Nar Shadaa,
Hutt Space.
"Are you sure there is a sleeper Jedi here Tholme ?" asked the Neti Jedi Master Tra'saa as she and her lover Jedi Master Tholme walked through the crowded street of Nar Shadaa. Although romantic attachment was greatly frowned upon within the Order, both Tholme and Tra'saa agreed that they're relationship transcended that of the petty romantic attachment that the order frowns upon as both Jedi Masters has learnt one of the most important lesson of having attachments; letting go.
"I'm sure," answered Tholme, "I was the one that hand picked the team." Master Tholme was a master of infiltration and subterfuge, which made him the perfect candidate to train these sleepers agents in the art of infiltration and subterfuge. And because of that, he was one of the very few non-Council members to be privy on the full extent of Plan Zero.
Tholme stopped in front of an unassuming warehouse building. "In here," said Tholme as he walked into the building.
The building was filled with many cargo containers that were placed in such a way that it formed a maze, some of the containers were stacked until it reached the ceiling. The sound of an astromech droid and a voice could be heard coming from the far end of the warehouse. Both Tholme and Tra'saa walked over to the sounds.
"Alright, hand me that power wrench." The astromech droid gave out a series of beeps and chirps. "Thank you B3."
Tholme and Tra'saa finally cleared the maze of containers and saw before them a rather young medium built man, probably in his late twenties, who was tinkering with what looked like a beacon on a workbench.
"Kye Ern ?" asked Tholme who stood a few feet away from the man who was working on the bench.
"Sorry I'm not taking on any delivery runs as of now," replied the man.
"We're not here to hire you," said Tra'saa
"We're here to determine why the signal beacon is not yet active," said Tholme this time.
The man turned around slowly from his workbench. The man studied the two Jedi standing in front of him. He did not recognise one, but he did recognise the other one. "Master Tholme ?" Tholme nodded in response to the man's query. "And this is Master Tra'saa," introduced Tholme to Ern. Master Tra'saa gave a small bow to the young sleeper agent
"My you're here rather early Master Tholme and Master Tra'saa," stated Ern as he went back to tinkering with the object on his workbench, "considering that the beacon is well, broken," informed Ern to the two masters while pointing to the object on the workbench.
"We're here early because the safe house's signal beacon did not activate on schedule" explained Tholme to his former student. "We thought something might have happened to you."
The astromech next to Ern gave out a series of beeps and chirps. "Yeah this would not have happened if the previous sleeper and I maintained the beacon well," agreed Ern with his astromech.
"Then let's get it fixed as quickly as we can," stated Tholme ," we can't have a functioning safe house without a working signal beacon."
"Agreed," said Ern as he began tinkering with the beacon yet again. Ern's astromech gave out another series of beeps and chirps. Ern looked down to his astromech, "That's right, I still need to get the living area of the safe house ready."
"I can handle that," said Tra'saa.
Ern turned his attention away from the beacon and faced Tra'saa. "Thank you master. B3 will show you where the entrance to the safe house is." B3 let out a few chirps before making its way to the safe house's entrance with Tra'saa following it closely behind.
"Well, back to the beacon then," said Ern to Tholme who was standing next to him with a power wrench in hand.
Chief Zaarbal's Hut,
Edge of the Shadowland,
Kashyyyk.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand. What debt ?" asked a confused Vos who was still sitting down cross-legged on the Chieftain hut's floor.
Zaarbal handed back the amulet to Vos, in which Vos held in his momentarily. Vos was tempted to use his inherent psychometric powers to uncover the history behind the amulet that the Wookie chief had just handed back to him. But it looked like he didn't have to.
"About two centuries ago," began Chief Zaarbal in his native tongue, "my clan and village was attacked by Trandoshan slavers," Zaalbar paused, "many were captured or died trying to fight off the Trandoshans. I too would have been killed if it was not for the Jedi Watchman of our sector at that time, Master Yoda who saved me and what was left of my village. He later led us to the edge of the Shadowland and helped us to build this village. And for his help, I have sworn my clan's and village's eternal loyalty to him."
"I see," said Vos who finally knew the connection between the Order's Grand Master and this Wookie Chief.
"I shall prepare my clan for war then," stated Zaarbal as he stood up. Vos proceeded to stand up as well, but before he could thank the Wookie chief, another Wookie stormed his way into the hut.
The Wookie that led Vos to the village immediately put himself between the intruder and the chieftain. "You are not allowed in here without permission," scolded Vos' Wookie guide.
"I have every right to be here Grabacca," retorted the intruder.
"Enough," interjected Zaarbal. "What are you doing here Kallamum ?"
The Wookie known as Kallamum looked to Vos, "I was told that there was an outsider, it seems I was well informed."
"This outsider is an ally," stated Zaarbal to Kallamum.
"No outsider is an ally," stated Kallamum angrily.
"I have pledged a life debt to the master of this outsider, I will honour it," said Zaarbal to the angry Kallamum. "It is our way."
"No father, you will not," said Kallamum ," I challenge this outsider to a duel. If I win you forgo this idiotic life debt and tra.."
"And what If I win ?" interjected Vos.
Kallamum looked to the Kiffar Jedi Master and scowled, "You won't." And with that, Kallamum made his way to the hut's exit. "I will be waiting for you at the dueling ground, outside."
"He can't do that father," said Grabacca to Zaarbal.
"Unfortunately he can my son." said a disappointed Zaarbal before he looked to Vos, "I am sorry that you have to go through this outsider."
"No worries Chief. Just tell me where this dueling ground is so I can knock some respect into him," said Vos excitedly.
Dueling Grounds,
Wookie Village at the edge of the Shadowland,
Kashyyyk.
Vos stepped into the dueling circle. His opponent, Kallamum was already there waiting for him, and so was a great crowd of spectators. Well, hopefully I won't embarrass myself in front of all these people, thought Vos to himself.
"I hope you're ready to be humiliated outsider," taunted Kallamum as he drew his electro-blade.
"Hmmm, a strong big Wookie warrior against a little scrawny Jedi like me, you want me to close my eyes while I fight you ?" asked Vos sarcastically to his opponent, "To even the odds ?"
Kallamum's face darkened before he charged towards the Kiffar Jedi Master. Kallamum tried to deliver an overhead strike towards Vos, but Vos easily avoided the strike before proceeding to draw his lightsaber. Kallamum charged at Vos yet again, this time delivering a horizontal slash which was easily parried by Vos. Kallumum and Vos then engaged each other in a brief duel. For someone who was not trained in the Jedi arts, Kallamum was an exceptional fighter as he managed to match Vos blow for blow. But for all of Kallumun's skill, Vos eventually found an opening which allowed Vos to deliver a low swoop kick to his Wookie opponent which made the large Wookie fall down. Vos pointed the tip of his emerald saber towards the Wookie.
"Surrender, you've lost," said Vos to his Wookie opponent.
Kallumun's face darkened and his fist clenched the dirt on the ground before flinging it at Vos' direction. Vos was taken a back by the Wookie's action and could not dodge the dirty tactic in time. The dirt and sand made contact with Vos' face and entered his eyes. Vos stumbled back while he rubbed his eyes, which allowed Kallumun to stand up and deliver a punch which forced Vos to the ground as well as making him lose grip of his lightsaber.
"Looks like the table have turned, outsider," mocked Kallumun who stood over Vos who was still rubbing his eyes.
"If you wanted me not to use my eyes, I could have just put a blindfold over it before we began," said Vos. "The thing is, I don't need my eyes to beat you."
Kallumun raised his electroblade to give the killing blow, but before Kallumun could land a blow against Vos, the Kiffar Jedi Master had already rolled away to dodge the strike and proceeded to leapt over the towering Wookie and at the same time, retrieve his lightsaber with the Force. Vos landed behind the Wookie with lightsaber in hand and proceeded to ignite it before grazing Kallumun's weapon arm and his two legs with its emerald blade. Kallumun feel the ground, injured. In an act of defiance Kallumun tried to reach for his electroblade with his off-hand, but Vos simply used to Force to push it out of the Wookie's reach.
"Surrender," demanded Vos to his defiant Wookie.
"Never," roared Kallumun in defiance.
"Enough Kallumun," came a voice from the crowd.
Vos turned his attention away from his defeated opponent to vaguely see the figure of Chief Zaalbar. "You have been defeated by an honourable warrior. Which is something I cannot say the same about you my son." Zaarbal signaled to two of his guards, "Take my son to the Hall of Healing," ordered Zaarbal. "Then after that, we can figure out what to do with him."
Zaarbal turned his attention back to Vos. "I am sorry for my son's dishonourable action. Please forgive me."
"Don't worry about it chief" replied Vos while rubbing his eyes.
"Master Jedi, let me take you to our healers to treat your injuries," said Grabacca to the Kiffar Jedi.
"That sounds good. Lead the way big guy,"
Jedi Shuttle,
Unknown Sector.
The Jedi Shuttle exited hyperspace and made its way to the system's lone planet, the planet in which The Vault was located on.
"Sensors detect massive lightning storms throughout the planet," reported Anakin as the shuttle neared the planet, "sensors are also not picking up any sort of land mass either."
The shuttle entered the atmosphere. The thick atmospheric clouds of the planet made visual flying near impossible. Anakin had to skillfully pilot the shuttle and trust the Force to avoid being hit by the planet's constant lightning discharge. "So where is The Vault ?" asked Anakin to his co-pilot Kcaj after narrowly missing a lightning strike.
"According to the navigational beacon, The Vault is straight ahead Skywalker," informed Kcaj who was looking at the shuttle's navigational instruments.
"Blast I don't see anything," expressed Anakin to Kcaj. As soon as Anakin had just finished saying that, the thick atmospheric clouds that had obstructed Anakin's view dissipated, revealing a huge space station that looked very much like the Republic space station from the Great War. The only difference was that the station in front of Anakin and Kcaj did not have the distinctive red and white colour of Republic station or ships from that era. Instead, most of the station was grey in colour, save the red colour from the Jedi Order's insignia. "The Vault ?" asked Skywalker to Kcaj
"Yes Skywalker,"answered Kcaj. "Let me transmit the code to unlock the station's hangar bay." Kcaj proceeded to enter the unlock code for the station.
As soon as Kcaj had transmitted the unlock code, The Vault's hangar bay doors opened. Anakin brought the shuttle into the hangar bay for a landing. The Jedi shuttle touched down gently.
"Exceptional flying Skywalker," praised Kcaj, "I see that your reputation as being one of the best pilots in the Order is not overrated."
"Thanks Master Kcaj," said Anakin as he began powering down the shuttle. "I'm happy that I can still surprise some people."
The Vault,
Unknown Sector.
Anakin and Kcaj exited the shuttle and made their way to the lift that was located at the end of the room. The two Jedi took the lift up to The Vault's main level, where most of the Vault's contents were kept, be it artifacts or dark side abominations that were either frozen in carbonite or kept in suspended animation.
"Is it weird that the station's Warden was not at the hangar bay to greet us ?" asked Anakin to Master Kcaj as the lift ascended to the main level.
"Not really," replied Kcaj, "since we didn't actually contact the Warden prior to boarding. What would be weird is if the Warden does not greet us when this lift reaches the main level."
The lift began to slow down, indicating to the two Jedi that they were reaching their destination. The lift stopped and its doors slid open, and in front of Anakin and Kcaj stood a large towering figure that was covered with brown fur and had rather sharp claws on its hands. The figure in front of them was slightly bigger than the average Wookie, both in height and in size. Anakin placed his hand on his lightsaber, ready to draw it at a moments notice if the need arises.
"Stay your blade Skywalker," said Kcaj as he stepped out of the lift. Anakin followed Kcaj out of the lift, taking his hand away from his lightsaber.
The huge towering figure stood in front of Anakin and Kcaj and just stared at the duo before he started to sniff them. "Hey watch it," said Anakin as the huge brown furred covered figure began sniffing him.
"I smell much conflict within you young Jedi," said the towering figure, "much conflict."
"Who are you ?" demanded Anakin to the towering figure.
"I am Vozzov, Warden of the Vault," answered the towering figure, "and who might you two Jedi be ?"
"I am Jedi Council member Coleman Kcaj," introduced Kcaj before pointing to Anakin, "and this is my fellow councilor, Anakin Skywalker."
Vozzov nodded, "So what I can do for two esteemed members of the Jedi High Council ?" asked Vozzov.
"We're here to retrieve two artifacts," informed Anakin to the warden.
"And what might those two artifacts be ?" queried Vozzov.
"The Yoke of Seeming and the Dawn Shard ?" answered Kcaj this time.
"I know about the Yoke of Seeming," stated Vozzov. "But what is the dawn shard ?" asked Vozzov while he stroked his chin with his rather long claws.
"We'll explain it to you while you take us to the Yoke," said Anakin to the large Warden
"Follow me," said Vozzov as he walked off into the direction where the Yoke of Seeming was kept.
Supreme Chancellor's Office,
Executive Building,
Senate District,
Coruscant.
Padme entered the office of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Even before the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Padme had stepped foot in this office probably more than any other Senator that was on Coruscant. The Supreme Chancellor's Office looked very much the same like it did before the outbreak of the Clone War. Probably the only difference was the presence of Palpatine's own personal red guards that looked eerily like the Elite Sith Guards of the Sith Empire of old from the Great War, which had replaced the more traditional blue robed Senate Guards.
"Ah Senator Amidala, thank you for coming to see me so quickly," said Palpatine from his desk with a smile on his face.
"The message sounded urgent over the holo," said Padme as she walked over to the Supreme Chancellor's desk.
"Yes it is," said Palpatine. "I've just received a vital message from the vice-president of the SoroSuub Corporation. According to the Vice-President, many within the corporation wishes to renounce their connection to the Seperatist."
"That's excellent news," said Padme excitedly, "with SoroSuub wanting to leave the Seperatist, that means Sullust would also leave the Seperatist. And that would greatly hamper the Seperatist's droid production capabilities."
"That is hopefully the best outcome we could hope for," expressed Palpatine while getting up from his seat. "But the Vice-President of SoroSuub wants the Republic to personally assure him that we would support him if the Seperatist launches an attack on Sullust. And I think that you, would be the perfect candidate to reassure the Vice-President."
"I'll be more than happy to see the Vice-President," said Padme , "but are you sure this is not a trap ?" asked Padme to Palpatine. Ever since she was ambushed during the Malevolence incident, Padme was a bit more cautious when there was suddenly good news about Seperatist members wanting to defect.
"My dear, if you do not feel up to it, I can always get Senator Ask Aak to meet the the Vice-President," suggested Palpatine to the young Senator from Naboo.
"No, it's fine Chancellor," said Padme to Palpatine, "I will go and meet SoroSuub's Vice-President."
"Excellent my dear," said Palpatine happily, "but as a precaution, I am assigning a squad of Senate Commandos to you for the trip."
"Thank you Chancellor," thanked Padme, "I'll be leaving as soon as I can." And with that, Padme proceeded to leave the Supreme Chancellor's office.
Palpatine watched as the Senator from Naboo left his office to go and prepare for her 'meeting'. As soon as Padme had left, an evil smiled presented itself on Palpatine's face and he proceeded to look out of his office's huge window.