Entry 35

I met the Vazy Princess when she docked at the Jedi Temple. The boarding ramp wasn't even all the way down before I bounded up the gangplank and into my wife's arms. Gods! It is good to be home.

After a long intense kiss she pulled away and gave me a look of concern. "What's going on with the Chief-of-State and the Jedi?"

I shook my head in disgust. "Someone is trying to stir up bad blood between the Jedi and Mokk Streke. There was an assassination attempt and then the masked shooter activated an amber lightsaber before he jumped into an air speeder and flew away."

I heard footsteps echoing down the ship's corridor and looked up to see Ben walking towards me with Valla by his side. "An amber saber like the Void Jumper had in that video with the Vong Shamed Ones?"

I nodded. "I think it is the same man. I also think he's the person attacking the slaving operations."

Ben frowned in thought. "How are these things connected?"

I shrugged. "If the Chief-of-State was intent on getting rid of the Jedi couldn't he just cut off our financial support?"

Ben thought about it for a while. "And risk the Jedi going over to the Empire? I don't think so. But, do you remember that undercover video where Streke was talking to that man in the Mimetic suit? Somebody who has sway over the Chief-of-State wants the Jedi off Coruscant for some reason. I think Streke is frantically trying to make that happen without raising suspicion. A Jedi attempt on his life would help justify banishing the Jedi from the Capital planet."

"Did you hear about the nanovirus that Streke had his scientists develop that can strip away a person's ability to use the Force?"

"My father let me know about that before I left Bastion." Ben closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "I'm supposed to report to his office upon arrival and discuss our response to recent events. Dad wants you there also." He turned to his wife and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll call you after the meeting is done and we can have dinner together."

I gave Zylie my most apologetic expression. "Sorry, Love, duty calls."

I don't like all this time away from my wife. Perhaps it is time to talk to her again about settling down on Indupar and raising a family.

Entry 36

The Grand Master called together all the Jedi who worked on different aspects of this Vong/Slaver/nanovirus mystery. In attendance with me was my cousin Hanna Skywalker along with Valin Horn, Ben, my brother Jaden and Aunt Mara.

We were in one of the temple's many conference rooms, sitting around a long table with my Uncle Luke at the head. "Let's look at what we have discovered so far," Luke said as he clasped his hands together on the table in front of him. "We know from the Corsec video provided by Tas Yanko that a Force-user wants us off Coruscant and is pressuring the Chief-of-State to make this happen."

"So Streke starts spreading anti-Jedi rhetoric," my Aunt Mara interjected. "Then he authorized the building of another wing to the Coruscanti Penitentiary—a wing consisting of Force-cage cells."

My uncle nodded as he steepled his fingers in thought. "Later we find holovid evidence of a group of Force-void Vong soldiers training to become Void Jumpers while wearing body armor consisting of Phrik infused with refined cortosis. Armor that is impenetrable to lightsabers."

"And finally," Mara continued. "We discover Mokk Streke has not only authorized the development of a nanovirus that can kill midichlorians, but he has successfully tested the virus on a Force-strong criminal."

My cousin Hanna raised a hand before adding to the conversation. "Plus, we believe the Vong jumper troopers are now being used to attack slaving operations in the outer rim."

"So," I asked. "What is the connection? How does an anti-slavery operation have anything to do with wanting the Jedi off Coruscant?"

Aunt Mara blew out a frustrated breath. "I wish we could figure out who the man in the Mimetic suit is. He said that he and his Master had spent a lot of time and money getting Streke into the position of Chief-of-State. Everybody knows Streke is not a fan of the Jedi. If somebody wants him in charge there has to be a reason…there has to be some anti-Jedi agenda."

Ben shook his head. "I don't know about that, if you recall, the man in the Mimetic suit was very adamant that the Jedi not be harmed. He just wants them out of the way."

"And the anti-slavery Void Jumper with the lightsaber didn't harm me or Valin," Hanna added. "He just told me to go home."

Ben turned to his sister. "Could the man in the Mimetic suit and the Void Jumper that talked to you be one-in-the same?"

Hanna thought about it. "You said the man in the Mimetic suit was a Force-user. The Void Jumper…I didn't sense that he had access to the Force." She looked over to Valin. "Did you?"

He shook his head. "No, he didn't put up any resistance to my Force shove. Also, if you listen to the audio closely, when he was getting back to his feet, I heard him call me a 'kriff'n spook'. Why would he use a derogatory term for a Force-user if he were a Force adept himself? No, I really doubt he can touch the Force."

I groaned inwardly. Spook was a very common phrase with Void Jumpers. It looked more and more like this was a Galactic Alliance trained Jump Trooper.

"But there was something about him," Hanna continued. "He felt familiar in the Force. I think I might have met him before."

My Uncle Luke leaned forward in his seat. "Concentrate. Use the Force and try to remember."

I could see Hanna chewing on her lip in concentration before her eyes went wide and she turned toward me. "That party your mother threw after you were knighted is where I remember him. I don't know which man it was, but I believe he was there."

My jaw went slack as I frantically tried to figure out who she could possibly be referring to. "Hanna, I had dozens of Void Jumper buddies in attendance. There were at least twenty or thirty men and some I didn't even know. They were friends of my father. You would have to narrow it down a bit."

She closed her eyes and concentrated. Without opening them then said, "I think he was at your wedding."

I blew out a nervous breath as all in attendance stared at me expectantly. I shrugged and made an 'I don't know' gesture. "There were about three or four jump troopers that attended both events."

"Well, that's something." My uncle said as he leaned back in his chair. "Talon, make up a list and we'll check out the whereabouts of those troopers and hopefully we can put a name to our mysterious Void Jumper. Now we need to identify the Mimetic Force-user…unfortunately we have been investigating the situation for months with no results."

"There is something about that video that bothers me," Ben said slowly. He stopped and gave a sidelong glance toward his sister and Valin before shaking his head. "No…it's ah…never mind, it's nothing."

It looked like the Grand Master was going to press the issue, but decided against it. "Jaden, what is the situation with the nanovirus?"

My brother ran a nervous hand through his dark brown hair and frowned. "Not good. Streke did successfully Force sterilized one Force-strong criminal and is considering five more inmates for the procedure. There hasn't been any pushback from the public. They are tired of being victimized by criminals with marginal Force-abilities. Ninety-nine percent of the population can't access the Force and I don't think they care if that number goes up to one hundred percent."

"Can the virus only be given as an injection?" My aunt asked.

"So far," Jaden ventured. "But I don't see why it couldn't be made into a aerosol or fine powder. If that happens it could possibly be distributed all over the planet via the Coruscant WeatherNet."

My uncle groaned as he massaged his temples. "You mean to say this virus can be weaponized and distributed worldwide?"

"I don't see why not." My brother looked to all in the room. "I know we don't want to pull the Jedi out when it is obvious some nefarious element wants us off planet so they can carry out some unknown plan…but how about the children? They aren't useful in a fight. Maybe we should get them somewhere safe."

"Where do you suggest we send the younglings?" my aunt asked.

"I'm not suggesting we move them to a second facility, but maybe to friends and family off planet. I am thinking of sending my daughter to live with my parents for a while." My brother looked to me. "Talon, maybe you can take her on the Vazy Princess if you are heading that way."

"Sure."

My uncle gave up rubbing his temples and now moved to massaging the back of his neck. "I'll take it under consideration. I suppose if the situation worsens we could make an excuse to suspend training of the young apprentices and have them return home for a short time…assuming they don't call Coruscant home. The older apprentices I can pair up with experienced Jedi and send them off on their trials a year or two earlier than normal, but I won't abandon the temple and let some unknown element run roughshod over the planet. Who knows what plan the man in the Mimetic suit has for the world."

My uncle stood and pointed to me. "Talon get that list of troopers and try to track them down." He looked to his daughter and Valin. "Hanna, you and Valin continue trying to track down the anti-slavers. If you see the man with the lightsaber see if you can safely engage him in conversation. Try to find out who he is." He pointed to Jaden. "Keep an eye on the nanovirus situation. Let me know if anything changes." He gave us the once over before he smiled sadly. "Let's hope we are just being paranoid and there isn't a dangerous element in the galaxy out to destroy the Jedi. Dismissed."

We all started filing out of the room but Uncle Luke stopped Ben and whispered something to him. Ben turned and grabbed my tunic as I was leaving. "Wait."

The Grand Master paused until Hanna, Valin and Jaden left the room and closed the door behind them. He then turned to his son and motioned for us to sit. "Ben," his dad said as we took our seats. "It looked like you didn't want to talk in front of Hanna and Valin. Is that true?"

Ben nodded slowly. "It has something to do with what happened on Myrkr. I know you didn't want us to mention it to anybody who wasn't there."

"Okay," my uncle said as he and Aunt Mara sat down and looked at Ben expectantly. "Go on."

"In that Corsec video, the man in the mimetic suit tells Streke not to hurt the Jedi because if he falls under suspicion the Jedi would march into his office and pull the thoughts out of his brain and then make him forget it ever happened. He said he has seen a Jedi do it. What Jedi has ever done that?"

I turned my head sharply. "Whoa, Ben, I hope you are not insinuating my dad has anything to do with this."

Ben put up a hand. "No, just hear me out." He gestured toward his mother. "Mom, you said you've seen Palpatine do that. Mark said he has memories of Palpatine interrogating people and then mind wiping them with the Force." He gestured to everybody in the room. "We've all seen Mark do it with Jacen when he had the run in with the darkside."

I was getting a little irritated with Ben. "I hope you're not implying it was me. I mean, in our little group on Myrkr only my Dad and I are big enough to be the man in the video."

Ben groaned as he glared at me. "Will you let me finish?"

I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. "Sorry, go on."

"What I was getting at is the man in the mimetic suit was describing a darkside technique. The Jedi don't do it. We are not taught it. Mark only knew how because of Palpatine's memories." He paused to take a breath before pushing forward. "Can we be dealing with a Sith?" Ben turned to me and quickly added. "And I'm not accusing you or your dad of being a Sith. I'm just saying the Jedi don't do mind wipes. So maybe the man in the suit was referring to a dark force user and not really a Jedi."

"Assuming our unknown mimetic clad man was actually telling the truth and not just trying to scare Streke," Uncle Luke added. "If you remember we did consider the possibility of a Sith when we first saw the security vid. It is still possible, but we don't have any proof."

I looked at Ben confused. "I can see why a Sith would want the Jedi off Coruscant…but if the Chief-of-State has a nanovirus that can neutralize the Jedi why wouldn't the Sith get Streke to use it against us. Why not just Force-sterilize the Jedi on Coruscant. If Streke simply orders us off planet we could always return and fight the Sith. And if there is a connection between the Mimetic suit man and the Vong Void Jumpers…why is a Sith trying to end slavery?"

My uncle heaved a sigh. "Those are good questions, Talon. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can find some answers. Meanwhile, I want you two investigating the lightsaber brandishing sniper who can't hit his target…or anything else for that matter."

My uncle and aunt stood and left Ben and I sitting at the conference table. "Do you really think a Sith is involved?" I asked.

He laughed caustically. "Well, every time things get bad for our family there seems to be a Sith around. Palpatine, the Emperor Reborn, Joruus C'baoth, Lumiya…and others."

I laughed at his reluctance to mention Darth Jacen. "Yeah…and others."

He stood and straightened his tunic. "I guess we have a mystery to solve."

I nodded and stood. "I suppose we should get on it."