Chapter 6, here we go! Here is some Windu and Yoda for you! I realised that my last couple of chapters were getting short, so here's a long one again.
Mace Windu marched down the hallway after a certain, small Council member that, as he was finding out, could be rather speedy when he wanted to be. "Master Yoda!" he called, stubbornly refusing to yell or run after the Head of the Council. "Master Yoda!"
Finally, he heard an exasperated sigh and slowed to halt as Yoda turned around to face him. "What is it, Young one?"
Mace noted the use of the patronising term Yoda had used, but chose to ignore it. There was definitely no point mentioning it to the little, green devil. "Master Yoda, we need to find the culprits behind this Jedi Radio."
Yoda gave the man a look, not even saying anything.
"They have committed a severe breach of security!"
Yoda sighed. "A breach of security, this Jedi Radio is? A very effective communications system, it is."
It was then Mace's turn to silently watch his partner.
"Correct, you are. The culprits, found, they must be. Then, use the Radio ourselves, we can."
Yoda started to float away again, leaving an astounded Mace Windu in his wake.
Mace stared after him, dumbfounded. Use the Jedi Radio as a communications device? Get the pesky padawans that had built it to show them how to use it? What on earth was Yoda thinking?
He quickly trailed after his enigmatic partner. "I'm not sure I'm following you, Master Yoda."
"I think you are." Yoda said with a smug laugh.
Rolling his eyes at the other Jedi's fun with words, Windu went for a more direct approach. No-one really knew what to do with Yoda. "You want to use this vandalism for inter-Temple communication?"
Yoda nodded.
"And you want to find the Padawans who did it, not to punish them, but to get them to show you how it works?"
Again, Yoda nodded. "And to ask them how they did it without our knowledge. Talented, they are."
Master Windu rolled his eyes, but accepted the fact that Yoda meant to go through with his lunatic plan. "How do you mean to find them, then?" he asked. That was something he really wanted to know.
"Easy, it will be." Was the older Jedi's only response.
What kind of a response is that? Mace asked himself. "They've done a pretty good job of keeping hidden so far." he said dryly, seeing as he knew he wasn't going to get any more out of Yoda. His comment was true. Over the past week, there had been several broadcasts, and still, they had no idea who was behind it all. There had been growing unrest in the knighted Jedi as the Radio went on, until they'd finally decided that it was time to step it up a notch and actually put some effort into stopping the Padawans running it, which had led to Master Mace Windu chasing Yoda around the Temple.
The withered and weathered old Jedi laughed in his own peculiar way. He had made it quite clear that he rather enjoyed the broadcasts from the Radio. They were generally fairly amusing and they played pretty good music. They were rarely ever disruptive. Well, not in a harmful way. They were disruptive every time they transmitted, but they never seemed to interrupt council meetings, or, funnily enough, Padawan lesson schedules.
"Gather the Padawans and Masters in the Dining Hall. There, the culprits, we will find."
Finally glad for some form of forward movement on the issue, Mace bowed slightly and strode off quickly down the hall.
There were a lot of Masters with Padawans. The older ones were all out on missions. Mace decided that there was little to no point in checking out Padawans older than, say, 19. That left him with only 100 or so to find.
Holding back a sigh, Mace pulled out his Comm. "Macu." he called after his Apprentice.
An electronic version of his Padawan's voice replied almost immediately. "Yes, Master?"
The pair had had their fair share of jokes over their similar first names.
"Macu, gather all of the Padawans you can find that are under 19, and their Masters and tell them they are all to come to the Dining Hall, now." he ordered.
He got no reply. Their Master-Padawan relationship was one of very few words.
Knowing that Macu would find his little group at the very least, Mace went around the Temple, looking for Padawan braids and the like. It was very long, tiresome work. Maybe this inter-Temple Communications thing could work to our advantage… he thought as he directed a babble of Padawans to find their Masters and go to the Dining Hall. This job would be made so much easier.
Macu turned off his Comm., but held it in his hand for a long while, staring at it blankly. His lekku twisted slowly as he thought. Why would his Master be getting them to go to the Dining Hall? He couldn't have found them out. Why would he have made him go to lunch? No, had he found them out, Master Windu would have been straight about it. He always was.
Macu slowly put the Comm. away, cogs turning in his logical brain. Master Windu hadn't specified his group at all. All of the Padawans under 19, and their Masters. That was a rather broad range, so they had no specifics, but Macu had no doubt about what this meeting in the Dining Hall was about. Stretching his lekku, Macu shook his head. There was no point trying to figure it out. He knew as much as he was going to until he got there. It was time to warn the others.
Unfolding from his meditation mat, the twi'lek walked calmly and slowly through the door, to the closest room that would more than likely contain a few of his friends. He always walked in such a fashion. He always thought in much the same way. Logic first. Every time.
Knocking politely on the door to the Jonah's quarters, he waited a moment, before the small human girl appeared in the doorway. She smiled. Jonah and Macu got on very well, having the same down to earth, logical, often pessimistic view of the world and much the same mental capacity, not to mention their equally matched abilities with a light sabre. They'd been sparring partners since they were Younglings.
"Hey, Cuey." she greeted. Cuey (Soo-ee) was a nickname that Macu could deal with. It was better than Cu-Cu, in any case.
"Jonah." he acknowledged.
The addressed girl quickly picked up on the mood he was projecting underneath his usual sense of impassiveness. She gestured for him to come in with a questioning look. "Master Swan's in the Archives. Cra and Arak are here." she informed him as they walked through the tidy quarters that belonged to her and her Master. The main room was decorated with a pair of big, squishy, yellow armchairs and a long sofa in the same colour. The light shone in through the open blinds, adding to the soft, warm, inviting yellow glow emanating from the room.
Crawen and Arak were sitting together, looking at the pair entering over the back of the sofa.
Macu only made it part of the way inside before he stopped. Jonah stopped with him, and Cra stood up, leaning, one handed on the sofa.
Arak's eyes were bright and wide, expecting the worst.
Seeing that he held the attention of everyone in the room, Macu briefly reported the situation.
The other three shared long looks.
"Well, what can we do?" Arak asked. "We're going to have to go down there."
Nodding, Crawen added, "There's nothing we can do that we haven't already." He seemed unaffected, but the others saw the nerves tensing his shoulders.
Jonah shrugged. "We knew we were going to be found out eventually."
Once the others had nodded in agreement, she gestured towards the door. "Well, you guys had better go and find your Masters. Don't admit anything, though, just in case. It doesn't sound like they actually know who's behind it."
Macu smirked as the authorative girl took charge of the situation, as always, her mind going in the same direction his had gone.
She called up her Master on her Comm., and Macu waited patiently for her to finish as the others left.
"Alright, Cuey, I'll go get Lolee and you get Corrie." she ordered.
Macu simply nodded and walked out of the door, going right, while Jonah veered left.
"Hey, Cuey, good luck." she added with a grin.
"You too, Jonah." he replied, chuckling.
Cue Beethoven 5! Uh-oh spaghettios! What's going to happen to our little pranksters? I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out. My next chapter should be up tomorrow, or maybe even later tonight, if you're lucky.