Note: I apologize for the wait. There were somethings that needed sorting out before my return to this story. Now, I'm back. This is the 1st attempt at a 'Special' chapter, so we'll see, how it goes.
-The deeply concerned. Senator Vescell's actions have increased suspicions on both his colleagues and the opposition. Unpredictability as a concept or force in the current circumstances is not welcomed. New resolutions will have to be made, while a Padawan remains worried of the coming days. How much devastation can be achieved?-
Special chapter
Chapter 21. WILD CARDS NOT WELCOMED
STAGE 1
About 9 in the morning. The same Temple's trapeze that was visited firstly by Younglings Pedro & Katooni, later – by Oswald were currently hosting another Force sensitive. This time it was the farseeing one's friend Zane Farnos. His eyes were stretched, directed towards the sunrise. More mysteriously than anything else, the morning temporarily stifled the being's fear.
"A great way to start the morning. The light… I hope it symbolizes the defeat of darkness today."
His thoughts harkened back to his yesterday's evening's meditation. Although still not substantially confident in his work with the Force, there did seem to be progress made on the narrowing of time.
"The loss, whoever it is engulfing right now, will see it transpire this week. There's no other way."
His Master did manage to notice the worry within him. A talk ensued shortly after this realization. The white chocolate skinned male was apprehensive about his Master's intrusion into the Secret Investigation. Understandably so. About 5 minutes passed with no progress, from a side it looked like a standstill. Therefore, the older Force sensitive set up a meeting with the younger one at 11 o'clock in one of the Temple's meditation chambers. Farnos agreed with the hide of the reluctancy behind his facial expression.
"Time to be like Oswald with the authorities."
He smiles, returns his sight into its normal state and takes steps back to the indoors of the Jedi Temple.
9 o'clock. The 3 senators of the more extreme anti-Palpatine cause met up once again in their 'secret' room. Everybody had something to express. Taking into account their agreement on a physical interchange, the matter was not a lighthearted one. Senator Main started off the conversation with a concern on their arrival at the same place once again. He advised a change in scenery. Senators Avergreen & Hefyra did see the rational aspect of it, constant meetings at one place with the same people could present an unnecessary layer of danger. Specifically with the knowledge of who they were. Hefyra brought up a counter-point. What place would be better? The trio knew that the Chancellor was somewhat informed of their fairly constant interactions. A particularly assigned spy on them was not an impossibility. The other female settled the incident with a assurance that another meeting like this one will either not happen before the Date / Vote or it will occur in a different place. Main was first to respond with this:
"Alright then. We can move onto the things that have lead us here."
"Quite right, Main. Time is a precious thing, even more – before the deadline."
"Then I believe you should start." – Avergreen said.
"Very well. Yesterday, just before the evening started, me & Hefyra were going to dine, when she mentioned something that has direct effect on our plan."
"The Plan?"
"Yes."
Immediately, Avergreen's face became stern.
"How serious is this effect?"
"Serious enough to ruin everything that we've planned for the Vote." – Hefyra answers.
She leans back to her chair, thinks a bit. Less than a minute passes when she stands up.
"We can't have that."
One could easily understand the reason, why this was said in a firm tone.
"No, we can't." – state the other two.
She pours herself half a glass of wine from the bar.
"What is our strategy of dealing with… this threat?"
"I'm not certain I have one." – Main answers.
A moment off silence fills the room. The conversation continues after Avergreen walks back to her table and takes a sip of wine.
"How large is the threat?"
"As far as we know, it stops with one man."
"One of our senators is being reckless?"
"Yes."
"He also has shown signs of instability in the past." – Main adds.
"Significant ones?"
"Yes."
"Than it can only be Senator Vescell."
"Correct."
"What information do you have of him?"
"One of my loyal people reported to me yesterday that Vescell had a conversation with a clone trooper and a grey cloak wearing being in the hallway of the Republic Senate."
Avergreen takes some time to present a response.
"It can't be the Joker."
"No, he only knows us 3 from the Alliance on the Senators' side."
"That means he's breaching out." – says Main.
"And turning up the danger level." – Hefyra mentions.
"In such a public setting, the pro-Chancellor group might have easily noticed this and reported to him by the end of the day."
"Which makes Vescell a wild card in our cause."
"Not a good wild card at that."
"That is why we must handle it. Our young Jedi friend will not stand for such incompetence. Not to mention the fact that we might lose the Galaxy to decades of living without enough freedom."
The other nodded and they began to examine their options individually. The Vote was less than 5 days away, enormous effort went into situation they now find themselves in, whether it be the Senators, the FSL, the EML or Oswald. None of them wanted for all of it to collapse at such a key moment. It felt similar to the last 1/8 of a track race when you're leading the chasing pack. Whatever action was decided on, its execution would have to happen fast.
Ten minutes later.
"So. Main? Why don't you go first?"
"Okay. I have two solutions to our problem."
"Please elaborate on them."
"One we confront Vescell swiftly and intimidate him into dropping this 'breaching out' tactic right then and there. The other…"
The male senator takes a deep breath.
"We eliminate him from our cause completely."
The females were not stunned by the second one.
"And you, Hefyra?"
"I also have two courses of action. One – kidnap him and hold him in a sell until the Vote and our Plan is completed. Two is the same as Main's second."
"So it seems… you agree on a decision to eliminate Vescell."
"As a solution, Avergreen. Doesn't mean I liked expressing it."
"After hearing both of your takes, I'm don't see the worth of stating my own options."
"So you're leaning towards one of our three?"
"Exactly, Hefyra. To be genuine, I'm leaning towards the termination of him."
The others do not give away a hint of shock, the female empties her glass of wine.
"To be honest, there were several opportunities for him to leave the Alliance's upkeep to us. Sadly, it does not seem he took any of them."
"Really, can we afford such a wild card in our hands at this stage of our Plan?" – asks Hefyra in a soft, callous voice.
Avergreen slowly shifts her face to the other female senator in the room.
"I believe we can't. Such recklessness is a great issue. One we must correct before more damage is done."
"So. Are we all in accordance?" – Main asks.
The females stay silent.
"Alright. Senator Vescell is to be terminated. I suggest before the day is done."
"Good idea, Main. I will take care of the bureaucracy and the remaining preparations."
"Then… we can move on." – says Hefyra.
Later Senator Avergreen discloses a meeting she attended yesterday evening. It was at the apartment of Senator Amidala, a bit more than a dozen senators appeared with her. Of course, Bail Organa was one of them. The conversation centered around the Chancellor. No surprises there. Senator Amidala was the person, who most openly criticized Palpatine's recent activity. Who was 2nd on that list? It didn't matter, they were lightyears away from her. Due to this reason and the fact that she was viewed by almost everyone in the Senate as incorruptible, she was the leader of the semi-open anti-Palpatine movement. The story of the evening was a proposed bill or executive order. The masses would label it as 'controversial'. What was the content? Essentially, it was targeted at removing all executive power that the Chancellor had collected through the duration of the Clone Wars. The masses had jobs, didn't have time to dive into the world of politics, law or long-lasting results of some bills. Most wanted the War to be just over. Both Amidala & Organa knew that Avergreen had significant support in the Senate, was against the trend of assigning more power to Palpatine. The crucial clash came with solving the latter problem. While the two and their supporters thought that they could still win against him within the confides of the Republic Senate, she had next to no trust in such a resolution. Talks with Main about perception of the higher ranking beings in the Republic gave her a good perspective on the matter. According to him, more and more of them were staggeringly less worried about the Senate than the Chancellor. A cynic would say the latter made the former obsolete. This led to the formation of the Alliance and the actions that followed suit. Keeping all of this in mind, Avergreen stated she will console with her advisors and her loyal colleagues about this. This pleased Padme and Bail just enough to not approach the topic again, quite soon the meeting was concluded.
The trio had its mission, had its asset on good terms with them, now upholding that was crucial to their success.
An hour later.
"Dzyum! Dzyum! Dzyum!"
Concentrated red blaster fire is gliding through the air, noise is constantly growing, as are burned rocks.
"Concentrate fire on the right tower!" – Master Bangad shouted.
"Right away, sir!"
The battlefield was not too complicated. A gate, two towers and a bridge connecting them on top of the gate were built between a ravine. The gate spanned close to 200 meters (~660 feet) in width. The whole structure was built out of tawny brown stone blocks, where one's weight reached 30 kilograms (~66 pounds). At the point of the bridge's and gate's collide there was the biggest hole in the wall. No coincidence that was were 3 laser machine guns were being operated from by the Separatist Alliance. Master Bangad & Padawan Elanequil had devised a plan to cripple these encroachments within the towers. The orange skinned twi'lek female took a squad of 6 clone troopers to descend on into one of them. She broke the wall with a Force helped throw of a highly explosive grenade at the tower. The blast created enough of a gap for the squad to jump into. Soon they had destroyed one of the separatist's machine gun defenses. Now there was the objective of eliminating the other tower. There were also a couple of hundred battle droids beyond the gate, engaged with Bangad and the clones. About a kilometer behind them were 4 standard Republic tanks that were ready to shoot on the General's command.
Suddenly, a blue lightsaber ignited and directed the concentrated red blaster fire away.
"Start aiming, men!"
The 6 Republic soldiers began their own barrage of blue lasers against the droids. Too bad, it was short lived. Soon two of the six got killed.
"Fall back behind the wall!" – Kelan shouted.
"You hear her! Fall back."
The men take cover behind tawny brown stone blocks. The Jedi Commander soon joins them, just not before reflecting blasts back to the enemy. 3 droids down. In sequence, a catch of breath happened, the 17 year old was proud of her training that she enacted yesterday.
"Master. Some help would be welcome. Are the tanks in position?"
"Just a few seconds, Padawan, and the right tower is history."
The noise remains.
11 o'clock, 4 days 7 hours till the Vote. A grandiose change in a person's lifestyle can lead to so many emotions, resolutions, perception changes, goal reevaluations. The variety of them is too much to apprehend by any real, physical domain present being. The grandiose change tests a quality that most argue to be very valuable – adaptability. How is someone able to cope with the alteration of their environment? It is definitely a show of character.
A diner on the bottom surface level of Coruscant had just opened up. Since there was no previous evidence of people standing at the footsteps of the diner before working hours, the tables were being served right now. There were more than 10 of them; 3 designated beings were setting dishes on the tables. All female, two human and one non-human. The latter one was the youngest out of the three and to the particularly detail focused eye seemed… familiar.
"Are you done, Hanza?"
"Almost, chef."
"Good, good. The soup will require your seasoning very soon."
"Yes, chef."
Hanza Colano – an officially 19 year old non-human, whose face resembled one of… a… wrongly… accused person. While the face drew comparisons, other physical traits were different. Most notably – the tattoo of a black trident on the back of her neck. Like the other two human females, her attire consisted of a restrained cherry red long apron, stretched 2/3 of her legs, covered the legs to the sides perfectly. The chest, breasts, waist were also restrained, non-expressive.
"It is only my 3rd day working here and I already feel that I'm selling myself short. I could be so much more. Alas, that's what happens, when you believe in yourself. Oh… what could I have been."
This morning Hanza has been theorizing about a possibly way out of her current situation. Most beings would argue that three days in not enough time to measure if a place, a selected work within a field is right for someone. Possibly. However, it is worth remembering that the masses assume that everyone is similar, both in terms of psychology and physiology. Sometimes a person is so unique that the normal methods of dissecting reality and its parts does not work.
The Republic Senate building was as busy as ever. Senator Vescell and her female helper were once again in his designated cabinet. This time the male planet representative was far less brash than yesterday. The human female tried to dissect the change in his behavior from yesterday. At first, she attributed the shift to a resolve on a constantly bothering subject. This did not present her with a sufficient enough answer. So, the cause changed. Later the early twenties being explained the situation in a simple matter within the confounds of the mind.
"He just got a new task, which takes precedence over the bothering one."
At the second attempt, the mind achieved peace. The time ticked away and the temperamental one held a pencil in his right hand. The palm was in a stressed state. Every half a minute or so, he would swiftly write a mark near a line of words. The palm would detach from the paper in the same manner as it connected with the piece of paper.
"Time.. time… time…" – he whispered under his chin.
Consequently, a gaze around the room was performed.
"There is no other option now. I chose this, I'll deal with this. Everything concerning this meeting must be planned as best as possible. Another session of voting commences at 12:00."
Eyes returned to the mainly white object.
At the Jedi Temple.
"Let us start, my Padawan." – a male voice spoke.
"Yes, Master."
The only two Force sensitives in the room close their eyes. The elder one stated their goal – reach a state of serenity. Every Force sensitive, regardless of their allegiance, came to the realization that an extremely calm mind can tap into essence of the Force with the least amount of interference. Some figured this out faster than others, but most 'successful' ones got their in time. How does one not lose it? At this junction of actions the allegiance had its effect. A Sith or pro-dark person would regularly tap into his hatred, envy or pain to make sure the serenity did not disappear, whereas, a Jedi or pro-light person would connect to his kindness, compassion or hope to achieve the same result. Farnos' Master was pretty convinced that the thing, which was bothering him, required serious attention. A frivolous point of view, in a way, disgusted the older Jedi Order member. Quite non-miraculously, Zane reached the goal second.
"Good. Now we can begin to decompose your troubles."
"Please, Master. Lead the way."
"My thoughts exactly, Zane."
From the way the older Jedi Order member acted, a person would imagine that the Force replaced all the air inside of the meditation chamber with its particles. So, someone could say that they were know 'smelling' the substance of all living beings. The whole world seemed to disappear; the ears could barely pick up any sound frequency, quietness, peace, a static phase established around them. Soon, Farnos' Master manages to understand a fair sum of signals from the Force.
"Your suspicions of deep sorrow are correct, Padawan. There is more than enough surrounding your existence."
The white chocolate skinned male believed in such an conclusion 9 times out of 10. Pretty logical, especially, after conducting a 'certain' investigation. His body didn't move a muscle from its position on the cylinder shaped object.
"Now you see, why I was apprehensive to talk to you about all of this last time." – Zane said calmly.
"Do you fear it?"
"The perceived pain in the future?"
His master stays silent.
"I would be lying to you if it hadn't gotten me concerned about my actions, instincts."
"It's good to see you being genuine."
The older one fades into the Force again; several minutes pass.
"Lets move a step further. What kind of theories have you come up with concerning these signals?"
"Firstly, their intensity signalizes to me that the threat is not very far away. By my estimation, the event, which will cause this suffering, will happen in less than a weak. Secondly, I interpret its ferocity as a warning of closeness."
"Good work on the first part, Padawan. Please expand on the second."
"The event will include either me, you, Oswald or Kelan. I guarantee it."
Oswald's friend tone remains calm, even grows in strength.
"I'm a firm believer in the assumption that guarantees do not exist in the physical domain. However,… this situation is an exception to the rule."
"You believe I'm right, Master?"
"Yes, Zane. I do."
"Then I think we can move to the last step."
"What can be done about it?"
"Correct."
"I thought of this for a bit. The best possible resolution I came to was just be more attentive of your surroundings Padawan and revisit every action that you made in the past week. The past might show you, where this surge of loss is being transmitted from."
"A logical action, Master. Yet, I must ask you. What to do about you and the others?"
"The others being Oswald & Kelan?"
"Yes."
"All three of us are proficient Force users. Due to the fact that it can't be narrowed down to the exact person to which the great challenge will appear, I strongly advise you to concentrate on your life. If I'm not mistaken, Padawan Elanesquil is away with Master Bangad on a military campaign, while Padawan Menson is presumably out on some kind of self-healing mission."
"Since both of them are capable members of the Jedi Order, away from me, their fate is probably out of my hands."
"As it relates to these signals – yes."
Some part of him guessed this version of reality.
"Alright, Master. I'll take a break of work after our meeting and will start revisiting the past very soon." – said Zane.
"A worthy tactic. Just remember my Padawan. Trust in the Force."
Their arranged meeting concluded not long after. Back in the hallways of the Temple Farnos felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy about releasing the stress of his Master about his well-being; sad that the reality is what he perceived to be the most likely one. The Secret Investigation could have been the source of these signals of severe loss from the Force. Add the ferocity aspect to it, it only leaves Zane as a candidate for this unlucky event. Even though all of this was a possibility, the white chocolate skinned human male's attention around it didn't change a lot.
"I've already decided to look into the possibility of a set up. The person, who could have accomplished the alleged chain of events, was a skilled being. To frame one person, make someone else blame it on one of their friends, then let the former be captured. An average intellect had no business here."
Also, the quantity of enemies could be huge. After all, the mastermind of this act was either in the Military, the Republic Senate or the Jedi Order. One of the three biggest authorities within the Galactic Republic housed this architect.
"He or she has to be in one of them. There is no telling, how many people are aligned with said person." – thought 18 year old.
The resolve of the trio in their last and only conjoint meeting remained intact. Today will feature the second one. Interesting to see, how it turns out?
Close 12:00 o'clock in the Republic Senate. Two beings were having a conversation in a huge room at the legislative institution of the Galactic Republic. One was of alien origin, the other – human. Both were looking at the distant skyscrapers around them; their proximity was very close, less than 2 steps separated them.
"That's some news, Amedda."
"I concur, sir."
"It all makes a lot more sense now."
After the last statement, the Chancellor started walking in a parallel line to the window.
"The Jedi Order member can't be a Master, since he would have already told the Council of this information and would quickly have been removed from power."
"It could still be a Jedi Knight."
"Not likely. He or she would probably have done the same thing as the Master."
"So that leaves Padawans and Younglings as possible groups."
"Correct, Amedda. Since I know that Younglings can't be allowed in the Senate without supervision and don't have the skills to leave the Temple undetected, that only leaves the Padawans." – Palpatine explained.
Then a mischievous smile appeared from him.
"It does clarify a few aspects."
"That it does."
The human male turns around and starts walking back in the same way as before.
"Said Padawan has sensed my presence on the planet, but hasn't told anyone about this finding."
"Possibly due to fear of expulsion from the Order."
"I believe that he is motivated by the fear of death, my friend."
"Also possible." – Mas states in a strong tone.
The Chancellor walks away from the window and slowly sits at his desk. The blue skinned alien male watches said person's movement in silence.
"That red guard said that he saw a senator, a clone & a Jedi at the same spot in this building yesterday, between 5 and 6 in the day."
"Yes. That is what he informed of."
"With that fact I was able to figure out the senator's identity."
"So? Who is it?"
Palpatine shows another sadistic smile.
"It is Senator Vescell."
"If I'm not mistaken, he is a member of your opposition."
"That he is, Mas. That kind of a chaotic component isn't required or wanted in my Grand Plan."
"Then the question is – what should be done about that?"
The human closes his eyes, leans his neck back. A couple of minutes of deep searching around in the obscure plain act out in the physical plain.
"I've… seen the future."
"Therefore, you must have an answer."
"Why of course. Such chaos can not be allowed to flourish in the greatest time of my life."
"A harsh reaction?"
"A severely harmful one."
"Understood. Who do you plan to give the task to? It is, after all, a fairly sensitive one."
Mas Amedda shows hints of concern, interest.
"I've got a clear favorite, my friend."
"Good. Then for now we can lay this matter to rest and descend towards the Voting area."
"Ah, yes. It is time for a session."
He stands up, looks around. Quite soon the two beings slowly exit the massive room. The Chancellor seemed to be concerned of another issue, which was not connected to the session. He had some questionable conclusions about the recently addressed situation, task. The biggest one – the Padawan, who was at the Senate building yesterday, and the Padawan, who probably picked up a part of his Force presence, might be different. Undoubtedly, such a conclusion means that a decent threat can still remain in the near future. He did inform a trusted person of the task at hand. By walking, Palpatine did appear to find a new strategy to approaching the new players in the Galaxy's Fate game. First things first, the targeted Senator Vescell and his two companions had to be dealt with.
On a planet in Separatist's space.
"An enthralling change." – said a man.
Slowly his hand leaves the table, arranges itself in a 180 degree angle that was natural for standing.
"Hsssss… A Senator is a great threat. Hard to see that." – an alien stated.
"Trust me, Warden Grash. This spy's intel is never wrong." – the man reassured.
His tone was a mixture of annoyance and ambiguity, the latter being the dominant one.
"Hsssss… We'll see."
Warden Grash – a golden skin, trandoshan male in his 30-ies. By his title, he was guarding some kind of place, making sure everything within it went according to the rules. Said place was a building, specifically, a palace. At once, the human turns to the trandoshan and says:
"Do we have any acolytes on a planet that is approximately a 6 hour trip from Coruscant?"
"Hsssss… As best as I can retain my memories, there is one that is about a 6 to 6 and a half hour trip from the Republic capital if he left right now."
"Very good, Garsh. Get me that acolytes name right now."
"Yesssss, Count Dooku."
The Warden starts sprinting to his goal. The Confederacies leader turns his head once again, this time to the triangle shaped enormous window. Several steps are taken in the direction of it. The glass was of a green tint.
"A Senator as a crucial obstacle? Unlikely. Most likely it is the member of the Jedi Order. He or she must have stumbled onto something that is crucial to my Master's plan."
A bit of thinking is conducted.
"Somehow… I don't believe this member is the true threat to my Master. There is… another… unknown, concealed being."
Dooku's face didn't remind anybody of joy. For the next 10 minutes, the mentioned being instilled ideas of a skillful opponent in his mind. Therefore, some meditation was going to be required.
A bit later, in hyperspace.
"How much time left?"
"About 7 hours, Katooni."
"Hah. This is quite a long trip, Oswald."
"I wouldn't say that, Katooni. As I assume, you did go on a trip to Ilum."
"Yes, I did. But that was a long time ago."
"Maybe."
Both Force sensitives were eating on their beds in the Nu-Class-3G-SB#4 transporter. The tholothian female was consuming different types of nuts from a bowl, while the human male ate a tortilla base with apricot marmalade spread on top.
"I think you know that I still questions centered around your strategy."
"Question or doubts?"
"For me, they are the same."
His face expressed curiosity.
"What concerns you, partner?"
"The change in location. I mean, I understand it. It would be extremely dangerous to investigate such a dark side presence on Coruscant."
"Continue."
"But you did say you were going to relax in a pool."
"So I did."
"Aren't we supposed to be figuring out, who is the dark side user on Coruscant?"
Oswald takes another bite of the marmalade covered tortilla.
"You're too tense, Katooni. I know the stakes are high, but we should have a clear, relaxed mind before performing my plan." – the insightful one says calmly.
"Is it… grueling?"
"I'm a bit surprised that you use such a word. Well, the task in front of us would be difficult for a Jedi Master, so…"
The blonde haired human adds a bit of cheerfulness toward the end of the sentence.
"We're going to struggle."
"We're going to be exhausted."
"Yet, we must not give up hope."
"And succeed in our operation."
They finish eating, the 12 year old girl lies down on the bed, eyes pointed to the wall rather than Oswald. Mundi's Padawan rates the idea to lie down, all things considered. They were going to be in hyperspace for 7 hours, so there is nothing wrong with not straining your body or draining your energy. He was about to lie down, when he came up with an idea to meditate a little before relaxing. A cross of legs, a deep breath, a closing of eyes followed suit. The goal was just to rearrange, maybe reevaluate some ideas. Nothing crazy. Sadly, the Force decided on a different chain of events.
While coming to the end of his meditation, the 19 year old got startled, when he opened his eyes. The surrounding was nowhere close to being the transporter. It was a blueish white empty space, which was everywhere.
"Odd."
Adding to the weirdness of the situation, he could see his arms, legs and the rest of the body. The body was covered in a beige cloak, in a sitting position on a soft beige rug.
"Not a place I was expecting to see."
"It is more than a place for your eyes." – a female voice said.
"Who is there?" – Oswald asked slowly.
No answer was produced and in a millisecond the person was back at his preferred place.
Stage 2
In the hallway of the Jedi Temple.
"I trust you can understand the severity of my duties."
"Of course, Master Tiin. You are a member of the Jedi Council, surely you have other tasks that need your attention." – someone whispered.
"Don't mistake my delays for minuscule attention, Padawan. My effort towards this goal has remained the same."
"If you say so, Master Tiin."
"Anyway. What were you able to spot?"
"Well, this the situation that I oversaw. I believed that the most likely place to find Menson was at his favorite spot – the Room of A Thousand Fountains. So I went there. To my surprise, one of the polished elevations around a fountain sat a Youngling. At that moment, I wasn't sure, who it was. Therefore, I sneaked a bit close to get a better look. When I saw the pods hanging from the head, I immediately attributed that trait to the Youngling Katooni. A great…"
"Katooni? Are you sure?"
"100%, Master."
The Jedi Council member marks this fact in his mind.
"Please, continue."
"Much appreciated. As I was saying, a great amount of time passed before something note-worthy happened. Through the wait, Katooni sat there like a rock. I suspect that something in recent past has changed her significantly."
"Alright. What was the noteworthy moment?"
"Menson's appearance. He looked to be set on meditating on an important matter. By his facial expression, the girl's existence was not sought after."
"So you believe there were no premeditations before their collision at the Room?"
"That I do."
The Iktotchi male nods in approval; the younger Force sensitive understands the situation perfectly.
"They started to talk, again I studied their facial expressions. At first, both were curious, then Oswald spread concern, later Katooni did the same. During a higher pitched statement from Katooni, he cut her off and quickly managed to locate my Force presence in the Room with them."
"I would assume he went after you."
"So he did, but I managed to escape."
"What was the last thing you remember?"
"Hearing his lightsaber ignite in the hallway."
"I see." – Saesee Tiin stated.
If more beings knew of the Jedi Council's member's plan, most would praise him for his efforts in accordance to the mission or goal. It's kind of obvious, what the goal is. Tiin surely knew more than the moment before this conversation.
"Mensons & Katooni?.. There is something going on with them. Hmmm! Understatement. Big understatement."
After taking a quick glance around, the older person thanks the younger one for the information, gives a compelling reason to leave. It was enough for the latter to disappear from his spot. Soon, the Jedi Council member was at another crossroad between actions. Only a Force sensitive would be able to detect his intense well-being, since he didn't express any indecisiveness through his face. Another pair ideas also joined the party; these were concerned on others perception of the actions up until this point. The titles weren't anything mind-breaking: 'suspicion' & 'paranoia'.
1 o'clock in the afternoon, Coruscant barracks. What is the purpose of a soldier? To serve the army, obey the commands of his superiors and conduct his activities according to the laws. Obviously, this life employment is filled with hardship. Back to the purposes, all 3 require great amounts of concentration, more importantly, the absence in emotion in grueling situations. To indoctrinate a being into that state of mind, some covert tactics have to come into play. An example of one – the coloring of the halls. In general, a well-known division of colors splits them into 2 groups: Warm & Cold. The latter wonderfully melds with the goal of achieving numbness of feeling. Therefore, the people, who designed the halls on Coruscant, perhaps even all of the Republic bases, used traditional grey and shades of it overwhelmingly. At one three-way intersection a soldier was rubbing his armor covered back against a corner's wall.
"There will be a meeting today. I'm sure of it." – Trend whispered silently.
Senator Vescell hadn't informed neither him, nor Zane up until this point of today's meeting. It was already past midday, but the male member of the Republic's army was not in panic.
"Time? We still have a good sum of it. The only thing I don't want is to hear of a location less than 1 hour away from it. Now that… That… That would cause me to worry."
Quickly he realizes his remaining daily duties, let go of the thinking takes a look around and slowly walks to a recently decided upon location. The pace improves with every minute.
"Yes, Master." – a being says right after bowing his head.
"Acolyte Chariza. Did you receive my message?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Then you're already on route to Coruscant?"
"True. When you sent me a message ordering a quick trip to the Republic's capital, I wasted no time and found a transport ship in the fastest way possible."
Count Dooku showed a hint of a smile through the hologram.
"Good job, Acolyte. How much time till your landing on the planet?"
"Close to 5 and a half."
"Acceptable margins. Anyhow, I've got to keep this conversation as short as possible. In your designated landing time, there will be a message sent with a picture. That picture is your target. There is more, but that will be delivered to you on Coruscant. Remember, Chariza, to mask you Force presence."
"I'm fully invested in that action, when it comes time to applying it, Master."
"Good. See you soon."
The Acolyte bows and the projection of the adult male disappears.
13:30, the Jedi Temple. Zane was eating his dinner in a calm state of mind in a refectory, his Cedar brown table was the closest to the food distributing counter. The space around him was about half capacity. Moreover, all of them seemed to be concentrated on their meals. A respectful atmosphere was upheld in this Temple's refectory. Calm… Calm… and then – bang! In less than a few seconds, apart a Force wave collides with Zane, Kelan & Oswald.
"Hah. What? Why did this just happen?" – though the white chocolate skinned male.
Not giving him a chance to process this act's fruition in reality, his communicator vibrates several times. It seems that the long awaited note from Vescell had finally ended.
"All of this feels… Like a punch in a face."
Some indecisiveness crept into Farnos' state of being. New issues have arrived, now it was up to this human male to deal with them after his meal. A simple attitude as 'brushing these new things aside is the best way' would spiral someone into the claws of danger.
Just before the Force wave.
"All of the found natives have been lead out from the ravine, General."
"Good work, Captain. This further strengthens our grasp on the West hemisphere. Only one stronghold remains as a noteworthy threat to our mission. We will be marching towards it in 2 hours. So tell the men to relax, eat or sleep until then. Just set up a scouting team around our temporary staging area." – Master Bangad explained.
"Right away, sir."
The clone commander walks off with his blaster to their temporary settlement, the two Force sensitives oversee his leave. Not so long into the future, the older one starts a new conversation.
"How are you holding up, Padawan?"
"Fine, Master." – Kelan answers, while turning her face towards him.
"Glad to hear that. I realize the assault on the gate was laid with casualties."
"A reality of the time we live in."
"Agreed."
From out of nowhere, in lightning speed the mentioned Force wave penetrates the twi'lek female's existence. Instinctively, she bends her head forward about 15 degrees.
"What's wrong, Kelan?"
Her right hand lands on her forehead.
"It seems to be a signal from the Force."
"Judging by the your ache, I presume it's not a pleasant one."
"Not even close, Master Bangad."
The General quickly assesses possible futures. In his mind, the one, which offers her the most help with the biggest percentage of effectiveness, was the right one. Quite happily, it took him less than a minute to settle on a path of action.
"Find a place to sit at the staging area."
"Alright, Master."
"I would just very much appreciate your position being easily found."
That was the end of the talk. The orange skinned being put everything together. I mean, all of this is seemingly predictable, natural. Soon, only General Bangad remained on a elevation (compared to the 2 hour settlement). The 17 year old walked over to a barrel of water, arranged her body in a way that would be comfortable enough to sit on it. The first thing most would do with a recognized problem or concern is to dissect all of its aspects, such as, why, why now, where, who.
"The Force doesn't show you anything that it doesn't want to be known."
The mind put together a train of thought: the Force desired this, it desired to send out this 'message' at this moment, to her. Naturally, these three statements barely filled her heart with ease. More thinking was needed. Some time later, the female's gut arrived pointed her to an extremely valuable fact.
"It felt like it passed through huge amount of space. Also, a semblance of care was within it."
That was enough for her to come up with an answer to who does this concern. It was either Oswald or Zane affiliated. Due to the recent chat with Oswald and his unusual vacation travel, Kelan crossed him out immediately, this left Zane as the only remaining candidate. That was a successful step forward. However, it would prove to be nothing more than 'valuable at a later day'. Both of her friends were warned to keep a healthy level of confidence. Not to mention the crucial fact that she was participating in a military campaign. Said campaign took the higher ground over the well-being of Farnos. Consequently, the mind left one theme at rest.
"I've got to prepare for the next battle."
"Anything new on His front?" – asked an unruffled Eeth Koth.
"There is a new fact we can add to it." – Tiin answered.
Koth felt a rise in his cheerfulness level, though, no one could arrive at that conclusion by the assessment of his face.
"I'm listening."
"A 'need to be kept a secret' source recently informed me of a meeting."
"He met someone worth talking about?"
"Correct."
"Who did Oswald engage with?"
Saesee let out a small sign of worry.
"Katooni."
After hearing that name, Koth understood his colleagues reasoning. Katooni was Force shocked into a state that required hospitalization. That was worth some investigation in the future. The Jedi Council member focused more on the actions that followed after. When the Youngling was in a shape to contact anyone, she chose Menson first of all. Shaak deemed it odd at that time, Koth would agree in their latter comparison of notes. It was Kelan, who went instead of him. More pieces add to the puzzle, which wasn't ever minuscule, other than the beginning. Shaak, Mundi & Oswald discussed this. Afterwards, she mentioned that Pedro's take does not look nearly similar enough to Oswald's one for it to be conclusive and ending-worthy. All of these things were taken into consideration by Koth, when considering further actions.
"I can guarantee you that this does not make feel cozy with our future."
"Mutual stance, Eeth."
"What I'm thinking and sensing through the Force is their relationship appears to have more lairs than a simple friendship."
"Ulterior motives are present."
"I trust you have already picked your next destination."
"No doubt. I'm going to meet with Katooni and ask her about the meeting with Oswald."
"Smart move. I'll inform Shaak of your progress and keep working with the facts."
"Least we remember…"
"…that we have to maintain our roles within the Jedi Council active." – Koth finished.
They nod and split off.
17:00, 4 days 1 hour till the Vote. Temple Guard Hector got accustomed to meeting with Oswald in the least visited tower of the Jedi Temple. Yet, he was no naïve person, when came to his 'treacherous' work. Fortunately for the protector, he was not stuck between two spaces like Oswald was right now with Katooni on his special Nu-class transport ship. It was fairly easy to pick another place to meet with 'special' people. He was standing in a barely lit part of a storage room, surrounded by pecan brown walls and graphite grey walls, ceiling.
"The Time is getting closer. This is worth keeping in mind, my fellow Force sensitives." – Hector states.
"Relax, my friend. We're all on our toes. Besides, we do conduct some meditation centered around our goal from time to time." – a male voice answers with a tint of joy.
"His continual involvement remains undoubtably crucial." – a female voice takes a turn.
"I don't doubt that, Tanlia."
"Whatever the circumstances might be by know, whatever the danger, we must remain completely focused. A clumsy slip at this stage of the plan is vastly unwelcome." – another male says.
"True, Awkan."
The quartet take glances at each other. Tanlia – an 18 year old human female Padawan, chalk white skin, cerulean blue eyes, gorgeous, gracious, semi-thick blonde hair that runs to about the end of her shoulders. Her physique was firmly in the acrobatic side of the acrobatic-athletic axe, which suited her preferred lightsaber fighting form – Form IV – very well. She was quite famous amongst her peers for the color of her weapon, it was purple. No other member than Mace Windu possessed a lightsaber of such color. Awkan was of non-human origin, his physical appearance resembled crude umber brown rocky mountains or severely burned human flesh, 60-40 went to athletics, no hair, eyes were mocha brown, He was male, 21 years old, a Padawan as well as Tanlia. When it came down to combat, said being used a blue, one blade lightsaber and was best trained in Form III. In their reached midi chorian counter (long for r.p.c.), they were clearly not in the Top 3 amongst Padawans. By most questioned Jedi Knights or Masters, Tanlia ranks somewhere between 8-10, while Awkan – 10 to 15.
"The knowledge of the Date has got me excited for things to come."
"It's good to see you so enthusiastic, Calder."
Calder – the last of the quartet of Force wielders – an 18 year old human male, apricot orange skin, cobalt blue eyes, medium length black hair. Similar build to Awkan, same fighting form as him, weakest out of the 3 by the r.p.c. Lightsaber color – green. Personality wise (as you can easily detect just from what you've read), he is no question the most enthusiastic, adventure embracing one.
"I did sense something going on with my Master."
"That's nothing unusual, Awkan."
"No dispute, Tanlia. However, I did not specify, when did this 'something' was expressed."
"Are you referring to time or person?"
"Person."
"Let me take an educated guess. Him?" – Calder asked.
"Yes, Him."
"I wouldn't read to much into it, my friend. This is not the first Jedi Knight, who is irksome at the mention of His name." – Tanlia explained.
"The issue is that he wasn't irksome."
"Then how you would best describe it, Awkan?"
"Some… semblance… of relief. I guess he feels that the movement against Him within the Order is gaining momentum."
"That's not great, but I see no reason to panic. He has been ahead of his opposition for as long as I can recall." – Calder shows a gesture of fate.
"Besides, the most important thing is to make it to the Date. After that, I don't see it mattering that much. The only was he is going to fail if something truly horrific and supernatural happens."
"Good assessment, Tanlia."
Hector turns his head to the entrance in to the storage room. His sight was obstructed by crates. That wouldn't prove to be a problem, since hearing the door slide open would produce the same result as seeing it open. No, the reason for pointing his eyes there was to do with a 'sailor's life analogy'. In it a sailor would glance at the horizon, especially, when the sunset was clearly visible, and place his faith into a world, where the future is as good or better than the passing of the current day. That was the reason.
Merely the start of the evening. No exception recorded at the Republic Senate building: the constant transition – remained, noise level – remained. Senator Vescell was still in his room, trying out the best possible outfit for his special conversation. The young human female servant had left on an errand; consequently, leaving him all alone in the separated space.
"Alright. If I can't logically come to a conclusion, then I will pick based on instinct."
In a very short period of time, the temperamental senator rushes with his eyes over every potential outfit and grabs the first one that sticks in his mind. It was a purple coat.
"Good enough." – stated as an encouragement.
Takes it out of the wardrobe, gets rid of his usual senator look. A cream white vest goes over his upper body first, than – the purple coat. A silence sets in the room, someone could get the feel of anxiety in the air. A last satisfied glance at a mirror lets him walk out the door. Back in the hallway, an inescapable level of different sounds are caught by his ears. Luckily, it doesn't faze him.
"I have somewhere to be. Which is not here."
Along with a changed outfit, the human male also carried a black suitcase, which for his most prominent talkers would be an indication of an occasion. A figure over a 100 meters from Vescell taps a button a communication device.
"Senator Avergreen, your requested senator has just left his office."
"Thank you, Rick. I'll handle the rest."
"You'll manage to collide with him?"
"Yes. Good job."
"Much appreciated, Senator."
Senator Vescell's mind was in turbulence. The notifying of others presumably was successful. Why didn't they send a reply to him? Simply due to their topic at hand; it could be seen as treachery. Moreover, Chancellor Palpatine may be the criminal mastermind, which would make tracking their communications a fairly easy task. However, none of the three – Vescell, Trend, Zane – contemplated this possibility. In several minutes, close to a hangar, a person got in his walking direction and said:
"Senator Vescell."
He fully transitioned back his attention to the world currently around him, lifted his head.
"Avergreen, a pleasure to see you."
"I thought you were going to work on the latest law's semantics over night?"
"Not right now. Can we go to the hangar for a better atmosphere?"
"My preference too."
The two get out of the clamorous setting; both faces appear to have reenergized.
"Rest assured, Senator, that I intend to identify the circumstance of the passing or the rejection of said law. It just…"
"It just what, Vescell?"
"Will continue somewhere about ten this evening."
"You're confident in that?"
"No doubt." – he answers firmly.
Avergreen takes some time to think; her converser remains calm.
"Okay. I believe you. Maybe I'll stop by around eleven if you don't mind?"
"What purpose would that serve?"
"I want to hear your perspective on the law, which was put forward recently."
"I may be in the mood for that. Just call me before coming to me."
"Of course, Vescell."
She looks at her watch.
"Well, look at, how much time has passed. I've got a meeting to attend to. Take care."
"You too, Avergreen."
They shake hands and their paths divulge. While she leaves the hangar by foot, the human male rushes over to his ship and leaves the area in the air. Senator Vescell marked a peculiar detail in his mind about the talk with Senator Avergreen. She said absolutely nothing about his unusual dressing. He considered her a eye-catcher for details, more of than not showing a particular interest in the reasoning of the mentioned details.
"But she didn't say anything. Very… In front. Like this is just starring me from a step."
The priority level affect struck his brain and reshaped his attention. A conclusion was reached on Avergreen's front; he decided to in a sneaky way get the answer from her later in the evening. He could have let it all go, but the thought of that created a sour taste in his mouth. Now the secret summit was the on top of the priority level.
10 minutes to 20:00. Captain Trend left the Coruscant barracks quite early, so had the biggest waiting time of the trio. Being a clone on the ground floor of Coruscant, where crime was a regular occurrence, might not have been the best idea. He thought of a way to better his position. So a nourishment of the body at a diner was chosen. Most clones didn't have money; they were soldiers, lived in the barracks or on a ship, so accommodation wasn't an issue. There were mess halls in both places. He did have come coins from one of his first campaigns, there a native gave some money to him for spearing their home from demolition.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but we don't get a lot of clones here on the bottom level of Coruscant." – said a female waitress.
"It may have something to do with constant military campaigns that clones participate in the War." – Captain Trend replied.
"You do have a point."
Zane was staying a subjectively respectable distance from their spot. Along with Trend, their attire was the same as was the one they had in their 1st encounter with Senator Vescell. The lamps were placed equally apart from each other in a circle right next to him, an arctic blue light was coming from them, minimizing the presence of darkness around. A lot of different species crossed from one end of the circle to the other around him.
"The Force wave pointed to loss. Complacency in the moment can be disastrous." – Farnos thought.
Unknown to him, there were two beings on top of a building in a 45 degree angle of him. Though their bodies were covered in armor, a well-traveled person would pinpoint the species of them. They quite easily resembled humans. One of the them possessed a gun with a long barrel; smartly, it did not extend over the building's wall. Their body position – lying.
"We must be patient." – said one.
"Without question. Our fortunes depend fully on the elimination of the pictured person." – the other mentioned.
They were not the only ones overseeing the circle, an unmistakably dangerous group was about 90 degrees from Zane. One of them wore a black robe, had an enthralling, confident stance.
"Has he changed his route?" – asked a female.
"No, mistress. He's proceeding just as you foresaw."
"Excellent."
A malicious smile appeared from her behind the black robe.
2 minutes till 8 o'clock. The mentioned circle area had a traditional 7 story building sized statue in the middle of it. It resembled a non-human male; the color of it – tortilla brown. His feet were raised from the constant walked-on ground less than a meter. Senator Vescell was walking from his ship with constant growth in worry, but hid it all behind a courage resembling face. Cowardice was not going to help him, not one bit. Suddenly, the man had arrived at the tip of the circle. Captain Trend walked into it a dozen seconds later. The Senator's arrival was noted by the two on the building, the group with the black robbed being and the Padawan.
"Finally." – Farnos thought.
They trio looked around and each saw each other amongst the crown spread between them. In a correlated motion, their faces came back to a straight position. Vescell had instructed them to meet on the lower half (farthest from Trend) of the statue.
"There he is."
"Where?"
"You're left."
The armed person swiftly checked each being on the left.
"Found him."
"Good. Now let's end the task."
"Can't."
"Why not?"
"He is walking in a position that is hard to shoot from the left. Also, the crowd is making his head very obstruct."
"Fair, but we can't let him slip pass us."
"Don't worry. He is not leaving this circle alive."
"I sense he is getting closer to us."
"Correct, Chariza. You should see him directly in front of you in a minute."
Zane was feeling tension through the Force; it appeared to be coming from multiple beings. Soon, the trio all converged at the set location with Vescell on the right, Trend & Farnos – on the left.
"We're here." – the Senator said.
"Yes. Now we can plan for the future." – Trend mentioned.
"One of the things. I'll start."
They both nod.
"He's stopped. Take the shot."
The armed one nods in agreement.
"As we said yesterday, …"
Stage 3
Immediately, a Force surge blasts Zane. The white chocolate skinned male is shocked. Within a single second, Vescell is caught in a Force lift.
"Hah?" – Trend asked.
"What?" – the long barrel holder puzzled.
Just when he was going to shoot a bullet at Vescell's head, a commando druid raised a blaster to the Senator's head and shot. The goal was achieved, so the Force lift ended.
"TREND! LOOK OUT!" – Zane shouted and ignited his blue lightsaber.
The weapon deflected a laser bolt from cutting of his ear. The crowd began to scatter, chaos came down onto the circle with the tortilla brown colored statue. Screams were heard first before a black robed person approached the clone & the Padawan. The distance was about 5 meters (~16 feet).
"Hello, Jedi."
The greeting was said in a cheerful, intent to injure tongue. Then Zane blocks several more bolts from the commando droid, who killed Senator Vescell.
"We have to get away from here!" – Trend exclaimed.
"We're surrounded, Trend!" – Farnos counters his proposition.
The 18 year old wasn't lying. A group of 6 commando droids came up behind the black robed being. Zane had to think fast, so in a very short period of time managed to get the Captain an opening to escape. An almost perfectly coordinated switch of tactics was executed by him: after another defected blast, he quickly disengaged his blue lightsaber and performed a Force push in both directions. This got the commando droid of from their feet; a flight of close to the radius of the circle was given to them. Only the black robed person stood firm in his place.
"Quick thinking, young Jedi."
"Go now behind the elevation!"
"Right."
Captain Trend left Farnos, ducked behind the elevation & drew 2 pistols from his belt.
"Come on, killer robots. Time to fight."
"Get the clone, I'll handle him."
"Yes, mistress." – all of the robots stated.
Then the hood of the robe is folded back, swiftly a red blade is ignited towards the direction of Oswald's friend.
"I'm Acolyte Chariza. Your reaper."
A Sith Acolyte wasn't the crazy part for Farnos, that title belonged to her species. She was togrutan.
"Not a good reputation boost for your species." – Zane said in a mocking tone.
"Your implying about that spoiled Chosen One's Padawan? I'm beyond… HER."
"Up for debate."
Farnos took a couple of steps closer to Chariza, she did the same. They were now in a one step striking distance of each other. The dark side affiliate raised her blade over her head in a diagonal position down. Zane held his blue lightsaber in front of him, also diagonally, just – up to the right shoulder.
During their standstill, the gotten up on their feet commando droids moved in a fast pace around the engaged Force sensitives towards the intrenched behind the statue Captain Trend. They shot several bolts at him; he kept his head down waiting for the opportune moment. It came fast enough. Vescell's killer came into his left eye sight, lightning fast the clone turned his head, ducked a bit and shredded the droid.
"That's for the Senator."
The remaining 6 were coming from either the right side or over the elevation. A nearby policing officer caught this battle with his eyes.
"Attention! Attention! All units to… Jedi, Sith battle, 6 Confederacy commando druids shooting at what appears to be a clone! Notify Jedi Command right now!"
"Something very bad has transpired. And… It's nearby." – Hanza thought.
"Tzzz! Tzzz! Tzzz!"
Lightsaber collisions were being repeated every few seconds. To put their power in perspective, Chariza had a 400 lead over Farnos (7900-7500). She was leading them away from the clone to the direction, from where the Padawan came to the circle.
"Tzzz!"
Finally, the lightsabers locked for longer than a few seconds. This gave the combatants a time to talk.
"Form II. No doubt trained by the Count."
"How nice for you to recognize your demolishment's type."
"Remember, you are not on his level."
"And you're no Master Yoda."
Then her rage began to grow, in turn increasing her power. That shifted the blade lock from a standstill, neutral position to a pro-dark one.
"This is not her first time. Not second."
"Come on!"
Trend killed another droid, this time – the enemy was on the elevation.
"And another for you!"
Shot the remaining one on the elevation. He got him, but the droid did manage to hit the clone's right shoulder.
"Ahhhh!"
Obviously, the created pain lowered his awareness, quickness. Pretty tragic, considering the fact that the other 4 were almost in position to see him clearly.
"Trend!"
The white chocolate skinned male acknowledged the battle shifting towards their enemies win, so went on the offensive against the Acolyte. The uppercut was blocked, the chest swipe also. Chariza didn't even struggle with those two attacks. She had the better Form, capability in this fight. Farnos' Form III seemed to struggle significantly up until this point. His energy level was going down faster than hers.
"I will not concede!"
The droids came into complete view of him.
"No!"
With a Force intensified strike, Zane finally managed to knock back Chariza. According him, it was good enough to help him save Trend. Another Force push came at the droids. The very successful trick did not repat its effect to the extent of the first time. The two in the center did get tossed away from Trend, the sides ones jumped out of its reach. The droids rolled a bit and pointed the gun at the Captain.
"Come here!" – he shouted.
He shot with both pistols, one for each commando droid. They shot back. Sadly, Trend missed one completely and hit the other in the right leg before two bolts connected with his chest. The hits knocked him to the ground, barely alive. Simultaneously, the two Force users saw this pan out. In that period of time, Chariza smirked and said:
"Crucial mistake, Padawan."
The togrutan female came storming at Farnos. He just about blocked the hit across the chest. That didn't sadden Chariza at all. She used her acrobatic abilities to go to the ground very quickly and kick with her left leg across Zane's legs. Success. She knocked Zane from his stance, the 18 year old felt to the ground on his right side, causing significant damage to his right arm, in a broader scale – whole body. Then they locked their blades again, this time with the Acolyte trying to swipe her blade across his chest or neck and the Padawan barely hanging on.
"You're done." – she said while showing a smile.
She initiates the unlocking of their lightsabers, quickly stand up and with the Force pressures Zane to the ground. He tries to resist, but to no avail. The blue blade reluctantly falls to his right side; this leaves him completely defenseless in the upper body area.
"Please no!" – Farnos thought.
The plead was left unanswered by the world or Force. Chariza tilted her red lightsaber a bit, than got in to a crouching position. Within a couple of seconds laid her blade through his heart.
"Ehh." – he sighed.
That was the last thing that would ever be said by Zane. The lifeforce disappeared from his body. She got up fairly quickly, looked at the droids.
"I'm done with my part. You?"
"He's barely breathing, mistress."
"Give him two shots to the head and let's go. I sense the police are just behind a few corners."
They nod, come over to Trend's body.
"Have at it, droids."
They raise their blasters, both shoot a bolt through his skull.
"Mission accomplished."
The 3 of them run to the direction, from where Trend came, but not the way they arrived at the circle.
On a march. Kelan was walking at the pace of her battalion, when she was struck with a strong signal from the Force.
"Ahh. That is not good. Something bad has happened."
On the plane of Naboo. Katooni & Oswald were closing in on an outdoor activity shop, when the latter was struck with a strong signal from the Force. Like with Kelan, it does not cripple his movement.
"I hope my suspicions are wrong about this."