RWS Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Galen Zaun was walking down another corridor, it had been a few months since he was on this ship and he was still getting used to it, getting used to his duties and his new role in life. A temporary flag officer.

He was leafing through another report, another combat intelligence briefing. A saying by a Bothan admiral from the Vong wars said that for every hour of combat led to another seven months of analysis, it seemed to be true.

Galen was concerned though and found it difficult to concentrate. Death had been distant, aloof, ever since the mission, they had barely seen one another and Death had spent much of his time in his Cabin, and some of his time purposefully avoiding his old Master.

Galen thought a lot of it, but in the end it was not his role to pry. He would when he felt it right, in the meantime he would wait for Death to come to him.

"Father!" he heard the voice of his son from behind him, he turned inquisitively to view what his son was doing.

"Son." He smiled in friendly greeting.

"Hey." His son came up to him forlorn.

"What's wrong?" Galen asked alarmed.

"Death is missing." John replied.

Galen's eyes grew wide, "What?"

"He is missing, he checked out a fighter two hours ago, an X-Wing with extra fuel tanks and extra fuel reserves." John reported.

"Really? Well then he could be back?" Galen asked hopefully.

"Impossible, no fighter is to be out of the fighter bay or sensor range for more than two hours. That time has passed." John shook his head in the negative.

"Damn, are you sure that nothing happened on that station?" Galen asked putting an arm on his son and peering directly into his eyes.

"Honestly I cannot be sure either way. As I have said he was out of my sight for five or six minutes. Anything could have happened." John repeated.

"You sure?" Galen asked again.

John sighed guiltily "Actually something I left out of the report, I forgot honest about it, the woman, their leader, said that you killed Death's father."

Galen's eyes widened. "We have to get to the bridge."

"What? Father, it's not true is it?" John asked.

Galen just kept on moving down the hallway.

They got to the bridge and the Captain was looking at his own report. "Ah Commodore we just got orders from Republic Central, we have been reassigned back to the home Galaxy."

"That's good," Galen sounded nonchalant, "you have a fighter out, how could that happen?"

"We are not in combat operations currently, any high ranked officers can request a fighter if any are available." The Captain responded, "don't you know that, you really should read the manual that I let you borrow."

"Yes I should," Galen sighed, "look he is overdue."

"Well we are going to have to call out other forces to do it, the Republic has called us home urgently, and there is nothing more I can do about it." The Captain replied glumly.

"Look it is absolutely vital that we find the pilot." Galen came forward into the room decisively.

"I am sure but there is nothing I can do." The Captain responded hostile.

Galen looked like he wanted to keep up with the argument, but he had to trust, trust that everything would be alright. Trust that his worst fears were unfounded, he wondered if he should warn them, but that would bring out far too much.

The door whooshed behind them and General Maier stepped into the room in full battle dress, he smiled upon seeing the two of them there. "Ah, Captain, Commodore," he bowed his head slightly in friendly greeting, "Lt. Zaun."

"General." The youngest Jedi greeted, he felt tense and puzzled at the events of the day.

"There was a sub code in the communiqué, I have been given my own independent command." The General explained pulling on his sleeves.

"Congratulations," Galen replied not sounding impressed or pleased.

Maier ignored it, "yeah so they need us back there, it's the Eighth division. It comes along with a promotion to Lieutenant General, and a training billet. Apparently Republic Central is getting antsy at the chance of war and they want me to start training the eighth."

"Congratulations General." John nodded, genuinely meaning it, their relationship had become one of mutual, but grudging, respect.

"Thank you Lt." Maier nodded his thanks, and then his eyebrows shot up. "In the meantime though, you have been given temporary command of the Kenobi and her surrounding battle group." The General pointed at Galen.

"Me? Why?" Galen was shocked.

"Because, you have combat experience, that is something we need on the front lines. But believe me it is only temporary and the Captain still has command of the ship itself." Maier explained annoyed.

"I see, when does this take effect?" Galen asked anxiously.

Maier's eyes narrowed. "Upon the transfer of command over Corellia, why?"

"No reason." Galen responded.

"Sure." Maier said, he took a pad from a passing aide and then began to read his reports.

The Jedi Temple.

"Dark and disturbing the events of late have been, discuss them we must." The Grand Master brought the meeting to order.

"The Republic is under attack." The youngest Master, just appointed to the council stated the obvious.

"Yes, but we must be sure of who the aggressors are. This is the greatest mystery of our times, dark and dangerous is the answers before us." The newest Second Master observed.

"Yes, but we have nowhere to begin. Ever since the attack on the Gandrini shipyards the Jedi Order, or Republic Intelligence, has not been able to ascertain any more information on the threat." Another Master brought up.

"Hmmmm, yes dark and disturbing this mystery is. Much still needs to be answered for. Careful and cautious we must be in our pursuit of the truth. End up like the fallen Knights of old, we could be." The Grand Master warned.

The Jedi considered those words solemnly.

"Yes, but now we have a Jedi on a Republic Warship, with a Military commission, running amok through space, away from the council." One of the Masters snorted disdainfully.

A slight chuckle swept its way through the council chambers.

The Grand Master scowled and held up a silencing hand. "Trust Master Zaun I do, in the right place he is. Doubt him we will not, to slander a fellow Master, not the role of this Council. Answers are needed, that is where our focus should be."

The Council chambers instantly fell into a shocked silence.

"But where do we look?" One of the Masters attentively probed.

The Grand Master grunted. "Too early it is to tell, if patient we are, then the answers will reveal themselves."

The Council considered this disturbing fact uneasily, not used to waiting for anything.

An Undisclosed Location.

It was dark, the place they were in was pitch black out to a distance, and only the palest of lights lit his path. He was stumbling over the rocky and uneven terrain. He grunted as he bumped into his Lord and Master in front of him.

His name was Reevax. He was the aide to one of the senior Masters in their little cabal that had formed over the last couple of years to deal with the growing threat of the Republic, and its accompanying changes in ideology and attitude.

They finally made it to their 'seats' mere shelves and rock outcroppings which would have been overlooking a deep pit if it had not been so dark.

He bumped into a dark figure and tried to apologize profusely. He did not know the names of anyone here, other than his master. No one did, until their little club decided to take official action it was decided that secrecy was the key to victory. So no one knew each other, no looks, no sights, no names, just simple numbers in case the Republic captured any of them. In fact they rarely met in one group like this, but this was of the utmost importance.

"Order, order, I am calling this meeting to order!" The voice of number one boomed around the rock chamber silencing the inane chatter still spreading throughout the area. As soon as he was satisfied he continued. "Thank you we are here to discuss the unfolding events of a few of our more junior members who decided to take action into their own hands. Simply Numbers 13 and 6, which resulted in the attack on Lesana, and the Gandrini Yards."

A deadly silence filled the chamber.

"Number five do you have anything to say?" The voice inquired through the dark. Reevax shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Yes, I do my Master." His Master spoke.

"Right." Number one spoke in sarcastic tones, "but the real issue is Number 13, he is the one that attacked Lesana and drew the attention of the Republic in the first place, does anyone care to speak for him?"

Reevax could just imagine the leader casting an unseeing eye around the entire chamber waiting for someone to dare to challenge him.

"Well since that answers that question, it is obvious that his actions were rash and stupid, and-" He was interrupted by a loud grunt.

"Forgive me my Lord," What sounded like the voice of Number Three pierced the night, "but I think stating the obvious and dealing out punishments and slanders after the fact is rather counter productive. What we need to do is debate on how to solve the problem."

"True," Number One mused, "but then with the careless actions of Number Six it has now been revealed that this Organization, whatever it is, has massive resources at its disposal, and those resources pertaining to Gandrini has been neutralized. The Republic would be fools to think that is all that exists, and now we have been set back years because of the loss."

"Moreover," Number two cut in smoothly, "it has been revealed that she leaked her position to the Republic, inviting a Republic attack."

Gasps rippled across the assembled body, as well as cries of shock, shame, anger, and humiliation.

"What do you have to say about this Number five? You and her were friends and knew her well, and also knowing her she would not have allowed herself to be slandered even in death. So tell me her excuses for her fatal blunder?" The Leader asked.

His Master cleared his throat. "There was a reason for her actions."

"Care to enlighten us?" The Leader mocked sarcastically.

"Yes I would," he returned smoothly. "She was looking to smoke the Republic out of hiding-"

"And why would she do this?" Someone interrupted.

His Master closed his eyes trying to calm his nerves, "if you would let me finish I will explain." When no other interruptions happened he continued. "Thank you." He sighed. "She was looking to attain two assets, two assets that could contribute greatly to the war and turn the tide between us and the Republic. She felt it worth the risk exposing herself to obtain these two assets because she knew they would likely be a part of the strike force. And even if Gandrini fell then we could still accelerate the war plans by months."

"Obviously she didn't." An unidentified voice mocked sarcastically.

"Obviously not, her plan backfired." His Master sighed.

"And because of that the Republic now is onto us." The leader moaned, sounding genuinely terrified of the prospect, "her actions were rash and unjustifiable."

"And what assets were these that she was looking for?" Number 15, the most junior member of the group asked.

"I am not at liberty to say." His Master dodged the question.

"Oh really?" The leader asked with a mixture of sarcasm and curiosity, but he plowed forward. "Never the less we were promised that if we joined with your human force, yours and six's, that we would have infinite tactical and strategic experiences. Instead we get set back by years, our most valuable commodities are destroyed, and worst of all the Republic knows that something is up. How then do you propose we deal with this?"

His Master did not have a good answer, feeling frustrated and enraged that he was paying for the sins of his good friend and of someone he barely knew.

"We could run, if the Republic suspects us and is going to discover us we could just retreat, go underground and rebuild until we can strike again." One of the more junior members offered.

A murmur of ascent swept through the assembly.

"No," A female voice spoke decisively. "We must take another route. We are so close to getting our lands and our planets and our property back under control. We are so close to the fight that we cannot abandon it now. with our human support and the near-humans and spies of this Galaxy, everything is in place."

"Well, what then do you suggest? We will not be ready for years and they will likely stumble on us before then!" Number 15 asked pointedly.

"I propose that we lay a series of traps and diversions. That we leak information, on our terms and in our way to keep the Republic busy. Give up a few assets that we can afford to lose, and we will do it in our control and on our terms." The voice explained.

"That is a dangerous game, what if they discover us? You are proposing that we give them information that could lead to our whereabouts?" Number 7 scoffed.

"Yes, it will be information that we can control, and it will be on our terms." The voice pressed.

The Leader pounded his gavel in order to calm people. "We cannot possibly agree to this yet without the support of our other Admirals and other important assets. We need to organize and meet with everyone else in order to come to a proper course of action. We just cannot order this on our loose affiliation, especially since we have not officially organized."

"Then that has to be the purpose of our next meeting," His Master proposed, "to determine the proper organization. Meanwhile we will start planning out our next operation of subterfuge."

"Meeting adjourned." The Leader snapped.

Several minutes later when they were safe Reevax decided to ask, his Pad full of notes. "Do you think it can work?"

"I don't know, it's certainly ambitious. But I think it's the best hope we have if we are to push the Republic and reclaim our lands, and that of our fathers. Come we have lots of work to do." His Master took him by the shoulder and led him to the door.