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Coruscant, several years before the Clone Wars…
“Master Tabano, does his mean we won’t see you again?” The padawan asked the question that had been nagging his mind ever since they had landed on Coruscant.
“It may, Arias. I’ll be taking a new padawan learner, but we may see each other more often than you expect. You and Miera are more than ready for this and you know it. If not for the strain of preventing a full scale war, the council would have summoned you both for the trials long ago.” The togruta replied.
“I hope that is the real reason why we weren’t called earlier…” Arias looked down past his feet, through the clear shell of the turbolift at the early morning sun shining past the countless buldings.
“I hope so too, Arias.” Miera spoke up.
“Now now, Miera. If the council disapproved of my taking two padawans when I did, they won’t have the same sentiment now. Not only is the need for Jedi greater than ever in these strained times, but you two are the most gifted padawans I have ever had the privilege to train.”
“Ha. We’re the only padawans you’ve trained, master.” Arias said with a grin on his face.
This brought an amused grin to Tabano's multi-colored face as. "True enough. Even so, I have never heard of anyone completing the training as rapidly and thoroughly as you two have."
"You give us too much credit, master." Miera smiled. "It was due more to your persistance than anything else."
Tabano smiled at his two human padawans. "Now you give me too much credit."
The turbolift slowed to a halt, and the doors opened to the lobby, with the Jedi Council just past a set of doors on the other side of the room. The receptionist indicated that they should be seated until the Council called for them.
After several minutes of waiting, the doors opened and shut as a familiar figure walked out, rubbing the sides of his head.
"I take it the council is becoming more thorough in its debriefings, Obi-Wan?" Tobano asked.
"Hmm?" Obi-Wan Kenobi looked up, surprised. "Torm Tabano? With Arias Falm and Miera Pannar too? Of course its you, you're the only rainbow with two padawans in the order!" He stepped forward with a grin and clasped hands with the togruta. "It's been a long time, old friend."
"It most definitely has been, Obi-Wan."
"Ah, Miera, Arias. You're looking well."
"So are you, Master Kenobi." Miera and Arias replied in unison.
"Ah, don't be so modest. You don't think I've forgotten how you came to aid Anakin and I last year, have you?."
"Well, they're only droids, sir. It wasn't anything extraordinary." Arias said.
"Wasn't it?" He patted Tabano on the back. "Ah, I wish I could stay and chat, but I'm running on a tight schedule."
"Yes, that seems to be the case with so many in these times. Be safe, Obi-Wan." Tabano returned the gesture.
As Obi-Wan entered the turbolift, the receptionist gestured for Arias and Miera to enter to council room.
Miera took a deep breath as they stood up. "Wish me luck."
"You won't need it." Arias smiled at her.
***
Several years later on the Ice Planet of Hoth...
"I REPEAT: Our entire battalion has been pinned down by at least 2, no three dozen droidekas!" The clone trooper yelled into his comms reciever. "Casualties are at 27 percent and piling up fast! We need support NOW!"
"Any response, trooper?" His commanding officer queried, crouching behind a wall of dead troopers piled on the rim of the crater they were holed up in long enough to replace the power pack on his blaster rifle.
"None yet, sir. There's too much chatter on the com network to get a clear signal." The comms trooper slapped the side of his wide-spectrum communications transmitter in frustration.
"Keep trying, then."
After several minutes of repeating the same message into the transmitter, he barely heard the response over the hellish blaster fire. "Message recieved, trooper. Put your commanding officer on the comm."
The trooper tapped his commanding officer on the thigh, and handed him the comms reciever as he crouched down.
"Yes sir. Casualties are currently at...35%. If this keeps up we'll be slaughtered within the hour. Firing coordinates, sir? Hold for a moment." The trooper commander stuck his head up over the barricade or corpses to point a guidance laser at the nearest cluster of droidekas, and nearly had a fix when a blast hit him square in the neck, decapitating him in a shower of blood combined with scorced flesh and armmor.
The comms officer went to retrieve the transmitter, only to find that it had been disintegrated. The trooper discarded the comm unit and took up his blaster, trying to get a bead on the droidekas, but he could only see the blinding white snow of the raging blizzard. No use trying to sense them with infrared either. The cold cooled the droids' frames to the point where they were indescernable from their surroundings, but at the same time lit up the clone troopers like a cluster of stars gone nova.
There was simply no way that they could survive this, and the trooper knew it. It's a good thing that clone troopers are incapable of fear. He aimed his blaster toward the nearest source of droid baster fire and hoped to hit something other than snowflakes. Out of nowhere, a blue light suddenly shone from behind the group of droids. Two blue lights extending from a single point, actually, and that could mean only one thing.
The dual blades spun in a rapid, continuous arc as they rushed the cluster of droidekas so fast that the trooper could barely follow them. The tight cluster of half a dozen droidekas fell apart almost simultaneously, as if their joints had suddenly decided to separate.
A crashing noise from the opposite side of the barricade caught the trooper's attention. A pair of droids lay in a smoking ruin, as another was suspended in the air at least ten meters above a fourth droid, and suddenly fell to collapse onto another two, destroying all three.
"All troopers cease fire! Grendades concentraded on points 6.0 and 12.0!" The remaining troopers hurled their last grenades, alltogether taking out at least fifteen droids. The comms trooper, now the commanding officer, then hurled their last thermal detonater, but unluckily the winds changed precicely as it left his hand, blowing the explosive directly towards the exact center of the troop formation. It was a VERY good thing that clone troopers were incapable of fear.
Just before the detonater was about to hit the ground, it halted and shot off in a completely different direction. In fact, it was headed towards a group of droidekas. The grenade detonated in a flash, showing that at least five droids had been melted down in that blast.
With that last flash, all was silent. The blue light disappeared, and two figures strode out of the snow toward the trooper.
"Generals Falm and Pannar, thank you for your assistance!" The comms trooper stood stock straight and saluted. Not that they could likely see him in the snow, what with his white armor and all.
"Report, trooper!" Arias demanded.
"Casualties at 45%, ammunition-"
"Noted, gather your troops for evac. A transport is on the way. All resistance has been eliminated, prepare to return to your ship." Miera said.
As the trooper gathered the remaining troops and equipment, Meira and Arias headed back towards their airspeeder.
"Well, that's another planet conquered for the glory of the Republic." Arias grumbled.
"Arias, it's not like we set out to take it. The seperatists tried to set up a staging area here, and we stopped them."
"Obviously. And now to prevent them from setting up another, we set up a permanent defense station in orbit and utilize the planet for "The Republic"'s purposes."
"You've been more and more critical of the Republic lately, Arais. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, especially." Miera help up a datapad indicating their fighters' position.
"You would be too if you didn't blindly follow your orders like you do."
"What? You follow them just as I do."
"True, but you never question them. You never even try to figure out why the war is turning out the way it is." Arias spotted their craft.
"Just what are you getting at?" Miera tapped in the entry code to her starcraft.
"I'm not entirely sure, but there's something suspicious about the whole war. There's something rotten at the core of it." Arias sighed as he entered his starfighter. "I need more time to think on it."
"Then you can think on it on our way to Coruscant."
The two Jedi took of with not another word between them.
Once they landed their fighters in the docking bay of the RCS Interdictor, they headed for the command deck.
Arias could never get over the fact that every damned officer, deckhand, technician, and soldier on these things looked exactly the same. It was just downright....creepy. Sometimes he even thought that the droids looked like them.
As they entered the command deck of the cruiser, it was of course the officer in charge of plotting the ship's course that recognized them, instead of vice versa.
"Generals, do you have orders?"
"The planet has been taken, officer. As soon as the occupation force has arrived, we depart for Coruscant." Miera said.
The CP officer did a few quick calculations before replying. "Sir, we are too low on provisions to head directly to Coruscant. We will have to make a brief resupply stop at Alderaan first. ETA once occupation forces arrive, approximately two weeks, plus or minus three days."
Arias smiled. "Perfect..."
"Sir?" The CP officer said.
"Nothing, good work. Carry on, officer." Miera said, hiding a smile.
Arias poked Miera in her shoulder. "What're you smiling about?"
"The same thing you are." She grinned knowingly.
Arias noticed the CP officer looking curiously at them. "Ah yes, sparring time. Shall we?" He held out a hand down the corridor that eventually (after eight or ten thousand turns it seemed) lead to a sparring room they had had installed on the ship.
"Yes, lets." Miera said after looking at him quizically for a second.
Fifteen minutes later, they were facing each other, wearing their simple Jedi garments, sans cloaks in a room that looked more like an ancient... dojo they were called on some worlds than it did the inside of a starship.
"So what shall we practice with today, Arias Falm?" Meira said mockingly. "Lightsabers or Force Techniques?"
Arias gave her a mock scowl. "I suggest lightsabers. You haven't been using yours enough lately. I must admit though, I did like the idea of using droids to bludgeon other droids into submission."
"You liked that, did you? But you're right, I do need to practice my swordplay." Miera flicked her wrist, bringing her blade to her hand from a shelf on the wall.
Arias did the same. They ignited their lightsabers with the always-familiar snap-hiss. Arias' being a blue double-blade, Miera's a green single blade.
"Would you prefer defense or offense first?" Arias said.
"I'll take defense." She said, just before he dashed forward with a swing to her side. She blocked it easily. He always went easy on her, though.
Arias preferred to go on the offense more than the defense, mostly because Miera needed the most work in that department, but also because it was so easy with her that he had time to think about whatever vexed him.
Today it was a culmination of what he had been pondering for the past few years.
High overhead swing, blocked.
This is the third system this month that had come under the direct control of the republic.
Low slash to the side, blocked.
That wouldn't be so vexing if it wasn't for the fact that the republic in this case was the Grand Army of the Republic, commanded by the Jedi, who were more or less commanded by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, whether the Council openly accepted this or not.
Quick jab to the abdomen, dodged.
Wasn't it Master Windu who said that Jedi are keepers of the peace, not soldiers? Weren't soldiers exactly what the Jedi had become?
Slice from below to the knees, blocked.
It started just after Obi-Wan had discovered the oh-so-convenient clone army that was just waiting to be used. Obi-Wan had told me that Jango Fett, the original, had been recruited by a man named Tyrannus, in some moon or whatever, but it was outside of Republic space.
Spin around, chop to the neck, dodged. She's getting better at this.
But the Camino had said that Saipher Dias had comissioned the army on behalf of the Republic. Saipher Dias was a Jedi from Naboo, always a great supporter of Palpatine, helped him to become a Senator, even. Saipher dias later turned to the Dark Side and was killed.
Another spin with another attack the the neck, a stab this time. Blocked.
Palpatine became Supreme Chancellor more or less because the Trade Federation attacked Naboo while in an alliance with a Sith Lord.
Whip around, stab to the hip. Dodged.
A Naboo senator who opposed the formation of a republic army was the near-victim of several assassination attempts. Palpatine himself had suggested that Obi-Wan and Anakin investigate this, which lead to the discovery of the clone army, and that the bounty hunter who had attacked the senator was the same who was contracted to be the original for the clones.
Now she's going on the attack. A swing to the waist, dodged.
Obi-Wan tracks the bounty hunter to Geonosis, a seperatist world where he is captured and put up for execution. An attack on a Jedi by a near-hostile world is considered an act of war. Mace Windu heads a rescue operation, while Yoda gathers up the clones to provide backup. The war is begun. Supreme Chancellor is voted Emergency Powers, becoming something of a temporary dictator voted into office.
Slice to the wrist, blocked.
The seperatist leader is revealed as a Sith, who suggests the the Senate is under the control of a Sith Lord...WHAT THE?!?
Thrust to the shoulder...connects.
"DAMN IT ALL!" Arias cursed aloud, not even noticing the wound, and that he has dropped is blade and fallen onto his rear..
Miera dropped her lightsaber to the floor and hurriedly inspected the wound. "I'm sorry I thought you were going to block it you could have blocked it why didn't you block it are you alright does it hurt a lot-"
"I'm fine!" Arias growled. Actually, now it's starting to hurt. "Ooh....maybe not." He began to feel dizzy, and lay back on the floor.
Miera placed a hand on the wound, and the new hole in Arias' body began to regenerate itself. "I'm sorry, I was too serious about it. I hope this doesn't hurt too much."
Arias noticed that she was crying. He reach up with his non-wounded side hand and stroked her cheek. "I know you would never purposely do anything to hurt me, Miera."
She smiled weakly and held his hand against her face. "So you forgive me?"
"There's nothing to forgive. It was a lapse in concentration on my part."
"That's some lapse. I almost killed you."
"Well, I'm not dead and there won't be a scar, so lets imagine that it never happened in the first place." Arias smiled.
"Sounds like a good idea. So what broke your concentration?"
Arias stopped smiling.
"What? Is it something I did?" Miera looked concerned.
"No, nothing you did."
"What then?"
"You know how I've been thinking about what we've been doing all these years? This whole war, what it's all about?"
"Yes, we're fighting to protect the Republic."
"No, no we're not. I've been thinking it all over for years now, and it just hit me."
"What did?" Miera prodded the spot where the wound had been, to make sure it was fully healed.
"This...everything. The whole war, the army, the seperatists, the Jedi...everything's part of a impossibly elaborate coup."
"What are you talking about?"
So he explained to her what he had been considering as they had been sparriing, every little coincidence that he had found. When you put it all together, they weren't coincidences. It was a conspiracy, a plot. A plot to slowly eat away at the Republic and remake it as Palpatine's personal Empire. Little by little, just so that noone would notice unless they were unjustly paranoid and had access to all the information and resources that Jedi had. And Jedi weren't supposed to be paranoid. Arias just happened to be that lucky exception.
They lay slumped against the wall. Arias worked his shoulder to make sure that it was in working order. Miera stared into space, a picture of disbelief.
"It's just....it's....too much to take in."
"Now do you still think I was wrong in questioning what we're doing here?"
"No, I believe you. You've never lied to me about anything. You have every reason not to lie about this. It just seems so...impossible."
"And there's not a damned thing we can do about it."
"Why not? We could take this news to the Jedi Council and-"
"You know that they're suspicious of us already. They think that we're in danger of falling to the Dark Side, just because we broke one little tenant of the Jedi code."
"Hmph. 'There is no passion; there is serenity.'"
"And what is love but the ultimate passion?"
Miera smiled weakly and rested her head against Arias' shoulder. The non-stabbed shoulder, she knew better than that. "Well, we haven't fallen to the Dark Side, have we?"
"To think that the Jedi Order has become the tool that brings the Sith to power. That's irony for you."
"Makes you question your faith, doesn't it?"
"I was just thinking the same thing." Arias stood up and retrieved his lightsaber.
Miera did the same. "So what do we do now?"
"The only thing we can do." Arias said. "We leave."
Miera just nodded in agreement.
Several hours later, they lay abed. Arias held Miera close, abentmindedly stroking her hand.
"We'll have to leave it all behind, you know. Everything." Miera said.
"Yeah. There's no way to avoid it. We'll have to leave Republic Space. Maybe not for good, but for a long time."
"Arias, once I knew the truth, everything became clear. Not just my thoughts, but my visions, the future."
"What do you see?" This is the way it always was for them. The was the fighter, the action, he did the planning and got things done. She was the more mystical one, seeing what would happen, where, and what might be done to stop it.
"I see the Galaxy like a disc of light, with little blue spots wherever the Jedi are. There's a darkness creeping in. The light is growing dimmer, and the blue spots are slowly disappearing, one by one. The light turns to black, and the blue spots soon follow the light into oblivion. Now, in the black, there are two spots that are perfectly red. But there is light still. So little, but still there. Two dots, neither red nor blue, but white, at the edge of the black, barely detectable, so very dim, but undeniably there."
"Those two white dots. Those are us, aren't they?"
"There's more. There are more white dots eventually, around the two. It looks like there is another blue dot showing up far, far later, but I can't be sure."
"So the Republic will fall, and Palpatine will have his Empire."
"It can't last forever though. No matter how long he reigns, he will fall in time. That's his one huge flaw, but he doesn't see it that way, I think. When he is gone, the black will fade away and be again replaced by the light. But no matter to him. If he's gone, he doesn't care what happens. It could burn for all he cares. And he will fall. Tyrants always do." She snuggled closer to him.
After a few minutes, Arias asked the inevitable question. "Tomorrow, then?"
"Tomorrow."
__________________
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