"I trust your judgement, Shaak. The Council has other matters to deal with. I give you full authority to pick a Master for Padawan Tano."

Mace's reply to Shaak's Council Request Ticket was surprising. Mace loved the bureaucracy of the council as much as she did. To just hand off a fun issue that can be debated for days belied something huge about to happen. The problem with that was that Shaak had no knowledge of anything so grant. What could Mace be hiding? The man had fingers in a hundred Corellian Cream pies, but that had never interfered with council business before. The kid in Shaak smelled adventure, but she put away such silly notions. Macy would never act without the council, the thought was simply ludicrous. Settling down with a glass of 2020 Alderaanian win, Shaak began the long, pleasant process of finding Tano a new master.


Breathe in. Breathe out.

Mace sat in his private quarters, intensely focused on meditation. Meditation was the key to everything a Jedi did. A Padawan meditated before the simplest of activities using the Force, until they could accomplish it without mental preparation. For the grandest and most powerful Force techniques, even Masters required meditation before attempting to carry them out. In front of Mace, sitting on the neutrally colored carpet, was a holocron of some long dead master Mace had forgotten the name of. He hadn't picked that particular holocron to learn names, but rather to learn a highly dangerous technique, battle meditation. Battle Meditation was called a rare and advanced technique, but the truth was it was actually very simple to perform. The problem was the danger inherent to it. Anyone who used battle meditation, even once, would descend into Force Madness, a malady where a Force practitioner couldn't tell reality from Force Visions. The disease progressed until the mind was so shattered that the person quite simply stopped breathing. Mace Windu, master of the Jedi Order, was doing his best to prepare his mind for the battle meditation technique. In any other case, Mace would have found a willing Master to do it for him. Off the top of his head he knew at least fifteen masters that would happily give themselves a terminal disease for Mace's approval. There was no shortage of simple fools, but the reason Mace needed battle meditation was far too delicate to trust to the pathetic ethics of fools. None of the lesser Jedi understood the danger the Senate presented, and Mace wouldn't be able to convince them until it was too late. What Mace needed was a preemptive strike, and he could trust the matter to no one but himself.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

He was prepared as he could be. Today would be a brief session, thirty minutes at the most. Reaching down into himself, Mace began the slow process of manipulating the minds of every single Clone Trooper in the galaxy. Tomorrow, he would work for an hour.


No one simply 'met' with Mace Windu. When the head of the Jedi Council made an appearance in the Order, it was to a large group of masters. To meet with Windu, as a Knight, one on one, was an incredible honor. Davros didn't question his meeting, he was too busy marveling at the events started by McDellum at the start of the week. He could only ponder what else was in store for him.

Reaching the base of the center spire, Davros was surprised when no one stopped him from getting on the Turbolift. Even more odd, when Davros entered his auth code, every floor was available to him, including the Council Room. Davros keyed in Windu's floor, just below the Council Room. The 'lift was a work of art. Real wood rails and ceiling, not the synth stuff even senators preferred to the cost of the real stuff. The carpet felt like a cloud, Davros assumed it was Alderaanian shag, incredible rare. Two master artisans on Alderaan made only ten square meters of the carpet a year. It was rumored even the king of Alderaan couldn't afford enough to carpet his bathroom. Everyone needs a hobby, Davros' was the finer things in life. He wondered if any of the other Jedi knew the Chancellor himself would sell his soul for the wealth just in this lift. Davros didn't have any more time to think about it, however. The doors of the lift opened to a darkened room. The floor had the same carpet as the lift, muted tasteful colors accented by a light colored wood on the walls. Unobtrusive half pillars held intricate sculptures, real ones, not the holos. Paintings Davros had never seen in the Coruscant Art Museum hung on every wall. The signatures of famous painters like Coreillia's Avatar and Gymsum Poe stood out to Davros. This was the most beautiful room Davros had ever seen, he wondered how a Jedi could afford it. The Order didn't pay its members.

"Mr. Davros, come in please. It's a pleasure to finally sit down and talk with you." Windu said. Davros finally spotted the older man, sitting on a couch right of the door.

"I'm honored to be meeting with you, Master Windu." Davros replied.

"Oh, there is no need for that. We are going to be working together in the future. Obviously, in public proper titles will be required, but here, my name is just Mace. Also, while we are on the topic, your Guard vows no longer apply. Again, for a while in public you need to maintain your current attire, but in the temple there is no need for that helmet. Anonymity will not suit you in your new position."

Davros was reeling. The amount of information would take a while to process. Why would the leader of the Jedi Order want to be on a first name basis with a now former Guard? For that matter, no one, not even the leader of the Jedi Council, could rescind a Guard's vows normally. Davros didn't even think about correcting Windu on that, this wasn't exactly normal. There wasn't any more time to think, Windu was really expecting him to take off his helmet. Davros had never taken his helmet off outside of his quarters before. To do so was one of the higher and more grave crimes a Guard could commit. The punishment for removing your helmet while on duty was exile from the Order. Strict, but that was how the Guard was designed. If this was all just a big test of the rules, Windu was fully in his power to remove Davros from the Order. Davros briefly wondered if he had angered Windu somehow. Deciding to trust Windu for now, Davros released the magnetic clasp and removed his helmet.

"I've never seen white hair in a human as young as you. I assume you don't color it, so may I ask where you come from?" Mace asked.

"I haven't thought about my hair in a long time. I looked up my file when I became a guard. Apparently, my parents were fully human, though with addictions to an impressive set of drugs. I'm told that I was lucky white hair was my only genetic defect." Davros replied.

"Ever consider getting a gene repair?"

"Once or twice, I never felt it important enough to waste the Order's resources." Davros enjoyed the irony of telling a fellow Jedi a simple gene repair was a waste of resources while sitting in this particular room. "Except for my hair, I'm health, and I've never considered myself vain."

"A refreshing outlook on life. Now, to business. I am sure you have some questions for me about your new position."

"Just what is Head of Domestic Security? I did a little digging, the Order has never had 'Head' positions before, now there are fifteen."

"Answering directly to the Council, by the way." Mace interjected.

"The Guard Chief handles temple security, I assume I won't be working with the Guards anymore?"

"Correct, though you are authorized to divert Guards should you ever need more… refined manpower."

"Just what is my job though?"

"Straight to the point, I admire that. Let me ask you a question first. You have kept tabs on this business I assume?"

"Yes sir, seems like the Senate has a 'blade to grind."

"The fact of the matter is, not only is the Senate trying to ruin our way of life, they are losing their grasp on the galaxy. The Separatist faction grows almost weekly now. Quite simply, the Senate can no longer govern the Republic."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"The Jedi have stood by for millennia while the Senate eroded our Republic. I will no longer stand by and pick up the pieces. This is what's going to happen, Davros. At the end of the week, when Palpatine has 'ordered' us to appear before the Senate, we will forcibly remove the Chancellor and Senators from office, and take control of the Republic ourselves."

This was treason, worse, it was arrogant. Did Mace really think the Order could just walk in and take control of the Republic? Mace still hadn't said where Davros fit into all this.

"And what's my job?" Davros asked.

"Coruscant will be… unstable in the transition. You will handle all security for the planet. Coruscant Security Force, Clone battalions stationed here, even the Senate Guards will all answer to you. The other Heads report to the Council, but you will report directly to me. I don't anticipate anyone on the Council getting cold feet, but if they do, I want you to have the authority to deal with it."

"I'm not sure what to say sir."

"Don't say anything for now. I'm sure I've left you with more questions than answers. Just trust me for now, I'll explain more when this week is over." Mace stood up, Davros followed suit. "I have another meeting to get to. Farewell Davros, may the Force be with you."

"And with you, Windu"

On his way back to his new quarters, Davros realized he had only a few days to pick a side. The clones were supposed to answer to the Chancellor above all, but Davros wouldn't bet against Windu on it. Treason, but only if Windu failed. Davros was almost home when his communicator beeped.

Meeting with Council members individually tomorrow. I need you there in case there is any unpleasantness bringing the other members on board. Bring a proper lightsaber, a Guard's staff isn't useful in a real fight. ~Mace

That didn't leave a lot of time. A Guard's staff was certainly impressive looking, but like the message said, worthless in combat. The elongated staff hilt was vulnerable to any competent duelist. Davros would need a proper lightsaber now, there was no time for a fancy custom order like a curved hilt. He could make his own lightsaber, any Jedi could, but that meant a trip to Ilum and a four hour assembly. Davros wasn't fond of the trademark yellow of Guard lightsabers, but only the Guard kept spare lightsabers around, used for situations less than ceremonial. If Mace seriously expected him to serve as backup, he would need to start practicing right away. Taking the lift down to the lower levels, Davros headed for the Guards armory.