Coruscant System (5 minutes later)
Wearing the rarely seen simple light gray long-sleeved, high-collared uniform top, and the darker gray dress slacks of a Republic Intelligence officer actually in uniform. Commander Jaxsinne Tamm's expression was equal parts intensely speculative and harried, as she stared at me by way of her holographic representation being transmitted from the Light of Coruscant.
"I'm sorry, Master Jedi, but the Admiral and his entire command cadre are otherwise engaged at present. I was only authorized to communicate with you while fleet actions remain ongoing, because Admiral Dron thinks your actions suggest you might have additional actionable intelligence we can use to destroy or at least prevent the escape of the C.I.S unclassified. Do you?" The strategic and tactical analyst's tone bordered on a peremptory demand, but I kept my tone mild as I framed my reply.
"Three things, Commander. First, the Malevolence's primary vulnerability has already been exploited to the best of anyone's ability. Second, your scans aren't telling you that the damage to their hyper-drive caused by the power-feedback from the ion cannon is almost certainly as limited as it is repairable by droid damage-control teams while the dreadnaught continues to limp away with it's damaged sub-light engines. Third and finally, unless the Admiral is anticipating the return of at least a third of the Sector Fleet in the next hour, your only real chance of preventing that ship's escape is a boarding action."
The woman looked unconvinced by my last assertion, so I explained "Commander, that's a Quarren-fashioned warship. Built using Mon Calamari shipbuilding techniques. It's armor is as thick around as through, because everything built in that style is designed to effortlessly handle extreme deep-water immersion. I'm telling you, for the official record, that the CDF is presently inflicting negligible amounts of additional damage to the enemy vessel's internal systems. If the CDF doesn't initiate a boarding action capable of overcoming the several hundred battle-droids acting as the dreadnaught's complement of marines, and soon, that fleet-killer is going to live to plague the Republic another day."
Looking as if there was something she very much wanted to avoid saying, there were a few moments of silence as the woman wrestled with competing obligations, before she finally admitted in a grudging tone "Your superiors just said much the same thing to the Admiral and the rest of the cadre by holo-comm. The Jedi Aces are eliminating what remains of the enemy flag's droid-fighter complement while our Torrents rearm. Master Plo Koon has suggested that once the droids are eliminated, we allow him and three other Jedi to join any boarding action. They seem concerned there may be something extremely dangerous aboard the target."
The way her lips curled back to show teeth as Jaxsinne said this last told me she and the rest of the CDF command had heard the silent implication weighting the warning of the Jedi Masters, and it was that implication, unintentionally communicated or not, which had her back, and presumably those of her superiors up. "Something beyond your experience. Something too dangerous for you to handle alone."
"I'm not qualified to second-guess professionals concerning military strategy, Commander, but Masters Tiin and Plo are both veterans of the Stark Hyperspace War. If Master Tiin has expressed concern about an unknown enemy asset, it's only because he has personal experience with the dangers of engaging in an assault without adequate intelligence. He saw a similar lack of information kill a number of his friends and colleagues during the Yinchorri Uprising. I'd barely begun my apprenticeship at the time, but he was my piloting and technical instructor, so I heard him speak often of the costly mistakes made during both conflicts due to a lack of critical information" I replied in a quiet, almost conciliatory manner.
I wanted to shake the woman, and insist there very well could be a deadly cyborg warrior aboard the Malevolence. One who was a virtuoso of carnage and mayhem long before he became the pet monster of the C.I.S. That was what I wanted to do, but I was certain that, at best, I would be accused of fearmongering for the purpose of gaining the CDF's compliance with respect to their agreeing to a joint boarding-action. At worst, I would rouse the specter of paranoia in a woman whose very vocation demanded suspicion of everyone around her. Time and effort better spent on the challenge presently in front of the Judicial Fleet would be wasted in asking pointed questions as to how I could possibly possess information which should only available to the Separatists' highest echelon.
Instead, I simply waited for the inevitable objection. It was strange, being able to sense the pride, dedication, anger, uncertainty, and yes, fear, of a young woman presently millions of kilometers from my location, but I was noticing that the older I got, and the better I became at shunting aside "logical" objections when it came to the workings of the Force, the sharper my sensitivity seemed to become to the people, places, things, and events I focused on. Strange, a little alarming, but even more intriguing, and definitely useful.
"The JF troopers assigned to the Home Fleet are the best the Arcology has produced in a decade. Every one of them was sent on to the War College on Anaxes, and graduated with honors to receive an assignment as trooper-marines of Admiral Dron's flag-group. With all respect due the members of your Order, Master Jedi, I am not inclined to tell the Admiral we need you Jedi to do our duty."
"It wasn't my intention to imply anything of the kind, Commander, but I can see my abysmal communication skills have failed me once again, so I'm just going to wish you good hunting, and go before I'm responsible for making an already tense situation worse" I answered with a calm I didn't, couldn't feel surrounded by so much death, destruction, and the miasma of basic fight-or-flight feelings in the many tens of thousands of Judicials in the ships all around us. Ultimately, I swallowed the woman's jibe, because I recognized the pressure she felt that was responsible for it.
After all, it was the senior intelligence officer's responsibility to draw back the fog of war for the soldiers they answered to, yet Commander Tamm didn't have nearly as much intel as she needed concerning what the troopers boarding that monstrosity would be facing, and it was eating her up.
I saw her raise her hand to terminate the connection, and suddenly spoke up sharply for a moment to recapture her attention. "Commander! I recently faced the destroyer-droids designed by the Colicoids for high-value C.I.S security operations. Their globular ray-shields are almost completely nonexistent at the uppermost center-point of each units shield-bubble, and they won't stop a slow moving solid object, like an ion grenade rolled just hard enough to reach them. Their repeating blaster-cannons are only capable of traversing a very few degrees up or down, and the droids themselves are as vulnerable as they get while in their rolling configuration. With plasma grenades off the table, and rocket launchers unavailable in the time allotted, I cannot suggest strongly enough that you advise your people to avoid the vessel's narrower corridors wherever possible. I was also part of the security contingent during the failed Tynnan peace summit, so I saw the bloody massacre that resulted from several squads of Tynnan soldiers facing only three of the Separatists' most advanced battle-droids in the tight confines of the service tunnels below the Government Building. If JF troopers get into a stand-up firefight with B-2 Super battle-droids individually capable of absorbing multiple close-range hits from blaster rifles before going down, it's going to be a meatgrinder without any cover."
For a moment, I thought she intended to go ahead and cut the transmission without another word, because I could feel her frustration flare. Only for the rapid, jagged notes of these darker emotions to suddenly subside, as she seemed to take herself in hand, then quietly reply "Thank you for that, Master Jedi." A ghost of a smile momentarily flitted across her face, as she quipped with black humor "Your skill as a communicator seems to have improved, a little." With a raised hand and a slight inclination of her head, she cut the transmission and vanished.
Silent throughout the entire exchange, Padme's voice was thoughtful, as she said "I may be biased, but I haven't noticed your having any particular problem communicating those things you consider important, Anakin." The smile that accompanied the words was brief yet genuine, and I couldn't help noticing the flush of excitement that hadn't yet left her cheeks. It didn't mean she wasn't still worried for all those still in danger, of course, but Padme seemed to share my taste for danger, perhaps in spite of herself.
Noticing that caused me a moment of guilt, because I could still feel my Master's pain like a jaw full of badly cracked teeth in the back of my mind. It was less than it had been, before, but I didn't know if that was a good sign, or a very bad one. Ultimately, it was her teachings that made me realize how ridiculous I was being. Feeling guilty over an occurrence I'd had no knowledge of, and no control over? I needed to get a grip, and concentrate on what I could effect in the present.
Once I'd double-checked to ensure I had a renewed verification of our IFF transponder-code from the still intact orbital platform I'd placed Seraph on station-keeping five thousand kilometers from, I turned and gave her a smile that was more than a little rueful, before replying "I was hoping to learn something about the situation on the ground, but the Judicial Fleet's need seemed rather more desperate than our own. If they truly mean to reject the Order's assistance, and I believe the pressure to prove their effectiveness is more than enough to prompt the Admiral and his cadre to make such a grave mistake, they're going to need every advantage they can find, and a great deal of luck besides."
Shaking her head, the beautiful brunette's expression turned equal parts sad and confused. "None of this makes any sense! Killing my friend, trying to kill me, nearly killing Senator Iblis, and this despite the fact the Corellians were considering a declaration of neutrality. Now, not just launching a sneak attack against Coruscant. Going after as much of the Senate as the Separatists can reach. It's like the Separatists want to galvanize the Republic into uniting utterly behind the idea of breaking and bringing them to heel for their unconscionable actions!"
Said just like that, I realized Padme was right. The sequence of events really didn't seem to make much sense, and that was a thought as disturbing as it was worrying, because Palpatine was many things, but never a fool. Certainly never one to tolerate foolishness and failure in an apprentice.
"Unless this isn't everything. What if the Separatists simply don't care about the Republic's reaction, because they think they're going to win the war before it's even begun? The HoloNet has been talking about the Separatist military build-up for more than a year now, but the Republic doesn't even have a proper military. Isn't it possible the Separatists think they can hurt the Republic enough in one massive wave of surprise attacks to frighten the Senate into recognizing the legitimacy of their government?" Ahsoka suddenly asked from behind us in a voice so calm, I was sure she was releasing her emotions into the Force as she spoke.
The questions diverted me from my current line of thinking, because they echoed the grim line of worries that had plagued me for years. Slowly, as if considering the questions carefully, I responded "All the more reason to find out what's going on as soon as possible. Once we have some idea of how things stand, we'll be in a better position to determine our next move."
I paused a moment, then quietly admitted "I can sense that my Master has been severely injured. I need to find out what's happened, and if there's anything I can do to help her."
I heard Ahsoka draw breath to reply, but the tell-tale ting-ting-uum of a long-range communication transmission being routed to her station by one of the planetary system's hyperspace signal routing-stations interrupted whatever she'd been about to say. A couple of moments passed, then the young Togruta reported "Master, I have a request to open the holo-comm channel from a Sugi. She won't say what it's about. Just that she needs to speak to you directly."
"Seriously, Sugi? Not even an update on your progress for two months, and today's the day you decide to reach out? Your timing leaves something to be desired." I thought with a little exasperation, but more excitement despite the terrible timing.
A heartbeat passed, then I calmly replied "Patch her through, Ahsoka." I heard the ever so quiet impact of the teen's fingertips on the touchpad, then the bluish white three-dimensional representation of the female Iridonian appeared just ahead of and to my immediate right.
The woman's horned, top-knot covered head immediately swiveled left and right to examine the available field of view. Stopping for a moment to examine Padme sitting beside me, then crossing her arms over her chest, as she inquired with more than a little snark "Catch you at a bad time, Master Jedi? You made your need for confidentiality very clear, so I wasn't expecting an audience for this."
"Bad enough that I could really use some good news about now, Sugi. What have you got for me?" When the bounty hunter's eyes momentarily flicked in Padme's direction again, and she still remained silent, I explained with a small sigh "I emphasized the need for secrecy, because every pirate, two-wipiupi cutthroat, and bounty hunter who's ever been to Point Nadir has heard the legend of the Treasure of Salovan Fische. Including Prello the Hutt, whose clan controls the shadowport. That one happens to know it's more than just a legend."
Sniffing once, the bounty hunter finally began to talk, albeit while rolling her eyes. "We're professionals, Master Jedi, we don't need you to help us up and brush us off when we fall down."
For just an instant, I was tempted to get into a sudden death snark-off with her. Then I decided one of us had to be the grown-up, so I kept my reply simple and to the point. "Would it be safe for me to assume, then, that the fact you aren't presently being digested by a Nadir Spider settling in contentedly for another long hibernation means your mission met with success?"
"I delivered your Star to your aristocrat friend. Along with your quarter-share of the take, as agreed. He was generous enough to convert everything to an equivalent appraised value in aurodium. Which Seripas says has been so recently smelted into coins lacking a Muun smelting-mark, they should still be hot enough to give me third-degree burns" Sugi answered, deadly serious for once.
The unasked question was going to cause trouble if I didn't give her something else to chew on, so I moved on to the next phase of the plan. "All I wanted was the Star. Well, that, and to find out if you'd hold to your contract in the face of temptation. That's why I asked my friend to arrange for whatever my take was to end up back aboard your ship."
Face scrunching up in exasperated irritation, she immediately barked "Why'd you even have me divide everything up, if you were just going to pull something like this? You think we need your charity, Jedi?"
"Any way I answer that question, you're going to find a way to take offense, bounty hunter, so I'm just going to lay it out. I think you need the means to not only fund your crew indefinitely, but find and recruit others like yourself. I think you need the means to buy a real ship. The kind that can be simultaneously a forward operating base, training facility, and a deterrent against the enemies you'll invariably make, doing the kinds of jobs you want to do. I think that sort of venture takes more credits than Cad Bane, Embo, and Aurra Sing pulled down last year, combined."
"Most of all, though? I know where that kind of wealth can be found lying heaped in the secret treasury of a forgotten temple. Located on a moon no one, Force willing, will ever give a fark about. It's full of traps, and maybe an ancient war-droid or three, but the monster it all belonged to has been dead for thousands of years, and not even the Jedi Archives contains a whisper about it. You keep saying the Jedi aren't doing nearly enough. That our priorities are all screwed up. Well, here's your chance to show us how it's done. You going to put up, or shut up?" I queried with a dangerous smile.
For a few seconds, there was silence, and the Zabrak's face gave away nothing of her thinking. I could ever so dimly sense something faint moving deep beneath her surface, but her influence on the Force's song was being drowned out by the pollution on our end.
Eventually, she looked back up. There was an intensity about her that had been absent before, as she asked very pointedly "What are you expecting from us, from me, for this information? I refused to be bought by the Hutts, and I won't be bought by you."
"Only that you be willing to listen, if I should reach out to tell you about one or more people in trouble. If you decide it's something you can't do anything about, I'll leave it to your conscience. I give you my word that's all I'll ever ask of you. There are places Jedi can't go, but innocent people still need help in those places." I answered immediately. Holding her gaze as I did so, and matching her intensity with my own resolve.
There was another brief pause, then "Send me the coordinates, Skywalker. If this turns out to be on the level, and assuming the temple doesn't kill me, I'll listen. I can't commit to anything more, but I'll hear you out, promise."
Punching a series of hyperspace coordinates into the touchpad beneath the holo-comm, I followed that up with spatial coordinates, and the best I could manage for land-nav points of reference for a location from a comic book illustration of Endor's forest moon. When I was finished, I concluded with "One more thing, Sugi. The moon is inhabited by an indigenous people. They've barely discovered fire, they're barely a meter tall, and a strong eight year old Zabrak could beat up one of their adult males. There is no conceivable reason you should have to do more than fire a few shots into the air, and you can probably avoid that with some candy or a few ration-bars. They'll avoid the temple like it's got the Candorian Plague, but I didn't want you to survive the temple only to get killed by one of the traps they use to deal with predators."
"Give me some credit, Skywalker. I have put down for repairs on a nameless dirtball before." The bounty hunter said with another sniff. Trying to sound offended, but not carrying it off nearly as well as before.
"Oh, I nearly forgot. Your aristocrat friend had a message for you" Sugi continued. Her tone suggesting she seldom forgot anything, and that she'd waited this long to tell me just to try and get under my skin.
I was suddenly conscious of how long this conversation had been going on, and of the confusion tinged with a growing disapproval swelling in my silent Padawan. Padme was just watching, and seemed more curiously interested in seeing where this was going, but I could sense a restlessness building slowly in her as well, so I decided it was past time to conclude this abominably timed talk.
"I need to wrap this up, because my Master's been seriously injured, and I don't know if she's received treatment for her injuries yet. Can we pick this up where we left off another time, and you just give me the message?" I refused to parade my worries and concern just to try and expedite things, but something of what I was feeling must have been communicated, because I saw a blink-and-you-missed-it flash of guilt flit across the woman's face.
It was followed by a flash of the anger the bounty hunter used constantly to conceal and protect her softer side, but in this case, Sugi made an obvious effort to suppress it. Her voice was far quieter, anyways, when she replied a moment later "You should have lead with that, Skywalker. His exact words were Received care package by way of wildcatters. Engaged Eys Lhaj to treat with the mountain folk's preeminent vocalist. IG-1-R2-D2-Huang."
"I guarantee that whatever information I'm being paid to pass is in there. Is that it, or- never mind." It was obvious it had taken effort to bite off whatever snarky comment had floated to the forefront of her thinking, but the arms crossed over the Zabrak's thin torso now seemed as if she were hugging herself against a chill. Making me wonder what friend or loved one she was remembering worrying over.
"Yeah, that's it, Sugi" I replied simply, tiredly.
I sensed the bounty hunter's flare of compassion, then. It's existence didn't surprise me, because I knew the Zabrak to be a caring and empathetic being beneath all the protective coloration. Only that she was willing to express it aloud, to one of the Jedi she held in such disdain, as she quickly said "I hope your Master pulls through." Cutting the transmission and vanishing before I could even consider a reply.
----
"Master, are you actually funding the creation of a paramilitary organization? I don't mean any disrespect, but I don't think the High Council would approve, or the Republic, for that matter!" Ahsoka's voice was heavy with disapproval as she said as much, but now was not the time, and I told her so.
"Ahsoka, time and circumstances permitting, I will always be willing to talk things out with you. When we're alone, or nearly alone, as we are now, I invite you to share any differences of opinion you might have with me. An open and honest dialogue is an incredibly important part of your learning what you need to pass the Trials, after all."
I paused, allowing the calm, mild manner of a moment ago to fade in favor of a serious tone tinged with a note of urgency. "At this point, however, circumstances do not permit. Right now, I need to find out what's happened to my Master, and we need to learn what's happening below."
Placing a hand on my arm momentarily, Padme glanced behind me, then said rather decisively "I think Ahsoka can see the sense in that. Can we contact the Temple now?"
I glanced over my shoulder with a questioning expression, and got a decisive nod with a tremulous smile from my young apprentice. Turning from one woman to the other, I replied with equal decisiveness "We're certainly going to try."
A/N: This chapter seemed to take on a life of it's own. Morphing from the bridging chapter it was intended to be, into a looping tangle of things to come mixed with the present situation. I've gone through and re-written several chunks of it multiple times, but it just gets busier, not less as I go, so I decided to just move along.