Chapter 65

---Several Days Later, 3rd Person POV---

After several failed attempts to reach the High Council or anyone at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Obi-Wan and company returned home to see if something happened. Upon arriving in the capital, the group found the citizens in a state of unrest. Fearing that Victor's warning had come too late; the three Jedi ran straight to the temple prepared for the worst-case scenario. Cautiously entering the building, they found the building nearly devoid of personnel, further stoking their fears that Order 66 had been given.

"Obi-Wan, what do you suggest we do?", Anakin inquired, searching around for signs of survivors, "Should we head to one of the other temples, and look for survivors there?"

"We need more information before making our decision. The first place to investigate is the High Council chamber. If Order 66 was given, they would have left behind clues for any Jedi that came here looking for their fellow Jedi.", Obi-Wan stated, 'While all signs point to Order 66 being given, I am still hesitant to believe it. We reached the temple without any resistance, there must be another explanation.'

Using a secret corridor to reach the chamber, as they approached, Anakin and Obi-Wan sensed life signs inside. Recognizing them immediately, the two men rushed into the room relieved to see that their friends were alive and well. Looking over at them with confused looks, the Jedi Masters were curious why they looked so flustered.

"Is everything alright?", Windu asked, as Ahsoka joined them.

"We were concerned something had happened while we were away. Why is there no one else in the building besides all of you, and why are the citizens on edge?", Obi-Wan inquired.

"Out on an important mission they are.", Yoda replied, "Just discussing the matter we were."

Motioning for them to join the conversation, Anakin and Ahsoka kept a respectful distance while Obi-Wan took his place among his fellow Jedi Masters. Focusing first on the mission they assigned to the team, Windu asked if they had any luck tracking down the unknown force user.

"It was not easy, but we did finally locate him. His name is Victor von Stark, and I do not believe he is connected to the Sith in any way.", Obi-Wan said, relatively certain of this fact, "I studied his actions and responses closely during our conversation. From what I could see, he is a strong-willed man with a good head on his shoulders. That said, I had some concerns about one of the three lightsabers he possesses. Two of them were ancient models that were discontinued years ago, but the Sith lightsaber he carries has me worried. I believe it once belonged to Darth Bane, it had an identical aura about it to another one of his relics I held some time ago."

"Nonsense, Darth Bane's lightsaber has been in our possession now for centuries.", Koth refuted, "Are you saying the one we have is a fake?"

"A second one there may be.", Yoda stated, offering another possibility.

"That is possible, but highly unlikely.", Windu conceded, "Master Koth, can you please confirm that we still have it in our possession? I trust you when you say it is in our possession, but it could have been lost before you took your position."

Agreeing to go check, Koth left the room to check the vault beneath the temple. Moving on to Obi-Wan's question, Yoda brought up a star map of the Galactic Republic and its neighboring nations. Overlaying the current information they had about the Imperium's crusade; everything became clear to the three Jedi.

"As you can all see, the Imperium's crusade is not going as well as they planned. The Chaos Gods and their allies were far more prepared than anyone anticipated. When the Imperium besieged them, they did not poke a hornet's nest…they awoke a sleeping dragon.", Windu remarked, "Their crusade has led to the destruction of three of their neighboring nations, and two more are on the brink of collapse. We are already seeing a massive influx of displaced refugees seeking shelter and safety from the war. The Senate is currently holding an emergency session to decide how to handle the situation. As it stands now, we are only a month or two away from the war reaching our borders."

"In preparation for that eventuality, we recalled half of our forces and sent them to the border. Along with a large host of new clone troopers, they are preparing our defenses and helping coordinate refugee transporters to keep our critical routes open to our forces.", Plo Koon advised, "We have also sent an envoy to Terra to establish a line of communication with the Imperium. Our hope is to coordinate a joint effort to push the forces of Chaos back."

"Speaking of clone troopers, Victor provided us with some critical information on the Sith Lord we have been searching for. Before I disclose this information, I need everyone to swear not to speak of it outside this room. If Victor's information holds true, the very existence of the Jedi Order and the republic hangs in the balance right now.", Obi-Wan stated.

Feeling the weight of his tone, the Jedi Master's understood the severity of the information he was about to speak. Swearing on their lives to never utter a word about outside the room, Obi-Wan disclosed everything Victor told the three of them. Listening intently till Obi-Wan was done, the Jedi Master's looked at each other with grim expressions.

"If this information is correct, we must act immediately to correct our course before it is too late.", Billaba remarked, "Before jumping to conclusions, a thorough investigation should be completed. That said, where should we start?"

"Well, the quickest method would be to check the statue in the Supreme Chancellor's office for the lightsaber. Confirming it is indeed a Sith lightsaber is all the proof we need to nail this case closed.", Windu stated, "I am inclined to trust Victor's information though. It falls in line with suspicions I have held about Palpatine. Assuming he is a Sith Lord, manipulating the minds of high-ranking members of the Senate would be easy. He is, in effect, an emperor without a crown or the title."

"Be cautious we must. Are at stake many lives.", Yoda reminded everyone, "Solve the clone trooper situation we must. Yes, hrrrm."

"I agree with Grand Master Yoda, the clone trooper situation is a far more pressing concern right now. It is a safe assumption that only the clone troopers we received after Sifo-Dyas' death are potential compromised. If we force Palpatine's hand, he could invoke Order 66 trapping our fellow Jedi between two powerful groups of enemies.", Ki-Adi-Mundi agreed, "As skilled as we may be, none of us could resist such a large number of enemies for long."

"So then it comes down to confirming those chips are indeed installed in the clone troopers and verifying exactly what is programmed on them. I have a few contacts that should be able to hack into the chips, but the problem is how do we collect them. We can either send a team to Kamino to obtain chips awaiting installation or retrieve them from active clone troopers. Either way, the risk of alerting our enemy is high.", Piell remarked.

"What if we collecting the chips from fallen clone troopers along our offensive line with the drone rebellion? Anakin and I could collect the chips for you without raising any suspicion.", Ahsoka spoke up, wanting to help save her fellow comrades, "The problem is though, if the chips are there how are we going to disable/remove them without alerting Palpatine?"

Looking over at the Jedi Knight and his Padawan, the High Council saw no issue with sending them on this secretive mission. Believing it would be a good opportunity to let them grow further, they accepted Ahsoka's proposal with no debate. Turning to the question she posed to them though, that was an entirely different matter. Pondering how to address that issue, Koth returned with a grim expression on his face.

"Darth Bane's lightsaber and many other ancient relics are missing!", he stated, mortified he had not discovered this earlier, "I have no way of knowing how long they have been missing, but the layers of dust suggest they were removed at least a century ago."

"When was the last time the items were catalogued?!", Gallia inquired.

"The last time was when they were relocated down there one hundred and fifty years ago. As only ranking members of the order have access, it appears my predecessors never bothered to check on a regular basis. Even I admit I had let it slip as I have been preoccupied with the large number of outpost closures.", Koth conceded.

"Blaming you no one here is.", Yoda assured him.

"As Master Yoda says, no one here blames you for this. You have been working around the clock to keep up with the workload we thrust upon you. We should have taken into consideration that this might happen and taken it upon ourselves to provide you with additional resources and support. If anything, all members of the High Council are to blame for this.", Obi-Wan said, as his fellow council members nodded their heads in agreement.

"I must ask, is it at all possible that the man you met stole them from the vault?", Koth asked, knowing a few others might think the same way.

"If the theft happened around a hundred years ago, there is no possibility of him being involved. Victor is around Anakin and Ahsoka's age.", Obi-Wan answered.

Satisfied with his answer, Koth returned to his spot to rejoin the conversation they were having. Before the council began bringing him back up to speed, Anakin and Ahsoka excused themselves to prepare for their journey. Quickly vacating the space, before additional work was thrust upon them, the two Jedi left the temple to get a late lunch.