Star Wars 2.0
Episode 6: Vengeance of the Sith
Chapter 5
As Yoda arrived within the sphere of Kashyyk, he was surprised to get a hailing signal on a Republic channel. He opened it and was guided into the landing pad by clones. Typically, landing on Kashyyk was a much more informal ordeal; there wasn't much traffic that flew in and out of the planet. But the clones had set up an entire air and space control operation.
After landing, Yoda located the commander of the small base and asked why they were there. He explained that an entire legion had landed and was setting up bases across the planet. There were not many things that could surprise Master Yoda, but this was one of them. "The whole planet, you say."
"Yes sir. To be ready for whatever direction the clankers come from."
"An invasion, you expect," Yoda queried, half statement, half question.
"Well, yes sir," the officer said, as though surprised Yoda wasn't already aware of the situation. "Weren't you assigned to support us?"
"No intelligence, there is, of an imminent invasion," Yoda said.
"Sir, I've been informed there is. We have our orders to secure the planet."
Yoda glanced over to something he had seen while coming in for a landing. Wookies were being used for manual labor; moving equipment, setting up defensive works, all on the ground where clones fight, not in the trees where the natives ambush. Among each group of workers was a clone commander sternly giving orders. The wookies were visibly unhappy with the ordeal, and some even glanced at Yoda as though wondering what he was going to do about it, but none protested; despite their much larger size and girth. They were loyal to the Republic, but for how long if this was their treatment?
"An escort I require, to visit the Grand Guru of the wookies," Yoda said.
"All our men are occupied at the moment," the officer responded. "I might be able to release somebody in an…"
"No," Yoda interrupted. "One of them." He pointed one of his triangular green fingers at a small group of wookies.
"They're work detail. They're not avail…"
"Free the wookies, you will," Yoda said, waving his hand in front of the officer. "And allow those three to escort me to the Grand Guru."
"I will free the wookies, and allow those three to escort you."
Yoda was already walking away from the officer as he spoke, heading toward a transport. "And you will allow us to take your transport," Yoda said. As the officer began to repeat his order, Yoda added, "And record its departure, you will not."
The wookies were released and told to follow Yoda. From inside the yawning entrance of the transport, the small green man was waving for them to follow.
The woods of Kashyyk were covered in massive trees whose formidable trunks stretched far into the sky and reached toward one another with muscular branches out of whom fluffy bushels of leaves grew. Entire villages nestled among these arms where the wookies made their homes and watched the shuttle pass with fear and suspicion.
Yoda could sense their feelings, and knew that something was wrong. They came to the highest branches among the tallest trees whereupon sat the Palace of the Grand Guru. Firm, wooden platforms wound their way around the trunk and over branches, connecting the neighboring trees. The buildings were crafted of the finest architecture on the planet, and the Grand Hall itself was carved out of the tallest tree.
The shuttle drifted to a landing on a platform that was anchored to four trees. Yoda emerged to an armed welcoming committee. One of them roared a question to him. Yoda responded in the common tongue, "Much we have to speak of, and little time." The wookie roared again, and Yoda responded, "No knowledge have I of the reasons for the actions of the clones. Come, I had, for intelligence on other worlds, but now I find much to be learned of the happenings right here." The head wookie roared orders to the others, and they all escorted Yoda to the central palace.
The voices of the wookies could be heard echoing up and down the trees, from distant places beyond the shrouded leaves and mist that hung in the gaps. Those escorting Yoda called ahead, their voices carrying up with the aid of the trunks they bounced against. Voices returned, often several times over as they echoed through the woods.
Yoda tried to pick up the pace, as he was impatient to speak with the head of the wookies soon, but his short legs and his reliance on the cane slowed him, and he was trying the patience of his escort. At last he looked to someone who kept eyeing him and said, "Faster we would go if I had a ride."
The party soon arrived at the Hall of the Grand Guru seemingly without Yoda. When the Guru roared curiously, Yoda's head peeked out from behind the head of one of the wookies who had arrived. He then hopped down off his back. "Your Greatness, we have much to discuss," Yoda said.
The Grand Guru, thick and tall like his trees and with braided hairs of deep brown and gray, was sitting on his throne made of twisted roots. He roared at the small, green Jedi for more than a minute while he gestured and pointed. Yoda listened patiently. By the time the Grand Guru was finished, he was on his feet, pacing.
Yoda waited for the mighty voice to stop echoing through the trees before he began to speak. "Much has been kept from the eyes of the Jedi, your Greatness. Come here, I did, without escort, to learn from you of the events in the galaxy beyond our sight, for you have eyes and ears where others do not."
The Grand Guru glared at Yoda with suspicion and curiosity; but also, Yoda detected, with a sense of hope. His claws scratched at the chair's arms as he considered what to say. At last he began to speak. He told the little Jedi that they had heard of large movements of Republic forces spreading throughout the galaxy. Often they landed on planets preemptive to a battle, much like the clones were doing now on Kashyyk. It was as though they were magnets to the droid armies rather than defenders against the Separatists.
He said that there were other rumors that were more disturbing; something being done by a branch of the Republic far from view of Coruscant and the Senate. A large space station about the size of a moon.
Holographic building blocks slid into place above the game table as Baroo concentrated carefully on their placement and balance. The previous wall and floor pieces were less than sturdy due to her and Padme's choices in the moment rather than the long-term. That and they were trying to slip one another up while not wanting to knock the structure down while it was their own turns.
This was a game for which Baroo had an advantage. As a slave, she had occasionally had to work construction, and she had worked closely with the engineers. She had not told Padme until she had made a few seemingly impossible placements.
The journey to Naboo, where Padme would be dropped off, was a long one; and the journey Baroo and Owen were taking after that was going to be equally long, so these games were a good distraction.
"Is the cargo you're delivering after you drop me off construction equipment?" Padme asked just as Baroo was about to place the floor piece. She needed to even out the game in some way.
Baroo held her piece steady while she answered in a measured tone, "Owen handles the deals. I never know much about what's in the containers. I just get them stacked." She let go of the floor piece and held her breath. The floor piece teetered slightly, but held in place. She exhaled with relief, then said, "And besides, this time we were told explicitly not to look, or even talk about it."
"That sounds suspicious," Padme said.
"I would be concerned. I don't want Owen going on any more smuggling runs. But the job comes from a legitimate contact in the Republic."
"Anyone I know?"
"It's your turn."
Padme kept watching Baroo, but her friend kept her mouth shut; so the sovereign took the controls and began moving her piece. Baroo took the same strategy Padme had, asking her about her life to distract her. "What does a royal family do for fun?" she asked.
"When I was young my parents took us to the moons of Voialle. It was our regular vacation spot."
"I've heard of that. The ice planet that refracts every color of light individually like a prism. The moons must give you the perfect view."
"They do," Padme said as she slipped her support beam between two floors. "There are resorts placed perfectly to get the best view of the light just before an eclipse." Just then the holographic building wobbled. Padme's part of the structure was not sound, but it just kept from collapsing.
The two women shared a laugh, and Baroo began her placement. "I wish I could go somewhere like that."
"You have a space ship. You can go anywhere," Padme said.
"Not anywhere," Baroo said, squinting her eyes as she carefully balanced a wall. The structure shivered again, but barely held up. It seemed that the next placement would bring it down. Baroo sat back with satisfaction, yet wistful of what might be in life. "We can fly to the moons, but we would only be able to land if we were delivering something. And even then we would be restricted to the dockyards; hardly the perfect spot to see the bright colors of the eclipse."
Padme picked up her next piece; what would likely be her final one, and said, "Let's make a bet. If I make our structure fall with this piece, I'll take you to the best resort on Voialle's richest moon and make sure you and Owen are pampered to the fullest."
"And if it doesn't fall?" Baroo asked.
"You tell me where you're going and what you're carrying."
"I told you…" Baroo started to say, but Padme interrupted.
"You peeked. You weren't supposed to, but you checked out what's in those containers."
Baroo answered with only an expression of guilt. She was an expert at closing containers so they looked as though they had never been opened. She sighed and said okay. The holographic structure was about to fall, and the piece that had been randomly generated for Padme to use was too heavy. She had no chance.
Padme took in a deep breath and concentrated, studying the top, searching for somewhere to fit this bulky piece, let alone not tear the whole thing down. But it was all a show. Padme knew exactly where she was going to place it. She had kept a gap further down the whole time; partially covering it with an outer wall to keep it from Baroo's sight so she wouldn't place something there herself. This was a strategy she typically used in politics, creating a "safety space" she could later turn to if she needed it.
Padme looked at the gap as if suddenly noticing it for the first time. As she slid the piece into place, Baroo knew she had been had, and was a little disappointed in her friend. Playing a practical joke was one thing. Getting her hopes up on the sort of place the rich took for granted but a former slave like Baroo could only dream of, that was low.
She switched off the game and glared at her rival. Padme's face dropped a little, saddened, but determined to learn what they were a part of delivering. At length, Baroo admitted that it was construction equipment. "What exactly it does, I don't know. But I could tell that it's intended for use in space and not on the ground. We're taking it to the Melas System."
Owen strolled into the room just as Baroo revealed their destination. His expression was as shocked as Padme's was confused. "What's at the Melas System?" Padme asked.
"Nothing is at the Melas System," Owen insisted.
"Exactly, nothing's there. So why transport construction equipment to it?" Padme said.
"We're arriving at your destination soon," Owen said. "You should get your things ready."
"I'm going with you," Padme said.
Owen scoffed. Baroo said, "You'll be recognized the minute we arrive."
"There's something you don't know about me," Padme said. "I've disguised myself well enough to walk unnoticed among my people. I've personally spied on organizations plotting my demise. I've even slipped past my own security detail unnoticed. And I always travel with my gear and plenty of changes of clothing."
Owen and Baroo stared in amazement as Padme opened her trunk to reveal the cornucopia of different styles in a plethora of cultures and social status. The makeup kit at the bottom would make any theater house blush. A skilled hand with all of these could disappear wherever they went.
Chancellor Palpatine emerged from the Senate building onto the platform where his hoverlimo was waiting. Once he was comfortably inside, the driver pulled away from the platform and joined the stream of vehicles crisscrossing the never-ending city. After making a couple turns they dropped down several levels and joined a skyway of vehicles heading back in the direction of the Senate building.
Jedi Master Tosho Shiro followed from a distance. Neither his driving nor his spying skills were up to the task, but he was strong with the Force, especially when it came to peering into distant places. So each time that Palpatine got far enough ahead, Tosho Shiro pulled over to where he would not be hit, and he closed his eyes, looking into the Force. The movements were a surprise to Master Shiro until the hoverlimo doubled back toward the Senate building. He had suspected something of that sort.
The chancellor, now clad in a standard cloak of dark grey, was dropped off at street level near the entrance to a lift, which he entered and took down into the depths of Coruscant. As much as the city built upward through its mighty skyscrapers and towers, it also built down deep into the ground where cavernous byways led to subterranean communities.
Tosho Shiro parked his speedercar on the surface and took another moment to search through the Force for his prey. It would get harder the further down they went as the Dark side of the Force tended to prevail the further down they went. Luckily for him, Palpatine was leaving the lift only a couple dozen levels down.
Tosho Shiro scanned the area and noticed a recycling center nearby. He grabbed a piece of scrap metal from them, and hurried to the edge of the platform where the canyon dropped a hundred stories or more. Tosho Shiro dropped the scrap metal to his feet and held it in place with the Force. He then stepped on the metal, and moved it with his powers. Surfing through the sky, Tosho Shiro dropped himself as quickly as he could without slipping off. He had avoided taking his speedercar because it would attract attention; but noticing how many people were watching his flight, he was wondering if he should have simply brought it.
This concern was dropped when he got to the correct level and was able to step right off onto the roof, out of sight of anyone. He reached out with the Force again and found Palpatine, or a ghostly image of him now, weaving through dark streets, walking with purpose, on his way somewhere.
Tosho Shiro rarely ever went into these subterranean mazes, and he had never been in this region before; so he was guessing how to proceed most efficiently as he hopped over one roof after another. More than once he had to stop, reorient himself, and even double back to get back on the chancellor's tail.
By the time Tosho Shiro got to the roof of the building next to Palpatine's whereabouts, the chancellor was already meeting with his contacts. Tosho Shiro focused in on their talk. He could hardly see them beyond the fact that they were meeting in an empty alley. The voices were like those of a person far down a well; the few intelligible words broken up by echoes. So the Jedi master did his best with what he was seeing.
First, he knew both faces. They were senators; and they represented worlds that were looking to expand their territories, but were unable to because of the Republic and their lack of military might. Reading their lips as best he could and their body language, Tosho Shiro concluded that Palpatine was offering them support after they help him with something.
He was able to translate a few full words thanks to one of the contacts enunciating in an almost cartoonish way. They were: "Second the motion," and "Empire." The other senator wasn't certain of the plan they were hatching, and nearly backed out. So the first senator argued with him, pleading with the man to stay. He was unmoved, heading toward the lift.
Palpatine waved his hand and spoke more aggressively. As he did, Master Shiro clinched with fear and pain. Darkness eroded over the image of Palpatine, and dug into Tosho Shiro's mind. He tumbled back, holding his head and trying to shake the darkness beyond dark out of his eyes, where it had burned itself onto his retinas.
Then the image cleared up enough for Tosho Shiro to see again. The senators were getting away as quickly as they could, and Chancellor Palpatine was looking directly at him, his face directly in his; like someone who has stuck their head inside the lens of a security camera. And it wasn't entirely Palpatine's face. There was something… ghastly different about it; like the mask of a spirit hovered before it. It shook Tosho Shiro to his core.
But it wasn't as bad as what came next. Palpatine looked away from Tosho Shiro's image and up off to one side where he began to move. For a moment, Tosho Shiro felt relieved. But then he realized… the direction Palpatine was going was straight toward the building on which Tosho Shiro was currently sitting.
To be continued…
