Hello everyone! This is it. We have made our first major detour away from the major canon. This is where things get considerably more interesting. As always, I love to hear what you guys think.
So, without much else to say, I give you chapter 19...
(Coruscant: 4 hours later)
"Four hours ago, General Grievous was killed in his command and control center," Cody reported clinically.
The Commander was forced to pause his report as hushed whispers circulated the crowd. At the back of the Chancellor's office, Agent Garner observed behind a stone face. Seated in a circle on red, plush couches and similar chairs, the various delegation members and Jedi traded notes and hushed exclamations of surprise.
For the first time since seeing the diminutive Grand Master, Garner watched Yoda visibly relax. His ears drooped slightly as he leaned on his walking stick. Next to him, Senator Amidala seemed to breath a similar look of relief as she whispered something to him. Across from him, various ambassadors from Earth gleefully shook hands and patted each other on the back in conservative expressions of excitement. However, what caught his eye was the Supreme Chancellor. The relieved smile he wore failed to reach his eyes.
"Excellent… It appears that things are starting to look up," Palpatine declared.
Agent Garner narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong with the man's answer. However, he couldn't tell what. His smile was genuine, and enough uncertainty was laced into his words to keep it from being too enthusiastic. His body visibly relaxed upon hearing the news… but those eyes. Those damn eyes. For a split second, those eyes went from warm and kind to some of the iciest Garner had ever had the displeasure of seeing. Then, as though as switch had been thrown, his eyes returned to their default state of warm and inviting. With nothing solid to go off of, Agent Garner mentally logged his suspicions and continued to listen.
"Grievous is dead. I verified it personally. However, there were complications," Cody picked back up hesitantly.
"What kind of complications?" Ambassador Coleman demanded.
"At the site of Grevious's death, we also recovered General Kenobi," the atmosphere in the room suddenly chilled, "He is alive… but barely. I believe he is the one that killed General Grievous."
"How? We were informed that he died in an explosion," Chancellor Palpatine asked.
"Yes sir. I received that information as well. I am currently trying to figure out what happened," Cody answered crisply.
"I suggest you do so quickly, Commander," Palpatine acknowledged firmly.
There were various nods as the rest of the audience agreed.
"Yes sir."
"What's his condition?" Senator Amidala followed up.
"Critical, ma'am. It does appear that he sustained extensive injuries in an explosion shortly before we reached him. There's some burns but the worst of it was from shrapnel. Even with that, it's not good. On Coruscant, he would be fine. However, out here…" he paused as an explosion rocked the floor under him, "… Out here in this mess… The odds are slim."
Padme nodded as she processed the information. The worry on her face was plain to see.
"Alright where are you with taking the city?" she followed up a couple seconds later.
"The city sits at roughly seventy percent taken. Much less of that is actually secured. The droids are slowly withdrawing. However, moves late in the battle by the, now dead, General Grievous seriously depleted us of manpower and equipment. As a result, the battle is drawing out longer than anticipated. To actually secure the city could take a week or more," Cody explained.
Things are slowly changing, Agent Garner mentally observed.
Like the rest in the room, he hoped Grevious's death would convince the Senate that they were competent, and that their men would not be wasted on his planet.
"That is the best news that we have heard in a while. Will you be able to pursue operations beyond the city?" quizzed the Russian ambassador.
"No sir. To do so would be to sign our death warrant. Any meaningful advance past the city would hyperextend our lines. When the counterattack came, and it would, we would be wiped out at the expense of Volgograd and any gains made after," Cody answered in the same matter-of-fact tone he had started the report with.
He continued to watch and listen as various questions and answers crisscrossed the room. Senator Amidala seemed to trade off leadership roles with Master Windu. Agent Garner noticed with curiosity that Master Yoda rarely chimed into the conversation. Despite, in many ways, being in charge of the war effort, he seemed content to only add in a sentence or two here and there. Much to the agent's annoyance, it was also always in that backwards speech that messed with his head. Every time he heard it, he imagined his first-grade teacher trying to correct each sentence.
By the time the meeting finally ended an hour and a half later, Agent Garner had enough observations to start rather extensive files on each person in the room. Senator Amidala was something of a rising star of in the Senate. While the Republic war hawks hated her with a passion, she seemed to be the unofficial figurehead of neutral systems movement. Between that and her position as go between for the Jedi and Senate, all those Senators could do is watch and bitch as she took a heavy role in setting policy. Agent Garner allowed a thin smile at the thought. He had never cared for Senators. In his career, he had watched too many Agents die because some bigwig had to prove how important he was at a cocktail party.
Of course, her position lead to different questions. Agent Garner's smirk faded away as he held the door open for her. Certain things weren't adding up and he was starting to question just how honest, the young brunette was.
How did you go from pacifist to trying to lead an army? the Agent thought.
The second one to catch his attention was the Supreme Chancellor. Something was very wrong about the man. He knew what to say and how to say it. The man's facial expressions and movements were perfectly timed and perfectly predictable. It was as if he knew exactly what was going to be said before it was said. The feeling was hard to describe but quite unnerving. As the meeting came to a close, Agent Garner made a mental note to dig deeper into the man's past.
The tremor in the Force was impossible to miss. About halfway through the meeting, Captain Harris- the UN guard in the back of the room- had suddenly become quite suspicious. While, there was a level of distrust that Master Windu expected to feel, he did not expect to suddenly get overwhelmed by the amount. While the amount of suspicion came and went over time, there was something obviously wrong. The urge to stare at the Captain was almost impossible to stifle as the meeting came to an end.
Next to him, it was clear that Yoda had felt the same thing in the force. The ride back to the Jedi Temple was done in eerie silence. Neither person could seem to find words to describe the meeting. The fact that Obi Wan was alive had shocked of them. Though, Yoda seemed the lesser affected of the two. On top of this, the death of Grievous completely altered the trajectory of the war.
The first sign of Yoda's reaction came when they landed.
"Gather the council, you should. Report immediately we must. Much there is to discuss," Yoda instructed as he stepped off the Republic gunship.
"Yes of course, but what of the-"
Windu was cut off by the sting of Yoda's walking stick against his leg.
Not here, read the look on Yoda's face.
Master Windu only needed to look out at the mechanics and various droids running around the hanger to understand. This was a conversation to for council ears only. He nodded in agreement as he spit off to summon the other nine members. Thirty minutes later, every member except Obi Wan was in the locked and sealed council chamber. Those that were not able to be present in person- roughly half- were present in their seats through the power of holograms.
"Seen much change, the last twenty-four hours have," Yoda began, "Arrived the delegation has, and a potential spy they have brought with them. Dead General Grievous is. Alive, Master Kenobi is. Seriously injured he was."
The report was quick, sharp, and to the point. Gasps and wide-eyed looks circulated the room. Yet, in the end it was silence that dominated the circular room. No one spoke as each person considered the implications of what they had just been told. A full minute later, Master Plo Koon spoke broke the silence.
"I will would gladly attest to both Obi Wan's judgement and his honesty. What happened?" he questioned, "Even by the standards of his former Padawan. Master Kenobi's actions were reckless."
"He and Grievous have a history. It is possible that he let the mission on Earth become too personal," suggested Master Mundi.
"Hmm... Wait until he can speak for himself, we should. In the meantime, more pressing matters we have," Yoda cut in.
"I agree. Where does the death of General Grievous leave us?" asked Master Luminara.
Mace Windu answered by recapping the conversation they had in the Chancellor's office. In short, it left Dooku in command of both the campaign for Earth and the entire CIS military. With Grievous dead, the threat to Coruscant was greatly reduced, which was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, no one liked the prospect of open combat in Coruscant's civilian choked airspace. On the flip side, it would make convincing the Senate of the need for more troops on Earth hard. Around the room, there were solemn nods. Everyone in the room was quite aware of the situation on Earth. They still had one fighting Jedi on the ground plus the tattered remains of the Republic's two best legions. This and a severely fragmented local defense force were all that stood between the planet and complete annihilation. All-in-all, Grievous seemed to be little more than a consolation prize. Anakin was good. Cody was good, and Rex was good. However, none of them were that good.
"What of the spy?" Master Fisto finally asked.
"He's posing as a security guard. His 'name' as we know it is 'Captain Harris'. However, I felt a tremor in the Force during the meeting. He was observing, and various things said or done made him extremely suspicious. It radiated out clearly in the Force," Master Windu explained.
"So, what do we propose to do about it?" asked another member.
"More importantly, why is he here?" added master Plo Koon.
"Know, why I think I do. A leak high within the Republic, Earth suspects. Responsible for the invasion of their planet, they believe this person is. Looking signs of this leak, he could be," Yoda answered.
"Did he seem dangerous?" asked Mundi.
"Not to us, no. However, I fear for whatever person he decides is the leak," Master Windu answered quickly.
"So, that brings us back to the first question. What do we do about it?" quizzed Master Koth.
"I believe, I might have an idea," Master Plo Koon announced.
(Two hours later: Cordecena Hotel, Government Sector)
The man who sat in the lobby of the hotel was far different from the man who had observed the landing pad yesterday evening. Yet, the two were one and the same. However, he lacked basically everything. Where there had once been body armor, there was now conservative business attire. His jacket was a nice brown coat of Nexu fir. While his shoes were some of the best dress pairs he could buy. He was clean shaven, and his hair was slicked down in place, with not a hair out of place.
For around three hours, he had sat against the side wall. He read various news pads scattered across the end table. When he got restless, he stood up and made his way to the refreshment bar. There he poured himself a cup of caf and retreated back into his plush seat. As he did all of this, he let his eyes wander around and take in every detail. He studied the routines of the clone guards. He observed the habits of the people running the desk and made notes of the various Senators, their staff members, and others that came and went. He even made note of the bored business man playing a game on the holonet. Finally, satisfied that he had the information he needed, the Mandalorian stood up to leave. As he exited, he held the door open for another Senator that was entering. They traded pleasant smiles and went their separate ways, unaware that they were both in the process of writing history.
Padme smiled warmly at the man who held the door open for her. These days kindness was hard enough to come by that she would take it where ever she could. She let out a deep breath and shook away the warm feelings as she made her way over to the seating area. She promptly found a seat where she could see both doors and let out a sigh.
"I wouldn't smile too warmly at him," warned a voice just outside her view.
Padme about jumped out of her seat. Retaining what was left of her composer, she turned to face the man with the holonet game. "Captain Harris" was a man who appeared to be in his mid to late thirties with black hair cut short in a distinctly military cut, and a clean-shaven face.
"Why shouldn't I?" she asked as a way to ease the tension.
"He's been sitting down here forever-and-a-half," the agent explained as he lowered his voice.
"Doing what?"
"Watching. 'Casing' as we call it on Earth. He's scouting for something," 'Harris' explained with a shrug, "With the amount of rich and important people I've seen come and go over the last hour, it could be anything from a robbery to a murder."
"I see. Are you ever going to say anything to security," she asked.
"No. To do so would require me explaining why a 'security guard' was just randomly sitting in the lobby for an extended amount of time. Explaining that would require me to explain who I actually am, and the odds of a secret being revealed to the wrong person is exponential to the number of people who know about it. Clearly a couple people know mine. I'd prefer not to add to that number," the 'Captain' answered quietly.
Padme frowned. She wasn't quite sure what to say now. The man had both freely admitted that he wasn't who he claimed, but was clearly determined to keep it a secret, even at the expense of others.
"So..."
"So, let's go. I would hate to be late for my own security briefing," he answered louder as a Rodian walked in the door.
"Of course," Padme agreed as she rose from her seat, "The speeder is just right out front."
"No fancy valet for you?" he asked flippantly.
"What?" the Senator asked with confusion.
The term "valet" made no sense to her. 'Harris' dismissed the question with a wave.
The ride to the Temple was done in tense silence as the two people tried to mentally dissect the other. Across from her, Agent Garner's mind raced. Something had gone horribly wrong horribly fast. The only fact that kept him from splitting from the rest of the delegation was the fact that they didn't seem to know about anyone else. That left him with one option. He had to find the source and extent of the leak and plug it fast.
"Security briefing... that's the best you could come up with?" Senator Amidala finally snickered.
"It worked," he justified with an easy shrug before asking, "So, how did you get dragged into the role of counter-intelligence?"
"Luck, I guess," she answered.
"And you're a terrible liar. You don't just go from high ranking Senator to errand boy. What's going on?" he pressed.
The senator let out a sigh as he pushed a lock of hair out from in front of her face.
"I'm the one that's been fighting with the Senate to get reinforcements sent to your planet. If they get wind of an intelligence agent in the delegation, it is all over. There will be no back up, and there will be no support, and I will have wasted four months of my life that I won't get back," she explained with a sharp edge.
"And you're carefully built career will take a hit as well," he inferred.
"Yes, but that's hardly my biggest worry," the Senator retorted.
"Well, I wouldn't blame you for worrying about your career. After all, you were a major opponent of the war. Now you want to send a large force to fight someone else's battle. The war-hawks ought to be having a field day with that," Agent Garner pointed out.
"No. As a rule, I am opposed to escalation. However, escalation has already happened. On top of that, the two main CIS leaders of the war are on your planet. If sending more legions will stop them and put an end to the destruction, then yes… I am for escalating this piece of the war," Senator Amidala answered passionately.
Agent Garner nodded. The hint of exasperation in her voice made it clear that this Senator had repeated this explanation a more than a few times. While he wasn't sure what to do with that knowledge, he did at least have a "why" for what was going on. The agent mentally shelved his next question as they descended onto a landing pad. It was attached to a building with the shape of a towering rectangle. On top were three spires. He judged each one to be about a third of the size of the actual structure. The grandeur of the building continued inside as a Padawan lead them through a series of massive passage ways. Each one was lined with statues and other distinctly alien monuments.
Finally, they were lead up a lift. Agent Garner stared with wide eyes as he stared out at the Coruscant skyline. Every other view he had gotten of it previously paled in comparison to the view he saw now. After a couple minutes that view disappeared, and he was snapped back into reality. At the top, they were greeted by two masked guards. To Garner, they greatly resembled the knights of ancient Europe.
"Senator Amidala and Captain Harris for the Council," the Padawan declared.
The guards gave a nod and passed a relieved glance to the Senator. Clearly, not everyone knew his real occupation.
"You, stay," one guard ordered as he pointed to Senator Amidala.
"You, surrender your weapons now," ordered his partner.
Agent Garner hesitated as he assessed the situation. Incompetent investigators or not, the Jedi were skilled fighters. Taking one on in close quarters was not a fight he wanted. At the same time, surrendering his weapons went against several years of training and personal experience. After twenty tense seconds, he decided to strike a compromise.
"Fine. The gun is yours, but I keep the combat knife," he declared as he ejected the magazine from his Colt 1911.
There was a metallic ping as a single bullet bounced off the duracrete floor. After that, he made a point of showing how short the blade was on the knife. The two guards looked at each other. The one shook his head.
"No. The knife too," he ordered.
Garner considered his options and let out an annoyed groan.
"Fine. I get both of these back," he conceded as he turned over the knife as well.
The guard simply ignored him as he swung open the door. On cue, the Padawan lead Agent Garner into the large circular room. The Padawan brought them to a stop in the middle of the room. around them, along the wall were twelve evenly spaced chairs. On them sat all manner of aliens and humans. Agent Garner recognized a few from the files he had read. However, there were many that he wasn't familiar with.
"Presenting Captain Harris of the Earth diplomatic mission," announced the Padawan crisply.
"Our thanks. Grateful we are," Yoda answered.
In response, the human of about seventeen spun on his heel and marched out of the room. The door shut behind him, and the Agent instantly felt each pair of eyes cut into him. Falling into old habits, clasped his hands behind his back in a posture known in the military as parade rest.
"Gentlemen... and ladies," he started hesitantly.
"Agent," answered the dark-skinned human.
Agent Garner instantly recognized him as Master Windu.
"Tell us... how many of you are there?" asked an unfamiliar woman- at least he assumed the green skinned alien was a woman.
Agent Garner lied without hesitation, "Security personnel, sixteen. Annoying intelligence people that are threatening political careers, one."
"That is a lie. Try again," answered another person, a male sounding person, this time.
Agent Garner's gun churned. This was worse than he thought.
"I'm not sure where you got your information, but you really ought to find a new source," he shot back.
There was always the chance they were bluffing on what they knew.
"We know a lot more than you think," Master Windu answered with an air of authority.
"Really. I'm not convinced," Agent Garner declared with a disbelieving look.
"Considering that I am their source in this matter, I am sure that we know more than you think," the Jedi master countered.
Agent Garner swallowed a gasp as he fought to keep his unreadable face. As he spared with the various Jedi, his mind raced. What had he done wrong? What had he revealed to Master Windu, that would give himself away? Even if he wouldn't admit it, there was no way that the Jedi were bluffing in the way he had hoped.
"You're here on a mission. What is it?" quizzed the man next to Windu.
The Agent would have pegged him as a human if it wasn't for his oval-shaped head. As a result of that feature, he got the mental label of "cone-head".
To clean up your goddamned mess! he mentally screamed before answering flippantly, "Find some intelligence... the school system on Earth sucks."
The short green alien in charge finally spoke up. The look he gave as he interjected was one of grim disappointment instead of annoyance.
"Start this again, we shall. Your name, what is it?" Yoda asked calmly.
Much to Agent Garner's surprise, this wasn't the same venom-laced calm that he was used to in an interrogation. Instead, it was genuine calmness. It neither revealed, nor promised anything in return for an answer. It was the same tone a teacher might use when asking the class to produce their homework from the night before.
"Field Agent Alex Garner, Central Intelligence Agency. My duty number is 55-36-B," he answered crisply.
Considering the fact that his cover identity was now useless around them, he deemed the information harmless enough. Hell, they couldn't really do anything if they wanted to. The database containing his personal information had been physically destroyed early in the battle for Earth as a precaution to protect any agents still operating.
"Did that feel good?" asked an orange-skinned alien off to his left.
Agent Garner immediately recognized him as Master Plo Koon.
"Excuse me?"
"Did you feel better when you decided to tell the truth?" Master Plo Koon clarified.
"It doesn't matter to me. You can't do anything with the information as it is. The only copy of my file in existence is a hard copy back on Earth," He explained.
"We can prove that you are a spy conducting unauthorized operations in Republic space," Master Windu threatened.
"You can but you won't," Agent Garner countered smugly.
"Why?" cut in a green skinned alien with green "tails" coming out of his head.
"By doing so, you would be throwing away a potentially vital resource. I'm just a low-level field operative. I'm better used to catch the bigger fish in the sea," he explained before taking a step forward and adding, "The question is, what fish do you want to fry?"
The double meaning was not lost on the council, and various unreadable looks circled the room. For the next forty minutes, the council continued to press him for information. For Agent Garner, it was a mentally exhausting exercise. Adding to the difficulty of not revealing information, was the fact that he was trying to poke around for information of his own. At the end of the intensive question and answer session, both parties were disappointed. Agent Garner was dismissed, leaving the council to pour over what they had just observed.
"Hmm... deeply troubled he is," Yoda observed, "Grateful that he is not a force-sensitive, I am."
"That's not just fear that I sensed in him. The anger was equally disturbing," Master Koth added.
"Looking for the same Sith Lord as us, it sounds like he is," Yoda noted, "Looking for revenge he is. Responsible for the destruction of his world, he holds this person."
"Yes. I noticed that as well. I do not believe he wishes to do harm to the Republic," Master Plo Koon agreed.
"I do not believe he cares as long as he gets this person," Master Luminara spoke up.
"For a man that was worried about saving his planet, he is quite resistant to cooperation," Master Fisto observed.
"From what I have gathered speaking to their leaders, many hold us responsible for the bloodshed on their planet," Master Windu explained.
"Why? We are the ones fighting to protect them," demanded another council member.
"They believe that our handling of the war has enabled the CIS to achieve the military success that put them on Earth," he elaborated, "There are also some fundamental differences in our philosophies."
"Entirely wrong, they are not. Mistakes we have made. Enabled Grievous, many of them did," Yoda admitted.
"They must understand that those mistakes do not make us the enemy," Master Luminara protested.
"No, but they do make us unreliable. I noticed that every time we approached the topic of other agents, he became quite fearful," Master Plo Koon answered thoughtfully.
"He fears what we'll do with the information," suggested Master Koth.
"Secrecy is a spy's greatest weapon," noted another council member.
"No, this was something else. He didn't fear for himself, he was fearful of himself. I've done undercover work before. When multiple people are involved, it only takes one weak link to take away multiple lives," Master fisto countered.
"Scared of being the weak one, he is," Yoda concluded.
"We must earn his trust if we are to have his cooperation," Master Mundi declared.
"That will not be easy. Distrust comes easiest to him," Master Windu warmed
"Yes, but start the process now, we must. Summon both him and the Senator, we should," Yoda concluded.
And so, it was done. Sixty seconds later, Agent Garner and Senator Amidala stood before the council.
"Agent Garner, this council understands your distrust. We also understand the anger fueling it," Mace Windu began, "However, in order for us to work together, we need to understand the extent of your resources."
"'need to understand'... huh? Let me tell you about a story of needing to know," Agent Garner answered in a voice dripping with contempt, "Fifteen years ago, the CIA operated one of the biggest intelligence networks on the European continent. It traveled down through about a dozen former Soviet states and had branches reaching out into both the Middle East and Moscow. Now, to give you context, that is a sizable chunk of Earth's landmass and a massive area of operation. It spanned multiple nations- both advisories and allies. One day, after years of surveillance and other field work, we finally had what was necessary to conclude the operation. Given the size and scope of our endgame we had to take it before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a midnight, close-door meeting. There we would request permission to proceed. What we didn't know was that that simple meeting was the kiss of death for this operation. The Chairman of that committee demanded the same thing you just did. He said that he needed to understand the 'extent of our operational capabilities'. So, our Director, in all of his foolishness, spelled it out. Within forty-eight hours, fifty-five American operatives and local civilians were either dead or running for their lives..." Agent Garner paused to let the gravity of the number set in, "...Of those people, only 2- counting myself- made it out alive."
"Someone leaked the information," Senator Amidala concluded.
Agent Garner nodded in confirmation as he continued bitterly, "Yes. That man, who had demanded that we reveal the information, turned around, had one too many drinks at a social event the next evening. To the best of our knowledge, he proceeded to brag about his position and the power he had to some lady he was trying to impress. In the course of this, he revealed key pieces of information about our operation. It wasn't enough information to technically be criminal, but it was compromising. At the end of the night it is widely believed that she took word back to one of the local governments. Regardless of our theories, the entire house of cards came crashing down. No bodies were recovered that I know about. To my knowledge they're still scattered about the countryside in shallow graves."
The room fell into silence as the council members considered what they had heard. The fact that he had a personal story to back up his position would make things exponentially more difficult.
"So, what happened to him?" Senator Amidala finally asked.
"He still chairs the committee. Any action against him would have brought a lot of press coverage and forced the CIA to acknowledge that the operation actually happened. The resulting scandal would have shattered whatever credibility we had left after the Second Gulf War, and severely damaged key alliances," Agent Garner replied flatly.
"Why is that?" quizzed Master Koth.
"We were already on the hook for a war that didn't have to happen. Some morons misread satellite images and the President ran with them. Couple that with an a completely ruined, morally questionable operation, and the blood in Langley would have been knee deep. God knows it was already ankle deep from that war," Agent Garner explained cryptically.
It was clear that he was avoiding going into details. Considering they didn't need those ones, no one pressed him further.
"It appears as though we are at an in-pass. You need our help to operate, yet you will not give us details about what you are doing," Master Windu observed.
Agent Garner nodded in agreement. As much as he didn't like Jedi, he had a point.
"Fine. You are right. There is more than one agent. I will not tell you who is an agent or how many there are. We weren't lying when we said that I was attached to the security detail. It's more than just a cover," Agent Garner reluctantly revealed, "As it stands, I'm due back on shift in an hour and a half."
"Then, what is your assignment? Instead of us just assuming, let us hear the truth from you," Master Plo Koon pursued.
In response, Agent Garner give the Senator a suspicion filled glance before shifting his gaze to Yoda and back.
"Stay she does. A choice you have not. Trust her, we do," Yoda answered firmly.
"I'm glad you do," Agent Garner snapped.
Master Windu let out an annoyed sigh as he compromised, "Keep exact details to a minimum."
"Someone is playing both the CIS and Republic. This person is responsible for both the war and the campaign that brought General Grievous to Earth. I also believe that he is a part of the reason we are not getting help. I am here to find out who it is and do what is required to put an end to him or her," Agent Garner answered with an obvious cringe.
"So, you're going to try to find the answers we haven't been able to find for over twelve years, using the same clues and same line of reasoning," a Master Fisto summarized with obvious annoyance.
"'Find answers', 'fix your mess', whatever term helps you sleep at night," Agent Garner shot back with a dismissive wave, "I have a list of people that I am interested in. I'll start there. What I need is more information. I know for a fact that we didn't get all of your information."
"Why did you not approach us to begin with?" Master Plo Koon pursued.
"I wanted to narrow down my- our-" he made a circular motion with his arm, "suspect pool. I was going to wait until after the Senate hearing. By then, I would have enough time to make observations and rule people out that obviously weren't it."
"So simple, it is not," Yoda noted somberly.
"No, it never is," Agent Garner admitted.
"I believe that is the extent of what we need to know at this time. Unless there is objection, I suggest that you return to your diplomats. We will be in touch," Master Windu concluded.
"No, I will be in touch. I will surface on my time," Agent Garner snapped before threatening, "If any of you blows my cover, someone's coming back here in a damn body bag."
Without waiting for a dismissal, Garner spun around and marched for the door.