A Walk to the Park, Not on Dromund Kaas
The Jedi Council had convened to discuss an important piece of intelligence that had virtually fallen into their laps. Because of the war and other issues internal to the Jedi Order itself, only three Jedi Councilors were in attendance for this meeting.
The SIS, the Galactic Republic's spy agency, sent an agent to brief their Jedi allies on a very important development. The SIS were the ones who had come across the information. They'd already done much of the leg work, vetting the intelligence windfall which had literally been breadcrumbed to them.
The SIS held a great deal of suspicion that the report might be a trap since it was fed to them, but the information was valid, having been verified and corroborated with other sources. Given the nature of the information contained in the report, however, they felt a strong need to involve the Jedi Council.
The biggest problem about the intelligence report was that there was nothing the SIS didn't already know that was in it. Yet, the way the information was tied together, yielded insights that could only have come from an Imperial insider.
The SIS representative came to the end of his report.
"Our analysis of this comes down to two things," the agent said to the Jedi Council members in attendance, "One: this is a trap to expose our agents working within the Empire. Or, two: someone on the Dark Council has betrayed a rival and wants to use us to do something with this information."
Two of the three Jedi in attendance, quickly glanced at each other. The third Jedi simply stared at the datapad sitting on a display board hovering over the Council table near the three Jedi. She was actually meditating, using The Force to pull more secrets from the datapad, which was of Imperial manufacture. She didn't like what The Force revealed to her, but she decided to say something about the matter set before them.
"The infighting among the Dark Council has begun," Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan told her colleagues on the Jedi Council. "They are now vying for the imperial throne. This may seem like good news, but The Force tells me that things will not go our way so easily. In fact, I get the sense that The Force is telling me, 'be careful what you wish for.' We need to move carefully."
"And what are you not telling us," Jedi Master Gnost-Dural asked, dryly.
Satele Shan, staring at the imperial made datapad, thought carefully about how to word her response.
"It will cost us greatly, whether we take action, or don't take action," Satele finally answered.
Jedi Master Gnost-Dural then turned to the SIS agent.
"What does the SIS want to do with this information?"
"If the Galactic Republic military high command had access to this information, they would very much like to remove him from play. Darth Arkous has been very highly successful in his strategies in his theater of operations, leading many successful campaigns against our forces with a naval group under his command. If he's allowed to continue as the leader of the Sphere of Military Offense, his influence and his successes could negatively affect the entire war effort for us," the SIS agent replied.
"Where is he now?" Jedi Master Bela Kiwiiks asked, studying the agent closely.
"He's newly ascended to the Dark Council," the agent replied, "He's still making the rounds to the various offices and headquarters of the Imperial military. He's establishing his authority and consolidating his hold on power," the agent replied, adding, "We have agents in the field tracking his movements."
The agent caught the very, almost unnoticeable headshake from Jedi Master Bela Kiwiiks and decided to add a carrot.
"We could try capturing him, ambush his flagship, conduct a raid to locate and capture him on the ship. If you could turn him to the Light Side of The Force, we may be able to gain valuable information from him," the agent said.
He didn't believe in any of that Light Side / Dark Side crap. He saw it as just religious dogma and politics. Bringing that up was just a way for him bait the Jedi into going in on a mission that the SIS would undertake with or without the Jedis' help. However, with the Jedi helping, the mission would have a much higher chance of success.
"Agent Korda Thrahn," Satele Shan said, evenly, "Do not think that you can manipulate us into joining your mission. We have our own criteria for determining the best way to approach a problem, and just because he turns to the Light Side does not mean he would betray his empire."
"I apologize if you mistook my suggestion in such a way," the agent said, slightly embarrassed that he'd been unmasked so easily, "I guess I exposed my ignorance of how The Force works," he added.
Korda Thrahn was further embarrassed on how stupid he must have seemed after his stunt blew up in his face. However, silence descended on the meeting as the three Jedi meditated on the problem, having already moved on from his failed attempt to manipulate them.
After a moment, Shan took on a slightly startled look, as she turned to look at Bela Kiwiiks, but she didn't see the look on Shan's face. Bela Kiwiiks had been looking at the SIS agent, wondering what games the Galactic Republic were up to.
"Have you only been following him around, or do you know where he'll be next?" Bela Kiwiiks asked.
"I can't answer that question…," Korda Thrahn started to say, but Shan cut him off.
"We'll need to conduct a large scale raid with heavy infantry, commandos, with medium and heavy war droid support. It will be an opportunity to capture or kill him, while capturing or destroying their repositories of dark knowledge. He will be alone."
"That's taking action," Gnost-Dural said, then asked, "What will that result?"
"We'll get him," Satele said, "but it will be very costly to us. We will also lose the war."
"What about taking no action?" Gnost-Dural asked.
"We will lose the war and also lose nearly half of the Galactic Republic to Imperial conquest."
Gnost-Dural turned to Korda Thrahn and asked, "Where is he now? Where will he be next?"
"He's about to depart Ziost, now. He will go to Dromund Kaas next," Korda Thrahn answered, realizing that hiding that information was counterproductive at this point.
The two master Jedi looked at each other, greatly puzzled, and then at Satele Shan. Bela Kiwiiks asked the question.
"That small of a force will be enough to get him on Dromund Kaas?"
"Not on Dromund Kaas," Satele said, adding no other details.
Gnost-Dural and Bela Kiwiiks' eyes showed their surprise and then their astonishment. The agent was, himself, a little confused.
"Where will Darth Arkous go after Dromund Kaas?" Gnost-Dural asked Korda Thrahn.
"We don't have that information," Agent Korda Thrahn replied, adding, "Our sources haven't been able to determine which planet he would go to next until he began preparations to leave whatever planet he was currently on. So, until he is done on Dromund Kaas and starts to make preparations to move on, we won't know where he is going next.
"How would she know what forces would be needed to conduct a raid if they don't even know where he's going to be?" Korda asked himself, "But Satele Shan said not Dromund Kaas. What are these Jedi thinking? She wants to conduct a large scale raid, 'not on Dromund Kaas…,' a deep space station, then?"
Ciiru Nomuro had been given a long range scouting mission deep in enemy territory. He was to infiltrate the planet Taris to look into the living conditions and the treatment of the Makebi people. Ciiru was quite surprised at his mission assignment.
He wondered at the wisdom of sending him, remembering how emotionally tied he'd become to the people and to their plight. He thought back to how closely he teetered towards falling to the Dark Side because of his rage at the supreme chancellor for abandoning the people, and at the Jedi Order for their inaction.
His mission was a test, a mini trial. If he could get through this without feeling the pull of the Dark Side, then perhaps he could overcome his real trial.
"Or perhaps, this is where Vitiate will consume my existence and take over my body…," Ciiru thought, feeling a tiny pang of fear.
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, slowly letting it back out. When he opened his eyes again, the worry was gone and his mind was back on his mission.
Ciiru had been living in the young forest, far beyond Imperial security patrol routes, in a very tiny camouflaged survival tent/sleeping bag. Each day, before going on a scouting run, he would collapse and tightly roll it up, leaving it at the bottom of a tree after covering it with leaves and twigs.
Then he would move to another spot about a half kilometer from his bivouac site to conduct his morning hygiene routine and to prepare his morning meal, burying the evidence of his smokeless cook fires and food packaging before making his way to one of the temporary refugee settlement camps.
Ciiru would then carefully make his way to the refugee camps to watch the people live their daily lives, looking for signs of abuse or outrageous oppression. Over the weeks of his scouting mission, he had learned that the people were not enslaved, but the people were not necessarily free, either.
Ciiru had already been to eight different refugee camps on Taris, watching the settlers for the better part of a month. He had made contact with none of them, except to Force Persuade a few of them into bringing him food and clothing before returning to his hidden camp deep in the young forest.
Ciiru Nomuro Force Persuade anyone with whom he'd come into contact into forgetting that they'd seen him. He didn't want to negatively impact the Makebis' relationship with the Imperials. He didn't want to influence the Makebis, either, and thus get skewed results from his observations.
He'd observed and recorded a number of interactions between the Makebis and the Imperial Soldiers. The soldiers certainly were authoritarian in their dealings with the Makebis, but they were not unnecessarily harsh towards the settlers, either. The Imperial Army, here, was very consciously restraining itself when dealing with the refugees. Ciiru was deeply surprised at this, wondering if this was the norm, or if they had been ordered to give special consideration to the Makebis.
Aside from showing the proper deference to the Imperial soldiers, the people, while not jubilant, seemed to be not miserable. Nearing the end of his mission, Ciiru decided it was time to make contact with the Makebis, to ask them directly and to let them articulate their thoughts and feelings about their situation.
As he'd done on a daily basis, since being inserted onto the planet by a Galactic Republic Army Commando special operations stealth infiltration starship, Ciiru carefully approached the refugee camp. He was careful to avoid the numerous Imperial Army security patrols in the forests around the encampments. Once in the camp, he approached a family strolling down a marked walking path between the rows of tents. He used Force Persuasion to ingratiate himself to them.
"You will greet me in a friendly manner and stop to have a conversation with me," Ciiru said, just loud enough for the family, only a few paces away on the path, to hear.
"Hi!" a small child, a girl, chirped.
"Hi!" the woman, presumably the girl's mother, chirped right after.
"Hello, stranger!" said the man, presumably the father and husband to the aforementioned people, "I don't think I've seen you on our block of tents before. What part of the settlement are you calling home?"
Smiling serenely, while sweeping his gaze at the sky and the white puffy clouds overhead, Ciiru replied, "Never mind where you live; the weather is just beautiful today!"
"Never mind where you live. The weather is just beautiful today," the family man parroted.
"It certainly is," Ciiru replied, and asked, "Is that a picnic basket you're carrying?"
"That it is, friend. We're on our way to the designated recreational park for a bit of family fun in the sun."
"Designated?" Ciiru asked.
A bit puzzled, he looked in the direction from which he'd just come, and then behind the Makebi family standing in the walk path in front of him. They were at the northwest corner of the refugee camp, only a very short distance from the tree line of the forest to their north, and an open meadow-like landscape to their west. The family was heading east.
"You want to invite me to walk with you," Ciiru said.
"I want to invite you to walk with us," the man said, smiling broadly.
"Why, that would be just grand. I'll join you for a walk," Ciiru said, smiling just as broadly before introducing himself, "I'm Ciiru Nomuro. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Ciiru extended his hand, and the family man took it and grasped tightly before releasing it, without shaking, in the manner of the Makebi peoples.
"I'm Dando Plaris," he said and, nodding towards the woman and the child, added, "and this is my wife, Mindy and daughter, Cintha."
"I'm pleased to meet you both," Ciiru said, extending his hand towards Mindy, who had taken his hand the way Dando had.
Ciiru had put his hand down at his side, but Cintha, smiling brightly, extended her hand towards the Jedi.
"Where are my manners?" Ciiru exclaimed, laughing.
He took Cintha's hand and gave a brief squeeze before letting the child's hand go. Her father laughed with some amazement.
"What's gotten into you, Cintha?" he asked his daughter, laughing, "You're usually scared of strangers."
"He's a nice man," Cintha told her father, who smiled down at her.
"I guess she likes you," Dando said, turning to regard the Jedi before asking, "Shall we get going?"
The two men walked slowly side by side with Mindy and Cintha bringing up the rear.
Ciiru turned his head to gaze at the many beautiful spots within the forest's edge where one might have a picnic.
"Strange that you can't just picnic right there in the woods" he said.
"The Empire don't want us trashing the forest, stepping all over the vegetation, trampling the shrubbery, and littering all over the wild lands," Dando said matter-of-factly, adding, "It was a problem when we first got here, because we were hunting all over the place, picnicking everywhere, getting lost in the woods," he laughed, "We were a handful when we first got here."
Dando didn't understand why he felt a need to explain it all to Ciiru, as though Ciiru were an outsider, because Ciiru would have gone through all of the experiences he and his family did. Yet, something told him that Ciiru was an outsider, but it stayed in the back of his mind, a fact that could never gain any measure of importance, or needing an explanation. So, he kept telling Ciiru, what he should already know.
"Then it got serious. One of our people got a great business idea. He decided that he was gonna cut down some trees, make firewood and sell it to the rest of us," Dando said, shaking his head. "The Empire arrested him, anyone who worked for him, his family, all of their families, and anyone who'd bought firewood from him."
"Just for selling firewood?" Ciiru asked, with disbelief in his tone.
"For cutting down the Empire's trees. They said it was for destruction of Imperial property, for the stealing of government property, and for the selling, and buying, of stolen Imperial property," Dando clarified, shrugging his shoulders.
"That's harsh," Ciiru said, and then asking, "Wait. They arrested entire families? The children, too?"
"No one is above the law, in the Empire, not even children," Dando answered.
"But they let them all go a few days later," Mindy chimed in.
"That's right," Dando confirmed, "The Empire let everyone they rounded up go with a very severe warning not to do it again. Then we all, and I mean ALL of us, got a three hour long lecture about not messing around in the Empire's forests.
The Empire went and built a big park – it's actually a pretty nice park – for us to picnic in," Dando said, adding, "The Empire is very serious about cleaning Taris up and making it clean and green again."
"So, they're cracking the whip and working you to the bone to tear out the old ruins and all of that?" Ciiru asked.
"Not so much crack the whip," Dando replied, "as it is to give us a great incentive to get to work."
"That doesn't sound so bad," the Jedi remarked.
"Not really. The alternative is to live out in the open and starve to death," Dando laughed at that.
Ciiru stared blankly, not understanding what Dando was getting at.
"In the Empire, if you don't work, you don't earn a living. That's the same everywhere else, I imagine; it was on Makeb. The difference is that the Empire doesn't have a welfare system. If you're not working, you're dead weight; you're weak. They'd rather be rid of you."
Ciiru looked horrified on hearing this. Dando felt he needed to clarify something for his new friend.
"You can work as little as you'd like, just to get by, but living like that isn't the best. If you work hard, you get treated better. If you're smart, you can figure out ways to do better than anyone else around you, and get treated even better. The Empire is a pure meritocracy. You can start out a slave, and work your way up to being a general or something, but that would take a special kind of man to make that happen."
"So then, you are slaves?" Ciiru asked.
"We were very lucky," Dando said, soberly, "Darth Nox decided he didn't want us as slaves. It could have very easily gone that way. Instead, he has this high ranking administrator running a citizenship program that's letting us learn about Imperial law and how to get along with the Empire. Darth Nox is giving us a fighting chance."
"So, then you find this life agreeable?" Ciiru asked.
"Stars, no!" Dando exclaimed, laughing.
"I mean, how does it compare to life on Makeb?" Ciiru pressed Dando.
"On Makeb, I ran my business. I did a good job, had lots of clients. I had lots of competition, but it was friendly, civil. There were rules.
"Here, the competition is all cut throat. You make a mistake, your friend, whom you thought was your friend, could make an anonymous report, and down you go, kicked back down to the bottom of the pile. You gotta pick yourself up and start climbing back up again."
Dando felt he needed to clarify.
"Don't get me wrong. On Makeb there were those who played dirty, too. They did everything they could, within the law, to get one over on their competition, but we knew who those were and there weren't too many of them.
"Here on Taris, in the Empire, everyone might be that guy. And you find yourself turning into that guy. Competition, here, is a matter of life and death," Dando said.
Ciiru could see that the family man seemed sad as he said those last words. Dando didn't want to become that man, but if he was going to provide for his family, he had no other choice.
"I'll bet life would improve a lot," Ciiru suggested, "if the Republic freed this place."
He was shocked at not only Dando's, but also Mindy's fierce reaction.
"The Republic can die!" Mindy shouted.
"You have a short memory, friend," Dando said, "Why should we ask for anything from those scum who left us to die when Makeb was shaking itself apart?"
The way he stressed the word friend caused Ciiru to realize he was being regarded with a great deal of suspicion. Ciiru laughed and pointed at Dando and at Mindy, both.
"You should have seen the looks on your faces! It was a funny joke," he said, using Force Persuasion.
Dando and Mindy both became confused, and it showed on their faces as they both exchanged unsure glances and gave in to nervous laughter.
"We know you were joking, but you need to be careful what you say. You know the Empire don't know what a joke is," Dando said, mildly rebuking the Jedi.
Changing the subject, Ciiru asked, "How's work? Do you feel like a slave, or do you think you have a chance to get something better?"
"We're pinching every credit. When we get enough saved up and we move into the new city, I'll set up shop and run my own business," Dando looked back at Mindy and was greeted by her reassuring smile and a sharp nod of concurrence.
"We'll do just fine," Mindy added.
Ciiru realized that the Republic had made enemies of the Makebi, and no amount of propaganda was going to change their minds. The Makebi were grateful to the Sith Empire and they believed, that while Darth Nox was a hard man, that he could be trusted to keep his end of the bargain.
Ciiru looked around the encampment. It was clean, orderly, Imperial troops patrolled the camps, keeping order and promoting safety among the Makebi refugees, even if they were austere and authoritarian.
"I don't understand how a people could want to live like this, but they do," the Jedi thought to himself.
Another thought came to Ciiru Nomuro.
"If the Republic tries again to foment rebellion on Taris, they will fail miserably among the Makebis, and if the Republic succeeds in getting the other Imperials to rebel, the Makebis will be the hardliners Darth Komo will rely on to put down that rebellion."
Ciiru smiled at Dando and Mindy. He bent over and gave Cintha's shoulder a brief squeeze, smiling broadly at her. When he stood straight again, he gave his goodbyes.
"Thank you both for allowing me to walk with you awhile and for giving me a line of talk. It was a fine time."
"The pleasure was all ours," Dando said, smiling and extending his hand towards the Jedi.
"We'd like to talk again sometime. Where can we find you?" Mindy asked, hoping her husband would gain a new friend.
"In a short time, you'll forget we ever met," Ciiru said, a bit regretfully, using Force Persuasion, "Go on to your family picnic and have a wonderful time. I wish the best to the three of you."
He turned and began walking towards the northern edge of the camp, a couple of rows up from the Plaris' row of tents.
"Goodbye!" Mindy said, a bit sadly.
"Bye!" Cintha chirped brightly.
Dando, merely waved his goodbyes as the Jedi stepped off of the walking paths and trudged through the tall grasses towards the tree line. It was strange to watch him walk off into the woods, but he didn't have time to think about that. He had to get his family to the park.
"Let's get going," he said.
As the family of three resumed their leisurely stroll to the park, they all completely forgot about Ciiru.
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