CHAPTER 15
Master Skywalker strolled the halls of the Jedi temple, not really caring where he ended up as long as he could escape the work awaiting him on his office table. R2-D2 and C-3PO saw their master wandering past them in the open chamber leading to yet another endless hallway of arches and muted primary colors. 3PO thought it best to catch up with his rightful owner so they might catch up on the time they have shared apart. "Master Yoda!" the effeminate yet still male voice of 3PO yelled in a dignified tone so not to disturb the other surrounding Jedi. Yoda turned his head first then his whole self when his realized it was his two loyal droids who came approaching him. "3PO, R2!" he smiled. "I hope the Force has granted you two, a fruitful day?" He stretched out his hand to lay a familiar pat on the shoulder of the protocol droid, and gave a simple wink to the astromech. "Why of course Master Yoda, my work here at the Temple has always given me the most uneventful, non-threatening, and by far kindest experiences I have had in the last fourteen hundred years. They have been the calmest, most blissful days a droid could ever hope for." R2 hooted, and heeted in disagreement, 3PO shook his head knowing his fateful friend would never stray from his addiction to adventure. "Unlike my partner here, of course!" "Of course!" Skywalker chuckled as he began to continue his journey down the tall corridor as the two droids joined him in his time of reflection. 3PO on his left and R2 circled to his right, forming a very unusual family portrait. "Master Yoda" he turned his head to the golden bot. "I and R2 have been curious. With the return of those dreadful Sith creatures, what part will these ancient clones have in the coming confrontations?" 3PO asked a question that his Master still had been wondering himself, but unlike most times he could not give his shiny friend the answer that he desired. "I'm not sure about the others, but I know that the Jedi replicas will most likely be used to help all the other Jedi in the future battles, but let us hope that we will not loose any lives in that process, whether they be replicated or 'homegrown' as they say." He remarked in a manner of regret for even thinking of such useless loss of life. How can we bring these lives into the world after two thousand years of being dead to the universe only face the possibility of returning to oblivion? He mourned to himself. Taking a brief, quiet moment to remind him that the Force does nothing without reason, but this only served to cause Master Skywalker to ask more questions in his subconscious mind. Most of which revolved around the Old Sun prophecy, something that seemed so much like a child's bedtime story, something so universal that it had transgressed time and language, and yet it was deeply threaded in Jedi philosophy. With discovery of the clones along with the message left by Quinlan Vos, it has become increasingly more difficult to deny the apparent reality of this prophecy coming true. Yoda couldn't deny what the Force had in store for the Jedi, the Sith resurrection was at hand, now operating in the open it could only lead to one thing. "War!" and if the legend of the Old Sun were true, that could mean the devastation of the Jedi Order, once again. Again? Yoda halted in his step, causing R2 and 3PO to come to abrupt stop as well. "Master is everything in good terms?" the tallest of the two droids queried. "3PO do you contain knowledge of the 'Old Sun' prophecy?" the Jedi master raised his arms to intertwine with each other. "Why of course my Master, R2 played the message you had found on Kamino to me, shortly before I recorded it into the Great Archive of the temple's Library." He slightly waved his constricted arms as he spoke, something that always annoyed Yoda. "I can recall all the information I stored in my personal databanks if you would like?" "No that won't be necessary I just had an epiphany that may alleviate some fears I have come to discover." The Jedi master took in a deep breath as his circuit nerved counterparts looked to him for his response. "Do you recall the part of the message where Jedi master Vos mentioned the reign of the dark sun and how it would plant the seeds of evil then to be banished by the new sun before they would over power the Rock?" 3PO nodded, R2 gave a single hoot. "What if the dark sun has already been cast away?" "Your Pardon Master?" both droids were befuddled now. "The Empire 3PO, what if the Emperor was the one who cast the dark sun over the galaxy?" Yoda's mind began to race with the possibility, which rapidly became more and more factual as he continued. "That would mean when the Empire fell and the Emperor was finally killed, then the new sun has already appeared." 3PO and R2 being the only remaining survivors of the Galactic Civil War, came to the same conclusion, unable themselves to deny the implications of the Prophecy. "I assume that only proves that we will need these clones to bring back the Old sun? How? I'm not sure, but let us pray that the Force will see it through with the destruction of the Sith." "Beepooo!" R2 proclaimed as a rush of electronic adrenalin surged through his circuits giving C-3PO the urge to slap his wheeled friend's dome. "Only you R2-D2 would happen to have lived so long yet still so recklessly." Yoda chuckled at the display of his unintentionally humorous friends. "I swear, one of these days you will wear my circuits down to binary coding with your dangerous lifestyle." "I believe I shall be going now!" Skywalker slowly continued walking as 3PO continued to give his infamous 'R2 you reckless.' speech to the enthusiastic astromech. Their sounds became more and more distant as the Jedi Master continued to reflect on the inner peace he so desired. A peace usually granted by his wife, Angel's presence but he would have to settle for the never-ending love of the force while she remained absent. He admired the beautifully simplistic architecture of the cathedral like ceilings and thick tall standing pillars as he passed each different hallway. The Force was every bit apart of the great Temple as was any other Jedi it housed, surely a true testament to the Jedi's strength and abilities through the Force. Yoda stopped in the middle of his journey, and opened his heart to the light. Beyond the walls of this temple in to the minds of his loved ones, his children, his wife, his sister and even his friends. This calmed his mind, except he couldn't reach Dorshe'. She was being blocked from him, but it is not unlikely that she is shielding her mind from him; it was how she hid her pregnancy for so long. Dorshe' Oden, a mother! He thought. Knowing very well there was no one woman more deserving of such a miracle, She will make a great mother! He brought his essence back to the Temple, but then it stopped again. There was a presence masking itself inside the temple, it was close, very close. Skywalker turned to his left to find what seemingly appeared to be a fellow Jedi in dark brown robes, and the tradition tunics worn by most of the Order, but his hood was covering all signs of his true identity as he entered a turbo-lift. Skywalker had never in all his life ever seen a Jedi with their cloak up, in the Temple. This was most peculiar, he hurried over to try and catch the lift before the hatch sealed so he might discover who this being was. "Hey!" he shouted trying to catch the person's attention so he might stop the lift and allow Skywalker access, but he in turn gave no response and the doors whipped shut. The Jedi master found this unsettling; his eyes peered to the lift control panel to see where the mystery man is heading. Yoda almost fell from his step when he saw the readout; the lift was directed to the Science Laboratory Storage deck. "The Clones!" he had prayed he read it wrong, but Yoda couldn't deny what his eyes could gather. He looked around the Hall, trying to find as many Jedi as he could in the sparsely filled alcove. "Everyone, I require your assistance! I believe there to be an intruder in the temple." All eleven the various beings of the Force turned their focus to the blonde Jedi. "Master Ulomar, contact security, tell them to lock down all exits, tell them to begin with the clone, storage floor!" Quarren Jedi complied, as he ran with his Padawan learner, to alert the security watchmen. Leaving Yoda with nine others to assist him "Noble Paullex, you and V'fas stay here and take watch until the situation is under control." The two knights nodded in compliance as R2 and 3PO entered the mix. "Everybody else." Yoda removed his robe and tossed it to the golden droid, 3PO caught it over his head, do to a lack of common reflex, ".follow me!" he then removed his lightsabre from its holster as he led the group of warriors down to the Laboratory, via nearest unoccupied lift. To confront this dark man.
Once in the lift, Jiles removed his hood, not wishing to stay one more second in its vile representation. He knew the Jedi were now aware of his presence in their sanctuary, so he saw no reason to confined to their horrid attire. Oiket removed his arms from the stolen cloak, as it slipped to the floor of the lift to reveal his clad leather jumpsuit. He then reached down to his thick utility belt to remove the genetic scanner, now that he knew who he came for, the device should ease the process of finding the replica leaving time for Jiles to escape, if he worked quickly. The Sith lord leaped out of the lift as soon as there was an opening wide enough, his first task was to disable the automated internal defense system, since Jiles had memorized the blueprints taken by the Cole android. He simply gave a quick blast of dark energy directed at the main power management panel. The bolt of hate-filled lighting decimated the console, redirecting all the room's power into the reserve generator, which in turn lowered the lighting while also deactivating the automated guns and sensor pallets. "Step One: Check!" he smirked. Jiles continued his well-thought plan; he activated the geno-scanner as he leaped from each of the tall storage pillars. Trying desperately to find the clone that matches the preprogrammed sequences, Oiket could sense the Jedi getting closer, he worked faster with each breath, from pillar to pillar, level by level, and clone to clone. Where are You? The thought echoed in his mind with rising anger, as he jumped over to the next tower, and to his surprise he found him with the first scan. "Step Two: Check!" Jiles tapped a button on the small scanner's panel to activate the three saucer probes that the Cole droid had placed in the lab. The three shiny black plates disabled their cloaks and flew to Jiles's proximity, he then used the scanner's targeting laser to identify the replica to be acquired. After doing so he pocketed the small hand unit and began to release the stasis tube's power coupling as the hover droids latched their thin tentacles onto the large steel-glass jar. The two smaller ones wrapping around the sides and the third larger one on top, then the newly formed transport device pulled the replica chamber out from it's housing foundation. Jiles typed a coded series of algorithms into his small wrist control, ordering the assembled droids to ignite the plasma drill. Atop the biggest droid, a thick red pyramid of focused lasers formed a foot tall high drill about two feet in diameter. Jiles smiled with envy, wishing his lightsabre were so powerful. "Step Three: Check!" The moment of triumph was obliterated by sounds of footsteps bellowing into the room. Those footsteps belonged to a band of Jedi knights led by Master Skywalker. "Up there!" one of the Jedi yelled pointing his blue lightsabre at the devious Jiles. Before the Jedi could mount an attack, Oiket reached into his utility poach and pulled five flash bombs into his left hand. He threw the small spherical weapons at the eight persons, creating a great blast of light in the explosion's wake. Little did they know that the devices weren't meant to explode as Skywalker ordered them to duck. Prior to the clearing of the smoke, Jiles clenched onto the probe container as it shot through the far wall of the Laboratory using the invincible tool it emanated. Once the droid had forced its way through the ten foot wide wall it made it disappeared into the coruscant night. "Is everyone in good condition?" Skywalker stood up as the smoke dissipated, upset that the dark being had escaped, but now more concerned to the well being of his cohorts. He was content to hear the positive responses, he returned to the business at hand. "Good, now we need to restore power to this level before the Clones' reserves run out!" the Jedi knew how important the clones were, not as much as Yoda has come to understand but that did not thwart them in their efforts to reinitiate the energy flow. Yoda felt a sensation of pride for his fellow Jedi's determination as he began to skim his eyes around the room to see if the villain had caused any more damage to the vital systems of the lab. He found none, until his gaze fell upon an empty port on one of the storage pillars upper levels. The same tower the unknown vigilant was upon before he escaped via the large whole he created in the wall, making the warehouse vulnerable to the outside nightlight. "Someone please inform the repair crew that we have a structural breach down here!" and just as soon as Yoda stated that, Chevacca walked into the room. "Yoda!" the Wookiee glanced at the surroundings noticing the laboratory's new open window. "What happened? Who is responsible for this?" He growled in fear of the answer. "Who else could have done something like this?" he returned. The furry Jedi's worries came true. "What did the Sith do down here?" he turned to his friend seeing the sorrow in his face and sensing the pain in his heart. "He took one of the Clones!" Chevacca's eyes widened at the revelation, all the emotions a Jedi had learned to purge almost overflowed into Chevacca's heart, he grinded his teeth as the feelings passed through him, not allowing the evil essences to take him. Yoda, stone faced by the horrid crime, took strength from his friend's soothing presence. Chevacca laid a paw on Master Skywalker's shoulder for comfort. "Do you know which one the Sith stole from us?" "Yes and No, I do know that it wasn't one of the replicas we have already identified, I do know it was one of the Jedi, and I also know it was one of the Jedi that's file was lost on the list. So who it is they took exactly we may never know!" His hands tightened into a fist, and Chevacca's grip tightened as well. "Who ever it was is gone now, lost to their sick and twisted intentions!" "Don't think like that Yoda, we could send a team of Jedi after him." "No it's lost!" Skywalker looked up to the tall Master before him. "For some unknown method of Force this was meant to happen, all we can do now is be thankful no one else was hurt or taken." Master Chevacca yielded his limb from his friend's side, he was not going take the news he had any better from this point on so he might as well tell Skywalker what else has happened. Yoda could sense Chevacca's concern grow even more as he released his grip. Skywalker looked deeper into Chevacca's eyes he could almost read the news of his mind, but did not out of mutual respect. "What has happened Chevacca?" "We have just received a transmission from our Watchmen on Tatooine." He collected his thoughts. "The Lorrax has been discovered in a ship port on the out skirts of Mos Espa. From what they could gather there was no sign that Noble Venad had returned to the ship in over several hours, well beyond the time he was supposed to file his necessary chrono-report!" "Do they know what happened to him?" "They have yet to find out, most of the Watchmen are still on a prior engagement and the few that aren't, are currently doing their best to find out." "That's not the worst of what you had to tell me, was it?" The Wookiee bowed his head. "The Watchmen viewed the Lorrax's Flight logs." Yoda's anxiousness returned. "The log's showed no sigh of the ship going anywhere near Orveaous before it left this system." "Dorshe'!" Yoda clenched as Chevacca went on. "From what the locals could say, they saw a dark-haired humanoid woman and a blue skinned vurk around the city asking questions about a missing child." This caused Yoda to grow more curious. "A local bartender noticed the two enter her establishment asking more questions about a smuggler, who was murdered in the bar while being interrogated by Master Oden. They then pursued the culprit of the killing deep into the thick of the forest. They have not been seen in the city since." He finished in an apologetic tone. Yoda's eyes intensified with realization. "They were kidnapped!" "I sensed the same thing!' the furry one returned expecting such a possibility to arise. Chevacca then pulled out a data panel and handed it to Yoda. "Acorroding to the Tatooine space control, a small unregistered shuttle launched from the surface close to Mos Espa, shortly after Dorshe' and Grem's disappearance." Master Skywalker quickly read over the touch panel. "Shuttle mysteriously vanished into nothing near the planet's orbit, at first the space control officer thought the ship had jumped to hyperspace, but after a thorough sensor sweep of the area, the control station discovered what seemed to be a large sensor ghost encompassing a small region where the ship disappeared." "A cloaking device!" it was all starting to make perfect sense. "Yes, if you will continue reading, you will note that a large hyperspace quake was emitted shortly after the shuttle's departure. One that was far too big to have been created by a vessel so small." Yoda more determined now than ever to put an end to this chaos once and for all. "Hail the Virtuous, inform Master Amtlar of the kidnapping and tell him and the fleet to convert to search and rescue code nine! Also see if you can contact Forewoman Antilles and inform her of our current predicament" "Understood!" Chevacca began to exit as the repair team finally entered into the chamber to fix the damage left behind from the theft.
"Chevacca." the Wookiee turned from his step. ".From now on I want round the clock security watchmen securing this room." "Yes master Skywalker." he continued on. Yoda stood there gazing off into the distant skyline pierced by the city's great towers of light. .Begun this clone war has. Yoda heard the words of an even more distant being, someone not only separated from him by the limits of space, but also by the span of time. The words of someone so close, personally but so far universally, the words of one who had survived something very similar to this, but he paid a high price, a price Skywalker would not take without a fight.
* * *
Fett waited for the Probe transport inside the shuttle cargo hold, while the ship was cloaked Fett and his crew would have to rely on the Cole droids advanced reflexes to pilot the ship out of the dense traffic paths. One of Tagor's subordinates broke the tense silence. "Sir the droid is closing! Sir." "Open the cargo doors and guide it in soldier!" he ordered. The armored Foot-soldier manned a small remote unit that controls the droid's flight systems. "Sir it's difficult to pilot the droid?" "How so Private?" he cocked an invisible eyebrow, hidden behind his cold steel helmet. "I think the probe has taken on extra weight." Fett knew exactly why, and he was less than happy to hear it. "That coward!" Tagro grumbled. "Do you want me to try and shake him loose Sir?" he replied. "No bring him in I'll just have deal with Jiles later!" and slowly but surely the probe droid Oiket made its way into the shuttles storage hold. The device floated over the main deck for a moment longer so Jiles could safely release his grip from the small transport. "I hope you had a safe trip Jiles?" "Shut-up Tagro!" He was not in a mood to be humored, but neither was Fett. The cargo door shut "Pilot return us to the Ship!" the Cole android could do nothing but follow her master's orders, her hands flew over the controls and almost instantaneously, the shuttle jolted into the sky above. "Now sit down Jiles, we have a lot to discuss once we get this thing back to the ship." Fett pointed to the stasis chamber now being secured into a steel crate by two of the soldiers. Oiket was not pleased with Fett's words; he could not sense what his future held for him after this point, now Jiles only sensed fear.
Master Skywalker strolled the halls of the Jedi temple, not really caring where he ended up as long as he could escape the work awaiting him on his office table. R2-D2 and C-3PO saw their master wandering past them in the open chamber leading to yet another endless hallway of arches and muted primary colors. 3PO thought it best to catch up with his rightful owner so they might catch up on the time they have shared apart. "Master Yoda!" the effeminate yet still male voice of 3PO yelled in a dignified tone so not to disturb the other surrounding Jedi. Yoda turned his head first then his whole self when his realized it was his two loyal droids who came approaching him. "3PO, R2!" he smiled. "I hope the Force has granted you two, a fruitful day?" He stretched out his hand to lay a familiar pat on the shoulder of the protocol droid, and gave a simple wink to the astromech. "Why of course Master Yoda, my work here at the Temple has always given me the most uneventful, non-threatening, and by far kindest experiences I have had in the last fourteen hundred years. They have been the calmest, most blissful days a droid could ever hope for." R2 hooted, and heeted in disagreement, 3PO shook his head knowing his fateful friend would never stray from his addiction to adventure. "Unlike my partner here, of course!" "Of course!" Skywalker chuckled as he began to continue his journey down the tall corridor as the two droids joined him in his time of reflection. 3PO on his left and R2 circled to his right, forming a very unusual family portrait. "Master Yoda" he turned his head to the golden bot. "I and R2 have been curious. With the return of those dreadful Sith creatures, what part will these ancient clones have in the coming confrontations?" 3PO asked a question that his Master still had been wondering himself, but unlike most times he could not give his shiny friend the answer that he desired. "I'm not sure about the others, but I know that the Jedi replicas will most likely be used to help all the other Jedi in the future battles, but let us hope that we will not loose any lives in that process, whether they be replicated or 'homegrown' as they say." He remarked in a manner of regret for even thinking of such useless loss of life. How can we bring these lives into the world after two thousand years of being dead to the universe only face the possibility of returning to oblivion? He mourned to himself. Taking a brief, quiet moment to remind him that the Force does nothing without reason, but this only served to cause Master Skywalker to ask more questions in his subconscious mind. Most of which revolved around the Old Sun prophecy, something that seemed so much like a child's bedtime story, something so universal that it had transgressed time and language, and yet it was deeply threaded in Jedi philosophy. With discovery of the clones along with the message left by Quinlan Vos, it has become increasingly more difficult to deny the apparent reality of this prophecy coming true. Yoda couldn't deny what the Force had in store for the Jedi, the Sith resurrection was at hand, now operating in the open it could only lead to one thing. "War!" and if the legend of the Old Sun were true, that could mean the devastation of the Jedi Order, once again. Again? Yoda halted in his step, causing R2 and 3PO to come to abrupt stop as well. "Master is everything in good terms?" the tallest of the two droids queried. "3PO do you contain knowledge of the 'Old Sun' prophecy?" the Jedi master raised his arms to intertwine with each other. "Why of course my Master, R2 played the message you had found on Kamino to me, shortly before I recorded it into the Great Archive of the temple's Library." He slightly waved his constricted arms as he spoke, something that always annoyed Yoda. "I can recall all the information I stored in my personal databanks if you would like?" "No that won't be necessary I just had an epiphany that may alleviate some fears I have come to discover." The Jedi master took in a deep breath as his circuit nerved counterparts looked to him for his response. "Do you recall the part of the message where Jedi master Vos mentioned the reign of the dark sun and how it would plant the seeds of evil then to be banished by the new sun before they would over power the Rock?" 3PO nodded, R2 gave a single hoot. "What if the dark sun has already been cast away?" "Your Pardon Master?" both droids were befuddled now. "The Empire 3PO, what if the Emperor was the one who cast the dark sun over the galaxy?" Yoda's mind began to race with the possibility, which rapidly became more and more factual as he continued. "That would mean when the Empire fell and the Emperor was finally killed, then the new sun has already appeared." 3PO and R2 being the only remaining survivors of the Galactic Civil War, came to the same conclusion, unable themselves to deny the implications of the Prophecy. "I assume that only proves that we will need these clones to bring back the Old sun? How? I'm not sure, but let us pray that the Force will see it through with the destruction of the Sith." "Beepooo!" R2 proclaimed as a rush of electronic adrenalin surged through his circuits giving C-3PO the urge to slap his wheeled friend's dome. "Only you R2-D2 would happen to have lived so long yet still so recklessly." Yoda chuckled at the display of his unintentionally humorous friends. "I swear, one of these days you will wear my circuits down to binary coding with your dangerous lifestyle." "I believe I shall be going now!" Skywalker slowly continued walking as 3PO continued to give his infamous 'R2 you reckless.' speech to the enthusiastic astromech. Their sounds became more and more distant as the Jedi Master continued to reflect on the inner peace he so desired. A peace usually granted by his wife, Angel's presence but he would have to settle for the never-ending love of the force while she remained absent. He admired the beautifully simplistic architecture of the cathedral like ceilings and thick tall standing pillars as he passed each different hallway. The Force was every bit apart of the great Temple as was any other Jedi it housed, surely a true testament to the Jedi's strength and abilities through the Force. Yoda stopped in the middle of his journey, and opened his heart to the light. Beyond the walls of this temple in to the minds of his loved ones, his children, his wife, his sister and even his friends. This calmed his mind, except he couldn't reach Dorshe'. She was being blocked from him, but it is not unlikely that she is shielding her mind from him; it was how she hid her pregnancy for so long. Dorshe' Oden, a mother! He thought. Knowing very well there was no one woman more deserving of such a miracle, She will make a great mother! He brought his essence back to the Temple, but then it stopped again. There was a presence masking itself inside the temple, it was close, very close. Skywalker turned to his left to find what seemingly appeared to be a fellow Jedi in dark brown robes, and the tradition tunics worn by most of the Order, but his hood was covering all signs of his true identity as he entered a turbo-lift. Skywalker had never in all his life ever seen a Jedi with their cloak up, in the Temple. This was most peculiar, he hurried over to try and catch the lift before the hatch sealed so he might discover who this being was. "Hey!" he shouted trying to catch the person's attention so he might stop the lift and allow Skywalker access, but he in turn gave no response and the doors whipped shut. The Jedi master found this unsettling; his eyes peered to the lift control panel to see where the mystery man is heading. Yoda almost fell from his step when he saw the readout; the lift was directed to the Science Laboratory Storage deck. "The Clones!" he had prayed he read it wrong, but Yoda couldn't deny what his eyes could gather. He looked around the Hall, trying to find as many Jedi as he could in the sparsely filled alcove. "Everyone, I require your assistance! I believe there to be an intruder in the temple." All eleven the various beings of the Force turned their focus to the blonde Jedi. "Master Ulomar, contact security, tell them to lock down all exits, tell them to begin with the clone, storage floor!" Quarren Jedi complied, as he ran with his Padawan learner, to alert the security watchmen. Leaving Yoda with nine others to assist him "Noble Paullex, you and V'fas stay here and take watch until the situation is under control." The two knights nodded in compliance as R2 and 3PO entered the mix. "Everybody else." Yoda removed his robe and tossed it to the golden droid, 3PO caught it over his head, do to a lack of common reflex, ".follow me!" he then removed his lightsabre from its holster as he led the group of warriors down to the Laboratory, via nearest unoccupied lift. To confront this dark man.
Once in the lift, Jiles removed his hood, not wishing to stay one more second in its vile representation. He knew the Jedi were now aware of his presence in their sanctuary, so he saw no reason to confined to their horrid attire. Oiket removed his arms from the stolen cloak, as it slipped to the floor of the lift to reveal his clad leather jumpsuit. He then reached down to his thick utility belt to remove the genetic scanner, now that he knew who he came for, the device should ease the process of finding the replica leaving time for Jiles to escape, if he worked quickly. The Sith lord leaped out of the lift as soon as there was an opening wide enough, his first task was to disable the automated internal defense system, since Jiles had memorized the blueprints taken by the Cole android. He simply gave a quick blast of dark energy directed at the main power management panel. The bolt of hate-filled lighting decimated the console, redirecting all the room's power into the reserve generator, which in turn lowered the lighting while also deactivating the automated guns and sensor pallets. "Step One: Check!" he smirked. Jiles continued his well-thought plan; he activated the geno-scanner as he leaped from each of the tall storage pillars. Trying desperately to find the clone that matches the preprogrammed sequences, Oiket could sense the Jedi getting closer, he worked faster with each breath, from pillar to pillar, level by level, and clone to clone. Where are You? The thought echoed in his mind with rising anger, as he jumped over to the next tower, and to his surprise he found him with the first scan. "Step Two: Check!" Jiles tapped a button on the small scanner's panel to activate the three saucer probes that the Cole droid had placed in the lab. The three shiny black plates disabled their cloaks and flew to Jiles's proximity, he then used the scanner's targeting laser to identify the replica to be acquired. After doing so he pocketed the small hand unit and began to release the stasis tube's power coupling as the hover droids latched their thin tentacles onto the large steel-glass jar. The two smaller ones wrapping around the sides and the third larger one on top, then the newly formed transport device pulled the replica chamber out from it's housing foundation. Jiles typed a coded series of algorithms into his small wrist control, ordering the assembled droids to ignite the plasma drill. Atop the biggest droid, a thick red pyramid of focused lasers formed a foot tall high drill about two feet in diameter. Jiles smiled with envy, wishing his lightsabre were so powerful. "Step Three: Check!" The moment of triumph was obliterated by sounds of footsteps bellowing into the room. Those footsteps belonged to a band of Jedi knights led by Master Skywalker. "Up there!" one of the Jedi yelled pointing his blue lightsabre at the devious Jiles. Before the Jedi could mount an attack, Oiket reached into his utility poach and pulled five flash bombs into his left hand. He threw the small spherical weapons at the eight persons, creating a great blast of light in the explosion's wake. Little did they know that the devices weren't meant to explode as Skywalker ordered them to duck. Prior to the clearing of the smoke, Jiles clenched onto the probe container as it shot through the far wall of the Laboratory using the invincible tool it emanated. Once the droid had forced its way through the ten foot wide wall it made it disappeared into the coruscant night. "Is everyone in good condition?" Skywalker stood up as the smoke dissipated, upset that the dark being had escaped, but now more concerned to the well being of his cohorts. He was content to hear the positive responses, he returned to the business at hand. "Good, now we need to restore power to this level before the Clones' reserves run out!" the Jedi knew how important the clones were, not as much as Yoda has come to understand but that did not thwart them in their efforts to reinitiate the energy flow. Yoda felt a sensation of pride for his fellow Jedi's determination as he began to skim his eyes around the room to see if the villain had caused any more damage to the vital systems of the lab. He found none, until his gaze fell upon an empty port on one of the storage pillars upper levels. The same tower the unknown vigilant was upon before he escaped via the large whole he created in the wall, making the warehouse vulnerable to the outside nightlight. "Someone please inform the repair crew that we have a structural breach down here!" and just as soon as Yoda stated that, Chevacca walked into the room. "Yoda!" the Wookiee glanced at the surroundings noticing the laboratory's new open window. "What happened? Who is responsible for this?" He growled in fear of the answer. "Who else could have done something like this?" he returned. The furry Jedi's worries came true. "What did the Sith do down here?" he turned to his friend seeing the sorrow in his face and sensing the pain in his heart. "He took one of the Clones!" Chevacca's eyes widened at the revelation, all the emotions a Jedi had learned to purge almost overflowed into Chevacca's heart, he grinded his teeth as the feelings passed through him, not allowing the evil essences to take him. Yoda, stone faced by the horrid crime, took strength from his friend's soothing presence. Chevacca laid a paw on Master Skywalker's shoulder for comfort. "Do you know which one the Sith stole from us?" "Yes and No, I do know that it wasn't one of the replicas we have already identified, I do know it was one of the Jedi, and I also know it was one of the Jedi that's file was lost on the list. So who it is they took exactly we may never know!" His hands tightened into a fist, and Chevacca's grip tightened as well. "Who ever it was is gone now, lost to their sick and twisted intentions!" "Don't think like that Yoda, we could send a team of Jedi after him." "No it's lost!" Skywalker looked up to the tall Master before him. "For some unknown method of Force this was meant to happen, all we can do now is be thankful no one else was hurt or taken." Master Chevacca yielded his limb from his friend's side, he was not going take the news he had any better from this point on so he might as well tell Skywalker what else has happened. Yoda could sense Chevacca's concern grow even more as he released his grip. Skywalker looked deeper into Chevacca's eyes he could almost read the news of his mind, but did not out of mutual respect. "What has happened Chevacca?" "We have just received a transmission from our Watchmen on Tatooine." He collected his thoughts. "The Lorrax has been discovered in a ship port on the out skirts of Mos Espa. From what they could gather there was no sign that Noble Venad had returned to the ship in over several hours, well beyond the time he was supposed to file his necessary chrono-report!" "Do they know what happened to him?" "They have yet to find out, most of the Watchmen are still on a prior engagement and the few that aren't, are currently doing their best to find out." "That's not the worst of what you had to tell me, was it?" The Wookiee bowed his head. "The Watchmen viewed the Lorrax's Flight logs." Yoda's anxiousness returned. "The log's showed no sigh of the ship going anywhere near Orveaous before it left this system." "Dorshe'!" Yoda clenched as Chevacca went on. "From what the locals could say, they saw a dark-haired humanoid woman and a blue skinned vurk around the city asking questions about a missing child." This caused Yoda to grow more curious. "A local bartender noticed the two enter her establishment asking more questions about a smuggler, who was murdered in the bar while being interrogated by Master Oden. They then pursued the culprit of the killing deep into the thick of the forest. They have not been seen in the city since." He finished in an apologetic tone. Yoda's eyes intensified with realization. "They were kidnapped!" "I sensed the same thing!' the furry one returned expecting such a possibility to arise. Chevacca then pulled out a data panel and handed it to Yoda. "Acorroding to the Tatooine space control, a small unregistered shuttle launched from the surface close to Mos Espa, shortly after Dorshe' and Grem's disappearance." Master Skywalker quickly read over the touch panel. "Shuttle mysteriously vanished into nothing near the planet's orbit, at first the space control officer thought the ship had jumped to hyperspace, but after a thorough sensor sweep of the area, the control station discovered what seemed to be a large sensor ghost encompassing a small region where the ship disappeared." "A cloaking device!" it was all starting to make perfect sense. "Yes, if you will continue reading, you will note that a large hyperspace quake was emitted shortly after the shuttle's departure. One that was far too big to have been created by a vessel so small." Yoda more determined now than ever to put an end to this chaos once and for all. "Hail the Virtuous, inform Master Amtlar of the kidnapping and tell him and the fleet to convert to search and rescue code nine! Also see if you can contact Forewoman Antilles and inform her of our current predicament" "Understood!" Chevacca began to exit as the repair team finally entered into the chamber to fix the damage left behind from the theft.
"Chevacca." the Wookiee turned from his step. ".From now on I want round the clock security watchmen securing this room." "Yes master Skywalker." he continued on. Yoda stood there gazing off into the distant skyline pierced by the city's great towers of light. .Begun this clone war has. Yoda heard the words of an even more distant being, someone not only separated from him by the limits of space, but also by the span of time. The words of someone so close, personally but so far universally, the words of one who had survived something very similar to this, but he paid a high price, a price Skywalker would not take without a fight.
* * *
Fett waited for the Probe transport inside the shuttle cargo hold, while the ship was cloaked Fett and his crew would have to rely on the Cole droids advanced reflexes to pilot the ship out of the dense traffic paths. One of Tagor's subordinates broke the tense silence. "Sir the droid is closing! Sir." "Open the cargo doors and guide it in soldier!" he ordered. The armored Foot-soldier manned a small remote unit that controls the droid's flight systems. "Sir it's difficult to pilot the droid?" "How so Private?" he cocked an invisible eyebrow, hidden behind his cold steel helmet. "I think the probe has taken on extra weight." Fett knew exactly why, and he was less than happy to hear it. "That coward!" Tagro grumbled. "Do you want me to try and shake him loose Sir?" he replied. "No bring him in I'll just have deal with Jiles later!" and slowly but surely the probe droid Oiket made its way into the shuttles storage hold. The device floated over the main deck for a moment longer so Jiles could safely release his grip from the small transport. "I hope you had a safe trip Jiles?" "Shut-up Tagro!" He was not in a mood to be humored, but neither was Fett. The cargo door shut "Pilot return us to the Ship!" the Cole android could do nothing but follow her master's orders, her hands flew over the controls and almost instantaneously, the shuttle jolted into the sky above. "Now sit down Jiles, we have a lot to discuss once we get this thing back to the ship." Fett pointed to the stasis chamber now being secured into a steel crate by two of the soldiers. Oiket was not pleased with Fett's words; he could not sense what his future held for him after this point, now Jiles only sensed fear.