Epilogue
Woanosa found it more than a little disconcerting that she felt victorious about helping to reignite a galactic war. After all, it wasn't she who would have to dodge the blaster fire to come. Underneath it all, she felt deeply ashamed of that, but she knew in her heart that this was a necessary war if there ever was one…and we all had our parts to play. It only took a full day to measure the prevailing winds of public opinion before Senator Sculpatta had withdrawn his party's call for a peace delegation.
Oh they had fought it initially. First they tried to focus on our own government's violation of the treaty through spying, whether said spy was a defector or not. Some of the more extreme members of the "peace party" had attempted to call an inquiry into the operations of the Strategic Intelligence Service, to see if they couldn't uncover some vast spy network. They seemed to have no qualms about potentially outing spies in harm's way if it meant winning this political fight. The mere suggestion set off mass protests in Republica Square, and it wasn't more than an hour later before Sculpatta and his allies turned the attention towards Agent Whitmar. Who was she really? Was it really a defection if she waited eighteen years to make it? In the end it took the threat of recall from some of their own constituents to drop the matter and recall their own legislation, which they did the second morning after Keona's testimony. By midday Galactic Standard, the Empire's Supreme Council declared the Treaty of Coruscant null and void. The Republic's declaration followed at the end of the working day. After twenty years of an insufferable détente they would finally settle whether all the citizens of the galaxy would be able to determine their own fate, or be forced to submit to it.
Woanosa shut off her holoscreen and put her closed datapad in her clutch, before clapping off the light and heading for the door.
Cetus nearly ran into her coming out of his adjoining office. "Oh, Senator…you scared me."
"I could tell," she smiled warmly.
"yes, well…" he looked back down at his datapad, "Senators Sen and Alanort want to schedule a meeting with yourself and General Sut-" she clasped a hand to the back of his shoulder.
"Cetus, go home, take Hadar out to dinner and a show. Whatever it is can wait till tomorrow…I promise."
Her young assistance hesitated a moment, his own perfectionism and inability to leave a task unfinished waging a silent battle with his desire to see his husband, but finally the latter won out as he flashed a relenting grin. "Very well, you're right, of course."
"We've worked really hard the last couple of days and the work is only going to get more difficult in the months and years ahead. So get as many lasting memories as you can right now. I am going to do the same," she said removing her hand and grabbing her shawl from the rack near the door before giving it to Cetus to wrap across her back shoulders.
As the office door opened she was almost as startled as Cetus who she felt jump a little behind her.
"Master Shan?" she tried to hide the reverence in her voice.
"Senator Dayrider..and…"
It took her moment but she moved and called Cetus forward, "Cetus Hieroro, my assistant."
The Jedi Grand Master bowed at them both. "Were you leaving?"
"uh, yes, we were actually…but we can stay, what can I uh, trouble you for?" she finally managed, cursing herself inwardly for her buffoonery.
"Actually, I'll walk to your aircar." With that the three walked in near silence until they reached the hallway where two blue armored Senate Guards fell into step behind them.
"It's like a Geonosian hive in here" Satele marveled.
"It's been busier than usual…but not by much," the Senator added, now in full control of her faculties.
They began walking through the forest of Tepasi marble columns to the top story Senator's landing balcony.
"You all do such important work here," the Jedi said, quietly, earnestly.
"Oh, well, not-" she cut herself off before sounding sycophantic, "-thank you Grand Master."
"I wanted to thank you personally for the work you did on our behalf. I fear we may have been run off Coruscant had it not been for the servants like yourself."
They walked out of the overhang and into the dying light of another day.
"I refuse to believe so poorly of my colleagues. I still like to think they would do what's right if it ever came down to it."
The Jedi smiled out of the corner of her mouth at her.
"…I don't know, maybe I'm naïve," she said with a rueful shake of her head.
"No. No, that outlook gives you strength. It's the righ…"
Woanosa leaned in as the Jedi's words trailed off. She slid her hand off Woanosa's arm and began walking away from her and Cestus, and towards the edge of the platform.
She was starting to get worried when she heard the Master Jedi repeat, "no…no," as she looked out at the passing skylane of traffic. Woanosa followed her gaze out to the passing speeders but saw nothing amiss. It wasn't until she looked past the lane of traffic that she saw the figure on the platform across the way, shouldering something that looked like a…oh no…
The Jedi leapt an impossible height to land on a passing air bus. Woanosa saw her jump one more time before a small circular object launched from the shouldered weapon. It was headed for the open cab of stretch air car that looked a lot like her friend Chetall Sadira's. She saw the Jedi wave a hand from the back of a terrified gotal's red speeder, and the small orb was flung impossibly high into the sky above before detonating in spectacular fashion high above the highest traffic lane.
Woanosa smiled despite her worry, before she heard Cetus's shrill voice; "senator! Look out!"
She felt his hands on her shoulders but never saw the danger until her twenty four year old assistant dove on it a yard in front of her. She turned and dove for the ground just before the muffled explosion erupted behind her…an explosion, that she realized belatedly was muffled by someone she had always viewed as a son, and a precious one at that.
It took a full day before they were able to gauge the full extent of the attacks. There were the odd stories of survival; Woanosa's own, Senator Sadira, General Suthra, but too many had died. The fifth column of Imperial assassins had infiltrated so deeply they were able to penetrate areas that would've been impossible to any assassin who hadn't spent years working towards a single target. An aide of three years put a blaster bolt through the head of her employer, Woanosa's ally, Owaves Twighlightburn. A regular deliveryman rolled a thermal detonator into the apartment of another anti-treaty stalwart in Senator Anyina Botein. In all, twenty three high ranking senators, generals, and intelligence officials lost their lives on the day. While all were damaging to the war effort and the daily functioning of government, none hurt worse than the closed casket she was currently laying a partially burned hand on. Promising by the Force that he and all those killed by or slaving under an Imperial hand would be avenged.