Cold death echoed through Teek's mind, his force pike aimed at the jugular of his adversary. The face matted of bruised skin matching his crimson jumpsuit. The beaten man stared up at Teek through blood-matted eyes as sweat graced across his face, fear rushing through his eyes. Panting pulsed into Teek's ears as his opponent appeared to beg.
Teek retracted his pike from the throat of his adversary. The cadet stretched a hand in Teek's direction, but instead continued down his hip toward his right boot where a small stiletto rested inside. With a quickness paralleled by a hyperspace jump, Teek shoved his pike into the skull of his opponent, bone crushing under the blunt strike.
Stammering to the floor, Teek collapsed onto his knees, his force pike ricocheting off the stone deck. Teek had never killed a man before, but it was either him or Teek. Teek preferred the other die instead. This was a test, a test to prove his loyalty for the Republic's New Order. He had trained all week for this test; never in his years at the Naboo Academy did he spar with a man ending in their fatality. Today, he murdered his first.
Beads of sweat eschewed down Teek's chest as two red-trimmed clone troopers dragged the corpse into a body bag.
Palpatine observed the ritual from behind a transparisteel frame. A gleam of confidence graced his smile as he clasped his hands together in joy. A door slid open, revealing the raven-clothed Chancellor approaching Teek.
"Well done, Teek." Palpatine chided with an heir of false confidence.
"But, Your Excellency, I've never killed a man before," Teek stuttered.
"It was either you, or him. You did the right choice. If you are to protect Rité as you have dreamt, you must be prepared to act as necessary, even if a man's life must be snuffed out."
"But he was not a Jedi, I can't kill a Jedi. I can't use the Force."
Palpatine aided Teek to his feet, placing a calming hand around his shoulders, his cold, aging hand gracing upon his arm.
"In time, young Teek, our Jedi friend, Anakin Skywalker can aid you in the Force." Palpatine's voice seemed comforting. The pair glided towards the doors as they hissed open.
"What if the Jedi start their uprising soon?"
"They won't, I can assure you of that. The Jedi are too interspersed right now. They would have to act on their own and by physical force to dissolve the Senate, the Commerce Guild and Trade Federation and other Separatists are plutocrats, no more harmful than the eopies that roam the Naboo plains.
"I promise you Teek, there is time. Come, though, there is more I must share with you."
Pristine hallways of marble and gold-plating encompassed the pair's movement toward Palpatine's personal chambers. Sconces of blazing blue and purple light vibrated their luminance across the polished walls, sending queasiness through Teek's soul. Palpatine's chambers approached too quickly for Teek to notice, a pair of Royal Guardsmen welcomed the couple into the private room.
As Palpatine pierced his halls, lanterns burned a light of amethyst flame. The floors echoed a stone's call, a different room than Teek had been to before. A circular chair focused as the centerpiece of the room, adorned with a crimson padding, lavender crystals upon pedestals around the room pulsed with energies, resonating with Palpatine's heartbeat. The Chancellor revolved toward Teek, fearful emotions encompassing the lad.
"You trust me now, don't you son?" Palpatine chided.
"If your New Order is just, and what you say is true. In order to protect the ones I love, and the Republic I respect, yes."
"Good." Palpatine drawled.
"There is one final test to prove your loyalty. To prove yourself as a Hand of the New Order, you must be able to convince others that the New Order is just."
"How may I serve you, Excellency?"
"Many in the Republic question my authority. They question the laws and decrees passed for the greater security of the Republic. As a Hand, you must convince others otherwise, or else they meet the fate of your adversary. There is a petition to end my rule, believing me to be a threat to the Republic. So far, a few hundred senators have signed this petition, of them, your traitorous Senator Padmé Amidala."
"You would like me to assassinate her?"
Palpatine seated himself upon the plush chair.
"She is in league with the Jedi, and plans to lead a rebellion against the Republic. The Chandrilan, Mon Mothma, and the Corellian Garm Bel Iblis as well as Alderaanian Bail Organa are also in league with her. They do not necessarily need to be murdered, however, only convinced. Any motion to question my resolve is to undermine the security of the Republic and aides our enemies.
"Rité believes in the security of the Republic, she understands the needs to keep the Republic glued together and any action against the Chancellor is an action against the Republic. Queen Apailana and Sio Bibble have yet to be convinced about the threat the Jedi pose. But, what if I told you that the Sith hold the answer to keeping the galaxy intact?"
"The Sith? But I've read that they oppose the Jedi!"
"Ah, yes. But what if I told you that the Sith have presented us with a method of victory? You see, Jedi and Sith follow the same outdated philosophy, but they are only both sides of the same faction. It is the Sith who are more in tune with the true nature of things, the true nature of government. The Jedi only wish to prevent the Republic from succeeding. They wish to unravel the very fabric that holds our values together. The Sith believe in a unified population, a population without question and without opposition, gluing the very fabric of civilization into an unobstructed, and unbreakable bond; a patriotic, nationalist life-style opposing any being or faction that would dissolve democracy.
"I know of a Sith who has the best interests in mind, a Sith by the name of Darth Sidious. He would prefer to be kept in the shadows, but reveals political secrets to me that have aided in keeping the integrity of the Republic."
"You're in league with the Sith?" Teek exclaimed.
"Now, Teek, this is part of your final test." Palpatine comforted.
"If the Sith have the best interests in mind, how would I convince the Governor?"
"Tell him, that I am Darth Sidious."
Palpatine removed a holorecording from his robes, and with a switch, a cerulean static flickered into clarity. A ghostly figure of the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious presented from the recorder, discussing plans for the New Order and the future containment of the Jedi. The figure faded away as the Chancellor glided toward Teek, placing the recorder into his palm.
"But first, you must convince Rité. Guards!"
A pair of red-trimmed clone troopers entered the room, their boots echoed upon the stone floors, flanking Teek. The faceless guards imposed a silent fear inside Teek's heart, their Mandalorian-style helmets with a darkened slit mouth and rounded eye plates harkened a day of warrior clans and mercenary law.
"HR 432, hand Teek your blaster."
The clone trooper on Teek's right answered the Chancellor's request.
"Now, shoot the guard, Teek."
A pulse of laser fire pierced the trooper's plasteel armor, scorching his chest. The guard collapsed onto the stone floor, his armor echoing a thud upon the stone.
"This is part of the illusion, Teek. Now, you and Rité must evacuate. Tell her that I am the Sith in control of the Senate. My guards will allow you to leave. Complete this test to bring this revealing information to Coruscant and your final test will be presented to you."
Teek's eyes surveyed the fallen clone trooper; his comrade had leaned down to lift him out of the room. The dragging echoes of durasteel plating against stone pounded through Teek's skull. If the Republic was truly in the hands of the Sith, he had to inform the Jedi, Palpatine could not be trusted.
"I will do your bidding, Your Excellency." Teek bowed, and exited the room, as another Homeworld Security clone trooper presented himself to the Chancellor.
"I do not trust him. Place a garrison in Theed and do not allow them to leave. Let them escape this compound. I must return to Coruscant to tend to important matters. Give them thirty minutes before you pursue them, do not kill them, they only need to believe they have escaped. They may leave Naboo when the cruiser in orbit requires your garrison back so you may return to Coruscant. Maintain the illusion that they are persons of interest while in Theed."
"Your loyalty test will be soon…"
The hiss of the sliding door interrupted Rité's thoughts as she sat upon her divan. Her emerald eyes glazed over her shoulders addressed by her fiery hair. Teek panted as he entered her bedroom, E3 chirped in puzzlement. Her khaki jumpsuit crinkled as she erected to stand, grabbing Teek as he struggled to gain his breath, her soothing touches graced his shoulders as he collapsed upon her chest.
"What's wrong, Teek?" She calmly inquired.
"I have vital information to present to the Republic. We have to make it to Theed so we can continue toward Coruscant. We must present this information to the Jedi!"
Teek's heavy panting weighed upon Rité's heart, beads of sweat stained upon her jumpsuit from Teek's forehead. She caressed his hair as she motioned him to an upright position.
"What information? What is it you want to tell me?"
"There's no time," he reached for the DC-15 blaster holstered to his sidearm, "I grabbed this from a dead clone trooper that I killed as I attempted to escape with this holorecording."
Teek eradicated the holorecorder from his shirt pocket. With a flick, the recording came to life revealing a blue static of the Sith Lord, Sidious reflecting against the white linens of Rité's comforts.
"This is who Palpatine really is, Rité. He is a Sith Lord! We must inform the Jedi! Pack your things, we must escape to the hangar bay and take a transport to Theed. We have no time; I don't know how much longer we have!"
E3 whistled and chirped as his two legs hobbled him toward the door. Rité rose from her bed, and grabbed her locker box from underneath. She hurried toward the upright locker on the opposite wall, and shoved her articles into her case.
"We only have one blaster?"
"It's the only one I have, it should hold off some troopers, but we can only hope to get out of here intact."
"Damn! There isn't much time, E3, let's roll!"
E3 extended his middle leg as he rolled out of the room. Rité and Teek followed, as Teek scanned the antechambers for any clone troopers. E3 glided over toward the elevator bay, extending a computer plug from his chest cavity into the open socket on the data panel. The socket gears cranked as the gateway hissed open. Rité rushed toward the open elevator, turning around she noticed two red-trimmed clones chasing after Teek.
"Teek!"
Blaster bolts ricocheted off the walls behind her, E3 calmly wheeled into the bay. Dropping to the floor, she clawed for the open door to struggle it open. Teek jumped into the elevator as the doors began to seal shut behind him. Floor numbers illuminated on the side panel of the cab as the descending ride continued toward the hangar bays.
"Did we lose them?" Rité inquired.
"We'll find out when we get to an open transport."
"We only need to give them the illusion of escape," a Homeworld trooper informed his inferior, "By orders of the Chancellor."
A pair of troopers remained steadfast at the doors of the elevator as the commanding officer spoke his orders into the commlink upon his wrist.
Rité soared across the hangar bay with the grace of a podracer, her feet fleeting her toward an Incom R-10 skyhopper craft. E3 rolled his way behind her, blaster fire skirting the ground beside his wheels. Teek returned fire at the oncoming troopers, knocking down a few with his marksman skills. Rité seated inside the cockpit, a cramped fit, designed to seat two. However, she could not see how two adults could rest comfortably, but there was no time for comfortable accommodations. Clones were not friendly right now.
E3 rolled up behind her, grav locks inside his feet magnetized him upon the durasteel floor. Teek rushed into the aft door, firing upon two more clones to the ground. Rité punched controls, causing the dual winged craft to rise from the hangar. R-10's appeared as bulky and grotesque, used primarily for short hops upon planets. The protruding cockpit formed a beak-like structure, and a new symbol appeared on the wings. The Republic symbol of eight spokes in a broader wheel formation had been replaced by a sigil of six spokes in a tighter wheel. The small engine nozzle mounted above the entry door provided enough lift to elevate the craft to low atmospheric flight.
As the R-10 escaped the hangar confines, the leading clone troopers fired to the flanks of the craft, narrowly avoiding the wing tips. Soaring with the clumsy grace of a mynock, the R-10 rushed toward the direction of Theed.
A hazy blue image of Chancellor Palpatine appeared upon the wrist of the commanding trooper.
"Chancellor, they are away."
"Excellent, relocate your garrison to Theed tonight. I have alerted Vice-Admiral Dodonna to maintain orbit over Naboo and not allow them to escape. You must maintain their illusion as persons of interest; you will receive your orders to leave when needed."
"Yes sir, I understand."
The commanding officer uttered a Mandalorian war call to his fellow troopers. Coded in ancient dialect, the language of the Mando had been dictated toward the clones from the master template to preserve their intricate culture. The clones retreated away from the hangar; medic droids trickled into the bay to remove the carcasses of those that had deceased.