TERRAFORMING DISTRICT, CORUSCANT

The atmospheric generators that provided Coruscant with breathable atmosphere were surrounded by thick fog, more like clouds, as they created thousands of tons of vapor every hour. Without these massive machines, no life could survive on the planet and billions would suffocate and die in horrible agony.

Two hooded shadows met on a catwalk in the midst of the vast and majestic generators that produced mist and vapor without end. Approaching one another, the two senators removed their hoods to reveal their identities.

"Senator Fey'lya."

"Senator Xizor" the bothan said as he for the first time met with Dookus secret ally on Coruscant. The bothan senator was not surprised as he found out it was the Falleen senator.

The senator of Falleen was an aristocrat that held his posture no matter the circumstance, oozing noble arrogance and radiant with the confidence only superior blood and upbringing could provide. "I believe you have news from Bothawui that was of interest?"

"True" the bothan senator nodded. "We have come across a recording that reveals that the Hutts are considering supporting a Federation nominee to the position of Supreme Chancellor. I have been instructed to ensure that the Federation nominee fails, and that a candidate that is more inclined to listen to bothan advice is elected."

Senator Xizor realized the seriousness of the situation. "If Valorum discovers our plans, he still has enough influence to foil our intentions. And you, senator, certainly have the ability to achieve what your clans ask of you."

"So the question is" Borsk Fey'lya said, "how do we make sure that Valorum never finds out?"

Senator Xizor, son of King Haxim and prince of Falleen, gave it some thought. "By making sure that the bothans are more concerned about their own situation, rather than the current state of the Republic."

"And how do we achieve this?" the bothan senator wondered, not without a little hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"You will achieve this" Xizor then said. "You have reached a political status exceeding most of your bothan rivals, have you not? I am sure you are just waiting for the right moment to strike to make sure that your clan becomes the most influential, and the most powerful, on all of Bothawui. And thereby securing your position as First Secretary in the Clan Council."

Borsk Fey'lya considered this option as provided by the falleen senator and prince. "For clan Alya to secure such a position, it would require a war conducted with assassinations, bribes and back-stabbing. And many of clan Alyas enemies are just as prepared as I am for such an event. I could not guarantee you that all my enemies would be destroyed, not now. I need at least five more years to prepare."

"We don't have five years, senator" Xizor stated coldly. "We have here and now. I shall support the efforts of clan Alya as best I can."

"Forgive me" Fey'lya said, "but I fail to see how Falleen could possibly support clan Alya in any way during a bothan conflict."

Xizor was not affected by the bothan senators remark. "I will provide you with the resources I possess within Black Sun. That should be enough to tip the scales in your favor, should it not?"

Borsk Fey'lya was briefly quite surprised. There had been rumors, never any evidence or anything to truly connect the Falleen senator with the galaxy-spanning criminal syndicate known as Black Sun. And now, Xizor casually admitted to being linked with that most disruptive organisation.

Eventually, Borsk Fey'lya simply nodded. "I believe it would. But if I made this move, if I moved to seize power over Bothawui at this point in time, there will be chaos until victory is achieved. The bothan spy-network will not be available to Lord Sidious until the fighting is over."

"Nor will it be available to anyone else" Xizor pointed out as a matter of fact. "We must make sure that every bothan turns their attention to Bothawui and forget everything else."

SPICE-MINES OF KESSEL

Grand Master Rahm Kota, hidden by cloak and hood, made his way down the filthy and crowded hallways of the mining-colony. Steam was vented from valves, liquids leaked from old pipes and oil and sot stuck to everything. And constantly, the air was filled with the corrosive scent of spice.

Kota headed down a narrow alley, filled with garbage, waste and pools of toxic ooze. Three corpses joined him, robbed of their boots, signs of being stabbed multiple times; life on Kessel was harsh indeed. At the far end of the alley, out on a narrow balcony that served as service-station for some powercables running vertically, Kota joined with another man dressed in hood and cloak.

"Kota" the man said.

"C'boath."

Joruus C'boath, Jedi knight and Mystic, kept his focus on the crowds below. The crew of a trandoshan transport were busy selling slaves on the black market and business was good as the jailers of Kessel always were in short supply of strong and healthy labour.

"They are growing bolder" C'boath said.

Kota knew all to well what his fellow Jedi was refering to. For the past few years, the trandoshans had expanded their traditional bounty hunting to include enslaving innocents and selling them as slaves. Often with forged papers that made it look as their slaves were legitimate, but equally often their captives were sold on illegal black markets. Such as this one.

"Rumor has it that the Hutts are supporting them in the senate" Kota said with a heavy sigh. "But that is not why I am here."

"The Sensitive" C'boath nodded. "He has no children, so why are you here?"

"He is in touch with the Dark Side, is he not?" the grand master inquired.

The jedi of the Mystic discipline, recognized by their burgundy lightsabers, turned his attention from the trandoshans and their desperate victims. As he studied the grand master of the Ranger discipline, he sensed the workings of the Force guiding their actions.

C'boath nodded. "Aye, a lifetime amongst mercenaries, slavers and gangsters has that effect on Sensitives beyond our guidance. But he is no Wielder, he has no control. Hence, the lack of interest from the Watchers and Grand Master Sifo-Dyas."

"And the Mystics?" Kota wondered. "Why does Billaba take such interest in him?"

C'boath turned his attention back to the illegal sales of slaves. "The Force constantly guides us towards him. Why we do not know. Billaba fears the Watchers might have missed something."

"Fear leads to the Dark Side" Kota pointed out without placing blame.

"Aye" C'boath agreed. "But so does ignoring the will of the Force."

Kota nodded and turned his back on the slave market. "I agree" he said. "And that is why I am here. I have been tasked to discover a plot that seems to be fueled by the Dark Side. Intentional or not remains to be seen."

"You think he is involved?" C'boath asked, not sounding all too convinced.

"No" Kota admitted, "but with a little guidance, he will be able to sense the Dark Side properly."

C'boath took a step back, unable to hide his astonishment. "You will push him down that dark path? Doom him eternally?"

"I need a bloodhound" Kota explained, "and he is my best option. The plot I am tasked to unveil could possibly be a threat to the entire Jedi Order. I have no other choice."

"I can not allow it" C'boath said, determination in his words.

"You said it yourself" Kota countered. "The Force guides us to him. If not to destroy the Dark Side and save the Jedi Order, then why?"

C'boath sighed as he gave it some thought. "I must clear this with the Council."

"In this matter, I am the Council" Kota said. "I am Grand Master of the Ranger disciplin, and hold a seat on the High Council. Jedi Joruus, here and now, my word is law."

Reluctance was visible in the Mystics eyes. "I shall take you to him, master."

XXX XXX

Nearing his fifties, the freighter-captain was an image of bad luck and bad karma. Alcohol, harsh weather and unhealthy food had all left a mark on him and he had the look of not having had a proper shower in a couple of months. Now, he wasted his time away in the cantinas of Kessel, spending what little money he could earn on ale and bad food. A well known failure among a population of failures.

The captain looked up from his half finished mug of ale as a man sat down next to him, a man all too well preserved and presentable for beloning on Kessel.

"Who the hell are you?" the captain said, half drunk. "What do you want?"

"My name is Rahm Kota, and I have need of your services, captain."

"Captain?" the man chuckled at the title. "I haven't flown a ship in eight months, and then it was a lousy ore-barge... and I crashed it." He grinned, shook his head and took a swipe of his ale.

"I assure you, payment is not a problem" the hooded man said and placed a small stack of metallic cards on the table.

It certainly got the old freighter-captains interest as he placed the ale to the side and picked up one of the metallic shards and studied it.

"Duggat-strips?"

"Indeed" Rahm Kota said and adjusted for a more comfortable seat. "I have a ship and I have credits. What I don't have, is a captain."

The downtrodden man placed the cred-strip back on the table with the others and eyed the stranger. "What's the catch?"

"Once we reach our destination... We all may die."

A blast of laughter errupted from the scruffy looking freighter-captain. "Sounds like a great deal, pal! I'm flattered, but, count me out of it."

Kota smiled at the reaction. "What other options do you have? Stay here on Kessel and slowly wither away, drunk and addicted, eventually dying a miserable heap covered in filth. What makes that a better deal than mine?"

The smile on the captains lips faded at the blunt truth. Eventually, he spoke. "What are our chances of surviving this trip?"

"Greater than your chances of surviving if you stay here on Kessel" Kota replied with a smirk.

"I suppose that is a valid point" the freighter-captain said.

"Then we have a deal?" Kota asked.

The freighter-captain sighed as he glanced at the pile of credits on the table. After some thinking, he eventually nodded and extended his hand. "We have a deal."

"Excellent" Kota said with a smile and shook the mans hand. "Rahm Kota" he said, introducing himself a second time.

"Declan" the freighter-captain said. "Declan Skywalker."

YGGDRAL

Alanda Barro took shelter from the pouring rain inside of the pod that had taken her down safely from orbit. Thunder echoed in the distance and the odd flash of lightning preceeded it up in the clouds. She had rations that would keep her alive for atleast another week, maybe two or even three if she used it sparingly. She turned up the heat from the generator and pulled her coat tighter around her to block out the wet and the cold. She did not mind the weather, it was the lonelyness that was truly getting to her.

A sound broke through the noise of the pouring rain. It was not thunder, not natural, it was artificial. Alanda reached over and armed herself with the virbo-spear she had been equipped with for hunting and selfdefence. She stepped out into the storm and was drenched in an instant. The sound of something manmade was getting closer; an engine without a doubt. It did not take long before a vehicle pushed its way through the vegitation, two pairs of massive wheels grinding their way through the mud and soil to make headway across the terrain, digging up deep tracks like viscious wounds upon the land.

Alanda found herself caught in the bright beam of illumantion emitted by a searchlight mounted ontop of the vehicle. The former padawan-learner gripped her spear tight with both hands as the vehicle came to a halt. A hatch opened and out from the vehicles innards, a man stepped into the rainstorm.

"Alanda Barro?" the man said.

She was surprised that the stranger knew her by name. "Yeah, that's me."

"Hoyt" the man said and walked over to her, his hand extended. "Hoyt Bosco."

"Nice to meet you" Alanda said and cautiously agreed to shake the mans hand.

"I'm Chief Enforcer on Yggdral" Hoyt said. "They said you would be arriving. Come on, let's get out of the rain."

Hoyt shut the hatch behind them and Alanda sat down in the only other seat besides the one dedicated to the driver. The heatgenerator washed warm air over her face and Alanda shuddered as her cold bones soaked up the warmth like a spunge. Hoyt sat down by the controls and soon enough the entire vehicle shook as the engines came alive and within moments they were on their way.

"Sorry I didn't pick you up sooner" Hoyt said, glancing back over his shoulder at the woman resting in the cargo-compartment. "But they never transmit coordinates. Has something to do with security or something."

"I'm just glad to be out of the rain and cold" Alanda said, gently rocking back and forth in her seat as the vehicle traversed the terrain.

Hoyt nodded. "Well, in a few hours we'll have you fed and asleep in a warm bed."

"Where are we going?" the recently rejected padawan asked.

"Kartarj" Hoyt explained. "A small town. One of few sanctuaries this planet has to offer. It's not bad, I think you'll like it. It's been around for a couple of generations by now, lots of families, farms, a proper place to live."

"I thought only scum populated this place" Alanda said, a bit surprised at Hoyts description of the town they were heading to.

Hoyt nodded. "For the most part. Our job is to make sure that the scum don't sink their teeth into places like Kartarj. On Yggdral, they are the only places children can grow up with some form of hope to have a decent future."

"Children?" Alanda had a hard time believing it, but as she thought upon it it made sense that the criminals sent here would start families sooner or later. "The Republic doesn't take the children away from here?"

"And split up families?" Hoyt asked rhetorically. "Three-hundred years ago the senate decided against allowing children and families to leave these planets. Apparently, a transport was hijacked and close to five-hundred convicts escaped at a great cost of lives over a period of years. After that, it was decided that the Jedi Order was to ensure peace and order on the penal-worlds, so that the children would be kept safe from marauders and looters."

"So the Republic dooms generations of innocent children to live out their lives on planets that, year after year, gets repopulated by the galaxies worst criminals?"

"That about sums it up" Hoyt said and glanced back at the young woman.

"And that is what the Jedi Order protect?" Alanda frowned. "The Jedi protect the politicians that keep these laws and legislations alive?"

Hoyt Bosco shook his head at the womans reasoning. "The Jedi protect the Republic" he then corrected her, "and the Republic exists for one single purpose; to ensure peace. No matter how terrible this place might be, it will never be as horrible as war. So the jedi help the Republic to preserve the peace."

"At any cost?"

Hoyt gave Alanda another glance over the shoulder, then sighed as he turned his concentration back at driving. "At any cost."

KESSEL ORBIT

Declan Skywalker coughed and scratched his bearded face as he studied his controls. As far as he could tell, the old transport-shuttle was functioning within safety-paramaters.

"We're ok" Declan said and turned his chair around to face the innards of the small shuttle. "This old rust-magnet is actually capable of flying."

"As are you, it seems" Kota said from his own chair.

"Hyperdrive is warming up" Declan continued, not bothered by the comment. "All I need is the coordinates and we will be off in a couple of minutes. Destination?"

"The Outer Rim. Dagobah system, fifth planet" was Rahm Kotas simple response.

"Never heard of it" the freighter-captain said.

Kota simply smiled. "Few have."

"Alright" Declan said and turned to face his controls once more to prepare the hyperdrive motivator. "Dagobah... Here we come."