A/N: Hi everyone! Here is the first chapter of my brand new fanfiction! This is my first Star Wars fanfic, and I'll be honest I don't know a lot about the technical side of the universe, like parsecs and distances in hyperspace and all that fun stuff. I'm looking up what I can to try and make this as easy for me to understand as possible, but please bear with me if something is terribly wrong. But if there is something really wrong, like….so wrong that you need to immediately shoot me a comment or PM telling me what needs to be fixed and how to fix it, please do so. I will do my best to accommodate and make the corrections.

Also, this is AU, so don't be upset when we go off-plot. But I will do my best to stay as close to the episode plots as I can, but to be fair, the farther along we go, the more we veer away from the Clone Wars episode plots and the grand plot itself. If that isn't your cup of tea, I suggest watching the actual episodes. Sorry not sorry, but that's how we're rolling here. I am including the introductions to the episodes just so you know where my story is taking place in the grand scheme of it all.

Finally, I will include translations at the bottom, like with my Lord of the Rings stories for elvish, orcish, dwarvish, and every other language I include. Here, in this chapter of this story, there is some Gungan because no Star Wars story, I feel, is complete without at least some Jar Jar in it. Sorry, but I really do like him. So the translations for what he is saying are down at the bottom, just in case you want the understandable version. I think that's all the extra notes you need to know for now, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I will add more notes as I see fit in the coming chapters if they are needed.

See you next time! Don't forget to review; it helps me know what needs work and where you think this story should go next! Thanks!

Clone troopers unite! As war rages across the galaxy, the Republic's clone army strives for victory against the evil forces of the Separatists. Bravery, valor, unity – the lifeblood of victory on the battlefield and in space.

It all begins on the planet Kamino, where Jedi General Shaak Ti oversees the training of clones with the help of contracted bounty hunters. Bred to be perfect soldiers, these cadets must first be subjected to intense physical and mental training before heading off to war….

The watery world of Kamino was before her, a blockade of Republic ships guarding it against Separatist attack. It would have been impossible under normal circumstances to sneak past the blockade and not get blown to bits, but she had learned from the best to avoid such things as meaningless as a blockade.

A blockade was only as strong as its weakest link, and that was never more true than right now. And having a ship that could be cloaked definitely helped as well; a modification she had made to her fighter, personally, to guarantee that no one would see her coming unless she wanted them to. Or unless the cloaking device failed, which was a possibility. The technology was new; a small ship usually couldn't cloak, and the device had held up so far. What she would do if it suddenly failed, she didn't want to think about.

But before she could dwell on that or decide to even waste her time thinking about it, she needed to get to the planet's surface and Tipoca City. Which meant sneaking past a fully armed blockade that would blast her out of the sky if they detected her. Never mind she was using an older model starfighter; if the cruisers detected her presence, they would shoot first and ask questions later.

She held her breath as the underbelly of a cruiser passed over her head, waiting for the inevitable sound of laser fire directed at her meaning that she had been detected. She kept going, speeding under the one ship, above the second behind it, eyes and senses looking and searching for the first sign that she had been found out and was about to be blasted to bits. But it didn't come, the sound of cannons didn't happen, and she was clear of the ships in the next instance and racing for the planet's surface as quickly as she could before something went wrong and she was suddenly detected. The cloaking device may have held up, but she was under no illusions that it would continue working for much longer. It was too faulty and needed a lot more work before she would consider using it long-term.

Never mind jumping into hyperspace with it activated.

Not twenty minutes later, she had finally arrived at her destination, nerves still on edge and expecting to be stopped by someone as she landed her starfighter. But that didn't happen; the clones were busy training, and the Jedi in charge of their training, Shaak Ti, was supervising the training of the Domino Squad, at least that is what she was told when she asked for this meeting. The secret hanger she was using could only be activated by a Kaminoan, and only a few were aware she was coming and would be here. They weren't in the hanger, though, and she would have to navigate the hallways of Tipoca City on her own while avoiding detection. If she was found by the clones or the Jedi, there would be no one to help her, and she would have to take drastic action to avoid detection.

Hopefully, this meeting would be quick, and she would be gone before anyone was the wiser.

She quickly jumped out of her starfighter, signaling her droid, R1, to stay behind and be ready to cloak the ship if someone entered the hanger. The droid beeped in agreement and tuned his scanners to keep a lookout for any life form heading that way. He beeped again, signaling all was well, and she left, heading for the meeting place deep in the city. She kept to the hallways she knew were empty, ducking into storage rooms and closets whenever she sensed someone too close to her and waiting for them to leave or pass. She also turned her senses, momentarily, to find Shaak Ti and see if she would need to go out of her way to avoid her. After a few seconds, she realized she didn't have to bother; Shaak was busy supervising the training of the squad of clones, as she had been told. Even from there, she could feel the disconnect between the squad members; they didn't know how to work as a team and weren't trying all that hard to learn.

Hopefully, they will figure it out before their final test. However, she sensed if he ever got his act together, Hevy would make a capable leader, and there were likely more things in store for Echo and Fives.

But that was far in the future as far as she was concerned, and right now, her focus had to be on the meeting that she was running late for. She couldn't keep those in the meeting waiting any longer, and she had another engagement she had to get to after this as soon as Senator Organa returned from his diplomatic mission on Toydaria. And then there was even more in store for her before this was all over, and she needed to be ready.

Finally, after almost half an hour, she arrived at the meeting place. A Kaminoan was waiting outside the room, and as soon as he saw her, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "We were hoping you were coming. He said you were, but then you were late, and we didn't know what had happened to you. Please, come in," gesturing towards the door.

She nodded and bowed her head, walking towards the door and following him inside before he went back out and closed the door, standing guard and making sure no one uninvited walked in. Once there, she quickly surveyed the room. It was bare, as Kaminoan architecture often was, but there were a few tables and a chair or two scattered about. Also in the room were several other Kaminoans that she recognized, no more than twenty and all from various cities scattered about the planet. She had better recognize them, she berated herself a moment later; they had all been carefully chosen for this task.

All looked up when she approached, then one of them, Nala Se, walked over and said, "I'm glad you have arrived. Your journey was pleasant, I hope?" when the woman nodded, Nala Se continued, "We won't keep you waiting, here is the prototype you asked for," leading her over to one of the tables while she said, "It has proven effective in a limited range, but anything farther than three meters and it won't pick up or disable anything. We aren't able to do much else with it in terms of long-range, but perhaps you will," gesturing at the device sitting on the table as the others in the meeting gathered around.

The woman nodded as she examined the device the Kaminoans had created, secretly, over the last few weeks. It was small, almost box-like, handheld and not much bigger than the palm of her hand, and black to blend in. A small antenna came out the top, and there were a few switches on the top to control range and output. The power cell and transmitter were carefully tucked inside, and it could be carried on her utility belt with no one being the wiser. The true genius lay deep inside the device, where technology that didn't exist yet lay hidden, ready to be tested and refined.

She looked up at Nala Se and nodded; this would do nicely for what they had in mind. Nala Se nodded slowly as well, "I think it will work well for our purposes." At the same time, another Kaminoan added, "And it is easy enough for us to use it without anyone knowing any different. Here on Kamino, the clones won't think it suspicious. As long as we are careful around the Jedi and bounty hunters employed here, we should be fine to carry out your plan. We already know that it works quite effectively and have made several more, refining them as we work on them. This one is the most basic prototype, and we think you have the means to make it even better than the ones we have already modified. When you have made more that are as good as you can make them, we will circulate those among ourselves."

The woman looked at him sharply, and he said, "We have had need to test it. The clones we have used it on have survived, and there is no evidence suggesting that it has harmed them. They are none the wiser, and so neither will the Jedi be. They won't know what this is about until the end, if we are careful," looking around at all those gathered there.

The Kaminoans all nodded and agreed, then Nala Se said, "We have made enough for all of us to each have one, and for you as well," nodding at the woman, "Perhaps you will be able to make it a bit more successful and mass-produce them somewhere. We are aware of some of the resources at your disposal. In the meantime, I have decided to volunteer my services to the Republic," the woman glanced at her, and Nala Se continued, "I am going to the medical base in the Outer Rim to help the clones there. I can more easily carry out my mission from there, and will be able to care for the clones more easily. It is what I want," she said firmly when the woman looked ready to argue.

The woman closed her mouth, realizing that Nala Se was serious and that she couldn't stop her even if she wanted to. In the end, she could only nod, but her eyes screamed out a warning that Nala Se understood quickly enough.

Be careful.

Nala Se bowed her head on her graceful neck, saying, "We all know our tasks, and hopefully, it will be enough. If you require anything we can do, do not hesitate to ask," those Kaminoans around her agreeing as well.

The woman nodded before bowing her head in thanks to them. They bowed in return, having received the message from her friend that it was important none heard her speak for now and that signs and signaling were all she could do. From there, they all left, leaving the room individually or in groups of two or three, until finally, only the woman and Nala Se were left. Once alone, Nala Se said, "I must meet with Lama Su and tell him my plans to go to the Outer Rim. Do you need any assistance getting back to your ship?"

The woman shook her head, her path was already laid out for her, and she knew where she was going and how she would get there. Nala Se only sighed slowly before saying, "I wish you good fortune in your travels. Please pass along my regards to the rest, and let them know we will do our best to help."

The woman nodded, reaching up and gently resting a hand on Nala Se's shoulder before she left as well, taking the prototype with her. Only once she was gone and out of sight did Nala Se leave as well, hoping that she genuinely was doing what was best for herself and her people. If this failed, then she had just signed the death warrant for her people, and she knew it well.

After she left the meeting, the woman had quickly moved back through the hallways and passageways to the hanger and her ship, hoping she wouldn't be seen by anyone. For the most part, she wasn't. But fate had other things planned, and she suddenly found herself face-to-face with Shaak Ti, her supervision of Domino Squad clearly done for now. The Jedi Master wasn't expecting her either, her presence having been masked in the Force the entire time, but there was no time to think about it.

No one could know she was here.

Before the Jedi Master could possibly think of raising the alarm, calling for help, or defending herself, the woman had leaped forward, grabbing the Togruta and spinning her around, an arm going around Shaak's neck. At the same time, she found the pressure point on her arm that would send her into unconsciousness, a weakness that only Togrutas knew. Ten seconds later, the Jedi Master was limp, unconscious in her arms, and the woman was quick to reach into the Force and check to make sure she hadn't accidentally harmed the Jedi. But she hadn't, and she carefully laid her down on the ground. A few seconds of attention on the Jedi's mind and the memory of the attack was gone and she was close to waking, a new memory in place to account for why she was on the ground.

The woman was a few paces away when Shaak opened her eyes, and around the corner and out of sight when the Jedi stood up and started walking away. Hopefully, she had no notion of what had just happened in her mind as she walked away and continued on to what she had been doing.

At least, that is what the woman hoped.

The woman raced through the hallways, taking the most deserted paths possible until she finally arrived at the private hanger. This hanger was only used by the Prime Minister of Kamino, Lama Su. It, therefore, was almost always empty because of the fact he very rarely traveled.

R1 had cloaked her ship when his sensors picked up her coming, but as soon as he saw her, he dropped the cloaking device so she could find the ship and get in, which she immediately did. He fired the engines, running them as silently as possible so they wouldn't be detected, and they quickly left. The woman thanked her stars that the weather was so terrible. The rain was pounding, the waves were massive, and the skies were overcast. No one in the city or in the blockade above would be able to detect her while she got the cloaking device activated.

After a few tries, it coughed to life, clearly indicating that it needed attention very soon. The signal scrambler activated as well, making it impossible for anyone to figure out what she was just by looking at the scanners, usually. It also needed some attention, soon, because it was sending out warning signals that there was something wrong. From there, they quickly climbed into the upper atmosphere, then into space, while behind them, Shaak Ti tried to understand what had just happened to her.

One moment she was walking towards the place where she supervised the training of the clones; the next, she was getting up from the ground, thinking she had just stumbled and fallen, hitting her head and blacking out for a few seconds. While that would make sense to many, it didn't make sense to her, which was why she was now standing on the balcony over the training area in front of a monitor in deep thought, trying to remember when Fives and Jesse came to her. Turning her attention to what they wanted, she listened as Echo asked, "General, may we have a word?"

Shaak, without turning around, asked, "You are here to discuss your squad, aren't you?"

Fives, surprised, couldn't help but start asking, "How did you –?" only for Echo to put a hand on his shoulder and say, "Ah, Jedi, mate."

The hint of a smile was in Shaak's voice as she said, "One doesn't need to be a Jedi to feel the stress on your mind," turning around as she said this.

Echo, putting his hand down and behind his back, said, "General, we would like to request a transfer to another squad," Fives asking hopefully, "Uh, Bravo Squad, perhaps?"

Shaak only said, gesturing to herself and then slightly at the clones, "I am a Jedi, where the individual and the group are one and the same. Much like you clones," holding her hands together as she said this and smiling slightly.

Echo, thinking she understood what he and Fives were trying to do, said, "Which is why Fives and I are looking out for each other."

Shaak only shook her head, "As individuals, but not as a group. You are where you need to be," looking between them as she said this, "Solve your problems as a whole, not as individuals. I have decided to allow you and the rest of your squad to take the test again tomorrow," turning back to the monitor, effectively dismissing the two young clones as they looked in uncertainty at each other, clearly not knowing if she was right and they could succeed in passing the test.

In the end, they left, realizing there was nothing more she would share with them, leaving Shaak to return to the task she had set for herself: trying to remember what had happened in that hallway. But the memory stayed just out of reach, no matter how hard she to wanted to grasp it, and in the end, she had no choice but to leave it be for now. Right now, she needed to be ready for whatever happened with Domino Squad tomorrow and see if they really could learn to work together as a team, or would they all fail in the attempt.

Out in the reaches of space, the woman and her starfighter quickly slipped past the blockade once more, nothing more than a speck of dust on the scanners of the cruisers. One technician in the bridge of one cruiser did a double-take when he saw what his scanner was registering, but when he reset it, he decided it had been nothing more than a bug in his system that he had just kicked out when he reset the scanner.

The woman sensed this and breathed a sigh of relief, carefully navigating around the cruisers and disappearing deep into the system, where she quickly deactivated the cloaking device before setting a course and activating her hyperdrive, setting a course for Coruscant and another meeting that couldn't be missed. Five days in hyperspace were a long time, especially crammed into this small starfighter with no one but a droid for company, but she needed to get to the city-planet as soon as possible. If she was right in her calculations, she would get there before Senator Organa returned from his mission to Toydaria, giving her a chance to hide her ship and get to the meeting place. Not that he knew he was going yet, the Jedi council hadn't contacted him yet, and Jar Jar hadn't even left with the relief ship.

But Organa would return after she arrived, and perhaps he could help her find a better mode of transportation than her starfighter. While it did its job well, it would be nice to stretch her legs on long journeys and walk about. Ah well….until that happened, she would just have to make do.

Perhaps her Jedi friend would be able to help her find a solution to her problem.

Back on Kamino, Shaak felt something shift in the Force, but couldn't figure out what it was and had no choice but to turn her attention to the clones in her supervision and under her training. She needed to focus on them and their training; otherwise, the Grand Army of the Republic would fall apart.

And that was something she would not allow if she had any say.

A world under siege! The Separatists have launched a massive offensive against the planet Ryloth. A blockade of deadly battleships has cut off any support for the dwindling Republic defenses.

Though they have fought valiantly with the help of Twi'lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla, hope is fading for Jedi Master Di and his men as the droid army closes in….

Senator Bail Organa breathed a slight sigh of relief as he set foot back on Coruscant. His mission to Toydaria was done, and it was good to be home, even though he had been saddened to learn about the loss of General Di and so many of his men. But there was still good news to be had from their mission: Toydaria possibly joining the Republic, and that should be celebrated. Jar Jar, next to him, seemed to feel the same, since he said, "Me'm glad to besa home. Dat misseon was berry hard. Me needen to gos getsa some rest," someone caught his attention though, and he said excitedly, "Oh…. dalee Mistress Padmé! Me'm glad to see her. Me wonderen why shesa hair?" as Senator Amidala approached, knowing she didn't always meet them at the landing platform.

She smiled when she saw them, "Hello Jar Jar, how was your mission? I imagine it was quite exciting."

"Oh yesa, it was, my lady. Me gos backen some day. Da Toydarians really liked mesa. And Senator Organa says me was berry helpful getten da supplies, but me no really understand how," the Gungan added, looking somewhat confused.

Bail laughed, "Perhaps I will tell you some other time how much help you truly were, Representative Binks," Jar Jar smiled at that. Bail turned to Padmé then, "How goes things in the Senate?" he asked as they all started walking towards the speeder that would take them to the Senate building in the distance.

Padmé shrugged, "As well as can be expected, I think. The Toydarians decision to aid the Republic definitely makes it clear they are perhaps willing to join the Republic as opposed to remaining neutral, but it will be interesting to see how events play out. In the meantime, the war continues with more refugees needing help and more pressure from the Trade Federation and the Banking Clans to keep it going. I, along with our friends and allies in the Senate, are having a difficult time keeping the Senate from spending more credits than we have," as they boarded the speeder. The driver left the landing platform in the direction of the Senate.

Bail nodded, "Well….I'll be more than willing to help, and I'm sure there are others in the Senate who feel the way we do. I'm sure we can rally support when we need it," noticing how the driver was starting to not quite head towards the Senate he turned to Padmé, who said, "I thought we would drop Jar Jar off at his home so that we can continue our business for today. There are still a few more meetings we need to attend," a warning in her eyes that Bail saw easily and interpreted quickly.

There was a meaning tonight, and they would have to be on time.

Jar Jar nodded, "Me would liken dat berry mui. Me'm tired from misseon and could usen a rest. Thanken yousa berry mui, my lady," as the speeder paused at the small landing pad of the building he shared with Padmé.

"You're very welcome, Jar Jar," Padmé said with a smile, "And thank you for being so much help to Senator Organa. I really do appreciate it."

"As do I," Bail said with a smile, "I will see you in the Senate tomorrow, Representative Binks," bowing his head, the Gungan doing the same before heading inside his home to get some well-deserved rest.

As he did so, the pilot of the speeder pulled away and again headed for the Senate, with Bail saying, "He truly was a great deal of help. I don't think I would have completed my mission if it weren't for him. Perhaps we should let him know about our project?"

Padmé thought a moment before saying, "We can bring it up at the meeting, but I don't think it will have many votes in favor of it. It will be hard to convince people that it's a good idea," nodding at the speeder pilot.

Bail quickly took the hint and silenced himself, knowing that now was not the time or place to speak so freely of everything going on with them and the project they were talking about. The wrong person hearing about it could cause their plans to go wrong.

Perhaps later, when they were alone.

Later that night, as midnight rolled around, Padmé and Bail headed deep into the underworld of Coruscant. Now dressed plainly, with no indication of who they were or the fact they were high-ranking senators, they navigated the underworld quickly and stealthily, carefully avoiding police droids and security personnel alike. Being seen wasn't part of the plan and could have devastating consequences if they were stopped and questioned. Neither had a reason to be down this deep in the city's bowels and shouldn't be there in the first place.

Just like everyone else attending this meeting.

Finally, they arrived at a rather seedy motel crammed between an even seedier market selling all manner of things of varying legality and a dingy cafe. Knowing this to be the meeting place, almost, they quickly exchanged a glance before walking in between the cafe and the motel, down a rather narrow alley that they had to sidestep down because of how narrow it was, to a stairwell that led down even deeper into the city. There was no sign that the stairs had been used recently, and so they could only exchange another glance before Bail entered first, Padmé coming up behind him and watching for anyone following them.

No one was, this part of Coruscant was less traveled than most, and no one had seen them enter; they had ensured that. But still, there was no one guarding the stairwell entrance and no one along the hallway they were now walking down, and so it never hurt to be careful. The hallway was littered with garbage and old parts of ships and speeders, and Bail rolled his eyes as he held his breath. This hallway, they had learned when the meeting place had been sent out, led to rooms where various activities were held to buy and sell possibly stolen parts. But it was the perfect place for their meetings since the motel owner didn't care who met there as long as the price was right and paid in full.

Finally, after several minutes of walking and holding their breaths as best they could, they arrived at a door guarded by a friend who had been expecting them and watching for them. He smiled, his trademark relaxed smile that said everything was right in the galaxy, before saying quietly, "Senators, I hope the journey wasn't too unpleasant?" a laugh in his voice they heard easily enough, putting them both at ease and causing them to smile as well.

"If one ignores the odor of rotting garbage and used fuel, as well as other things I have no desire to learn what they are," Bail said as they all turned towards the door, quite a bit of sarcasm in his voice which made their friend smile even more, "then yes, Master Fisto, it was a delightful journey. I trust getting away from the Temple was just as difficult as getting away from the Senate was for us?"

Kit, for indeed it was Kit Fisto of the Jedi Order, now bereft of his traditional Jedi robes in favor of something that would help him blend in more easily in this part of the city, turned back to them and said, "I have had to excuse myself from more complicated situations than the Temple. Someone is covering for me, just as I will cover for them next meeting. However, I doubt anyone is truly looking for me this time of night," he smiled then, "But for now, let's not think about that, we have more difficult things to consider, and we all have new tasks that must be completed before week's end," the two Senators exchanged a glance before Kit said softly, "She's waiting for us, as are several others. We shouldn't let this meeting run too late; otherwise, we will be missed. There is only so long any of us can disappear for now that there is a war happening."

Padmé and Bail both nodded as the Jedi opened the door, Padmé absently noting that his lightsaber was gone to make it seem like he was nothing more than a regular civilian moving around the more dangerous parts of the city, and followed him inside where there were several others, as well as the woman that had started all this years ago and was now determined to finish it. Next to her, Bail drew in a breath when he saw her, only now seeming to realize that all this was real and there was no turning back, and then Kit was closing the door behind them as the meeting started.

It didn't end until for several hours.

He could feel it.

At least he thought he could. Every time he thought he was getting close to what he sensed, it played away from him, hiding away from him in places he had no hope of getting into or disappearing altogether. And there was no way he would ask anyone for help; he would figure this out for himself.

In the meantime, he would be patient and see if what he sensed became more than what it was. For now, he needed to pay attention to what was happening around him and pay attention as Master Yoda left his office. The Jedi Master was getting ready to begin a diplomatic mission to the neutral moon of Rugosa to meet with King Katuunko about joining the Republic.

He would need to be ready, no matter the outcome.

And perhaps it was time to add more surveillance to one that he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was involved in all this.

The meeting had finally ended, and all those gathered there had left in small groups or individually to avoid detection. Kit was the last to leave, along with Padmé and Bail, while the woman stayed behind to get some rest. She was staying at the motel for a few nights before she left the planet, but where she was going, no one knew.

And if some were honest with themselves, they didn't want to know what she was up to.

As they walked, Padmé said, "The tasks she has set for us certainly seem difficult. I hope we can accomplish them without anyone in the Senate or the Temple or anywhere else noticing. And I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that no one agreed to let Jar Jar in on this."

Bail nodded, "The tasks she has set aren't as difficult as what she has planned in the future or what she has planned for when she comes back here in a few weeks. We will need to be ready to help her, although I'm unsure how. But I think her request for a different ship will be a harder task to accomplish. I will need to ask our allies if they have a ship she can borrow. As for Jar Jar, I think we all know that this kind of secret isn't something he could easily hide or keep to himself, and she is worried about his safety. She likes him, I think; she doesn't want him getting hurt because of her or any of us."

Kit nodded, "I'm afraid I must agree with Senator Organa. Jar Jar is helpful and friendly, but I don't think the kind of help he can give will be of much use to us. Perhaps later, but not now. And you are right, Senator; she is fond of him and doesn't want him to get hurt if she can help it. As for her plans, I wouldn't worry too much about it until there is something to be worried about. She's taking this long to put the next part of her plan into action because she doesn't know how to accomplish it herself. She wants to sort out her plan before asking us to help her carry it out and get the necessary information she might need to make the mission possible. When she is ready, we will be ready," suddenly pushing them into an alley as a police probe droid came down the street they had been on, followed closely by two underworld police.

Once the droid and police were gone, he poked his head out into the street before saying, "It's okay, we can keep going." The two senators came back out, but this time Kit said, "I think we will need to take a more direct route back to the upper levels. Let's hitch a ride," nodding at a nearby speeder that had clearly been waiting for them.

It was empty, but Kit jumped into the driver's seat and quickly punched in the unlock code before firing up the engines as Padmé and Bail got into the passenger seats. Once they were underway Bail, sitting next to Kit, turned to him and asked, "Am I going to get a straight answer, Master Jedi? Will you ever tell me about all this and what that woman is to you? You've been helping her for a long time, it would be nice to know more about all this," this a continuing topic from the meeting that was still being discussed, even though it had become clear that no one there had thought answering those questions right then and there was a good idea.

Whatever the answers to those questions, it was clear no one would be giving them any time soon.

"Will it change anything?" Kit asked in return, to which Bail had to think for a moment before saying, "I doubt it. I'm already too deep to back out now, even if I wanted to, which I don't. I just wish you would give me a straight answer, so I know what to expect from all this in the end. And so I know what to expect from her," Kit and Padmé knowing he meant the woman they had just left behind in the depths of Coruscant, "She is a mystery, one only you seem to know all the answers to, and I would like some of those answers if at all possible."

Kit was silent before saying softly, "I wish it were that simple, Senator. I'm afraid I can't give you the answers you seek; otherwise, it wouldn't just be her I'm putting in danger. It would be you as well. But I can promise this," as he brought the speeder to a halt at the landing platform outside Bail's apartment, "By the end of it all, you will know everything, that I promise. I can only ask that you be patient a while longer, please?"

Bail stepped out of the speeder and turned to look at the Jedi. This late at night, the Jedi's skin had taken on a rather wan complexion, his eyes no longer different colors of purple and red but black to adjust for the night, and his head-tentacles shifted and moved almost on their own accord. His mouth was set in a rather hard line, and his eye ridges were furrowed, trying to hide that which others couldn't be allowed to see.

If he can hide only some of what he knows so easily, as well as what's happening to him to the point that I don't even know, what chance do I have of making him reveal anything he doesn't wish to speak about? Bail wondered to himself before saying out loud, "I can wait, Master Jedi, just as you have waited all this time. Perhaps I will learn a lesson in patience from all this," the Jedi smiling slightly before Bail continued, "That doesn't mean I'm content with any of this, but I will wait as best as I can for the answers you hide. It may not be much, but it's all I can offer right now."

"That is all I ask," the Jedi said quietly before saying more loudly, "Good night, senator. I will see you in a few weeks, perhaps sooner."

Bail bowed his head, Kit doing the same before he once more took up the controls of the speeder and sped away to deliver Senator Amidala back to her apartment, Padmé waving from the back seat at him before sitting forward once more.

All Bail could do then was head inside his apartments, hoping that this would all end well, stopping for a moment to look back the way they had come. He knew that hidden deep in the depths of the city, another young woman was also getting ready to get some rest before embarking on another adventure somewhere in the galaxy.

Hopefully, they would be ready for whatever she had planned when she came back.

A galaxy divided by war! Peaceful worlds must choose sides or face the threat of invasion. Republic and Separatist armies vie for the allegiance of neutral planets.

Desperate to build a Republic supply base on the system of Toydaria, Jedi Master Yoda travels to secret negotiations on a remote neutral moon….

Master Yoda, King Katuunko, the clones, and the King's guards had finally left the moon, leaving her alone to continue the work she had wanted to do for some time. It had been almost a week since the meeting in the depths of Coruscant. She had been late getting to Rugosa, getting there just after the Jedi's ship had been ambushed by the Separatists, and Yoda and his guards had been forced to the moon's surface in escape pods. She had come in from a different direction, landing her starfighter on high ground not too far away from the meeting place before disappearing into the coral forest to follow the Jedi and his men, just to see what she thought of the Jedi and if her assumptions about him were valid.

So far, they were.

The Jedi Grand Master was a capable leader and wise, but not as powerful as she had thought in the ways of the Force. Kit had said he was the most powerful of the Jedi in terms of his understanding of the Force, but she could sense that the Force didn't fully agree with that sentiment. Even now, watching him from nearby as he fought and battled the droids, she could sense that he didn't understand the full power of the Force or what he could be capable of. It wasn't her place to tell him, though, and she was usually content with just watching from the sidelines as he cut the droids to pieces.

There was something oddly satisfying about slicing and dicing droids; she had learned that a long time ago.

She followed them the entirety of the day, watching as they headed inside one of many caves that dotted a canyon, one of the clones voicing his thought that it was a bad idea, "Are you sure we should go in there, general? There's no way out."

Yoda replied, "Now rest, we must," turning and walking towards the cave, the clones following him inside as she hid in the nearby coral forest, watching as they disappeared inside before she followed to listen outside the cave. She settled above the cave entrance, better to be able to hear what was happening and less likely to be seen or noticed, hiding her presence in the Force to make it seem like she just wasn't there, not that there was an absence of something Yoda would have noticed. Craning her head and listening closely, she was able to pick up their conversation, impressed when she actually heard the Jedi's understanding of the Force and didn't have to sense it, imaging what was happening inside the cave as she listened to the sounds being made, being able to recognize the individual clones, not from the Force, but from the slightly different inflections she heard in their voices. Someone lit a lantern and set it on the ground before Jek said, "We're low on ammo, sir. Only two grenades, and one rocket for the launcher," she able to hear the sound of him tossing one of the grenades up in the air and catching it one-handed.

"Against a battalion? Forget it, we've lost," Rys scoffed and said, clearly not believing they could win the challenge that had been set for them.

Across from the clone, she could hear Yoda say, "So certain of defeat, are you, mmm?" igniting his lightsaber and cutting something metallic in half. If she had to guess, she would say it was one of the rifles.

"With respect General, maybe you should go on. Let us slow 'em down," Thire suggested, more than willing to sacrifice himself to give Yoda the chance to escape, but Yoda clearly had no intention of taking it as he said, "All around us, is that with which we need to prevail yes," handing the rifle to him, Thire testing it out as the Jedi added, "Come, sit. Your helmets, remove them. Your faces I wish to see," the clones looking at each other before doing as he asked, removing their helmets before settling on the ground.

"There's not much to look at here, sir. We all share the same face," Thire said as he and the others sat down, nodding at his brothers as he said this.

"Deceive you, eyes can. In the Force, very different each one of you are," Yoda said, standing up and jumping down from the ledge he had been on to walk over to the clones, saying, "Rys, always focused on the enemy, are you," tapping his chest armor with his cane before walking behind him, "For inspiration, look to yourself, and those beside you," resting a three-fingered hand on his shoulder before continuing on, "Jek, concerned about weapons you are. Weapons do not win battles," closing the backpack in front of him before tapping his own head, "Your mind, powerful it is. Out-think the droids, you can," heading for Thire next, "Thire, rush not into fights. Long is the war, only by surviving it, will you prevail. Yes," before turning around and heading back to where he had been sitting, finishing by saying, "Clones you may be, but the Force resides in all life forms. Use it you can, to quiet your mind."

She listened above and outside the cave and raised an eyebrow as she heard these observations. Yoda was indeed wise in certain ways of the Force, knowing how to tap into it to understand the personalities of those he commanded, but he wasn't aware of how to expand that knowledge to more easily help himself. He could, if he knew, do so much more without violating the Jedi Code, but she knew he wouldn't. Not because it was a reach or against the Code, but because he would be afraid of what would happen if he did.

And here, she thought the Jedi spent their entire lives training against fear.

Suddenly another sound came to her ears, and she looked up just as the clones and Jedi inside the cave did, hearing what she had heard. She was gone before they had come out of the cave, hiding up a nearby coral as down in the canyon tanks rumbled through, looking for the Jedi and clones. Again she craned her ears, using the Force to pick up the conversation between the clones and Jedi as they watched what the Separatists had sent next for them to deal with:

"Tanks. Is that the best they can throw at us?" Rys asked as they watched them go by, clearly optimistic about their chances after the talk Yoda just had with them. Jek was a bit more realistic, clearly knowing there was a slight problem he wasn't sure how to solve, "Yeah, but I've only got one shot left."

Yoda smiled as he came up between where they were lying on their stomachs to watch the column of tanks, "Greet them, I will," he said.

"General, you don't plan to take that whole column by yourself?" Thire asked behind him as he limped over, clearly not seeing how the Jedi thought he could win, the clones on either side of Yoda standing as well.

Yoda smiled and chuckled before saying, "Have you three I do. Outnumbered are they. Know the time to help me, you will," leaping down into the canyon below.

She watched in surprise as he leaped down into the canyon before sitting down in front of the tanks, not expecting him to be so brazen. She watched as the droids surrounded him on all sides, and then moments later, when they tried to shoot him, he was leaping into the air and started destroying the tanks. She actually laughed to herself as the droids complained, picking up one of them exclaiming, "But….I….just….got promoted!" before he was also sliced to pieces by Yoda, his parts flung into the air seconds later by the Jedi, narrowly missing her as they landed. She moved closer to the action then, still staying out of sight of the clones and Jedi, not that it mattered.

Yoda was focused on the tanks and battle droids; the clones focused on the droidekas rolling towards the Jedi. Seconds later, a rocket was launched and hit a rock overhang, sending tons of rock crashing down to the canyon floor and crushing the droids, and she could hear the clones congratulating themselves. She nodded to herself; the Jedi had proven himself to her to be a worthy adversary and one she would be interested in seeing develop more in the future.

For now, it was time to disappear back into the coral forest, following the Jedi and clones as they headed for the rendezvous point where the King of Toydaria and Ventress were waiting. She got there just as Ventress was getting ready to kill Katuunko at Dooku's instruction, but before Ventress could try, Yoda stopped her and tried to convince her to surrender. That didn't happen, Ventress detonating a bomb that caused rock to fall and giving her a chance to escape. Yoda had no choice but to stop the rock from crushing them all; even though it was almost too much for him, she could see and sense that.

In the end, she had to give him the smallest amount of help to keep them all safe, adding a bit of her strength to his without him noticing. Finally, Yoda was able to cast the rock to the side before saying, "In the end, cowards are those who follow the dark side," as he turned to the holo-transmission of Dooku.

"It's a pity I wasn't there in person, my old master," Dooku said as Yoda turned to face him fully, master and apprentice meeting each other again, even if it wasn't in person.

"A pity, indeed, my fallen apprentice," Yoda said, causing Dooku to scowl slightly and end the transmission. Yoda then turned to Katuunko, saying, "Perhaps now, begin negotiations we can," as the Toydarian guards Ventress had Force-pushed away got up and resumed flying.

"That is not necessary, my friend," Katuunko said, drawing the sword at his belt before saying, "You have my faith. Toydaria would be honored to host a Republic base," bringing the blade in front of him and holding it up, "My people, are at your service," sheathing the sword and flying over to give it to Yoda, who accepted it.

"Your Majesty, fail you, we will not," Yoda said as he accepted the sword from Katuunko. The next instant, gunships arrived to transport them all off the moon and to the cruiser waiting above them. Only once they were gone, and the cruiser had disappeared, did she come out, looking over the rock strewn about from Ventress' bomb before she started looking around for what she knew should be there if her spy had done as she asked.

Sure enough, hidden under what was left of the Toydarian's ship was the information she had requested and had been delivered by her spy. It was a bit battered, but the protective case it had been hidden in had done its job well. She quickly perused it, saw the keywords she was looking for that said her spy had indeed found what she needed, as well as information about a Republic captain that immediately caught her interest. She then turned to the moon itself, looking out over the expanse of coral and rock and fragile beauty that had somehow survived the Hutts' anger.

They had been furious when they had learned of this paradise, the Toydarians not telling their Hutt masters about this moon with its warm seas and beautiful reefs, and so had released a plague on the moon that had dried up the oceans and caused many species found nowhere else in the galaxy to go extinct. She had been saddened and angered to hear this, thinking it cruel of the Hutts to be so jealous of their servants, but knew that was the case when the powerful preyed on the weak. Katuunko may maintain his independence where he could, but it hadn't been enough to spare Rugosa.

But perhaps she could do something about it. She doubted the Hutts were paying attention to this moon now, and the Toydarians rarely came here after the loss of its oceans. Perhaps her idea would work, and nothing terrible would happen.

Nodding firmly to herself and deciding she would, she quickly ran to where she had hidden her starfighter and left the information inside the cockpit, her droid signaling he was ready whenever she was before walking to the edge of the ridge where only a few hours before the Jedi and Toydarians had reached an agreement and Toydaria had joined the Republic and looked out on the moon. After a few minutes, she gathered herself and the Force, closing her eyes and reaching out. The droids and tanks, the escape pods, and what remained of the Toydarian's ship that had been destroyed and left behind were taken and drawn to her, she compressing them into the tightest ball she could before moments later she turned it all into sand that was released on the wind.

She opened her eyes then and smiled to herself; the mark of battle was gone from this moon, and now the work could truly begin.

She leaped down to the ground where the ocean had flowed before, the tidal marks where the sea ended and land began still there, and kneeled before cupping her hands close to her face, a few grains of sand from the ocean floor there. She opened herself to the Force for the briefest of moments, gathering its power to her and containing it inside of herself for as long as she could, and just when she thought she would explode with that power, she opened her eyes and blew into her hands.

Water poured between her parted fingers, and with it came the life that had been taken when the oceans had dried. Fish and seagrasses, mammals and reptiles, amphibians and birds, all flowed from her hands, life returning to the world. She stayed there, not moving and eyes closed, for almost an hour, not stopping her breath and not needing to take a breath. Finally, she opened her eyes as the water finally stopped flowing and looked around her. She was now kneeling in water up to her shoulders, not that she minded, as around her the ocean moon now roiled with life. The coral was now covered with water, and she could already sense it coming to life. The life that the Hutts had taken was back, the moon now alive with the sounds of seabirds and the infant neebray that they now had to share the air with.

She smiled to herself, listening through the Force to the songs of the sea she could hear beneath her now; this moon had returned to its former glory and beauty, and she was relieved that she could have helped it do so. She stood then and started climbing up to where she had left her ship, knowing that leaving it on high ground but out of sight of everyone was the only way she would be getting off the moon after she returned its oceans to it.

Her droid beeped and trilled at her, ready to go home, and she smiled to herself as she nodded and retrieved the towel that she had left in the cockpit before she had left to explore the moon and track the Jedi and clones. She guessed she would need it later, and was glad she had been right; she was soaked but very happy about it.

She dried herself as best she could quickly, thanking her lucky stars she had decided to wear clothes that were quick to dry and that she had left her utility belt behind before climbing into the cockpit herself. Moments later, the engines fired to life, and they took off, heading for the atmosphere and space beyond to continue their work. Once in space, she looked behind for a brief moment, seeing the moon now blue with the ocean again, and smiled. Her work here was done, and she was glad of it, she realized as her droid plotted her course again.

Now that she had the information she needed from her spy, the next part of her plan could be put into play, and one of the most dangerous parts could now be carried out.

Hopefully, they wouldn't get caught in the attempt; otherwise, the consequences would be lethal.

Gungan translations:

I'm glad to be home. That mission was very hard. I need to go get some rest. Oh...there is Mistress Padmé. I'm glad to see her. I wonder why she's here?

Oh yes, it was, my lady. I want to go back some day. The Toydarians really liked me. And Senator Organa says I was very helpful getting the supplies, but I don't really understand how.

I would like that very much. I'm tired from my mission and could use a rest. Thank you very much, my lady.