All's Fair in Love and War

She rubbed her temples as the group of Senators in front of her continued to speak. The dark clad neimoidian, Greco, in particular, seemed the most vocal.

"Chancellor, you must declare the Republic is in a state of war!"

"And why is that, Senator Greco?" She asked. It didn't go above her notice that these were the senators of the richest systems and core worlds in the Republic. If they left, the Republic would crumble.

"Because the attack today was unacceptable and the Sith are still declaring a war!"

"Master Jace?" She asked, turning to the man she had known for a long time.

He sighed. "I do not know what to suggest, Madame Chancellor. War seems too rash, yet we know that these attacks must not go unpunished. I would suggest that the Republic Intelligence begins to comb for the whereabouts of these Sith."

"That would take too long!" The neimoidian Senator exclaimed. "Madame Chancellor, you must declare the Republic in a state of war now! That is a necessity, otherwise you face the possibility of our systems withdrawing from the Republic."

"You wouldn't," she breathed.

"We are running out of options here, Chancellor," the green-skinned Senator said darkly.

"I will not lead the Republic into another war that it is guaranteed to lose!"

"Then let us ask Admiral Onasi," another Senator suggested.

"Carth?" She asked, hoping that her former friend from the war would agree with her.

Up to now he had stood there silently. But he could feel the pressure crushing down on him. He sighed and brought one hand to run through his greying hair. "Well, Chancellor Dodonna, the fleet has slowly been rebuilding—and with those new weapon refits, we should be ready to engage whatever numbers the Sith have. But, we're still stretched too thin—I'd have to recall every vessel patrolling the Outer Rim to the Mid Rim."

"See?" The Senator said. "We could begin to assault their forces."

"But we do not yet know how large their forces are—or where they are located," she countered.

"And the fleet would take weeks to gather, let alone organize all supplies," Carth said. "As a veteran of the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War, I know how much can go wrong on the battlefield. And we're dealing with Dark Jedi here."

"Well, Master Jace and the Jedi Order can assist," the Senator suggested.

"Unfortunately the Jedi Order will decide whether or not it will assist in the war—if it comes to that. We're simply too few in number. We're in the double digits."

"That can be rectified," Greco said simply. "We can offer benefits to those adults who qualify as Force-sensitive, while the Jedi Order trains them with what they need."

This caused everyone in the room—especially Greco—to cringe when Cyrin spoke. "The Jedi will not half train adult Force-adepts. And the Jedi Order is not some company to be bought out in order to achieve this." His eyes locked onto the slightly cowering Neimodian's. "We're keepers of the peace, not soldiers."

"He's right," Carth said. "The Jedi are guardians of justice—what you're saying is wrong in so many ways."

"Leave a mere grunt to say something like that," the Senator scoffed. "Master Jace, I am disappointed in you. I thought a man of your reputation to be a bit more understanding about our plight."

"Oh I understand, Senator, but the Jedi will not be bought out and begin to manufacture mere adepts as soldiers."

"Hmph," the Senator said, as he turned to face Dodonna. "Madame Chancellor, I suggest you declare that the Republic is in a state of war, effective immediately or you will be finding a new job position rather soon." With that, the procession of Senators left, leaving only Dodonna, Carth and Cyrin in the room.

Dodonna could only sigh. "I only have fifteen minutes left until my speech, and already the Republic is on the verge of collapse."

"You will make the right decision, Forn," Cyrin said, resting a hand affectionately on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of anymore help, Master Jace," Carth said sincerely.

"It is not your fault, Admiral Onasi," he replied. "The Senators are fools—the Jedi Order is not a manufacturing facility. I can only hope we get to the bottom of this, and soon."

"Well, whatever your decision, I stand ready to assist you, Master Jace."

"Thank you, Admiral Onasi," Cyrin said.

"Now, if you will excuse me," Carth said, "I have a fleet to mass." With that, he left the room.

"And then there were two," the Chancellor joked weakly.

"I'm sorry it has come to this, Forn," Cyrin said apologetically.

"Oh, it's not your fault, Cyrin. I just don't understand how all of this could have happened."

He cocked his head as he felt something he had been right about all along. She was telling the truth and she had no clue as to what was happening. That was enough to allow him to confide in her. "I think Director Gran'gerst and those Senators have something to do with this," he said.

"The Senators? Tamar? What do you mean?"

"The recent assaults against the Jedi Order and the Republic have been linked towards the facility on Corellia. I have already dispatched one of our more capable Knights to the planet to get to the bottom of this. Tamar is connected to this recent chain of events—and we do not yet know how or why."

"How can that be?"

"He has been the only one who has had any direct relation to the deaths of two of our Knights—and he wasn't at the Senate today during the assault. He is in Corellia. And today, the Senators have come to you in person, eager to give you an ultimatum. Something is obviously afoot."

"But what you're saying means that they've been dealing with the Sith…"

"Since the beginning of all of this. We do not know what the payoff is for him. All that is certain is that we must question him. I sense the Dark Side somewhere within him."

She sighed as she looked at her desk. "Then that means that all this time I've been fighting to hold the Republic together for nothing."

"Forn," Cyrin began, as he moved closer to her.

"Cyrin, this has all been for nothing?" She looked into his dark eyes, hardened with war and the curse of following the Jedi Code, thus forsaking what they both knew was there.

"Not everything," he said softly, taking her hand in his. "You're strong, willful and resourceful. You will find a way to keep the Republic together long enough—until the Force reveals its will."

She smiled softly and looked into their clasped hands. "I remember a time before politics, before war, when we would sit down and talk about the Force."

"As do I—but then war came."

She nodded, "true—but we had some great times before then."

"You know if things were different, I would have left the Order to stay with you," he stated regretfully, as he felt his heart weigh as heavy as that fateful day in his life.

"I know. But when the Mandalorians came—and the Order Knighted you—things went downhill from there."

He smiled softly as he reminded her, "but then Pollock came into your life. You two married, and had a son—who looks a lot like him."

She chuckled, "he's just like his father."

"I told you the Force would find a way and open a pathway to your destiny," he said. He turned away and looked out into the night sky of Coruscant, recounting his youth with her. The time they had spent before the Mandalorians came, before darkness ensued. He still felt the great weight at what he lost that day. But he also knew he gained a great many things, though it always seemed he was destined for infinite pain.

"Pollock died a long time ago—during the war," she recounted, as warm salty tears streaked slowly across her cheeks.

"And Noa has been there with you all this time. He's married, isn't he?"

"Yes, he married shortly after the Jedi Civil War—he has a little boy." She looked at his back, as she knew he felt the same way as her—their feelings had never died; it was merely buried for some time.

He turned around and took her by the hand, as he opened his mouth to say something, only to be cut off by the beeping and voice of the Chancellor's secretary.

"Madame Chancellor, it is time."

She looked down, as did he. She wanted to hear his voice tell her those words one more time, but she turned away and managed through her own disappointment, "I will be there shortly then."

"I am sorry, Forn," Cyrin said softly as he clasped one hand on her shoulder.

She brought one hand to touch his hand. "As am I," she said.

With that, the doors hissed open and the entourage of her personal guards escorted her towards the Senate Chambers.

Cyrin sighed as he walked out. What am I thinking? He thought as he walked towards the turbolift. I'm too old for this—she made her decision a long time ago, as did I. What I feel for her should not matter now. He entered the turbolift and tapped a key, and couldn't help but wonder, so why do I still love her?