Chapter 25 - The Shattering of Belief

AN:

Thank you Mattyd5150 for being the 2000th person to favourite this story :)

I know it's been ages since I last updated, but don't fear, I will continue, this hasn't been abandoned and the next chapter won't take a year to finish. Luckily I'm a good chunk through it already.

Thanks again to Divine-Faithborn for putting up with me and this story. It is always greatly appreciated. This story would not be as smooth as it is now without their hard work. Apparently I type the flow of my thoughts and scenes, completely forgetting that people can't see how I envision things without assistance. You know, helpful things like descriptions and such…

And finally to all you readers out there, thank you so much for the follows and favourites as well as all the reviews, you guys give me the boost to keep going even when life sucks and it has really, really sucked for me this last year. So once more, thank you!

And on with the show!

Colour was bleached from the land by the large and full moon shining through the thin clouds above, its smaller sister hurried across the heavens as it continued its journey passing behind its larger sibling. In this world of reflected light and shadows sat a lone barn, an island of colour in a sea of now silver grain. Its old and weatherworn walls painted a bright red, the only colour that seemed to withstand this monochrome night.

Within the large barn, a man sat alone in the middle of the room, casually using an overturned crate as a chair. No light reached within this dark space from outside, the gaps in the walls well sealed against vermin and weather, not that it would keep those dedicated from getting in from finding a way to do so.

The only light illuminating the room was cast from a small, glowing gem that hung upon a chain clasped around his neck. In the dark, the light reflected from the eyes of a cat, curious as to the intruder into its hunting grounds. A small squeak from a corner demanded its attention and the human was of no more interest. The hunt awaited.

The man carried no armour or weapon in hand, just a book that he read to pass the time. His pistols rested in their well cared for holsters, attached to a gun belt that lay on top of his coat which, in turn, was currently hanging from the pommel of his vibrosword, the blade of which, was impaled on a pillar nearby.

The smuggler sighed as he turned the next page in his antique. Then he casually called out to the empty air around him, "I ain't going nowhere for the next three hours, so take your time and make sure you're safe. I can wait."

No one responded.

"Figured as much…" muttered the man to nobody as he continued to read his book.

Two and a half hours later and many more turned pages, a young teenage human girl and Twi'lek boy came out from the shadows, carefully moved to a few boxes nearby, and sat on them. From behind the reading man the shadows formed into a large Zabrak male who silently moved to sit beside the weapons and coat.

The smuggler pulled a bookmark out and closed his book around it before looking up to observe his guests, "Is this all, or we expecting others?"

The boy placed a hand on the girls arm and spoke up, "We're all that will speak to you, there are others watching."

The man nodded, "Good. Take it you found my leaflets?"

At their nods he smiled and continued. "Shiny, now, what do you want to ken?"

The boy cocked his head slightly as he surveyed the man before him, "The sheet said that if we wanted out and freedom, to meet you here. We were worried that this was a trap or test from the Jedi."

The man nodded, "Fair, but you're here and nattering with me, so I guess you ken this ain't a trap, you probably ken I ain't no Force wielder and that you'll hear me out."

At their silence he chuckled, "Okay. Its mighty simple, the Jedi are using you, they won't let you go. You run, they'll hunt you down, you can't have relationships and those who do are found and punished for it. You work hard for nowt, you're little more than pets or slaves. How am I doing?"

The glances between the pair of teens and the grumble from the Zabrak told him he had hit the target close enough.

"Look, first of all, there ain't nothing holding you to listen to me yap on, there ain't no reason that you can't just go back and forget this happened, or even tell the Jedi if you fancy. I won't stop you. But. I'm here to make you an offer. You want, I can sneak you beyond the Jedi's grasp. I can get you somewhere safe, where they can't drag you back and where you have the choices to live how you want to."

The questions burst from the girl this time, "How can you do that? How can you promise that? Where exactly in the galaxy could we be safe?"

The man shrugged, "It ain't that hard, got me a mighty fine ship, I can take on passengers and hands if needed. Might be cozy, depends on numbers. Got a loophole to the Nav Virus, so I can travel and I ken routes that the law don't. Also got me a few fellas who owe me, can call on them if needed. As for where, those new folk, the Jade Imperium..."

He froze at the sucked in hisses of fear and anger around him, carefully, he placed his book on the floor and slowly moved his hands out and palms up to show he was no threat.

"I take it that you fellas don't take kindly to Imperium folk?"

"Why should we go from the Jedi to those who kill and torture Jedi? We've all heard the tales, the Imperium is full of monsters who would slaughter us rather than save us."

The man nodded sagely at that, "You've heard the propaganda casts then. Guessing, Jedi are naming Jade a dark Jedi, rogue force user, maybe Sith? Guessing they saying only of his droids butchering clones and killing the Jedi?"

Deciphering their grumbles, he nodded before continuing.

"Okay, I can only speak of what I ken, it's up to you to either agree or call me silver tongue. The battles spoke of are when he was a CIS general, he's ended plenty of fights, but not started one. His folk have drawn their borders and defended them. Jade hired me and several others folk of a similar skill set to find force users. Didn't care who they were or where."

"I'm getting paid a pretty credit simply to find you and send you his way, you say no, I walk away, no harm, no foul. I tell him that you said no, that's it. Anyone forcing anyone to go means he will be angry with them, see it as a personal insult, he will hunt them down. He offers to give you a chance, a choice."

The group before the smuggler was silent, deep in thought at his words. He wasn't blind, it was obvious that they were incredibly uneasy around him. The prospect of fleeing the jedi was dangerous enough, but simply mentioning Jade was enough to send them into a great discomfort.

"You decide your futures. Me? Well, I deliver those who want to go there and move on to the next job. But right now we're just nattering. Ain't a single folk here who's broken any laws just yet. We can all walk away from here and forget this happened, you could grass me in, I ain't gonna to stop you… Or…"

"Or?" asked the girl after a long and uncomfortable pause.

"If you are willing to risk everything on the words of a bounty hunter and smuggler, you can take that chance for a free life."

He looked around to the full shadows of the warehouse. His paycheck was busy deciphering his words to try to and weasel out any ill-intent. They were scared, it was natural. Still, he was out of time in this warehouse. There was a routine patrol that passed by in the next twenty minutes and he did not want to be caught on the bio-scanners.

"In the end, it's your choice." muttered the smuggler in a voice just loud enough to be heard throughout the warehouse. "There's a clone patrol coming by in the next twenty minutes so make up your mind or go home for the night. I'll be here tomorrow at the same time. You want to come, then all you need is to be here. But be aware that in two days time, I'm leaving for my ship at one in the morning. That's your last opportunity to get off the planet through me.

"Now, if the big fella would pass me my coat and weapons, I'm gonna head out for a late drink and get some shut-eye. You talk it out between yourselves. Just remember, anyone wants to stay, it's their choice, don't force no-one to stay or come if they don't fancy it."

In a dark depths of Coruscant, several levels below the civilised surface, there lay a mostly abandoned warehouse on the edge of the slums. Hanging over the edge of a collapsed region, the creak of ancient concrete and metal echoed in the wind as it strained to hold itself in place.

It was cramped and smelled of a dank odour reminiscent of a mould issue that no one cared to fix; empty boxes were haphazardly strewn about on the ground and the shelves themselves looked as though no one had bothered to scrape away the dust that had been left to settle on the ancient furnishings.

This building was unwanted and abandoned, alone and left in such a state to say that even the beggars and penniless squatters would not willingly shelter here for fear of joining it in its eventual fall into the abyss below. No one had cared for this area in a very long time, and it was doubtful that anyone ever would.

Which was why it was perfect for this meeting.

An adolescent togruta girl sat in her hooded cloak with her back to the wall and her eyes were scanning the edges of her surroundings to watch for threats. The planned escape route was just beneath her; she just had to kick a prepared spur of metal and the floor would give way beneath her, dropping her into a drain that would thankfully carry her away from the abyss towards her escape route.

The only light was a small lantern set to shine only in a certain area, hidden from the sight of those outside, but the reflection of its light would be easily spotted from the entrance to the rotting warehouse.

The artificial rain outside poured across the concourse, drumming on the thin metal walls around her. It was distracting, the pitter patter of the rain was disrupting her hearing alongside her echolocation from her montrals. But, at the same time, the steady noise was relaxing and helped to calm her nerves.

She tensed as a hooded figure approached, relaxing only slightly at the fact that it was alone.

With a silent click, the togruta thumbed off the safety on her blaster and used her cloak to hide its presence from her guest. Her finger was on the trigger as she pointed the barrel at the intruder, but her guest raised her hands in a disarming manner before pulling her hood down from her face.

Knight Chion nodded in approval at the togruta's readiness as she entered the slum shack and carefully shook the rain from her own cloak. Showing her hands were empty and away from her weapons, she moved across and sat on the box opposite the girl.

"You did well."

"Not that hard," The girl grunted, still fingering her hidden blaster's trigger, "wear the clothes, put on an accent and play a role. It was pretty simple for a con job. So where's the rest of my pay?"

"It's in a pouch on my belt. Two kyber crystals, as promised." replied Chion with a careful smile, "I'm going to reach for them in my pocket, so try not to shoot me."

With a cocky smile, the togruta swept her cape away to reveal the blaster, still charged and ready to fire. "Slowly if you don't mind. Framing a Jedi was fun, but I ain't stupid."

Chion continued to smile as she complied, slowly removing a small pouch from inside her robes. She held the pouch in an outstretched arm before turning it over and dumping the contents into her other hand.

Two small kyber crystals glistened in the dim lighting.

"Set them on the ground. Gently."

Chion again complied, kneeling down and placing them on the dirty floor. Then she stood up at full height and slowly backed away to the entrance that she had come from.

"This concludes our transaction, thank you for your assistance. You hide and leave world as soon as you can, as agreed."

The girl snorted at that, "Fuck yeah. Gonna disappear like a ghost, no fuckers gonna find me unless I want them to."

She leant forward and picked up the crystals, lowering her pistol away from knight Chion as she examined the gems for their authenticity. "Never thought I'd see one of these; you jedi always clutch hold of these things more than a Toydarian with profit. Now piss off so I can disappear."

Chion smiled, "Agreed."

With that the girls face crumpled in pain as the tip of a lightsaber punched through her heart and spine from behind her. Gasping, she tried to move her limbs as she felt the life rapidly fade from herself.

"Fucking bitch… I knew you were going to do that…"

Her hands grew limp, the blaster fell from her hands. She collapsed in a heap, all the while holding her ill-gotten gains in a hand that refused to relinquish them. She breathed one painful breath, laughed one painfully final time.

She was an unknown person in an unknown slum of Coruscant. No one would know of her final task and no one would know of the jedi that hired and then murdered her. No one would miss her.

Lying on the ground, still listening to the fading sound of rain on the roof, the girl died.

Chion smiled wickedly as the togruta con artist expired on the floor. For a while she simply stood in the silence of her deed, listening to the same pitter patter of rain that the togruta had done earlier.

She stood in reflection of her actions for a few minutes before pressing a button on her belt.

At Chion's signal, Barriss Offee entered the room. The young Jedi looked down at the now dead body and blinked in surprise. The con artist was the spitting image of her friend Ahsoka Tano.

"If I didn't know better, I would have said it was her." Barriss remarked with a melancholic smile. She hadn't wanted to kill the con artist, but it was necessary.

Chion nodded, "We were very lucky to find her and get her here before the Nav Virus hit."

"So, what now?"

Chion stood and recovered the crystals, "Now? You go back to the temple and keep your nose clean until you can start the next part. I'll clean up here." She passed the crystals to Barriss, "These should help."

Barriss nodded and looked over the crystals in her hand, clenching them in her fingers as she began to walk away, "Good, I'll see you soon."

Chion waited for the girl to leave before she called the abandoned blaster to her hand with the force. With an artistic eye, she fired into the body several times from different angles and then kicked the metal spur the girls foot had rested upon.

The body fell into the drain and was washed away.

With a disgusted sigh, she once again reached to her belt and thumbed a comm-link. There was still work to be done. It rang a few times before buzzing to life, signalling a secure connection

"It's done, I'm on my way back."

Without waiting for a reply, she cut the link and began to make her way back to her Master. She pulled her hood back over her head and casually threw the blaster into the darkness between shacks.

"So uncivilized…"

She couldn't help but whistle as she prowled through the rain. The walk back to the temple would take a few hours, but that was fine. She would arrive back in time for a late shower and a midnight meal at the cafeteria.

It would be good to have a shower to remove the stench of the poor from her.

From his office in the senate building, Chancellor Palpatine idly passed his time reading various news articles about the state of the republic and the war. They were drivel of no real significance, but he was expecting a call from a clone trooper sometime in the next thirty seconds and he didn't want to get too invested in something that couldn't be pushed aside for a later...

BeeDoo!

...Well, clones were nothing if not punctual.

"Can't say I didn't expect that." mused Palpatine as he closed out of his news articles and straightened his suit. The holonet communicator chimed once more as Palpatine combed his fingers through his hair and put on a stoic persona. When the communicator chimed a third time, Palpatine finally accepted the call.

"Sir." greeted the image of a clone trooper in a salute.

"Commander, excellent timing as expected." replied Palpatine with a nod, "I have been informed that your men are some of the best."

The commander seemed tense at that, as if unsure if he was being tested or not, "I like to believe so sir."

"Excellent, I am also informed that you are currently behind enemy lines in the new Imperium."

"Yes sir," responded the clone without hesitation, "when Jade's nav-virus hit our ship, we were stranded behind enemy lines. Standing orders at that time were to bunker in place and minimize exposure. We still have enough supplies to last for a long time, but the hyperspace lanes back to friendly territory are more than likely blockaded."

"That is unfortunate, commander." replied Palpatine with a facade of concern. It only lasted for a moment before it was quickly replaced with a steeled resolution. "Regretfully, we will not be able to extract your men. As you have guessed, Imperium ships have blockaded all known hyperlanes in and out of their borders. Instead, I have a new assignment for you."

"We were born to serve."

"Be aware that this assignment is completely off the books with little to no support. If your men are caught, you will be disavowed. Your records will be adjusted to mark your men as either KIA or MIA. You are to plan under your own judgement and assessment."

"Some of the missions are vital, others less so. I will send you a data pack with your targets, more will come later. This will be your last direct contact with me. An agent will handle all relevant communications between your orders. He will contact you shortly."

The clone nodded at that, "Understood sir, we await our orders."

Sitting within his office in the depths of the Jedi Temple, Master Tholme stroked the paper once more as he pondered its implications. The paper was from Kashyyyk, the last confirmed location of Kento and now likely Mallie Marek. He kept an eye on all those Jedi known to have a gift with foresight as a matter of security, but he had confirmed from his notes that Mallie had only a minor gift.

For her to provide this level of detail...

Something had changed. Something great and terrible was coming to fruition and she had been directly connected to the source rather than general images of the future.

His eyes lingered on the paper message sitting beside the data pad on his desk. These prophecies, Sinube's sudden rebellion and apparent treachery, the birth of the Jade Imperium tearing chunks from both the CIS and the Republic, Knight's Tanna and Kato's inept disposal of a clone troopers body...

There was too much too soon to simply be coincidence.

Tholme placed the documents and the pad in a draw and closed the gene coded lock. Once he was sure that it was safely secured, he rested his elbows on the desk and he leant forward in a heavy sigh. His fingers steepled before his face as he stared at the wall in thought.

If each issue had stood alone, he would have taken time to investigate, theorise, plan and prepare for any eventuality he could.

But together? His gut told him to act now and not wait. And he had only survived this long due to listening to that instinct.

Nodding to himself, he would pass on the prophecies to someone who could have a better understanding of the matter. Sinube was on a crusade, he could be dealt with at a later point. It would be best to deal with the Tanna situation before Master Kolar or anyone else took notice of the data.

Force help them if they did.

At the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, everything was actually going well for Ahsoka Tano. She had a proud smile plastered on her face as she leaned over the railing of a lift. Skyguy had asked her to come down to check on a new snub-fighter that he was tinkering with.

At breakfast, Barris had mentioned a rumour she'd heard floating about the temple. Apparently Ahsoka's name was floating around as a possible candidate for the knight trials. Naturally Skyguy refused to confirm or deny the rumours, but she saw the smile on his face. Her master wore his heart on his sleeve and it was almost painfully obvious how proud of her he was.

After her harrowing ordeal with Hando and later Grievous, she had given her report to the council and ordered to rest and recover. Master Windu had given her a brief congratulations, which was high praise coming from that man. Then they ordered her to report to the medics who had ordered her to spend at least a week in the infirmary while her wounds finished recovering.

She half-heartedly complained, but still complied.

All-in-all it had been a very pleasant, if not slightly boring, week. She spent most of it sitting in bed and watching terrible holo-dramas. Her wound was healing nicely and would likely not even scar with the bacta treatment.

Ahsoka's smile never left her face as she exited the lift and entered the hanger levels of the temple.

She couldn't wait to get a look at the fighter that her master was gushing about. Apparently Skyguy had already tweaked its systems himself and he was proud of his work. Not as proud of it as he was of her, but still pretty gushing. Ahsoka looked forward to seeing what it could do, once the doctors actually cleared her to fly.

"This is a pretty good day." She said to herself as she walked down the concourse, her mind trailing off in the warm morning air. Hearing the standard clangs and squeals of metal on metal from the hanger ahead, she allowed the subtle hum of the vibrations to calm her and dull the mass of presence she felt through her montrals.

She paused at the door, her hand midway to the control panel that opened up to the hanger bay. For a second she froze at the doorway, the force screaming in agony and forecasting a warning of something terrible.

It happened so fast.

A concussive shockwave lifted her off her feet and blasted her backwards into the corridor she had just come from.

Instinctively, Ahsoka's magic boiled to the surface enveloping her in a bubble of silvery blue energy as explosion licked around barrier and continued to race outwards against her barrier. Her magic had barely responded in time, but she could still feel the burning heat permeating through her shield. It protected her from the worst of the blast, but she was still in the air and unable to control herself as she came down.

She couldn't see anything, the bright flames had blinded her...

She couldn't hear anything, the concussive blast had deafened her...

She could feel the pain radiating through her body as the heat burned away at her flesh...

She could feel the sharp crack of something against the back of her head...

Then nothing...

In the darkened ward of the medical wing, Anakin looked down at his broken Padawan in the bed. A somber frown adorned his face as he stood in silent rage while emotions churned just below the surface. He knew that he had responsibilities that lay elsewhere at the moment but, as he watched the gentle rise and fall of his injured padawan, he just didn't care to be anywhere else.

The rest of the temple was in a flurry of action. The temple guards were out in full force, attempting to keep order in vain. Clone soldiers were all over the hanger, already beginning the preliminary investigation of the incident. News agencies and reporters were flocking to the temple doors, cameras in hand as they bombarded the Jedi spokesperson with questions.

Anakin knew that the council wanted him to speak about the incident but, when he saw the burns that scarred Ahsoka Tano's face, he just didn't care. They could be mad at him, but they understood that he wasn't in a condition to go out to face the media.

With a sigh, he turned his gaze to the heart monitor that beeped in a slow and rhythmic pace. She would always be that little girl he first met on Christophsis to him, even when he was old and his hair was a stately grey. Even though he had nominated her for the knight trials, she would always be his padawan. He would always feel that urge to protect and spoil her.

Perhaps this was how all jedi masters felt about their padawans. The thought brought a melancholic chuckle out of his lips.

He had failed to protect her.

The healers had already done everything they needed to and shunted Ahsoka into a side ward, Knight Tanna had seemed confused at something when she had touched Ahsoka but had waved away his concern and prescribed lots of rest, no work or exercise for a few days or something along those lines, he hadn't really been listening, she'd written it all down for him anyway.

Ahsoka had suffered a bad head contusion, a fractured right arm, and bad third degree burns across her outer extremities. Her location behind a closed door had been enough to shield her from most of the blast, unlike many others who had suffered within the bay itself.

Six Jedi Knights, three squads of clone troopers and several Temple staff had died in the explosion, many more were injured and a few more were still missing. The body of one victim had been found several levels down, only the brown cloth of their robes and the mangled remains of their lightsaber had allowed them to quickly identify the Jedi who had been blown out of the bay to fall to their death below.

He thanked the Force once more before growling in frustration as his comms beeped for his attention. He glanced at the message. What did the Council want him for now, did they not realise how important it was he wait here to make sure Snips was alright?

Anakin almost threw his comm at the wall, but ultimately swallowed his pride and made his way to the door. He gave Ahsoka one last glance before sighing deeply and walking out into the hectic corridors.

Unfortunately it was just a journey of a few minutes to reach the Councils Chamber. Within sat a larger number of Masters than he had expected. A few were present as holograms, including master Obi-Wan, but he had only seen this many at once when he was first brought to Coruscant.

They exchanged a few formalities, a soft greetings accompanied by a bow. Master Yoda enquired about Ahsoka Tano. Master Windu asked if he was ready to take an assignment. Anakin wanted to say no, but after a few conflicted moments he hesitantly confirmed that he was ready to do as the council commanded.

Master Kcaj leant forward slightly and motioned to a datapad in his hand, "Knight Skywalker, we have your assigned orders once the Nav Virus has been countered. You and the 501st will be assigned to recover Taris from Separatists."

Anakin blinked in surprise at that, "I thought Taris had remained neutral, the Separatists had publicly declared they were leaving that region alone."

Kcaj sighed as he nodded to his point, "Indeed they had. Unfortunately, a separatist fleet managed to return to Taris before the Nav Virus stranded them. They were low on resources and supplies, so took the system rather than request assistance which would not arrive. General Jade declared that the Separatists would leave it alone and Count Dooku may have supported that in the past, but no treaty was finalised nor officially signed, nor has the Count publicly spoken about the matter following the Imperium's founding."

Master Windu spoke up then, "To our shame, we know Dooku is a Sith, this is fact. Evan Jade was trained by Dooku. A Master and an Apprentice. It is the Councils belief that we have found the Sith and will act accordingly. This breach between the two is most likely Jade trying to take his Masters place. He is likely gathering what strength he has available to him, unfortunately that strength is greater than we had predicted. However, we will use the opportunity that this conflict presents to focus on the more active threat of General Grievous. You will assist Master Kenobi on that front by securing Taris and removing supply lines from Grievous' support."

Anakin looked over the Council members present, reading details in their body language that were not spoken of so far. Most seemed to support this information, but a few appeared uneasy or disagreed with the words used.

"May I speak freely?" Anakin asked, emotions carefully buried beneath a mask of stoicism as best he could. With a nod by Master Yoda, he spoke his mind, "What about the bombing? I had hoped to be involved in that investigation; may I ask who is handling that?"

Master Windu leant forward in his seat, a tone of seriousness in his words, "I am handling that personally Knight Skywalker."

Anakin nodded but frowned, "I was under the impression that you would be focused on aiding the hunt for Master Sinube?"

Master Hran raised a hand to draw attention to himself, "Whilst irrelevant to your orders, it may help ease your worries to know that I have been re-assigned to that duty, I shall also be leaving in the first wave out of Coruscant to hunt the renegade. Whilst skilled in the field of investigation, Master Kolar has other duties to attend to and Master Windu will be bringing his entire focus to the bombing situation. Now, a quick question for you if I may? Padawan Tano worked with Sinube for a time on a mission if I remember correctly."

Anakin nodded to Hran, "Indeed, he aided her in recovering a lightsaber taken from her." He caught the disgruntled look on Master Kolar's face at that, nor did he miss the thoughtful look that followed.

Hran stroked his chin in thought, "Excellent, she may know of some of his contacts, I will need to speak with her as soon as possible."

Anakin's own frown deepened as he tried to maintain a polite response, "I shall inform her once she has regained consciousness."

Hran smiled gently, "There is no need for that Knight Skywalker, I shall attend her directly as soon as she has been medically cleared. Worry not, I will not endanger her health."

Master Windu frowned slightly as he cut in before the meeting could get any more derailed, "You have received your orders Knight Skywalker, ensure that you follow them fully. Now, more than ever, your skills are needed on the front line."

"As you say, I shall follow my orders and begin preparations for the campaign." replied Anakin as he hid his grimace of frustration and annoyance from the Council. Their politicking and disturbance of the whole, grated on his senses.

Master Kolar leant forward, "One last matter Knight Skywalker. Your Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, is to be assigned to her own mission for her knight trials, ensure that you take this into account in your preparations."

Knight Elia Tanna entered her gilded cage of a room in the Jedi Temple and fell upon her sofa in a face down collapse. She was exhausted from aiding the medical stations dealing with the wounded from the bombing. So many deaths and so much destruction.

For what? Vengeance, a distraction, judgement, a warning? Why?

She sighed deeply as she lay face down in the mattress pads. The day's events had been horrible. All she wanted to do was sleep, but unfortunately she smelled terrible.

With an exaggerated effort, Elia stood back up from her sofa and removed her outer robes before throwing them over the back of a nearby chair. Then there was the strange tingle she had felt when seeing to Padawan Tano, it was like the static in the air just before a storm struck, it was familiar to her, but she couldn't remember where she had felt it before.

She rubbed her face tiredly and was about to remove her undershirt when she froze at the sudden scraping of glass on wood.

Her eyes snapped open to watch a glass of alcohol sliding across the table to rest by her hand. Her senses opened to the Force, but she felt nothing untoward, no danger. Glancing around the unlit room, she stopped when a shadow separated from its surroundings and stepped into the light from outside. A shadow that she recognised and wished she didn't.

"Whilst I do not approve of the method. You look like you could do with a drink. I would suggest more care in your surroundings, but I'm sure you already are aware of that issue. I am here to ask a few questions. Your honest answers will be of great aid to me and will allow me to make a decision on what I do after this conversation. Do you understand?"

Elia nodded, fighting the fear filling her at his words. "I understand Master Tholme."

"Excellent. Would you care to explain why I have the body of a dead clone trooper with cranial surgery in storage." His eyes surveyed the sudden paling of her skin, the attempt to hide the sudden intake of air.

"Knight Tanna, a Jedi you may be, but you lack certain skills which would allow you to dispose of a body without notice. Why did you cut that man open?"

Elia took a deep breath and decided that if she had been caught, then she could at least warn one Jedi before she was erased. Hopefully the others were beyond suspicion or could escape in time.

"The clones have a biochip. I don't know what it can do in full but I have received a warning about the danger it contains. I was trying to remove it to investigate its purpose when the chip killed the clone that it was embedded in. I have a copy of the data that I can give you; it's on a disk in the third drawer of my desk."

"I will be taking that," replied the figure as he made his way over to Elia's desk, careful to keep his eyes on her the whole time, "and when the clone died why did you try to hide it? Why not inform someone? Surely you would expect someone to have noticed your actions?"

"I was very careful."

"Not really." came the curt response. He simply shook his head, "If that was careful, then I'm the senator of Tatooine."

She frowned at that, "I was trying to save lives but I know my information would be seen with mistrust by the Council. I'm trying to gather enough so that when I present my information they won't simply dismiss the matter."

The silence seemed heavy for nearly a minute before the figure opened the drawer and began to rummage through Elia's personal belongings.

"If you wish to experiment further, you will make the request through official channels and you will provide the same warning to Knight Kato on his return. Be aware that you are being watched, I dislike disruptions to the running of this temple." He stopped and looked her directly in the eyes, "Take care to not become one."

"I understand," Elia replied, she turned slightly to point at her robes, "now if that's all I would really…"

Elia blinked to find herself face down on the table, as if she had fallen asleep on the wood. The glass still held the alcohol and the ice had yet to melt.

She quickly rushed over to her desk and found her collection of datapads missing, in their place sat a thin piece of paper. Five words which normally would not be that disturbing, but right now filled her with both relief and dread.

'I will be in touch.'

Anakin sat brooding in Padme's apartment. He had been kicked out of the Temple's medical wing after his meeting with the Council. With an angry frown on his face, he stared out the windows in anger. His eyes were watching the passing vehicles without full awareness and the fingers of his new hand were flexing as if trying to grip around something.

"What's the matter?" asked Padme as she sat down next to him, "You said that the healers told you that Ahsoka would be fine."

"She will be." Anakin sighed before shrugging his frustration away. "It's the Council. I've received my new orders, which is good don't get me wrong, but Ahsoka is being assigned elsewhere and no-one will tell me where."

"Can't or won't?"

"I don't know," Anakin glanced at her, "They said it's for her knight trials but something feels wrong and I can't put my finger on it."

Padme rested her hand on his forearm just above the new cybernetics, she kept feeling that it was watching her, which was obviously silly, "Perhaps she is being assigned as the Chancellor's bodyguard after all."

"Maybe, but why not just tell me that?" remarked Anakin, "If that were the case then why wouldn't anyone tell me that? It's bigger than that and I'm worried."

"She's what? Sixteen, nearing seventeen? She's strong enough to handle herself, her last mission proved that. If it's her knight trials then it's her ordeal to overcome by herself. The masters won't tell you because they don't want you to interfere with this time in her life. I know you would be upset if Obi-wan had interfered with your trials."

"That's not the same," countered Anakin, "When I started my knight trials I wasn't lying in a hospital room."

She looked at the frown marring his face and sighed, recognising it from her own father, "You're right, it is different, but I think you're just worried about Ahsoka growing up and no longer needing you."

Anakin looked as if he was about to argue against that before his eyes dropped to look at his hands and he seemed to shrink in on himself a little as he released his frustration in a sigh, "Yeah, you're probably right. I just thought the Council would ask my opinion or something. I don't want her in danger."

"She's growing up Anakin, you just need to step back and let her control her own life." Padme clasped his hand, linking their fingers together in support, "Force help us when you're a father, I imagine you'll try and shackle our kids to their beds rather than let them leave the nest."

Anakin blinked and looked up at her, "Our kids?"

Padme smiled, "Of course," worry bled into her voice as doubts began to rise, "You do want children don't you?"

Anakin chuckled with a rather dopey grin. "As many children as you want. Once this war is over and we can safely sort our lives out we'll have time to plan for them then."

For a while the two sat in the apartment, content to bask in each other's company. There was a peaceful silence between them; no words needed to be said to convey their love for each other.

"Are you going to take the Chancellors offer?"

"I don't know, but we're going to end the war, broker peace between everyone, then I'm going to leave the Order and help raise our family. I'll go wherever you want and wherever you lead me..."

He frowned for a moment once more, lost in memory before shaking it away, "As long as that wherever is somewhere without sand; it's coarse and rough and gets everywhere."

"I think I like that, maybe a nearby beach though, I love the sea. Just us and our two children growing up free and safe. Your looks and my mind. Two's a good number don't you think?"

Anakin grinned at the image that filled his mind, a little boy and girl running through endless fields of golden grass, the images of their parents, laughing in joy, Padme's hand in his as they laughed at the games their children played. Yes, a good dream to have, one he would do almost anything to make happen.

"However many you want. But two does sound really good. As long as they can have both your mind and looks. Remember what I was like as a kid? You were and are much better looking than I could ever be."

Master Tholme sat in his office reviewing the recordings, the recording of the surgery progressing as he'd have expected. Then it all went to hell, he paused and rewound the recording before replaying it again. There was a detail that was so subtle he almost missed it.

The clones lips had whispered something just before he began to scream.

Tholme frowned as he watched the moment, again and again and again.

The sound detail and image weren't good enough for his needs but as he continued to rewatch the image he was almost sure of the intent behind the words spoken. The words were mostly gibberish but the look in the man's eyes told him all that he needed to know.

"Kill the Jedi."

On the edge of imperium controlled space lay the dead planet of Kronos. It was the only planet in orbit a red dwarf that was well on its way towards burning out. Thousands of years ago, the planet had once held life and was home to a thriving civilization of traders, manufacturers, and miners - but unrestrained mining had caused the planet's orbiting moon of Praxis to explode. The shattering of the moon had ripped apart Kronos's atmosphere, leaving nothing but a desolate and uninhabitable pile of rock.

The system of the shattered moon had long since been abandoned, and up until a few years ago it was used only as a stopping point between hyperspace jumps.

With the onset of the clone wars, the republic navy had set up a listening post on an asteroid at the very edge of the system. It was a low value outpost, barely manned and of minimal importance. Its entire purpose was to monitor for confederate forces that attempted to use the system as a navigation route.

But, with the new founding of the imperium, the outpost found itself as the headquarters for one of Palpatine's many plans.

Inside their transport vessel, clone troopers waited with baited breath as their ship drifted close to the listening post. Nearby, a large imperial cruiser had dropped in unexpectedly on a patrol of the system. A small pulse of thrust nudged them to a halt as a hidden docking bay on the asteroid opened up to allow them in. Gently, the pilot brought them in on minimal power. They would have preferred to wait out the imperial cruiser, but they were running low on oxygen.

The soldiers waited tensely with their weapons ready as the sounds of the bay around them began to gain strength. Then, the transport touched down and the docking bay doors closed. There was a hiss as air was pumped into the chamber, and the clones marched out of their transport.

As the soldiers continued to file out of the transport, a small contingent of clone troopers from inside the base walked out to greet the men.

"Sergeant Springer, I presume?" asked the commander of the base, saluting the head of the disembarking soldiers.

"Yes sir," the sergeant responded with a salute of his own, "Our men have received their orders and are waiting for your command."

"At ease," the commander his helmet tipped up slightly as he looked at the Jaig eyes painted on the sergeants helmet, "You can call me commander Fisher. Good time on making it here Sergeant; I'm assuming that you've had the basic briefing?"

Springer nodded, "Yes sir. Fulcrum gave us the basics, my men and I have been assigned to your command."

"Good, have your men disembark and follow me."

The commander motioned for a nearby clone trooper to start handling the logistics of the new arrivals before motioning for sergeant Springer to follow him. "This base is built on a standard template so grab a bunk and tell your men to get some rest. We're still waiting on more reinforcements to arrive before we go over the finer details of this mission."

"I can't wait," the sergeant nodded, "It'll be good to hurt these bastards."

The commander stiffened, "This isn't a revenge mission sergeant. But yes, it will be good to gain some justice for what he did. I was on the first ship to arrive at... Dar'yaim."

The sergeant winced behind his helmet, "Sorry sir, I heard it was bad. I apologise for bringing up bad memories."

"No need to apologize sergeant, it wasn't your fault" the commander replied as he shook his head, "I still can't believe that He had an entire world melted to glass just because it held a garrison of the enemy. Our Brothers. I was lucky, our ship was delayed by a day. If we'd made any better time, my men and I would have been on world when it happened."

There was an awkward silence as the two walked down the dimly lit corridors. Once the clones arrived at a small turbolift, Commander Fisher spoke up once more. "The galaxy will be safer once Jade is gone. I want him dead just as much as you do. But if you're here for a crack at his head then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed."

The sergeant shook his head, "No sir. I'm here for the mission first. I won't say no to putting a shot in Jade's skull, but I know that the Alor'be'haran will be a major target and would require a lot of support to take down."

The commander just looked at the sergeant for a moment, as if judging him, "You have no idea Springer."

In the depths of the Jedi temple on Coruscant, Master Windu looked at the evidence box in the lab with a look of stifled disgust. Sorting through the evidence was messy business, and this particular piece of evidence was much more disgusting than the other evidence he'd reviewed lately.

Within the box sat a scorched hand that the temple droids had discovered in the wreckage.

"Results?" asked Windu to the droids that were assisting with his work.

"DNA matches records for Temple Assistant Jackar Bowmani. There are trace remains of nanobots what remains of the subject's blood. The chemical makeup matches those found in traces across the Bay. They are of an explosive design which do not match our records of republic military designs."

The droid pointed to a slight discolouration of the skin in the scorched palm before it continued "Although the damage is extensive, this mark here indicates an electrical contact occurring with the limb. It is believed a small electric shock immediately prior to the explosion may have damaged these weapons, preventing them from fulfilling their purpose. As a result, the subject's hand did not explode with the rest of him"

Windu nodded, turning away from the hand to look at a nearby screen, "Bring up his file on the main computer"

"Yes Master Windu," the droid nodded as it interfaced with the computer and brought up the suspect's information, "I took the liberty of preparing his personnel file and recordings of his movements for the last week. Further data is being gathered at this time."

Windu moved to the screens and began swiping through large swathes of the data, rapidly scanning it for key phrases or details. Muttering to himself, he allowed his training to guide the flow of data, "Military background, munitions expert, specialist in nano-weaponry, was the foreman for gunships and related munitions. Passed all the entry exams and his clearance check came back clean. Tried repeatedly to gain entry in the Antarian Rangers until he met his wife. Noted as fiercely loyal to the Jedi and quoted as his dream was to work with them."

Windu stopped on the noted next of kin, raising an eyebrow at the unexpected image displaying a human female. "Letta Turmond, human. Married to Jackar Bowmani for a few years now. Interesting that they chose to keep their own names. They appeared a happy couple, if an unusual one."

"Bring up her record." ordered Windu. Moments later knowledge about the woman began to stream onto the screen. He rapidly read the words as information began to populate the space in front of his eyes. For a while he read in silence, trying to ascertain any fact that he might have missed.

He turned back to the droid, "Locate Letta Turmond's last location and while that's running do a cross reference with Coruscant law enforcement records. See if her picture turns up any unusual information... and check with Republic Intelligence records as well, best make sure she's not hiding anything."

The droid nodded and began the search, almost immediately stopping before back to Windu, "Letta Turmond is currently an anti-war protester outside the Jedi Temple."

"Seriously?" Windu raised a disbelieving eyebrow at that, "Miss Turmond should have been notified of his death by now so why is she in a protest rather than grieving? I would have presumed she would have been in mourning or querying what happened to him. Who are the nearest Jedi?"

"The nearest Jedi are the two Temple Guardians at the entrance, followed by a support team of Guardians ready to act if the protests turn violent, then Knight Skywalker."

"Why is it always Skywalker…" sighed Mace Windu in disbelief, "Inform Knight Skywalker that I require him to bring Letta Turmond in for questioning and notify him of her current location. Make sure that he is aware that she may not have been made aware of her husband's death at this point."

Within the Imperial Senate on Eriadu, built upon what had once been the Tarkin estates, Harry moved to stand before the media stage. Cameras were alight with flashes as countless reporters documented the momentous occasion. As he approached the front of the stage, a podium rose from the ground for him to use. He fiddled with the extendable microphone for a second before taking a deep breath and beginning his speech.

"Sentients of the imperium," started Harry with a grandiose gesture, only to pause when feedback from the microphone sent a shrill noise through the speakers. Several members of the media winced at the sound as Harry fought off the urge to palm his face.

"... Sorry," whispered Harry as he gently tapped the microphone as he tested the machine to make sure that it was working properly, "Are we good?"

A nearby technician gave him a thumbs up.

"Alrighty, let's try that again…"

"Sentients of the Imperium, it is my great honour to stand before you all today to inform you of the next steps to be taken in order to safeguard our people. We have made great strides in this short period of time, however we must continue our efforts to defend our people. The first stage is to secure our borders. We currently have our fleets fortifying the systems along our borders, however that is only a temporary solution."

"In that regard, our finest men have begun construction on a series of space stations along the hyperspace lanes that pass into and out of our territory. They will be manned by our finest soldiers as well as our best B1 battle droids in order to ensure a constant and untiring vigilance of our borders. The construction of the first stations has already begun. For security reasons, I cannot disclose the systems where they are currently being built, but they will soon protect all of our major hyperlanes before expanding to the lesser routes. Once those battle stations have been completed, we will then place smaller stations along gaps that will guard our borders against aggressors coming from unknown routes. These Interdictor Stations will be built as watch posts, the first line of defence."

"There will also be command stations along our borders who will also be manned by our finest droids and our best men. These stations will be the staging grounds for our fleets in order to ensure a quick and effective response to any potential invasion."

Harry paused for a moment, taking a drink of water from a glass while the media continued to document his speech. He smiled, gazed upon the crowd, and remembered exactly why he hated public speaking.

"Before I let our august speaker for Bespin speak, I wish to unveil the newest ship in the Imperium's navy. Our finest men have been tirelessly developing this ship in secret and it carries a multitude of new technologies that will ensure our superiority in space."

Harry paused once more, this time motioning towards the large skylight above. "Senators of the Imperium, I have the great honour of presenting to you, the new Flagship of the First Fleet, Thunderchild."

As he spoke the name of the new ship, the sky suddenly darkened as the nineteen kilometre dagger shape of the super star destroyer maneuvered over the Senate to block out the sun shining through the armoured glass roof.

"Her sister ships are still under construction and will be ready ranging from another six months to a few years, but each fleet will eventually have one of these as their Flagship. They will act as fleet command, construction and repair stations, troop training, troop transport and so much more. The capacity for in field repairs and resupply will allow our navy a much greater breadth of versatility. One that neither the Republic nor the CIS will be able to match for the foreseeable future."

Harry stood tall and proud as he surveyed the Senate, "May the Force have mercy upon any who seek to bring harm to our people, for Thunderchild shall have none."

Xora stood in the shadows of the private booth as she watched the Senate below as they celebrated the revealing of Thunderchild. She shifted her pigmentation a little to blend into the green drapes around her. On a large and very comfortable lounger behind her, Riyo snorted at the datapad she had been given by Xora, "This is the man you want to put in charge of the breach?"

Xora chuckled as she watched Harry stood behind the talking senator in an attempt to not look bored, "That's the one."

"I still don't understand why you feel this is necessary?" Riyo frowned as she put down the pad and looked at the woman rapidly becoming a friend.

"It's simple, know our enemy." Xora smiled, "We know the Republic and the CIS will try and get spies across our borders. If we have weak spots in our defences they'll be more likely to use them to sneak in; as long as they think it's a real weak spot and not a manufactured one. With his background and record, there is no reason to not assign him to such a location. He isn't going to warn anyone as he won't be aware that he's being used as bait."

"And you're sure this will work?" asked Riyo with a raised eyebrow.

Xora winced slightly, "It's not perfect but it will work. I even have a few Vigiles already undercover developing reputations as pirates, smugglers and fences. They will use his station as a base or transport route to gather more information and to support the agents already in place. A minor trade hub in that region would be of use anyway."

Riyo tapped her chin with the datapad, "What about those spies and agents already inside our borders?"

"We'll just have to be careful and keep hunting them." Xora responded with an honest shrug, "The problem with that is that we will always have enemies within our borders. Always."

Riyo sighed, nodding in agreement, "I don't like this, but I understand the plan. I'll support you when you tell Harry about it."

"Good, I expected as much," Xora said with a chuckle, "Now, if you wouldn't mind, I could use bit of help refining this plan before I tell him about it."

Initiate Ganodi let her eyes wander over the pale cream room, the only other colour being the dark wood of the table and chairs. A light glowed gently above as a shaft of light came through the window, tainted red by the pollution above the city around them as the sun set. She shuffled in her seat, nerves catching up with her as Master Kolar swept his eyes over the report he held in one hand, before looking over the Initiate sitting before him.

"And you say she used some form of wooden foci to heal your injuries?"

"I was pretty groggy, so I didn't understand her words," Ganodi nodded to the Masters question, "but I know I'd been burnt, but there's no sign of it now and the medics when they saw me were confused as to how my legs were broken but there had been no damage to the muscles around them."

"Can you describe this item?"

"It was ornate and looked like ivory, but it was definitely wood. I remember feeling a strange power. I didn't like it. It felt… wrong."

"Interesting." muttered Master Kolar as he addeda few notes to his datapad, "You mention words, do you remember if she used an incantation to perform this act?"

Ganodi frowned before nodding, "I think so, but I didn't know the words or the language."

Kolar looked over his notes before nodding and smiling at the young Rodian. "Thank you Initiate, I shall record how vital your assistance was in my investigations and on your records. You have done very well today and on such an unorthodox mission as well. You will make your new Master most proud in your service as a Padawan."

Ganodi blinked in surprise, "I've been chosen?"

Kolar paused at the misunderstanding before deciding that this could actually be useful in the future, especially with what was coming.

"I am afraid that you haven't officially at this time, however, I know of a few Masters and Knights seeking a Padawan worthy of their teachings. I shall personally speak with them and see what I can do for you. I do not believe I will need to persuade any of them with your records."

He paused a moment before smiling slightly at her, "I myself have no Padawan at present. I cannot promise anything at this time, but we shall see that the future has to bring."

She smiled at him, pleased at the praise and chance to progress in her dream. The very chance to be the Padawan to a member of the High Council made her giddy. She bit her lip a moment before deciding to give more information to the Master. It might help her odds if she were to be a little more forthcoming with information

"Master Kolar…" she started before pausing to choose her words, "I talked with the others. Zatt mentioned something which might be important. He said that Padawan Tano did something when they fled from General Grievous before meeting with Master Kenobi. I don't know what she did, but Zatt didn't want to talk about it. Petro was there too."

Kolar blinked at the sudden gifts being given, more evidence from eyewitnesses of Ahsoka Tano's taint. This information was very concerning, the more he learned about Ahsoka Tano, the more he feared that something was truly wrong in a way that none of them understood.

"Initiate Ganodi, thank you for your time" stated Kolar in a false smile, "You may return to your lessons for the moment. On your way back, would you please ask Initiate Zatt to come to me immediately? Remember that this must be kept quiet, investigations regarding promotions like this require the utmost secrecy and trust to complete."

She smiled and nodded to him, "I understand completely Master Kolar, thank you for your trust."

He smiled as she left the room, she was proud and sure of her actions but loyal and trusting. Still, the young girl would need to learn humility before progressing much further. Smirking to himself, he tapped the datapad, the decision to interview the youngling after catching a glimpse of her weirdly detailed report had appeared to bear valuable fruit.

As Kolar dug deeper and deeper, the evidence continued to pile up against Ahsoka Tano:

Tano's history and interactions with Evan Jade. The implication of some kind of unknown powers. Her connection with Sinube Tera. Her unusual temperament alongside the records that Master Yoda had sealed regarding her missions. These alone would be enough to bring doubt in the minds of the Council. He would need to be careful in his next actions.

There was no way that she would escape now, her corruption would be shown to all.

In the darkness of the ship's hold, the black ops clone commander slowed his breathing. Training combined with hard learnt lessons in his mind as his helmet once again confirmed that he was in an airtight seal. With that, he silently magnetized his boots to the floor. Other clones around him followed suit and silently locked themselves on to the floor. The lights in the bay flickered red, and their transport was flying through space.

Their target was a prison ship controlled by Jade's imperium on a small asteroid in the middle of nowhere. The enemy thought that the location was a secret, so it was only lightly guarded. That mistake, combined with the fact that the enemy still believed the nav-virus was in effect, meant that they should have the element of surprise.

So long as they didn't trip the alarms on the way in.

The trip was made in silence under minimum power in a transport that was exposed to the cold vacuum of space. Save for a few short course corrections, the entire trip was made purely on momentum with the ship turned off. It would take them two hours to pass through the shield barrier of the prison , and then the fireworks would begin.

"Hey, how you doing?" Barriss quietly asked as she took a seat, trying not to disturb the other patients in the ward.

Ahsoka looked up and smiled at her friend, "I'm good, they're keeping me in overnight to make sure I'm okay."

Barriss chuckled, "Yeah, I snuck a look at your record. You are very lucky to have come out of it as you did."

Ahsoka sighed and leant back in her bed, "I don't feel lucky..."

"Well, you are lucky, whether or not you feel that way," Barriss sighed, "Look, while it's great that you're okay, I'm here on official business as well. Master Windu is leading the investigation and I am assisting. Is there anything you can remember that might help us?"

Ahsoka shook her head negatively before grasping it in pain. "Urgh, shouldn't do that. Sorry no, the explosion happened and the wall saved me."

"Pity, but perhaps you can help me another way?"

"I'll do my best."

Barriss smiled at her, "Brilliant, we found evidence of the explosives and have brought a suspect in for questioning, but this Letta Turmond is saying that she will only speak to you. She's refusing to talk to anyone else about it, apparently she trusts you to do the right thing."

Ahsoka frowned, "Weird... but okay, I'll go ask her a few questions. I'll also let her know she can trust you - because my head still feels like I got run over. Unfortunately, it'll have to wait for the all clear from the healers."

Barriss snorted at that, "I've passed the basic healing course and spent time in a field hospital, your chart is fine. Just be careful and don't do anything strenuous. If you get dizzy, stop and rest, if it doesn't pass, stop whatever you are doing and call for help. Now, I'm going to head off and get back to work, she can wait until you are ready to talk to her. Get better soon."

Ahsoka smiled and waved to her friend as she left, waiting for nearly five minutes before carefully getting out of bed and getting dressed. She quickly got back in when she heard the healer nearing, smiling and waving as she passed on her rounds. The moment she had left, Ahsoka put her boots on and walked out as if she was meant to be leaving. None of the other patients in the ward even stirred as she passed.

Barriss watched as her friend left the medical wing, timing Ahsoka's route to acquire a ship to travel to the prison. Nodding to herself, she re-entered the medical wing and waved for the healer on duty.

"Excuse me," Barriss called out to the tired healer, "can you tell me when Padawan Tano was released?"

"She hasn't been released," remarked the healer through bleary eyes, "as far as I know, she's still in her bed."

"But I just checked on her and she wasn't there," replied Barriss in fake surprise, "She didn't check herself out, did she?"

"You've got to be kidding me…" The healer silently swore to herself as she walked over to Ahsoka's now empty room. She swore again in disbelief before pulling up the medical charts at the edge of the bed.

"She should not be up and moving around." The healer said with an irritated frown. "She has a concussion, a fractured skull, and third degree burns on her forearms. If I knew that she was going to do a runner, I would have put her in a medically induced coma."

The nurse rubbed her hands through her face and hair before glaring balefully at Barriss, "Anakin Skywalker is going to be livid when he finds out she ran off. He's going to chew me out and I honestly have no clue where she ran off to… You suck."

Barriss sighed and waved her away, "Don't worry, this is typical of Ahsoka."

"I know it's typical of Ahsoka. That's why I doped her up on enough tranquilizers to put a rancor to sleep… Skywalker is going to have my ass…"

"Why don't I tell Anakin, then?" offered Barriss with a false sincerity. "You put out the alert that Ahsoka needs to be found and I'll let her master know that she ran off before I could check on her."

The nurse looked at Barriss, contemplated the offer for half a second, and sourly accepted the deal.

"Fine, but don't say that I didn't warn you."

"Oh, it's no worry, Ahsoka is a friend of mine." Barriss smirked as the nurse hurried away to make the missing person's report. Once again their plan was continuing on perfectly.

With that, Barriss left the medical wing - only she wasn't going to go look for Anakin Skywalker. Instead, she followed in Ahsoka's footsteps towards a nearby shuttle bay.

Ahsoka was doped up on painkillers and barely in any condition to walk. It would be child's play to sneak onto her shuttle and trail her for the interview.

Within the cold metal of the security station, Master Windu frowned at the image on the screen before him. The original camera footage was sub-par, low resolution and grainy, but adequate for the information that it provided.

He started the security recording of the morning of the bombing again and watched as Ahsoka Tano stalked Jackar Bowmani on his daily commute to the temple. He watched as Bowmani took a turn down an alley only to stop behind a large garbage receptical - just barely hidden outside of the camera's view.

Tano followed him into the blind spot, and for a few minutes neither could be seen. Then, Tano left the alley in a hurry, returning the way she came.

Five minutes later, Bowmani left the alley at the other end with a dazed and confused expression on his face.

The facial recognition software gave him a 80% match that the woman was Ahsoka Tano. The 80% was not enough to ensure it was her, but enough to look into further, especially with the other evidence recorded by the security camera

Windu paused the recording and brought up the same camera a day earlier, checking the timestamp to see that Bowmani was indeed a being of routine. Once more, with a slightly higher recognition match, Ahsoka Tano followed him all the way through the alley and on his route.

He went back a second day, only to watch as Ahsoka Tano stalked Bowmani once again.

Windu moved to the next file and checked the day before the bombing for the location of Bowmani's wife. He added a cross referencing search for Tano at the same time and found a result. A chance moment in his favour. The system had caught an image of Tano turning away from Turmond on the edge of a camera's vision.

He rewound the recording for a few minutes and watched as they both stepped into view together when they avoided a passing cleaning droid. Tano passed Turmond a small object. Enhancing the image didn't help much, but it appeared to be a metal tube.

Not a lightsaber, rather, some form of container.

Windu frowned as he brought up the logs for Tano's location for those days. It was based off the tracking location of her communication device, the locating software providing a puzzling picture of her movements.

Each time she had left the temple prior to the recording, she had returned late in the day near dusk. Unfortunately, her tracking information ended as soon as she left the temple. On one hand, it could be a computer error. On the other hand, it could be Ahsoka purposefully turning off her communication device.

This pattern continued for most of the week, when she returned shortly to the temple before the bombing incident.

He scanned through her entire day again, almost growling in frustration when he noticed something strange. Each of the nights, there was an hour when her comms signal disappeared.

He pulled up the temple camera recordings for that hour and looked through them, his habitual frown deepened as he found no sign of her on the recordings…

… Wait… One of the Temple guardians was in two places at once.

The recording had been altered.

Mace windu looked away from the screen and sank back into his chair. With an expletive of frustration he rubbed his eyes in anger.

This did not look good at all.

In a municipal holding facility on Coruscant, a clone soldier looked up from his computer screen as a female Togruta entered the secure waiting room. There were a few clones at the door with blaster rifles in hand, but other than them the room was empty.

"Can I help you?" he inquired in a bored manner.

"I'm Commander Ahsoka Tano." the girl nodded respectfully to him, "Letta Turmond requested to see me. She said that she would answer my questions"

A nearby door guard grunted at that, "A lot of innocent people died in that blast. Glad they got her before she did more damage."

"She's already done enough damage," retorted the desk guard as he looked back to his computer screen. A few moments later, he nodded toward another clone, "She's clear to enter. Scan Miss Tano's biosigns and let her through."

"If you would stand here master jedi."

With that, one of the door clones raised a hand pad for Ahsoka to confirm her biosigns. She quietly complied, noting with irritation as the device pricked her finger to take a blood sample.

As the clone he checked over the results, he whistled in surprise.

"That's a lot of painkillers. Are you sure you should be walking?"

"Not really," replied Ahsoka with a tired look in her eyes, "unfortunately our suspect won't speak to anyone else. As soon as I get answers from her, I'm going back to the hospital."

"No rest for the weary," quipped the door guard as he turned around and opened a security vault in the wall, "leave your commlink and lightsabers here."

The moment she did so, the container snapped shut and retracted into the reinforced wall. Then the door opened up from the other side and another clone motioned for Ahsoka to follow her.

The soldier led her through a maze of secure corridors to a cell and opened it for her, stepping in to the entrance at the top of the stairs. Ahsoka followed the soldier and managed to hold back a tired sigh as she looked at the nervous form of Letta Turmond

"You said you wanted to speak to me?"

Letta rolled her hat in her hands, glancing up nervously at Ahsoka but not making eye contact, "I need to talk to you..."

Letta paused mid-sentence as her eyes moved up to glare at the clones. "...Privately."

Ahsoka sighed and nodded to the Commander, "Give us a minute, please."

He simply nodded and shut the door behind him. There was a hidden security camera in the room, so anything that Letta said would still be recorded without her knowledge.

Now alone with Letta Turmond, Ahsoka Tano simply crossed her hands and stared at the suspect. Letta did her part to look composed, but it was clear that she had something to say.

Unfortunately, she said nothing and the room was wrapped in silence.

"Look," said Ahsoka Tano with a tired growl, "I'm on so many painkillers that my head is floating and they're about to wear off. Once they do, I'm going back to the hospital for some needed sleep. You asked for me so I suggest you get whatever you have to say off your chest. If you don't then I'm going to walk out this door and you're on your own."

At that, Letta snarled in anger, "What do you mean I'm on my own. You said they wouldn't trace it back to me! What's going on?"

"What?" Ahsoka blinked in shock, "I've never met you before. What are you on about?"

"Don't pretend! If you want to feign ignorance then I'll tell them everything." Letta growled at her, "You promised this would work and that I wouldn't even be questioned. Now I'm in a cell probably about to be dumped in a deep hole for following your orders."

Ahsoka held her breath for a second then released it, "Mrs Turmond, I've never met you before in my life. I've not made any deals with you. I was just told that you wanted to speak to me and that you were involved in the bombing."

"I WAS JUST FOLLOWING YOUR ORDERS!" Letta screamed in anger as she stormed up to Ahsoka. One hand was outstretched in a threatening manner before she made eye contact. Then she froze. "Fuck."

"Excuse me?"

"Fuck, you have different eyes."

"You want to stop swearing and explain things?"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Stop swearing and explain. Now."

With all of her energy gone, Letta Turmond stepped back and dropped back onto her bunk.

"I've been set up," she groaned, despair filling her as she looked up at the Jedi, "I've been set up. You've been set up. Look, you've got to know, the idea of feeding Jackar the nano-droids was not mine. I thought it was yours but apparently it wasn't."

Ahsoka frowned at that, "What the hell is going on? Why didn't you reveal this before?"

"Because my life is in danger." replied Letta as a bit of fire returned to her, "The person behind this will be able to get to me unless you know the truth. Force damn it. You need to get me somewhere safe, I'll tell you everything. But you have to realise that they used your face when they talked to me."

"Huh. So what's the truth?"

Letta hesitated for a moment before giving up, "A Jedi. A Jedi showed me how to create the bomb and how to put the nano-droids in. I thought it was you. She gave me your name and contact details if I would need them. She was smooth, confident, I believed her when she said they were her details. She even had a lightsaber, or something that looked enough like one to pass."

Ahsoka stepped back in confusion, "Why would a Jedi do this? Have you tried to contact me before?"

"There are some citizens of the Republic, like myself, who believe the Jedi Order is not what it used to be." Letta sneered at Ahsoka, with each sentence she grew more forceful, more passionate, more sure of herself, "The Jedi have become warmongers. They've become military weapons. And they're killing when they should be keeping the peace. Two members of your organization agreed with us and wanted to make a statement. They were willing to attack their own order to do it. I thought you were one of them, but it looks like I was played."

"Who?" Ahsoka stepped forward, her tone sharp, "Who is the other Jedi?"

Letta placed her hat beside her on the bunk, stroking its top with a look of pain, "If you protect me, I will tell you, because it's more than obvious to me that I… that we have been set up."

Ahsoka rubbed her eyes in frustration, "Letta, you have to tell me who is behind this. I can probably get you transferred to my protection, get you somewhere safe and secure. You can testify who helped you."

Letta sighed and deflated at realising she had to give up the name first, she nodded to herself as she made the decision, "It's…"

Suddenly she began to choke and rise up from the ground, her legs kicking for purchase as she grasped at her neck. It was as though invisible hands were wrapped around her windpipe, crushing it with an unyielding pressure. Letta's fingers scrabbled at her skin, searching for an attacker as confusion and fear warred in her eyes.

"Letta!" Ahsoka cried, raising her own hands in shock as if to ward off an attacker. Her eyes swept over the room, looking for the attacker, but there was no one.

In the end, Ahsoka was helpless as she watched the life being strangled out of Letta Turmond.

It lasted for seconds that crawled for an eternity. With a hollow gurgle and a sickening crunch of bone, Letta died.

Moments after the body struck the floor, the door slammed open and clone prison guards rushed into the cell.

"I don't know what happened." Ahsoka looked up at the guard commander, shock filling her eyes, "Check the security camera, I'm not sure what happened"

"Commander, she's dead." noted a clone trooper who was busy trying to check the corpse of Letta Turmond for life.

The commander sighed and motioned to his men, "Security footage will be investigated and we will get to the bottom of this. But, all the same, you're still under arrest for the suspected murder of Letta Turmond."

"I…" Ahsoka gaped in shock, "No, no. I did not do this!"

The figure stood waiting in hooded Jedi robes and a blank mask, the lighting low to hide details further. As a green light appeared on the console, the figure pressed a button to authorise the connection and watched as the blue image of the helmeted figure with the Jaig Eyes formed. Letting the signal solidify and encrypt, the robed figure nodded to the soldier, their voice modulated by the mask to remove any identifying detail, "Report."

"Missions three through six report complete success, missions one and two report failure, missions seven through nine are still running, but eight looks likely to fail. The rescue and recruitment was a partial success, we only got the primary VIP, the rest didn't make it. I am unsure as to how much they can discover from the wreckage of the station but we recovered all our dead. I regret to inform you that the commander died in the attack. The distraction on Eriadu was successful in application but was not reported in the news, they're keeping the incident quiet."

The hooded figure nodded, "Understood, bring your new asset up to speed and use them for the cause, inform them that you have our full support in this and we await their return to the Order on completion of the Primary Mission. Then begin the next phase."

The soldier made a note on his datapad. "We've lost a full strike team worth of men and a cache of gear in the other missions alone, the Vigiles were better than expected. We need more men and equipment Fulcrum."

The hooded and masked figure, Fulcrum, nodded, "I will organise a supply run, I'll send you an update as soon as I know where and when, keep everything."

Understanding the implied details, the soldier saluted, "For the Fallen."

Fulcrum simply nodded, "Indeed. May the Force be with you."

As the signal ended, Fulcrum waited a full minute before the security systems finished ensuring nothing had snuck past the firewalls. Removing her mask and hooded robe, Knight Olana Chion moved back into the chancellor's office.

She noted that the office only held them and that the new security was active. Kneeling before the Chancellor, she bowed her head and waited for his attention.

He smiled as he looked down at her, "Olana, what have you to report?"

She internally smiled at his pleased tone and use of her first name. "Stage One is complete, we acquired Madorin but no others. The commander was killed in action, but his replacement seems competent. They requested more supplies and troops, but that was expected."

He smiled at the report, here at least he had some good news. "Excellent, acquire them the required supplies from our agents within the Imperium's borders. Actually, set up a stockpile for later, just in case."

He felt her curiosity in the Force, "Anything else?"

Olana ducked her head slightly, "I have questions if I may?"

Palpatine looked at his bodyguard and weapon for a moment before waving her to speak.

"Why use the clones? Would it not be better to use your agents in the region? They appear fanatical in their hatred of Jade, I believe they will become barely controllable at the first chance they have of striking at him. Why use them?"

Palpatine responded immediately, no doubt or need to think about his response, "Precisely because they are fanatics. They are focused, well trained and dedicated to their cause, they have already been replaced on the front lines. They are all now noted as KIA or MIA in our records, so anything they do will be their own actions and business with no links to us. They are willing to die to complete the mission. They're a deniable asset with the potential to cripple, if not remove, a major threat to the Republic. I would rather use their strength against our mutual enemy than my own."

Olana frowned, "What if they fail and Jade has proof of their actions and who sent them?"

"Don't be so naïve," Palpatine smirked as he motioned to the robe and mask hanging in the side chamber, "as far as they are aware and can prove, the Jedi are supplying them, at worst, Republic Intelligence, but not directly us. They believe that the Jedi asked for assistance in supplying trusted and dependable men for a rescue mission behind enemy lines, I merely acted to introduce them, nothing more. Understand?"

Understanding did indeed fill the fallen Jedi's eyes as she nodded, "Yes Master. Allow our enemies to weaken each other and then defeat them with the minimum of effort."

Palpatine smiled, pleased at her rapid progress, "Indeed. We use their passions, their fear and hate to give us strength. That strength, in turn, gives us power and through power, victory over our enemies. For all your previous education, you have taken well to your new training."

Olana smiled as she nodded, accepting the rare praise, "It was a lesson I did not realise the Jedi taught me until you opened my eyes to the truth. They took me from my world without my agreement. The Guides were afraid of the future, it made them hate the Republic and the Jedi. The Jedi used that to defeat them and take me as their prize. I see it now, the hypocrisy of the Jedi. I ask only that I may show them the truth they so blind themselves to."

Palpatine chuckled as he stood up and walked past the kneeling minion towards his drinks table, placing his hand on her bowed head as he passed her, "You will do great things my apprentice, great things indeed."

Xora stared balefully over her desk as the information operative fidgeted nervously. The room was dimly lit, hiding her face from the man as he stood inside of a singular cone of light from above.

"Sector security reports that there have been over a dozen raids on border outposts over the last week." Xora said condescendingly, "all of them are supposed to be under your watch."

The officer muttered a nervous confirmation, but said nothing else.

"Are you mute or just terrified of the consequences of your failure?" questioned Xora. Before the man could formulate a response, she continued her verbal interrogation. "Don't answer that question. Just give me your report on the prison at Kronos."

"A complete loss of the site, no escape pods have been found." started the officer hesitantly, ignoring his prepared dossier in favour of memorized information, "We're still going through the wreckage trying to tally the dead, but the explosion of the stations reactor tore the place apart. We're tracking debris and bodies over a large area and it will take some time to get an accurate number."

Xora nodded as she reviewed the report and listened to the agent, "What do the black boxes of the station tell us?"

His arm twitched as if he wanted to checked a file on the pad, but decided against it. "Both known recording devices were destroyed in the explosion. There is no recoverable data."

"Both? As in two? What about the third and the datastore?"

He frowned in confusion before checking the pad and looking back to meet her eyes, "Ma'am? There was no third box."

Xora leant back into her seat. She stared at him for a good minute as the man wilted beneath her gaze of disapproval. Eventually she took mercy on him.

"Return to your quarters and await further orders."

The man blinked and saluted before leaving in confusion at what he had done wrong.

From the darkest corner, a figure lit a cigarette, the glow barely highlighting the feminine cut of the figures features. Silence filled the air as the person took a long drag before blowing it into the air.

"That knowledge is classified above his clearance level."

Xora frowned at her second in commands disgusting habit before quipping back. "That's no excuse, he was a candidate for heading the Back Door Project. He should have known better than to just presume and stop looking. What else did he miss?"

"As he said, the destruction was rather extensive with no survivors, they knew about the datastore, but they didn't know about the third black box. The store was 'unluckily' hit by some shrapnel and torn apart."

Xora's second in command paused for a moment, taking a drag of the cigarette and breathing deeply before continuing.

"The last record entered was thirty seven minutes before the arrival of the supply ship. The third black box was heavily damaged but mostly survived. It holds a more up to date record. We're still piecing together details but we recognise the culprits. We also know their target."

"Go on."

"We have a rather informed leak in our ranks, we're already looking to plug that leak. They didn't know about the third box, so that removes the upper ranks from direct investigation. The clones who attacked knew patrol patterns, routes, location, and times of the supply run. They passed as a prisoner transport and had all the passcodes, signs, and countersigns. They were aware of the location and state of their target. This was not something done on the fly, this took resources and preparation."

"You have yet to mention who they rescued," she lifted her datapad to show the list of prisoners in question, "the possible list is rather long."

"Jedi Master Madorin."

At Xora's hiss, she nodded, "Indeed, Madorin will quickly gain the loyalty of the clones and will happily join their crusade. The other Jedi present in the prison were much more advanced in their processing. Reports state that two had accepted our truth and three more were on the brink of joining us."

"What's the status of the other jedi?"

"All souls lost in the attack. There were also a dozen Vigiles assigned to the station. None of them survived either."

"That isn't good, not good at all. Assign another three teams to the hunt, Madorin is the priority here. Make sure this keeps quiet."

"You know that won't be an option. Madorin will soon make a public attack, just to ensure people know he's returned to his work. What will you tell the Emperor?"

"Everything. He needs to know, if only to prepare his security more."

A beep came from both her desk and the pocket of her second, opening the message, she raised an eyebrow before looking at the woman.

"Get me intel on the situation on Coruscant as quickly as possible whilst you're at it."

Ahsoka sat in the interrogation room, trying to not shiver from the frigid air on her skin. Alternatively, it could have been fear, she couldn't tell. Either way, she was miserable.

The cold metal of the walls were broken only by the reinforced door and she idly wondered at the lack of mirrored glass; it probably only existed in the holo's now-a-days but it was an interesting thought. Shackles on her wrists held her in an awkward position; hunched over due to the chair being bolted to the floor and the setup designed for grown adults, not almost adult teenage girls.

A cup of ice water was just outside of her reach, taunting her with its presence and tempting her to use the force. It had been there for the last hour, placed haphazardly on the table when she was locked into the interrogation room.

The room was so cold that the ice water had barely begun to melt.

With a pained sigh, Ahsoka reached for it with the force, calling out to bring it to her outstretched and waiting hand.

Just as it began to move, a bang of noise startled her and she watched in embarrassment as the glass sailed behind her to shatter against the wall.

Looking up she noticed the edge of a pleased smirk on the face of Admiral Tarkin as the guard closed the door behind him. With smooth steps, he reached the chair opposite her, gracefully taking the seat and placed Letta's hat on the table beside him, carefully turning it so that it faced Ahsoka as if accusing her.

He steepled his fingers before him as he stared at her for a moment, "Padawan Tano. It appears that you are once more in trouble."

"Admiral Tarkin," greeted Ahsoka with a wince at his cold tone. "I don't know what happened. I went in the room to talk to Letta, and she said she was afraid of a Jedi."

Tarkin waved a hand to motion her to stop talking, "You don't have to tell me anymore, Commander Tano."

"I don't?" Ahsoka blinked in surprise before she began to relax, relieved that they believed her.

"No. There are recorders in every room, constantly active." He pulled a holo display from a pocket and activated it, showing a clip of Letta's death. "Curiously, the sound isn't working on this one from the moment you entered the room to the point you left it. Luckily I am skilled in reading body language. Whilst you were surprised at the beginning, you turned confident and authoritative. Our unfortunate victim started aggressive and strong, but rapidly became submissive to you."

"And then there is the matter of this little trinket that we found on your clothing," Tarkin said with a cruel smoothness before he pulled a small device from his pocket and placed it before her. "According to our technicians, it disrupts local security systems with a form of white noise. It seems the Jedi that Letta was afraid of... was in fact you."

Ahsoka sat up as rigid as she could, indignant denial in her voice, "I did not kill that woman."

"You can lie to yourself, but don't lie to me." Tarkin retorted with a condescending smirk, "You were the only one there. You have unknown tech that counters surveillance and dismissed any witnesses who could overhear your conversation. I know that you were upset when this woman was taken into custody by the military. It likely disrupted your plots."

"A lot of Jedi were upset about it! I didn't bomb the Temple!"

"I beg to differ."

A begging tone entered her voice then in an attempt to get through to him, "It was someone else, Admiral, someone I didn't see. I am innocent, I'm being framed."

"You know that is very difficult for me to believe." He waved around the room, "This is a secure facility. We do not have just anyone running about. There was no-one who should not have been present. And if, by some miracle for you, there was someone else, why did you not sense them? Why did you not stop them?"

A slight beep caught his attention from his pad. "Hmm, no matter, we are done here. My investigation is already underway. You have nothing and no-one to support your claims. I do not expect this to take long. I would recommend preparing yourself for your trial."

As he stood he waved towards her burns, "A medic will see you shortly, there is no need to let your injuries worsen." He began to walk towards the door and gave her his parting shot, "After all, we are not savages."

Mon Mothma sipped at her wine as her brother took another bite of his pudding. She glanced around her favourite restaurant before focusing on the man opposite her.

"As much as I enjoy meeting up with you Mor, what do you want?"

"That was rather blunt for a politician Mon," Mor chuckled slightly at his sisters sarcastic tone. he finished wiping his lips with his napkin before he continued, "is my dear sister embarrassed at meeting her infamous brother in public? Afraid public ties to me will damage your position?"

Mon smirked, "No, I can spin this in my favour easily enough. What I want to know is what do you want? You never come to me and buy me dinner unless you want something from me. The fact that we are in my favourite restaurant just means that what you want isn't small and could potentially annoy me."

Mor's smirk matched his sisters before he nodded, "I need you to push a few matters for me. I'm looking at the major players in the galaxy at this moment, but things are not adding up. I need to clear a few points of interest and refine down the true threats to the republic."

"Let me guess, you can't tell me how many there are. What is in it for me?"

Mor leant back in his chair, "To quote someone I consider an equal, what do you want?"

"Whilst the flattery is appreciated, don't lie to me." Mon chuckled, tapping her lips in thought for a moment before smiling, "I heard on the grapevine that the esteemed Chancellor has recently upgraded his security. I would appreciate the plans for the adjustments."

Mor leant forward in actual interest, "Ambitious, dear sister, and very dangerous. Why ever would you want those?"

Mon smiled as she finished her wine, "Well, I will need to know about them for when I finalise plans to redecorate my future office."

Mor's cold laughter made those at nearby tables shiver in fear. "Mother would be proud."

AN:

To all the Guests: Thank you and I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Beanseh; Eap22; The Shadows Mistress; Stars90; Lazymanjones96; Beatshield; Alex2909; Bearmauls; D72; SSSra; Orion0905; DeathCrawler; WHCnelson; Alaskan Neko; Andrews31; . ; RCPMione; Crazed Alaskan King; Kossboss; Trey of the rebellion; LordRahl80; Drachenreiter1; Bluesnowman; William and Jack and Jake; Lamreal; Sithslayer69; B6076b6076; Ksecc1; Whiteabyss89; Fraewyn; Grovepjp; Mangahero18; Madlife; SalemTheSpeakerOfTruth; DocCBM; Mwinter1; Erbkaiser; l20; Idrinkstellaartois123; Pethrenne; Thyrann; Lordamnesia; Camp1500; Vanny98; Vanquest; Emperor; W Arcturus Black; Lusians; ElderLucian; AndrewWolfe; Prince Sheogorath; EP; LoveSpock: Thank you.

Starboy454: The new hand is less to corrupt Anakin directly, more to give him the tools to make certain choices more appealing.

Dezzal: I'm sorry you felt that way.

Leeart: Actually he has only known Xora for about a year and a bit at this point and yes, Xora will affect how Harry will see others on his return, but it's also the other way around as well. The end is closing, unfortunately for every step forward I take, more sections need to be written, but I'm getting there.

Nerfhearder69: You have no idea. Some of these characters keep running off with a life of their own sometimes…

Calebros: Actually no, it was something from Lord of War originally, but it didn't work too well so it got changed in the beta process.

Blackholelord: Almost but not quite there with your prediction, Luckily I had already written that relevant scene many months ago, it was actually one of the first ones I wrote.

Fist of Fury: Admiral Trench is a Harch and they are indeed a descendant of the Acromantulas, at least in my story they are :)

Innoxious: Thank you for your review, I'm sorry that you didn't like the characterisation at the start. It is my first major story, so hopefully my writing and characters have improved over the chapters as things have progressed. Perhaps it would have worked much better if I had covered the period of his initial training by Dooku, but I time skipped over a lot of that. And yes, were the Hermione he knew to discover what Harry has done, she would be disgusted with him.

Watcher123: Thank you and I hope I answered your questions.

PwnerofHeroes: Yoda is known as very powerful, yet he has focused on more non combat fields of abilities, he is also unwilling to use much of what he knows. Sidious in my story has less power but knows lots of nasty stuff and is willing to use anything that helps him. Raw power is not the deciding factor in a conflict, its more what and how you use it. Hermione is noted as using magic far in advance of what she should be doing, the only things that give her problems are those magics bound to emotions, so in my story she's in the upper tiers but holds herself back in certain fields. As for the Wookie v Trandoshans, I was unaware of that detail.

Noxemrom: All I will say is soon. We're in the last stretch for the star wars period.

Aidansidhe: Thank you. Hondo Ohnaka works for Xora as do many others, but the vast majority work for her without Oaths, Hondo is one of the free ones. There are about five or six Oathbound Captains amongst the hundreds if not thousands in the galaxy. Harry has been too busy to bind everyone to her, plus their new jobs makes that even harder to do. Xora simply uses money and violence to bind her minions to her cause.