Waves of light streamed, filtering through the lower streets first, then climbed steadily higher, rapidly becoming a tide of gold rays rising to shine upon the capital.
The lively rays of light danced over tall apartments, the Galaxies Opera House, the Grand Convocation Chamber, and newly built med-centers. It stretched beyond 500 Republica, and leapt up the walls of the Chancellor's private residence.
Even the rooftops gilded with the day's light. The shadows were gone, swarming up the highest points of the of the tall apartments, of the rich estates in 500 Republica, and it even retreated to the spires of the Jedi Temple in a search for escape.
On nights more than ten billion standard years earlier, before the rise of any sentient beings in the galaxy, sunset would have meant darkness and cold. Moons and the distant burn of the stars would keep things level, but some areas back then were absolute darkness.
But, not now.
Even during the multitude of galactic wars that raged through the galaxy in the hundreds of thousands of years since sentient beings rose and fell, Coruscant had always remained the blazing heart of the greatest civilization in the history of the galaxy.
Windu gripped a piece of his robe in between his clenched fingers, squinting into the wind. His hood shaded his eyes against the glare from the high noon sun, a ray of gold stretching into bands of crimson to approach the planet's horizon.
As the Jedi shuttle swung toward one of the many Temple's landing platforms in the hangar, Yoda watched Windu stare out into the horizon. Windu radiated suspicion and anger so powerfully in the force that Yoda had to flatten his ears so he could block out the harsh thunder of the emotions.
Yoda closed his eyes, and sighed softly. He had entirely too good of an idea what was running through his former Padawan's mind.
When the shuttle touched down, Windu looked at Yoda with a less than noticeable side glance. The diminutive Master made a nearly invisible gesture, to which Windu did not visibly respond to. They debarked toward the crowd of Jedi.
Windu glanced around his surroundings, taking in the monolith that was the Jedi Temple. Yoda stopped short of the welcoming group, turning his eyes back on Windu.
"Still on your mind, is that?"
"I haven't thought of anything else." Windu said, showing his usual grim expression. "We'll brief the Council."
"For that, wait we will. To the Masters and Anakin, we must go. Relay our findings we must, just as they relay their own to us."
"This shouldn't be a formal report or even one that goes on the books. Besides-"
Yoda nodded toward the groups of children clogging the entrance way. Their energy was so abundant, Yoda guessed they must have gotten a sugar high through some means. Master Maruk and Master Xan stood tall above the youngsters, staring at their two superiors with patient, but expectant gazes.
"Careful we must be. Even our youngest initiates, will not be spared from harm."
Windu looked pained and angered. "I would never do anything to jeopardize their lives."
"...Hmmmm, still...In most danger, I believe our young are." Yoda said, a deep frown on his face.
"Maybe we can piece this puzzle together when we hear the reports, Master Yoda. The Chancellor's goal in this whole thing is unclear to me."
"Right you are, more pieces to the puzzle we need, and one important piece. Chancellor Palpatine is weary, like all of us. Thinking from a political standpoint, he is. With no Jedi and no Sith, the ways of the force remain a mystery, and no one, interested would they be. Only enemies, then, would be greedy, unconcerned about light or dark."
Windu shook his head, eyes narrowing. "The Jedi cannot be disbanded or dissolved, Master. We've safeguarded the Republic for over twenty thousand years. We have dedicated our lives to the Senate and the Republic."
"And, many times, have the Jedi faced persecutions, purges, and defections. Absolute, we are not, and even less powerful, and less all knowing, are the Jedi. But, only once have the Jedi been stripped of their autonomy, the Ruusan Reformations, I speak of."
Windu could only look down at Yoda, brow furrowing more and more with each word spoken.
"What is our plan then?"
Yoda looked into the horizon, his ears flattening until they were pointed sideways. "Our focus, the Sith trained by Sidious and Count Dooku. Our focus, Sidious, the one who orchestrated all of this, hm. He is our focus."
Windu nodded, expression remaining grim. "We go on a hunt and have no back up or support from our Troopers?"
"Our duty it is, to vanquish the Sith. Troopers, and outsiders, cannot interfere nor take down, a lord of darkness. Our duty, we will fulfill."
"And, what of us, Master Yoda?"
Yoda closed his eyes, sighing softly. "Let go, we must. Even Jedi, fall prey to power hording they do. Dangerous, it is, to covet power. Letting go of all things, even power, even autonomy, our identity, yes, it's our duty as Jedi."
"Even if it means the Jedi stop existing?"
"Allow to enter one's life, allow to exit one's life." Yoda said, repeating a basic lesson.
The Clone Wars dispersed Jedi throughout the galaxy and to the farthest reaches of known space, leaving only a few senior Jedi in the Temple at any time. Yoda, as Grand Master of the Order and military adviser to the Chancellor, was always on Coruscant.
But, several others were with him to hear Master Maruk's story in the cafeteria. Jai Maruk's close friend Master Ilena Xan, nicknamed Iron Hand for her ability to disarm any weapon, from any type of foe, and halt any attack with any weapon.
Master Xan taught hand to hand combat, and her specialty was joint locks.
"Grateful I am, you thought ahead. Interesting reports, these are. Master Mallie and Master Kento, warm feelings I have, seeing you both alive and well." Yoda nodded to the two Masters, gently taking the holo-recorder in his three fingered hand.
"Thank you, Master." Mallie said, tone soft.
Kento simply bowed.
"No need to waste time or have Master Kento and Master Mallie waste breath going over things again in such detail. A holo-recording will more than suffice for their reports." Cadus told Yoda, nodding a little.
"I disagree." Windu said, tone hard. "It should have been face to face, not through a holo-recorder."
"You would guess you were three thousand years older than Master Yoda the way you are griping right now, Master Windu." Cadus remarked.
"Master Jai, can you please start?" Anakin asked, looking to the senior Jedi.
He could feel a storm brewing between Cadus and Windu, and Anakin would much prefer it if the report was finished before these two collided head on.
"We were running recon in the Outer Rim." Jai said.
"Where?" Shaak Ti asked.
"In the area of the Hydian Way just beyond Toprawa. Fleets were coming, and going, swarms leading through the Wayland region and the Ziost region. It's nothing out of the ordinary. The CIS and Republic have the whole region locked down from Taris all the way to Mytus VII, because of intense battles, the crisis on Vjun, and the attack on Serenno...But, these fleets were coming in from strange coordinates."
"Strange how?" Obi Wan asked, brow creasing.
"Deep space vectors, not local traffic from the Inner Rim, Colonies, or Mid Rim. Unstable hyperlanes that are beyond out of the way."
"Again with these deep space vectors..." Mallie muttered to herself, brow furrowing.
It was something worth checking out, something just didn't feel right about the whole thing. So, I dressed up one of my clone cruisers as a trader and smuggling vessel, even added different colors. I sent it to intercept."
"You didn't go with?" Anakin asked, almost in disbelief.
Kento and Mallie fought with their troops to the very end and didn't send them to a demise.
Coward. Anakin held back the rebuke, biting his tongue and bottom lip hard. Coward, leaving your troops like that.
Jai shook his head.
"No. I couldn't risk it. Turns out we are not wanted in that area of space. The whole fleet began to open up, and billions of fighters came out of those Dreadnaughts. They destroyed the cruiser in mere seconds, and then some of their larger frigates jumped to hyperspace."
Yoda's wrinkled brow rose. "A Krayt Dragon, in wait, it was..."
"Exactly." Jai glanced down at his torso and limbs. Long char marks were burned across his palms, arms, and shoulders.
Talisibeth came into the room with a pitcher of ice water and some glasses on a tray. Aola was right behind her with a tray of food. Talisibeth bowed, as she placed the water and cups on the table. Aola bowed a little as she set the tray of food in front of Cadus.
"Thank you Aola. Thank you Talisibeth." Cadus nodded to the young girls, digging in without hesitation.
Master Xan poured the ice water into cups and gave it to the Jedi around her.
Even Yoda gently took a cup and had a sip of the cool liquid.
Jai stared at his burned palm, forced it to keep strong against the glass, and drank the cool liquid with some vigor.
"The CIS was shipping something important into the Hydian Way, Parlemian Trade Route, and the Gordian Reach." Jai continued.
"Why? For what purpose?" Obi Wan ventured.
"And, what could it be more importantly? With funds like the CIS have, I'd rather not leave certain things to the imagination." Kento ventured.
"Well, it shouldn't be new battle droids or weapons. What significant troop concentrations we have out there, are spread thin because of the recent battles by the Aparo Sector, Troiken, Vaal, and Galidraan. Some of these vessels in the fleets were even in disguise for some reason, when they should have been wearing their fleet colors proudly."
"There has to be something there they don't want us to know about. They are hording something that is very important and very expensive." Xan said.
Windu stared the burns on Jai's face. "Perhaps it is someone, instead of something."
Yoda tapped the floor with his cane, swirling it around slowly. "One of these, followed you, and attacked you they did."
"You were ambushed." Windu deduced.
Jai's face tightened. "My troopers and I managed to track them to a rendezvous point on Thule, a system on the Daragon Trail. From Thule they move to Telos, and their hot spot is the planet of Ziost, which is less than thirty parsecs from Thule."
Master Yoda stirred and shook his head. The others looked to him. "Strong in the dark side, Ziost has always been. Any of you, know any of the stories?"
Everyone looked at Yoda blankly except for Cadus and Shaak Ti, who both turned their focus onto their clenched fingers.
The corners of Yoda's mouth turned down. "I remember we spoke of it when they were just Younglings."
The other Jedi stared.
"Who knows about Ziost?" Master Xan asked.
Yoda shook his head, dismissing the question. "It matters not. Master Maruk, continue."
Jai finished his cup of water and refilled it before he spoke.
"At first I tried to remain hidden from my observer, but when I had to conserve my fuel, I had to risk landing on the surface of Ruuria. I landed many kilometers away from anything living or the colonies of the natives home to the world. I kept my heat signature down, I made sure my infrared signature was down, I made sure I cloaked myself..." He trailed off.
"Another attack. Another ambush." Anakin muttered, frowning as he rubbed his chin.
Jai narrowed his eyes, clenching his jaw lightly. "Something like that. Fast. Violent. He was watching me the entire time and within a heartbeat...He caught me."
"He?" Master Xan asked.
"Durge."
"That puts Maul, his older brother Savage Opress, and Durge all in these attacks." Anakin said.
Talisibeth gasped.
Aola gasped, but forgetting she was under one of the tables, banged her head.
"Aola, are you okay?"
"Skocha! Owwwwww!"
Yoda glanced at the commotion, there was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Little clumsy ones, big ears you have! Duties to attend to, have you not, Scout and Aola?"
"Not really, we're cleaning up right now." Talisibeth said.
"We've finished breakfast, and there's nothing urgent besides the clean up. Lena already finished all of the dishes and left. We were going to practice when we are done with our cleaning duties here, and Master Cadus said we can have some of the donuts and ice cream."
Aola took a chocolate donut to show her point and handed a sugar donut to Talisibeth.
Unlike Aola who began munching without a care, Talisibeth flushed under the massed gaze of the Jedi Masters, and really wished Aola never put her favorite kind of donut into her hand.
She began to munch on it.
"Padawan Scout and Padawan Aola. I am surprised to see you both have this much free time to eat sweets, given the upcoming Apprentice Tournament. Would you like me to find something that has to be done?"
Shaak Ti shook her head, exasperated. "Why can't you just leave them alone?"
"They have duties."
"They are cleaning up. Let them eat a snack." Anakin reasoned.
Windu looked at Aola, then turned to Shaak Ti and Anakin. "I don't want to hear excuses."
Aola glared at Windu. "Uba na yoka."
Windu narrowed his eyes, focusing them as the younger girl, who met his piercing gaze full on. "You want to repeat that in Basic?"
"Dopa maskey, dopa meekie, maya stupa kung. Gaggalak mursto!"
Windu started to stand, supporting his weight with his hands, but Cadus snapped his hand out right towards him.
Windu stopped.
"What do you think you are doing trying to tower over her?" Cadus demanded.
"You heard her just now."
"You will not tower over young ones and leer at them in front of me."
"You seen what just happened."
Cadus stared Windu in the eye, tempted to use the force to shove him through the wall. "I watched you provoke her. If you left her alone she would have finished her donut and went back to finishing whatever it is that needed to be done."
"She doesn't need to be eating donuts and ice cream! You shouldn't be handing them out to the young ones, you are breaking their focus! You older Jedi shouldn't be so self indulgent!"
"It's just donuts and ice cream." Kento pointed out.
"There's no harm in it." Obi Wan agreed, looking at Windu with a raised brow.
Cadus didn't look affected or amused by the outburst from Windu, and he was glad the others were equally put off by it.
"They are only children, growing up in a violent time. I will give them sweets as much as I please, and if you raise your voice again I am going to force push you through the wall on the far side of the room."
Windu stood up, towering over everyone seated, his gaze locked on Cadus.
"Sit down, Master Windu." Yoda said.
"He is challenging me, you heard him just now-"
"Speak of challenge, do you? Sit down." Yoda said, tone growing more stern.
Cadus sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Windu, I am going to say this in basic so you understand me without problem. Sit down. If you don't Barriss will be feeding you breathing tubes in the next two minutes."
"You dare threaten the Master Of The Order?"
"You have not been conducting yourself as a Master Of The Order should! Don't throw your title at me like I am supposed to care about it or like it means anything to me. You are still that little brat running around here trying to be solitary because your inner darkness prevents you from doing anything other than killing others in combat."
"How dare you, stand up and draw!" Windu challenged.
Cadus slowly stood to his feet, hand hovering right by the hilt of light-saber. This is how it should have been from the outset, Windu should have never sent Agen Kolar after him, he should have confronted himself so it could have ended.
"Do you know to draw a blade means to take a life?" Cadus's tone dropped, expression becoming stony.
"I am more than aware."
"So be it then, you little fool."
Anakin was quick to put himself in front of Cadus.
"Okay, okay..." Obi Wan spoke up, getting between the two as well, moving towards Windu.
"We are not going to fight in front of the young ones." Master Xan said, tone stern.
"He disrespects me in front of Aola and Scout!"
"Look at you, Windu. You are so mad and shouting. You make a show for no reason. You disrespect yourself and make a fool out of yourself in front of them. I simply called you out on your folly."
"But, only more, do you provoke." Yoda was quick to correct Cadus.
"It is not on my shoulders Master Yoda, if Windu can't humble himself and not throw his title in my face. If Windu is moving down a path of hubris, he shouldn't be on the Council, he shouldn't be a Jedi, and he shouldn't even be here on Coruscant."
"Madness!" Windu barked, glaring at Cadus. "Madness!"
"The same madness that will cause you to make the Jedi outlaws. It will be because of you that Younglings will be killed without a second thought along with every other Jedi."
"I wouldn't do anything-"
"You already have by simply living the existence you have been since you were a little brat! You already have by creating Vaapad, but you are too arrogant to see that. I can sense the great fear in you over losing power! You are afraid of losing power! I am certain Master Yoda has told you to stop this. Power hording and power coveting is what the Sith do!"
"We have served the Republic!"
Cadus shook his head. "I will not say this again after this. Order 66."
Windu could only glower.
A tremor pulsed through the room at Cadus's mentioning of the order.
Talisibeth gulped, not just because Aola snapped at Windu in Huttese, not because of Order 66, but because Cadus and Windu were exerting so much pressure with just their words and eyes.
Even Anakin and Obi Wan were standing up now to get between them.
"You don't deserve my respect, Windu. You speak and look down on these two and base everything off their aptitude in the force. You base it off of something that was felt when they were children. They are developing right now! There is more to being a Jedi, and far more to combat than just being strong in the force. I don't care what five year old can pull a cup off a counter. I don't care what ten year old can push a cup off of a counter. I don't care who can front flip four times. What good does that do when there is a blaster right in their face, with someone on the other end of it wanting to do nothing more than blast their head off?"
"Nothing!"
"So, you sit here with other Masters judging them like they are a bunch of five year old brats trying to learn an exercise in sensing their surroundings. Aola has seen war, she has seen the worst of what the Clone Wars has to offer, and her Master was right there with her. You stupid fool! Talisibeth doesn't pull cups off of counters or can force jump, but I guarantee you she could hold her own in a fight. For every Padawan that can jump to the ceiling and float down, Aola and Talisibeth will beat them in combat. They will triumph where it matters every single time, and that is their resolution."
Talisibeth bowed. "Forgive me for being so careless Masters! As you say we must stay busy and we have duties, we were almost done in here, but we will leave it to the service droids..."
Aola was quick to support her friend. "We'll be going off to practice now."
"Scout and Aola!" Windu snapped.
"Right!"
"Sorry!"
Cadus held out his hand, stopping the two young ones in their tracks with the force. Shocked and surprised, they looked at him then back at their feet, tried to move, but seeing they were rooted in place, they simply stopped and waited.
"Windu, tell them how you really feel."
"This shouldn't be done, Master Cadus. It could bring down morale." Master Xan interjected.
"There will be no morale left as long as Windu is in a seat of power. I want him out of it before it gets out of hand."
"Do you want to subject Aola and Talisibeth to such a thing?" Master Xan asked, eyes growing intense.
"It wouldn't be the first time Windu was wrong about up and coming Jedi. More than one person has been subjected to his exclusionary ways. Windu should have been the one shoved into the Agriculural Corps and shipped off to a field somewhere when he was a brat."
Obi Wan ducked his head a little, noting Anakin's curious gaze.
"Who is that?" Anakin asked.
Cadus looked at Obi Wan, but seeing the younger man harden his gaze a little, Cadus held his piece.
"Windu believed that his weak aptitude in the force didn't qualify him to become a Padawan, but this young man proved him wrong with his perseverance and willpower."
"That narrows it down to just a few thousand." Anakin frowned, shaking his head.
"Master Cadus, if Master Windu is wrong about them, it will show in the tournament. Or..."
Cadus met Xan's eyes with a penetrating, flinty gaze of his own, staring into her intense gaze for several seconds. He sighed, and softened his expression before he looked at Talisibeth and Aola, releasing his hold on them.
"Young ones, come here."
They did as they were told, looking more than a little awkward.
Cadus held out his hands.
Aola and Talisibeth looked at each other, turned back to Cadus, looked at each other again, then finally looked back at him and slowly, carefully, gripped his large hands with their small hands.
"Aola and Talisibeth." He firmed his grip. "My Padawans."
Talisibeth managed to speak, but not before she had a rush of clarity and confidence. "Master Cadus...?"
"You want me to be your Padawan?" Aola looked up at him, overcoming her uncertainty.
Cadus searched the faces of the Jedi present, finding help in a few. He turned to the young women and nodded his answer to their question. "I will train both of you. I take Talisibeth and Aola as my Padawan apprentices."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Obi Wan, Anakin, and Kento stiffen in shock. He saw, as well, the sudden flicker of hope that crossed Talisibeth's face. He did not respond to either, but kept his focus on Windu and Yoda.
"One apprentice." Yoda said sharply. "Impossible, to take on a second."
"We forbid it." Windu said darkly.
Talisibeth's expression fell, and she could barely keep her emotions in check as she glanced at Cadus, resisting the urge to rub her burning eyes.
"They will both be trained by me, that is final. You can't stop me from doing this." Cadus declared.
Windu looked like he was ready to say something, but Obi Wan spoke up.
"Have we all forgotten that it is Master Cadus who raised the strongest of all from a Youngling into a Knight of valor and beauty?
"Even so, she was his only Padawan at that time..." Windu trailed off.
"I've made up my mind. Master Yoda, you know what must be done." Cadus said, just barely able to mask his disappointment in Windu's choice to send Kolar to kill him.
Cadus wasn't going to even allow Windu to tread down that path.
"Master Cadus-" Obi Wan started.
"Reasoning of yours?" Yoda ventured, his wrinkled face calm, and even breaking with a smile.
"If you have too much strength, you get into things you're not suppose to, say things you're not suppose to, and do things you're not suppose to. That will cause suffering your entire life. I did. She did. All of my Padawans did that have passed on. All of my Padawans do that still live."
Cadus took a sip of water, looking deep into Yoda's ancient eyes.
"To save the weak from times of sufferings has always been a fundamental truth and ideal that has gone beyond the Jedi Order. It was what built the Republic. It was the creed of the Jedi Order. But, the times have changed a lot, and the logic became obsolete. Everything is a miscalculation on our part because of hubris, greed, avarice, the inability to let things go as they pass out of life, and the inability to look beyond our own selfish means..."
Cadus trailed off, looking at the placid surface of the liquid in his cup.
"Windu risking everything to protect the Republic, Shaak Ti risking everything to protect the clones on Kamino, you in serving the light side of the force, but these things, like all things, will fade and change with time. The only things that do not change are the seasons, moons, suns, and the stars."
Yoda smiled softly, nodding his head. He laughed softly, closing his eyes as memories returned, hundreds and hundreds, good and bad.
"True what you say is. Always wise, you were from a young age. For our ancestors never wished for us to inherit total power, because nothing is certain. Beings and species, not like the sun and moon, not absolute they are. But, two Padawan you desire to take, no small responsibility this is."
Cadus smiled, some amusement in his eyes. "Of course not. I will to pass on what I have learned. Strength. Power. Mastery. Skill. Knowledge. Wisdom. But, I will pass on weakness, folly, shortcomings, and most of all failure...Failure is the greatest teacher. I will pass on my failures, so they don't stumble in the same way I did. Master Yoda...You and I have known for a long time...We are what the young ones grow beyond...And, that is our true burden as Masters."
Yoda nodded, ancient eyes glimmering with something mysterious. "Settled, it is then. Young Aola and Scout will be your Padawans."
Cadus nodded in relief and gratitude.
"Master Yoda!" Windu tried to keep himself reined in.
"Long have I forgotten my own foolish youth. To stare at the horizon, but not focus on what is in front...Yes, a mistake we all make, even I." Yoda admitted.
Cadus turned his focus onto the young women. "Prepare for the tournament."
"Tournament?" Talisibeth asked.
"He wants to see our skills and prowess, Scout! Come on Arto and drag her with!" Aola managed to blurt out in excitement.
They bowed and backed out of the room, sliding the door almost shut, until they could through the smallest crack.
And, with a click the door slid shut.
"Now that the young ones are settled, the rest of your story, tell us, Master Maruk."
Jai furrowed his brow. "Durge found me. We fought and I managed to almost pin him down. Turns out he was just toying with me, and the second I went for the killing blow, he sent an avalanche of forest right on top of me, and nearly crushed me to death."
His burned hand began shaking.
"He took my light-saber. He blasted me in the face many times, cut me on my sides, charred my hand, nearly crippled me, and almost drowned me. I thought I was dead when my face hit the river...But, he took me as a prisoner. He blindfolded me and shoved me into a cruiser for a short ride, no more than an hour. Someone with a pitch black cloak was waiting for me when my blindfold was taken off."
"Ah!" Shaak Ti exclaimed.
Windu leaned forward. "So Sidious is in the direction of Ziost!"
"You escaped from Durge and Sidious alive!" Xan said, eyes wide.
"How did you manage that...Nobody has seen Sidious and lives to tell about it. Even associates and average people who have an inkling of Sidious are no longer with us." Obi Wan said, tone severe.
Jai traced a finger over his burned face. "Make no mistake about it, I am here only because Sidious wanted me to be here. Durge would have and did prefer to kill me outright, he made that clear when he shoved me face first into a river and put his boot on the back of my head."
"Then..." Mallie trailed off.
Jai looked at his charred hand. "Sidious wanted a messenger. One he could trust."
"One who would report here first, and not to the Senate." Kento finished, leveling a hard gaze with Jai.
"Or report to the Senate at all for that matter." Obi Wan added.
Jai nodded. "He was very particular about that. I was to deliver my message to Master Yoda, and only in the Temple. I was to not give the message to any Senator."
"And what was this urgent message?" Windu asked.
"He says the war is nearing its end, victory is in sight." Jai Maruk looked at the disbelieving faces of the Jedi and shrugged.
"End!?" Master Xan exclaimed.
"The CIS has bio-weapons that slaughter innocents by the billions and he says victory is in sight!" Anakin snapped, furious.
"The Republic is crumbling to pieces, and he speaks of victory! I can imagine exactly what kind of message this is and what is primed to do with us older Jedi." Master Xan continued, iron fingers clenching.
"It could unravel us. It could cause internal strife in our ranks, to the point we are rotting away." Obi Wan admitted.
"Or it makes us fight internally over power." Anakin added.
"But, we don't fight over power." Shaak Ti said, tone pointed.
Anakin nodded. "We don't, of course. However, if something is going on in the Senate, or in the galaxy, and the Jedi are called to act, or have to, but nobody can agree-even on the Jedi side of things...We will be fighting over power. Real, raw power and political power."
"If that happens we would descend into the brutal impulsiveness and depravity of Sith." Mallie said, tone making no argument.
"Sidious anticipated we might not be so inclined to listen." Jai reached for a pocket under his cloak.
"I can't imagine why." Mallie remarked, rolling her eyes a little.
"He sent me back as a quarry. The offering was my life."
He drew his hand from his pocket and opened it.
On his charred palm was a metallic piece of metal. A single, quite ordinary metallic piece of steel, something that a child would find near any major junk deposit.
The Jedi looked at it in confusion, but Yoda drew a sharp breath, and his brow furrowed.
Obi Wan furrowed his own brow, recognizing the glimmer of the steel-the same glimmer as the one he found.
It can't be...
"Master?" Anakin ventured, noticing Obi Wan's discomfort.
Obi Wan waved it off, but Anakin wasn't willing to let it drop, but for now, he would force himself to move on.
Jai Maruk looked away from the metallic piece in his shaking hand.
"I have carried this thing across half the galaxy. What is it?"
Yoda gently took it.
"If true this is, a strangle hold on the Republic, soon there will be. Master Kento and Master Mallie encountered the ones Darth Maul and Savage Opress. Master Cadus encountered Asajj Ventress, Obi Wan encountered Grievous, and Anakin encountered Dooku..."
"Which means?" Windu pressed.
"We're trapped. They have one end of the galaxy covered, and can go to another point because of their sheer numbers. They can go from the Outer Rim as far back as the Kathol Sector, all the way to the Braxant Run on the other side, which means they have more than half of the galaxy charted for their movements, and that includes the major and minor trade routes." Cadus said bluntly.
"From one end of the galaxy, all the way to the next end of the galaxy, and everything in between those two points...They have everything covered." Anakin realized, horror dawning on him.
Yoda nodded. "Yes, and this way or that way, worse off we will be either way. A plan this is, to disperse Jedi across the galaxy...How far we willing, and how far are we not willing-that is his question. Will we Jedi fall of our own doing, or will it be something else?"
"More mind games." Master Xan shook her head.
"A game of politics. They are going to attack us on two fronts. Military and economical. Once they clog the Hydian Way and other major trade routes where they merge, the Republic will be cut off. And, the Jedi will be forced into action." Shaak Ti added.
"But, true this may be. Sidious was on Ziost, contact him someone did. To that source, we must navigate with clear minds. There, we will find what links Sidious with the network of the CIS. But, who is it, and more important, alive, are they still?"
Yoda turned his gaze to Cadus and Anakin. "Hear your reports, I will now."