98 Chapter 88
Yin Eness grimaced slightly as he read the data pad in front of him.
It was an update from his employer letting him know that two jedi had been assigned to guard his target, which was going to make things more difficult.
Though his employer had managed to figure out which jedi were being sent, which would help Yin plan around them.
The senator, his target, had somehow managed to escape being incinerated when the bomb Yin had oh so graciously left in her ship had detonated, but he had a new plan that was going to work out a lot better.
Yin was finding it a bit strange being off the oceanic wasteland that was kamino, he had been stuck there for nearly a decade after all.
He hadn't minded the planet at first, and especially didn't mind the amount of credits he was offered to become part of Jango Fett's Cuy'val Dar and to train clone commandos for the republic's new army.
But he never felt like he got along with the rest of the Cuy'val Dar, especially the Mandalorians who made up the majority of it.
Yin was born and raised on Corellia and didn't believe in the same 'ideology' as the Mandalorians, he was interested in getting rich.
So, when his new employer, some guy named Tyrannous, offered him a massive sum of credits, plus an opportunity to become a high-ranking member of his separatist organization, it hadn't taken much to convince Yin to start working for him.
All he'd had to do so far was sneak off Kamino and assassinate some republic senator before returning back to the ocean planet.
It should have been easy for a bounty hunter of Yin's calibre, but the Naboo security personnel were more slippery than he'd originally expected.
They had used a body double to draw the attention of any potential threats and so when the bomb Yin planted went of it was just a load of the senator's servants who got killed rather than the real important person.
And now the senator was secure in her penthouse apartment, surrounded by Naboo security forces and now two Jedi protectors, but Yin had made some plans to deal with that.
He had enlisted the services of several of his most trusted bounty hunter friends, as well as large group of local thugs from Coruscant's lower levels and spent some of the insane amount of credits he'd got from both Jango and Tyrannous on some seriously deadly hardware.
The intel Yin had got about the jedi was also very helpful. Apparently, they both liked to charge recklessly toward any problem without thinking too much, and so If they could be lured away with a diversion Yin would only have some security guards left to deal with.
Yin had his plan and now he was just waiting for his moment.
-
"I feel your not taking my besties safety very seriously!" Opal glared towards Renn and Shae as they looked around the luxurious penthouse in one of the many apartment buildings built solely for use by republic senators.
Neither Renn nor Shae were wearing their respective armours and were instead dressed in casual clothes, looking like a pair of mercenaries who were about to go drinking in a shady bar when they were between jobs.
"What do you need, I brought a blaster," Renn said shrugging and lifting his jacket to show his heavy blaster pistol concealed beneath.
Opal watched as the two Naboo security forces officers in the room with them tensed and began looking worried at the sight of the weapon and knew Renn had only allowed them to see the weapon to test their reaction to it.
Shae on the other hand had ignored the comment and was busy prodding an expensive looking vase with a finger and nodding to herself as though the way it was rocking slightly was satisfactory in showing how valuable it was.
And Opal also knew that this was also an act, both to annoy the two guards and to annoy Opal for forcing Shae to have to visit Coruscant, a planet Shae considered to be smelly and overcrowded.
At least Seela was acting relatively normally for someone meeting a senator… well she was dressed normally… while she slept on one of the expensive sofa's in on corner of the large living room.
"Besides, you've got two jedi and probably a frigate's worth of these blokes," Renn gestured to one of the Naboo security officers, "I'm sure your friend will be fine."
She then watched as Renn turned to the Naboo security officers, "And I'm sure you guys have people on every floor of this building and have men on the adjacent rooftops to secure the area." Renn said, not as a question but as a subtle command about what they should have done.
"Our security arrangements aren't any of you----" one of the guards began saying but trailed off as Opal levelled a glare towards him before the guard's objections to revealing information promptly collapsed.
"I mean yes, the building is secure…. But we don't have anyone on the rooftops." He stammered, "But this is Coruscant, the senator feels it would look bad if we had armed troops roaming the capital."
Even Shae stopped her new hobby as an art critic to join Renn and Opal in raising an eyebrow at that response, but before anyone could say anything the door to the room opened to reveal a very annoying Gungan and two very familiar jedi.
-
Renn watched Anakin sulking on one of the penthouse's fancy sofa's and grinned when Anakin shot him a glare that threatened to send Renn into another fit of laughter.
He'd managed to hold his laughter in throughout the awkward interaction between his friend and the senator, and even managed to wait until everyone else had left the penthouse's living room before he collapsed on the floor and began laughing at Anakin.
Renn had known his friend had developed a bit of a crush on the senator during their time together during the invasion of Naboo, and it seemed that his feelings hadn't changed in the years since.
And while Renn found Anakin's awkward attempts at flirting with the senator very funny, he would support his friend if he could.
Renn wished his friend the best of luck in his attempts, but only in the privacy of his own head as watching the drama unfold was too amusing, especially given Padme's lukewarm responses to most of Anakin's advances.
Anakin and Renn were still the only ones left in the penthouse's living room, as they had drawn the short straw to stand guard while Padme slept.
Well Anakin had, Renn had been ordered to by Opal while she, Seela, and Shae went off to the room they had been given to catch up.
The doors on one side of the room slid open and Obi-wan strode purposefully into the room, returning from checking on the situation in the Naboo security forces' guard station on the floor below.
"So, what's the deal? Is the Naboo lads' security good enough?" Renn called out to the Jedi, who paused to think for a moment before shrugging.
"Good enough I suppose. They control the entire apartment complex and have guards on every level, it would be very difficult for someone to break in without them knowing about it." Obi-wan said, taking a seat on the sofa next to Anakin.
"Unless they just smashed through the senator's window," Renn said simply and both Jedi began staring at him.
"Let's face it assassinating a senator isn't exactly low profile, the easiest way would just be to break in through the window or to open fire from a building across the street. Which is why I think the Naboo should stick some guys on the adjacent rooftops."
Obi-Wan sighed deeply before answering as though he was reciting a script, "Taking control of a whole section of Coruscant's residential area with armed guards from Naboo's planetary forces would set the wrong impression for the leader of the anti-war movement in the republic senate."
"Soo, that's a, no?" Renn asked slowly with a raised eyebrow, and Obi-Wan sighed again.
"Yes, that is a no." He said slowly.
"The senator's idea?" Renn asked.
"Indeed," Obi-Wan said through gritted teeth.
"She does know that it'll be hard to lead an anti-war movement if she's dead." Renn said with a raised eyebrow.
"The senator has allowed us to place security cameras in her room though, so we'll know if there's any disturbance and be able to respond quickly to any threat." Obi-wan explained, only for Anakin to cough awkwardly at the end.
"Actually… Padme sort of covered all the cameras." Anakin said and looked away embarrassedly as Renn and Obi-wan turned to stare at him.
"But R2's in there and he's monitoring the room with his motion sensors." He added quickly.
"Why'd she cover the cameras Anakin?" Renn said slowly.
"I… err… don't think she liked me watching her…" Anikin said awkwardly refusing to meet Renn's eyeline.
Renn and Obi-wan stared at the jedi padawan for a moment before bursting out laughing.
They laughed at the sullen and embarrassed jedi for a minute before Anakin abruptly stood up in alarm.
A split second later Renn and Obi-wan felt the same sense of danger through the force, making Renn wonder if Anakin had been using his force abilities to monitor Padme.
All three of them rushed towards Padme's bedroom, with Anakin in the lead and Obi-wan and Renn close behind him.
They could all feel the same thing. The senator was in danger.
