8 Stand-off [1/2]

Part 1

Senate Building

Coruscant

The aftermath of bringing Dooku in was underwhelming. He was stuck into a cell within the Jedi Temple and was awaiting a trial. Surprise, surprise, the courts were dragging their legs for weeks. Nothing unexpected with Sidious being the Chancellor. I got a lot of praise and was stuck in front of reporters more times than I cared about. I had to use all the skills I learned and rely heavily on the Force in order to leave a positive impression with the media all the while giving vague answers about my origins. Somehow people didn't know yet who and what I really was and I was determined to keep that going for as long as practical.

Sidious had me sidelined by using me for propaganda purposes until my new command was being assembled. That was a slow and nerve racking process without the efficiency of the Empire to which I was accustomed. Yet it was understandable. GAR High Command had no idea where did I came from and the Jedi in the chain of command didn't trust me at all for obvious reasons. At least they weren't spreading my origin to anyone who asked so they might not be all bad and wasn't that an unreal thought?

All that left me bored out of my mind with necessary paperwork, which thankfully consisted of no actual paper and mountains of electronic memos and forms that needed my attention and signatures. Meanwhile, the war was going on.

The capture or death of some of the CIS's most prominent leaders did little to deter the enemy. Their overwhelming numbers allowed them to carry on with their offensives all across the galaxy. It wasn't all bad – without Dooku and Grievous, the Confederate war machine was running out of steam, though I doubted it would be for long. Without their best commanders, the Separatists were suffering punishing loses and soon would have to stop and consolidate their forces. Figure out who must be in charge too. If the strategic projections were correct and with my new access to raw intelligence data I had no reason to doubt them, the enemy advance would have to stop by the time my fleet was assembled. Just in time for me to participate in the planned counter-offensive.

While I was cooling my heels on Coruscant, the Jedi I was familiar with were busy getting into trouble. Ahsoka, who had rejoined her master citing need for couple of calm weeks after my stunt on Florrum, was currently missing along with Skywalker and Aayla Secura. Anakin and the kid went to relieve the Twi'lek Jedi Master whose fleet was under heavy separatist attack. They managed to get her away from her burning flagship but Skywalker got wounded in the process. To make matters worse, the Chosen One's luck struck again. The frigate on which the Jedi were evacuating was damaged and made a blind hyperspace jump. The Navy was still searching for them. If my memory was still accurate and the changes I've already made did not affect the outcome of their flight, the Jedi should be found safe and sound. Eventually.

Kenobi was stuck on some Ice moon where the locals were at odds with the members of the species living on a nearby planet, who were a Republic member. For once the Senate had voted swiftly, probably because the Chancellor was too busy "arranging" the trials of the CIS leaders we had in custody.

And finally Shaak Ti was sent to Knossos, was it? Something sounding like that, where the clankers were crushing the locals. So despite the butterflies I made things were not changed too much from "canon" yet. Not that meant much, here where it was all real and not a movie you could watch from bed while munching on popcorn. That was something I figured out the hard way when I ended up in the Empire. The galaxy was inconcieveably large and what movies, games and books showed was merely scratching the surface.

I knew this was merely the calm before a storm that would shake the whole galaxy. The war was going to escalate. I had to make sure of it or Sidious would keep holding an usumournable advantage. At that time little did I know that I was playing a different game than the one I thought was going on. At least it wasn't all bad – the time I spent on Coruscant engaged in publicity stunts and buried under mountains of paperwork gave me a breather that I solely needed. After losing everything I knew, everything I spent decades working for, I needed that time to screw my head more or less right. The Dark Side's whispers were getting more and more tempting as of late. Without the calm period post Florrum I might have willingly given in and done something regrettable. On the plus side I got time to plot, straighten up my goals and set up some short term plans.

Little did I know they were all be thrown askew very soon.

I had no idea what monumental mess I would need to clean up shortly. I was making my way towards the Chancellor's office and wondered what went to hell this time. I only knew that I was called there for an emergency meeting – never a good sign unless it was a part of one of your plots. Needless to say, whatever shenanigans were going this time, they weren't of my doing even if they might be an unintended consequence of my meddling.

I wasn't alone. Two men followed me and none of them were Jedi. With the relentless onslaught the CIS was throwing against the Republic after the loss of their military leaders, the Council no longer had the luxury of keeping a Jedi Master as my babysitter. For the moment they were content to let me deal with the Republic media, which was a kriffing pain in the ass! Those vultures were not diligently trained like our own Imperial ones. I am sure that more than one Jedi laughed off their asses on my expense, the bastards! That's why one of the shenanigans I planed was to use the media to turn public opinion against the Jedi if the opportunity presented itself – doing so would be a lance in their credibility if they ever tried to move against me.

The lack of a Jedi breathing in my neck made the irritating stuff I had to deal with lately more or less worth it. Getting my face shown to the masses as the man responsible for the greatest coup against the Separatist since the start of the war won me a lot of points and gave me some security that the Council would have serious problems with removing me without a very good cause. And even then it might be with GAR High Command kicking and screaming all the way, even if they didn't trust me. Most of the brass loved me for delivering Dooku and Grievous in their laps. They were content to use my skills as long as played ball and many of them wouldn't appreciate Jedi meddling.

It should not be surprising. The Jedi of this era were not particularly good in the PR department and that was one the main reason why almost no one bat an eye when Sidious executed Order 66. The very fact that they let me show my face to the media without a concerned campaign to discredit me was proof of that.

But that is a topic for another time.

I was walking towards the Chancellor's office accompanied by my aide Piett, whose skills were invaluable for dealing with the unholy mess that was assembling a new fleet and attached army group from scratch. With us was the newest talent I managed to grab. It was a certain lieutenant Maximillian Veers. I had arranged his transfer from the militia unit on his home world he was serving with to my command. I had noticed that he had requested multiple times to be sent to a walker unit but his pleas had fallen on deaf ears. So I drew few strings at GAR headquarters and the tall officer was sent a one way ticket to Coruscant. He arrived at my office fifteen minute before I was called to see Palpatine. We had just met after I finished with most of the daily paperwork and had a time for a long chat with the man.

During our talk he presented me with some novel ideas about the use of walkers of all types as well as more conventional armor. So I decided to take him with me and continue our interview on our way to meed the Chancellor. If he was any flaws I could find in such short time, it was that Veers was too enamoured with walkers to the expense of anything else. That was something I would be discouraging.

On the bright side, he had prior experience with infantry where he had spent his carrier so far. With careful management, he could become a splendid and well-rounded ground forces commander – something that I currently lacked. There was a reason I did not want clones in overall command of any branch of the forces on my disposal. It was the same one I was pushing for the promotion of Pellaeon to commodore and my naval XO. I still did not know how good the control Sidious had over the Clones was. The various rumours I remembered from my universe were not something I could afford to take for granted.

=RK=

Chancellor's Office

Senate Building

Coruscant

Something unusual was happening, that's for certain. I found Yoda and Windu talking with Palpatine. They were saying that the Jedi were spread too thin. With Skywalker and Secura missing that was probably true. To make it even funnier (at least from my point of view) the newest hot spot was Naboo – that planet had to be cursed. It was a major point of embarrassment when the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order had to tell the Chancellor that there were no Jedi available to go help his home world.

Little did I know that I should savour that great moment while I had the opportunity.

Well, I did so anyway.

Palpatine was glaring at the Masters to my utter delight. The only thing I regretted was that I was not wearing my helmet which was being upgraded by few trustworthy engineers in HQ. So no recording of this show. It was a pity that Piett and Veers were waiting outside and missed it.

"Am I to understand that you couldn't spare a single Jedi to go to Naboo?" Palpatine asked quietly. The sheer betrayed incredulity he could put in his disbelieving voice was worth a reward by itself. Every time I met Sidious I had to marvel how good an actor he was. It also reinforced my belief that playing the political game against a man like him would be suicide even if he didn't have a few decades worth a head start.

"Unfortunate, it is." nodded Yoda. He was a picture of regret.

Sidious glared. It was not a Sith patented one but it was good enough. When it became clear that the Jedi had nothing to add I cleared my throat.

"I am sorry to interrupt but it appears that I am out of the loop. What is the problem, sir?" I inquired with just the right amount of deference to my nominal commander in chief.

"Separatists presence was located on Naboo. When it became clear that we would be unable to send any meaningful forces there, queen Neeyutnee requested Jedi help. However, at the moment our Jedi friends," he spat in a bitter, betrayed tone, "are unable to send anyone but few untrained Padawans, which is out of the question."

I was tempted to point out that there were a pair of obviously free Jedi in front of me. But perhaps Naboo was too backwater for the esteemed Council members to go there personally. I am sure that Palpatine had similar thoughts. Even if he wasn't a Sith it would have occurred to him that two of the most powerful Jedi in existence weren't willing to go help his home-world even when they were obviously free. That had to grate. With him being well Sidious, I was sure that the Chancellor would find a way to use this as an opportunity to tarnish the Jedi's image. Perhaps a few careful leaks to the media...

I wondered what his game was. I remembered that something important was to happen on Naboo around this time but the details eluded me. Was there some kind of research facility hidden there?

The comm built in Palpatine's desk beeped. When he answered, I saw Padme Amidala, Jar-Jar Binks of all beings and an opulently dressed woman whose face was covered with white and red make-up. I knew that this was no coincidence. The Force was attempting to influence things around and I just knew it was towards something that I would not enjoy. I've learned to recognize the signs. In this universe it was true that there were seldom consequences but there most certainly were a lot of Force related shenanigans. Heh. That thought was probably the understatement of the decade. At least.

"Chancellor. Masters." The Queen gave them a small bow. "We attempted to contact the Jedi Council but were told that they were speaking with you." She spoke in a regal confident voice.

"How can I help you my dear?" Palpatine smiled at his former and current Queen. He was the perfect picture of a sweet and helpful old man. Say what else you will about the man but he was a superb actor who might have gotten in the wrong vocation if it wasn't the little issue of him being a Sith.

"We managed to retrieve some data from a damaged tactical droid." said Amidala.

"Please enlighten us, Senator." Windu intoned in a tone showing sudden interest.

"The Separatists have some kind of research facility in the eastern swamps. The droid mentioned something about a virus." Amidala explained in concerned tone.

"They plan to attack us. It's the only explanation." added Captain Typho after stepping into the holo-projector's range.

"Delicate the situation is. Jedi to send I wish..." said Yoda and was promptly interrupted by Amidala.

"I am recommending Generals Kenobi and Skywalker. Our relationship with the Gungans are strained at present but they trust General Kenobi."

"Neither of them is available at present." explained Windu.

"Hmm. Senator. Stretched thin the Order is." Yoda continued with his Emperor cursed butchering of Basic. This wasn't the fist nor the last time I wished to strangle the little troll because of it.

"Then General Veil should make do." said Palpatine. "I am sure that the Order will send a Jedi as soon as possible." he added.

The Jedi Masters looked from the Chancellor to me and back. It was obvious that they expected that I would be tied up on Coruscant until my fleet was ready and by then they would have an agent ready to continue breathing at my back.

Now they had a problem. It was obviously that they did not want to let me go without supervision. However, they had spent I don't know how long telling to Palpatine that there were no Jedi free to go before I arrived. They could not free someone to watch me now. The Jedi were in a bind. A week ago Palpatine finally put his leg down and told them that he "trusted" me and he won't condone such a waste of resources when I had not shown in any way my animosity to the Republic. He went as far as to outright say that he had no time for some kind of conflict between me and the Jedi. Not when I had done so much for the Republic since my appearance. If Sidious suspected that I was a Sith he was keeping that information to himself. My only surprise was that the Jedi did not spill the beans about what I truly was.

Even better, the Jedi shot themselves in the foot this time. It would look very bad for them if they could release someone to come to Naboo to be my minder but not do that in the first place to solve the locals problem. This was an opportunity to make myself even more popular and reinforce my reputation for competence and getting results.

"I'll assemble a Task Force and head to Naboo ASAP, sir. By your leave?" I declared.

Palpatine gave me a grave nod.

"Please do so my friend."

"Chancellor, Master Yoda, Master Windu." I gave them a small bow of respect which I did not feel and exited the office.

"Walk with me." I said to Piett and Veers. "We have a fire to put down. There is a Separatists presence on Naboo and at the moment the cupboard is rather empty. We'll be heading there right after a battle group is assembled and we have at least a regiment that is ready for action loaded on the ships."

"That's a tall order, sir." Piett sighed.

"I am aware of that. We have our work cut off for us. And Veers, welcome to the Eleventh corps."

=RK=

Part 2

Republic Cruiser Requiem

High orbit over Coruscant

It took us ten hours to assemble a regiment with their equipment for transport. On the face of it that was a great achievement. However, the ground forces with the exception a few select formations were not combat effective at that time. I knew that we'll be dealing with some kind of virus so I was not going to send down men who didn't have good enough training and equipment for surviving in environment where such an WMD was released.

I hoped that we will be able to do something about their readiness by the time we reached Naboo. I had the feeling that I won't need all forces straight away but that was no reason to slack. The problem wasn't in the clones individual skills. It was just that most of them hadn't received any training at combat manoeuvres above the platoon level – all but three companies were quite green boys rushed from Kamino once their basic training was over. It was less than ideal but it was better to have them than not.

On more positive note, I had managed to pull through a promotion for Pellaeon. He was a brand new commodore in overall command of my space forces. Those consisted of three Venators – my Flagship Requiem, Victory and Onderon, five Acclamators, including Leveler and Dauntless as well as six frigate escorts.

Those were the combat ready ships which were ready for deployment. At least on paper my fleet was supposed to be much bigger, but such a force took a long time to assemble given the state of the war. Most of the new ships and ground forces were going as replacements to the formations engaged on the front lines.

For the moment my command was assigned to the strategic reserve, which also acted as a reinforced guard for Coruscant. That explained why I was called on to clean up the mess on Naboo, besides the obvious fact that I was available. There simply were no other a viable force at the moment and no one was able to pry the various system defence forces out of their home systems otherwise the state of the war would be much better for the Republic. Just Kuat's heavy capital ships could have made a huge difference. The same went for Corellia, but the latter was currently neutral.

I just got to the bridge with my small staff and Clone commander VC 541 'Vic' - the man in charge of the Clone troopers which we drafted for the mission to Naboo.

"Are we ready to depart?" I asked calmly, without showing any of the weariness I felt in my tone. The scramble to get everything ready was exhausting even when I could lean on the Force to rejuvenate my body.

"Yes, General. My men are on board. However, only one battalion and two reinforced companies are combat effective as we speak. We'll need at least a week for the whole regiment to be ready, sir." Vic reported.

That was worse than the reports I got so far. Joy.

"Concentrate to the units that could be prepared fastest. We may not have that long." I ordered. "Commodore, take charge of the Task Force. We are leaving." I turned to Pellaeon.

"Yes, sir!" Pellaeon gave me a salute and went to follow my orders.

"Lieutenant Veers, I want you on the ground with me on this op. I want to judge your abilities for myself." My attention shifted to my new protégée.

"Yes, sir!" Maximillian straightened up. "I won't disappoint you, General!"

"Carry on, men."

=RK=

City of Theed

Naboo

The journey to Naboo was barely long enough for us to have another battalion ready for combat. By the time we made orbit I had on my disposal two infantry battalions or to use the GAR lingo legions – a thousand men formations that were prepared for deployment. There were also two armor companies with walkers and one scout platoon. The rest of my ground forces would need at least two more days before I would consider sending them in combat, with the last battalion being more or less a lost cause after we cannibalised it for men and equipment. I hoped that it was going to be enough.

A few minutes after arriving in the system I was in a LAAT descending towards the city of Theed. The movies didn't do it justice. The city was built on a large plateau around a waterfall. As we approached, Theed was lit up by sun-rays from the east bathing it in golden shower. The combination of the sun, the domed architecture and warm pastel tones topped by green made by a stunning vista. It was one of the most amazing things I've seen and I've been to three different universes.

We landed at what appeared to be the same hangar seen in the Phantom Menace, where we were met by captain Typho, a female gungan and C-3PO. I introduced myself and my companions – Piett and Veers. Not seeing the senator I rolled my eyes in exasperation.

"Let me guess, Captain. Senator Amidala went ahead by herself." I grumbled. As if dealing with a CIS research lab containing who knew what nasty surprises wasn't complicated enough.

"Senator Padme can't be stopped when she makes up her mind." the droid added his two cents. Why didn't she take that blasted machine too? Then the CIS might finally get lucky and do us all a favour by blasting it to many tiny pieces.

"Captain, I recommend that the next time she goes suicidal you stun her." I grumbled. "Where exactly did she run to?"

"This is Peppi Bay. Padme sent her here. She is the last person to see them." Typho introduced the alien woman.

"Them? Did she for a change decide to take guards with her this time?" I asked with forlorn hope.

It did not matter what was my opinion about Amidala and her antics. Hell even what Sidious thought about her was not that important in this situation. She was the Senator of Naboo, a former Queen and personal friend of the Chancellor. If she got herself killed on my watch it won't be good. I was sure that Sidious would use such an opportunity to send me and my forces somewhere we won't be able to make too much trouble while using her death to further his agenda... I would have done the same in his shoes. I hate politics...

"Representative Binks is with her." Typho admitted with a straight face.

Of course he is. Getting rid of him should be achievable. I hoped. That bloody thing had the Emperor's own luck!

"Am I wrong to assume that you are searching for them?" I asked. "She doesn't have a proper security detail, does she?" I sighed. Probably not. Not with Padme's luck. She undoubtedly was already captured and needed saving. Bloody royals.

"Considering what happened we decided to wait for your arrival, General." Typho sounded even less happy to tell me the next bit of good news.

"Please enlighten us. I can't wait." My sarcasm was not lost on the captain who winced. "Ensign Piett, talk with the lady and arrange the last known location of our missing Senators to be scouted from orbit."

"I'm on it, sir!" Firmus saluted and went to talk with the Gungan woman.

Typho led us to a small ready room nearby which was dominated by a large holo-display in the form of a table. In its centre laid the head of B-1 droid. He pressed couple of buttons and a holographic representation of a humanoid man floated over the table.

"This is Dr. Nuvo Vindi. He was a famous doctor who disappeared years ago." The captain intoned in a grave tone.

The resident mad scientists started a monologue about having enough Blue Shadow to start filling bombs with it. I winced. I was familiar with that kriffing disease. It was a nasty piece of work even by Sith standards. That right there should tell you something about the virus.

"If this abomination is released in enough key places, it can easily cause a Galactic Pandemic that will make the war look like a children spat." I spat. That was the last thing we needed to deal with. The only good thing about Blue Shadow was that in order to be most effective it needed bodies of water to spread through. Otherwise, it was a short lived horror.

It would be a nasty shock to world like Coruscant. On Naboo? If left unchecked for even a short period of time it might wipe out most of the population and considering how much water was on this planet, the whole world would be in quarantine for months, perhaps years before the virus could be eradicated. A quarantine that must be enforced thus depleting the Navy's meagre reserves.

"I'll have my ships scan the area. Let's hope that the Senator has not revealed that we suspect about the virus." I sighed. If she was captured, the CIS garrison would be on alert.

I contacted Pellaeon who sent the frigates to sweep over the eastern marshes from orbit. Five minutes later we had the location of the lab and its rough plans which showed three separate entrances as well as an area with increased radiation. That was most likely the armoury where the bombs were being assembled. Fortunately in order to keep a low profile the base didn't have jammers running which would have made getting detailed scans impossible. It wasn't really surprising – planet-side the ECM couldn't be missed.

The CIS facility had at least ten disc shaped rooms and something which looked like a shaft leading to the surface. They all were connected with tunnels.

"This could get ugly. Veers I want you leading teams of demolitions experts to the armoury. You are to disarm all bombs you find there. I'll go after our friendly WMD expert." I glanced at the lieutenant who had his helmet in the crook of his left arm. "And don't forget that we are dealing with a bio weapon. I want the armours of all my men sealed tight."

Before we headed for the marches, I left Piett back as a liaison to Typho and the rest of the locals.

Amidala and the gungan menace were most likely captured and thus costing us the element of surprise. If we were lucky for once, they were simply lost and we would have more enough time to search for them. Or if we fucked up they were dead anyway as well as most of the population of Naboo.

=RK=

CIS Bio-weapon's lab

Eastern Marshes

Naboo

I had no illusions that the perimeter of the Separatist's base was anything but seeded with copious amount of sensors. I had only a handful of clones who were trained for stealth insertions. If I had a squad or two of Republic Commandos I would have led them in covertly so we would know what exactly we were dealing with. In such a case we would have done our best to seize the part of the base where the bombs were located and hold it while my main forces assaulted the place. That was a luxury we did not have.

The attack began with an air strike by squadron of Torrent's which screamed in from orbit and launched missiles at the southern part of the base – as far from where we believed the bombs and the virus were located as possible. The evening which had just descended over the marshes was illuminated by a crescendo of roaring explosions that shook the enemy facility to its foundations.

I was in the back of a LAAT with the first wave of our assault. Next to me a healed Cat and his men were ready to rappel to the ground the moment we were over the target. The leading gunships unleashed AP missiles at the tunnels which were our chosen entrance points. On five separate places the ceilings of the base's corridors were breached. Seconds later a transport stopped above each of the new entrances and Clones were rappelling down after throwing in Ion and smoke grenades.

I was the first out of my LAAT and didn't bother with rappelling down. I just jumped out and for couple of seconds enjoyed the sensation of free falling. The sensation would have been much better if I was not encased in my sealed armour, which was now painted with an expensive "smart" paint that changed colour depending on the environment. I wanted eventually all my men to have such a camouflage but at least for now that was too expensive to contemplate. Five thousand credits only for my armor and a kit which would repair the coating if it was damaged by enemy fire. When you consider that I wanted all my ground troops to have it you suddenly start talking about real money.

A moment after jumping I called on the Force and enveloped myself with an energy field that absorbed most of my momentum. Just before I hit the ground, I pumped even more power in the sheathe around me. I landed lightly and the energy around me discharged in a shock-wave that threw away everything within the tunnel. Behind me a pair of synthetic ropes fell in the corridor and Cat and his men rappelled down.

The chatter of my other units deploying in the facility sounded in my ears.

"This is Veers! We are pinned down by destroyer droids!"

"Vic, vector AT teams to the lieutenants position. All units advance." I ordered and after making sure the tunnel was clean for the moment I closed my eyes and concentrated on the whispers of the Force.

I could feel the somewhat dull presence of the clones. I could see where Veers was taking cover at an intersection. He was waving an AT team, which had just jumped in behind him to deal with a trio of droidekas. The shielded wardroids were turning that path to the armoury into a shooting gallery.

Ah. There. About a hundred meters from where I stood were three people, two of whom were familiar. Yep. Amidala and Jar-Jar got caught. Again. Number three must be my target. I ran in that direction followed by Cat and ten clones. The rest of his men were fanning out to secure our rear. The next LAAT would get in enough troops so they could push for the other entrance of the armoury. Or make themselves a new one.

The only resistance I faced were two B-1's and a single Super Battle droid. Needless to say, those machines were unable to even slow us down. I deflected blaster bolts at the two flimsy clankers and cut in two their big brother as I passed by it. One of the clones shot the SB in the face when he ran over it. Just in case I guess.

I found the Doc and his captives behind a blast door which was made mostly by a transparent material. I guess it was more for a virus containment than for stopping a determined assault. There were a bunch of droids standing at attention behind him too.

There weren't enough of the clankers to make a difference.

It took me five seconds to cut a circle in it and jump through. My men were right behind me.

"Senator. We should stop meeting like this." I quipped at Amidala, who sent me a disgruntled look.

The Senator and Jar-Jar were on the ground, next to some kind of generator. They were tied to something that was looking like a big Tesla coil attached to said power source.

"Another step and your friends are dead!" sneered Vindi.

He pressed down a switch he was holding and his captives were shocked by arching bolts of electricity.

"Throw down your weapons!" he shouted. Vindi sounded like he actually expected us to comply.

"Idiot." I shook my head in exasperation and used the Force.

The mad doctor screeched when I used telekinesis to snap his left arm like a twig and shut down the current coursing through his captives.

"Kill them!" he gasped an order to the droids in the room.

I was already charging forward and was amongst the machines, before they could open comply. I telekinetically blasted the droids on my left at the nearby wall and deflected few shots from the faster droids on my other side. Cat and his troopers wasted no time and cheerfully started blasting the distracted clankers to little pieces.

I diagonally slashed through the torso of a B-1 druid, send back couple of shots to another which few back disabled and slammed my lightsaber to the hilt in the chest of a Super Battle droid which was about to mow down my men with its wrist mounted dual blaster. I flourished my blade which was embedded in its torso and the droid fell to the ground in four glowing pieces.

The skirmish was over as fast as it began. The machines were down and only three of my men were wounded, none of them critical. However, their armours were breached. Which was very bad considering that in the commotion Vindi had his hale hand around a vial of blue gas. I should have stunned the bastard. I knew better than to underestimate crazy scientists.

"It's too late, fools!" Vindi shouted and threw it at the ground.

Before the vial could hit the metal floor and shatter I caught it gently with the Force. The doctor just grinned at me dementedly and looked at his shattered left arm. There was a metal brace around it with a prominent red button, in a circle around which were small lights glowing crimson. The first one blinked out.

"Time is running out!" he taunted.

"General we found the bombs! They are all active." Veers called over the comm.

"Start disarming them." I snapped.

I stared at the mad man who had his head protected by a transparent crystal dome. I could see it in his eyes. There was no way to remotely disarm the bombs.

"In the unlikely event we are unable to stop all the bombs you'll be taking some of your own medicine." I said and used my powers to shatter the bubble protecting him.

"Commander Vic I want all of my men whose armor was breached to evacuate back to the decontamination areas set up on the Assault Ships. Veers, disarm the bombs and check if they contain vials of the virus. We can't afford to miss ever one of those things. Lieutenant Cat, get Senators Amidala and Binks out of here."

"Wait a minute! I am going nowhere until I know that Naboo is safe!" snapped Padme.

"Stun her if you have to." I Ignored her protests and headed out while dragging Vindi using the Force.

I knew that there was something important I was forgetting. I was wondering what it was when I sensed a movement in a side corridor. I found there a ridiculous looking, small droid which was clutching a bomb in its manipulators. Ah. That was it. I plucked the bomb from its clutches and sent a lightning bolt at the little bugger. I watched with satisfaction as its circuits fried under the onslaught and then its plating started melting. He'll unleash a virus on my men, won't he? Serves him right!

I disarmed the bomb and retrieved the vial. Well that was done.

I was such a fool to think that it would be that easy...

=RK=

Near the City of Theed

Naboo

A figure cloaked in a black mantle leaned on a tree overlooking the river that passed through the capital of Naboo. He observed the opening stages of the assault over the research lab before Republic jamming cut off the feeds. He waited for five minutes before sending a signal to one of a few heavily shielded against detection listening stations spread around the facility. They were connected with the lab by landlines so the jamming was not an issue. With that done the man whose face was hidden by a black mask went to a speeder bike parked nearby. He retrieved four spherical devices from a compartment at the back of his ride and went to the river. He pressed two buttons on each of the small drones and threw them in the water. The current would do the rest.

He returned to his speeder and activated a holocomm which was built in it. A figure whose features were hidden by a hood appeared.

"Phase one is done my master." rasped the man on Naboo.

"Well done. We shall have our vengeance."

The man was long gone by the time the drones detonated on the outskirts of the city. Soon Theed was engulfed by a blue mist. He never knew he was a mere pawn serving two very different masters.

=RK=

CIS Bio-weapons lab

eastern marshes

Naboo

I was near a LAAT landed on the surface above the enemy base along with my captive. We were waiting for Cat, who was escorting a protesting Amidala to one of the gunships. She had decided to comply without needing to be stunned but was making it clear how displeased she was with the poor lieutenant. That's when hell went lose. All the warning I got was a mere flicker through the Force signifying I wasn't really in any notable danger.

Subdued thumps sounded throughout the facility. Ear-piercing alarms started blaring. I turned my head to the nearest hole in the ground which was leading to the underground base. That didn't sound good.

"Veers, report!" I snapped.

"Some kind of internal detonations, general. The containment procedures on the base are going in effect. There is blue smoke coming from the vents!" He reported.

"Get out of there! Now!" I ordered.

"General! We have a serious problem over here!" Piett shouted over the comm.

"What's happening? We are little busy ourselves." When it rains it pours.

"There are waves of blue mist coming over the river passing through the city!" shouted my aide.

"God damn it! Piett please tell me that you have your kriffing helmet on and your armor is sealed."

"Uh... Yes, sir." He stammered.

"Good man. I want you talk with Typho and confirm if the mist is the Blue Shadow." I switched to another channel. "Commodore Pellaeon, I trust that you are monitoring the situation on the ground. All hell is breaking loose over here. I have confirmed release of Blue Shadow at my location and possible one at Theed. On my authority from this moment on Naboo is under quarantine. You are to deploy your forces as you deem fit in order to enforce it. No one is leaving this world without my permission."

I turned my attention to Vindi.

"As for you." I telekinetically raised him in the air. "Where is the antidote?"

"You are mistaken, Jedi. I was hired to revive the virus and make it airborne. There is no cure!" he chuckled.

I snorted.

"You are the one mistaken, doctor. I am no Jedi." I raised my right hand so he could see purple lightning dancing between my fingers. "You will tell me everything even if I have to tear it from your mind piece by piece." I hissed.

Lighting cracked and Vindi screamed.

=RK=

Part 3

Republic Cruiser Requiem

High orbit over Naboo

I gazed at the green planet below us. To my right commodore Pellaeon was staring at Naboo with stern expression on his face. Looking at this emerald jewel from here you would never suspect how grim the situation was on the surface.

Theed was in shambles. The city's law enforcement and medical services were swarmed and order was breaking down. According to the latest estimates about sixty percent of the population was infected in the first hour after the Blue Shadow was unleashed. By the time people knew what was happening it was all too late.

I shook my head. You'd expect that a capital city in this day and age would have some measures to combat a bio attack. To be fair the Naboo people had excellent doctors with state of the art facilities. However, no one had been prepared for attack of such a scale. To make matters worse, there was no warning either, however at least for that there was a somewhat decent explanation – not to spook any CIS agents who could have warned the lab. For all the good that did.

From my point of view there were few good news. First, most of the craft which had a reasonable chance to run the blockade were under the control of the local defence forces and were kept under lock and key. For now at least. Second – the general populace actually (mostly) listened when I ordered the quarantine. Which meant that people were getting away from the affected regions and the officials controlling the dams down the river passing through Theed, (I probably should have remembered its damn name) were doing their best to close them so the spread of the Virus could be slowed down if not contained.

The best news was the outcome from my conversation with Palpatine, select Senators as well as Yoda and Windu. My thoughts drifted to that "chat" which took place five hours ago.

=RK=

Flashback

The holocomm sparkled to life with a short hiss of static. Six blue tinted figures appeared over the low holographic projector.

I nodded at the senators who were introduced to me. Gran Moe, Gram Ben Iblis and Bail Organa. Multiple eyes glared hard at me.

"General Veil, explain your actions!" Organa fixed me with a hard stare which I returned calmly. I've been stared down by professionals who had not only the power but the willingness to flay my skin for the fun of it. The good senator's glare was not even remotely impressive.

"I did what is necessary to ensure the security of your worlds and the Republic as a whole, Senators. Would you want to explain to your people why their loved ones are chocking to death on the Blue Shadow when a potential galactic pandemic could be stopped easily by blockading one world?" It was hard not to sneer at the naïve man. Instead, I kept my voice quiet and reasonable.

"That's not..." spluttered Organa.

"General, what is the situation on the ground?" Ben Iblis' calm voice interrupted him.

"The virus is spreading towards the eastern swamps. Theed is covered with the stuff after charges containing Blue Shadow were detonated in the river passing through the city. The resulting mist contained both the standard and airborne variants. Before anyone knew what was happening a significant percentage of the populace was infected. The last estimate I saw was about fifty percent of Theed's citizens were exposed. It's too early to say how many of them had caught the virus. I've ordered all space flights cancelled and the population outside of the currently affected regions to move further away. It is unclear if they were further attacks on the planet."

"Isn't this a bit harsh and premature action?" asked senator Moe. His three eye-stalks were shifting in agitation.

"Considering how dangerous this particular bio-weapon is, quarantine is the best course of action. Do you want to contemplate what will happen if the Blue Shadows spreads to multiple star systems at a time of a war? Especially while the Separatists are still on the offensive? The GAR is stretched too thin as it is. To make things worse I do not have the forces necessary to mount an effective blockade of Naboo. If the virus spreads further..." I trailed off. "There is an extensive underground river network passing through most of Naboo. Sooner or later the whole planet might be contaminated even if there only release points were at Theed and the CIS lab."

"Grim news, this is." sighed Yoda. "Contained this outbreak must be."

"Chancellor Palpatine, as officer in charge at Naboo I need orders on how to proceed." I asked. "I need instructions in case the Blue Shadow could not be contained at its present locations and threatens to go out of control."

"What do you suggest, general?" asked Palpatine warily.

"Permission to draw contingency plans for sterilizing the sites of the outbreak." I said with a straight face." I have not wish to go to such terrible lengths to stop the Blue Shadow from claiming the whole world but the affected area might have to be incinerated from orbit. This is request I do not make lightly and deeply regret the loss of life that will ensure if it becomes necessary. However, if ordered I will do so in order to preserve the rest of Naboo and its inhabitants." I lied through my teeth.

If it came to it I was unlikely to lose any sleep over burning large chunks of Naboo. The hit to my reputation on the other hand was something I didn't want to deal with. Besides, with Naboo having that weird water networks, it was unlikely anything but sterilizing Theed and the lab in the fist minutes after the outbreak could have done a difference.

"This is madness!" shouted Organa and jumped from his seat. He pointed an accusing finger at me. "To even contemplate such a thing..."

"What would you have me do, Senator? Let a whole world die from some misguided sense of mercy?" I asked while putting as much regret as I could in my voice. "There are five million souls in Theed and the affected region of the marshes. Over three hundred million on the rest of the planet. We are not living in some children's holo-novel with a guaranteed happy ending. This is the real world, Senators! Wishful thinking will not save the people of Naboo."

I took a deep breath. Bloody politicians! It wasn't like Naboo was some kind of densely populated world. Mere three hundred millions – that wasn't even a drop in the bucket. On a large worlds as Coruscant you could misplace a few billions at least within the daily population fluctuations. Of course, Naboo did have a few things making it important – location on one of the large trade lanes, the popularity of Amidala in certain circles and most importantly, it was the Chancellor's own homeworld, which was the most important of the lot.

"I have the man who created the airborne strain of the virus in custody and interrogated him. He modified the Blue Shadow for easier spread and to be viable for hours out in the air. The only good news is that the death rate is down to about eighty percent of the people infected with it from the original ninety-eight. However, depending on how much of the virus got into a person's bloodstream, the kriffing thing could have an incubating period of up to a week without the sick man showing any symptoms – that's another thing we have to thank Vindi about. I do not need to tell you how far someone could travel in such a span of time all the while they're spreading the virus." I succinctly explained the scope of the problem that dropped in our collective laps.

"That's a dire news indeed." muttered Windu. He was frowning and judging by the look in his eyes the Jedi Master was deep in thought.

"What about a cure or vaccine?" asked Ben Iblis.

"Last I time I heard from Captain Typho in Theed they had leads to a possible cure but I have not received anything more concrete yet. Even if cure is found it will take some time before it could be manufactured in sufficient quantities and distributed. Not to mention that it will be at least months until all traces of the virus are erased and the quarantine of Naboo could be safely lifted. Vindi hadn't bothered to even attempt creating a cure or research how the Blue Shadow had been largely dealt with in the first place." I had no idea either – it all happened after my accident above Korriban.

"We need to create a commission which is to investigate what is happening on Naboo." declared senator Moe. Emperor cursed politicians. The whole mess would be resolved one way or another before some kind of a commission could do a thing.

"Senator, senator." I chided. "This is the same thing you proposed when the Trade federation invaded Naboo all those years ago. We all know how that endeavour ended. Don't you think that the situation is radically different? What would you do if a shipload of people from Theed reaches your home-world? The consequences of those people disembarking in one of your largest space ports and mingling with the crowds will not be too big a problem, will it? After all this could not be such important and time sensitive issue... Not when you suggest that a commission which would take months, perhaps years to do anything, must handle this crisis. Too bad that the inhabitants of Theed would be dead by then..." I couldn't help myself. I've never had patience for dealing with politicians. Back in the good old days things were somewhat simpler. At least they were once I had to directly enter the political stage, because by that time I was a powerful Sith in my own right and still had the backing of Baras. That solved a lot of issues.

"You dare mock me in such a way?" the Gram roared.

"Gentlemen! Enough!" Palpatine had to raise his voice to calm down his crony.

"My apologies, Chancellor. I have a low tolerance for fools who are disconnected from the real world. What are your orders concerning the situation on Naboo?" I asked calmly. I'm pretty sure I just made an enemy but found it hard to care. Who had the bright idea of making that imbecile their Senator anyway?!

"Maintain the quarantine, general. I will dispatch additional forces to assist you. Find out if there is a cure and if there is make all possible efforts to ensure that it is produced and distributed among the infected." Palpatine instructed.

"Yes, sir. And if the virus could not be contained?" I asked innocently.

Palpatine looked at the people in his office then at me.

"That is to be determined at later date. Carry on your duties, general.

Flashback End

=RK=

To be fair that went better than expected. Making an enemy from one of Palpy's boot lickers was of no concern to me. The animosity from Bail Organa might be somewhat problematic down the road. I needed the Republic, if I decided to keep it around, to be highly militarized. That however meant that most of the more pacifistic senators would eventually become my political enemies.

While that was a problem which I would have to tackle after this war was resolved, I might have to look into opportunities to weaken the peace faction within the Senate, at least some of Palpy's supporters too. Perhaps even the Senate as a whole in case working with the Republic in the long term didn't prove beneficial.

"Admiral Yularen's fleet should be here any moment, sir." The bubble of silence that had descended upon us was shattered by Pellaeon's quiet words.

"Excellent. We are leaving towards Iego as soon as I speak with the good Admiral.

Few hours ago, Captain Typho contacted us with not only an update of how bad was the situation on the ground was but with the news that they had determined what was the key ingredient of the cure for the Blue Shadow – an extract of a Reeska root which could be found only on one place. I recalled that there might be some kind of a trap waiting out there so I decided to go there with a at least Venator cruiser. However, that in turn meant that in order to preserve the thin blockade I needed to wait for Yularen and his ships. A Jedi would have probably rushed there with whatever flying thing he could get their hands on but that was not the case with me. It's been a very long time since I might have done something equally foolish.

I was observing a pair of Torrent fighters which were returning from a patrol when big shapes jumped out of hyperspace. The familiar triangular shapes of Republic cruisers and Assault Ships were a welcome sight.

"Contact Admiral Yularen's Flagship and prepare for hyper jump. Look alive people! We have work to do!" I ordered.

A holographic display popped to life in front of the window through which I was looking. That reminded me. As soon as possible I should get myself in a position to influence the warship designs. Who in his right mind put the bridge of a combat ship in a tower over the superstructure? With windows no less?! In this day and age there were very few Force Adepts who could benefit from such an arrangement. Even back in the day the warships at least had CICs which immediately could take control over the ship if the bridge was taken out. That wasn't exactly the case nowadays.

The familiar face of the older man appeared in the display.

"Admiral Yularen. It's good to see you again. I just hoped it to be under better circumstances." I inclined my head in a greeting.

"General Veil. Congratulations for the promotion. What is the situation on the planet?" Yularen asked gruffly.

I gave him a short summary and sent him a full briefing compiled by my officers.

"Admiral, I have a lead on a possible cure. I'll be taking the Requiem and heading there. I'll leave this mess in your capable hands."

He glared at me without much heat. It was obviously that he was not happy that I was dumping this clusterkriff in his hands. Tough. Skywalker was still recovering from the wounds received when he saved Aayla Secura and Kenobi was still on some kind of a mission far away from here. So the famous duo was not here to save the day.

"I am not too thrilled to leave you in such a situation admiral. However, the sooner we have a viable cure the faster this mess could be cleaned up and we can return to winning the war." I smiled apologetically.

Yularen shook his head and gave me an exasperated look.

"It's not like I can order you around." he grumbled. "Good luck, General."

"To you too. I hope that Senator Amidala won't be too troublesome."

"You are going in search of the cure just to get away from her, aren't you?" The admiral glared at me and frowned.

I gave him an innocent smile.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. You have command over Task Force Requiem. May the Force be with you." I said to Yularen and ordered Pellaeon to get us on the way.