36BBY Javin

I stand at the entrance of the Governor's mansion, waiting patiently for the Jedi reinforcements to arrive. Am I nervous? I think I'm nervous; I wasn't sure what to expect when I got the message from the Temple.

Oh it's great that they said there was a Jedi Master close enough to come and offer assistance, and she'll be right on by. Great and what's the name of this wonderful Jedi Master who's come to offer assistance? Why, it's a simple name, Fay. See, just three letters.

Holy Shit! Fay was no lie, one of the icons among all of us younglings growing up. She almost never came to the Temple, but we all heard of her exploits nonetheless. She supposedly didn't think it her destiny to be a teacher, but I'm positive half the younglings dreamed that they could be her student.

It's like meeting your hero; they likely don't even know you exist but still! She doesn't carry a lightsaber though, so that is a bit concerning. But nevertheless! She is one of the strongest Jedi Masters of the time. She's almost as old as Master Yoda.

I can see her coming down the street! Well, I felt her land, how can I not? She''s a bright spot in the Force. It's like seeing a tornado of power walking towards you. I am not prepared for this.

Bruck walks up behind me, not really understanding why I'm excited, but even he can sense the strong presence in the Force. Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell him that I called for some help.

His trip to the Perseverance was successful. There was a YT-1300 on the Sensor data that wasn't on the data they initially sent. There's a rat somewhere on that ship. My guess is Captain Tahlee, but there's no proof of who edited the data. That said, the sensor data says the YT-1300 landed in Bay 21. Except there's no ship in that bay, and no YT-1300 in any of the others.

So the Assassin got here several hours before us and landed someplace else. Captain Daneb says that there are dozens of places the ship could have landed, both private and corporate. She's managed to divert three guards and a single landspeeder to go between these landing zones to look for the ship. It's almost nothing, but she can't afford to spare anything else.

"So, what's the deal? What are we waiting for? Captain Daneb's guardsmen aren't going to find the assassin's ship that quickly." He looks down the road and spots Fay approaching.

"Who's that, you called in another Jedi?" There's a hint of anxiety, and I nod, pointing to Fay.

"Master Fay is coming here, she was the closest Jedi and answered the call. I'd say this is as good as done." I'm not even worried anymore. She's strong enough on her own. We are safe.

Ehruss, standing behind me, follows my gaze to the approaching Master Fay. She tilts her head and sniffs at the air.

"She smells odd, a thousand worlds mixed together." Huh, she can tell the different scents apart by world? Or maybe she's just being poetic.

"She's centuries old, I imagine she's been from one end of the galaxy to another." Ehruss turns her head to face me, looking for any hint of dishonesty, before turning back to Fay.

"Ah, a respected Elder then, wise and authoritative." Ah right, Trandoshans have shorter lifespans than most species. The older Trandoshans are venerated for living as long as they do.

"Yes, she's very wise and very well respected, both of you need to be on your best behavior." I'm sure neither of them will cause a problem . I'm just a little anxious. I've actually wanted to work with Master Fay for a long time. She doesn't consider herself a teacher, so there's nothing she'll teach me. I just really want to work with her.

Master Fay finally makes it to the complex, and I step forward to greet her. I stop at a respectful distance and bow before her.

"Master Fay, thank you for coming to Javin." Gosh she's pretty. Master Fay returns the short bow before speaking.

"I was the closest Jedi, you mentioned a Seyugi Dervish. I have not seen one of their kind in many decades." So she's fought them before? Of course she has, the Order spent a lot of time rooting them out.

"I imagine she's probably one of the last still operational in the Outer Rim, either that or more survived than were initially thought." I mean, millions of planets across the galaxy. It's entirely probable that some of them went undetected.

"Maybe, regardless we'll stop her assassination attempt. What have you learned so far?" We step inside the walled complex, crowds just beginning to form on the streets: protesters and counter-protesters.

There have been several demonstrations since I got here. The first got violent before I stepped in. Once they realized there was a Jedi on the planet, things calmed down somewhat, but I'm sure that just means they've moved their more violent confrontations to back-alleys and other out of the way places.

"The Governor believes that Lieutenant Governor Sihin is behind hiring the assassin, but Captain Daneb is less sure. Regardless, we know that someone on the PDF command ship is working to hide the assassin. She's on the planet, we just don't know where." Fay nods and takes the datastick I hand her. It's got a copy of the sensor data from the Perseverance.

"I assume the Governor has soldiers looking for the ship?" I nod, and she pockets the datastick for later.

"Not many though, they can't afford to spare too many guards. Tensions are high and with the summit tomorrow it's all about to get worse." An assassination of the planetary governor in the middle of a summit with a populace this polarized would cause havoc.

"Then that is the time when the assassin is most likely to strike. If not then she will have broken her contract." Normally I imagine most assassins would decide to bow out by this point, but a Seyugi Dervish? I expect we'll see her tonight or tomorrow, if we see her at all.

"In that case, I say we spend the day helping the guard find the Assassin's ship. Your companions can stay behind to protect the Governor. They'll signal us if an attack takes place." Alright then, I nod to both Ehruss and Bruck who make their way back inside the mansion.

Fay and I head for the motor pool. There's a speeder there we can take. The guards and staff know me, and Fay by association, so it isn't hard to grab an available speeder and take off into the city. Fay is driving while I look over a map of Jekar.

So, Captain Daneb gave me a list of the known private and corporate landing pads around the city. Apparently having one requires registration with the government, yay for bureaucracy. Her guardsmen have hit most of the private landing pads, generally used by the planetary elite. The corporate pads are a bit more spread out, owned by dozens of companies that have assets here.

I'm also an idiot. I can see through walls. So we just have to drive by the landing pads, look to see if there's a YT-1300 and move on if not. That makes our search a lot easier, though there are still well over a hundred pads.

"I can feel your anxiety, what's wrong?" I glance over at Master Fay, she hasn't looked at me, but I can feel her attention on me. Am I anxious? I suppose there's a degree of anxiety here. This is my first 'mission' without Master Tavik around. I've done some smaller stuff before now, but nothing this important.

"I guess, I was just knighted two months ago. I've been wandering the Outer Rim since, but I haven't done anything this big on my own yet, aside from you of course. My former Master isn't here this time." I guess it's just finally setting in that I'm on my own, making my own decisions now.

"Ah, I remember my first assignment after becoming a Knight. Don't worry, once you realize that it's not so different from your padawan days, things become easier to bear." I guess. It's still hard to resist looking to him for advice on what to do next. He's back at the Temple, and I'm out here now.

"So, Master Fay, you've been wandering the galaxy for centuries right? Any advice for a knight trying to do something similar?" Granted, not completely like you. I still intend to take a padawan someday, and I've no problem returning to the Temple to catch up with friends and take official assignments from the Council. She considers the question for a moment.

"Follow the Force, that's all I can really suggest. It's what I do. Quiet your mind and listen, you'll find the Force guiding you where it wills you." Huh, well ask a simple question, get a simple answer? So what, just meditate in front of the nav computer and punch in the coordinates that come to you?

"If you say so, Master Fay. So, you've fought the Dervishes before? Any advice on ways to fight them?" Because my last fight was going fine until I got kicked in the face.

"It depends, some of them are stronger in the Force than others. The weak ones you can just send flying with the Force, but the stronger ones can usually resist. You'll want to force them into somewhere narrow, prevent them from using their mobility." So an open landing zone is a bad place to fight someone agile, got it.

Huh that means if I can fight her in the governor's mansion I'll do a lot better probably. Okay, good to know. Next time, I am going to kick her ass so hard.

We hit at least a dozen landing pads and find exactly nothing. Plenty of Action VI's and some YT-510's and YT-1250's but not a YT-1300 to be found. Only like ninety pads before we've covered them all.

"Do you think they even landed in the city? They could have found a place to land outside the city and just settled down there?" Fay shakes her head, turning the speeder down a side street.

"It's possible but unlikely, an orbital scan would reveal them immediately. They could have some netting to disguise themselves but that's speculation. If they did though, then there's no finding them for now. Focus on the Force, answers could be found there." I nod and sink into the Force, spreading my focus outwards and searching for the ship, for the assassin.

It's difficult though. All around me is this sense of foreboding, fear, violence, and anger. Any one of these could be the assassin. It's not the Dark Side necessarily, but it is the combined fear, unease, and anger in the population itself.

I can't sense anything else. It's like trying to read while blaring music is playing in your ears; you can't focus on the words.

"Nothing, at least nothing related to the assassin. The political tension here has left the people so in turmoil, I can't feel anything but their fear." Fay frowns and turns the speeder around a corner.

"That's unfortunate, we might have to let her make her attempt then. If she's smart then she'll hide herself in the city and use this turmoil to hide herself from us." Yeah, there's not a lot we can do on that end.

"Alright then, we'll continue searching till nightfall and return to the mansion. If we don't find her before, then we'll just have to wait till the summit itself." I nod, and we continue into the city.

We search the streets of Jekar for hours, going from one end of the city to another. We drive by pad after pad, some empty but most filled with ships. None of them a YT-1300. The fruitlessness of our efforts is frustrating, but I rein it in. This isn't a situation that favors us, but we're doing the best we can with our disadvantages.

Bruck and Ehruss check in occasionally to report an the all clear back at the mansion. The staff there are all busy with preparing for the summit, apparently it's been changed at the last minute to be at the Governor's mansion instead of the Congressional building. I would imagine it's because the Governor's mansion has better defenses? Though from what Bruck tells me, people aren't happy about the sudden change. Color me surprised.

As we approach the governor's mansion, Fay is forced to slow down. There's a crowd of protesters and counter protesters in front of the mansion blocking our path. I can see a ring of guards keeping them separated, and when they see us, they start pushing the crowd back to clear a path.

It seems the crowd has noticed us now, and as we move towards the entrance I can hear them yelling. They're not really that happy to see us. There's a variety of slurs, some creative, some not. We're called sorcerers, kidnappers, brainwashers and more. Some of them are just chanting slogans and phrases.

Fay is silent through it all, moving steadily towards the gate. The Force screams danger, and I stop the projectile thrown our way. The rock floats in the air for a moment before I let it fall harmlessly to the ground, more rocks come at us.

Neither of us have any issue repelling the rocks harmlessly. However, each failed attempt only spurs on the protesters, and it's something of a relief to enter the gate and hear it close behind us. Fay moves the speeder into the motor pool and gets out silently. I do likewise and join her by the speeder.

"First time getting boo'd at?" I turn to Fay and shrug. Yeah, but I knew the Jedi had a bad reputation in certain places. It's just weird going from being generally respected to being hated. I'm used to criminals hating me, not civilians, I can understand their reasoning though.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it though. They're angry, at us, their government, their situation. The Outer Rim is safer in some ways, and yet still dangerous in others." Fay heads towards the mansion, and I follow her.

"Master Jedi! A moment, Master Jedi!" We both stop as an older human male heads across the complex towards us. Who's this? I haven't seen him before. He's tall, bearing a military demeanor with a neatly trimmed mustache.

"Master Jedi, Lieutenant Governor Sihin, I apologize for not greeting you earlier. My work has been piling up with the recent summit and I could not get out of the office." He extends his hand to shake, and we both take turns shaking his hand. So this is Kaarl Sihin? Honestly, I was expecting something different.

"Lieutenant Governor Sihin, a pleasure to meet you. I am Jedi Knight Viera Sarat, my companion is Jedi Master Fay." He looks between the two of us and gives a short bow.

"A pleasure indeed, Master Jedi. I heard you were here investigating an assassin and came to promise whatever support I can for the investigation. Assassin's are a cowardly and devious lot, and Javin will be much better without them." Fay glances at me briefly before turning to Sihin.

"We will happily accept your aid Mr. Sihin, but tell me, how much do you trust Javin's planetary defense force?" Sihin turns to her with a frown.

"Why, with my very life! I served on the defense force for many years in my youth. They are Javin's pride and joy. Our defense force is more than adequate to protect Javin." Okay, Daneb was right, he is a patriot.

"Really? Cause someone up on the Perseverance edited yesterday's sensor data to hide the assassin's ship. We don't know who though?" Sihin looks at me for a moment, trying to find any dishonesty, and finding none he flares.

"Why, you just point me in the direction of this traitor, I'll have him facing a military tribunal before he can blink! The nerve of someone, betraying their own homeworld, I would see this traitor found. Sadly there will be no time to find them before the summit but mark my words I will be lighting fires until I find this scum." He… seems to be telling the truth. His anger is genuine to be sure.

"Of course sir, until then, Master Fay and I will be doing our best to protect the summit, I trust that we can expect full cooperation for the duration of this investigation?" He nods and gives us both a short bow.

"You will have my utmost support, I have long respected the effort the Jedi Order has put into keeping peace in the galaxy. That the galaxy is still so chaotic is a testament to the size of the galaxy, not to the failure of the Jedi themselves." He wishes us both well and excuses himself to do his duties.

Fay and I look between each other as he departs. Well, I had really hoped he would be a slimy corrupt bureaucrat that could easily be made out as the enemy in this.

"Well, I'm less convinced of Sihin's guilt than I was before." Fay nods as we turn to head back inside.

"Indeed, but remain cautious. He could be hiding his true intentions, but trust the Force." I nod and open the door for her.

"We'll need to prepare for the summit with Captain Daneb now. Get a feel for the layout of the mansion and plan possible approaches." Fay nods, and we step inside to get to work.

We've got plenty to do before tomorrow.