Agenord charged forward, striking at the Sith pureblood with his training saber. She fell back, allowing the attack, and giving him the chance to overextend himself. Her pike had an advantage at distance, so they spent the match dancing with each other, approach and retreat. Agenord moved in again, and the pureblood saw an opening and struck. Her counter ticked up by one, the score 20-14 in Agenord's favor. Master Jasaesh sighed. She was supposed to be instructing him not losing to him.

"How are you two still standing?" Kira asked, watching them from the sidelines.

"You need to work on your endurance, Padawan," Jasaesh replied.

As Jasaesh and Agenord prepared for another round, a group entered, led by General Var Suthra.

Agenord shook the sweat from his lekku and said, "You're early."

"We've been at this three hours," Jasaesh told him.

"Oh. Then you're right on time." He greeted the general, Agent Galen, and Doctor Tarnis, and turned to the others. "This is your team, Doctor?"

"They are," Tarnis said. He introduced each of them.

"Any luck finding the data card?" one of them asked.

"Yes," Agenord said. "But the data was corrupted. We don't know who made it."

"Corruption suggests a slicer," another said. "Our security automatically corrupts unauthorized transfers."

"Agent Galen told me the same thing," Agenord said. "But, I thought your system was isolated."

"The slicer could have used a droid as a relay," the second team member continued, a woman named Nahla. "We scan for that, but no system is perfect."

"You don't suspect us, do you?" a third said.

"Of course he does," said the first, a man named Uzori. "That's his job. He needs to look at everyone."

"You don't sound nervous," Agenord said.

Uzori shrugged. "It's part of the job."

Tarnis, however, didn't seem to care. He'd been watching Jasaesh. "You're pureblood Sith," he said to her.

"I am," she replied. "My mother was a Darth."

"A Darth?" Tarnis said.

Jasaesh nodded. "She got involved in something risky and paid the price."

"They didn't go after you?" one of the team members said.

"No," Jasaesh replied. "The Sith encourage attachments for the same reason Jedi deny them. With that attachment comes a desire for protection. The Sith have learned to respect it. If something goes bad, the family of Sith Lords are allowed to leave the Empire quickly and quietly. They resettle somewhere safe. Alderaan has an entire village of them."

"The Jedi didn't care?" Nahla asked.

"Not at all," Jasaesh said. "The Order has quite a few children of Sith Lords."

"How are you progressing with the planet prison?" the general asked.

Tarnis replied, "The satellites are ready to go up."

"Here?" Kira said.

"Not yet," Tarnis said.

"What?" she asked.

"Relax, Kira," the general said. "The planet prison has defensive capabilities. Protecting Coruscant was always part of its role. But we need to build the infrastructure first."

"And only the members of my team have the launch codes," Tarnis added.

"Any idea who's behind it?" one of them asked, a technician named Jonkan.

"Not yet," Agenord said. "I'll know more when I get the report back on the snipers."

"Shouldn't you be looking?" Uzori asked.

"We are," Agenord said. "Master Jasaesh has reached out to a few of her informants, but someone is scaring them. It's frustrating, I know, but, sometimes, waiting is all we can do."

"And training," Uzori said.

Agenord shrugged. "I expect a difficult fight before this is over."

"It's the Empire, isn't it?" Nahla asked.

"It's possible," the general said.

"My grandparents died during the sacking of Coruscant," she said.

"So did my uncle," Agenord told her.

"The planet prison could have stopped it. Most of it, anyway," Nahla said.

"We'll find the people who did this," Tarnis said. "Don't worry." He turned to the Jedi. "Thank you, Master Agenord and Master-"

"Jasaesh," she said.

"All right," Tarnis said. "Let's go. We need to increase the security on those satellites."

Once they were gone, Agenord said, "Well?"

Jasaesh shook her head.

"What did I miss?" Kira asked.

Agenord said, "Master Jasaesh has a talent for getting past mental defenses."

"It doesn't always work," Jasaesh said. "Your people are well trained, Agent Galen."

"You're sure it's one of them?" Kira asked.

"Positive," Agenord said. "That data wasn't corrupted. It was unusable. Not even the person who made it could get information from it."

"That doesn't make any sense," Kira said.

"It's a delaying tactic," the general told her. "Master Agenord believes they intend to use planet prison."

"Why haven't they done it yet?" she asked.

"Timing," Agenord said. "The best time to set it off is three weeks from now, when the senators arrive for the new session."

General Var Suthra said, "Senators, their retainers, lobbyists, and anyone else who wants to be here when the Senate is in session will be crowding the skies."

"All those people will die?" Kira asked.

"No," Agenord said. "Their escape pods will still work. The people on the ground, however..."

"Any way through that thing?" Kira asked.

Agenord said, "Power down, coast through, and start up again. But that will only work for small ships."

Kira looked at him. "How do you know so much about this?"

"My father is a cybernetics engineer. He taught me a few things."

"All this runaround is because Master Kiwiiks sensed them, isn't it?" Kira asked.

"Bela has always had a talent for that," Jasaesh said.

"You don't really have informants, do you?" Kira asked.

Jasaesh shook her head. "Master Agenord," she said. "It's been a while since you've used a pike against me."

"It's not like they'd let me change in the middle of a fight."

"Still," Jasaesh said. "I'd like to see if you've improved."

"I'd like that," he said.

"Will you be helping us?" the general asked.

"I can't," Jasaesh said. "I've been assigned to Balmorra. I leave today. But, you have my best student. You'll be fine."

"Please don't feed the ego," Kira said.

Jasaesh patted Kira on the shoulder and said her goodbyes.

After Jasaesh was gone, Kira said, "She was talking about a lightsaber pike, right?"

"Yes," Agenord said. "Of course."

"Yeah," Kira said. "That's exactly how that sounded."

"Did we learn anything from the weapon crates?" the general asked.

"Military grade," Galen said. "Common for non-aligned systems, like the sniping rifle."

"Plausible deniability," Agenord said.

"Yes," the general said.

"Three more weeks," Kira said. "What do they do until then?"

Agent Galen's comm beeped.

"You had to ask," Agenord said to Kira.

Galen answered his comm, listened, and said, "Understood. No one touches the bodies until we get there." He switched off the comm. "Tarnis and his team were taken. Their security detail was killed."

"Can we track them?" Agenord asked.

"A security team is following them," Galen said.

"Get me a transport," Agenord said. "Fill me in on the way."

Galen activated his comm.

"Master Agenord," the general said. "Take Kira with you. You may need the help."

Agenord looked at her. "Can you follow orders?"

"If I have to," Kira said.

"You have to," Agenord replied. "Let's go."

"Where are we headed?" Agenord asked the pilot. He settled into his seat while Kira and Teeseven climbed into the transport.

"Our team says they're headed toward the spaceport," the pilot said. He took off and turned in that direction.

"Shit!" Agenord said. "They want to transfer the hostages to a shuttle. We'll never be able to track them."

"Are they taking them off planet?" Kira asked.

"I doubt it," Agenord said. "But the traffic around the spaceport will make will make tracking them impossible."

"Master Jedi," the pilot said. "The security team found the speeder at the entrance to a docking bay, but the bay is heavily defended."

"Understood," Agenord said. "Tell them to wait for me before they move in."

They reached the docking bay and found the security team behind barricades exchanging fire with the defenders. The team leader, a sergeant, motioned Agenord to a safe area and joined him.

"How many?" Agenord asked.

"I count twenty-two, Master Jedi," the sergeant said. "But that doesn't include the Control Room."

"Military grade weapons?"

"Yes, sir."

"Any sign of the hostages?"

"No, sir."

Agenord examined the bay. "Have any shuttles taken off?"

"We didn't see any," he said. "But we could smell exhaust fumes when we got here."

"We need those men alive," Agenord said, nodding at the defenders. "As many as possible."

"That might be difficult, sir," the sergeant said.

"Do your best," Agenord told him.

"What's the plan, sir?"

The closest defenders were in three groups of four behind improvised barricades. The control room was on the second floor with only stairway access from within the bay. Additional defenders were based at the base and top of the stairs.

"We'll move in staggered groups," Agenord said. "Kira and Teeseven will attack the group to the left. You'll concentrate firepower to the right. The men near the stairs hopefully won't fire on their allies. Kira will hold the left barricade, and I'll attack on the right. Once we've captured the barricades, move in your men in three groups, one group at a time. Then, Kira and I will jump to the top of the stairs while you fire on the men at the base of the stairs. We'll take out the men at the top then capture the control room. You deal with the rest."

"Yes, sir," the sergeant said. He turned to his men. "I need three groups, two by two formation. We're going to follow the Jedi in. Suppression fire and staggered advance. Make it happen."

Kira felt a sudden rush. Jedi shouldn't care, but her fight or flight wasn't listening. She drew her saber and ignited both blades.

"One blade against blasters," Agenord told her.

"Right," she said, deactivating one blade. Shit. She knew better than that.

Agenord ignited his saber, and the battle began. He rushed in, faster than should be safe. He attacked on multiple fronts; deflecting fire, throwing debris, and pushing weapons to redirect their aim. He incapacitated the first group of men before Kira and Teeseven reached the left barricade. He cleared his second group moments after Kira and Teeseven finished. The Coruscant security team moved in, and Agenord joined Kira at the left barricade, the location closest to the stairs.

"You're holding back," he whispered to her, absently deflecting a blaster shot.

"It's complicated," she whispered back.

"We don't have time for complicated," he said. "Fight now. We'll deal with it later."

We? Whatever. "Fine. I'll stop holding back."

"Master Jedi?" the sergeant asked.

"Strategizing," Agenord said. "We're ready. Teeseven, wait here."

The droid whined.

Agenord waved to Kira and ran into the docking bay. She scrambled after him. He jumped to the top of a freight loader and, from there, to the top of the stairs, deflecting blaster fire the whole time. He struck the defenders with a wave of power when he landed, throwing them into the wall or down the stairs. Kira landed beside him just as he incapacitated the last man. Agenord tried the door, found it locked, and cut a hole in it. He sent the cut section of door flying into the room, scattering the defenders. He rushed in and attacked the men. Kira followed, doing her best not to hold back. The defenders were soon lying on the floor, injured or unconscious.

"Better," Agenord said to her. He found the leader of the group and said, "Get up."

The man groaned as he stood up. "Jedi scum. I'll kill you... someday..."

Kira said, "You have a real knack for making friends."

"Where are the hostages?" Agenord said.

The man laughed. "We were the decoys. Now you'll never see your people again."

"Is that so?" Kira said. "Give me a minute with this guy. I'll make him talk."

"Go ahead," the man said. "You'll get nothing. The boss would kill me for talking."

"This'll be easy," Kira said.

"We don't have the time," Agenord replied. He waved his hand, and the man flew back into the wall and fell to the ground.

"Oh, so you're that kind of Jedi," Kira said. "Good to know."

Agenord grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him up. "If I don't find those hostages, thousands of people are going to die. It's their lives or yours."

"You'll protect me?"

"Yes," Agenord said.

"And my men?"

"Yes," Agenord hissed.

"Right. The Justicars have them," the man said. "We don't know why. We were sent to distract you, slow you down. That's all I know."

"Where did you get the weapons?" Agenord asked.

The man shook his head. "We don't know that either. They showed up nine months ago and started handing out weapons. Told us to make trouble. We thought they were Hutts trying to move in." He looked at Agenord. "They weren't Hutts, were they?"

Agenord didn't answer.

"Master Jedi," the sergeant called from the door. "The docking bay is ours."

"Put these men into protective custody," Agenord said. "They're willing to cooperate."

"Yes, sir."

Their leader looked at the sergeant. "How many dead?"

"Three."

The man laughed and looked at Agenord. "Maybe you're not scum."

On the way back to the transport, Agenord told Kira, "You did well. Once you stopped holding back."

She turned to Teeseven and said, "Tell me you recorded that!"

Teeseven whistled.

"What did he say?" she asked.

"I don't know," Agenord said. "I need a translator." He activated his comm. "Agent Galen, we captured the docking bay. The hostages are gone, but we have a lead. Have you found anything?"

"Yes," Galen said. "We need to show you something."

They found Galen at the morgue in the main SIS building. The area had been closed off, and only one medical examiner was present. The five bodies of the security team lay on tables, each covered with a sheet.

"Show him," Galen said to the medical examiner.

She pulled the sheet from one of the bodies. The security officer had a single wound, a circular hole through the heart.

Agenord saw the wound and said, "Shit."

Galen sighed. "That's what we thought."

"That's a lightsaber wound," Kira said.

Agenord examined the hole. "Straight. Clean. Very little movement of the blade after it went in. This was done by an expert."

"No one sees this," Galen said to the medical examiner. She nodded.

Galen led Agenord and Kira to a secure room. "What's your lead?" he asked.

"Justicars," Agenord said.

Galen shook his head. "The men in the docking bay were Black Sun. They don't work together."

"Probably a request from their weapon supplier," Agenord said.

"Justicars control a big area," Galen said. "And we don't have a lot of leads."

"The people on the research team," Agenord said. "Do they each know a portion of the launch codes?"

"Yes," Galen said.

"We still have three weeks," Kira reminded them.

Agenord shook his head. "No we don't. We have as long as the team can last. I shook the tree harder than I thought. They'll fire the weapon as soon as they can."

"And the team?" Kira asked.

Agenord shook his head again. "How long do we have after the satellites launch?" he asked Galen.

"About four hours," Galen said. "They go up cloaked and move into position. Then they need to be recharged from the surface."

"You'd think that could be done faster," Kira said.

"It could," Galen told her. "They were designed for a test. The power up is slow so it can be monitored, and the power supply creates a massive heat signature. We'll be able to track it."

"By then, the team will be dead," Kira said. "What do we do now?"

"We shake the Justicars," Agenord told her.

Galen said, "I know a few places to start."

"Send me a list," Agenord said. "Kira, Teeseven, time to go."

On the way back to the Senate, Kira said, "What did you mean 'we'?"

Agenord looked at her.

"In the docking bay," she said. "You said 'we' will handle it."

"Oh," he said. "If you want help, you'll have it. If you want me to back off, I'll do that. But, when I'm in charge, I take responsibility."

He would say something like that. "I'll deal with it," she said. "And I'll do my job."

He was silent for a while then said, "You don't need to go with me."

"Why not?"

"The way I... interrogated the prisoner. I know it bothered you."

"Oh," she said. "No. You need me here."

He looked at her. "I do?"

"I didn't like it," she said. "But I'm starting to think maybe you are a Champion of the Force. Maybe. You need someone watching you. The last thing we want is for someone like you to fall to the Dark Side."

He stopped and looked at her like she'd accidentally gone too far again. "You're right," he said softly. "We don't want that." He stared at nothing for a while then smiled at her. "Welcome to the team."