The Weaving Force: Chapter 31 (Patreon)

Chapter 31:

Adi Gallia

Adi Galia prided herself on being able to read people and take an accurate measure of them with a fair degree of reliability; she had always had a passion for the art of diplomacy, and that particular skill was necessary for such an interest.

But, at the moment, she had to reassess her own capabilities

The voyage to Zygerria would take a handful of days, days she’d planned to make use of by helping Padawan Dallon learn as much as she could regarding the Zygerian government, culture, species, society, cities and the evidence that had been brought to their attention with the allegations.

In short, a crash course on everything the girl would need to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

Adi had heard many… concerning rumors regarding Dallon’s particular… talent for diplomacy-

But then the girl had simply… changed.Or, maybe, she shouldn’t call it a ‘change,’ so much as nearly a ‘transformation.’

Of course, the first day had been largely wasted, with the Padawan’s presence in the force awash with an almost despondent sadness and longing. Her ill-advised attachment to Padawan Hebert was obvious to anything as force sensitive as a rock just from how thoroughly the girl was drowning the ship in her emotions.

But, after that, when she sat down to read the dockets and files, Adi expected to need to bring out her youngling-corralling tactics from her creche duty days, perhaps even needing help from Master Yoda.

But the girl was nothing like the emotionally-fragile and easily-distracted child she anticipated. She sat down and read through everything without a single word of complaint. She was focused and sharp, with a single-minded work ethic that was, frankly, impressive.

Why on earth was she not like this all the time!? The Force only knew how much it would put the other Masters at ease!

“I don’t think the King’s our guy.”

Seated across from her, Adi raised an eyebrow, Victoria’s voice pulling her from her observations and into the present. “Pardon me?”

The blonde adjusted her place on the seat, uncrossing her legs to lean forward and present to Adi the holo-image of the Zygerrian King. “I don’t think the King’s behind this?”

Was there good reasoning behind this assessment? Or was this just another case of an over-eager Padawan trying to make a good showing for the trials?

Off to the side of the common room, she spotted the twitch of Master Yoda’s ears, where the grandmaster had been meditating for a short while now- apparently the discussion had caught his interest.

“How so?” Adi ventured to ask, leaning back in her own seat and crossing one leg over the other.

“He actually has a motive to not rock the boat right now,” Victoria explained as she turned the datapad back towards her to quickly scroll through it. “Says here: the King’s sick. Some kind of blood infection. Terminal, only about another year or two to live.”

“True.” Adi nodded, understanding the logic. “You believe he’d wish for stability in his realm before passing things over to his heir.”

Victoria grinned. “Bingo. So, yeah. I doubt he’s our guy. So now, we just need to figure out, if it is someone in government, who stands to gain from this?”

Again, the logic was sound but-

“Why are you focussed on a potential insider causing this?” Adi asked. “While that is a possibility, it’s just as likely that its a criminal element.”

Victoria shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

:”Why?” The Tholothian Jedi Master raised an eyebrow. “Crime is hardly something stamped out across the galaxy. Slavers are especially widespread, unfortunately.

“They would never tell us if it was just some pirates or criminals. The only reason we got word is because it's someone that can’t be touched easily by the locals.”

“Why do you think they wouldn’t tell us?” She agreed with the assessment; however, again, she wished to know Dallon’s logic: who could have guessed that the oft times flighty girl would have a mind fit for analysis like this?

Victoria snorted, “Because no one wants some outsiders from half a galaxy away to come around sticking their noses into their private business. Doubly so when the seat of what was once an empire can trace back its decline and fall to the same outsiders doing so a couple hundred years ago.” Victoria’s eyes narrowed then, squinting in thought, before one hand rose to cup her chin. “Although, come to think of it… that might be another angle. Using us to push citizens into wanting slavery back.”

That statement sent Adi’s thought’s careening off to the side, crashing straight into disbelief. “What?!”

“Think about it,” Victoria insisted, undeterred by Adi’s incredulous tone. “Our tip came from an anonymous source, so when we show up, it’s basically ‘unannounced’ and ‘uninvited.’ If the King or anyone asks who gave us the information, all we can say is, ‘classified,’ at best.” The younger woman nodded. “At best, it’ll look like needless Jedi interventionism to the locals. Jedi interventionism which could be used to gin up anti-Jedi and anti-Republic sentiment. Which, given the cultural and historical context, goes hand in hand with pushing for slavery.”

Adi Galia had to admit that she hadn’t considered that angle, and was very impressed that the girl had. She was reminded, quite vividly in that moment, that both Victoria and Taylor both held significant ‘life’ experiences long before they came to the temple; they were not as callow and sheltered as temple Padawans, and knew well the maliciousness and underhanded tactics some in the wider galaxy would employ.

She could understand why Master Plo had insisted that Victoria held her own, more subtle strengths in comparison to the obvious ones of Miss Taylor.

Still…

“If we consider this as a motive,” she began, “then we must also consider the possibility that it is a political attack in nature: planting evidence to point us towards a suspect to… eliminate him from the board. Through his death or through his incarceration.”

Victoria nodded. “Yeah. I can also see them pulling a Kaiser.”

“Pardon?”

“Oh-” The younger woman waved her off. “Sorry, just shorthand for something me and Taylor know. Back home, there was this guy called Kaiser; real asshole. Anyway, a lot of people suspected him of killing a woman - my aunt - Fleur.”

This was all news to Adi, but rather more startling was how easily, almost carelessly the girl spoke of the death of her aunt. Did she not care for her?

“-point is, people think Kaiser did it, but he ended up pointing the finger at some nobody and killed that guy, nominally to avenge Fleur. But I think it was just to cover his own ass.”

Adi took a moment to follow the story before deducing what the girl was getting at.

“You believe our informant might be the one responsible?” she asked to confirm. “And he’s only using us to ‘point the finger’?”

Victoria shrugged. “It's not impossible.”

No… No it wasn’t.

Adi stopped herself from sighing, though she closed her eyes, attempting to will the headache she could feel rapidly approaching to just go away.

This mission hadn’t even properly started, and it was already seemingly far more complicated than any of them had previously suspected.

“We will need to treat this matter very carefully,” she said. Again, she caught sight of Master Yoda’s small, barely-there smile out of the corner of her eye and wondered - absurdly - if she were the one undergoing a test of some kind here.

(X)(X)(X)

Taylor:

“Master Jedi”

The official infront of us bowed low at the waist. A holo-table behind him was lit up with various diagrams and angles hovering in three dimensions above its surface. At a glance, it was a collection of various intel reports on the separatist groups - or the “Halcyon Usurpers,” as the locals had taken to calling them.

When we arrived, we were immediately brought to the local security headquarters - sort-of the Republic equivalent of the PRT, or perhaps more equivalent to the FBI.

After a small battery of scans, security checks, and clearance verifications, we were escorted here: the intelligence room. Several monitors dominated the walls of the room. Before them stood raised platforms bearing rows upon rows of technicians at their stations.

I had my bugs listening in to all nearby chatter. There were some insects that were evolutionarily similar to Earth ones in terms of senses, so it was easy enough to re-establish my local omniscience. Unfortunately, not all were similar enough for me to easily use their senses right away, so there were a handful more blind spots than I’d have liked. I immediately took to breeding the compatible ones and making notes to research the incompatible ones later. Depending on their ‘functions,’ I’d decide on whether to breed them in spite of their incompatibility or not.

The official stood. He was an older man, once fit but now beginning to round out with his age.  If he had lived on Earth, I would have described him as having a vague mix of asian and african features I couldn’t quite place. His hair was graying at the edges, but he still looked competent, or at least made a convincing show. He looked like he was used to wearing his uniform, and there wasn’t enough decoration on it to make it seem like he was putting on airs, or simply here to show off or gain some political points.

“Minister Q’ou,” Master Windu answered as he returned the bow. “I am Master Windu; we spoke over holo. With me are Master Yaddle-” Yaddle dipped her head ever so slightly. -and Jedi Padawan Hebert; please, bring us up to speed immediately.”

The minister, Q’ou, nodded sharply; I recognized the name: the Minister of defense for the planetary forces. That explained the uniform.

Gesturing towards the holo-table, he began speaking before we even made it to the table’s edge. “The last attack was scarcely four days ago,” he explained. The image on the Holo table shifted towards a building. One of its sides was burning rubble, and a whole chunk was blasted out of its base. It was a small wonder the building hadn’t tipped over completely.

“Have you traced the source of the attack?”

The Minister nodded, but his features were still grave. “We have.” He pressed handful of more holo keys, and, instantly, a dozen imagesof what I assumed to be suspects were placed on the screen.

“These are suspected members of the Halcyon Usurper cell that carried out the attack. They’re going to ground, covering their tracks. But we’re keeping pace with them.”

“And yet, you sound worried,” Windu pointed out.

“We’re unsure how armed they are,” the official agreed. “If we attack them quickly, we’ll be going in blind. Wait too long, however, and they might slip the net.”

“How are you tracking them?” I asked.

“One of them is using a credit chit,” Q’ou explained. “False name, falsified numbers. He likely didn’t expect that we’d have it pegged by now, so he’s still using it. Once he stops…” He trailed off.

“That’s sloppy,” I noted, turning towards Windu and Yaddle. “Cash only…” ...is how I would do it, I didn’t say

Windu and Yaddle looked like they shared my suspicions.

“It might be that they're luring us into another trap,” Windu noted. “Purposefully using that credit chit to make you commit more forces to an engagement that they’ll be ready for.”

The minister’s face soured. “I’m afraid of that, too. That’s why we waited for your arrival. With three Jedi, I hoped that we’d be able to brute force our way through any ambush they might be planning.

Windu’s lips pursed. “I would rather gather more intelligence if possib-”

“I’ll go.”

The words were out of my mouth before I realized I said them. Not because of any particular eagerness or enthusiasm, but rather because it was a simple job with a simple solution.

Windu and Yaddle eyed me questioningly, I shrugged. “Send me,” I repeated. Looking at them pointedly now. “You know I can find out every secret of their hideout within an hour, tops.”

Realization flitted across their eyes.

“That sounds… reasonable,” Windu answered carefully. “I will accompany you. Master Yaddle will remain with the security team, observing and ready to intervene if necessary,” he said, and his tone would brook no argument. I suppose that, to him, I was still a Padawan in every way that mattered. So sending me off to go scout on my own was hardly something he’d want to condone.

It wasn’t ideal - Windu tended to stand out in a crowd - but, from what I could see, this planet had a mix of ethnicities. White, Black, Asian, mixes here and there. So he theoretically  could blend in.

I looked to Minister Q’uo. “Do you have civilian clothes we can use?”

The man nodded. “We do. I will hasten to find some in your respective sizes.”

“Clean ones, please,” I requested. I didn’t consider myself a snob, but being acutely aware of every single bug around me at any given moment let me know exactly how poorly clothes ‘survived’ when not worn for a long time… or when worn by too many people without a good wash.

The Minister gave me a strange look - as though that were obvious - before he made himself nod, turn, and walk away to give out the orders.

My eyes turned towards the numerous suspects as I reached over to a passing technician, halting him before he made it back to his station. “Could you download all these profiles into a datastick for us?”

“Of course, Master Jedi,” He said quickly, nodding and hastening over to his workstation to do as I asked.

When I looked back to Master Windu, the Haruun master’s look was odd, and inscrutable.

“What?” I asked.

“You seem… familiar in this setting,” he answered carefully, as if afraid of offending me.

I shrugged. There wasn’t any offense to  be had.

“I’m not,” I answered, remembering- reminding myself that any familiarity I had wasn’t mine… “It’s just a job that needs doing. So let's get it done.”

(X)(X)(X)

Unknown:

She shouldn’t be doing this. She should not be doing this.

She knew her mission, and she knew it was now at risk if she did this. Years of work, countless sacrifices. All for nothing if she got caught.

And yet… she had to try.

Very few things had made life bearable during these last few years.

He’d been one of them.

She had to warn them. Try to get help.

She listened one last time to the message she recorded, ready to send it off on the most encrypted frequency she had, through a nearly forgotten lifeline she’d never thought she’d use.

She hit play, listening one more time; praying the urgency was conveyed in the static of her voice.

“This is operative Zero-Zero-Four-Eight-Seven-Two. Clearance Code; Ossus-Tyth. I repeat, this is operative Zero-Zero-Four-Eight-Seven-Two.

“In all these years I have never once asked the Jedi council for anything but I have to ask now. The Slavers have hired the assassins of Bando Gora to eliminate a target known colloquially as ‘Kronos.’ I have been close enough to these assassins to recognize that they are force sensitive. Their involvement could not only lead to Kronos’ death, but also the failure of my own mission if they discover my nature.

“I implore the Council to move with all haste… last I heard they were headed towards Utapau as we speak… Master Adi- help me, please.”

The message ended, she thought about returning, fixing the recording. But that was a small thing. The codes were right. She’d checked them. The frequency was the secret one known only to Jedi shadows and other high risk operatives… like her.

A single slip of a name wouldn’t see it dismissed.

Her master would recognize her.

She had to.

They had to act.

She’d never asked them for anything, not once in all these years; even during the darkest of days when she felt as though she would drown.

They had to act.

She re-sealed the message, checking the encryptions again.

Then she sent it off through a sanitation terminal, far removed from anywhere she would normally be found.

The council would act.

They had to act.

She repeated those words in her head like a prayer as she retreated from the darkened halls and maintenance access ways.

(X)(X)(X)

Ok friends :D

This was the *last* bit of setup. (And I betcha none of you expected to hear from Siri again huh! :D)

Next chapter we're gonna have some fun :3

Speaking of, I was struggling a bit on how to Juggle so many POVs (pretty sure some of you noticed) but I think I know how to do so, now; Next chapter we'll be dealing with Vicky and Dennis' (group) mainly and then after that with Taylor and Dennis' (group)  since Vicky and Taylor's individual trials don't need to be "micro managed" to an extreme degree, they don't need the constant screen-time and can alternate a bit.

And Alexandria and her machinations on Mandalore and co. will also be showing up when appropriate since they, by the simple rules of political inertia, take time to "cook" so to speak.

All that having been said, the next couple of chapters might take a weee bit longer than normal, because the reality is I can't just play willy nilly with Dennis' plotline in particular unless I wanna end up writing myself into a corner and both Vicky and Taylor need to confront certain things during their Jedi trials. This entire "chunk" of the story set between Phantom Menace and the Clone Wars, has to do its job in the narrative first and foremost of setting up the latter "Clone Wars" part of the fic for success- so now I've got to take my time and measure my steps a bit more carefully.

Even so complicating plotlines or not- there are LOTS of exciting things coming down the pipe for everyone :) I'm excited. 

As always there's a discord to discuss patreon chapter events right here:

https://discord.gg/hGpnbJnS

Head over there and participate if you like. Unfortunately Jerry ate all the cookies so feel free to go darkside on him as needed.