Innocents of Ryloth
Scene 5
Beneath the roof of a partially blasted-out structure inside Nabat's precincts.
The domed pagoda made a perfect command center. It was set on a gentle swell of land, a plinth on the center of a park area, which provided good visibility in every direction and sufficient shelter for the relatively delicate comm. equipment. Cody and Wolley had returned from their recon expedition well in advance of 1620 hours…and they had bad news.
"We found the guns," the clone commander said, pointing into the glowing hologrammatic tactical display. "They're in the courtyard here and here." He indictaed a wide circular area, an agora intended for commerce or perhaps political convocations. It was accessible only by traversing the mazelike streets built between the walls of the canyon – potential ambush around every bend. "But there's a complication,"Cody continued, pausing for dramatic emphasis.
A complication beyond the labyrinth of twisting alleys and thoroughfares, Obi Wan amended mentally. Cody had unconsciously adopted the system of private code words he and Anakin had developed over the years. A problem meant bad trouble, while a complication meant very, very bad trouble. He supposed he ought to be grateful that this did not qualiy as a situation, which would indicate unbelievably desperate, ridiculous trouble.
"They've taken the locals hostage and are using them as living shields," Cody revealed. His voice was grim.
So. Once again the Separatists had the advantage because they were willing to break all the rules of engagement, and because they knew that no Jedi general would sacrifice innocent lives to achieve military victory. Obi Wan sighed and crossed his arms. A faint flutter of present danger brushed against his Force awareness; on reflex, he reached out in his mind to their surroundings, casting about for its source – but his intuition discovered nothing, no sentient mind besides that of the easily recognizable clones.' His eyes narrowed. Recon droid. Probably a small probe hovering nearby. It might even be on the roof, for all he knew. His hand strayed automatically to his saber hilt, but then he reconsidered.
"The Twi'Leks presence will make this difficult but not impossible," he declared in a slightly raised voice. "I still have a good plan for taking out those guns."
Cody and the tall blue image of Mace Windu, present at the conference via hologram, waited expectantly for him to elaborate. They would have to be disappointed. Were Mace here in person, he would instantly comprehend the reason. The presence of a probe unit meant that his words – all their words – would be reported back to the Separatist command. Obi Wan had tried several times already to sense the enemy leader in the Force, and all he had discovered was that same peculiar nothingness left in the world by artificial, cybernetic personalities. Tambor must have put one of his sophisticated tactical droids in charge. Within minutes, possibly even now if the recon unit was outfitted with a live feed, that tactical droid would know the name of the Republic General leading the attack, and would be downloading a no doubt hefty file on the aforesaid person. Obi Wan imagined that his own file read something like "Infamous pest. Known for deceptive maneuvers. Shoot on sight." But he could turn that expectation to his own advantage.
"Assume nothing," he murmured.
"Pardon, sir?" Cody asked, slightly baffled.
"Getting the villagers out of harm's way is our first priority," Mace Windu said. "I have faith in you, General Kenobi," he added before his hologram blinked out.
Obi Wan shut down the tactical display as well. It was good that he had the other Jedi master's implicit trust, because his brilliant plan was simply to outmaneuver the droid by once again doing the unexpected: using outright aggression rather than deception. The droid's complex strategic projection theorems would predict a ruse, a la Kenobi. Accordingly, to stay ahead of the game, his "ruse" would be to employ no such trickery at all – just bold improvisation, a la Skywalker. Or Jinn. He suppressed a mischievous smile. A Jedi was allowed – on occasion – to play dirtier than dirty.
"Cody, we'll go in with everything we have," he announced. "We must clear those hostages."