Note: I don't know, how you're following the 'river' of this story, but it has been approaching more and more turns. By which I mean – more character timeline bridging. At least, that's what I'm getting right now.
Note #2: Alright, starting from this chapter every race (including – humans) will be written with a capital latter.
-Bashing elbows! The atmosphere on Coruscant is not one of cheerfulness. Far from it, the 3 biggest institutions of the Republic are experiencing turmoil. With all of this active, one being has to take an enormous leap of faith, while another is greeted by a visitor. A visitor… He wasn't expecting.-
Chapter 23. The voice's identity
20:00 Naboo time. The nearby trees of Miss's Varna's house were occupied, as determined or constructed by nature, by birds. Their sporadic chirping was more of a positive then a negative sound for the listener's ears. Two beings were coming up to a round clearing near quite a cliff.
"Why are we here, Oswald?" – asked the Tholothian girl.
"Quite simple, Katooni. This is the place, where will be finishing our operation tomorrow."
The 12 year old was suddenly filled up with joy & confusion. The 'joy part' – obvious; the 'confused part' – not so much.
"Your confident in your method."
"It is the best one I could foresee."
The 19 year old Human male turns to his partner.
"Do not mistake my pleasure in the pool as a lack of seriousness. I can assure you, partner, that I completely realize the task we are going to be faced tomorrow." – he stated in a pleasure filled, cryptic tone.
He looks to the middle of the clearing.
"We will put two piece of cloth on the ground there."
The foresightful one points out with his eyes. The whole movement was subtle, calculated.
"Through a special meditation technique we will acquire the results that we crave."
Silence took over the air around them, both were willing to let that happen. Mundi's Padawan felt well with the fact that he had presented the stage for their task's success. Katooni sensed that through the Force. Yet that was not the thing she was focusing on. The latest cryptic tone, the distance from Coruscant, their goal – all of it pressured her to seek more answers. Whatever was on their doorstep, whoever they had both recognized as an existing being was nothing basic. Far from it. Though Oswald had a substantial year advantage, the senses to the Force did not evolve just by an ordinary curve. There were more highs & lows within it; overlap wasn't out of the question. One thing did appear in the 12 year old's mind. An idea that she didn't want to dissect again. Said idea presented a proposition to her to be careful, when dealing with Menson. Prior to their partner establishment, he did warn her of the dealing they would be enrolled in. No sugar-coating of the situation was an encouraging site. However, the waves the Force was sending throughout their meeting in one of the Jedi Temple's storage rooms ought to be understood. Katooni felt several signals of mixed or even dark side origin from her friend. This was the alarm that was pushed to the edges of her mind. The unpredictability of the future was growing in its chaotic nature.
All of a sudden, the silence was broken.
"Then we must end our day in a calm state of mind, Oswald. A torn up person would hardly prove… Effective tomorrow."
"That it would. Let's go back to Miss Varna then." – he said quite fast.
Less than an hour somewhere in the Galaxy.
"You are under arrest, Commander."
"So… Be… It… Jedi." – a mechanical voice retorted.
"A surprise attack from the higher levels. Not that inconceivable, Master." – Kelan stated.
"I concur, Padawan."
The experienced Jedi Master turned to his commanding officer.
"Commander, take the captured droids to the detention chamber. I'll interview them in an hour, by which time I presume we will be near their last stronghold on this planet."
"Will do, sir. Common men, let's take the tin-cans to their waiting room."
The two Force sensitives were left alone near a destroyed hover bike. The orange skinned Twi'lek female took in the scenery around her body. No inkling of a planted explosive in an unseen place was picked up.
"I do not sense any surprises left by the Separatists here."
"Good induction, Kelan. This perfectly melts with my conclusions."
The younger Force sensitive notices a continual face expression of worry from the older one. The mention of her name was already a dead giveaway of something serious coming up for a conversation very soon. She closes the space between them to less than 2 meters (~7 feet).
"Somehow I still sense danger emitting from you. Or maybe it's sorrow?"
Her Master takes in a few breaths; then steps into the uncomfortable sphere.
"Something has transpired within the Galaxy that has had… A best described whiplash on you. Am I close to the truth, Padawan?"
She crosses her arms in a defensive position.
"Close enough, Master."
"So what happened to you about 4 hours ago?"
"It is not that complicated."
"How so?"
"It was just a strange surge from the Force."
"What origin?"
"The awful kind." – she replies quickly.
"A loss?"
"A powerful one."
"Hmmm. I will discuss this with the Jedi Council once we take the Separatist stronghold. With our persistence, we will surely figure out, what caused you this painful experience."
"First the mission has to be completed, Master Bangad."
"That it does, Padawan Elanesquil. For me, the most important thing was to know that the crippling collapse of your body was not out of nowhere. It had a reason."
"One that we should be able to identify."
"Precisely."
They nod to each other & soon set off once again. Master Bangad takes the front, with his Padawan & Commander on his sides, followed by a great amount of troopers, hover bikes, tanks, not to mention, 3 Separatist prisoners behind a red ray shield.
Almost 10 o'clock in the evening on Naboo. Not so long ago Miss's Varna's made supper had been finished by the house's inhabitants. They were 5 in total. The Force sensitives in a normal pace marched to their room. The guest room was neither extremely spartan, nor extravagantly luxurious. If someone would compare the special area in the Nu-class transporter to this one, the covering area wouldn't greatly differ. The guest room was in the back of the house, had: two beds, two syrup brown cupboards with glass squares near the top, an admiral blue rug 'connecting' the two beds from opposite sides of the room.
"Which one?" – Menson asks.
"The left one."
"Sure."
An expression of pleasure enacts. The following 10 minutes were more or less dull, the beings were getting ready for bed, after all. Due to severe possible implications, the young blond haired Human male took a position between his bed and one of the windows. Said window had berry blue curtains anchored above it. Then the Tholothian girl got into her bed, ¾ of her body got concealed under the covers. Her head connected with the pillow, a shot of delight followed.
"Hah! That's pretty comfy."
Her tendrils flowed along her shoulders, down to her waist. At that moment, she reassured her first impression of Mundi's Padawan not moving from the window almost ever since their arrival in this room.
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
He slowly turned his head, just not enough to come into a face-to-face confrontation.
"I am. I was waiting for you to get comfortable before I took my time doing the exact same thing."
"How much will this impact tomorrow? Did you take that into consideration, Oswald?"
"I did."
Now their eyes can observe the other one's eyes.
"Don't worry. I will be entering my dreams soon."
"Alright. I just don't want you to think that rest isn't as important to you as it is to me."
"Okay, Katooni."
She nods to him, raises her head, rearranges it to be in view of the wall.
"Good night, Oswald."
"Good night, Katooni."
15 minutes later. Bariss's apprehender was slumping his back onto the wall, meditating in a unusual position; hands were laying palms down on his descending thighs. The darkness of the night was established outside their window. That was somewhat concealed with berry blue curtains. Mundi's Padawan was back on his rug above the water, with a completely transparent sea under the rug, a sky blue atmosphere around everywhere else.
"Some parts of this are still questionable. I'm not sure, how all of this cohesively makes an easy understandable conclusion. Luckily, things have changed, two aspects in particular. Here my ideas are easier to formulate, less barriers than in the 'Real' world. Secondly, I infer that the emotions that does ideas generate creates change in the atmosphere all around me. I might have found a really… peculiar… hard to define state of meditation."
"That might be correct." – an unexpected female voice expresses.
Oswald slowly looks to his left, then rapidly changes it to the right. A hint of change was noted with the latest action. The blue eyed male slowly, carefully turned his sight to the middle. An there… Was a change. It was definitely significant; a scenario were the space around him changes in its entirety would not have been that significant to him. Instead of the whole space becoming different, a being appeared in front of him, about 20 meters (~65 feet) in front, with a, hard to believe, same rug above the water. The being was unnatural. A prime beauty Human female, with immaculate, smooth porcelain white skin, sitting with her legs crossed in a similar vein to Oswald. Her attire screamed 'celestial being', there were only two colors present – white & gold. Almost every human male in the Galaxy would label her as ideally gorgeous, lustful. When coming up to her face it continued the trend, not strayed from it. The blond hair was seemingly painted to be so mesmerizing, the azure eyes were deeply engraved in emotion, to top it all – she wore a tiara, which would not be easily missed or dismissed. While 19 year old was examining her, she didn't even whisper. A cryptic, unknown intention was in the air. After Oswald finished assessing the being in front of him within his meditation space, he said:
"So we meet."
Simultaneously back on Coruscant. In one of the hangars of the Jedi Temple the gunship with the corpse of Zane was settled. Two temple guards, two clones with specially painted armor stood around. These 4 were not the ones having a conversation. That honor went to Jedi Masters & Council members Plo Koon, Eeth Koth & Yoda.
"A loss notable this is. Hmmm."
"Couldn't disagree, Master Yoda." – Koon stated.
"Tell me what you can more about his death?"
"There is a high probability that Padawan Farnos was skilled by a non-human Sith." – Koth answered.
"Evidence of this?"
"The D.N.A. on his corpse did not conjugate with a human."
"Outer space?"
"It would appear so. Whoever the Sith was, he or she flew here from somewhere."
"And the Farnos' lightsaber?
Koon reaches his belt on the side with his right hand, presents the object to the head level of the green skinned male. He takes it, examines it, pierces his mind into the Force.
"Confirm I can that this is his lightsaber."
"Once the investigation is over, we will get it to the safe place."
"No doubt have I, Master Koth. In the meantime transport the body to…"
Yoda informs them of the designated room.
"Meanwhile, get some rest, hmmm. I will conduct a Force inspired search of the planet for the unknown Sith. Maybe his presence pick up I can."
The other two Force sensitives bow; the trio disbands into different directions. Koth's suspicions of an insurgency within the Jedi Order achieved a new height. A Padawan was eliminated by a pro-dark member. On Coruscant! Coruscant! This did not let Eeth's mind attain bliss. Someone could say that this was a dual negative strike. Not only did a promising Jedi Knight got eliminated from the picture, he also was a close friend of Oswald. The last time he met the trio was before the debacle with Ahsoka & Bariss. Then they were practicing lightsaber combat. The clearness of Mundi's Padawan winning was prevalent. Not a week passes for the picture to change. Now one of the trio is dead, while the other two are present on different planets.
"Menson leaves and not to long after Farnos dies. It doesn't appear to be coincidence."
What was plot? The Zabrak male had only clues that were useful on one hand. On the other hand, they failed to be chained together to get the full story.
"Were they working together? Or in opposition?"
That was unknown. A couple of minutes later he did attribute the whole unknown to Oswald's reluctancy to express his true motives. The 19 year old's insight, anticipation, assessment, persistence were not to be underestimated. All of those abilities meant that he could give cryptic, obscure answers or honest ones to anybody and, unless they were Yoda, could not determine, what nature they were.
"If there is an insurgency, I have no doubt that Menson is involved."
A trial for him was now firmly in the making. He, Tiin or Tii just needed more clues to present enough strong of a case against Mundi's Padawan.
09:00 Coruscant time, 3 days 9 hours till the Vote. A vote on a new law was about an hour away; some senators had a group meeting to discuss the impact of it on the Republic scale.
"It is essential that we vote against the law." – said one senator.
"What are we letting the Republic become? Such a rule will do more harm than good." – mentioned another.
"Relax, Senator Raich. This is not the time for passion driven spewing."
The guest senators quickly turned to their host – Senator Main.
"Good. Now, has anyone had a change of heart on the matter?"
No planet representative spoke.
"Then we've done what we've done. The rest is up to whole legislative institution. Dismissed."
The senators look at each other, then at Main. They make their closing remarks and leave his office. Obviously, the noise from the hallway manages to sneak in, while the beings are making their way out.
"Vescell was also passionate, Raich. I hope the same fate doesn't befall you too."
The male senator glances at his watch.
"Took a bit longer than expected. Not that surprising, when your in opposition of a bill and there are conflicts around the procedure. I do find in favor voting to be much more smoother."
He takes a communicator & a laptop with himself; a march out of the room is performed.
In the hallway a familiar figure speaks out:
"Main."
He notices the figure.
"Hefyra. Good morning. You're going to be my diplomatic entourage to my destination?"
"With a crucial talk in between it all."
The male walks over to his left, where the female senator was standing.
"You wouldn't be here elsewise." – expressed in a whisper.
Two familiar blue hue colored senate guards close in on the two senators from the sides, just a step behind. The pair of senators choose a low, quiet tone for their exchange of thoughts.
"Can you confirm?" – Main asks.
"Yes. Senator Vescell has been murdered last evening." – Hefyra answers.
"At such a pivotal point."
"It could mean a serious thing."
"I fear it too, Hefyra."
They go up a floor.
"We are less than 4 days away."
He nods while shaking a bit.
"A concern cannot be pushed aside."
"Especially if it is that close to the core. Should we inform The Joker?"
"I strongly disagree, Hefyra. There is no telling, how much the investigator knows about us."
"You would see it as an needless risk, Main?"
"Without a doubt. We have to uphold the stability of it from our side."
Suddenly, someone walking in direct opposition to them speaks:
"Senator Main, Senator Hefyra."
The quarter comes to a halt, the verbal communicator was Mas Amedda. Main rapidly started going through his mind. As you probably imagine, they were not on good terms. Therefore, the Human male was startled that he manage to come into contact with him without the warning from his guards? Couple tens of seconds later an explanation was found. He did not instruct the guards to inform him of any cautionary beings. A mistake. Yet there wasn't time to concentrate on that. Senator Main had to display an aura of confidence in front of Mas, so that he would not get any dangerous ideas.
"Good morning, Mas. I wasn't expecting to see you in the hallway at such an early hour."
"A non-cancelable meeting finished just minutes ago."
"Then we should not waste each other's time, should we, Amedda?" – Hefyra steps into the battlefield with a question.
He was a bit disgruntled by the female senator's remark.
"No, we shouldn't. Yet…"
His eyes focus back on Main.
"…The loss of Vescell is a worthy fact of yesterday."
Senator Main feels ingenuine sorrow from him; in consequence, he plays a turbulent card on the battlefield.
"It's crazy, how everyone pretends to be good, when someone with a connected history dies."
Amedda takes a step forward; the tension is rising enormously.
"Would you like to expand, Senator?"
Hefyra did not welcome this confrontation. Senator Main had his disagreements with Vescell, but still wanted him to succeed. Just the chaotic nature of the latter's character proved to be too expensive for the Alliance.
"Mam. The Chancellor." – says one of their guards.
There isn't much time for the whole group to react to his appearance.
"Ahhh! What a rare occurrence!" – Palpatine says with a warm smile.
The two intrenched sides take a break, return to their normal states.
"Chancellor."
After the recognition, Main nods his head. Amedda does not need to speak, he exchanges looks with Palpatine; that mostly pleases him.
"I would not have foreseen you and Amedda arguing in the hallway, Main. Surely there is something that requires your immediate attention more than a conflict with Amedda."
The Human male experiences a growth in resentment. Smartly, the emotion is concealed.
"Of course there is, your Excellency."
"Then I believe you can arrange a different time to settle it all?"
"Yes."
Knowing the feel of the battlefield, Sheev takes two steps forward and says in a light tone:
"So we can move on now, right Senator?"
"Have a good day, Chancellor."
"Same for you, Main."
Soon, the opposing groups disperse; Hefyra & Main walk for a bit in silence. A hierarchy has certain rules, which one shouldn't brake if in it; otherwise, severe loss might be on the horizon. The Chancellor was more important to the Republic, the Senate & the people than Senator Main. This was not only written; this was also felt by everybody, who was intelligent, knew them both.
"Anyway, I'll be meeting Senator Neeka in 5 minutes."
"Law?"
"New trade agreement. That's all I can say."
"It's enough, Main. We should meet with Avergreen today."
"Feeling is mutual. I propose 12 o'clock."
"Alright. I'll talk to her, we'll decide and then I'll inform you."
"Great plan."
Hefyra sees a staircase to her left.
"Good luck, Main."
"Be on alert, Hefyra."
The female senator quicky gets off the current level.