, these aren't regular clankers."
"I agree", said Obi-Wan, "Not even the Separatists have advancements in droid technology that goes this far. Unless the Techno Union are preforming experiments. Plus the ship did come down in a fireball, so I would assume that it didn't have much control over where or how it landed."
"Where did the ship come from", asked Plo Koon, "It didn't appear on any scanners."
"When I saw it, it just appeared in the sky", said Anakin, "Like it just Hyperspaced right next to the planet."
"Either way, the senate isn't going to want to hear our findings", said Windu, "They're already in emergency session about how to deal with this."
"They're not going to get anything done, you know", replied Obi-Wan, "They don't even have any solid evidence to prove that it was the Separatists."
"Not until tomorrow", corrected Plo, "The Chancellor will most likely give out the findings of our scientists to the senators to... force a vote."
"Well, maybe it's a good thing", replied Anakin, "Then the senators might be able to agree on something."
"I'm not so sure about that", said Windu, "This is the Senate we're talking about."
"Hmm, discuss the best course of action tomorrow, we will", said Yoda, "When the Senate has made a decision, act accordingly, we will."
As the lights turned back on, the holograms dissipated, and Rex and Kix left the room, Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan by the sleeve of his robe.
"Master, is Pad-" he hesitated, Is Senator Amidala okay?"
Obi-Wan looked at him, then rolled his eyes, "Senator Amidala is fine. She's probably in the Senate right now. In fact, she called me earlier to see if you were alright."
Anakin then looked to the side, then back at Obi-Wan, "What about Ahsoka?"
Obi-Wan then looked through the blinds, and then back at Anakin, "Well, you can ask her yourself."
As Obi-Wan walked through the door,Ahsoka barged in, looked at Anakin, and smiled, "Master, you're okay!"
Anakin just gave her a slightly confused smile, as he said, "Well of course, Snips. It's gonna take a lot more than a bump to the head to kill me. Now lava on the other hand..."
"I heard about what happened at the crash site. You running of into an unknown ship which just dropped out of the sky. You should've at least waited for, well, anyone before doing something so reckless."
"When did you suddenly become so protective? I've done more dangerous things before. Besides, it's the master's job to worry about the Padawan, not the other way around."
"I'm not being protective. I just remembered how important you were to me, and I wanted to keep you safe."
As Ahsoka kept talking, Anakin let his mind wonder, thought of something, then decided that it was foolish, and kept talking to Ahsoka for the rest of the day.
[[[[[]]]]]
The next day
Jedi Temple
Yoda's chamber
As Yoda meditated in his chamber, he sensed an all too familiar presence approaching, though it felt troubled with something.
"In, come Skywalker", said Yoda, as the door slid open, and Anakin walked in, the bandage over his head removed, leaving a small bruise, "Troubled, you seem."
As Anakin sat down, he began to speak, "It's about, well, what happened yesterday. Before the ship appeared, the force felt like it was, well being torn apart. Like it was immense pain."
"Hmm, felt it too, I did", replied Yoda, "Like taken off of the face of existence in one swoop, more than a billion souls were."
"Obi-Wan said he felt it too. As well as ever Jedi on Coruscant."
"True, this is."
"Then you also saw the visions."
"True, this is. Images of horror and darkness, I saw."
"So did I."
"...Not the only thing you want to talk about, it is."
"The droid that I encountered in the ship... it said Mortis. It... it called it it's home."
Yoda's eyes widened slightly, as he replied, "Mortis was destroyed, you and Obi-Wan said."
"Obi-Wan and I thought it was a possibility, and the droid did say that I killed it, so I guess it's true. I just don't understand how a droid knew about it."
"Hmm, more to this mystery, there is, than meets the eye."
A hologram then appeared on the holo-projector, showing the image of Mace Windu, "Master Yoda, you are needed in the war chamber. You too, young Skywalker."
Yoda then turned off the projector, got of his seat, and started walking towards the door, "Come, Young Skywalker. A situation to solve, we have."
[[[[[]]]]]
War Chamber
As Anakin and Yoda entered the war chamber, he saw that Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Windu, and Plo Koon were standing around the main holo-projector in person, while Captain Rex, Commander Cody, Commander Wolffe, Private Switch, and Arc Trooper Fives stood next to them in hologram.
"'Bout time you showed up, Skyguy", said Ahsoka as she looked at Anakin, as he walked down the steps, and stood next to Ahsoka.
"Come on, Snips", said Anakin with a playful smirk, "Professionally late is always the most classy way to make an entrance."
"Since when did you care about being classy?" chuckled Ahsoka.
They then noticed Windu, who was looking at them with a serious face.
"If you two are done", said Windu, who then turned to the hologram of Switch, "Private Switch found something in the ship wreckage."
"Well, sir", began Switch, who pressed a button on his comlink on his arm, "Less found, more like stumbled on by accident."
An image of a large room then appeared on the holo-projector, along with several individuals scattered around it. Anakin recognised it as the control room of the ship, and the individuals as the organic people that he had seen on the bridge as well, before they were corpses.
"We found this footage when we were trying to examine the ships main bridge", continued Switch, "We think that its security footage detailing the ships last moments. It gets, um, pretty graphic..."
Seeing Switch's hesitation, Anakin stated, "If it gives us some clues as to what happened on that ship Switch, we need to see it."
"I agree", said Plo Koon, "It would be best if we reviewed this footage now, so we can see what we are up against."
"Alright then, playing now."
The footage then began to play, and the people in the footage began to run around the control room franticly, shouting orders to each other, and people at the computers frantically reviewing holograms of information. Suddenly, a Vulture Droid smashed through one of the walls, impaling one of the people in the room on one of its legs, sending their guts everywhere, and causing one of the crew members to breakdown, fall to the ground, and start screaming. Then, one of the doors to the room opened, and what looked like a Crab Droid walked through, and stomped on the screaming individual, splitting them in two, and covering the surrounding area in blood. Another of the crew members shot the panel to the door, causing it to close on the Crab Droid, almost splitting it in twain. Then, several droid boarding pods pierced through the walls, and B1s and a few B2s dropped through, and the two sides started to fire on each other, spraying red and green blaster fire across the room. Some individuals at the consoles never got a chance to stand up, as they were then subsequently executed by headshot. One B1 got a hold of a crew member, and pressed their thumbs into their eyes, causing the crewmember to scream in pain and their eyes were squished into blood and puss. Another B1 slammed another crewmember to the ground, pulled out a knife, and repeatedly stabbed them in the throat, until their whole head came off. Meanwhile, a Magnaguard, which Anakin recognised as the same one that he was attacked by, grabbed a crewmember, and ripped their head off, sending their blood everywhere, but then a grenade went off, sending the Magnaguard flying across the room. Meanwhile, two more Crab Droids joined in the fight, and they shot another crewmember to pieces, before one of them was destroyed by 3 crewmembers, by shooting a rocket at it. Then, one B1 went up to the captain of the ship in his chair, pulled out a knife, and slashed his throat, causing the captain to bleed out. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the windows of the control room, and explosions started to go off, and then the footage began to glitch out, and then it stopped.
Anakin felt like he was going to vomit up his lunch, and looked to Ahsoka to see that she had doubled down on the floor, clutching her stomach, and had a green look on her face.
"I-I gotta go!" said Ahsoka as she ran out the room, clutching her mouth. Obi-Wan, Plo Koon and the clones had disturbed looks on their faces, and Yoda simply looked saddened at the grotesque amount of death. Even Windu looked disturbed by the footage.
"Has the senate seen this footage", asked Windu.
"Yes sir", replied Switch, "I believe that they are having a meeting about this right now. But the footage we found isn't the only kicker. We found out where it came from. Also by accident."
"Please, do tell", said Plo Koon.
"The Chrelythiumn system. Deep within Wild space."
Anakin's eyes widened as he looked at Obi-Wan, "The same system where we encountered Mortis."
"Yes", replied Obi-Wan, "It seems so."
Yoda sighed to himself, "Deeper down the rabbit hole, this mystery goes.
