Chapter Three
"In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the First...Galactic...Empire, for a safe and secure society…" Aramis found himself growing ill as he stared at the holoscreen. Supreme Chancellor...no, the self-proclaimed Emperor, was giving an emergency address to the Senate. It was being broadcast on all Holonet channels, without exception. Commander Yen stood next to him at the bar, a dismayed expression on his face. Kylta and the Mon Calamari pilot sat at a table behind him. Since they had begun their journey Aramis had spoke to the Mon Calamari briefly. He had learned her name was Akawa, and she had been flying for the Jedi only for a few years. Kylta had her hands covering her mouth in a state of ongoing shock; Akawa sat with an unreadable, emotionless expression on her face. Aramis took it for her species version of shock that was playing on on everyone else's faces.
They had arrived at this tavern after descending from the landing pad where they had abandoned their transport, bypassing the main levels and going as far down as the turbolift would take them. The bar sat on the edge of a precipice, a great chasm between the foundations of two enormous city blocks. It was filled with citizens of almost every species you could think of, most of them wearing plain attire. Typically, this far below the average surface level of the city, Aramis and the others would be more worried about half sentient cannibalistic cthon or predatory duracrete slugs than current events. But this close to the Jedi Temple and the Senate Rotunda, most of that unpleasantness had been cleared out. Especially since the beginning of the Clone Wars when security had been heightened.
"By bringing the entire galaxy under one law, one language, and the enlightened guidance of one individual, the corruption that plagued the Republic in its later years will never take root…" Palpatine continued. His voice boomed throughout the tavern, despite the volume on the holovid screens not being even close to maxed out. Every being in the tavern, even the most politically ignorant, were dead silent.
"I've heard enough," Aramis said, turning away from the bar. He sported a fresh bandage on his forehead after Kylta had pulled bits of durasteel out of his forehead. Although the wound had finally stopped bleeding Aramis' headache had not yet faded. He wasn't sure if that was due to his injury or Palpatine's speech.
He pushed his way through the crowd and out of the tavern, arriving on a small walkway with a rusty durasteel guardrail. The walkway overlooked a neighborhood hundreds of meters below situated in the canyon-like space between the huge foundational blocks that supported the cityscape above. The ground between the blocks were covered in tenement housing, structures cobbled together on top of each other like the hive of some kind of insect. Off in the distance, hazy through the fog that permeated the lower levels, Aramis thought he could see the stark wall marking the foundation of the Jedi Temple.
He heard footsteps coming from behind him and felt a hand on his shoulder. "I can sense that you've come to a decision, although you might not realize it yourself," Yen said.
"I didn't think you were strong enough in the Force to read the emotions of others," Aramis said.
"I don't need the Force to read your body language. You can't give in to anger in a misguided attempt at vengeance."
"I don't think such an attempt would be misguided, but I do know it would be unsuccessful," Aramis said, sighing in resignation. "You heard him in the speech…'Our loyal clone troopers contained the insurrection within the Jedi Temple...The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated.' They are going to try and wipe the Jedi Order from the galaxy, and from history."
"They won't succeed," Yen said.
"They will if nobody tries to stop them," Aramis said, shaking his head. He saw the concerned look on his mentor's face and made to cut off his next argument. "I'm not talking about vengeance, I'm talking about preservation. Despite what Palpatine says, I can't believe that he has eliminated the entire Jedi Order in a single day. There have to be a few Jedi left out there, we need save as much as we can from destruction."
"How would we accomplish that?" Yen asked.
"The foundations of the Jedi Temple are there," Aramis said, pointing towards the wall in the distance. "We can't save everything, not with an army of Clone Troopers surrounding the place. But I would be willing to bet the Clones don't know every way inside of that place. Not like we do."
"And what do we do once we get inside? We wouldn't be able access the vaults, even under normal circumstances."
"Remember what we found at Koruf's apartment? Palpatine's office was shipping artifacts back to the Temple. Palpatine knew he would soon be taking the Temple, all the better to capture as much of the Order's stuff as possible in the process."
"I think you're right."
"So let's get inside and take as much back out with us as we can. If we hurry we can get there while the Senate is still busy with Palpatine's emergency session."
Yen nodded, "Let's do it." They re-entered the tavern, finding that Palpatine had concluded his speech. Applause from the Senate was still echoing throughout the room from the vidscreens. Nobody in the establishment was joining in with the Senate's applause. Aramis spotted Akawa and Kylta still sitting at the table and pushed his way over to them.
"Let's go," he said, lightly placing his hand on Kylta's shoulder.
"We're going to have to get offworld," she said, a worried expression on her face.
"Not yet. There is something we have to do first," Aramis said. "We have to go to the Temple."
oOoOo
It was an even shorter trip to the Temple than Aramis had anticipated, the distance disguised by the damp fog that permeated the underlevels. But it was a winding route to get there, filled with walkways crossing the chasm that seemed ready to fall into the depths, staircases covered in slick moss, and the stares of the inhabitants as they ran past.
As they got closer to the enormous monolithic structure Aramis began to fill a bit odd. He felt lighter on his feet. His headache began to vanish. He had once been told that the Temple had been built on a nexus of Force energy, but he had never been allowed to venture down and see it for himself.
The group stood before an enormous wall of white stone, the foundation of the Temple rising above them like a mountain. The decay of the cities' underlevels had ignored the Temple walls, leaving it more or less pristine. Aramis stepped from a duracrete walkway that wound its way around the artificial construction of the the city and onto Coruscant's natural ground for the first time in his life. His foot pressed down into the earth, which was covered in moss.
"This is the base of the temple?" Akawa asked, placing her hand against the stone wall.
"This is the outer wall of the base," Yen answered. "In ancient times the original temple was built on top of a mountain, and the city rose up around it. This wall was built around the Temple and then later was reinforced in order to support the ziggurat and the rest of the structure above."
"We need to find an entrance," Aramis said, circumventing the history lesson.
"There should be an outflow pipe somewhere along here," Yen said. They walked along the wall, their feet occasionally slipping in the moss. Eventually they came to a pipe just as Yen had predicted, which mostly consisted of a hole in the foundation that allowed moisture to flow out and away from the Temple instead of seeping into the ground.
The opening was just big enough to allow each of them inside, one at a time. Ring-like gaps in the stone allowed them a foothold, and up they climbed. A half an hour later they had exited the pipe and rose into what appeared to be a catacomb, a series of tunnels and rooms branching off in various directions. They activated small glow lamps which they pulled from their utility belts, bringing light into the inky dark. They slowly passed through the halls until they passed an empty bench made of stone. Aramis suddenly realized this level had once been an open air courtyard.
"Look," Kylta said. Aramis followed her gaze towards the center of the courtyard, where a withered tree still stood. It's bark was white, and there were still leaves upon its branches. Akawa stayed behind, apparently fearful of the tree, while the three marginally Force sensitive security officers approached.
Stone circles were set in the ground around the roots of the tree, which still appeared to be alive, despite the lack of light . "How is this possible?" Aramis asked.
"It's kept alive by the Force," Yen said. He gazed longingly at the meditation stones until Aramis prodded him.
"We have to keep moving," he reminded the older man. They left the tree behind and kept moving until they found a wide set of stairs that led them upwards. As they ascended the steps they finally caught a glimpse of the first light that wasn't being reflected back at them by their own glow lamps. A pair of lights set within crystalline matrixes stood beside a thick heavy door at the very top of the steps. The wall around them rose upwards for hundreds of meters. They had finally arrived at a turbolift.
"This should take us to the utility levels," Yen said. He found a mechanical keypad next to the door, carved out of the stone wall. Yen paused, his wrinkled hand hovering over the keys, his eyes closed as he tried to immerse himself in the Force. After a moment he quickly pressed five of the keys in quick succession. Steam hissed from the lift as the doors came to life, bits of rust falling off of them as they rumbled apart. The four of them entered the lift and pressed a button on the inside, next to the doors. The doors reversed and rumbled to a close, and up they went.
"Did the Force speak to you, or did you just get lucky?" Aramis asked, a smile on his face.
"A bit of both perhaps. This lift uses the same code as the one that lets you up to the top of Tranquility Spire," he answered, referring to the tallest tower on top of the center of the Temple ziggurat. "The same code that takes you to the top lets you down to the bottom."
"How very Jedi," Akaway murmured. The lift vibrated unsteadily as it slowed. The doors rumbled apart and they emerged at last into the modern part of the Temple, albeit its lowest inhabited level.
Aramis glanced around, finding that they were surrounded by steam vents, energy conduit cabling, and the blinking lights of the computers that managed it all. "Looks like the first utility level," he announced. They carefully navigated their way through the maze of piping and vents until they reached another set of stairs leading onto a main concourse.
Aramis and Kylta peered carefully around the corners, finding them empty. The halls still smelled of smoke and fire, although there was no signs of battle on this floor. "We need to get to a security room so we can find out where the Clone troopers are and find a route to one of the hangars," Aramis said. The others followed his lead as they wound their way through the halls. Each time they approached a corner they would cautiously check to make sure the way was clear. They only had a short way to go when they heard the sound of dozens of footsteps approaching.
Aramis ducked backward into an aclove in the corridor. The others hid behind the column behind him. Up ahead a squad of clones hurried past. "Two intruders on the main level. They're Jedi," one of the troopers was saying. "Squad ten en route."
"What did he say?" Akawa asked, who was hidden a few meters further away.
"It seems that a couple of Jedi are assaulting the Clone troopers," Yen answered.
"We have to help them," Kylta said, preparing to emerge from behind the column and attack the troopers who were hurrying towards the main level.
"No," Aramis said, holding her back. "The Jedi will have to take care of themselves. We need to use this distraction to do what we came for."
"He is right," Yen said. "We won't do the Jedi any good if we get ourselves killed." After the sound of the troopers faded they emerged from their hiding spots and resumed their passage through the halls.
Eventually they passed by a corridor that led to one of the dormitory levels. The floor was was littered with bodies belonging to Clone and Jedi alike, leading up to a blue doorway that had been blown open with explosives. Aramis and Kylta paused, both of them realizing that behind the twisted metal of the blue door was the dormitory level they had both grown up in as children.
They slowly gravitated towards the doorway until Commander Yen spotted them. "We don't have time for this," he called. "We have to keep moving."
"He's right," Aramis said, glancing at Kylta. She had her fists clenched, and tears were streaming down her face. She turned towards him, threatening to fall apart. He wrapped his arms around her and enveloped her in a gentle hug.
"I can't believe this has happened," she began. She pulled away from him suddenly, sadness briefly turning to anger. "All of our friends..."
"That's why we have to succeed," Aramis said, doing his very best to keep his own emotions in check.
"Right," she nodded. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "They're counting on us now." Together they turned away from the damaged entrance to the dormitory and joined Commander Yen.
"There is a security station up ahead," he announced as the moved on. Akawa, who had been keeping watch while the others lingered, motioned them onwards. Aramis took up the rear, his staff in hand, renewed determination on his face.
