Palpatine was in the Senate listening to another boring proposal until he felt the nervousness of one of his aides flying up to his podium. He was surprised at what the aide told him and he signaled Mas Amedda to call for silence. His staff suddenly hammered loudly amplified by the sound system in every pod as Palpatine rose.
"My fellow senators something unusual is happening and I feel we need to adjourn until tomorrow."
"Chancellor my proposal is not finished and I insist that it be voted on once fully presented." Palpatine looked at the representative from Garwillia and the urge to shoot lightning at him brought a smile to his face.
"Senator Senzen I believe a mass exodus from the Jedi Temple will take precedence. You may present your proposal another time." It was not the first time such an event happened and that was just because nearly every Jedi had returned to the Temple just before the Sith Shrine below the temple had not only been found by accident but destroyed pebble by pebble. The very Khyber crystal that had focused the nexus removed and purified by every single Jedi. However this time there was not a mass influx of Jedi to suddenly leave. Palpatine got to his office to see a video of the ships leaving and then looked out his windows to see suddenly hundreds of ships returning. His comlink to the temple beeped unanswered.
"Send several security teams to the Jedi Temple. Perhaps they are in need of assistance."
"Yes Chancellor." His aides scrambled and as soon as the sudden appearance of ships stopped flowing into the Temple the lights from dozens of Coruscanti Police converged on all four entrances of the temple. He moved back to his desk and an aide had turned on a holo from one of the pursuit speeders.
"Turn the sound up."
"This is the Jedi Temple your jurisdiction does not include the temple grounds." The five Temple Guards spread out and Palpatine knew why they kept such a distance. They saw the police as a threat. Maybe he could get them to cause an incident.
"The Grand Chancellor's office requested that we converge on the Temple and provide any assistance that you may need."
"You need to leave, now." The officer blinked and then shook his head.
"We will remain until you can provide an explanation." The officer spun and rushed back to his speeder. The same one that the Chancellor was listen through.
"Chief the Jedi have a problem and they tried to do something to get us to leave. I could feel it in my head."
"Then it is not our concern or it is something very dangerous and you are not equipped to handle it. Call in the First Clone Battalion just in case whatever is in the Temple decides to escape." This caused Palpatine a bit of surprise.
"I will authorize it. Make sure the clone commander understands this. Have them set a perimeter around the Jedi Temple." He smiled inside wondering how the Jedi would react?
It was a rare sight to see every Jedi in the temple to be in the Chamber of Conclave, but the sudden exodus of many in the temple called for it and every master of all four council came together and put out the Force Call. Those in the temple other than the Temple Guard would be compelled to come to the chamber and the Jedi Temple. It was a very powerful ability that required at a minimum of twenty masters. It was so strong that the ships leaving Coruscant turned around if they could and flew back. Those in transports out of their control did what the could to establish a link to the meeting if allowed.
Obi Wan Kenobi tried as best as he could to ignore the call, but in the end he could not. Ahsoka was unaffected until they landed back in the hanger. They were not the only ones who were compelled to come back and Obi Wan was very concerned that this could even happen. He was joined by Anakin and Qui Gon Jinn as even he could not resist the call. The entire chamber was full of Masters, Knights and Padawans. Even many of the initiates as the creche masters could not leave them alone. Even then the two thousand seats in the chamber were barely full.
The call had been strong and hard to resist or impossible but only the Jedi in the Coruscant System could answer so quickly. However, there was a secondary call for all Jedi to return to the temple going over the holonet that no one in the chamber currently could receive. The masters of every council came in first on the stage followed by the members of the High Council. Master Yoda little hover disc cam in and stopped next to the podium that Mace Windu stood in front of and Plo Koon to the other side.
"Master Jinn how can they call us back through the Force?"
"It is a skill that only the master on the High Council know. One I think that Master Yoda only keeps secret. I only felt his will through the call." There was a sudden urge of silence through the Force and the chamber was suddenly eerily silent.
"Jedi, all of you are Jedi. You that hold the title of Knight of the Republic or master know that it is your duty to uphold the values of the Republic which you swore and oath to protect and to be keepers of the peace. In times of need you are also called upon to go to war. Initiates and padawans are also taught this is one of the duties of the Jedi and only those who pass the trials will be given the rank of Knight of the Republic. Our trials are based on combat, battle, and strategy on top of our lessons on diplomatic endeavors, judicial arbitration, and the mission of the four Corps of Service. Need I remind you that the Republic is under one of the largest threats to peace in a thousand years and at the smallest hint of war many of you have decided to violate your oaths and leave the Jedi Order. I ask you to come back, to discuss the reason you have to leave to find a solution to keep the Jedi Order as one." Mace backed away from the dais and Master Plo Koon took his place.
"I see many faces here. Many showing calm, but mixed with the unknown. Mixed with fear or anger or shame. Feelings that Jedi rarely show. Feelings that our very Jedi Code has caused. I was reminded not too long ago by Jenica Lour that there is an older code that Master Odan Urr changed one he thought was too vague to prone to misinterpretation and looking at it I could agree, but then I looked at Odan Urr and his species how they are very calm and rarely if ever show or feel emotions as strongly as other races. To him there is no emotions. To many species like him there are no emotions. Yet many of you are not like them. You are social species that joined together in packs, tribes, and clans to later turn to villages, cities, and metropolises that can cover a planet. I found a saying that a man is not an island unto himself. I did not understand, but I think now I do." He stopped letting the assembled Jedi process this. Obi Wan looked to Qui Gon and Anakin as they were both smiling.
"What is going, Master?"
"I do not know Ahsoka. We will find out."
"Attachments are forbidden by the code." Master Plo Koon paused as the murmurs got louder.
"Are they truly? You are required to have an attachment to the Jedi Order. It is your duty. An attachment to follow the dictates of the various councils. You have a smaller but just as important attachment to this very Temple complex. You have an attachment to your master as a padawan or to the master of your creche clan. There is the attachment to the Republic that is the main reason why most of you today decided to leave the Order." The sudden shock on many who did not understand the chaos of earlier exploded in the chamber. The crack of wood on the dais paired with a shout in the Force silenced everyone again.
"Listen you shall, explain we will. Continue Master Koon."
"Thank you. Jedi attachments we have plenty. Duty we have as well. Duty to the Will of the Force..." The room suddenly grew very cold from several directions. The dark side flared at every entrance to the Chamber of Conclave. Eyes turned to see red blades suddenly appear causing many Jedi to ignite their own. A large man easily over two meters in height stepped forward only holding his hilt. The dark side radiated from him in waves. His presence increased in the Force as he used it to project through the Force.
"Peace Jedi or the next generation will not survive. We have your creche nursery under guard. Your Temple Guard confined in the very prisons you have used in the past. All I ask is that you hear me out."
"Sith you are. Not one that we are looking for, you are."
"Grandmaster Yoda I am Sith Master Olar Rhea. I am Keshiri and serve under the Keshiri Sith Empire."
"Are you not a Darth or Lord of the Sith?"
"Master Windu are you a Jedi Lord? Only the Sith masters on the council of the Lords are truly Lords. Our ranks have change greatly since the times of Darth Naga Sadow."
"Regardless of your message you will not make it out of the Temple." Olar grinned as his presence in the Force grew.
"Oh you could not stop us if you tried. Even with all these Jedi here. You can't fight what you can not see."
"Hear you out I can. Attack us you will not."
"That is up to you. I decided that since you were going to disband the Jedi Order that we would like to take possession of the Temple. I have grown somewhat fond of the building over the last year I have been here." Nearly every Jedi hissed loudly as they gasped in surprise and disbelief. Master Yoda did not look amused, nor did the rest of the High Council.
"What I am truly here for is to test your strength and then to declare the intentions of the Keshiri Sith Empire. You have been tested and found lacking. Though there are a few we would not mind recruiting from your ranks and may already have. The intentions of the Keshiri Sith Empire are to secure the area of space known as Hutt Space. I am sure you will not mind."
"You are not declaring war against the Republic?" Ki Adi Mundi asked before others of the council could.
"No, in fact we find you too weak and too tied into a Republic that is about to be dragged into a war that they can not hope to win. The dark side has already claimed the Republic. This is a warning to all Jedi to not interfere with our war on the Hutts." As fast as the Keshiri Sith appeared they vanished. Many of the Jedi rushed after them like ants after their nest is stepped on. However, like the ants the Jedi could not find the Sith that just stepped on the nest that is the Jedi Temple.
Chancellor Palpatine was looking intently at the forces surrounding the Jedi Temple. Then this cold wave of dark side power hit him and caused his rage to break passed his control. It came from the Temple and then he saw the clone troopers and police suddenly blown back by this black fog that boiled out of the Temple entrances. A hundred different dot of the dark side appeared in his senses. Four of them were behind him.
"Clear the room I require my privacy." He used the Force to make sure they all left in a sudden hurry. He touched a button with the Force and the doors not only locked but blast shields dropped into place.
"Do you really think that you can hide from a Dark lord of the Sith?" The statue near his desk opened and two objects flew into his hands, before vanishing inside of his tunic. Four blades suddenly appear at the same time as four Keshiri Sith Sabers. Palpatine opened up fully to the dark side of the Force and shot lightning at all four of them. Only one was not quick enough to block with their saber.
"Good, good, I would hate to see you fall so easily. Now tell me why come here to die?"
"It is you who will die."
"We were sent after a politician not a Sith Lord."
"Shut up we kill him together."
"So be it." In a flash Palpatine launched himself at the Sith Sabers. Within the first second he struck at them sixteen times and they barely managed to block. In the next second twenty strikes went out of in blur of speed that made it very clear that Sidious was not playing around. These Sith were a threat to the Grand Plan. One he had not seen coming but for a vague warning through the dark side. In an instance he felt that they were the reason for the Hutt Council suddenly going silent. In the third second the outer two Sith fell as the inner two filled the room with Force lightning. Lightning that merely tickled Darth Sidious's nerve endings.
He jumped away back to his desk drawing the two in with a strong yank of the dark side as the headless bodies of the other two fell to the floor. Dozens and then hundreds of strikes flew between the red glow of the spheres of light their blade became. Then suddenly they vanished leaving only two burning blades poking through the two Sith chests.
"A pity none of you were strong enough. I could have used a new apprentice." The two dropped as soon as the blades vanished. Palpatine calmly put his blades back into the statue as he collected the four enemy blades. One of the blades was ancient and he knew the presence he felt inside the crystal belonged to one of the Sith holocrons he owned. Using the Force he picked up the four bodies and two heads as he opened his hidden passageway. The rest of the office was completely destroyed other than his desk.
"Mas Amedda."
"Yes chancellor."
"Send in a droid crew to remodel my office. They are to remove all the furniture that is no longer functional and have everyone sent to my alternate office that needs to see me. I am sure you will keep everything under your direct supervision." Mas Amedda's image bowed before flickering out. Palpatine entered his hidden passage way and the paneling closed showing no seams. Droids came in from another hidden passage and quickly tore apart all the damaged furniture, burned carpeting, and cut ceiling tile. It would take a dozen hours, but in the end it would look exactly the way it was before.
In the Safe room of the Grand Chancellor Palpatine meditated while reacting out to the Jedi Temple to feel if his battle was discovered only to feel the chaotic searching of thousands of Jedi. He felt that these new Sith had stepped on the Jedi ant pile not knowing that those ants could fly. No of all things that he had seen the Jedi doing. Only one had started to happen. The fragmentation of the Order would have caused problems, but the clones would be better able to eliminate them. To drag the Jedi that remained loyal to the Republic into fighting their former Jedi brothers and sisters. The war would take the rest and any left would be hunted down. However, if these Sith were large in number the Jedi would not fight in the war as they would unify to fight these Sith.
His clones would be used to help them and the CIS would be left alone as the Sith would be the greater threat. He felt a warning in the Force and turned on the holodisplay that he had been watching of the Temple. The nest suddenly had focus forcing him to pull back his presence and vanish back into his chancellor presence. The images on the screen showed a battle of dozens of different colors surrounding a solid circle of red around a ship that had crashed one the Temple Grounds. The clones fought these with the red blades right along side of the Jedi. It was only a matter of a minute as the circle broke and the dozen Sith that were trapped tried to flee in all directions only to get shot down from hundreds of blasters.