A/N- Thank you all for the new followers and reviews. Updates right now will be around every two-to three weeks due to slow moving on keeping up on writing the next chapters and plus having a little one at home keeps me busy. Please let me know what you think as always! -GP
Chapter 52
Location: Senator Rush Clovis' Office, Senator Rotunda
Month 2 Day 27 Year 27
0130
Raven's sleek form enters the room with a hiss. Her green cat-like eyes scan the room for the holo cameras. She waves her fingers and the camera is broken in two. She does the same to the other one. She smirks at her growing abilities in the force.
Her heels click on the floor as she sauntered over to the piles of datapads on Rush's desk. He wouldn't leave files from the past year just laying around after some time. She eyes the drawers of the desk and uses her black gloved hand to pull it open. She eyes the large array of backdated documents. She curses. This man's organization was horrifying! How did he keep anything straight? She pulls out several of the datapads and turns them on, reading one at a time- some are as far back as two years old. But as she kept reading, nothing pops out to her.
This is going to take all night, which I don't have time for.
She turns on another datapad and flips through it. Nothing. She repeats this process until she throws them back inside the desk drawer. She growls out and then her eyes land on a hidden compartment under the place where his chair is located. She smiles, " Gottacha."
She pulls out the compartment and eyes a small comm. link within the confines of the drawer. She grips onto the comm. link and just as she's about to get to her feet, she feels the sudden charge in the force.
Kriff. The security must have been alerted of her presence by pulling that hidden compartment. She curses under her breath and slides the comm. link into her pocket within her vest. The alarm sounds and her eyes fall on several security guards entering the office.
" Intruder, you are hereby arrested for breaking and entering under section 6," calls the deep voice of one of the guards.
The sleek woman in front of them smirks and purrs out, " Under whose authority? Come now gentlemen, there's no need to fight."
Their blasters are set for stun, she knows this is the protocol for security forces amongst the Senate. She feels their confusion at her games and another guard suggests, " Ma'am you are surrounded here and on the ground. You are outnumbered. Surrender to us and we'll be gentle with you."
She sighs, " I guess so since you're asking so nicely." She places her hands up in surrender. She had no intention of surrendering just using this as a diversion. Two of the guards come closer and one grips her shoulders lightly and the other begins to use the magnetic cuffs on her wrists. The other four guards surround her, waiting for the arresting guard to read her her rights.
" On second thought, I don't yield," She murmurs.
She uses the force to bring her sai up from her belt to her hand. She stabs the guard holding her shoulders in the gut. He grunts and she leaves the blade in him. As he bends down from the force of the pain, she uses his back to whirl across, away from the arresting guard. The five guards lift their blasters. She slides on her knees and uses her second blade to stab through another guard's back of his knee. He howls in pain and as he goes down, she grabs his blaster. She uses the blaster to fire upon the other guard near her. He drops his blaster and falls stunned unconscious to the floor. Her body turns and she uses the force to pull out both of her sai's from the two injured men.
Three down- three to go.
She fires at the man who had tried to arrest her. He dodges the attack to the side. She frowns and throws her sai towards his head. The blade does not miss him this time. It lands in between his forehead and the bridge of his nose. He falls to the ground, blood oozing out of the wound. She uses the blaster in her right hand again to stun the other two guards. She grabs her sai as she hears the sound of other security guards on their way.
She presses her comm. link and mutters, " Now would be a great time for pick-up please,"
" On it-Raven." Ashoka's voice comments.
She eyes the windows and senses Ashoka below. She didn't like glass. It is messy and gets everywhere. She dives feet first through the glass and uses the force to dive on the back of the unmarked speeder.
" Drive!" She commands through the modulated voice.
" On it." Her partner in crime , puts it in drive and they leave without notice in sight.
Month 2 Day 27 Year 27
0300
Inquisitor Maul leans back into his chair as he observes the holos from the parking garage. He watches the dark figure clench onto Carth's neck and then there's the snap- via the force. Maul's yellow eyes watch the recording again from the beginning. He has watched this several times after finally receiving this holo recording from the parking garage. He had had to wait for the regular security to approve his request and it had taken too long in his book. Too long- a week and this masked figure hadn't done anything new. The silence has been deafening and surprising. This figure has never appeared on Coruscant before and with the information that Maul had known Carth had threatened to turn in about the Rebellion- there must be a connection between the two. It was highly possible a bounty hunter had been hired to gun him down by the Rebellion.
The monster uses that invisible string to float the bag to it and opens it up. There lying within the contents of the bag are the datapad from the holo. He snaps the bag shut and backs away from Carth murmuring, " I will find you and kill you with my bare hands if you try to reveal what you know about the rebellion."
Carth shudders and begins to sit up. His body quivers as he pushes himself into a standing position. His knees buckle slightly, but he seems to find confidence in himself as he says to the monster in black, " I know enough about many members within the Imperial Academy attached to the Rebellion. It will only be a matter of time before they learn who is recruiting the members within their ranks. Adm-"
And then the snap again. Carth apparently knew there were connections within the Imperial Academy attached to the rebellion that is clearly stated. But who? Without the datapad in his grasp Maul doesn't have any evidence to arrest any members within their ranks.
He senses the alternation within the force. His golden eyes swirl in the direction of the older man entering his office in the middle of the night. He pauses the holo and growls out, " Count Dooku, what do I owe the pleasure of your presence at this time of night?"
Dooku eyes the holo and says simply, " I am under instructions from the Emperor to personally oversee this investigation. Of course you will have access as well, but you will report to me."
Maul grits his white teeth and snaps out, " The Emperor usually leaves these matters to me. You are a fragile old relic."
Dooku ignores his youthful snapping. He has dealt with Inquisitor Maul's fickle personality for many years now. He is still young and brash. He hadn't been around at the beginning of the creation of the Empire. He had been found by the Emperor some 23 years ago and trained by himself and Dooku.
Dooku replays the footage and hears Maul complain, " I have watched this footage almost fifty times and there's no evidence as to the connections within the Imperial Academy."
Dooku continues to ignore the Darthomian behind him and replays the last bit of the footage-
Right before the force user had snapped Carth's neck.
" I know enough about many members within the Imperial Academy attached to the Rebellion. It will only be a matter of time before they learn who is recruiting the members within their ranks. Adm-"
Snap-
" I know enough about many members within the Imperial Academy attached to the Rebellion. It will only be a matter of time before they learn who is recruiting the members within their ranks. Adm-"
Snap
Dooku uses the force to manipulate the holo back and forth and he hears the last part of the word Carth says before he dies. " Adm". He stiffens and connects the word- Admiral.
How had Qui-gon been so careless to connect himself to this man? He knows he cannot save his former mentee now. He has been personally ordered to lead this investigation. The Emperor had sensed the monster's power. The up and rising force user had attained his interest, but more importantly the Emperor views the internal threat of utmost importance. Finally there is evidence of recruitment within the ranks of the Imperial Academy.
Why are you so trusting Qui-gon?
Dooku knows he cannot risk warning Qui-gon this time. He cannot risk his head. He agrees the Empire will soon end and there will be an uprising of sorts, but until then, he has to keep order- the order he helped establish. He does not agree with Qui-gon's, nor the rebellion's methodologies. He foresees a future where he is not part of the new government. He is too old to be fighting anymore.
Inquisitor Maul eyes the holo in disgust and suggests, " If you replay that damn holo one more time I'll have no choice but to force choke you myself. There's nothing there."
Dooku puts up his finger and advises, " Patience Maul. Listen once more."
" I know enough about many members within the Imperial Academy attached to the Rebellion. It will only be a matter of time before they learn who is recruiting the members within their ranks. Adm-"
Snap
Maul narrows his eyes and stares blankly into the void. He suggests in fury, " I hear nothing."
Dooku sighs and points out the obvious. " Carth's last word is a clue for us. He was trying to say the word Admiral."
Maul's golden eyes dart between Dooku and the holo once more. His uncertainty becomes clear. There are higher council members involved within the Rebellion.
" This isn't enough evidence to arrest one man." Maul suggests.
Dooku smiles with certainty, " So then arrest every Admiral on the council. Interrogate them. Under the Emperor's orders you can detain any Admiral within the Imperial Academy."
Maul's frustrated fury tightens within the dark side. His aura darkens with anticipation. He enjoys the hunt. He enjoys the questioning and torture, even if someone is innconcent. He suggests, " Of course my lord. I will do as the Emperor wishes."
The stillness and joy Maul feels within the dark side of the force is cut short by another Inquisitor entering the room. He sighs with annoyance. Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker's presence is known to Dooku as well and he takes the form of Qui-gon's son, appearing in the doorway.
The young man's hair is a dark blond in color. His facial features remind Dooku a bit of his father's. But those piercing blue eyes are Qui-gon's. The young man saluates to each of them and waits to be called upon.
" What do you have to report?" Inquisitor Maul commands, obviously slightly annoyed by his joy being interrupted by one of his recruits.
Anakin nods and hands the elder Inquisitor in command a datapad and replays the holo of the woman in black within the chambers of Senator Clovis. Anakin watches their reactions and reports, " At around 0130, guards within the Senate offices were alerted to someone breaking and entering into Senator Rush Clovis' office. She killed several of the guards and escaped."
Dooku watches the sleek sai's fly through the air and into several of the bodies of the guards. She is highly skilled. Her face is covered by a small black mask and her hair is a shade of black.
Inquisitor Maul states, " What did she take?"
Anakin surmises, " From the footage we can tell she grabbed either a datapad or a comm. link."
Inquisitor Maul sighs and mutters, " I don't have time for this. I am currently working on an investigation for the Emperor with the Count."
Anakin nods and asks, " Then who do you want me to hand this off to?"
Dooku assumes, " You have been here for a while now. Why don't you take the lead on the case? This can be part of your Inquisitor training."
Anakin blinks hearing those words slip through the Count's mouth. Him? He would be honored to take the lead on a case, but this investigation was a bit personal for him.
Inquisitor Maul's eyes dark to Dooku's brown ones and points out. " He has past involvement with the Senator. I don't think it is wise for him to be the lead Inquisitor on the case."
Dooku ignores Maul's warning. Qui-gon's son will need to be detained with other investigations so allegations don't come against him when his father is arrested. He needs to prove he is loyal to the Empire and not connected with the rebellion- just as Obi-wan Kenobi will have to be covered as well.
" Skywalker, will your personal past with Senator Clovis affect your decision making on this case, if you were to take the lead?" Dooku questions.
Anakin feels slight pride upon being honored with this request. It may have everything to do with a man he hates and probably deserves to be robbed, but he desires to be useful. He yearns to prove himself a reliable Inquisitor in the future so that he can keep his connections and contacts for the rebellion's uses.
He nods and suggests, " No sir. It will not affect my judgement. My personal connections have been severed from Senator Clovis as of last week, so I have nothing against the Senator."
Dooku feels assurance within his words and orders, " Then you are now the lead Inquisitor on this case. You can personally report any new shards of evidence to Inquisitor Maul. If you find any connections to the rebellion, I wish you to report them to me directly."
Anakin nods and salutes the count and turns on his heels. Dooku knows that what is coming for the young man will be painful and he will need work to support him in the upcoming days. He will need a cover to not be investigated as well and if he is out of the way, then Dooku has done his job. He promised to keep anyone who was family to Qui-gon and would be protected to his best ability. It is just a matter of hours or days before he cannot protect the man he thought of like a son.
To Be Continued.