Chapter 3

His fingers steepled on top of the desk, his eyes ran around the room. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine stared around his office chamber. His five most trusted allies surrounded him. As Chancellor, his political power was almost absolute. If he added his voice to a vote, then the rest of the Senate would surely follow. It was the small percentage of times that he did not win these votes that truly bothered him. The few times that he had lost were detrimental to his plans. To the rise of the Sith. To remedy that, he had spent the best part of ten years gathering what allies he could from the throngs of individuals that roamed the Senate building.

His most loyal ally, the Speaker of the Assembly Mas Amedda, stood a little behind his right shoulder. The blue-skinned Chagrian held his long horns held high, and the two adorning his lekku quivered in anticipation. He held in his hand a two meter long rod of hardened wood, capped at both ends with a plate of hammered metal. There was a quarter-sized humanoid statuette welded to the top of the pole, something that held some importance to the Republic's history. The Speaker smiled grimly at the questioning glances the other occupants of the office, his forked tongue flicking out every few seconds.

The other members in the room were each a likeminded member of the Senate who shared the Chancellor's ideals. Representative Torman Roon of Phindar slumped into the padded seat, his over-sized hands clasping a tiny cup. Whatever liquid was inside sloshed about rhythmically as the man twirled the cup delicately between his fingers. By reputation, Roon was a cruel man, prone to brash outbursts and militaristic views. Thankfully, both of those assisted Palpatine in his plans.

The final physical member of the group was the Jay Torunis. He was a member of the Coruscant Judicial Department, the current Head of Information. Unlike the other members of the meeting, he was fully devoted to the Republic. In addition, he had spent the past year investigating rumours about a coup amassing resources in the Outer Rim. Palpatine never usually met with him while also meeting with the rest of his advisory council, but it was necessary this time.

Model Mart, a human reigning from Anaxus, represented the planetside shipyards. Unable to leave his station on the planet, he was a flickering hologram in the corner of the room. In response to the rumours Torunis was investigating, he had been given permission to begin a fleet of warships, assisted by Kuat Drive Yards. He was already building a secluded fleet, each ship completed and then sent to a remote sector to await their deployment. Five different space stations had also been built to house these ships until they were needed.

Next to Model stood another hologram, this one of a shadowy figure who's face was blurred. Palpatine knew who it truly was, but was loath to reveal their identity to the rest of the cabal surrounding him. To them, he was only known as 'the Raven'. Only he knew the strings that connected each of the members of this meeting to Palpatine's plot, but he would remain quiet until ordered otherwise.

Palpatine finished studying each of his allies, noting the changes in expression or the new lines in their faces. Sighing, he lowered his hands to the desk and began the meeting by silently keying three short codes into the controls. A flurry of broken recordings flashed above the desk, each a flickering shudder. They showed a series of horrifying explosions and the aftershock. Each of the recordings had been given to him by the Republic Security bureau, taken from the cameras that surrounded Pantora's cities.

The frame froze on the image of a mother and her daughter. Both were bleeding from wounds and staring around in shock. The Chancellor allowed the men to study the photo for a moment, before speaking. "Do you know exactly what you are looking at, my friends?"

"A disaster waiting to happen.", Model muttered.

"The disaster is already happening!", Torunis spun around to snap at the holographic image.

"You are both wrong.", the Raven's voice was distorted to an obviously fake low drone, "A disaster would be if these terrorists detonating the explosives had succeeded in their plot. What is the motive for these attacks?"

Everyone fell silent. Palpatine stared at each of the men carefully before gesturing for the Raven to continue.

"These attackers are only hitting heavily fortified areas of the city, specifically those surrounded by civilian plazas. They not only damage the important local infrastructure but also take out a number of innocents.", The Raven's hologram flickered to a map showing each of the locations. "There were other places with similar infrastructure. They could have been destroyed without people in the way, but they weren't. Then there are these.", the hologram flickered to a series of bomb casings. "Specific parts that aren't easy to come by. They can be traced back to the buyers."

He left the facts hanging for a moment. It was, predictably, Mas Amedda who spoke, "Pray tell, Raven, what does that prove?"

"These people want to be found. And not by the Judicial Department or local authorities. They want the Jedi."

All eyes met in the room, then turned back to the Chancellor. Palpatine leaned back in the chair and steepled his fingers again, "Unfortunately, the Jedi are already preparing for a mission I sanctioned. They will be delivering the supply convoy requested by Pantora, and then remaining on the surface as additional security. I decided on them because of their disassociation with the Senate and Republic matters."

"They do seem like the logical choice.", Torunis nodded. "I would trust them to complete a simple delivery task."

"I would be more inclined to send a Senate diplomacy mission.", Roon spoke up for the first time, still focussed on swirling his drink in its cup. "However, if these people want the Jedi, then I say make this an internal Jedi affair. Leave the Senate out of the matter and stop the broadcasts."

Everyone went silent for a moment. No one tried to argue that the Jedi should not leave the planet. Instead, they were attempting to try and figure out how this unique situation could benefit them. Palpatine could see it in their eyes: the lust for more power. These were exactly the people he thought they were.

Finally, Model stood up and said. "How are the supplies being delivered?"

Four medical frigates were taking the supplies, accompanied by one of the latest (official) Venators to be produced. The Resurrection. It was being manned by a majority of the Fifth Fleet, and together, the five ship fleet would travel to Alderaan to pick up the supplies quietly donated to the cause by a dozen systems. Then, they would travel to Pantora, land and unload before leaving. The Jedi would remain behind.

Palpatine knew this, of course. He and Mas Amedda had gone over the plan several times already. But these men didn't need to know that. Instead, he simply frowned and said, "I am uncertain. The Jedi will need to organise that themselves. But I trust that they will do their duty well."

Again it was Roon who spoke, smacking his lips as he downed his drink in a single gulp, "Well then, to another glorious day for them to serve the Republic."

Hello there.

Nothing like a corrupt Senate to try and take advantage of a moon being attacked by terrorists. Hope you enjoy the chapter.