Chapter 128: Deception

All warfare is based on deception.

Recap: A terrorist threat! Moralo Eval, mastermind of a Separatist plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine, has been captured by Republic forces! But even with the criminal behind bars, rumors swirl in the underworld of Coruscant that Moralo's plot has already been set in motion... With precious time running out, the Jedi Council hatches their own plot to keep the Chancellor safe.

In the streets of Coruscant, Obi-wan, Anakin, Storm, Twilight, and Ahsoka were all taking a walk. After their recent capture of criminal Morale Eval, they wondered what to do about their foes' plan to kidnap the Chancellor.

"So what's the big rush?" asked Storm.

"The Jedi Council has called an emergency meeting," said Obi-wan as he called all four to take a walk after just getting out of the long meeting being held for all members of the Council. Storm and Twilight could see the meeting was long, based on Celestia and Luna looking slightly exhausted when they left.

"I can see it now. Another long, boring debate," said Anakin.

"Would you rather they call you in to train younglings?" scoffed Ahsoka to her teacher.

"Are you crazy?" chuckled Anakin as he found both options to suck.

As they were walking, someone was shown on the roof behind them. The person had a sniper in hand as he looked through the scope and saw the group. He aimed and took a few seconds to steady himself as he pulled the trigger.

"Watch out!" said Storm as his Jedi senses went off.

The shot hit near the Jedi's feet, and they all immediately took cover behind several objects.

"Any idea where that shot came from?" called out Obi-wan.

"A sniper. I see him up there!" said Ahsoka as she peeked at the rooftop where the person was.

They quickly turned and ran.

"All right, here's the plan. Anakin, you flank him on the right. Storm, you flank him on the left. Ahsoka and Twilight, you two cover the lower streets. I'm going after him." said Obi-wan as he relayed the plan to the group.

They all nodded as they turned their lightsabers on. The girls ran ahead between the buildings to cover the lower section as the rest jumped upward; Obi-wan jumped to the building the sniper was still on as Storm and Anakin were on the rooftop of the buildings next to him.

The trio immediately took cover when they jumped onto the roofs as the sniper saw them and fired at them in rapid succession. He kept moving as the Jedi got out from their cover and ran on their respective roofs to track the sniper, keeping him in their line of sight. Obi-wan jumped over some debris and quickly took cover behind a fan.

"I lost him!" said Anakin as he didn't see the sniper.

"Obi-Wan, do you have anything?" Storm asked as he didn't see the person.

The sniper was on another roof as he aimed and had his blaster ready. Obi-wan heard his friends on his comlink as he brought his lightsaber close to his chest and closed his eyes. The Jedi Master gave a deep breath as he popped out of his cover and was out in the open. He looked around as the sniper took his shot and pulled the trigger. It hit Obi-wan in the chest as he fell off the roof. He landed next to the girls on a pile of boxes and barrels as he crashed through them.

"Obi-Wan!" shouted Storm and Anakin as they saw their friend fall from a great height after getting shot in the chest.

"We got him. Go!" shouted Ahsoka to the pair up top as she and Twilight were attending to him.

The pair saw the sniper running on the roof he was on as they jumped to where he was. They began to give chase as the sniper got to his speeder where it was and hopped on. As he was starting to pick up speed, he fired up the engines and dropped a smoke bomb; it went off just as the pair ran by it. They coughed as they were surrounded by the smoke as the speeder managed to escape.

The duo then turned back to where the girls were. They dropped as they found Ahsoka and Twilight holding Obi-wan's body. People nearby gathered as they saw what happened as sirens were closing in.

"How is he?" asked Anakin when they dropped.

Ahsoka looked at the pair with a sad look. Twilight shook her head as she tried to hold back the tears forming.

"No. No!" shouted Storm.

"Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan?" shouted Anakin as he approached his teacher and put his hands on his shoulder, trying to wake him up.

"Obi-Wan!" yelled Storm and Anakin as their voices echoed.

In the Jedi Temple, a ceremony was being held. After failing to wake up their friend, it was confirmed by the surgeons that Obi-wan was dead. The Jedi High Council was now holding a funeral for their fellow brethren as everyone had gathered and wore their Jedi cloaks over their heads to pay respects. Padme and Satine were present for this occasion, with the latter holding her mouth as she couldn't believe the person she was in love with was dead.

The body of Obi-wan was shown as it had a sheet over it. Standing at the front of the body were Anakin and Storm as they wore their Jedi cloak. The pair have grim expressions as they lost a close friend of theirs. Twilight stood next to her partner as she wore her cloak over her head, the girl sensing what he must be going through after losing such a friend. She could relate; she felt the way when Storm died and sacrificed himself to save her. She knew that feeling all too well.

The princess had her hand silently grab Storm's as the boy felt it. He could feel Twilight's warmth as he knew she was trying to ease some of his pain. It worked, as Storm could feel some of his anger being relieved.

"I'm worried about Anakin. He hasn't said a word since it happened," whispered Ahsoka as she stood next to Master Plo on the opposite side.

Some somber music played as the body was lowered into the tomb, and it closed. A light shot out in the middle as everyone remained silent. Anakin looked hurt and angry, knowing he had lost another person he valued in his life. His teacher, his master, and, more importantly, a person he viewed as a brother. The anger showed on his face as he swore to get revenge on the person who killed Obi-wan.

Speaking of said person, a bar in one of the slums of Coruscant was shown. The bounty hunter who shot Obi-wan entered as he had his helmet off and approached the bar.

"What's your pleasure?" asked the bartender as he saw the bounty hunter taking a seat.

"Shot of your finest," smiled the man.

"So what's the big deal?" asked a woman who got interested after hearing that and sat closer next to him.

"I'm celebrating. The death of a Jedi," said the man as he downed his drink before turning in his stool to shout out, "I killed Obi-Wan Kenobi!"

The patrons heard his decree as they gave some cheers, knowing that a Jedi had fallen.

The following morning, Master Yoda, Windu, Luna, and Celestia were shown walking together in the Jedi Temple. The four were on their way as they began to talk. Luna and Celestia sensing their old master, was deep in thought, as evident by his expression.

"Having second thoughts, Master Yoda?" asked Luna.

"Hmm, heading down a dark path, we are."

"We talked about this. Killing a Jedi was the best move we had," stated Windu.

"Let's hope it was the wisest one we made," spoke Celestia.

"Hmm," responded Yoda.

The four made it to their destination as they entered. They made it to a medical lab; as they approached one of the blinds, Windu used his head to move it to the side. Sitting there on a bed, with a medical droid checking his vitals, was Obi-wan Kenobi. Alive and in the flesh. The Jedi Master smiled as he saw the four.

"So, how was my funeral?" asked the Jedi.

"A better performance than you, your corpse gave," trolled Yoda with his response.

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Obi-wan.

"He means you weren't convincing when you got shot," translated Luna bluntly to her friend. "Even I could have given a better performance than you, Kenobi."

"I fell from the top of a building. I could have killed myself," responded Obi-wan, trying to get Luna to cut him some slack for not being a good actor.

"The Great Obi-wan Kenobi gets taken out by a simple thug with a blaster who got a lucky shot," mocked Celestia, trying to downplay her friend's response.

"Survived worse, you have. Young Skywalker knows this," said Yoda.

"I took the vitals suppressor as instructed. I was dead to the world when Anakin moved my body. There's no way he could know I was alive." said Obi-wan as he had ejected it into his arm the moment he was shot and fell off the building, knowing full well that by the time Anakin and Storm would return, his body would be suppressed to make them think he was dead.

"Not know. But sense, he will, that something is not right," responded Yoda.

"Keeping Anakin on the outside was critical. Everyone knows how close we are," replied Obi-wan, as he knew that if Anakin was in the loop of their plan, it would make things much more difficult. "It was his reaction that sold the sniper. I'm sure of it."

"What's done is done. We need to get your transformation underway," said Windu.

"Well, time for a shave!" said Obi-wan.

"About time. I always figured the beard was getting too long and messy," joked Luna. "I'm thinking of a buzzcut, maybe a mohawk, something to make you look young despite being an old man."

Obi-wan took offense to what Luna said.

"Well, we can't all be like you, Luna!" retorted the Jedi.

"Indeed, Obi-wan. Not everyone can be like my sister and me. Having magnificent hair, still looking young and beautiful despite our age." trolled Celestia as she did a hair flip to emphasize her point.

"Tell me about my target," said Obi-wan as he wanted to move on from this conversation about him being old and being tag-teamed by Luna and Celestia for mocking how they remained beautiful and young despite them all being relatively close in age.

"His name is Moralo Eval. Works directly for Count Dooku," said Windu as he showed the image to Obi-wan, who was having his head slowly shaved off by the medical droid.

"Rumor is their plot will be hatched in three revolutions at the festival on Naboo," said Luna.

"We tried to make a deal with Morale for more details, but he was... uncooperative," stated Celestia.

"Any details that might help me gain his trust while in prison?" asked Obi-wan as the droid moved to his beard.

"Eval killed his mother when he was only a boy. Told the authorities he did it because he was bored," stated Windu.

"Hmm, I'll try not to bore him," responded Obi-wan as the droid finished shaving off the rest of the hair on his face.

"Not a game is this, Obi-Wan. The risks, great they are," spoke Yoda.

"Yes, and so are the rewards," said Obi-wan as he was fully shaved off his beard and hair and began to feel his face and skin.

"Now you look like you did when you were Qui-gon's Padawan," Luna joked.

"Besides preventing Eval from abducting the Chancellor, he could lead us to Grievous and possibly Dooku himself," said Obi-wan as he moved on from Luna's comment, clearly showing where Storm got his sense of humor from.

"Facial transformation program loaded," said the medical droid to the Jedi as the screen in front showed the image of the bounty hunter who shot him.

"I take it there's no way to have the Chancellor pull out of the festival?" asked Obi-wan as he began to lie down on the bed.

"No. See it as a sign of weakness, he would," responded Yoda.

"Sign of weakness. Wouldn't want that," sighed Obi-wan as he prepared himself for what was about to happen.

"Just lie down, and it'll all be over soon," trolled Celestia as she patted his forehead with a sinister smile, as did Luna.

A droid then grabbed Obi-wan's head, holding him in place. A needle then appeared as it was injected into his neck. The nanotechnology inside the needle then began to take effect.

"Transformation initiated," said the droid.

Obi-wan was now groaning and yelling as the nanotechnology was affecting him. He was spazzing out as he clutched his head and rolled about as Luna, Celestia, and Windu were contemplating holding him down to let the transformation finish. But soon, it stopped as Obi-wan sat up and clutched his face. He slowly brought them down as his face was revealed to be different. He now had the face of the bounty hunter that shot him.

In the cantina the bounty hunter was in, he was still there when a servant droid was walking toward him.

"This cantina is a bust. Do you want to go to the next one?" asked the woman next to the man.

"Rako Hardeen'?" asked the droid as he approached the man.

"Who wants to know?" said the bounty hunter.

"Your employer has your payment. Please follow me, " said the droid as he began walking away with Rako.

"Round for the house!" stated Rako as he dropped some coins on the bar counter and got some cheers from the patrons.

"This way," said the droid as they walked down a hallway and stopped at a room, "Inside if you please."

The bounty hunter entered the door, closing it behind him as the droid walked away.

"Well done, Mr. Hardeen. You did precisely the job we hired you for," said someone sitting in the shadows on a chair as their face was barely visible, "We have your credits right here. But first, we need one more thing..."

The figure then stood up and out of the shadow into the light. It was revealed to be Obi-wan as he had the exact face of Rako.

"Your clothes," said the Jedi Master.

"What the..." said the bounty hunter as he was taken aback by what he saw.

He backed up in horror when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Windu as Luna and Celestia appeared from the shadows behind him. The bounty hunter was now in trouble and fear of being in a room full of Jedi Masters, with one of them having his face.

Hovering through the slums of Coruscant, Anakin, Storm, Ahsoka, and Twilight were in their speeders as they were heading somewhere. Master Yoda informed that they had located the person who shot Obi-wan, but they didn't say how they found him. Which was suspicious for both girls.

"I still don't understand. Did Master Yoda say how they found the sniper?" asked Ahsoka.

"No. And that's what is suspicious. They tell us the location but don't bother to tell us the process of how they found him. It seems... fishy." stated Twilight as she wrapped her brain around it.

"Who cares. All that matters is they did," shouted Anakin as he wasn't thinking about being logical, but with his anger and feelings on getting his hands on the person who killed his mentor.

"Remember, we're here to take him in. Not kill him," stressed Storm to Anakin about that important fact, knowing how his anger was starting to affect him.

The two were seated next to each other as they glared before diving downward. As the group was making their way to the location, the four Jedi Masters were continuing on with their plan. Luna and Celestia had managed to tie up Rako as Windu sat on the bed before him and talked.

"So I took off in my speeder, and then I got a ride here. That's it," said the bounty hunter as he was being honest with the Jedi.

"Keep talking. Into this," said Windu as he pulled out a voice emulator droid.

"This is stupid! Confessing to a murder I didn't even do!" said Hardeen, as technically, with Obi-wan being alive, he was right that he didn't commit murder and was, therefore, technically innocent.

"Oh, but you did... For all intents and purposes, Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead. And that certainly was your intention." responded the Jedi Master as he appeared, now in Rako's clothes. "How do I look?"

"Like a criminal," responded Windu. "Should buy you all the credibility you need in prison."

"Look, I don't know what you guys are up to, but..." spoke Rako.

"Do we have enough recording?" asked Obi-wan.

"I believe so," stated Windu as he stood up.

Celestia approached Rako as she leaned over and put her hands on her knees, looking at the man tied up in front of her.

"Now, for being such a good boy and helping a girl with her needs. You get a special reward," said Celestia with a smile and a bit of seductiveness in her voice, "We appreciate your cooperation, but... it's you go to sleep now."

The Jedi Master waved her hand in front of Rako's face as he put his head down on her command and was fast asleep.

"Men... so easy to influence," said Celestia as she worked her feminine charm.

"So how does this vocal emulator work?" asked Obi-wan as he looked at the small thing in Windu's hand.

"Well, you swallow it," replied the Jedi with an uneasy smile.

"I was afraid you'd say that," said Obi-wan as he grabbed the droid, which sprouted legs that would be attaching and crawling in his throat the second he put it in his mouth.

"Well, there's always the alternate, Obi-wan. We could always shove it down your throat," mocked Luna with a smile.

"I'll take my chances," said Obi-wan, as he didn't want Luna, of all people, to shove the thing into his mouth.

"Don't worry. Your gag reflexes will kick in to prevent you from fully swallowing it. Just remember to turn the other way in case you vomit. Wouldn't want to mess up our beautiful and lovely hair, now would we?" said Celestia as she trolled once more.

Obi-wan sighed as he took a deep breath and injected the droid with legs into his mouth. As mentioned by Celestia, his gag reflexes kicked as the droid crawled around in his throat before it latched on, and he ceased.

"What an odd sensation," said Obi-wan, "It will take some getting used to."

When he spoke his second sentence, his voice had now transformed to match Rako's as if he were him.

"That's a luxury you don't have," said Windu, as this was their best course of action.

"I hope this works," said Obi-wan(Rako).

As they stepped through the door, the Jedi made it to the bar where Rako was. All had serious looks as Anakin pulled out and turned his lightsaber on. Storm saw that as he felt he might have to get involved and stop his friend from doing something regrettable. The patrons turned their attention in the direction of the Jedi, especially to Anakin, who had his weapon out.

"Where is Rako Hardeen?" demanded Anakin.

"Ah... back room," said the bartender, as he didn't want any trouble with the Jedi.

The four walked through the floor and entered a hallway leading to several rooms. They opened a door, and inside, lying on the bed facing the window, was Rako.

"Is he dead?" asked Ahsoka as they entered.

"He's about to be," growled Anakin as he punched his fist, indicating what he was gonna do.

He was about to approach the bounty hunter and strangle him when Storm stood before him and glared. The look alone reminded him that their mission was to take him in alive, not kill. Both friends held their glares as the girls were waiting to see what would go down. Anakin soon walked around Storm but made sure to bump his shoulder into Storm to send a message. Storm soon made his way to the bed with Anakin; the latter flipped the bounty hunter over as he woke up.

"A Jedi? Uh... I already killed a Jedi today. Let me sleep, " said Rako, too tired to deal with this.

"Well, the good news is he's not dead. He's just drunk," stated Storm calmly.

"Get up, you filth!" shouted Anakin as he grabbed Rako from the bed and pinned him against the wall, the Jedi letting his anger take over. "If it was up to me, I would kill you right here!"

The Jedi was fully intent on that idea as Storm grabbed his arm and tried to push his friend off. The two made contact as their glares from before intensified, both showing that if either one threw a punch at the other, they would not hesitate to punch back.

"But lucky for you, the man you murdered would rather see you rot in jail," stated Anakin as he knew that from the look Storm gave him and what Obi-wan would want him to do, this wasn't the proper way. "Now, let's go, you coward, before I change my mind."

Storm handed Rako to Twilight so she could lead him away with Ahsoka. He stopped to turn and look at Anakin as their glares at each other remained, despite Anakin not letting his anger get the best of him.

Soon all four arrived at the detention facility as they were delivering their prisoner.

"You should be expecting this scum," said Anakin as he handed Rako to the clones.

"Yes, sir."

"Let me know if he's any trouble. I'd be happy to straighten him out," said Anakin as all four left.

The clones then lead Rako away. Soon the plan was in motion as Obi-wan was now inside prison, where the Jedi were hoping to get some info on the plan to kidnap the Chancellor. Rako was in line with a tray in his hands as he had just gotten his meal. He was walking to a table as he passed by several other inmates as they began to murmur among themselves as they heard the news of him killing a Jedi.

"That's him!"

"Kenobi's killer!"

"Rako Hardeen."

"He doesn't look so tough."

"He killed a Jedi."

"That's him? That's the Jedi killer?"

"He doesn't look so tough."

Obi-wan heard all they were saying about him in disguise as he sat down and took a sip from his cup. At that moment, a couple of other inmates approached him, and one slammed their fists on the table.

"You don't look so tough to me," said Karkardoon as Rako took a bite of his food and made a face of disgust.

"This food tastes terrible," replied Rako, grabbing his fork and stabbing it into the Karkardoon's hand as he roared in pain. Rako then pulled the inmate close to whisper into his ear. "Maybe you'd taste better." threatened Rako.

"Hey, what's going on down there?" shouted a clone from the upper balcony.

"Sorry, just playing with my food," smirked Rako as he removed the fork from the inmate and went back to eating.

"You're crazy!" said the other inmate as he began to leave, not wanting to mess with the Jedi killer.

Several others saw this as they returned to their business and did all they could to avoid making eye contact with Rako lest they suffer his wrath. However, Obi-wan's plan worked as Morale Eval got up from where he was sitting and sat down across from the Jedi in disguise.

"Rako Hardeen. Your reputation precedes you. I'm curious. When you killed that Jedi, was it for money or revenge?" asked Eval.

"I don't know. Guess I was bored," responded Rako. Eval seemed to like that answer, as shown by his chuckling.

"Try the sauce. It makes that slop almost tolerable," said the prisoner as he handed Rako a bottle, "I'll be seeing you, Mr. Hardeen." He got up and returned to his table as Rako smiled.

Rako was transported to a cell as the hoverpad stopped and opened.

"Here you go, Hardeen. Home, sweet home," said one of the clone guards.

"What a coincidence," said Eval as he got up from his bed and saw Rako walking in.

"No coincidence," said Rako as he saw this was planned.

"I am Moralo Eval, and I have great influence here," explained Eval.

"What do you want from me?" asked Rako.

"A man like you... There's a bigger game than Jedi if you've got the guts," stated Eval.

"I'm listening," smiled Rako.

"It's a brilliant plan if I do say so. And it involves the Chancellor," stated Eval. Before he could continue, someone clearing their throat was heard.

"If I'm breaking out this goon along with us, it'll cost you," said Bane as he was on the bed above Eval, his roommate. "Double my rate."

"Rako Hardeen, meet Cad Bane," said Eval as he introduced the pair.

For Obi-wan, he was all too familiar with Bane due to their past encounters. While Bane may not have known it was the Jedi in disguise, they did have a small stare-off.

"Who you calling a goon?" asked Rako.

"Any imbecile can kill a Jedi with a lousy sniper blast. You want my respect? You do it face-to-face." said Bane as he jumped down.

"Who said I want your respect?" responded Rako as he stood up and got in the face of Bane, showing that he didn't care what the bounty hunter said.

"Make that triple my rate," said Bane to Eval.

"Oh, what a shame," chuckled Eval at what he saw, "Seems this cell isn't big enough for the three of us. Guard!"

He called over for the guards to his cell as it opened.

"It's been a pleasure chatting with you, Hardeen. But you will forget everything you heard in here, or Moralo Eval will have you slaughtered," stated Eval as Rako was led out of the cell and onto the hover pad as they left.

In the weight room, Rako was shown walking around. He approached a bench that had a barbell as one of the inmates was getting in some reps while the other was above him as a spotter. The one who was the spotter saw Rako as he stood there with his arms crossed.

"We were just leaving," said one of the inmates as he and his buddy left.

Rako then took a seat and did a few stretches while looking around to see if anybody was watching him. Once he saw the coast was clear, he brought his left arm down under the bench as if he were looking for something. He soon felt it was a transmitter that his comrades had placed there for him so that Obi-wan could inform them of what was happening. He placed the earpiece in his ear and spoke into the device. His image appeared in the communications room as Luna, Windu, Celestia, and Yoda saw him.

"This is Ben. I found the transmitter, but I shall have to make this short. We have a problem." said Obi-wan in disguise, "I made contact with Eval. He nearly divulged his kidnap plot, but Cad Bane stopped him."

"Cad Bane?" said Luna as she was not too happy to hear that name and felt like punching something.

"We had no intel they were in league together," said Windu.

"It appears Eval's hired Bane to break him out of prison, and the way they were talking, it's imminent," stated Obi-wan.

"Foolish we were to believe Bane's capture was without purpose," responded Yoda.

"Yes. Yes, but we can make this work for us. If they do try to escape, I won't let them out of my sight. No doubt, he shall lead us to some answers about the plot and possibly to his superiors."

"Good idea, Obi-Wan. Just don't blow your cover. It could take a while to extract you from prison." said Celestia.

"Not to worry. I'm starting to enjoy playing the villain. Gotta go!" said Obi-wan as the transmission ended.

Later, Rako was in line as he finished getting his meal and walked to a table. Unfortunately, someone called out to him as it was young Boba Fett.

"Hey, Hardeen! You owe me something," said the kid.

"Oh, do I?" questioned Rako.

"You don't even remember me? That's very insulting," replied Boba.

"Look, kid, I don't want any trouble," responded Rako.

"You stole a bounty from me, and I want an apology!" demanded the kid.

"Kill him, Hardeen, like the Jedi!" shouted an inmate as he jeered him on.

Soon everyone began to join in as they wanted to see a fight. Obi-wan just stood there as he didn't know how to properly defusion the situation without exposing his cover.

"What's wrong, Hardeen? Lose your spine?" said an inmate.

"You don't want to do this," said Rako to Boba.

"Kill him!" shouted another prisoner.

"Oh, yes, I do," said Boba as he knocked the tray out of Rako's hands.

Rako grabbed Boba as his face was planted on the table with his arm out, ready to snap instantly.

"I warned you," threatened Rako.

"All right, all right, that's it! Fight's over!" said a clone as two of them appeared to stop the violence. Obi-wan was glad, but just then...

"No, it ain't!" said Bossok as he appeared behind the clones and bashed their helmets against each other, knocking them out. He then looked at Rako, "You got a problem with Boba. You got a problem with me!"

Soon they began to wrestle as he threw Rako into a table.

"All right, that's enough, big fella!" said some more clones as they appeared with electro staffs and stunned Bossok.

"Fight!"

"Let's get them!"

The inmates began to charge at the clones as they were brawling with them. Soon, the whole mess hall was ensured in a fight.

"We need reinforcements in here. Now!" shouted a clone as he fired his blaster at some of the prisoners.

"Kill the guards!" shouted some inmates as they took the weapons from some of the clones; they struggled and fired at them.

"What do we do?" asked Eval, as he didn't know what was happening.

"Part of my plan. Paid off the kid to create a diversion. Let's go." said Bane as he and Eval got up from their table and rushed out the door, as did a few other inmates. It seems Bane's plan to have Boba cause a riot worked as they were now escaping; Rako saw them as he chased them.

"Facility on lockdown. Facility on lockdown. Facility on lockdown." said the voice over the PA system as clones rushed about, trying to contain the prisoners.

"Turn your weapons off stun! Kill the prisoners if you have to!" said one of the clones in charge to all the men as they rushed to stop the riot.

Emerging from behind a corner were Eval and Bane as they saw the group of clones head in another direction. Behind them was Rako as he managed to find the pair.

"Hey, wait for me," called out Rako.

"No one invited you," said Bane.

"He killed a Jedi. He could be helpful," said Eval.

"Fine. We're wasting time," stated Bane as they began to move.

Two medics emerged from the morgue in a different part of the facility as they had just deposited the latest dead body.

"Uh, I'm telling you, it's gonna be a long night," said one of the keepers as they exited the room and went to fetch their next batch of bodies.

Peeking from the corner where the three prisoners saw the men disappear.

"This is our way out of here," said Bane.

"The morgue? This is your brilliant plan?" asked Rako.

"Not the first time I've broken out of this stink hole," replied the bounty hunter as they all rushed to the door. Bane pushed some buttons, hoping the code would work, but it didn't. He tried again, but nothing. "The lock has changed."

"Your plan has failed," said Eval.

"Shut up! Let me think," said Bane.

"I can get us inside. I'll re-wire the access port on this door. It'll take some time, so warn me if anyone comes." said Rako.

"Make it quick," stated Bane.

He and Eval all ran to the ends of the hallways as they kept a lookout. Rako bent down as he pulled the lock pad off, as it looked like he was going to rewire the device. However, once Obi-wan saw that the two weren't looking at him, he quickly waved his hand in front of the lock pad; he used his Jedi Master's authorization to unlock it as he put it back in place.

"We're in!" said Rako as they entered.

"All the riot casualties are sent to the crematorium. From there, it's an easy escape," said Bane as they approached some pods.

"Another night, another riot," said one of the guards from before.

"The guards are coming back," said Rako as they heard the voices and footsteps of the guards.

They all quickly got in their pods, but when Rako opened his, a body was already in it. He moved it over and lay down next to it as the lid closed just as the guards returned.

"You said it, partner."

"I'll take blasting clankers any day over this."

"Yeah, me too. Give me droids over this prison scum. After what just happened up there, we'll need more room in here." said one of the guards.

"You can say that again. Here, I'll send these to the cremation center," responded the other as he pushed a button on the panel, and the pods ejected down the tube.

They traveled down to the cremation center and arrived before some more guards. One of the guards was at the console as there was some flashing on his screen.

"Hey, wait, it looks like a couple of them are showing vital signs," said the guard at the console.

"All right, I'll check it out," said one of them as they approached the pods.

He opened the lid, and Bane immediately punched him upon opening it. Soon Rako and Eval all popped out of their respective pods; Bane managed to grab one of the guards' blasters as he began to fire at some of them. Rako managed to disarm one of the guards as he had the blaster aimed at him, but he didn't pull the trigger. With Obi-wan's hesitation, he allowed the guard to push the alarm button before he knocked him out with the blaster. His slight hesitation didn't go unnoticed by Bane.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Bane to Rako, wondering why he didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

"My blaster jammed," lied Rako.

"Let's go!" said Bane as the alarm blared.

The three left to avoid being caught. They soon made it outside of the facility and onto a landing pad as there was a freighter who was stopping to pick up supplies for its next delivery.

"Soon as we're off Coruscant, we're safe," said Bane.

All three rushed for the ship, boarded the ramp, and got on without anyone noticing. Once they were onboard, Bane punched Rako in the face as he dropped to the floor.

"That's for hesitating during the escape," said Bane as he sat in the pilot seat.

"If it wasn't for me, we'd still be stuck in there," said Rako as he reminded the bounty hunter that he had unlocked the pad for them to carry on with Bane's plan.

"Yeah, funny how that worked out," said Bane as he found that to be almost too much of a coincidence.

The ship then began to start up as the engines came online. The ship's owner heard it, and when he turned back around, he saw his ship starting to fly away.

"Hey, my ship! Come back here!" shouted the Quarren.

The ship was now leaving the planet as they were entering space.

"You did well in there, Hardeen. Maybe there's a place for you in my plans after all," said Eval as he was impressed by what Rako did.

"I'm listening," smiled Obi-wan as he gained Eval's trust.

Now in favor of the criminal, he was hoping to learn about the plan to kidnap the Chancellor. The ship then entered hyperspace as it disappeared.

Author's Note: Another arc has begun. And this one involves having Obi-wan going undercover to figure out a plan involving the Chancellor. Also showing how there's face changing and voice changing technology in Star Wars. And how the supposed "fake death" of Obi-wan affects the one person who has a close attachment to him. Now, hopefully the Jedi can be able to stop whatever plan their enemies are scheming. As always, leave a review expressing your thoughts and comments.