Note: I appreciate everyone for staying with this story until the release of the Special Chapter. Just heads up – the following ones (I believe, at least 3) will maintain the traditional length.
Note #2: Hah. The 'plane of Naboo'. Sounds like a great name for a plane.
-Breach! On Coruscant, one of the unlikeliest planets to be stepped on by a Sith, a coordinated attack implying their involvement happened. 3 beings of relevant status within the Republic were found dead in a concentrated area. Now… The Jedi… Are on alert. How the remaining invested beings will handle this loss?-
Chapter 22. Arrival on Naboo
Almost 19:00, Coruscant time. Both 2 meter long beds on the Nu-class-3G-SB-#4 transporter were occupied, but in different ways. On one a 12 year old girl was lying, eyes were fairly stressed as they pointed to the bland, grey ceiling of the ship. The other one held an older male with closed eyes, seemingly drifted away from the reality around him. A practically ideal state of silence dominated the atmosphere around them; only several rattles from expected outside pressure created some ways. Suddenly, the light blue surrounding vanished around the transporter, a medium strength siren went off.
"We're here." – Katooni said.
Oswald swiftly opens his eyes.
"Agree."
Menson wasted no time in entering the cockpit & taking control of the ship. A few seconds later the siren was gone.
"It's good to be back in regular space."
"A step up." – Katooni added, when coming into the cockpit.
Soon, the Nu-class transporter entered the furthest layer of Naboo's atmosphere. The vehicle maintained a steady speed, Mundi's Padawan tried easing it onto the surface. It was a new experience for Katooni. Ordinarily, Jedi Younglings did not visit planets; primary reasons – age, lack of skills, maturity. Seen the massive area of the planet covered in green stimulated the feel of comfiness within the tholothian girl. Through the midst of that positive surge, an idea from the past came flying in.
"Where are we going?" – she asked.
Oswald stayed silent; there was a reason for that. The tone, in which the Youngling put forth the question, was silent, cryptic, maybe even – mischievous.
"To our vacation location. Is that a problem?"
He asked with a close replica of her tone.
"No. I just want to know, is there a shop in the near area?"
"What kind of shop are you looking for, Katooni?"
"One which has swimming clothes."
He smiles.
"You want a bathing suit?"
"Exactly, Oswald. So if there is no seller nearby, we have to make a detour."
The male ran some ideas, courses of action through his mind. A minute later:
"Fair. The Capital it is."
The ship continued its chopping of the elevation.
On the surface. Naboo was a planet of the Galactic Republic, positioned in the Mid Rim of the Galaxy. It had perks for living organisms: the air was breathable for humans, the make-up of the planet was terrestrial (similar to Earth), just a tad bit smaller in diameter (~1000km; ~600 miles). It was best known in the Republic for 2 things: the natives, called gungans, and Senator Padme Amidala; capital – Theed. The two Force sensitives faced an expected unalignment of time. While right now evening stood firm on Coruscant, Naboo was 6 hours behind. This meant they had reached it at day time. Mundi's Padawan didn't even flinch with the knowledge of this fact, why would he, this was one of the easiest things to predict. He slowly pushed the wheel up, the transporter started smoothening out its angle. A few minutes later a city appeared in front of their eyes through the cockpit's biggest glass. Katooni confidently assumed their landing place. Another 20 minutes went by. After close to 25 hours of being in a confined space, the young members of the Jedi Order could finally feel the breeze of fresh air.
"Just remember, partner, we shouldn't take long."
"Main reason?"
"There is a time constraint we mustn't neglect."
The 12 year old remembered his words, then nodded in agreement. They stepped off of the platform & waited for it to close.
"Stay close. I don't want to see you suffer here, Katooni."
"It's alright, Oswald. We're here for only one thing."
The duo start walking from the landing area to the city's streets.
"Yet I do have one more question."
"Okay."
"Do you have enough money to pay for it?"
The blonde haired human male shows off a quick smile.
"I wouldn't have mentioned it if I didn't predict your wanting to join me."
"Always a step ahead."
She acknowledges the abilities of his mind; such devotion to knowledge felt a bit unordinary. Sure, she believed other Jedi were invested in learning too. The extent is what separated Oswald from the others. Even if the Force sensitive chose to compare him with Ahsoka, the outlook did not change. To get to the core existence of Mundi's Padawan is similar to navigating a boat across a great storm, with whirlpools everywhere.
Between 14:00-14:30 Naboo time. Katooni & Oswald were closing in on an outdoor activity shop, when the latter was struck with a strong signal from the Force.
"I hope my suspicions are wrong about this."
The 19 year old male rapidly extends his right hand onto the nearby wall, slows to a complete stop.
"Oswald."
She comes closer.
"What's wrong?" – asks in a silent, concerned voice.
"I… Felt… Something through the Force."
"Are you mobile enough to continue?"
He deeply breaths in, breathes out. A repeat of the cycle happens.
"Yeah. I'll deal with it, when we get to our final destination."
"Good move."
With Katoon now in front, they take a few steps forward & turn right into the entrance of an outdoor activity shop. For the more travelled one, the size of it was medium, the walls were colored in light brown, apricot orange shelves took up spots on different heights in different sections of the shop. Although hiking equipment had the biggest assortment, a collection of swimming equipment was on full display at the furthest wall from the entrance. Bathing suits were logically split by sex: four rows for men, for rows for women, and four for younger installations of them.
"A correct choice."
"Go on. Pick one."
The assortment of bathing clothes for girls was more conservative than one might expect: there were event amounts of full, one-piece suits & two-piece suits (bikinis). Katooni almost instinctively gravitated towards the one-piece ones. Oswald was standing next to her right, hyper sensing anything noteworthy from the Force. By going through the lower rack, the tholothian girl manages to find one that sparkles in her eyes. This swimsuit's design – cherry red hexagons spread in a chaotic nature on a lemon yellow background.
"I want this one."
He nods with his head.
"Right."
She walks across his front, cuts to the left into the changing room. Due to the ratio spread of the objects, there was only one changing room. Menson could not fault the seller for such a choice. A businessmen's life is not one of easy-goings.
A few minute pass.
"I enjoy it."
"And your happy with it?"
"Yes."
"Great. Lets go pay for it."
They walk over to the register, the man sees the chosen product.
"10 gold coins." – he says.
At normal pace, the 19 year old extends his arm and places the coins on the table. Several seconds later he gives him a check.
"Thank you for the purchase. Have a nice day."
"A nice day to you too." – Oswald states.
They leave the shop & confidently look around themselves. No one looks to be looking awkwardly at them.
"We're set to get to your spot, partner."
"Yeah." – the male says slowly.
They start walking smartly back to their Specially built transporter. The Capital was out of the way now.
21:30 Coruscant time.
"Is it done, Acolyte?"
"The mission has been accomplished, Warden."
"Hsssss… Splendid. He expects you to be back on the Main planet as soon as possible."
"I'm already on a shuttle."
"Hsssss… Good." – Warden Garsh mentions before ending the transmission.
The officer, who made the call of an engaged battle between a Jedi & a Sith, lured in a lot of beings to the zone of the battle. First came a three brigades of 4 police officers, then a forensic pathologist arrives with two human males as helpers. Lastly a two gunships of the Galactic Republic land at the tip of the circle, where Zane stood before the meeting. Sirens were reverberating, some of the people at the crime scene were chatting, when the nearest gunship's door slid open.
"Well, this is unorthodoxy."
"That it is, my friend."
The Jedi Council sent an experienced duo to oversee the wreckage of a reported Force sensitive fight; they were Council members Plo Koon & Eeth Koth.
"I can't believe it."
"What in particular, Plo?"
"Our inability to sense a danger such as this." – he answered in a sensitive, strong tone.
Some compassion could be felt by a fellow Force user nearby. The test-proven made their way to their Order's lifeless body. A police officer quickly noticed their appearance.
"Generals."
He bowed.
"At ease, officer. What can your forensic tell us about our comrade's death?" – Plo Konn asked.
"Nothing special, General. He was killed by a direct penetration of the heart."
"Weapon?"
The officer shows a grim face.
"Lightsaber."
"Thank you. We will investigate more details by ourselves."
Realizing the implication of the last sentence, the human male bowed and walked away from them. Then Koon took a look at the killed person.
"It's Padawan Farnos."
"A sad day for the Order."
"An even sadder day for his Master. As much as I can recollect, he was still showing improvements up to this moment. There was no indication of his abilities' stagnation."
"Yet now we will never find out, how strong of a Jedi Knight he would have been." – Koth put in perspective the loss's magnitude to the Jedi Order.
"A shame that is."
Plo Koon slowly walked forward, crouched down near to the lightsaber.
"It is somewhat a miracle that nobody took his weapon."
"The enemy surely didn't."
"Yes. We must figure out, why didn't he?"
"It probably wasn't needed."
Koon stood back up.
"That would suggest a very coordinated attack."
"A coordinated attack by a Sith or another Force user with a lightsaber? Farnos should have sensed the danger through the Force."
He turned around to face Koth face-to-face.
"I believe he acted despite the signals of danger."
Eeth thought a bit.
"With everything in mind, we are faced with a bigger plot."
"One that includes the dead senator and clone."
"Let's start with getting Zane's body back to the Temple as fast we can."
"Agreed. You deliver the current details to the rest of the Council, while I ask the forensic to take the photos, inspect the lightsaber for prints."
He looks around the circle area.
"With any luck, we'll be travelling back to the Temple with our objects soon."
The two experienced Force sensitives took different directions; the sirens remained in use.
22:00, 3 days 20 hours till the Vote.
"The harsh reaction that you spoke of today has been carried out, Chancellor."
"And where did you get this information from, Amedda?"
"One of the red guards told me of a dead senator on the ground level of Coruscant. He was identified as Senator Vescell."
This fact pleased Palpatine very much.
"That demolishes the possibility of chaos a few levels. I also got information from Tarkin. He said that a clone Commander at the scene found two more bodies."
The blue skinned male's eyes shot up, adrenaline rushed, no doubt.
"Did he say anything about their status in the Republic?"
"Why of course, Mas."
The leader of the Republic stood up from behind his boss-type desk.
"One was a clone."
"Let me guess. The other was a Jedi?"
"Correct, my friend."
Silence briefly engulfed the room. This was the case until the human male had walked over to one of his wardrobes. The conversation with Amedda continued shortly after.
"Even though everything has turned out gold right now, my senses still press on with the notion of a threat."
"You presume they were not the total cause?"
"Yes. Also, I consider the idea of two different sparks of worry."
"Two unrelated threats? That's not a good aspect."
"Hmmm. I will see about it more tomorrow, but for now…"
He smiled.
"…We must get some rest, my friend."
"I'll inform the guards of our departure from the building."
Palpatine nodded in conformation & slowly returned to his desk. He felt mixed emotions about what transpired this evening. On one hand, the seen threat had been eliminated. On the other hand, the chances of an unseen threat were still quite substantial. Through a bit of thinking with the help of the Force, a logical sequence gave him a precious insight. If said Jedi was truly that dangerous, sneaky, engaged, then said Jedi should have sensed the impending doom of pursuing the meeting of the Senator. Of course, he could have achieved that without being stopped by the fear. Although that still didn't really outweigh the danger signals he was getting.
"This Padawan, if he or she exists, is a shadow player. Staying out of sight of his potential enemies when possible would certainly be one of his or hers top priorities.
A few breathing cycles were conducted.
"Well then. Let us see, what will you do with this news?"
An evil laugh echoed within his head.
Around 17:00 Naboo time. The duo were walking on a polished beige pavement; it spread about 6 meters (~20 feet), first experienced no elevation (went on a 0 degree straight line), later got close to a 30 degree elevation. At that point, the pavement became a road of half width, material changed to gravel. That is where they were already at.
"He chose a strategic place to recharge." – Katooni thought.
Oswald explained that this was a Naboo town named Neeza, which had only a population of 6,000. Most seen on streets were humans, maybe a dozen gungans, even fewer other aliens. Suddenly, the road came to and end; Oswald swiftly said:
"We have arrived, Katooni."
Now the duo stood in front of an Earth village-type house. The building was not miraculously big, but did look like one that had more than 2 beings living in it. The roof was cacao brown, shaped as a triangle. The walls were of mahogany red, two noticeably big windows faced them across the front door. The tholothian girl paid attention to the fact that the sight of the house injected a shot of warmth into Menson. Maybe that was what attributed to the action of walking over to the front door.
Knock, knock. A reaction came into effect in normal time; someone went up to the door from the inside and said:
"Yes. Who is it?"
"It's your friend – Oswald Menson."
At once, the door was unlocked, and so into their sight came a woman.
"Isn't it time to see you again?"
"I don't know about that, Miss Varna."
The owner was a human female in her 30-ies, black hair, few wrinkles on the face. Said person quickly observed the other being outside her building.
"And who might you be?"
"I'm Katooni." – she replied in an unordinary quick fashion.
"A friend of yours?"
"More or less. Katooni, this is Miss Varna. We will be her guests for the duration of our time here."
"Pleased to meet you."
The 12 year old extends her arm, with encouragement from Mundi's Padawan the owner shakes it.
"Do you have any idea of what you want to do first?"
Oswald shows a pleasing, wicked smile.
"Oh yeah. I want to find them, so we can start preparing the pool."
"Hmmm. You want extreme enjoyment."
"It would be a fine start."
"Alright. Come in. They will be happy to see you."
The two came inside the mahogany read house.
"WHOOOOO!" – shouted a male.
A major splash of water spat in every direction; said male came up from under the water.
"That was… Awesome."
"Definitely, Alex."
Menson was in complete relaxation mode, when someone saw his state. He was an inflatable mattress on the water, with a glass of semi-transparent liquid, half-naked, only swimming shorts were covering something. Katooni was on an inflatable tire close to him; completely taking pleasure in the experience with her new lemon yellow one-piece swimsuit.
"This is SOOOO… good."
At this time, she had completely forgotten, what they came here to do. Menson was not that far intrenched in the moment, but actually had a casual attitude towards their operation.
"Now it's enjoyment. We'll worry about the task tomorrow."
Yet there was twitching feeling towards the things to come. Maybe the insightful one was worried about a chaotic element in play, or one that would arrive tomorrow. Beside the mentioned 3, there was also another human male in the pool. His mind was streaming with pleasure. The quartet were happy being in a portable, most would consider, huge pool by the standards of portable ones.