"This intrusion was far too organised and professional for common burglars or pirates and the attackers were too skilled and precise for bounty hunters paid by a crime syndicate." Said Bastila as she stood up from one of the corpses still in the spot where it had been left. "I want to know how the intruders got in and what they took, touched where they stepped everything!" An assistant with a holopad dutifully noted everything walking a few steps behind her. "Please show me to the intelligence room I need to take a look at it. I think it may have been the target of the attack." The head of the security team nodded and motioned for her to follow him. "See" she said "the door has been blown open. How did nobody hear or notice this?" The guards all shrugged "Normally the destruction of the door should trigger an alarm, somebody must have shut it off manually." One of them said. Bastila nodded and stepped over the mangled remains of the heavy door. "There may be a saboteur in the building please lock it down and get a list of every person who could have shut off the alarm and was in the building at the time." As they reached the last door down the stairs she turned around again. "This isn't supposed to be opened is it?" The security chief shook his head and pulled his sidearm. As they entered the room, they saw the dead analyst on the floor. "Two hits, one in the chest one in the head" she said "I suspect I know that pattern. How did they open the door in the first place? It doesn't seem to have been forcefully opened." The chief answered "Someone entered the code there aren't many people who know this combination. I for one don't have a clue what it is." Bastila pulled her commlink out "Lock down the building immediately, we have a spy and might still be inside of the building." The Assistant from earlier now entered the room the holopad still in hand he said: "The intruders seem to have entered through the ventilation system. I have reconstructed a possible path they could have taken to get into the intelligence room." Bastila nodded taking the pad from her. "How did you know we would be here?" she asked. "Oh, I asked a member of the security team he was able to tell me." Bastila nodded pointing at the holopad "If this is even remotely accurate, I know who did this. This strategy as well as the skill, precision and insider information match up with the attack on the jedi temple a few months back. It's an imperial special operations unit, callsign Omega. Please relay this to the council." She said to the assistant who nodded and asked "what kind of insider information?" "It seems there is an imperial sympathizer within this building." The security chief told him. While leaving through the door Bastila turned around "Please bring the rest of the information to my quarter when you have everything" she said before leaving.
"Lord Revan the intrusion in the Alderaan system was successful callsign Omega will arrive aboard the devastator. They have not sent the information they gathered ahead in fear of it being intercepted by Republic forces eavesdropping in their sector." Revan smiled and stood up leaving his chair and walking to the front of the bridge with the intelligence officers always staying a few steps behind him. "What about our friend on Alderaan?" Revan asked turning around facing the other man. "He reports that the Jedi will send an investigator and he thinks it might be Bastila Shan but he isn't sure. This information is a few hours old and he hasn't reported in yet." Revan stroked his mask thinking "If they indeed send her or any other powerful jedi for that matter they maybe on to him. Make sure he isn't compromised and acquire the information who exactly is this investigator. If it is Shan this would be the first time, we have a location on her since she fled the Devastator! Although for that reason it would have been rather foolish of the jedi to send her." The intelligence officer nodded and walked off to fulfil his task. Coming back only minutes later he said "Our informant confirmed the jedi present is indeed her. He believes however that he isn't in danger of being compromised event though she suspects a spy in the building.
Back on Alderaan the assistant entered the quarters of the jedi. She had his back turned to him and studied a holoscreen. She turned around and smiled revealing the screen which should three ships of a new class he didn't recognize. "Mon-Calamari destroyers", she said sensing his question, "completely cloaked they will be able to intrude into imperial space, much like they did here just a few hours ago. Only that we will be able to deliver a much more serious weapon array." He nodded handing her the data pad and quickly leaving turning right and speeding up before the door had closed. Bastila smiled at the door for a few more seconds before grabbing her commlink to relay the new information.
The Assistant himself walked right past his quarters and walked through the main lobby filled with security forces from the building as well as republic armed forces guarding the exit. He walked past the exit and entered the long-range communication room. Making sure no one was inside he closed the door walking up to the equipment he punched in a code and then his message. Concerning Operation Drumbeat; three destroyers; commander Bastila Shan; enter imperial space; cloaked ships
As he hit send the lights in the room flickered and went out. He turned around as they turned back on to see the security chief pointing a blaster at his head. Beside him stood the Jedi and several soldiers behind her had their arms pointed at him. "I think we may need to have another conversation about your other employer." With that he was shot by a stun blast falling down flat.
"Lord Revan we have another transmission from Alderaan. Our spy sent this" the intelligence officer said giving a data pad to Revan. "Concerning Operation Drumbeat; three destroyers; commander Basti what is this supposed to mean?" Revan asked. "I know our operatives are supposed to keep it short but this message clearly isn't complete." The officer nodded "The connection was interrupted before the complete message was send. It might just be a connection issue. The part we have until now is pretty clear however, three destroyers commanded by Padawan Shan under the codename Operation Drumbeat." Revan shook his head "The informant has been compromised this is no connection issue. Further this information is incomplete. The simple order for her to take command of three destroyers is not worthy to be called an operation nor would our man have sent another message this quickly to rely something so unimportant. Have someone prepare a statement to be sent out once they announced they have caught a spy. We do not know who this is. The Republic is spreading false information and if not, this guy worked for somebody else but not for us!" Revan ordered sending of the officer to fulfil his orders.
Lieutenant Karem hadn't had a great day his battalion was part of the seventh imperial ground army which had been ordered to take the world of geonosis. While it was quite an insignificant world in terms of population, which it had none off, and resources, which it had also none off. It was the last bridgehead of the republic armed forces in the outer rim and the command wanted it taken. He was currently crouched in a trench with a heavy repeating blaster cannon on a republic entrenchment throwing up dirt all around the trench. His men had installed a heavy machine gun of their own and were returning fire. The republic operator of the weapon however was in as good a cover as they were so they just ended up throwing dirt and sand into their respective trenches. He flinched when a mortar grenade exploded a few dozen meters away in his trench probably killing a good number of imperial soldiers but he couldn't see it because the trenches were established in a zig zag pattern to avoid shrapnel flying very far before hitting a wall. When one of the dark jedi who travelled and fought with the seventh army stepped to him he knew that this couldn't be good. "I want you and your squad to follow me. We will leave cover and advance behind the rocks between us and the republic forces and storm their trench."
Karem would have groaned if he wasn't so sure about what the dark jedi would do to him then. He motioned his men closer and explained the plan. No one was to happy about it but a few minutes later they robbed out of the trench then standing up and sprinting form one rock to the next with the jedi in their midst deflecting the blaster bolts flying towards them. Cowering behind the rock they only occasionally peeked out firing of two or three shots and then ducking back behind their cover. When they were ordered to advance again one of them stayed behind temporarily firing several clips empty over the enemy trench to keep the republic soldiers inside. When his comrades had moved up, he tried following them only to be torn apart by a mortar grenade aimed at the rock they had recently taken cover behind. "Don't stay to long in one cover" the dark jedi said "they are relaying our position to their mortars." "Great" Karem thought to himself as he ran to the last rock before the enemy trench, now considerably to close for his taste but he would have to get even closer.
"Now" the jedi shouted sprinting out of cover jumping high into the air and coming down in the midst of the republic soldiers in the trench spinning around and slicing one after the other in half. "For the empire" Karem screamed before tossing a grenade into the trench and jumping in after the shrapnel was all imbedded into the walls. Inside he noticed the republic was using the same zig zag profile for their trenches so his grenade hadn't done to much. He pushed up to his left firing at two enemies close to him with some of his men behind him the rest pushing into the other direction. After taking out the two soldiers closest to him one of his men pushed in front of him and started clearing the trench. He only stopped when he got to a slightly bigger position dug out a bit further back then the rest of the trench and containing the machine gun from before. Several enemies opened fire on him so he had to duck to cover until the dark jedi pushed past him taking the fire and allowing him to move up. When they had taken the position Karem commed back to their trench for them to send additional units who quickly brought the enemy trench under control. He had lost four of the twelve men und his command but the enemy trench had been taken and considering the resistance that was a pretty good quote.
He slid down one of the hard sand walls trying to relax for a few seconds until someone jumped in the trench from the opposite direction. The figure pulled a green lightsaber and begun fighting the dark jedi. Karem pulled his sidearm aiming at the jedi but he couldn't get a clear shot because of how fast they were moving. Then the jedi pushed his superior to the ground and tried to stab him through the chest. As he raised his lightsaber Karem shot his whole magazine of 16 shots into him. He didn't stop pulling the trigger until the slide locked back and he needed to load a new mag. He stood up and helped the dark jedi up who thanked him and then took the lightsaber of his adversaries. "This is weird" the dark jedi stated "the jedi order is spread thin with members joining the empire daily and almost as many getting killed. It is unusual that one would defend such a position on such a backwater planet. Gather your men I want to push a bit deeper into enemy territory and see where the jedi came from." Karem nodded and once again gathered his men to follow their superior. After marching for about two hours they spotted several guards outside and ordinary looking cave. The dark jedi pulled out his comm. "This is Crow 4-3 requesting close air support…" While the jedi was busy orchestrating the death of the enemies below Karem looked through his range finder and relayed the exact coordinates and their distance from the target to him and observed the republic soldiers. This were special forces they wore heavy Armor and more accurate blasters than their lower ranked comrades. He turned around and passed that information on too as two fighters howled overhead peppering their target with laser fire and two laser guided plasma bombs which killed every possible survivor. As they moved up and into the cave, they realised that it was not a natural cave but one dug and fitted out as a lab.
"These instruments and blueprints remind me of some of our own labs." The jedi said "They tried or are still trying to cloak big objects. Our scientists never managed that but it seems they are much further. We need to report this to the command. Got work today commander" he casually said to Karem as he left with the soldiers following him out of the cave. "Call in another airstrike" he said I want this cave completely collapsed and destroyed" he said into his comm.