Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Oasis Calm -- Volume V Part 2 (Finale)
Having checked left and right, the pilot failed to acquire a firing vector on the incoming droids. “General, I can’t hit them! They’re right beneath us!” A laugh burst with giddy excitement from the causeway! Kindi had never seen combat during his life and reveled in its carnage. He had also never seen a Jedi Master…
Lasers pelted the ground and chased troopers! The squad remained unable to take out the metal giants. This was not due to the B2’s nimbleness, but to the lack of cover which denied clones a place to organize kill box. “Keep the FIRE up and MOVE! One spot is as good as the next!” Urgency was not something Hazoc plead for, but it was heavy in his voice, “Three men down!”
Hett’s braided hair gust across his shoulder as the Jedi walked to the center of the gunship’s empty bay. Wind blew harshly against the raised, leather collar. His next move was swift, taking one then two quick strides; hurling himself over the edge. Gusts tussled about his body whilst leather flaps of fabric wagged behind him. Kindi watched from afar as the figure fell to what must be certain death! The scientist’s eyes swelled when A’ Sharad Hett’s arms spread apart; a pair of glowing green beams spawned from his grip. Hett’s plunge was nothing but graceful; perfectly aimed between two of the air born B2 super battle droids. They did not see him coming. Regardless, they never had a chance!
Hett’s body spiraled with arms stretched out! Both sabers dismembered the intended targets with ease! Each cleaved piece softly thudded against the sand below. The other pair of B2s became aware of the Jedi when their comrades’ digital signatures dropped offline. Light hums swelled. Their jets spun their thick, top heavy torsos to acquire the new, high level threat.
“Eliminate the Jedi.”
“Roger roger.”
The deep, affectless droids spoke to one another. Both arms aimed straight down; their jets boosters brought them into ideal firing positions. Master Hett stood in his defensive saber stance, waiting. Each fist of the droids cut loose rapid chains of blaster fire! Kindi chanted to himself as though a podrace unfolded.
Hett dashed right effortlessly; his body one with the sand. Crystal blue eyes peered up from beneath a focused brow. His right saber parried dozens of shots, sending red blasts back into the air. Clone troopers watched his left arm deflect a well-aimed shot, then curl back. Sharply it projected out, bursting forward rapidly! Green pierced the air. Hett’s saber lanced the first B2 causing an eruption of metal and hardware to shower the troops below.
Holding its place, the lightsaber then spun, spiraling into the second B2. Its hails of fire paused. The saber sank through its firing mechanisms. With a step forward, the tan shrouded Jedi lobbed his second saber toward the lightly grey stripped B2 whose eyes flickered. Green penetrated the lower abdomen and up through the droids back shoulder! The propulsion systems sputtered.
A’ Sharad looked ahead, undaunted. Standing tall, he strode beneath the droid that continued to hover in place. Clone troopers took to their feet, beginning to walk in their General’s flanks. Hett’s hands flexed through the force, tearing the droid apart in the sky before powerfully bashing the hulked mass to the ground! Wistfully, sabers glided back to the palms of their master, spiraled fleetingly, then latched to his belt upon deactivation.
Kindi stood stunned by what had unfolded. With such a grand mathematical mind, it did not take long for the scientist to compute: no matter what droids were in "The Cavern", they could not stop this pursuing threat! Only something terrifying in his lair might stave the Jedi adversary. After a quick about-face, Kindi waddled deeper down the hall. Worried, white eyes looked over his should, the sight only caused greater panic. Hett’s tattooed face and collected demeanor haunted Kindi.
Hazoc looked to the Jedi, “So… got something about flyers that makes you flex like that? Or do you always show off for the “shinnies”?”
“That wasn’t for you Lieutenant. Distress can be a tool against those who previously thought it exclusive to them- Knowledge they are nearly undone.”
“Heh.. you mean fear?” Hazoc’s voice lightened with Hett’s use of psychology. Hett’s only retort was a silent glance.
Using a remote to activate a bulky set of gears to close the cavern’s gateway, Kindi fled to his laboratory. Large clanks smacked, pulling the entry way closer to securing closed. It could only stall them, but that might be enough for him to escape...or worse!
“General, he’s closing the hatch! If that locks, who knows how long a breach will take! …If that’s even possible..” Hazoc sprinted towards Kindi’s trail! Hett joined the race; raising the gunship on the comlink, “Pilot, lodge the LAAT against the door!”
“Already on it sir! Will do what we can, but move fast!” Squeezing his controls, the pilot maneuvered his larty towards the tightening gap. His co-pilot remained uneasy due to the density of the door, “Is this even going to work? Those gears might crush us!” Pilots of the 327th Star Corp were used to running missions of a dire sort. “We only need to buy them time to get through. Let’s do this. Buckle up!” Momentum behind the gunship was easily gained once the thrusters were punched into action. A blast of thunder rumbled! Seats shook violently with the shuttering power engaged.
“Deactivate all weapon systems! Let’s not blow ourselves up!” Subtle whines inside the gunship were audible whilst numerous systems shut down. With mere seconds to act, the craft dove down sharply. Teeth clenched. The pilot wrenched his control stick sharply, back to the left with one hand. The other jammed the throttled into full force, then pulled back equally as hard.
This chain of events caused the gunship to bellow before its metallic belly screamed against the bases rock covered, metal floor. Pressure applied its weight against the starboard wing! Groaning, the skin wrinkled before popping to condense on itself. The door marched on, popping and squeezing until the front hull and rear gun were pinched. Strongest part of the of Gunship was its long, lateral keel.
“Move, move, move!” The pilot shouted! Each pulled an emergency handle to blow out a side compartment releasing the canopy. Both rolled out of the cockpit and into the Separatist base. Hurrying, each grabbed a blaster off the rack inside the larty’s armament bay. Stress popped rivets and seams, pushing the exoskeletal armor passed its proven test point.
An opening remained in the bay, for the time being. A’ Sharad Hett stepped through the space he had meditated in less than an hour prior. Cold plates waited on the other side of the improvised partition. “Well done pilots. Remarkably so.” The pair snapped to attention, “Thank you sir!”
“Tread lightly.” Hett’s focus persisted, he saw the necessity of prudence over error. “Doubtful Dooku anticipated us finding this asset, but we need to be careful.” Boots softly tread over metal plated floors. This base was similar to many others, modular in its construction. Other labs Hett liberated had similar layouts. Entire sections built elsewhere then quickly constructed on site allowed more time to be spent on camouflaging the operation.
Suddenly, the furthest corridor brightened. Again and again, each compartment flicked on florescent lamps. Hazoc’s voice whispered, “He’s powering up the generators General. Time is no longer a luxury..” The Jedi raised his hilts, “I agree.. lets move!” Boots thudded, each picked up the track previously started, unaware what they’d find around each bend. Hett’s breathing was nearly nonexistent. Turning corners, left and right. Troopers splintered off as needed to secure new sections.
The base was fairly linear making the task to clear it straight forward. Troopers stopped to analyze and scan, but most of what they found were pieces of tech or vials that contained substances yet to be weaponized. “We’re in luck General..” Hazoc’s voice reported in, “..this lab is being prepped. It’s not fully operational. No support staff! Any droids found are being dealt with.”
Hett had left a trail of battle droids in his wake, but no sign of Kindi. He continued to search. Fear lingered in the hall. The Jedi honed in on the residual emotion; the scent of his prey. A voice garbled from Hett’s armored communicator, “Sparks found a data pa… concern. High v..la..ile and toxic substances …rived a fe.. weeks ago, …t we haven’t found ….yet. We’re en route …. ….. po…ion now! _____” Silence dropped over the prevailing static.
A tall door, wide apart, straddled the hall. Inside, plants of all types thrived, dozens of tanks held who knows what. Control panels, screens, holograms, lab stations -- scattered across the room in a glow of organized chaos. Tenderly, Hett walked with his saber in hand. Above, odd inscriptions covered the pillars and beams. Air itself grew stale and heavy. A column of boxes fell to the floor! Kindi stood sniveling behind them, clearly attempting to make use of a hatch marked, “Emergency.”
“You weren’t meant to leave Kindi. That’s generally the separatist way.”
“Save…save your lies, Jedi! You..You have no idea where you are…or..or who you address!” Kindi raised up from his knees. The frightened nature morphed into blind stubbornness. There’s something to be said for a corned creature standing its ground.
“Gabrel Kindi: Actually, one of my lesser known dossiers. You weren’t on our radar until after the Naboo incident. Given your profession, affinity for the confederation, and family ties to Dr. Nuvo Vindi. It’s an irrefutable combination. Your cousin resurrected the "Blue Shadow Virus"...one of the most deadly in the galaxy. The assassinations bore similar, fast acting symptoms. Only thing is, you haven’t harnessed it.”
“Nuvo wasn’t.. the only ..success of my.. family!” his speech fragmented with his rise in emotion. His hands trembled with anger. “He brought life back to the blue shadow virus..yes…but mine is entirely from...from scratch! How to use it! How to.. employ it.. is a.. different matter! You know.. what happened. The way their.. veins turned black.. the agony of DEATH! More test subjects! The galaxy..will bow with trepidation!”
Kindi watched a squad of troopers run towards the lab door. Hazoc shouted to Hett, who quickly had gained his admiration, “General get out of ther..” but his voice was cut silent by the activation of some type of ray shield. “More test subjects.. in time. Naïve little test tube organisms!” Kindi emphasized with a glint of determination, “but first.. I deal with you!”
“Jedi are not merely dealt with Kindi. It’s not too late to turn yourself over. Undo the damage of your projects. Dooku played his hand, and he has left you with nothing.” Hett’s steps took him closer and closer to Kindi. A fat droplet of sweat glistened, trailing down the alien’s pasty forehead. “Stop! Not another step! Or…or I’ll..” Without grace, Kindi Clumsily attempted to push a crate in front of the force-strong human.
Screeching, the box ground to a halt far from the Jedi's foot, the intended target. Hett drew his second blade, the proximity disappearing between them heightened the scientist’s frantic effort.
“Here!”
The tattooed Jedi’s steps immediately halted, “Don’t.”
“You.. let me.. out of here.. Or we all DIE!”
“We do not negotiate with terrorists Kindi.”
“I am a SCIENTIST! These spores will kill you.. and your clones!! Who knows what else.. if the walls.. are breeched!”
Hett’s demeanor remained calm, undaunted by imminent death. Meditation largely provided his continuous state of tranquility woven to a sense of purpose. “Your death would soon follow. Put down the trigger.”
“I won’t!! Noo.. instead.. instead I think I’ll make my escape ..over your raven-veined.. wiggling corpse. These spores will hold you at bay. This will release them! So stand your.. men down! I am passing! NOW!”
Surrounding the room was a sterile bay lit by blue glows of containment beams. Behind was a flurry of what seemed to be magnified pollen spores; a test weapon. Their fuzzy texture was to cling on a breeze easily upon dispersal in the sky. Kindi could not be allowed to leave at any cost!
“Make way!”
“You will not be leaving this room Kindi.”
“Over your dead body!” Kindi’s sweating thumb pressed down against the switch. The subtle hum of the containment field only became noticed once it had ceased. Kindi pulled a mask from his thick coat; laughing sickly all the while. Though the air was still inside the room, the filtration system caused minimal assistance which the flurries grabbed hold. Slowly they floated with no rhyme or reason into the room, their deathly traces trailing a powder behind.
“NOOOO!!” Hazoc let out a shout, his fists pounding against the wall! “General, we’ll get you out of there!”
Hett deactivated his sabers, latching them again to his waist, “You will do no such thing Lietenant. I will let him pass.”
“General, we can’t! You know what will happen if he makes it out.”
“HA HA HA HA HA! Too late Jedi! I can’t control.. these spores yet! OR..maybe that's the BEAUTY!! Either way...I'm leaving.. over your body.. then over those clones. Its the virus! This.. is merely the cure.. of this war's scourge.” Kindi’s mask fogged up with every boorish laugh.
Hett’s eyes closed. The cloth shrouding his chest barely fluctuated from how shallow the man’s breath became. Without a visible sign, the spores lingered mere inches from the Jedi. The fortitude of his meditation undulated the poisonous spores in place. Slowly they drifted away from A’ Sharad Hett. Kindi made a sprinting hobble toward the Jedi, misinterpreting Hett altogether. Exerting little effort, Hett raised a pair of fingers from their perch against his knee, hurling the rotund scientist back across the room. Kindi’s body smashed against his desk before hitting the floor with a thud. A tiny creek was the only noise that carried through the air after the impact.
A’ Sharad Hett’s eyes opened slowly to see the Faust male rolling erratically. Raising to his feet quickly, Kindi’s body language was that of sheer horror! Hett’s eyes opened to reveal a splintering crack through Kindi’s lifeline. “How could you?!”
“Now you can pass..” Hett’s voice softly spoke. Kindi’s brow pursed in his first moment of sincere confusion. At a loss of words he continued rushing to clog the crack with his rubberized glove. Color flushed away from his already bland skin. Soft bristles of terror overcame Kindi the more he moved. A soft creak grinded sounded from the glass across his mask, “You.. you can’t let me die!”
Spores continued to surround the two, the threat remained very, very tangible. Hett maintained his fortitude, but softly conversed with the frantic engineer, “So says the murderer.”
“But, you’re a Jedi! I am merely a scientist.. you must see the position I was in.. the orders.. the threats!”
Chilled eyes looked on, “I do see. Darkness shrouds all your work. Saving you - sentences the innocent to death..”
“We all have.. parts to play Jedi!” Extending, the crack grew with another creek.
“Not anymore Kindi. Yours resides here beneath the sand.”
“NO! You can’t just…”
“THIS fate was constructed by yourself. We DO have parts to play; saving you is not mine.”
Clone troopers looked on through the ray shield, uncertain what was unfolding aside from what was visible. Kindi unwittingly continued applying pressure and in his fear, squeezed the glass until it fractured with a pop! From his throat a high pitched squeal burst! The spores spiraled around him in the turmoil. His gasps enticed the sensitive spores closer with each vast inhale.
Looping and drifting the toxic cloud encroached. Cornered behind a table, Kindi held his breath, but it was too late. Small particles floated into contact against his skin causing him to wail again! Instantly darkness spread through his veins! “AHHH!!! NO NO NO NO NOOOOO!!! I didn’t fini.>AHHHH!!” Kindi’s body flopped to the floor, his muscles tense beneath his loose skin. His gaze flared and fixed upon a rubberized glove laying on the floor. That which betrayed him.
Foam bubbled from the corpses lips, pooling beneath his face.
Hett continued to sit on the floor with his legs folded in front of him. His back remained to the ray-shielded entryway. Hazoc ordered his men to keep him posted, turned, and made his way back to the surface.
_______________________________________________________
“Over there! Take us to the smoke Captain!” Aayla’s voice was loud across the quiet, but focused bridge.
A clone officer raised his arm to a right angle, “Captain Sightreh, the scanners a picking up very light readings. There is a presence, but depth is playing games on the sensors.”
Sightreh’s arm remained behind him when his right hand lifted to direct the pilots, “Take the ship down. Prepare the landing gear, but do not pipe down the engines. This is a touch and go.”
Aayla Secura quickly motioned to Commander Bly when stepping down from the command deck. “Keep the hatches open.” Bly led the way to a door on the lower hull. After a series of beeps the door slid apart. Bright, blinding light bounced off the approaching dune the closer the Regulator hovered above ground. “Be careful down there General. Already have had enough close calls for one day!”
The Jedi’s smile bloomed, her hand held the door frame while her eyes gauged the distance to the incoming ground. “On a Separatist world with no army group and a series of assassinations, it could get a whole lot worse if we don’t hurry.” Bly’s countenance remained undaunted, “We’ll be here General. Bring back the lads.” Aayla’s response was a simple nod before hastily rappelling down.
Shady smoke continued bellowing from the gunship wreckage which held open a large blast door. Her blackened, stained dress dragged against sand with each step. The smoke stuck to her lungs the closer to the gunship she came. Concealed behind rising ash, a form was barely visible. Hazoc pushed through the smoldering wreckage. Swaying back and forth, the clone trooper’s hand pushed smoke away from his filters while he coughed. Rushing to his side, Aayla helped steady the soldier, “Trooper, are you alright? Where is Master Hett?!”
Hazoc regained steady breathing, but his voice remained coarse. “Not bad sir! Just sand in the filters.” A harsh cough broke his sentence. “He’s in a tight spot! Follow me sir, but take a deep breath! Smoke is filling the facility quickly.” Aayla’s arm pulled the trooper back to the smoking entrance without further hesitation, “Then hop to it trooper!”
The pair rushed through the larty carcass and down into the Confederate facility. Once fluorescent lights became clouded in the murky smog. It loomed in the rafters and grew lower with the passing of each minute. “General: Kindi is dead, but he released the toxin with Hett still in the room! If the door is breached, the vacuum will pull the spores out of the hall. If that happens, there’ll be unknown blowback for the system! We’re dead in the water..” She remained silent with Hazoc’s words whirling in her mind. “..Dead in the water..” Smoke lightened, lingering in the higher sections of the facility. The bulbs glowed starkly in contrast. Her eyes tightened, halos clung to every shinning surface.
A small cluster of clones stood facing the ray shielded laboratory door. “..Master Hett..” Hazoc’s voice belted the ears of his squad, “Aten-hut!” Instantly the squad backed away from the door. Their bodies sharply snapped to attention in two thin, but tightly spaced lines. Aayla paced to the door. Her friend and mentor sat calmly with his back to the door. He could sense her presence before she arrived.
With their communicator’s transmissions being garbled with interference and a shield that blocked sound, their situation was futile. Aayla’s mind reveled and thrashed searching for ideas to cheat fate! Master Hett’s calm grew through his meditation. He reached to her cognizance. The Jedi’s demeanor cooled. No Jedi enjoyed the thought of defeat, but becoming one with the force as a concept each grasped at a young age, some easier than others. Aayla often refused to allow an easy defeat, this was no different.
A sense overcame her blue skin. Warmth shrouded her body, pushing the cold of fear away with its taunts. Master Hett sought her through the Force, reinforcing her doubt. She calmed as she prepared herself with the realization that his life was the cost to keep the spores from spreading what horror had been experienced earlier that day. A vision of Jedi, clone, and varieties of species all succumbing to the tainting, black vein virus. Her finger tips stretched as she leaned against one side of the door. Unwittingly a jagged edge caught the skin of her forearm. With a quick reflex, the female Jedi’s arm pulled back, but her glance zoomed in.
Small and hardly noticeable, Aayla Secura looked closely at the askew metal fragment. Her studying revealed it to be another of Kindi’s countermeasures. Hett sensed her shift in emotion; hope. The idea growing in her mind was the best chance for his survival, but remained steeped in risk. Hazoc stood closely behind Aayla continuing to look over her shoulder. Static flared over the communication chamber of all personnel with a communicator.
**Krrsh** “Gen…l, We need…. … move now! Seppies Incom…” **Krrsh**
Hazoc looked behind and up the ramp to a sight of encroaching smoke. Bulging puffs billowed their direction rapidly filling the hall; cutting down their time. “General, if you’re going to try something- we need to do it now!” Aayla’s finger pressed across the hidden switch activating the room’s mysterious ploy. It’s pressure fought her finger until the spring popped into place. Each trooper watched on as the ceiling began filling with another substance. Aayla sighed as the familiar black bubbles rapidly released from the scrubbers filled more and more space. Spores churned from current shifting in the room. Their sensitive fibers gravitated towards the fuel. Each collection of toxic molecules became doused when their momentum submerged each core. Her finger pulled the small lever back from its pressed position. A brief pause lived long enough to demonstrate the lack of effect the switch had over the river of cleansing fluid!
It continued pouring out at a much faster rate than the room Aayla had previously escaped from. Within minutes her view of Master Hett was obscured. Sweating palms pressed against the ray shield. Undulating fluid covered her view. Short clicks were all that brought the end. Fire erupted without a sound on the opposing side of the ray shield. Crimson and auburn flashed against the visors of each trooper. Bright flickering blazes amplified themselves in the glossy terror of Secura’s blue eyes. Her mind still held her recent escape from such an imminent death nearby, but this was different. Flames licked the ray shield from roof to floor.
As fast as it had begun, the rapture died away. When the final spark extinguished itself, the ray shield’s whuurr ceased. Smoke shrouded the laboratory. Holodisks were melted to tabletops, any plants that existed simply did no longer, and all the metal surfaces now carried a heavily scorched char. Grey smoke lingered through the door way. Two shades of smoke closed in, mingling in the upper most reaches of the bulk heads. Aayla stepped into the silent room. Her foot didn’t click, but stepped into the black sludge of broken down material. A gust blew the fog past her shoulders and out the door! Blue lekku flapped from the robust gust.
Unhindered light illuminated the laboratory once again. A’ Sharad Hett stood from the floor, surrounded by scorched blackness except for a small circle. He stepped out slowly. His hand comforted Aayla’s shoulder in a gesture of appreciation. “Thank you for your quick thinking Aayla.”
The clone troopers were beyond impressed, but Aayla followed nearly in disbelief. “How..”
“Hazoc, what’s our sitrep? I can’t imagine we’ll be unnoticed for much longer.”
“Broken communications have been arriving in blips, but the Sightreh and Bly are eager to get us airborne. Doesn’t sound good Generals!”
“Sturdy your breath, let’s get to the surface, NOW!”
Troopers and Jedi both took large gasps, filling their lungs. They charged into the dark cloud and began the choking ascent from the facility lowest lab. Clones used filters to keep their pathway visible. No sight was needed for the Jedi; effortlessly leaping over obstacles. A gust of heat pressed against Hett’s face. It gave him the indication the burning gunship was just ahead. His boots sounded a familiar clacking as they all stepped through the bay. The next instant blinding desert light blazed their eyes!
Thunder boomed from the Regulator’s engines, lulling on the ground. The ships landing gear pressed heavily into the shifting sands. Commander Bly and a squad ran to those exiting the facility to steady their paces. Bolstering each other’s balance, clones aided one another up the Arquiten light cruiser’s steep boarding ramp.
Hett looked back to the gunship’s wreckage, “Commander Sightreh, be sure to handle that gunship before we leave. This operation was unavoidably messy.”
The officer’s voice was heavy, “Commander Bly has that handled. Debarkation should be immediate. There are incoming Separatist signals descending through the atmosphere as we speak!” As mentioned, Commander Bly approached the pair of Jedi holding a detonator, “Lets get out of here generals.” His thumb pressed the circular red button setting of a chain of explosions that tore through the gunship and upper hall of the entry hallway! A bloom of flames, smoke, and sand plumed in the air then settled into an ever growing crater. Commander Bly and Hazoc jogged up the ramp, activating its lift mechanisms. The commander’s voice shouted over the comm, “Captain, we are loaded and sec’d! Lift away!”
Aayla remained bewildered at Hett’s survival. Troops accepted that he did so because he was a Jedi, but Secura couldn’t put her finger on it. “Master Hett, how did you manage to… how did you survive?” The two made their way up the ramp and headed toward the bridge. Hett looked to Aayla’s concerned eyes, “An oasis lies at the core of each Jedi. No matter what our environment: a sandstorm, fleet of ships, a war; finding calm within focus determines your reality.” Aayla sighed, “I see that fire didn’t cleanse your knack for philosophy one bit!”
Hett stepped through the bulkhead, “Apparently not Knight Secura. My father, Sharad Hett, trained me to hone focus by pressing my meditations to coincide with the sandstorms Tatooine. Eventually I found how that fortitude was useful in insulating me from the barrage of stand.” Aayla was curious to learn more about Hett’s Oasis Calm. “..and the cleansing catalyst?”
“Much the same way. As for this mission Secura..”
“You were right master. It’s hard not to get sand in your boots during a maelstrom.. this war is tearing the galaxy apart. Even when separatists reach out for peace..” Aayla remained troubled by everything that had unfolded so rapidly during their mission to Aarognar. “This is going to be a pretty hefty report..”
Hett entered the bridge as the cruiser pressed beyond the atmosphere. The sky turned black; hues of blue and tan fading behind. “Captain, get us into hyperspace before we’re cut off and intercepted!” Sightreh tapped his navigation clone on the shoulder, “Already underway. Coordinates locked – take us in the lane, activate the hyperdrive!”
The Regulator soundlessly burst from its position into hyperspace! Behind trailed a cloud of sand particles where the ship was last. Separatist war ships lulled suddenly now that their prey was gone. Fast away on a track to a core world, heavily defended by the Republic. This quarry wasn’t worth the clash that following would bring, but Sanjay Rash was hard at work turning his hard luck around.
__________________________ Back on Aarognar ______________________
A hologram illuminated Sanjay Rash’s face. Crammed in a small craft, the Onderron delegate turned to face the blue figure, none other than Dooku himself. “Soo Rash.. it seems you’ve begun turning this catastrophe to your advantage.”
“Those Jedi gave me everything I needed to. With the help of a few droids, I framed the facility destruction to look like a strike team penetrated the blockade, attacking a health laboratory. Tragically we lost Kindi, the Science Minister seeking to cure many different ailments. So, will you keep your word to supply my ascension to the throne of Onderron?”
“You have demonstrated cunning. Confederation resources will be allocated to your coup shortly, but if you FAIL me… your fall from such esteemed position shall be the least of your concerns.”
Rash’s voice quivered with both fear and eagerness, “Sometimes by losing a battle, you discover a new way to win the war. My cause will prevail.” Eyebrows of Dooku perked up, “..Your cause?”
“The the Separatist’s! Onderron will be brought into the fold of the Confederation. Thank you Count Dooku.”
Dooku’s gaze starred down at Rash before leaving him again in Darkness. He leaned back into his pilot’s chair watching the streaking stars of hyperspace. His eyes fell to his lap. In his hands, two ornate, silver shoulder plates. Behind him the body of his fallen comrade, Declan Bonteri.
Again the hologram was activated. A tall, slender woman moved into the message holding a data pad. Her voice was soft, “What a surprise Sanjay! Lux just left for the academy. I wasn’t expecting an update from the delegation so soon after your leave.”
“Apologies for the unexpected timing Senator Bonteri, but it could not wait…” Rash’s voice cracked.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?!” Her kind concern skyrocketed!
“I’m sorry Mina.. He was felled during a Republic incursion, but I assure you…We WILL have retribution!”
