CORUSCANT - 1312 - KENDAR'S BAR

"It appears we're not the only ones looking for the Ithorian." Plo Koon muttered to himself as he entered the run down bar.

There had been an attack, that much was clear. The state of the tables and chairs that had been carelessly thrown over, as well as the sheer amount of broken glass only meant that the Ithorian had not been taken willingly.

"I see the situation was bad enough to call for my help." came a sarcastic voice from behind him.

Plo turned, now facing his fellow Jedi, Quinlan Vos.

"Indeed . I need your help to track down whoever is responsible for this." Plo Koon replied as he gestured to the mess before him, "I believe your talents would suit this investigation well."

Quinlan sighed, then stepped into the bar, "Alright, any ideas what we're dealing with?"

"We're still unsure, it could just be criminals from a local crime syndicate, although there's a chance it may be something far more organised than that."

"Separatists then?"

"Anything is on the table, but for now we can only speculate." Plo said carefully, not wanting to openly accuse the Government. Both himself and Obi-Wan had their suspicions about a possible security breach in the 'higher-ups', but had so far been unable to gather any evidence to prove this other than mere speculation.

Vos knelt down, placing his hand on one of the overturned chairs. Being a master of psychometry, he was able to sense the memories of whoever had come in contact with the object. It was a difficult skill to master, but one that Plo Koon was hoping to exploit to gain a further lead.

"What can you see?"

"It's hard to say-" Vos started after a short while, eyes closed in deep concentration, "Pirates.. Weequay I think- yes , definitely Weequay. They're looking for something, something of high value."

Plo listened intently, carefully considering all of the facts, "Can you see an Ithorian?"

"I'm not sure- wait. Yes, but they've beaten him and taken him hostage."

"Can you see anyone else? Anything that isn't linked to the Weequay band?"

Vos' eyes began to strain, "No- I can't see anything else," he said as his vision began to quickly vanish. "But I sense there's more to this, other than just the pirates. An elusive shadow in the darkness, but what it is I can't say."

Plo let out a slight sigh, "Well, at least we have some more information. Now all we need is to find them before it's too late."

"Florrum." Quinlan said bluntly, "They mentioned Florrum."

He sensed the change in Plo's mood, "You've been there before?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Plo answered, "It's home to a pirate gang that the Republic has long tolerated. But I can't see the Jedi Council allowing them to continue their operation after this."

"What would pirates want with the Ithorian anyway?" Quinlan asked, standing back up.

"The Kyber crystals that were recently recovered are of high value to pirates like themselves. Or, they were paid to silence any witnesses. Either way, we must get there soon, as that Ithorian may be our only lead to who is really behind this scheme."

Any further discussion was interrupted by the distinct sound of Plo's holodisk beeping.

Commander Wolffe's hologram swiftly emerged upon activation, "General, sorry to interrupt."

"Go ahead, Wolffe."

"We're receiving reports of small attacks across Coruscant."

Quinlan exchanged a concerned look with Plo before concentrating on the hologram, "What kind of attacks, Commander?"

"Explosive attacks mostly, General. I- well, I'm not sure on the validity of it, but some reports are claiming that districts are under attack by droids . But communications are all over the place, I'm even having trouble maintaining the current signal. So I'm not sure how accurate these reports are, Sir."

"Surely droids couldn't have breached our defences so easily?" Quinlan asked.

"Perhaps it was terrorists, Sir? Anti-war supporters? Whoever they are, it's caused a lot of stress on the communications around the planet. It's chaos up here."

"Thank you for the update Commander. Whatever it may be, it's endangering thousands of civilians. Prepare a couple of platoons and find the truth to this."

"Very well, General."

"One more thing, can you put me through to General Kenobi?" Plo said as he carefully stroked his antiox mask.

"Sorry Sir, but General Kenobi is currently unavailable. The last I heard on the comms chatter before things went haywire was that he'd taken a small team to secure the Science Complex, but we've yet to hear an update."

Not many things made Plo Koon concerned, but that certainly had. Those Kyber crystals could be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands.

"Thank you, Wolffe. Be sure to send a squad to the Science Complex too, it's critical that the area is secured. See to it personally, Commander."

"At once, General."

The hologram closed off, leaving the two - very concerned - Jedi on their own.

The silence was soon filled with the sound of Coruscant's emergency siren, indicating an attack was indeed underway.

"They're after the crystals." Vos said hastily, "And if we hurry, we might be able to get there in time to support Obi-Wan."


CORUSCANT - MINISTRY OF SCIENCE - CENTRAL SPIRE

Obi-Wan had met little resistance throughout the spire, with only a handful of B1 battle droids trying to stop his advance. He had cut through them with ease, almost feeling bad for the helpless droids.

Unfortunately though, the droids had been able to take out the entire security detail that was assigned to this spire. The carnage was worse in the main control room; the droids had not even spared the technicians or scientists who had been caught in the crossfire.

Walking up to the main control panel, Obi-Wan tried to unlock the elevator to the main science lab, but to no avail. "Blast." he muttered, wishing he now had one of the Clones with him to help with the panel, as this really wasn't something he excelled at.

'Looks like I'll have to do this the old fashioned way.' he thought as he ignited his lightsaber. A trusty ascension cable would no doubt do the trick, he just needed to get through the door first.

He began cutting through the elevator door, only to be interrupted by his commlink. "Kenobi here."

"General! We were able to find and disable the Separatist signal jammer, so our comms should be up and running again."

"Good work Cody. I'm cutting through the door to the main lab now, although I might need some support if things escalate like they usually do."

"Copy that, General. We're on our way to the spire now to extract Hazard, but I'll send some men to reinforce you. And… thank you, Sir, for protecting the men."

"Don't worry about it Cody, just make sure he's taken to a medical facility as soon as possible."

With a force pull, Obi-Wan dislodged the piece of metal he had cut out, allowing him to enter the elevator shaft.


The main lab was even darker than the corridors above, the emergency lights unable to kick in due to what Obi-Wan presumed was a lack of power. The only light source was emerging from his lightsaber, igniting the area around him in a blue hue.

Despite his years of training he was still nervous. The lack of vision meant that all he could do was trust in the force, and hope it would guard him from any unexpected attacks.

Pressing the commlink on his wrist, Obi-Wan tried to signal Cody.

No answer.

He was probably too far underground to get the signal through.

'I don't like this,' he thought to himself, raising his lightsaber into the air as he tried to get a better view of his surroundings.

Suddenly, the lights switched on, temporarily blinding him due to the change in intensity.

"Greetings Kenobi, I've been expecting you."

It took a few moments for Obi-Wan to fully recognise the figure in front of him, despite the accent that was almost a giveaway. "Cad Bane."

Pointing his lightsaber towards the Bounty Hunter, Obi-Wan took a few steps forward, "You won't get away this time Bane, you're in way over your head."

The Bounty Hunter let out almost a sinister cackle, "I'm afraid not, Master Jedi. Take one more step and I'll activate this detonator," he said as he raised the small, cylinder device, "and all the survivors in the control centre will be obliterated."

Obi-Wan sighed, then deactivated his lightsaber, "Very well, you win this round, Bane."

Two B2 Super Battle Droids approached Obi-Wan, disarming him and raising their blasters.

"Unfortunately, the scientists here refused to open the vault to the Kyber crystals. I hope you do not make the same mistake." Bane threatened, the droids taking a step closer to the Jedi.

"I need you to use your Jedi powers to unlock the vault for me." Bane continued as he paced around the room, "Then you will allow me to leave, unhindered."

"Why? What would you want with Kyber crystals? Are you working for Dooku or someone else?"

"I'm afraid that information is classified, but my client is paying a hefty price for these crystals." Bane snarled, starting to lose patience, "Now open this vault, otherwise there will be consequences."

Obi-Wan shook his head, "I won't do it, Bane. It won't be long until Republic forces retake this facility, and you'll be going back to prison where you belong."

Discreetly, he pressed his comlink, leaving the signal open. He could only hope it would get through, and that someone would be listening on the other end.

" How touching ." the Bounty Hunter replied, raising the detonator again, "Your last chance Jedi. Open the vault, or your friends die."

Obi-Wan had never felt such a conflict before. Refuse, and he ensures the Kyber crystals stay safe, possibly saving millions of lives in the process. But, he'd also be condemning countless lives to a horrible death, something he couldn't allow.

"Fine." Kenobi said after a brief moment of silence, "But you release the hostages immediately afterwards."

"That depends on you, Kenobi. Now open the vault." Bane said bitterly, raising his blaster pistol.

Reluctantly, the Jedi Master walked over to the vault door, then outstretched his hand to the panel. Within a few moments, the door was unlocked, with Bane eagerly stepping inside to inspect the crystals.

Then, everything happened in a flash. A series of well aimed blue shots took out the B2's in almost an instant as a small squad of Clones ran towards Bane and Kenobi.

Taking advantage of the situation, Obi-Wan quickly force pulled the detonator out of Bane's hand, then began to reach out for his lightsaber from one of the fallen droids.

"Jedi slime!" Bane shouted as he pressed a button on his wrist control pad, causing several Commando droids to jump down to provide covering fire.

Obi-Wan jumped back towards his men, who had begun to fire from a defensive position behind some crates.

"General, are you alright?" Boil asked, jumping out of cover to fire on the droids.

"Boil, Trapper! Am I happy to see you! Where's Cody?"

"He's rescuing the hostages, Sir. We received your transmission!" Trapper called out, barely missing a red blaster bolt to the head.

Having dragged the crate of experimental Kyber crystals from the vault during the chaos, Bane pulled a thermal detonator from his belt, throwing it towards the Clones.

Obi-Wan tried to force push the thermal detonator back towards Bane, but to no avail. "Look out!"

The explosion knocked him off his feet, as well as blowing Trapper and Boil across the room. The Commando droids were also destroyed, with scrap pieces of their caracases littering the floor.

"My thanks, Kenobi." Bane snarled, picking up the crate and powering up his booster jets.

Unable to do anything, Obi-Wan could only watch as Bane flew up into one of the ventilation shafts in the ceiling.

Trapper was the first one up, immediately running to Obi-Wan's side, "General, are you injured?"

"No," he replied almost a little too irritatedly, "Bane escaped. Again. "

"I'll alert the Commander," Boil stated as he limped towards them, "he might be able to secure the vents in time."

Obi-Wan let out a deep sigh, knowing it was already too late. Bringing the Kyber crystals here was a big mistake.


Plo Koon and Quinlan Vos arrived just in time to see a rogue speeder quickly flying away from a burning Science Complex.

Vos pointed to it straight away, "There! They must have the crystals!"

Without any moment of hesitation, Plo angled the controls of his Jedi airspeeder towards the fleeing target, drawing them into a fast pursuit.

Almost immediately, an arm appeared from the speeder, holding a blaster pistol that was now firing several shots in their direction.

A master at piloting, Plo was able to expertly dodge the blaster bolts with a series of evasive maneuvers as they started to slowly gain on the speeder.

"That hat- it's Cad Bane!" Quinlan stated, remembering the Bounty Hunter from his last engagement with him on Teth. "We can't let him get away!"

More shots came their way, but this time Quinlan deflected them back, a couple of them hitting Bane's speeder.

Suddenly, before Vos could target the engines with the deflected shots, Bane dived into a fast descent, flying down into the streets below at a dangerous speed.

Plo followed as best he could, trying to keep the Bounty Hunter's speeder in sight as it navigated into a busy traffic lane.

"We're going to lose him in this lane!" Plo said as he pushed the speeder's controls to full throttle.

Vos sat back down, disabling his saber, "Just get us as close as you can. I'll try and jump onto his speeder."

Around they went, barely dodging incoming speeders as they travelled through the heavily congested lane. They were going against the traffic at dangerous speed and one wrong move would be fatal.

"He's going to get himself killed in there!"

"And us along with him!" Plo replied, only just skimming an incoming speeder.

Unable to close the distance, the two Jedi could only closely follow Bane as he travelled out of the busy streets of Coruscant.

"He's leaving the city, towards the outskirts." Vos pointed out as he tried to work out how far ahead Bane was. Just too far to be able to jump. "We can't chase him forever. We need to cut him off somehow."

"He's heading towards the Eastern Power Station, we can catch him there."

The two speeders approached the station, with the Jedi slowly closing the distance. Just as Quinlan prepared to make the jump, Bane made a sharp turn left, straight towards some large power couplings.

It was too late, even with a Jedi's heightened reactions. Raising his blaster, Bane shot one of the couplings, unleashing a powerful wave of electricity that engulfed the Jedi speeder.

Quinlan screamed in agony as he fell down, only just gripping onto the side of the speeder with what strength he had left. "Arghhh!"

"The- pow...er- failing." Plo stuttered between intense electric shocks as their speeder began to fall.

Able to stabilise the controls just in time, Plo brought them down to the ground in a relatively harsh crash landing, the damaged speeder smashing straight into a group of industrial crates and only just missing a large electricity pylon. Something that would have almost certainly resulted in their deaths.

Quinlan had lost his grip on the way down, landing hard on the solid ground below.

"Vos-," Plo Koon stuttered as he stepped out of the debris, falling straight to his knees.

"Don't worry about me," Quinlan managed as he limped towards the crash site, offering a hand to help his fellow Jedi back to his feet, which Plo firmly accepted.

"Next time, let's not- ugh, fly towards power couplings." Quinlan tried to joke with a rough cough, gripping his side. He'd no doubt broken some ribs in that fall.

Both the Jedi looked up into the sky, Bane's speeder nowhere in sight.

"We need to report to the Jedi Council." Plo said slowly as he tried to regain his composure, "The Kyber crystals are no longer safe."


KAMINO - TIPOCA CITY - MEDICAL FACILITY

Fives had quickly become sick and tired of the bland Kaminoan walls around him. He missed the action, the adventures, his brothers .

But now here he was, trapped in the medical wing and being probed by some droid, like he was a piece of bantha meat.

"Enough," he said irritatedly, pushing the medical droid away, "How many more tests do you need to conduct anyway?"

The droid flew straight back into his field of view using its repulsorlifts, "I'm afraid you will be unable to leave this room until all of my scans are complete. I must determine whether you are, in fact, contaminated."

Fives sighed, "I want to see my friend."

The droid pushed Fives back down onto the medical bed, "If you are referring to CT-5385, then I'm afraid that will not be possible at this time."

"His name is Tup. We're not numbers."

The droid paused for a moment, trying to match that idea against his programming. "I'm afraid I don't understand, everything has a number- myself included."

Shaking his head, Fives realised he really didn't have the strength to be arguing with some medical droid.

"What's your number then?"

"I am AZI-345211896246498721347."

"AZ- what?"

"AZI-345211-"

"Nevermind," Fives interrupted, unable to hide his smirk as he shook his head, " Droids . How about I just call you AZI-3? Far easier to remember, anyway."

The droid hesitated for a moment, then continued with the scan, "I accept your logic, CT-5555."

" Fives. The name is Fives."

"But Five is a number?"

"No, no, no, Fives not Five."

Once again AZI halted, contemplating this, "Oh, I see. But the difference is minimal."

"Not to me," the trooper muttered, "Not to any Clone."

After clicking more buttons on a control panel, AZI-3 grabbed a stim pack, injecting Fives in the neck.

"Hey!"

"Sorry," AZI replied quickly, "I have finished with my scans."

"Well?"

"My readings are showing that you have not been contaminated by any known virus, and so you are now no longer a threat."

"So I can leave now?" he asked, almost sounding desperate. He wanted to get back to the frontlines as soon as possible.

"I'm afraid not, we must still determine what is affecting your friend, and then we must see if there is a correlation between your results and his own." AZI replied, before swiftly leaving the medbay.

Fives huffed, unable to take this much longer. He'd been gone for too long already; it felt wrong to just sit here whilst his brothers were dying at Ringo Vinda.

The door to the medical bay then opened, revealing Master Shaak Ti. Fives sat up to attention immediately, clambering off the bed and to his feet.

"General!"

"At ease, Fives, I'm just here to ask you some questions."

He visibly relaxed as the General sat beside him on the medical bed, feeling his face heat up slightly at some of the ideas coming into his head, "Uh- of course, whatever I can do to help."

Shaak Ti nodded, regarding him for a moment, "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly, General, I just want to get back to the frontlines. I've already been gone too long as it is."

"You should enjoy this moment of peace whilst it lasts, use it to refocus your mind."

Sighing, Fives took a seat on the bed next to the General, making sure that it was a respectable distance away, "With all due respect, Ma'am, war's in my blood. That's what we Clones are made for. War. Violence . We're soldiers, nothing more."

She tried to look him in the eye, but her gaze faltered, immediately feeling a sense of guilt. Was that all the Clones thought they were? A sickening thought struck her, knowing that Fives' words had truth to them. The Clones had no choice in this. They were slaves, forced to fight a galactic scale war they didn't even understand.

"Fives, you're- all of you are much more than that." she replied slowly, "You are the defence of peace and democracy, the light against the darkness. You give hope to so many lives across the galaxy-"

"What about after the war?" Fives interrupted, almost feeling sheepish afterwards. It was a question many of the Clones had wanted to ask, but never dared to.

Shaak Ti looked slightly surprised, caught off-guard by the sudden question, "I- I'm not sure, Fives."

In truth, she hadn't really put much thought into it. The war had consumed so much of her life now that she barely had time to think about the future.

"Even after the war, there will be a need for peacekeepers and soldiers across the galaxy. It will take many years to rebuild from the destruction of this conflict."

Fives felt a surge of anger, tightening his fist as he stared the Jedi in the eye, "So I'm in this forever? I can never be free? "

"Fives-" Shaak Ti started before trailing off, rethinking her words, "You must understand that it isn't my decision. We have a duty to the galaxy and its people, even if we don't always agree with it."

"Alright, I understand." Fives muttered quietly, despite not understanding at all. Was it too much to ask to have his own freedom once he'd done his part?

"How is Tup?" Fives asked after a long and awkward silence.

"He's stable. We're still trying to identify a cause, as like yourself, he is showing no symptoms of any known virus." Shaak Ti said quietly, still unable to meet Fives' gaze.

Suddenly standing up, she made her way back towards the door, "You'd best get some rest Fives. There will no doubt be a few more tests before you will be permitted to leave."

"General," Fives said as he stood up, "I'm sorry. For asking questions, I mean."

Shaak Ti stopped, glancing back to face him, "No, I'm sorry , Fives."


CORUSCANT - SENATE COMPLEX - GALACTIC SENATE CHAMBER

"Order! We will have order!" came the booming voice of Mas Amedda, Palpatine's aid and Vice Chair.

The loud ruckus from many Senators began to quieten down, despite several repulsorpods continuing to swarm around the Supreme Chancellor.

"This is an outrage!" a Senator from Balmorra shouted, "We can not allow this attack to go unpunished!"

"First the power generators, and now this! Where will they attack next?" Orn Free Taa added, raising his arms, "We must create an order for additional Clones at once!"

A roar of support echoed throughout the Senate Chamber, bringing Senator Amidala quickly before the Chancellor in her own repulsorpod. "Are you listening to yourselves? We can not afford another order for Clone Troopers! The more we spend on this conflict, the more people will suffer throughout the galaxy."

"Are you suggesting that we should allow the Separatists to continue terrorising Republic planets?" Lott Dod of the Trade Federation intervened, creating further outrage among members of the Senate.

"No! That's not-"

Padmé's voice was drained out by the howling of Senators, with shouts of 'Traitor' and 'Separatist' being hurled at her.

"Order!" Mas Amedda roared, quickly silencing the crowd. Palpatine then slowly stood up, gaining some cheers among the crowds as he prepared to address the Senate.

"It grieves me to hold this emergency meeting, with so many lives having been lost during these reckless terrorist attacks throughout Coruscant. It has been made clear that the Separatists are behind these attacks, infiltrating our defences in an effort to demoralise the Republic. Let's make it clear to them; we have never been stronger! "

More roars of approval bellowed throughout the Senate Chamber as Palpatine gave a brief nod to his Vice Chair.

"Under the Reflex Amendment Act, and with the Emergency Powers granted to the Supreme Chancellor, more funding will be granted to the military and defence of Coruscant." Mas Amedda stated, gaining more cries of support, "An order for an additional two million Clones will also be placed, increasing security across all Republic worlds."


"We must do something before this gets out of hand." Padmé announced to the small group of Senators that had gathered in Bail Organa's office.

Their movement had started to grow, with more and more concerned Senators signing the petition to limit the Chancellor's unrestricted powers thus allowing democracy to resume. But it still wasn't enough to make a significant impact.

"It's already gotten out of hand," Bail Organa replied, pouring himself a drink from a decanter, "I'm afraid there isn't much more we can do to stop this order for more Clones."

"We can't afford it! Where does the Chancellor plan on obtaining these funds?" Meena Tills added, "The Republic is already in enough debt."

Bail raised his hands, "Please, everyone, we need to calm down and think this through."

"Even if we can't defeat this order, we can still turn it to our advantage." Mon Mothma said calmly, having remained unusually quiet throughout the meeting.

Padmé raised her eyebrow, "What did you have in mind?"

"Not all Senators will agree with the Chancellor's proposal. We might be able to use this as an opportunity to raise more support for our cause."

Bail nodded in agreement, "And perhaps we can then confront the Chancellor about these changes to the constitution."

"I will speak to some Senators who I believe share our ideologies. Perhaps they will sign to show their support." Senator Tills replied, before taking her leave from the office.

"We need to act carefully." Bail continued taking a seat at his sofa, motioning for Padmé and Mothma to join him, "Support for a Chancellor has never been higher. The last thing we want is to be accused as Separatists."

"But the longer we wait, the more amendments to the constitution he can make." Mothma argued, "He's already passed the Sector Governance Decree."

Padmé's eyes widened, " What? When?"

"Earlier this morning, before the attacks." Bail answered, taking a long drink, "By handing control to several Governors, the Senate has practically become a formality."

"I can't believe this was passed without a vote!" Padmé muttered in disbelief.

"And more amendments will come if we don't act soon. We cannot allow this Republic to fall without a fight." Bail replied, standing up from his seat as he began to pace around the room, "It is now more critical than ever to gain support so that we can confront the Chancellor, before he writes off the Senate completely."

That was a concerning thought that none of them wanted to even consider. Surely the Chancellor wouldn't go that far? Or would he?

"We must take this one step at a time," Mothma added, "Our first priority is to raise support. Then we will see what can be done to limit the Chancellor's executive powers."

"Agreed." Padmé and Bail said in unison, all the group in agreement. Their movement was growing, but they could only hope it would be in time to stop the Chancellor.


CORUSCANT - JEDI TEMPLE - COUNCIL CHAMBERS

The Council chambers were busier than usual, with more members in attendance for this meeting, albeit most of them being holographic. The attacks throughout Coruscant had highlighted numerous issues that needed to be discussed.

Obi-Wan sat uncomfortably in his chair, having only just returned from the Science Complex. He'd been informed on the way in of Bane's escape, and that both Quinlan Vos and Plo Koon were in the medbay due to their injuries.

"What we've experienced today is the cost of underestimating our enemy and their ability to adapt." Mace Windu started, silencing the small conversations that had taken place around the chamber. "And now the Kyber crystals have been lost, we must act swiftly and decisively to make sure they are not used against the Republic."

"Unfortunately, I was unable to stop Bane before he could escape with the crystals and the research conducted on them." Obi-Wan admitted solemnly, "Many worlds could now be in danger with that research in Separatist hands."

"And are we sure that the Separatists are directly involved?" a holographic Shaak Ti asked.

Mace nodded, "The current theory is that Bane was hired by the Separatists to sabotage our defences, demoralising the Republic and stealing the Kyber crystals."

"I knew giving the crystals to the Chancellor was a poor decision." Ki-Adi said as he shook his head, "It's clear there are Separatists sympathisers in the Chancellor's office, otherwise this information would have never gotten out."

"Dwell on the past, we must not. Already revealed, the Kyber crystals were. Found evidence of this, Ahsoka and Master Plo did." Yoda replied, before turning his attention to the entrance of the chamber. There Plo Koon stood, giving a brief nod to the Council before taking his seat.

"I trust you are well recovered, Master Plo?" Obi-Wan asked first, concerned that the Jedi Master was already up and about. From what he'd been told, they'd had a rough time of it chasing down Bane.

"Yes, thank you. There are many important matters to discuss." Plo replied, before looking towards Mace and Yoda, "I have more information on the Weequay band Ahsoka reported."

This piqued Mace's interest, "Very good, what did you discover?"

"We have linked them to Hondo Ohnaka's band of pirates, currently in the Florrum system."

"This isn't the first time Hondo has tried to acquire some Kyber crystals." Obi-Wan added.

"Indeed. They have taken the Ithorian hostage, although I do not believe that they had a part to play in today's attacks."

Mace frowned, "That Ithorian could be our last hope of discovering the true identity of the official who ordered these crystals."

"Agree, I do." Yoda said with a nod, "Send a team to Florrum, we must."

"I would like to volunteer myself for this assignment." Plo said quickly, standing back up.

"If you are sure?" Mace asked hesitantly, knowing he had barely had any time to recover.

"Yes, I'm certain. We can not afford to waste anymore time. I will leave immediately."

Yoda nodded with approval, "Very well, may the force be with you."

With that, Plo left the chambers, leaving the Council in a brief silence.

"There's- well, another issue to discuss." Mace started slowly, gaining the attention of all the Council members, Yoda included.

"During the attacks, we lost communications with the Judiciary Centre. I took a team to respond to it personally and found there had been a prison break."

He then let out a deep sigh, "It would appear that the fallen Jedi Barriss Offee was able to escape during the chaos."

"Have there been any reports on her whereabouts?" Kit fisto asked, concern etched into his tone.

"Unfortunately, no. I believe Bane was also tasked with liberating prisoners of war to cause as much damage as possible."

"Concerning this is. Meditate on it, I shall." Yoda said with a sigh, "Clear it is, that our enemy has outplayed us again."

"There is also the issue of the possible virus encountered on Ringo Vinda." Shaak Ti added, "Although current scans have shown no evidence of any known virus."

"Keep us updated on the situation, once Skywalker returns from his deployment we will be able to discuss the events in more detail. For now, this meeting is adjourned."