31 Intrigues

Part 1

Council Chambers, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

Skywalker was looking through the windows at the evening traffic flying near the Temple. He had finished giving his report about the holding action he and Kenobi's forces had executed on Felucia. While that world was lost for the time being, the Separatists had committed their last operational reserves in order to take the planet.

At least for the time being, everyone expected that there would be a lull in the fighting, so far as attacks on new space systems were concerned. Both sides were constantly sending reinforcements and supplies to the various active theaters, but after the battle of Ryloth the Republic and CIS were exhausted.

"Two months. That's how long it would take for both our new warship construction and the Separatists' to be completed, and for the next production batch to begin. Until then, neither side could attack without committing their strategic reserves." Shaak Ti, who had returned to Coruscant hours ago, summarized the strategic situation.

"This will buy us some breathing space. Thanks to Corellia, we may be in position to go on a limited counter-offensive before the CIS are ready." said the hologram of general Valentra.

"We are drawing various plans for such action." added General Veil's holo-image.

"In the meantime, we can finish with this distasteful affair." muttered Shaak Ti.

Everyone present knew what she was talking about, Windu's trial was less than a week away.

Anakin shook his head. He could scarcely believe what the Vaapad master had tried to do. If it wasn't for the video of the event, he would be in denial.

Skywalker took a deep breath and winced. The rasping sound of the respirator mask was grating on his nerves. And he was supposed to wear the damn thing for eight more days!

"Away from the battlefield, some time you two should take." said Yoda.

The old Jedi Master looked at the two youngsters in the center of the room.

"As archive security, you can be, young padawan." he continued, nodding at Ahsoka, who didn't look thrilled by the announcement, but kept her tongue in check.

But giving cheek to the Grandmaster of the order wasn't a good idea. Especially for a padawan.

"Skywalker, rest you should."added Yoda.

Anakin didn't protest either. If he was lucky, he could "rest" with Padme. That is if she didn't kill him first. Skywalker had understated a bit the injuries he had received on Ryloth, and dreaded meeting her face to face for the first time since then...

=RK=

Undisclosed Location, Coruscant

Bane was cooling his heels in one of his safe houses on Coruscant ever since the debacle at the Senate. Since that incident, hewas on the Republic's most wanted list. It was only his skills and a bit of luck that allowed him to get away.

The comm terminal in his room came to life. A holographic image of a human male, hidden under a dark cloak appeared over the only desk in the room.

"Excuse the interruption, bounty hunter. I have need of your services."

Bane stiffened. This was the man who had almost gotten him killed. He turned from the window and sneered at the cloaked figure.

"Now, listen you..."

"A new, foolproof identity." stated the human.

Bane's mouth snapped shut. That was what he needed in order to continue operating with relative impunity. However at the moment he had no access to his usual contacts. They were not crazy enough to bring on themselves the heat that will came with him.

"And that will be just a free bonus for your services so far."

"What do you need?"

"I need a Jedi Holocron." stated the old man.

Bane stared at the Sith Lord. Was that human insane?!

"In order to get a Jedi Holocron, I need to break in the damn Jedi Temple. You know the place, I presume? The same Temple that was attacked few short weeks ago. The place will still be on high alert and it will be crawling with clone troopers!" he deadpanned, unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice.

He was a mercenary, not a crazy fanatic with suicidal tendencies!

"It's a kriffing suicide!"

"I will provide you with the means to get inside and out, as well as a way off world. I have some expendable agents that will be useful for the occasion. What do you want to do the job?"

Bane stared at the image of the Sith Lord. He could accept. Or rot in this kriffing room... When all was said and done it wasn't a hard decision. He was going insane in this glorified cell.

"I want triple my usual rate as well as a..."

=RK=

General Veil's office, Republic High Command, Coruscant

I finally finished my AAR for the whole mess on Ryloth. Even with the help of my staff it took about a week to get it all done.

Finally, that damned thing was finished.

I drained the remaining caff from my mug and checked the time. It was around nine twenty in the evening. I smiled. For once I would be able to get out at a reasonably early hour. That hasn't happened since the whole Blue Shadow fiasco.

I sent the electronic copy of my report to Valentra, saved two copies on different machines for myself and placed the pad on which I was working at a pile of similar devices in the "out" basket on my desk. Then I activated the security and a golden force field appeared over the stack of electronic devices.

An overworked lieutenant would gather them in the morning and upload the information in the secure archives in the building's basement.

I checked what was left of my paperwork and smiled. It wasn't something that my minions couldn't do in the morning. Besides I had let the lucky bastards to retire early tonight.

I grabbed my black cloak and headed out, when the door on my office chimed. I opened it a moment later and saw Shaak Ti in all her vibrant glory.

She smiled at me. Too cheerfully. Uh-oh.

I've been married, you know. I knew exactly what that type of smile on a woman's face meant. I was in deep trouble...

"Hi, Delkatar." she said sweetly.

Yup. Very deep trouble...

Where is an enemy surprise attack or something when you need it?!

"Hi!" I smiled at her.

I think it was a normal and not a nervous smile...

=RK=

500 Republica, Coruscant

"I know. The death toll on Ryloth rivals the total Blue Shadow casualties, and that doesn't even take into account the millions taken by the Hutts." said Amidala.

She was sitting on the couch in her living room, with a holo-comm placed on the table in front of her. The transparent images of Bail Organa and Mon Mothma were floating over it.

"The sheer devastation caused by the droid army on Ryloth means that world would be unable to sustain itself for the foreseeable future. "added Mothma.

Padme frowned.

"We'll be sending what little humanitarian aid we can, but after the last crisis caused by the war, there is not much that Alderaan could provide at the moment." said Bail.

He looked tiredly at Amidala. It wasn't like her homeworld of Naboo could help anyone but itself right now. The consequences of the Blue Shadow on the planet's economy were catastrophic.

Padme had rarely felt so helpless as she did ever since Naboo was attacked. The following events made it even worse, if that was even possible.

For weeks, a cancerous thought had been running through her mind. What would have happened if she hadn't tried to stop the creation of the Republic army? Would everyone have been better prepared for the terrors of this war? What about Naboo? Even if anything she had done couldn't have prevented the bio-attack on Theed, that still left Ryloth and the nightmare that the damn slavers had unleashed on that world's inhabitants...

Padme sighed and looked at her friends.

"We should try to persuade what's left of the Senate to send more aid to Ryloth." she said in a tired voice.

"Yes, that will be for the best. If we can persuade them." muttered Bail.

The front door of Amidala's apartment chimed.

"So that's what we'll do. Let's meet tomorrow morning in the Senate and we'll start." she said and stood up, heading towards the door after a brief good bye.

She opened it and looked at Anakin. At first she was overjoyed, giving him a breathtaking smile.

Then Padme saw the way he was behaving. Her husband was a bit stiff and thanks to her vast political experience she could easily see that the smile he had under his mask was forced one. He was hiding something.

She grabbed his shirt and dragged him inside.

"Anakin Skywalker!" snapped Padme in a tone that brooked no argument.

A delicate finger pocked his tender ribs making him wince.

"Explain! Now!" poke, poke.

He grunted.

"Only a scratch, is it?!" she grumbled.

"Wait, Angel! I can explain!" he stammered...

"This better be good, mister..."

=RK=

I got lucky. For the moment at least. Shaak Ti was temporally mollified by a dinner in a nearby restaurant. At the moment a lot of her attention was dedicated on devouring of a juicy steak from a mammal native to Shili. Even better, I still have all vital body parts attached.

I had learned the hard way, that one of the best way to calm down and make up to a pissed off Togruta female. That is, beside the obvious groveling, and a lot of it (sincere too if said woman is a Jedi...), was getting to the nearest restaurant. Preferably one that provided meals native to Shili.

I think it was a legacy of the way her species evolved from predators, that you could calm down an irritated Togruta female by feeding her a rare steak or something similar. It definitely won't solve the problem, but it would buy you time to explain yourself.

That last part was vital, when the female you've pissed off was a lightsaber wielding woman, who knew how to use it...

Shaak Ti swallowed a bite of her steak and pointed her fork at me.

"I still haven't heard a good explanation."

Well, that was my problem. I didn't have one that was likely to satisfy her. Just logical ones, from the POV of a Sith that is. All of which would piss her off even more...

I took a sip from my Corellian ale and prepared to bite the bullet. Part of the truth would be best I think.

"You and Ahsoka are Jedi." I stated the obvious.

She gave me a deadpan look and silently beckoned me to continue.

"I assumed that you knew how to neutralize any tranquilizer or poison that the pirates had placed into the drinks. Obviously I was wrong."

Granted, if I didn't know better, that would have been a prudent assumption.

"Uh-huh. I'm still listening. You not only used us as bait, but made sure we didn't know your plan for dealing with the pirates. You lied to us."

Her dark eyes bored into mine with intensity that I found fascinating.

"No, I didn't." I confirmed with a small smile. "There is a fundamental difference in the way you Jedi operate and the way I handle things. I don't fear that my actions would 'turn' me to the Dark Side. It gives me much larger pool of tactical options. What the Jedi in general find unpalatable or unthinkable, well, it's just another day in the office for me."

"You weren't going to accept Ohnaka's deal anyway, were you?" she asked.

"No. While there was a tiny chance that he wouldn't try to back-stab us, it wasn't something that I was going to count on."

I took a bite of my own steak. It tasted terrific.

"That isn't the way a Jedi could afford to look at the world." she nodded after thinking for few moments. "If we had such a mindset, we would be perilously close to falling. And if we pulled the stunts you have so far or suggested..." she muttered.

I think she meant my requesting a permission to purge big parts of Naboo if necessary to stop the spread of the virus.

"Do you think that I've fallen to the Dark Side?" I asked her calmly.

Her eyes widened a bit and she stared at me. I could sense her probing me with the Force. For a moment I let the camouflage over my "alignment" slip so she could sense me as I was.

Here mouth opened making an "O" and she stared at me.

"That's not exactly what you expected, is it, Shaak Ti?" I asked her quietly.

=RK=

Undisclosed Location, Coruscant

Three men and two women were meeting in an old apartment building. They gathered around a holo-projector over which could be seen the plans of the Jedi Temple.

"You all know the plan." said their leader.

A chorus of "yes" sounded in the small room they were using as a headquarters.

"Let's recap it anyway. Tomorrow is our big day, and we can't afford any mistakes. That building will be swarming with Jedi and clones. We won't have a second shot at retrieving the object."

By that he meant that even if successful, the odds of any of them making it out of the Temple were minimal. Besides, after tomorrow, the security there would be about as possible. The Jedi wouldn't allow a third breach. After their play, the next one who wanted to waltz in the Temple would need a whole damn army to do it.

"Let's begin. We'll infiltrate in the morning with..."

=RK=

500 Republica, Coruscant

Anakin twisted on the couch, trying to find a more comfortable position. His tender chest didn't help in that venture.

In the end he had been able to calm Padme down, after coming clean about what had happened on Ryloth. He had told her everything. From the beginning of the space battle to the disastrous assault on the village. About the way he had kriffed up and got most of his men killed. Of how Veil was forced to call in an orbital strike on his position.

In the end Skywalker told his wife about his own injuries, which along with Delkatar's stunts were the two things that pissed her off the most. He was sure that Padme would have "words" with Veil, which the general won't enjoy, but that was a cold comfort.

She was still royally pissed off because he lied to her. As a consequences he was sleeping on the couch. Alone.

Anakin grumbled and twisted on his so called "bed". The damn thing was uncomfortable as hell.

Part 2

Galactic Delight Restaurant, Coruscant

It lasted only a precious few seconds. However it was more than enough to mesmerize her. Shaak Ti's wide eyes stared at the river of Force energies calmly bubbling in front of her.

She could see strands of Light and Dark fighting for supremacy, all over Veil's aura. Yet the end result was something akin to a balance. This wasn't something she expected to see from a man who used mostly the Dark side of the Force.

Veil smirked and she could feel him accessing the energy permeating his body. What followed left her speechless.

First she could sense how he grasped the Force itself as it was the hilt of a lightsaber. The tendrils of darkness around him became a storm of midnight black flames consuming all that was light.

The Jedi Master felt chilled to the core as she stared into an inferno made of freezing shadows.

Then it abruptly halted. Shaak ti could almost experience the way Veil subjugated the Dark side and made it leave him.

His aura cleared, once again becoming a battlefield between the two mirror images of the Force itself.

Nevertheless, that wasn't the end of the demonstration. Delkatar gave her a soft, almost serene smile and closed his eyes.

Suddenly a surge of warm light engulfed his whole being, pushing back the Darkness, which dissipated like moths of made of twisting shadows.

For a moment, Shaak Ti could swear that another Jedi Master was sitting at the same table instead of a Sith.

She bathed in the warm glow of the Light Side of the Force for the next few seconds, until it too drained from Delkatar, leaving him as he was in the beginning.

In the next moment Shaak Ti felt something snapping into place and she was facing only a man powerful in the Force, who no longer showed his alignment. She stared at Delkatar with an open mouth which was disinclined to obey her commands.

"That's not exactly what you expected, is it, Shaak Ti?" his quiet question snapped her out of her stupor.

She closed her mouth with an audible click and looked at Delkatar with fascination. A small smile of pure joy tugged the corners of her lips. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Why do I have the feeling that I've been just served for dinner..." muttered Veil.

Shaak Ti couldn't help it and laughed.

"Perhaps later." she whispered showing him a toothy grin, which apparently was not reassuring judging by his reaction.

Shaak Ti took control of her emotions and pushed them down, becoming somber.

"You are aware that Windu's trial has the potential to become a very big problem for both the Jedi and the Republic, right?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject. She had to, because various un-Jedi like thoughts and instincts were stirring within her.

Veil frowned, with his posture suddenly becoming deadly serious.

"I am. At least in part. I have to admit that some actions of today's Jedi make no sense whatsoever."

"Have we changed so much from the Jedi of old?" Shaak Ti asked.

She just couldn't help herself.

"More than you can ever imagine..." muttered Delkatar. "You asked me what I think about Windu's stunt. He kriffed up by the numbers, and probably harmed the Jedi more than the Sith did in the past thousand years. If you don't clean up this mess in a satisfactory manner, you'll lose something you can't afford to lose." he said with conviction.

Shaak Ti frowned. She thought about the possible consequences of the trial. The Jedi master knew that the Council was divided, almost evenly. And despite what their decision would be, many Jedi would make their own minds up about who was right and wrong in this matter...

She spat a quiet curse in her native tongue, which made Delkatar smirk.

Ah. Right. He had been married to a Togruta and apparently had spent a lot of time on Shili.

"Our credibility." a soft whisper fell from her barely parted lips.

Delkatar nodded in response.

=RK=

Next morning, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

Yoda was discussing the direction of the war with Obi-Wan and Anakin when he felt a disturbance in the Force. The ancient being closed his eyes and concentrated. His insight into the possible future was clouded by dancing shadows, which acted almost as if alive.

He could feel... a possibility. Trouble was coming to the Temple, but at least this time he had a warning. Whether that would be enough to stop whatever was approaching was another question.

"Intruders there will be, in this Temple. Today." Yoda stated with conviction.

"That wouldn't be a smart thing to do." mussed Kenobi.

A week after the attacks, the Chancellor had managed to persuade the Jedi that the Temple needed additional protection. So now, they had a garrison consisting of a whole clone battalion, with a company on shift at all times.

That wasn't all either. The Temple was being refurbished to be more easily defended, despite the misgivings of some Jedi. Armored doors, laser turrets, even AA emplacements in the four towers surrounding the main building.

Yet, those defenses were still under construction, with a lot of people coming and going. That was something that could allow an intruder to sneak in, despite the enhanced security protocols.

"What would they want?" asked Anakin.

"They won't be after our starfighters." Kenobi thought aloud. "Perhaps yours." he smirked at his former padawan, who loved to thinker with and upgrade his interceptor.

"That is certainly something that couldn't be found in another place." chuckled Anakin. "What else?" he asked.

The two Jedi looked at each other.

"Information." stated Anakin.

"Jedi communication codes. After the attacks, the only other place those could be obtained is High Command, but Veil and Valentra made that place a deathtrap for any intruder." added Kenobi.

He didn't comment on the fact that those two were the main figures behind the Temple's ongoing security upgrade. That was a mixed bag. Some Jedi, especially amongst the younger ones, were supporting those measures, while a lot of the older and more experienced ones were against it or at least neutral.

"Those codes, as well as a lot of information about troop movements can be found in the eastern tower. I'm going there right away." said Anakin, before sprinting down the corridor.

"I'll check the perimeter defenses from the central security station." shouted Kenobi.

=RK=

Holterra Clinic, Coruscant

Later in the morning, after I passed through my office and found to my delight that there were currently no fires needing to be put out, I went to pick up Aria. She was in a clinic, owned by a group of doctors working for me. They were working on a cure for her condition.

Speaking of my students, I had left Jaybo on the Requiem, where he was trying to learn meditation, when he wasn't helping the engineers fix the battle damage to the ship.

The Venator was docked at one of the defense stations in high orbit over the capital, which could act as a small shipyard. It was more than enough to fix the cruiser, and I preferred to have it on hand. Once its destroyed weapons and armor were replaced, which would be soon, she would be combat ready despite missing its two command pylons. No big loss there, though a fella in the R&D division found a use for them besides being convenient places to stuff additional sensors and comm equipment.

I found her in a small garden, which was built on the top of the clinic. She was pouting while reading from a data pad.

"Hi, Aria. I hope that the docs here treated you well."

"They always poke me with various devices or want blood." she pouted and looked at me with her mismatched eyes. She was trying to master the puppy dog look, but wasn't there quite yet. "Get me out of here, master. Please!"

I chuckled at her antics.

"I guess that today is your lucky day."

"Yay!" she jumped up and started bouncing around like a little girl.

Which in a sense she was.

"Where are we going? Something fun?"

"To the Jedi Temple. I believe that there is something useful for us to see, then we are going on lunch."

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "No more hospital food!"

"Let's go then." I turned around and headed for the door, with Aria bouncing after me. I could feel her excitement through our bond.

I had to do something about her and Jaybo. With the war, I didn't have the necessary time for even one, much less two apprentices. Hopefully, once she was cured and could accompany me on most missions, that could be fixed.

Jaybo, who had a lot more to learn about the Force was another matter. I wasn't going to put him into combat any time soon.

Once Aria and me were out of the clinic, we boarded the shuttle I had commandeered as my personal transport for the day. Today, I was going to use some of my privileges as a Republic general, and incidentally troll the Jedi. That however will be just unexpected side effect. I swear...

I boarded the shuttle, with Aria walking next to me, and saluted the troopers of Krayt company, who were acting as my bodyguards for today. Ever since the attacks on the Senate and High Command, all Republic generals were entitled a protection detail.

Needless to say, this morning was the first time I was going to take advantage of that. We were heading towards the Jedi Temple where I had three objectives. First, the official one: to inspect the defenses being build by the GAR corps of engineers and one of Coruscant's premiere security firms, which had some nice toys to offer.

The second one was more interesting. I had remembered something about the Jedi of my time and checked the data net if it was still the case. There was one particular holocron in the temple which was technically available to every Force Sensitive person in the galaxy. I believed that it my be useful to check it and show it to my apprentice.

And third, if possible, I wanted to check the Jedi archives about the fate of a few friends from the Empire era. I wasn't hopeful about that part, but who knew...

=RK=

Jedi Temple, Coruscant

'The Jedi are in for a rude awakening.' thought a woman disguised as representative of Keldon Security, the firm which was upgrading the Temple's defenses.

She had her Force signature suppressed by an amulet she wore, as was the case for her five compatriots.

The other woman in their group was walking next to her, wearing a similar outfit, while the three men had arrived early. They, as well as another agent, were dressed as tech specialists, who were upgrading the buildings perimeter sensors. That would give them an opening to exploit.

The women reached the main entrance of the Temple, where they presented their ID cards to the clones manning a checkpoint. They were scanned with a portable scanner, which found nothing out of place, the same with the cases of sensitive equipment that were trailing behind them on a hover sled.

=RK=

At the same time, a woman who had the ability to shape-shift, was making her way towards the Archives. Her mission was to hack the security network from one of the terminals there.

Unknown to her, that would be only possible thanks to the other two women, who would be upgrading the Temple's security network at the time, giving her an opening to exploit.

Unfortunately for the covert agents, none of them had any chance to pass as a Jedi Master and simply waltz in the vault where the holocrons were held, even though they could use the Force.

Retrieving the device was only the first step. After they got the holocron, the real prize must be captured – the data crystal that was used to read them. Even more irritating, then they would need a real Jedi to make the kriffing thing work. Persuading him or her to help was going to be a major pain in the ass.

After all, those things were usually set up to destroy themselves and the data if someone who didn't know precisely what he was doing tried to tamper with them.

The shape shifter entered the archives and had to suppress a wince. A young Togruta female, who was obviously bored out of her mind headed her way.

=RK=

We landed in one of the Jedi Temple's hangars, and I waited for my men to disembark. They gave me the all clear signal and I marched down the ramp, followed by Aria. She was looking around nervously. I couldn't blame her. The last time she was here, my apprentice was attacking the damn place.

We were met by a squad for 812th Infantry battalion, who, after checking our ID's, waved us through. Good for them. If they just let us through on my behalf, there would have been hell to pay.

It was time to start the inspection.

=RK=

Part 3

Great Hall, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

I shouldn't be surprised. Not at all.

What was irritating me wasn't the dirty looks many Jedi were giving my apprentice or me. It was kind of expected. It wasn't a problem with the inspection either, which was a pleasant surprise. The GAR engineers working on the Temple were a competent bunch.

It was the damn alarm which started blaring that soured my mood. The building was being put on lock-down.

The clones who were on guard duty scrambled to seal up the exits and cover the various civilians that were in the building for one reason or another.

I turned to the lieutenant who was our guide and ordered: "Take us to the security control room at once."

The clone gave me a crisp salute and headed to the far end of the Great Hall, and we followed suit.

The damn Jedi just couldn't stay out of trouble!

=RK=

Bane finally reached his destination, and started slicing through the vault defenses. Behind him, the irritating tin-can provided by the Sith Lord's agent's was doing the same.

The mercenary was already starting to regret agreeing to this assignment. He was almost caught by a clone patrol before entering the ventilation shafts and then he was moments from being sliced into salad by a giant kriffing fan!

That didn't even take into an account the insane extraction plan, which apparently consisted of five idiots raising hell within the Temple so he could get away with the prize.

=RK=

My apprentice and me were admitted into the security center of the Jedi Temple, after another round of scans and checks. I left the troops outside and entered, accompanied only by Aria.

Inside we found the Clone commander, who was in charge of the troopers protecting the building, four of his men working on various consoles, and of course a group of Jedi. Those were Yoda, who had a deep frown on his face, Ayala Secura, who until recently was leading the GAR forces on Felucia. To my pleasant surprise, the third Jedi in the room was Shaak Ti, who have me a curt nod. My only disappointment was that she was wearing heavy robes, which hid her mouth watering figure.

"Deep in the Temple, the intruders are." declared Yoda.

I smirked at his words.

"I hope you don't mean us, Master Yoda." I said, unable to keep the amusement from my voice.

He glanced at me. The look he gave me was enough to summarize his feelings on that question. It practically screamed "Children, these days..."

Yoda closed his eyes for a moment and I could sense him drawing on he Force, which swirled around him, caressing the small being like a gentle wind.

"Possible it is, inside help help, they have." stated the Jedi Grandmaster. He went to a nearby console with a built in comm unit and spoke with deceptive calmness in his voice.

"Possible deception I sense. Disguised as a Jedi, the intruder may be. Find Madam Jocasta, you must."

"I take it that Ahsoka is in for some fun time." I muttered. Unless they found her another job to keep the little spitfire busy.

=RK=

Archives, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

"Bane, the two Jedi have turned around and making their way towards you." said the Archivist.

Ahsoka frowned. That was the old woman's voice, all right. However, the padawan couldn't really believe that the sweet old lady was the one helping the intruders. She tried to feel that person through the Force and frowned. Whoever was masquerading as madam Jocasta was someone Ahsoka had never met before.

She drew her lightsaber and used the Force to pull the stranger as well as the chair she was sitting on towards her. The doppelganger shouted in surprise as she flew backwards and landed in a heap at Ahsoka's feet.

The Padawan glared at the confused expression of the old woman, who in turn was starring at the green lightsaber blade pointing at her head.

"Who are you? What did you do with the Archivist?" growled Ahsoka.

The shape-shifter sneered: "The same thing I'm going to do to you!"

Ahsoka felt a warning coming through the Force and jumped back. She barely evaded the needles which were shot from the wrists of the Archivist's double.

The impostor wasted no time and jumped to her feet, grabbing the lightsaber hilt she had retrieved from the old woman. She had to deal with this girl fast and get away from the Temple while she still had a chance.

The mercenary charged at the padawan, holding the saber in a comfortable two handed grip. She hoped that her skills with a vibroblade would be up to the task.

For an instant, Ahsoka was surprised by the sheer ferocity of the onslaught. She hadn't expected that someone who wasn't a Force sensitive to be more than marginally proficient with a lightsaber.

The Togruta fell back, deflecting the blows raining on her with practiced ease. A powerful strike pushed her to a nearby table, and she twisted to her left, avoiding the next attack which sliced through the furniture.

Ahsoka glared at the impostor and went on the offensive.

In the next few seconds, the padawan found out, that despite somewhat skilled with a blade, her opponent didn't really know how to use a lightsaber. Tano locked their weapons together and used the Force to pick up a nearby chair, which she used to strike the impostor in the back.

The doppelganger was smashed against a computer console and slumped to the ground. The intruder's shape blurred, revealing her true form, that of a green alien female.

Ahsoka used the Force to slam her adversary to the ground, so she was on her back and her arms pointed away from the Jedi.

"I want answers!" hissed the padawan.

=RK=

Security center, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

"Master Skywalker, I caught the impostor. She says that the target is the holocron vault."

"That makes no sense!" I could hear Kenobi's exclamation over the comm. "The holocrons are protected. You need a genuine Jedi to retrieve the information."

Or a Sith who knew what he was doing, but I didn't say that aloud. If they thought that the holocrons could really be accessed only by Jedi, well, that was a delusion I was glad to let them keep.

"You can reach the communications tower from the vicinity of the vault if you cut through a few walls." said one of the clones, who was examining the Temple schematics.

"The vault is a decoy. We are going to the communications tower!" Anakin's distorted voice rumbled through the comm's speaker.

A moment later, we all could hear a subdued rumble.

"That was an explosion at the Vault!" informed us one of the clones.

"Is this a diversion?" wondered Master Secura.

"Perhaps. Cloak's the future, the Dark Side does..." murmured Yoda. "See the truth I can not."

"Sirs, we just lost the sensor grid over the comm tower!" shouted one of the clones.

"I'm detecting a jamming field there too!" added another.

Anakin and Obi-Wan, who were patched through to the Security Center, could hear that too.

"The Vault is a diversion! We are heading towards the tower."

"Seal that section of the Temple at once!" ordered Shaak Ti. "No one leaves it without being cleared by a Jedi Master first!"

I heard a clicking sound from the right, where the panel covering the air vent fell into the room. A short droid looked at us.

"Hey, guys!" it waved at us.

I could swear that this machine was acting nervous.

The Force screamed a warning, loud enough to cause a headache.

I acted without thinking, and grabbed Aria's arm, pulling her behind me. In the same time I was wrenching as much Force power as I could into my grasp, and desperately molded it into a shield in front of us.

The Jedi's were scrambling too. Shaak Ti, who had the bulk of a massive holoprojector between her and the small droid grabbed the surprised commander, and dragged him to the ground.

Yoda and Master Secura, who were next to the robot sent telekinetic waves at it. I could see a shield flaring to life around it, absorbing most of the power which struck it.

Nevertheless, the droid was pushed back. I could hear it impacting the wall of the air-duck.

Then it exploded, showering Yoda and Ayala with a stream of liquid fire. The geometry of the air-shaft worked against the Jedi, channeling a significant part of the blast-wave straight at them.

My hastily erected shield was buffered by the dissipating blast wave, but it held easily.

I could sense that the two of them were alive. Through the smoke, I could barely make out a shimmer where the two Jedi Masters stood. I waved my hand, sending a telekinetic wave of my own, which dispersed a lot of the smoke, revealing that Yoda had erected a shield to protect them.

My estimations of the little fellas abilities were raised up even further.

"This is another diversion." I stated, meaning the attempt to bomb us. I could feel clones dying in the Temple.

=RK=

Holocron Vault, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

Bane could hear a pair of Jedi running by near his hiding place. He smiled when they passed him without taking any note. So that medallion he was carrying actually worked. How interesting. The possibilities...

But this was not the time for scheming. He had work to do.

The mercenary moved to the half blown Vault door and squeezed himself through the hole. Once inside he looked around. Three of the walls, as well as a vast column, which was taking most of the space in the room, were covered top to bottom with small niches. Big enough for cubes little bigger than a grown man's fist.

He walked to the column and retrieved three of the objects at random. Bane knew that his client needed only one, but he wanted to have few spares. Just in case.

Now, it was time to see if the extraction plan would work...

=RK=

Communications Tower, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

When Kenobi and Skywalker reached their destination, they found pandemonium waiting for them. There were three squads of clones cut to pieces with lightsabers as well as the bodies of two Jedi Knights and their padawans.

The armored doors leading to the comm center were a twisted ruin. That caught Anakin's eye.

"Obi-Wan, those doors were blown from the inside!" exclaimed the younger Jedi.

"So it appears." agreed Kenobi.

They carefully entered the comm center. Their eyes were scanning all around for traps, and the Jedi searching for threats through the Force.

Inside they found only dead equipment and the bodies of the men and women who were supposed to operate it.

What got their attention was the ragged hole in the ceiling. It was painfully obvious how the intruders had gained entrance to the comm center.

"This section of the temple is being sealed off. They won't get away with it!" hissed Skywalker.

Obi-Wan looked at the mangled bodies lying around. Most of them had died in the explosion which had caved in the ceiling, but a few were finished with lightsaber strikes.

"I agree." whispered the Jedi Master.

=RK=

Security Center, Jedi Temple, Coruscant

"Commander, I want this whole building sealed off. No one leaves the Temple. Is that understood?" I ordered the clone officer.

"Yes, sir!" he answered and started snapping orders of his own.

"This is an internal Jedi matter." protested Master Secura, who had escaped the explosion intact.

"We can argue about it when the intruders are caught!" she was cut off by Shaak Ti. "We have bigger problems, so I don't want any bickering about who is in charge!" she glared both at her fellow Jedi Master and myself.

"There will be no problems from my side, Master Shaak Ti." I answered formally.

"Stopped, the intruders, must be." declared Yoda. "Deception within deception, I sense. Careful, we must be."

"Sir, we just lost contact with one of the detachments escorting a group of civilian contractors." informed one of the clones.

=RK=

The two female infiltrators nodded at each other. They had acted a bit sooner than expected, but that was only because a golden opportunity had fallen in their hands. A pair of Jedi had ordered their padawans to help the clones escorting their group of civilians. So, a few minutes later, when they were reasonably sure that there were no Jedi in their immediate vicinity, the covert operatives pounced.

They used the Force to surprise the wet-behind-the-ears padawans, summoning their blades and slamming the unfortunate youngsters in the nearby wall. Then, they ignited the weapons and pounced on the squad of clones escorting them.

Before the padawans could recover, the troopers were dead and the assassins cut them down as well.

The stunned civilians were next to fall.

The pair of assassins then separated, running towards their assigned targets.