AN: This was betaed by PsyckoSama on the Space Battles forums! Thank you for the splendid work!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with commercial aim. I make no money from it.
Phase 16: The Future of the Order
=RK=
Part 2
Lower Levels
Jedi Temple
Coruscant
It didn't look like much. Just a plain metal door, one among many, in a long, dusty corridor.
She took a deep breath, tasting heavy, stale air. Her body tingled in anticipation.
The woman wiped the dust and grime covering a panel on the wall, next to the door and started typing a long sequence of numbers. It took her thirty seconds to enter the whole code.
Then she paused, waited for a five seconds and did so again.
To an impartial observer, her actions might have looked pointless. After all, the panel appeared to be out of power, dead like everything in the deep warrens under the Jedi Temple. After all, this part of the maze under the Jedi's home had been cut off from the power grid for a long, long time.
However, her actions were rewarded by a mechanical clicking, which came from the door. It slid in the walls, revealing a short corridor, which was lit by a soft blue light.
The infiltrator, stepped in and waited for the door to close behind her. Moment later, she heard quiet buzzing and actually felt the beams of ancient scanners mapping up the depths of her body.
A quiet ping latter, and the machines concentrated their attention on her head.
The buzzing grew louder. She felt a tingling sensation within her cranium, where one of her implants came to life. A blinding lance of power slammed in her head. An ancient computer up-linked with her implants. It touched her mind, probing, watching. Judging.
For an endless moment, she felt like ice picks were stabbing her brain. She stumbled, almost falling.
She knew if it found her lacking, her life was forfeit. If the security system had been set up by ordinary Jedi, she might have hopped for non lethal protections in place, but she knew better. That place had been created by the Old Republic's Special Operations Command and the some Jedi who weren't afraid to get their hands dirty when it was needed. And that place's contents needed protection.
The machines around her chimed in content, almost as if the AI was happy.
After all those countless years, it finally had purpose!
The presence of the Old Republic AI became a soft buzz in the back of her head. Her codes and implant signatures checked up, matching what was stored in three thousand and six hundred years old data banks.
The door in front of her slowly opened with a quiet grinding noise.
The infiltrator looked at the large room that was revealed to her and smiled. Her prize was at hand.
=RK=
Communications Tower
Jedi Temple
Coruscant
This anger he felt. It brought comfort.
Obi-Wan knew it was wrong.
It shrouded his senses, numbing the pain of seeing one of his friends cut down in front of his eyes. Feeling Korlen die, drove him even closer to the breaking point. Another friend lost due to this senseless war.
For a first time since Qui-Gion's death, Kenobi lost his calm. Again. hate tried to worm its way within his heart, but this time, it succeeded.
If it wasn't for this second attack on the Temple in little more than a month, Obi-Wan would have remained in control, the Model Jedi Master.
Instead, he was betrayed by his own feelings.
Anger and hate surged through Obi-Wan's being and he fell on his chosen target as a rabid Krath hound. The assassin was caught off guard by the ferocity of the onslaught.
The infiltrator fell back in a desperate attempt to avoid the savage bite of Kenobi's azure blade. He took a defensive stance parrying the furious attacks raining all over him.
The surprise almost did him in. He was facing a Jedi Master. They weren't supposed to attack in a berzerker rage!
For Kenobi, that moment was a solitary slip in judgment, one that would have... interesting consequences down the line. He had to draw on all of his experience, years of training, and sheer willpower to pull himself out of that maddened state.
The sudden outburst of fury tampered off, but the anger was still there. The events of the past weeks were of sufficient gravity that his outage was too great to silence. Instead, his burning rage was tempered into a frozen spear of determination by a force of will that only a Master Jedi could accomplish.
Obi-Wan took a brief moment to focus himself. He lost some of the momentum his outburst had gained him, but that was a small price to pay in comparison. One that Kenobi would pay gladly.
He regained some of his control, yet this time the anger he felt, refused to be banished. All he could do was to clamp down on this emotion, prevent it from distracting him in the heat of combat.
Nevertheless, the anger effected him. While Kenobi fought it on one level, on another, deep within his subconsciousness, the Jedi used it. It made him faster, stronger. It gave Obi-Wan a killer instinct he usually lacked, no matter who or what he faced.
=RK=
Anakin glared at the man who faced him, his own anger burning in his belly like a furnace, but not yet to the point where it overcame his good sense.
'This is The Jedi Temple, not a kirffing Sith playground!' he silently fumed.
Skywalker bit off a snarl and went on the offensive.
This madness had to end!
He was angry that these bastards would date to attack his home. Furious that they dared murder his brothers and sisters. And frustrated that he seemed completely unable to stop them
So he reached down into that pit of fury sitting in his belly and seized it. Harnessed it, and shook as a he felt the passion surge through his body.
=RK=
Near the Archives
Jedi Temple
Coruscant
Something was terribly wrong. I could feel it in my bones.
It went beyond the irritating woman we were facing, but she was the immediate threat. I knew that the warning within the Force wasn't something that should be disregarded, though we needed to deal with her before I could investigate what my instincts were telling me.
But that was proving out to be somewhat troublesome.
The obnoxious woman we were facing was a different type of threat. She wasn't skilled enough with a lightsaber to pose a significant threat to either one of us, much less both of us. The main problem was that whatever she used to cloak herself from the Force, removed one of our main advantages. Sith and Jedi both, we depended a lot on anticipating our opponents through the Force.
But even that, wasn't enough to completely explain it.
Doing so could be extremely useful, at times, but it came at a steep cost. An artifact could hide your signature, the proper techniques could conceal it, but drawing on the Force in that state was like turning on a light while hidden in the shadows. The moment you used your powers the veal would drop.
While often forgotten in the face of our more obvious abilities, one of the things that truly separated Force Adepts from the common throng was our ability to enhance ourselves. Even a Jedi Youngling could boost their strength and reflexes to a point that could challenge even a seasoned warrior.
Shaak Ti was a Jedi Master, one of the best the Order had. Her skill was admirable, even to someone from my era, and I was a kriffing Sith Lord, with all the power and ability that such a title implied.
This woman should have been limited to human physical norms, yet she was matching us blow for blow. What she was doing should have been physically impossible.
To make everything more irritating for me, there was the nagging feeling that she was somehow familiar. While I could swear that I had never laid my eyes upon her, somehow I knew her. It was maddening.
"Veil, have you faced someone like her before?" Shaak Ti asked a moment after ducking under a lighting fast swipe and riposting only to meet air as the infiltrator jumped back, avoiding my attempt to remove her sword hand.
It was a good question.
"I'm not sure..." I muttered.
I propelled myself forward, using the Force. My blade crashed into the infiltrator's stolen saber a moment before I slammed into her.
I was a head taller, twice her mass, and not to mention in heavy armor. The collision should have thrown her off her feet, sending her dazzled to the ground. The first did happen. She flew couple of meters back, before rolling at a low crouch. As she glared at me and her eyes shone with soft blue light.
A smile came to my face as the situation finally made itself clear. I stretched my neck, letting the bones pop quietly for effect.
"Ah. It's been a while since I faced something like you. Pray tell, how much are you enhanced?" I asked.
=RK=
GAR Detention Center SIGMA
Classified Location
Coruscant
The masked mercenary leading the raid grunted in displeasure. There was almost no resistance while he led the troops under his command into storming one of the better defended facilities on Coruscant.
Just as expected. Most of the building were on lock down, cutting off the defense forces stationed within the detention center from his path.
When all was said and done, he had to face a short company of clone troopers. Piecemeal.
If he'd had to take them head on, he'd have never taken the job. But with the aid of benefactor and the agents he had within the Republic, a suicidal assault had been transformed into a cake walk.
Enough that he felt a pang of disappointment. While he might be a merc, and this was easy money, he still wanted a bit more of a challenge, kriff it all! Damn Sith and their schemes!
Still, he reflected as he blew the head off yet another clone, killing all of these cut rate Mandalorian knockoffs was still quite cathartic
The conclusion of his primary objective was underwhelming. A bunch of shaped charges blew the doors leading to their target. They were followed by a spread smoke and fragmentation grenades, with couple of Thermal Detonators for effect, which left the last defenders easy prey for few well aimed burst of fire.
The last squad of clones trying to stop him never knew what hit them.
A hacked door later and he entered a small cell, dominated by delicate life support machinery, surrounding a large cylinder filled with clear liquid. Inside he could see a few pathetic bits of meat and one glaring eye.
Behold the great and mighty General Grievous in all his terrible glory!
This was all waste of time, if you asked him.
"Pack this cretin and lets go, before the Republic drop a regiment or something on our heads!" grumbled Durge.
"Roger, sir!" answered one of the soldiers aiding in the jail break.
=RK=
Kelins
Outer Rim
Bolla Ropal steeled himself in the face on the oncoming assault.
"This is a first." he muttered.
Facing assailants who were apparently non-existent in the Force was a new experience for the Jedi Master. Under different circumstances, he might have found it fascinating.
But not now. Not only his life was on the line, but that of the Force sensitive kid he had come to recruit.
"I gather that just going on our separate ways isn't an option?" Bolla inquired calmly, and fell in a Soresu stance, waiting them to act.
The cloaked men ignored his words and charged.
The Rodian met their onslaught without flinching. He parried a slash aimed at his head, sidestepped an overenthusiastic lunge and jumped over a swipe which tried to cut off his legs, only to receive a kick in the ribs for his trouble.
Bolla was caught mid air by the strike and it sent him crashing on the ground. He wasted no time and rolled away, barely avoiding one of his attackers, who jumped at him and nearly impaled him with his blade.
Ropal sent a Force wave at his attackers before jumping to his feet. To his unpleasant surprise it only staggered them for a brief moment. But at least it allowed him to regain a bit of the initiative in the fight.
He ran away, in an attempt to get some distance between himself and the strangers trying to kill him. From the brief encounter it was painfully clear to him that facing them all together was a losing proposition.
Bolla sprinted to the nearest house and jumped to its roof. A moment after he landed, the Jedi turned around and his blade was singing through the air.
He caught the fastest of his pursuers off guard and cut through the chest of the cloaked man, sending him back over the edge to crash on the ground, meters below them.
The remaining assassins moved as one, jumping together after their prey.
=RK=
Lower Levels
Jedi Temple
Coruscant
She smiled. The large room was full with tables and shelves, each one of which was covered by artifacts from the Great War. Any one of them alone would be a great prize, yet she didn't spare them a second glance.
Those trinkets, no matter how dangerous and useful, paled in comparison to her goal. At the far wall of the room, behind a solid wall of warship grade armor laid her targets.
She went to a lit up terminal, which was near the goal and started typing, all the while the AI protecting the small sanctuary under the Jedi Temple watched her with ill disguised curiosity.
It took her minutes of manually inputting codes which no living being should have remembered after all those years, before she heard a series of mechanical clicks. The room rumbled and sections of the nearest wall slid down, revealing another room, much smaller this time.
The infiltrator smile grew and she walked into the computer core of the AI. She retrieved a datapad from her belt and hooked it to the ancient machine.
Moment's later a chime rang in announcing that the new device was recognized and connected to the core.
"Copy all information to projects under Case Red and above." she ordered aloud, while sending a mental command through her implants.
The AI hesitated for a split second and obeyed. The woman had the necessary codes and had followed the procedures hardwired in its computer core.
Meanwhile, the woman walked to the back of the room. Her next prize waited there.
A pitch black cube, with a meter long sides. A cylinder made by transparent metal in which a gray humanoid droid was suspended into a stasis field. A pedestal with a single silver Holocron.
That was it. She frowned. There was supposed to be something else there too!
"Computer. Where is Subject 'Ascension'? "she asked.
"It was removed three thousand six hundred eighty eight years ago." answered a bland, emotionless voice.
"To where?"
"No data available."
"Damn it!" she cursed, though three out of four should be good enough.
The woman removed a star-burst shaped necklace from her neck and concentrated on the Force. She reached with her right hand and the Holocron rose in the air. It started shifting under her directions until it revealed an emerald which was in its heart.
The crystal flew to her outstretched hand, while the Holocron returned to its previous shape and gently laid back to its resting place.
The infiltrator pocketed her prize and went to the cube.
She started pressing various points on it, apparently at random, while sending brief bursts of Force energy through her fingers.
Soon enough, it rang with a single note. A pulse of silver energy ran all over it's surface and it started shifting. It's outer edges became blurs, leaving an impression that the object now existed in more dimensions than a human could perceive.
A quiet hum could be heard in the computer core. It was slowly becoming louder.
"It actually worked!" she exclaimed.
She could feel how the object was drawing in Force energy to power itself.
Moments later, she could feel a confirmation from the AI that the data transfer was complete.
"Erase all logs concerning my presence here and delete the data concerning projects under Case Red and above from your data banks." she ordered after retrieving her data pad.
It was time to make herself scarce. Her job was done and the device she activated should deal with any physical backups of the information that remained. Or so she thought.
She left without sparing a second glance to the room containing the AI's computer core. So it was no surprise that when the former cube started sending electrical discharges all around itself, it went unnoticed.
One of those lightning bolts struck the pod containing the droid and disrupted the stasis field.