-8-
There were corpses littering the deck plates. Some of them looked untouched, undamaged, but others were lying in pools of their own blood, with dark, long-since dried entrails covering the walls. The Jedi were aware there were races in the galaxy who had their own cultures, their own methods for death, but this looked like a scene out of a movie on the holonet.
"Not even the younglings survived," Anakin whispered in horror and anger as he saw the bodies of young children, some of them no older than a few months old at best, his anger bubbling inside him as he felt the residual pain and terror of the children imbued in the very walls.
Barriss moved swiftly through the carnage, and she knelt near a nearby corpse, using the Force and her knowledge as a Healer to study the damage.
In the meantime, Obi-Wan walked slowly to the blood and entrail-stained walls, and he examined the bodies lying nearby. "They look like they were torn apart," he whispered, aghast.
"Trandoshins?" Luminara suggested, looking around in horror.
"No. I don't think it was pirates," Anakin replied, gesturing to the travelling cases. "None of the cases have been opened, disturbed. Looks like they were just interested in the people." He stood up and carefully stepped over the bodies towards a sealed door.
"Mmm, and Trandoshins don't leave starships drifting through space, never mind directing them anywhere. And they always cover their tracks," an investigator pointed out.
"They died in horrible agony," Barriss had her eyes closed, "They weren't hit by conventional blasters. They were hit with something like a massive charge of electricity that burnt away their nerves."
Obi-Wan and Luminara joined her. "I've never heard of a weapon that can do that," Obi-Wan said.
"Neither have I," Luminara added.
Obi-Wan turned to the investigative team, "Have you performed an in-depth autopsy?"
"No, not yet," one said. "Your council told us to wait until you'd seen the bodies and the state of the ship, and told us to follow your lead."
There it was again.
The same resentment. But Anakin could understand the reasons behind it. There were many organisations that wished the Jedi Order would step in, and do some good. But they had to ask the Council directly and with a good reason. Anakin frowned, this was yet another reason for his disillusionment about the Order.
Qui-Gon Jinn had told him a long time ago that training to be a Jedi wouldn't be easy, but if he succeeded, it would be a very hard life. But what the now deceased Jedi Master should have told him was how the Jedi Order were like many of the other elites in the galaxy, how they didn't care one jolt about anyone until it was too late, or because they asked. It had been a sobering and disappointing lesson for Anakin to learn.
"We've tried to keep the scene as we found it when we called you, but now you're here, we can move these."
Meanwhile, Anakin had just opened the doors and he called over his shoulder, "Masters, you need to see this."
While a small team of medical technicians removed the bodies as gently as they could from the compartment, the Jedi had the rest of the ship to examine. When they joined him, they found a horrifying scene. There were cut-open bodies tied down with some kind of plastic flex to the tables, or stuck to the walls, organs trailing out. But then Barriss gasped when she saw there were organs cut up.
"This was an examination," Barriss whispered in horror.
"An examination? But who did it?" Obi-Wan asked while he tried to make sense of what was happening. Anakin silently walked through the room…but then he stopped when he found piles of dust that sparkled, like grains of sand.
"We've never been able to work out why; all the major races in the galaxy have their anatomy stored all over the Holonet. There's no need for any of this," a police officer said.
"What's this?" Anakin asked.
They turned and found him examining the piles of dust on the ground. There were too many to be a coincidence.
A police investigator said. "We've taken samples of these, but we're still examining them."
"What about the droids?" Anakin asked.
"Take a look."
There was a melted pile of metals and alloys, with only the barest evidence that it had once been a droid. The head was there, so where were the arms…but that was it.
"When you said they were melted, you weren't joking," Anakin shook his head. "How was this done?"
"We're not sure. We think it's similar or identical to what happened to the engines, but we're not even sure how that was done."
At that moment, a grim-faced woman appeared. "We've finished studying the strange dust on the ground, sir. It was acidic, and there were enough chemicals….Oh god!" She said, losing some of her professionalism.
"What is it?" Anakin demanded impatiently.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan rebuked, making his padawan back off, sulkily.
The moment managed to make the doctor get a grip on herself. "We've discovered enough chemicals and traces of blood in the dust that conform with the Duro species."
Silence. Barriss slowly pointed at a pile of the 'dust' shakily. "You mean, that was….a person?"
The doctor nodded, grimly. "Yes.
-8-
"The bodies were melted down with some kind of acid. There's an analysis to try to work out just how many of the passengers and crew were killed like that," Obi-Wan reported later to the Jedi Council, via hologram. He was with Luminara while Barriss and Anakin both worked on some of the other sides of the investigation.
Yoda nodded, his expression grave even through the holocall. "Any indications as to why the attack took place in such a manner, is there, Obi-Wan?" He asked.
"No," Obi-Wan replied.
"From what we could tell, the attackers tore through the main computer, but they've erased the whole thing while leaving only the most basic essentials still working, so we can't tell what they were looking for, or who did it," Luminara added.
"Obi-Wan, Luminara, this isn't the first case we've received where the attack was carried out in the same manner. Only three days ago, a Separatist outpost was attacked. We intercepted a transmission detailing a report. Droids and everyone living were gone. They just vanished," Mace Windu replied.
"A Separatist colony?" Obi-Wan repeated, feeling as if his stomach was plummeting further and further down within him. "Have they said anything?"
"No, but already there are questions, they're demanding answers from the Republic. And it wasn't the only one, a Trade Federation starship was also attacked. Half of it was cut in half," Mace added.
Luminara and Obi-Wan shared a look, sharing the same grim thought as the rest of the Jedi Council. With the galaxy on the point of falling apart because of the crisis and the rumours of an impending war, this was the last thing they needed. It might even be the spark that ignited the war in the first place. There were dozens in the Senate and the public who wanted it. The Separatists wanted it. And no matter what the Jedi or the Senate (those who had sense) did, it was looking increasingly likely it would happen.
Master Shaak Ti spoke up at that point, "That's not all. Jedi in the Outer Rim reported attacks on deep-range colonies in the Outer Rim. Strange ships appearing in orbit, and bombing them."
"What?" Obi-Wan whispered. "How badly?"
"Very badly. The colonies were completely destroyed. But in some of the cases, the attackers weren't even seen. They were invisible," Shaak Ti's expression showed she found this incredible and hard to believe, but she had to say it.
"Cloaking technology?" Cloaking technology like that was phenomenally rare in the galaxy.
"It seems so, Obi-Wan."
"What are our Orders, Masters?" Luminara asked.
Mace and Yoda shared a look for a moment, but Obi-Wan and Luminara both understood that the whole Council was in telepathic discussion.
"There's not much you can do, Obi-Wan," Mace answered at last with a sigh, "Bring a copy of the reports to us. But truthfully, we need all the Jedi we can get to help us with the growing crisis. What you've discovered is a definitive lead, but we don't have the resources or the time to find out who did this."
-8-
In the Works, the industrial complex, Darth Sidious and his apprentice, Darth Tyranus aka Count Dooku, were currently in the Sith lair.
"The Republic and the Jedi intercepted the distress calls from the Trade Federation starship and the colony before I stopped them. They cannot know how many more worlds and ships were attacked," Count Dooku reported.
Under the enormous hood of his cloak, Darth Sidious frowned. His devious, corrupt mind was working quickly to consider the pros and cons of having the latest problem's with the different members of the Separatist alliance becoming public record and knowledge. In his mind, the more problems the Separatists had could be of great advantage to the Sith cause.
"Why?" The Sith Master replied. "The more problems that come to light could bring more powers and planets to the Separatists, and if twisted the right way, we could ensure the Separatist alliance grows even more."
"Do you wish me to leak the distress calls? Reports?"
"Yes. We will work on the different stories we could use to make more systems leave the Republic," Sidious replied. It meant nothing to him how many worlds broke away, when the Galactic Empire was ushered in, replacing the Republic, the planets and systems who'd broken away would be forced back at the point of a blaster.
"I understand, My Lord," Dooku inclined his head.
"What's the status of the droid army?"
"We have exceeded the last count by 90,000."
The Sith Master nodded slowly, considering. "The last reports from Kamino indicate the legions are ready, but we will continue with the construction of more droid battalions. Order the Separatists to look for more factory sites that can be easily supplied out in the Outer Rim."
Under the Sith Lord, Darth Prophraoh, more systems and worlds had been explored in the Outer Rim, but all the Sith of the Banite lineage knew the deciding factor of the war which would usher in their galactic rule would be out in the Rim. There was something poetic about the noose which would tighten around the Republic coming from the Outer Rim.
Dooku frowned, "Many of the Separatist council aren't…enthusiastic about the prospects of war, My Lord. While many of them have been brought around due to the economic promises, some of them are too cowardly to properly appreciate it. I have used my power in the Force to keep them in line, but the dissenters are there."
Sidious scowled. "Find other ways to motivate them," he snapped coldly, his voice a harsh, cold whip. "Twist their minds if you have to, without revealing too much. What of the weapon?"
Jedi Dooku would have been horrified by what was being planned and built in the Geonosian system, Sith Dooku merely yearned for the power of the weapon.
"Construction has already begun, My Lord. The Geonosians are continually updating the plans. They should be completed soon."
"Excellent."
"What of the attackers?"
Sidious sighed, "Order the Separatist spies to probe the galaxy. I will do the same with the Sith networks."
When he had taken the critical step into becoming a Sith apprentice shortly after Qui-Gon's death on Naboo, and murdered Master Yaddle in front of Sidious, Dooku had been awestruck by the Sith networks. "I find it hard to believe they won't find anything, Master," Dooku commented.
Sidious nodded, using his natural skill to hide his trepidation. "We have spent too long on these plans, Lord Tyranus," he hissed gutturally, his voice harsh, a pure embodiment of the Dark Side of the Force. "We are so close to ushering in the new Galactic Empire, we cannot let anything stop us now."
Dooku privately asked himself why Sidious hadn't known about the attackers, since the networks and his Master's skill and proficiency in the Force gave him an insight few could match.
When the meeting was finished Darth Sidious's guise fell away by the time he returned to his office. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine ordered his aides and staff not to enter. He wanted to spend the next few hours to himself. He had been demanding answers from the various networks which his predecessors had built up over the past 10 centuries, but all of them were confused since none of them had heard anything about the attackers. They just came out of nowhere and attacked colonies, research stations, outposts, space stations, starships. And that was it.
At first, he'd ignored it; he'd had far too much to do, in preparing the first steps for the galactic war which would whittle down the Jedi Order and make his takeover of the galaxy easier. But the attacks just kept coming, and now they were part of the Senate's list of topics to try to sort out, when he would have preferred to discuss the Separatists.
Sidious was more than aware the Dark side, unlike the Light, preferred to challenge its practitioners, and he wondered if this happened to be one of those challenges. But it didn't feel like one, and the Force was strangely silent about the cause. That was what worried him; usually, if something this inconvenient came in between himself and his planned goals, the Sith Lord would find some way of dealing with it, and then finding ways of taking advantage, but for this case, Sidious couldn't find anything he could use.
But what worried him was that none of his networks of spies had heard anything. These attackers had just…appeared.
But the Dark Lord of the Sith promised himself, if these attackers got in his way, he would make sure they regretted it. It was just such a pity the Death Star would not be operational for a long time.
Palpatine checked his wrist chrono. He had a good few hours to go before he had to meet his next appointments. It was tempting to just dismiss them, cancel or reschedule. But he couldn't and didn't dare. He had to maintain his disguise, tedious as it might be, but the Sith Lord had worked and fought long and hard to build his reputation and his political base. But later on he would return to the Sith lair. By that time, he and Dooku would have contacted the various networks, but when Dooku left the lair in the works, Sidious would then meditate in the privacy of the Works.
The Sith Lord was paranoid, and while he knew Dooku would not likely kill him as the basic rules of the Rule of Two dictated as he didn't have the base to take the Grand Plan to the next level, he would not leave anything to chance.
-8-
In the Works, Darth Sidious took advantage of the dark thoughts of everyone in the immediate vicinity to help him submerge himself into the depths of the Dark Side. He had discovered the Works, with the number of criminals and scum of the galaxy was far better for more in-depth meditation than his usual quarters. Here, he could tap into an awareness of the Force few Jedi Masters could ever discover.
As he settled in the usual comforting cold of the Dark Side, Sidious began his meditation. He sat there in the lotus position for the next four hours. As he concentrated on his meditation, the Sith Lord frowned as he saw ghostly images of strange machines, aliens, strange ships that weren't affiliated with the Republic or the Separatists.
Or any of the other powers in the galaxy, for that matter.
For a moment, Sidious wondered if there was a secret Sith sect out there, in the Unknown Regions. They would be the most perfect place to hide, in contrast to the approach Darth Bane and the rest of the Banite lineage followed, which was to hide in plain sight. But it didn't feel like they were Sith, and the Dark Side confirmed it.
No, these were something new.
Sidious was faced with a mystery, and he didn't like mysteries. Concentrating once more on the visions he had just seen, Sidious became even more concerned as he ghostly visions of the strange machines attacking worlds he recognised, thanks to his travels. One of them, worryingly enough, was Coruscant. Everything warned the Sith Lord he would need to be careful, and Sidious planned on being careful.
When Palpatine returned to the Senate the next day, once more to speak to the Senators about the growing Separatist mess, while actually doing all he could do to further his agenda, he was more puzzled and concerned than ever.