Asakura Chronicles
"Oooookay! Almost..." Tom muttered to himself, using the Force to carefully putting the shattered shards of glass from the broken window back together. While that was happening, Padme placed another vase with the bouquet of flowers she brought on the small table that's between Anakin's and Ahsoka's hospital beds while the both of them just lay down their beds.
"I thought you were at a conference that was being held at Mandalor" Anakin said to Padme, looking at her with a very grim look on his face
"That's already been taken care of about two days ago. When I got back from it, Master Kenobi came and told me you and Ahsoka were in the hospital, so I rushed in as quickly as I could" Padme replied
"Couldn't you... take your time on back at Mandalor? You know... visit the sites and such. And since your such good friends with Duchess Satine, you guys could easily find a nice place to have an all girls night out. So why don't you go back to Mandalor or Naboo and..."
"Anakin Jacen Skywalker! Are you trying to get rid of me?" Padme interrupted, putting her hands on her hips and gave him a look that said: "Well? What do YOU have to say for yourself?"
"Uhhh... well first of all, no I'm not! I'm trying to make sure that you're somewhere safe for awhile. And second, I really wish you wouldn't call me by my whole name. Especially when Ahsoka and that nut job by the window are around" He whispered
"This nut job over here can hear you and your conversation pretty clearly, Jacen" Tom said, teasing Anakin who's make a angry grunting noise
"Anakin!" Padme snapped at him
"But he started it!"
"I don't care who started it! You're hospitalized and you shouldn't even be moving or arguing! And another thing... I can call you whatever I want... my little, sweet baboo"
"GROAN! Really? That's the best you could come up with?"
"I kinda like it" Tom said, standing in front of the end of Anakin's bed
"Shouldn't you be fixing a window?" Anakin said, sounding not pleased to see or hear Tom
"Already finished it. So anyway, I think that name suits you Anakin. It's so stupid, it's cute. A perfect description of you. You have a stupid attitude, yet a cute personality" Tom said smiling, while Anakin took a long stare at him and was gripping on his hospital blanket
"Oh that's right. I meant to say that name suits you, Jacen"
"Okay, when I get out of this hospital, I will grab a hold of you and..." He was interrupted by Padme who started whispering softly and few minutes passed, she moved away from him. Anakin looked at her with disbelief, taking in her words that she whispered (words that will continue to remain a mystery) and looked at Tom, changing his angry look on his face into a smile.
"...and give you a big hug to show you how thankful we are to you for helping me and Ahsoka. Really Tom... thank you. Your a swell guy!" Anakin said, showing a creepy smile while showing his teeth. As for Tom and Ahsoka, they open their mouth's, shocked and somewhat disappointed in hearing that while Padme blissfully smiles.
"What just happened? Did that just happened?! Please tell me that this isn't happening!" Ahsoka said. Through this entire time, she was watching the argument between, Anakin, Padme and Tom, actually enjoying the small little comedy and didn't wanted it to stop
"Believe me I am just as confused as you are" Tom replied
/
"So about the meeting..." Tom said while he and Padme were both sitting on a stool while Anakin and Ahsoka patiently sat up and quietly listened
"Senator... you have heard of the recent murders that involved accomplished Jedi, like..." Tom grabbed out of his pocket metal holo circle and pressed a button on it, showing a image of Saesee Tinn choking Atai Molec to death. "...the murder of Zygerria's prime minister at the hands of Master Tinn. And I'm sure your already aware of the murder of Senator Aang"
"I'm aware of them" Padme replied
"Let me ask you something else now before we go any further. Do you truly believe that the Jedi were involved in any of those murders?" Tom asked
"It's true that some of us from the Senate feels a bit distrust among the Jedi Order, even long before the Clone War began and is one of the reasons why some of the Senators left the Republic and became members of the Separaritists. But I truly believe if there is one Jedi I can trust with no doubt in my mind, then I think they have the right to prove their innocence" She said showing a small glimpse of her smile to Anakin who smiles back
"I see. Well then luckily for you, I have some good news, sort of good but kind of bad news and bad news. The good news is..." Tom pressed another button on the holo circle and showed another image of the holo droids the Jedi fought a few days ago. Then, it showed a recording of Anakin and Ahsoka fighting the droids that were disguised as themselves. Finally, it showed another recording of Tom using the droid poppers to show down the droids holographic disguises.
"We discovered that the Jedi who murdered those people were actually droids using holographic technology to disguise themselves as Jedi. We were skeptical at first and were wondering if the clues that led to this were accurate so they sent me to investigate. And with the technological support and knowledge of Master Kazdan Paratus and with some unnecessary help..." Tom said, turning his attention to Anakin and Ahsoka who innocently smiles.
"He is not gonna let that go, is he?" Anakin rolls his eyes as the thought pops into his head.
"I was able to prove that our theory was right. We took both droids to the temple for further examining and found something... unique" Tom stopped and pressed a button again on the holo circle, showing a holographic image of a familiar insignia. The Confederacy of Independent Systems insignia.
"You found this on those droids?! So all this time the Separatists were behind those attacks?!" Anakin asked.
"But there's something that doesn't make sense" Ahsoka mentions. "If it's true that the holographic droids were working under the Separatists and that they were responsible for the deaths that were blamed by the Jedi, then why did they kill the Prime Minister from Zygerria? Atai Molec and Zygerria allied themselves with the Confederacy so why kill a high official of one of their allies?"
"Well, actually..." The two Jedi got their attention grabbed by Padme while Tom keeps his eyes on her, not letting them off of her from the beginning of the conversation. "...about a month after the Jedi rescued the Togurta colonists of Kiros and founded the dead body of Queen Miraj Scintel, the people of Zygerria first blamed the Jedi and Republic for the murder. But after further investigation, they discovered that Scintel was murdered by Count Dooku. So after learning this, Zygerria immediately distrusted Dooku, along with the Confederacy. Though, they were worried about how the Separatists but how mostly Dooku would react, so Atai Molec secretly let himself get captured by Republic troops led by General Tinn so he could discuss on leaving the Confederacy for the Republic"
"However that never happened since he was murdered by one of the droids that disguised itself as Master Tinn, sent by Count Dooku" Tom finished. Anakin was stunned at all of this. Zygerria planning to join the Republic? Betrayed by Dooku? There are a lot of things Anakin is learning right now, making him wonder what else the Republic and the Jedi Order has been hiding.
"And somehow, the video that showed Molec's death was aired all over Zygerria and in a matter of days, they declined the idea of joining the Republic and went back with the Separatists. Kind of a coincidence, don't you think?" Padme asked.
"Too big of a coincidence. Dooku could easily have one of the higher ups in Zygerria or have someone sneak the video in to play it and show the people what Dooku wanted them to see. Kill two birds with one stone. It's no different when they killed Senator Aang" Tom said
"Remember why he was being under protection? A certain Sith Lord was sending threatening messages to the Senator so after hearing this, Chancellor Palptine decided it was best to keep him nearby on Courscant. Seems like we were wrong about that too. They got rid of Aang, put the blame on the Jedi by disguising the droid as Master Secura and resulted with a shakey relationship between the Senate and the Jedi. So... anyone ready for the bad news?" Tom continued
"Oh, lucky us! More fantastic news" Anakin said in a sarcastic tone
"Hardly. If you thought that other stuff was bad enough, just listen to this..." Tom stopped and turned around to see the door, to see if anyone was peeking through it. He got up and looked at the other hospital beds that was in the room to check if anyone else is here. He then went to the door to make it slide open if someone was listening to their conversation. Finally, Tom walked pass Padme and closed the window curtains, taking almost all the light in the room and sat back down on stool. His eyes were then on Anakin, then on Ahsoka, to Padme, back to Anakin and finally back to Padme. In quiet, hushed voice he spoke:
"We believe that the Separatists droid factory that created the holographic using droids is somewhere hidden... on Courscant"