A New Jedi in an Old Republic

Unknown Location

General Grevious pacedback and forth in his control center aboard his current flagship. The military head of the Droid Armies of the CIS was in a barelycontrolled fury at being held back from the job he lived for.

Yes, Dooku had said thatthe time was not yet right to reveal his existence to the Republic,but the damned Count failed to grasp that you had to take advantageof the enemy's weakness! This assault starting at Malastare was agood beginning, but being forced to wait to begin was a sign that theleader of the CIS knew nothing of warfare!

But he could not act, notyet. And once he was free to destroy the armies of the Republic, aswell as add to his collection of lightsabers, then he would cow Dookuinto recognizing who was better for waging this war.

Serrano

Dooku felt the entrance ofthe two into his vaulting office. One, his Dark Acolyte, and theother the self-styled 'Sith' by the name of Ventress. "Kadrian,"he said without turning around, "Is this the new recruit you wishedto show me?"

"Yes, my Master." TheZabrak deserter from the Jedi order kneeled before Dooku, earning hera sneer from Ventress. If this new recruit panned out, it would be apoint in her favor against Skorr, showing she was the better Acoyle.

"Leave us," Dookucommanded, and his Acolyte did. Once the two of them were alone didthe Count rise and face Ventress. "Ah... so full of anger."

"What would you know ofanger, old man," Ventress snarled. "Surrounded by luxury,and servants, and leading a nation?"

"More than you do,"Dooku said calmly. He could feel her heat, but neither of them werewilling to draw their weapons just yet. "Tell me, Ventress, whatis the source of your anger?"

"What does it matter toyou? I am Sith! I am anger!"

Dooku let a small smileplay across his face. "Yes, I can see that. Anyone sensitive tothe Force can sense that. That tells me nothing of who you are, orwhy you should be allowed to join me."

"Who says I want to joinyou?" Assaj fired back. "Your servant's words are more and morehollow with each passing moment."

"You wish to, because Ican offer you what you want." The Count spoke as he stepped downfrom the raised platform and out onto the general floor. "What hasyour anger gotten you?" With the Force as his ally, the far moreexperienced Darth was able to subtly influence the feelings andinclinations of the Nightsister. Yes, it would be good to have onesuch as her at his command, Mother Tanzin be damned.

But Ventress resisted. "What makes you think I need you?"

"I am at war with theJedi. And do you not think that I cannot offer you a chance to takeyour vengeance out on them then you are a fool, and I will strike youdown where you stand."

"Try it, oldman." Ventress pulled out her two lightsabers, but did notactivate them. "You're just like them. All words."

"Ah," Dooku knew thiswas inevitable where the Dark Side was concerned. The Strong ruled. He unclasped his cloak and let it fall behind him as he summoned hislightaber with the Force. The moment it was in his hand, the crimsonblade snapped out of the curved handle. "Shall we stop talkingthen?"

Ventress' two blades –Blue and Green – came to life, and she attacked.

Senatorial SecurityOffices, Coruscant

Jesra Loture, Captain ofthe Senate Guard, did not like this one bit. One of the Senators hadsummoned her to her office as she had something she needed to look atpersonally.

"I have enough to dealwith," the Captain muttered under her blue helmet as she and herescorts walked quickly through the halls of the Senate building. "How goes the processing of the Protesters?" She demanded of theaide on her right.

"Good, Captain. Weshould be done by sun-down."

"Excellent. We can'tafford anything like that distracting the Senate at this juncture."

They stopped in front ofMon Mothma's office and presented their credentials. In theory, shecould have just walked right in, but as she had been invited, acertain level of decorum needed to be followed.

"Senator, CaptainLoture, as requested." She introduced herself as she stepped in,taking in the two Jedi standing to one side, the woman she thoughtshe recognized at the table with the Senator, and the weapon on thetable.

There was an unsecuredweapon on the table, and training kicked in. "Pardon me Senator,what is the problem?" she asked as she tapped out a small code onthe inside of her gauntlet, alerting the nearby Guard station thatthere was a weapon in the office.

"Ah, Captain." MonMothma stood. "Forgive the oddity of this request, as you are thebest person I know of to talk to in this regard." She swept a handat the empty chair beside the visitor. "Please, sit. My agent,Ors, has something for you."

Ors. Now the Captainrecognized the name. The pilot of the ship that landed at the Senatethe day after the war was declared, with no papers, noidentification, and a Jedi as her passenger.

And the Senator had calledher an 'Agent'. That meant a lot of things. Trusting that thiswasn't an attack, Jesra took off her helmet and took the offeredseat. "What is that?" she asked, gesturing at the weapon whosemake she didn't recognize, and was obviously why she was summoned.

"This," Ors said, "isa Directed Elecrto-Magnetic Pulse weapon." She tapped the largegun with a single finger. "Right now it's a prototype whosedesigners would have... troubles if their relation to a weapon likethis were known. I was tasked to bring it back to the Senate when wedidn't know what exactly it was."

Jesra narrowed her eyes. "A man-portable EMP gun?"

"Yes," the Agentreplied. "It's been used in live-fire combat, so I know it works."

This was news to theCaptain. Very good news. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Well," the Senatorsaid gently, "while I have technical possession of the weapon, I amnot in a position to know who should begin production of it."

"That is a question,Senator." It made sense, really. Chandrilla wasn't a weaponsexporting world in the least, and the Senator, even if it was hermachinations that resulted in the acquisition of the weapon in frontof them, could not leverage that into full scale production. "Butpardon my doubt, but I would need to see this in action first."

Ors and Mon Mothma shareda nod. "Of course. Jan, if you will?"

Jan Ors picked up theweapon and the two green-robed Jedi fell into positions behind her. Their presence led the Senator to take this far more seriously thanshe would have normally.

"We have a firing rangein our command center," the Captain of the Guard said as she toostood, recovering her helmet. "Once I can vouch for the weapon'seffectiveness, we can see who can make this wonder weapon of yours." She looked at Jan with a slight frown as well. "And Senator, thenext time one of your Intelligence Agents sneaks a weapon into mybuilding, let me know ahead of time so I know who to yell at for notdoing their job properly."

Yes, there would be muchyelling, and a definite shake-up after this woman and the Jedi walkedinto the building with such a large weapon.

Office of theChancellor

Palpatine watched withundisguised awe as the holo-recording of the tests that had beenconducted in the basement of the Senate earlier in the day. CaptainLoture waited patiently for the recording to end, even as sheremembered the weight and reactions she had firing that weapon attarget droids after Ors had shown it off. The DEMP Carbine was,simply put, the perfect weapon for the Army to use against the Droidheavy forces of the Seps.

"This is most wonderfulnews!" Palpatine said, even as Sidious plotted. "Who made this?"

"The maker removed alltheir marks before handing it off to Intelligence," Loture said,nodding at Isard, who was also present, even if he had nothing to dowith it. "However, based on construction, we suspect that it isMerr-Sonn in origin."

"Merr-Sonn," Armandsaid, stepping forward, "is one of the largest munitionsmanufacturers in the Galaxy. That this weapon came from their R&Dlabs is of no surprise." Inwardly, he fumed that Senator MonMothma was playing him like this, but he also appreciated the gall ofthe woman in her ploys. It was brilliant, and he looked forward tothe next time they crossed paths, or worked together.

"Then why not beginproduction themselves? Sell it to the Republic?" Palpatine askedin that slightly confused voice of his.

"At this point, wesuspect that Merr-Sonn is hiding their development from the CIS,"Isard said. "Or possibly they had this weapon, but were not goingto release it until internal corporate espionage brought this out tous."

"Curious. Where is itnow?" Palpatine asked for many reasons.

"In the interests ofsecurity," Isard spoke, "the weapon and the construction plansfor it are being held in a secure facility. Once we can beginconstruction, or license it out to another company, then we can moveit there."

"That's good to hear!"Palpatine lied. "How soon?"

"It won't be hard to geta factory set up for it," Loture said. "The design schematicswere quite thorough. We can begin production within a week if allgoes well, and can start arming the Clone Army in a month."

"Very well then. Keepme appraised. Anything that can end this war quickly and bring theSeparatists to the negotiating table should be well protected."

"I will do so," Isardsaid. "If you'll excuse me, Chancellor?"

"Of course. This is thefirst good news in a while! I hope to hear more soon!"

Seranno

Dooku mediated after thefight with Ventress. She was truly gifted in the Dark Side, and hecould easily mold her into an excellent Apprentice. Though thiswould mean also showing a little favor to Skorr in order to balanceout that particular conflict. There was no sense in letting one sideor the other get far ahead of the other.

And he should also checkin for a report regarding the Dark Reaper as well. In the meantime,he had ordered Ventress to be treated for her wounds and givenquarters with the other Acolytes. He would also need to make surethere were proper crystals for her new sabers. It would not do herany good to be 'Sith' while not having proper red.

He smiled at the memoriesof his victory over her, gloating that a Real Sith wouldn't belosing before revealing himself to be one. Then he finished thefight with Force Lightning to drive the point home, even as Ventressfailed to defend herself from it.

That was something else toadd to his report to his Master, which would not be for some time.

But still, why did he feelwary at the presence of Ventress? It wasn't like she was a spy forthe Jedi. Her anger was too pure for that. There was something inthe Force that nagged at him, but without any further understanding,he put those thoughts aside. There would be time for that later.

Office of ArmandIsard

Isard, Jan and Mon Mothmasat at the table of the head of Republic Intelligence as said headspoke harsh words to both of them.

It boiled down to themrunning an op under his nose like that, and the importance of teamwork. It was nothing Jan hadn't heard before, but for Mothma, thiswas a new experience.

When Isard finallyfinished, he looked between the two human women. "Anything youhave to say for yourselves?"

Jan knew Isard, or ratherhis daughter. And so far this man was parsecs more competent formher short experience with him. She would have to take thisseriously. And that meant biting back the reflexive response to snarkback like she would have with the old Mon Mothma.

"Sir," she saidinstead, "this was a unique opportunity that we had to takeadvantage of in the moment. There was no chance for us" sheimplicated the Senator as a means of sharing blame enough to notseriously harm either of them, "to deal with the proper channels. Once the nature of the device was realized, it was brought back herewhere the Senator began to contact the appropriate people."

"I understand that,"Isard said. Everything was technically above the board, though theexact nature of Jan Ors' job worried him with it's unknown factors. Including the two Jedi currently outside. "However, that does notreduce my displeasure with either of you."

"I apologize, Director." Mon Mothma put her diplomatic skills to use. "However, as Jansaid, it was a time-sensitive issue. We had to act."

Isard could do nothing. Not now. "Very well then. But I expect a full report from you,"he pointed to Jan, who looked pained by the request. He knew thelook of someone who did not enjoy paperwork in the least. "Now,tell me Senator, the rest of your plan."

Jedi CouncilChambers

As much as they wishedthey could deny it, the Council in attendance recognized thatKnight-Errant Katarn was right.

There was no one in theOrder who was qualified to lead an Army.

"Guidance, we mustgive." Yoda grumbled. "Yet clouded, the Force is. Strong, ourfoes."

"We cannot give up,"Windu pointed out. "The Republic depends on us."

"That they have calledupon us to lead this war without understanding our position makesthat clear," Ki-Adi-Mundi pointed out. "They are desperate."

"Nor do we have time totrain ourselves to the standards required." Kit Fisto said,filling in for another Master who was on assignment. "Although Ido reject the notion that we hire... mercenaries for this work."

"Agreed." Many of theMasters spoke as one.

"Perhaps there areleaders we can promote from the Planetary Garrisons?" Billabaoffered. "Surely there are a few we can ask the Senate topromote?"

"Curious, this wordingis," Yoda mused as he remembered the exact details of the Senatecommunication. "Leaders we are to be, yes? Hrm..."

"You have something,Master?" Billaba asked as it seemed Yoda was building off hiscomment. "What do you see?"

"Requests to lead, theseare." Yoda pointed out. "Directly, from the front, it does not. Blinded by our own confidence we were. Ruin, we would have risked." He looked over at the other Master. "Master Billaba, names haveyou? To promote?"

"Not yet..." the otherMaster was put on the spot, and admitted he hadn't gotten than farahead. "Why are there no Clone Generals? The highest rank I'veseen is Captain."

Shaak Ti answered fromKamino. "The Kaminoans do not have the means to teach that, asthere is not a lot to go on," she paused, frowning. "Yet thereare also Mandalorian mercenaries here to work on the training aswell...."

"There appear to be manyparallels between the Clone Army and the Droid Army," Plo koonspoke aloud. "Both are mass produced with no internal leadership."

"What are yousuggesting?" Obi-wan said, also sitting in on the Council, thoughunlike Kit Fisto, his elevation to the leading body was more assured. He was distracted with Anakin's worries, but still held enoughattention to wonder where this was going.

"Why is it," Plo Koonmade his concerns clear, "that the secret army of the Republic, andthe Army of the Separatists are functionally the same?"

Office of Senator MonMothma

The Senator, the Spy andthe two Jedi relaxed in the office. "Thank you for your presence,"Mon Mothma said to the Jedi as she poured herself a drink. "Youmade things less worrisome."

Apprentices Maris andShoja both smiled, and accepted the offer by their host to servethemselves a drink, which they took in moderation. "It wasilluminating," Maris said. He was impressed by the sly words Janused, and understood why the Knight-Errant respected her strengths.

Shoja had to offer adifferent opinion. "And yet, we are no closer to advancing ourplan than before. What comes next?"

"Next," Jan said asshe finished her drink, "we get the Senator here to put out feelersfor who builds the DEMP. Once we know who, then we can play theshell game."

"This still seems alarge risk," Shoja said. "Would not having someone build them insecret also work?"

"The goal isn't just tomake them, but to flush out spies in the Senate," Mon Mothareiterated. She didn't want to believe that, but the logic presentedby Jan was irrefutable. "Why? Do you have a suggestion?"

"I would have saidCorellia, given our industrial output, but they've withdrawn from theRepublic."

Jan was glad for that,given what Centerpoint Station could do. She considered remindingKyle about that, but decided to wait on that until the situation wasdire enough for that to come into play. Blowing up stars and movingplanets was not something that would be enough to de-escalate thewar. Of course, she realized that only her and Kyle knew about that,so it was definitely a safe secret.

"If Corellia wants tojoin in the war on the side of the Republic," Mon Mothma saidwistfully, "then we would be glad to have her back. But I doubtthat such a thing will happen easy."

"Very true." Marissaid sourly. "The more worried members of the Corellian Jedibelieve that leaving the Sector is a death sentence."

That morbid thoughtbrought silence with it.

Jedi Temple

Master Paloh and hisApprentice were both from Corellia, and they were the ones assignedby Master Halcyon and Knight-Errant Katarn to locate and recruit theTeepo Knights to the cause of the Republic.

Their first stop was theJedi Archives, there to search for information regarding theirassigned group.

What they found requireddouble checking. They simply couldn't believe that the answer was sosimple and so close.

The Teepo Knights had asmall section of the Temple to their name, a near-heretic sect of theOrder residing right in the center of Jedi power.

Following the directionson the map they procured from the Archives, they slowly worked theirway into the back of the Temple. Even though the Teepo were stillhere on Coruscant, they were not well accepted by their brethren, andhidden from view.

Eventually they reachedthe doors leading to the chambers where they were supposed to reside,but to the two Jedi, something seemed off. Curious, the Mastergestured for the Apprentice to open the door.

The rooms were empty.