Jayce didn't have to go through the B1 blockade, just around it. Way around, unfortunately. And since that was the only road heading East to the Matale-Sandral estate, it also meant going on foot. It would be several hours of travel, but that was the price for stealth.

Before he went anywhere, though, he sent a brief message to Master Na-Meh letting her know what he had found so far: the number of ships in the system, and that they seemed unusually interested in a certain spot of apparent nothing. With that done, he started off.

It was easy to slip past the pair of idiot droids at the north gate. All Jayce had to do was wait for an argumentative farmer to happen by, they were in large supply on Dantooine, and use the resulting confrontation as a distraction. Out he went, two kilometers north, until the town was completely hidden by the hills. Then he started east across the fields.

Cutting through the tall crops was slow going. It took over an hour for Jayce to complete his quarter circle back to the east road. Then it was a simple matter of following it with his ears, eyes, and the Force open for any signs of approaching vehicles. At the tops of hills he crouched along in the side ditch to avoid standing out. At the valleys he kept a close eye on the crests, ready to jump into cover should anything appear.

The sun was grazing the tops of the horizon hills, turning the waves of farmland shades of purple, before he saw anything. Jayce sensed the approaching convoy and ducked into cover before it appeared from the direction of the town. In the center was a large cargo vehicle that took up nearly the whole width of the road. In front and behind were a pair of B1s on STAPs. They passed by Jayce hiding in the corn stalks without stopping and vanished over the next hill.

Jayce waited a moment, then went on. When he got to the top of the hill, the convoy had stopped in front of an energy fence that stretched across the road. The fence didn't stop there, it cut through the fields on both sides until it disappeared over the hills. At the checkpoint, unmanned by droids, the convoy was thoroughly examined before the gate was de-energized and the truck was allowed to pass through.

The sight of the fence got Jayce even more excited. If the wire-heads had gone to so much trouble as to set up a security fence around the estate, they must be hiding something really interesting.

As with the previous checkpoint, Jayce decided the best path was to circle wide around it. He left the road and made his way through the quickly-darkening fields. He put a full kilometer, and several hilltops, between himself and the security at the gate before finally approaching the fence.

It hummed quietly at him as energy pulsed through the beams between the uprights. The crops ended several meters from the fence, and on the far side was nothing but grasslands. The fence itself was a good eight meters tall. Short enough that Master Kenobi could have easily vaulted the thing in a single bound. Jayce was going to have a slightly more difficult time of it, but not by much.

He approached one of the uprights standing like the gray rib of some giant creature that had died and been half-buried by the hill. That's when he noticed the clear signs of weathering and age. The fence was not a new construction, it had stood there for many seasons.

This new information forced Jayce to reconsider his assumptions. For one, it meant the Separatists might not actually be interested in anything on the Matale-Sandral estate after all. It might have just afforded the governor a luxurious home with pre-built security. Two, it spoke to just what type of rich people he was dealing with. The type that felt they needed a several-kilometer-long fence to keep out the people they didn't want to see. Jayce already didn't like them.

The post was smooth-sided and straight, with just enough space to reach between the energy beams. He tested one of the beams with his hand. A light touch was enough to send a shock of pain up his arm. They wouldn't do damage, but any stronger contact would hurt. A lot.

Jayce tucked his blaster and holster into his pack, then took off his belt and grabbed both ends in one hand. Then, backing up to give himself a running start, he charged at the post and leapt upwards with all the natural and force-imbued strength he had. His foot made contact with the post, and he pushed himself higher. One step, then two, three, four.

Just as he reached the apex, he swung the belt through a gap in the beams and latched on. He'd made it most of the way up, easily his best force jump. That still left him a little over a meter shy of the top. From there, he just had to go for it.

It was an awkward jump, starting from hanging off the pole. There was a shock of pain as one leg hit the top beam, and then he was over, with just enough time to orient himself for the landing into a roll on the soft turf on the far side.

Rather pleased with himself, even if his leg twinged a bit, he replaced his belt and blaster and started off over the lengthening shadows of the hills. There was no telling where the house was from here, so Jayce angled back towards the road.

The sun had gone down completely, and Jayce was left to pick his way through the hills in the dark. The terrain was very hilly, drastically reducing line of sight. There were big hills and little hills. He even came across a cluster of small hills like bumps in the ground, each a little mound no taller than he was.

Then a breeze found its way through the valley, and Jayce caught the stench. For the second time he was forced to re-evaluate his assumptions about the perimeter fence. As the little hill nearest him rumbled and got to its feet, Jayce realized the fence had not originally been intended to keep something out, but to keep something in. The Matale-Sandrals were nerf herders.

Nerf ranchers, more like. But the distinction didn't matter much as the bull nerf bellowed a challenge, lowered its horned head, and charged. Jayce ran. The ground-pounding steps of the beast closed in frighteningly fast, and Jayce dove to the side. The tip of the horn was close enough to skewering him through the midsection that it ripped a gash in his shirt. Jayce rolled to his feet and sprinted the other way as the lumbering beast slowed to turn back towards him.

This was totally undignified. A real jedi could have used the force to calm the creature. A skilled jedi would have convinced it to give him a ride. If he could stand the smell, that is. Instead Jayce was left sprinting over the hills, with his shirt ruined for the second time in as many days.

He crossed a steep ravine and bounded up the other side. The bull nerf slowed to a halt at the edge and huffed angrily. Jayce didn't wait to see if the beast would find a way across and quickly hurried away towards the gleaming lights of buildings in the distance.

Droid patrols circled the cluster of buildings at the heart of the estate, but they were easy to avoid. Jayce watched from the darkness and waited, and counted. The machines did what machines do, repetitively and without deviation from their routine.

"Any sign of intruders?" the B1 commander asked another passing patrol.

"No, sir! Nothing."

"Well, keep your eyes out."

"Roger, roger!"

Then on they went. Jayce counted to a thousand.

"Any sign of intruders?"

"No, sir! Nothing."

"Well, keep your eyes out."

"Roger, roger!"

Another thousand.

"Any sign of intruders?"

And on it went. By the fourth perfectly predictable repetition, Jayce was ready to shoot them all just to make them shut up. Why did droids even need to use all those words to communicate anyway?

With the timing figured out, he waited until the roaming patrol had just gone out of sight and moved in towards the nearest building. It was little more than a shadowy form in the dark, and it turned out to be a garage filled with rugged vehicles. Beyond was the main house, and in the lawn in front of it sat the dark hulk of a mid-sized space ship.

Judging by the size of the house, nerf herding might be smelly but it was lucrative. The house was a small compound of its own, with multiple wings and an enclosed courtyard. Jayce crept up to a side door in the wing closest to him. It was locked, with a card reader built into the wall beside it.

At last, here was something Jayce knew he could do. It was a trick he'd learned many years ago, and it had managed to get him into trouble quite a few times. He took a breath and stretched out his senses. After a moment he could feel the power running through the tiny pathways of the circuit, and he created a mental map of the internal wiring of the security lock.

All that really had to happen was the card reader had to tell the lock that an authorized card had been presented. And to do that, it just had to send a tiny signal. So if a small bit of current went this way instead of that...

The door popped open, and Jayce slipped inside.

He found himself at the end of a hallway adjoining a comfortably furnished sitting room. The furniture was heavy and rugged, but looked cozy. The mounted head of a horned kath hound hung over the large but unlit fireplace. A bar and drink cabinet stood along the far wall. Jayce's footsteps were nearly silent in the thick carpet as he moved across the empty room.

Jayce sensed the approaching droids a moment before they entered the room. He ducked behind the bar as two large droids marched in. Their footfalls made the floor creak beneath the weight of their heavy armor. Red light glowed from the optical sensors placed in the helmet-like heads embedded between their hulking shoulders.

Jayce's breath caught at the sight of the two super battle droids. He doubted his R-66 would do much of anything to that armor, at least not before their wrist-mounted blasters turned him into cooked meat.

The pair marched to the door and stopped, then scanned the room. Jayce crouched behind the bar, hearts pounding, not daring to breathe.

"No sign of ingress," one said at last in a deep, growling, computerized voice. "West door is secure."

Heavy footsteps headed back down the hall, but only one pair. The other droid stayed by the door. Jayce waited for it to leave. One minute, then five, then ten. After a quarter of an hour, it was clear the B2 wasn't planning on leaving. From where it stood it had a perfect view of the room, and a clear view of Jayce if he stuck so much as a toe out from behind the bar.

He couldn't shoot the droid. Even if he took it out, more would be on him in moments. Jayce looked for some way to distract the droid. But any attempt at distraction would only bring the droid closer to him.

Don't focus on what you can't do, Master Sorro Tem said over and over. Instead find what you can do, and do that.

There had always been an abundance of things Jayce couldn't do. But maybe... just maybe there was something he could.

He closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. The room was full of sensations, the thick carpet, the drinks in the cabinet, the head on the wall. The droid was like a beacon of energy in an otherwise quiet tableau. This was far more complicated than the security door, though. The circuitry was fine and intricate and absurdly complex. The central cortex was a ball of energy.

Jayce searched for a way past the droid. There was no obvious shut off switch, or way to disconnect the power pack. Instead he found the circuitry to the optical sensors. With a small tweak of the Force, they overloaded and shut off.

"Assistance required," the B2's rumbling voice called down the hallway. "Assistance required." Almost immediately the other B2 stomped back into the room.

"What is the issue?"

As soon as the droid was past the bar, Jayce scrambled out of his hiding place and through the door.

"I am experiencing a malfunction with my optical sensors." The droid's voice was still audible in the hall. "I am in need of maintenance."

In a moment Jayce was down the hall and up a flight of stairs. He payed closer attention to his feelings after that, keeping a watch out for more droids. They were all around the house, but none in his immediate path. There were voices, though. He crept carefully towards them, and came out on a second floor balcony overlooking a long table in the middle of a lavish dining hall.

More droids filled the room. Protocol droids carrying trays, and no less than six super battle droids stationed around the edge of the room. The long table set for dinner was empty except for three people. In the middle of the table a man and a woman of middle years sat facing each other. At the head of the table sat an Iridonian zabrak with an impressive set of horns on his bald head. He looked young for the position of governor, though, perhaps in his twenties or early thirties.

"So I do hope you understand," the zabrak was saying in an imperious tone that assumed there would be no contradiction. His voice seemed off, though, a hint of a growl that didn't seem entirely natural.

"Yes, Governor," the man said. The human's tone when he said those two word was enough to tell Jayce that the Governor was not a welcome guest in the home.

"Good," the governor said, and returned to his plate on which was the last few bites of a juicy, red steak. "This nerf steak is divine, by the way, my compliments to your chef. Really, you'd never know how good their meat is by the way they smell. I don't know how you put up with it. I guess this beautiful house helps a bit."

He laughed and looked around the luxurious dining room. Jayce ducked his head out of sight, but the governor must have caught a bit of the motion. He whispered words to the nearest droid, and moments later heavy metal feet were marching up the stairs.

Jayce quickly and quietly slipped away from the balcony and back into the hallway. But he found himself a bit trapped. There was only one way back, and droids were already on the stairs. The only way forward would mean traversing the length of the balcony in clear view of all the eyes and blasters in the dining room below.

He tried the first door in the hallway. It was locked, and Jayce experienced a frantic moment of trying to calm himself enough to use the Force as the sounds of marching feet closed in rapidly. The door clicked open, and he made it through and relocked the door behind him. The droids stopped long enough to check that the door was still locked, then moved on. Jayce breathed a small sigh of relief, and went to inspect his surroundings.

Like the rest of the house, the bedroom was expensively but comfortably furnished. The skin of some furry, clawed creature made for a thick rug at the foot of the large, four-poster bed. A sizeable alcove was furnished as a boudoir with heavy oak wardrobes. The furniture was rich and exquisitely carved, but also rugged enough it was obviously far older than anyone alive in the house. Might have even given Master Yoda a run for longevity.

During the day the wide windows would have offered an unparalleled view of the grounds. At the moment, there was nothing to see but shades of black. He stared out and considered.

It seemed more and more likely that the "interest" the Governor had in this place was purely for the comfort and security the estate offered. Jayce hadn't seen any accommodations in town that were nearly as nice as this house. And the Separatist presence on the planet was likely about nothing more than food security. If that was all, then his job was done. He could report his findings, along with the identity of the Separatist leader, and call it a day. Find a way off this rock, back to Coruscant, and...

Once again, he had no idea what he'd do after that. He supposed Master Na-Meh would have a suggestion. There was no way that one easy little scouting mission was going to impress anyone on the council, so there would be more. Another task to prove his worth. And another after that, perhaps. There was a certain amount of comfort to it. Even if he wasn't a Jedi, he was still doing Jedi work.

Footsteps in the hall interrupted his thoughts. Human feet in addition to the heavily clank of droids. Jayce hid around the corner in the large bathroom.

The door opened. Jayce dared a peak through a crack in the bathroom door to see the woman from the dining table walk in. A B2 was in the hall behind her, but it did not enter and instead took up a position on the far side of the door. Up close, Jayce could see that the woman was older than he had first thought. Her face reminded him slightly of Master Jocasta, the Chief Librarian in the temple on Coruscant. She even wore her hair in a similar bun, though this woman's hair was still brown.

She closed the door behind her, shutting out the B2, and walked towards the boudoir alcove with her deep-blue dress sweeping behind her. There was the sound of wardrobe doors opening and closing.

Once again Jayce found himself trapped. He certainly did not want to intrude on a woman undressing. More than that, if the lady of the house was getting ready for bed that would mean at some point she would visit the washroom. And at that point there was nowhere left to hide.

The woman walked back to the center of the room, and to Jayce's relief was still clothed. She sat in a chair in front of the windows and leaned her chin on her hands. The lights lowered, and stared out into the night. She sat there for quite some time, and Jayce watched motionlessly. Then she opened her mouth and spoke.

"If you're a thief, you should know I can have the guard in here in a moment." She turned her head to look right at the bathroom door. Jayce stopped breathing. "But if you're something else, I suggest you be off before they find you and kill you."

The woman was looking right at his hiding spot. Her voice was stern, but ernest. There was nothing else to do but come out and hope he could talk his way out of this. He swallowed hard, eased open the door, and stepped into the room.

The woman looked him up and down imperiously. Jayce was suddenly aware of how ridiculous he must look. Grime and dirt from the road, the tiny cuts from walking for hours through fields, a giant gash through his shirt. For the first time he noticed he had tracked dirt across the carpet as well. Perhaps that had been what had given him away.

"Well you don't look like much, certainly not the assassin the Governor seems paranoid about." She ran one hand through the hair on her temple. The other remained hidden behind the armrest. Jayce got the prickly sensation of a blaster pointed in his direction. "Are you a relative of his come to spy on me in my bedroom? Learn the secrets he can't pry out of my husband?"

Jayce shook his head.

"Then what are you? Speak."

Of all the possibilities going through Jayce's mind, the only one that made any sense was telling the truth. There was no other story that could get him out of this without the woman calling in the guard. And from what he'd seen, he guessed she was no friend of the Separatists.

"I'm with the jedi," he said. "I came here to find out what the Separatists want on Dantooine."

She looked him over once again. "You don't look like a Jedi."

"I'm not a Jedi," he said quickly.

"So you're a spy?"

Jayce grimaced. "More of a scout."

She sighed. There was a long moment of silence that left Jayce wondering if she was about to call the guard. He could go out the window, down into the yard, and run for it. Wasn't a good chance he'd make it very far, though, with every droid in the place looking for him.

"What have you found, then, spy?" she asked. "What do the Separatists want with Dantooine?"

"I, uh..." he stammered.

"Don't know," she finished for him. "Well, that's okay. Neither do I. They came in here, took over my home, took over my estate, and haven't offered any explanation. But they're up to something."

"It's not just the food?" Jayce asked hesitantly.

"Food is vital in a war," she said. "But it's more. You can hear the machinery at times, clanging away. Out by the East ridge. If I were you, I'd look there." She turned back to the window. "Now as I said, you should leave before they find you and kill you. I'd suggest climbing down the balcony, then out through the garden." She smiled. "That's the way Jidu would sneak in when he wanted to visit, back when we were young."

Jayce nodded. "Thank you." He stepped towards the door to the balcony, then stopped. "Are you okay? Is your family in danger here?"

"We're safe for the moment," she said. "When your Republic arrives, who knows? But worry about yourself, young spy. I will worry about my family."

Jayce thanked her again, and slipped back out into the night.