"Did you bring your compad or your holocom?" Windu asked Vos.
"Just the holocom."
"Turn it off, please."
...
Surprised at the sudden need for secrecy, Vos did so, gazing at the two Masters and wondering what this could be about.
"A great thing, I must ask of you." Yoda began.
"A secret mission that no one can know about." Windu added. "Which you can refuse if you choose."
"What about the Council?" Vos asked.
The Jedi Master simply shook his head, and Vos made no effort to hide his surprise. Windu was among the most procedural and Orthodox of all Jedi. For him to call on Vos to do something that even the Council couldn't know about was shocking.
"Alright. I'll hear it." Vos said after a moment's pause.
"The New Temple has become dangerously erratic." Mace Windu said. Then he added in a low tone, almost like he was ashamed to say it. "We would like you to join it, and report on its activities."
Mind racing, Vos considered the man's words. "We're spying on the other Orders now?"
Neither of the two masters looked happy with the idea, but neither of them tried to deny the accusation.
"...I might be more willing if I knew what's really going on here." Vos finally said. "Because this isn't just about Phindar. Neither of you cared enough for the planet to dispatch a Jedi when it was run by the Syndicate, and I doubt either of you care all too much for it now."
The two exchanged another annoyed look at that. "We're concerned about the potential target the New Temple could be for Sith infiltration."
Now that was a hell of an admission. The Main Temple didn't spy on the Green Jedi, the Teepo Paladins, or even the non-jedi sects like the Matukai. It wasn't that Jedi didn't go undercover on occasion if they might have to infiltrate a criminal syndicate, but doing so to another Temple was unheard of. Though if the Sith had returned, and the Galaxy was once more at risk of being plunged into chaos…
Not to mention Vos had those same concerns. The Sith choosing to take out Sifo Dyas, Dooku unearthing a Sith ruin on his homeworld, and the remaining mystery about what exactly was going on with Ky Narec and Asajj Ventress all had Vos eyeing the New Temple. There was plenty there to be worried about.
"I'd be willing." Vos answered. "But I need to know. Is this actually, about the Sith, or was this something Palpatine asked for?"
The look the two gave each other confirmed for Vos he hit the nail right on the head.
"Palpatine has his own concerns about the New Temple." Windu answered, diplomatically. "The Trade Federation is looking to the Senate for a bailout, and Chancellor Palpatine is concerned about an outbreak of war in the Outer Rim while they're weakened."
The Fed needed a bailout? Vos almost didn't believe it. They controlled a huge swathe of Trade Routes, and had thousands of planets paying into their security services. Not to mention they controlled the entire Corporate Sector. How could such a massive business be failing to turn a profit?
He'd have to look into that one on his own time. He supposed that if nothing else, the Trade Federation would have to have massive overheads when it came to maintaining their empire.
"The Trade Federation has done much to embitter the people of the Outer and Mid rims against the Republic. The New Temple could easily serve as the lynchpin of a Separatist movement." Windu explained.
"Such feelings were used by the Sith." Yoda rumpled. "The New Sith Wars started that way."
"So you're worried that the Sith are going to take an interest in the New Temple." That was if they hadn't already, which Vos was pretty sure they had. It would explain a few things.
"Palpatine had information for us." Mace continued. "Republic Intelligence has been keeping an eye on House Serenno. An informant has reported that a Sith Assassin struck at the Palace while Dooku was away."
Vos eyebrows shot up. "What happened to the family?"
"We're still waiting for more information." Windu explained. "We believe that the girl's tutor, Green Jedi Master Sturn, was able to slay the assassin."
Well that was a relief to hear. However snooty that Princess was, it would be horrible if a Youngling was hurt or killed.
"If Dooku's family had died, the grief could have pushed him to the Dark Side." Vos murmured. Wasn't that a nightmarish idea? Dooku was one of the most powerful Jedi, and even Yoda with all his eight hundred years had never met a better duelist. It would be almost as bad as the defections of Revan and Darth Ruin.
Windu nodded in agreement. "Our thoughts, exactly. For the sake of the Republic, and the Jedi, we are asking you to defect to the New Temple. You're already known to… not quite fit in with the rest of the Jedi. Your criticisms of the Council have been public for some time."
"Look, I just want the Council to pull it's head of its backside.'' Vos snorted. "We could be doing a lot better."
"Never doubted your loyalty, have we." Yoda said, in a grave tone. "Entrusted with this mission, you are."
He would have been perfectly willing to go along with it, but there was one final concern he had. "What about Aayla?" Vos asked. "She's not ready to be a Knight, yet."
"If you agree to this mission, you won't be able to bring her with you." Windu said. "I will take her on as my Padawan for the remainder of her training."
Now that stung a little. Aayla was a good kid, and being abandoned by her Master was going to hurt. This was a secret mission, so he couldn't tell her that he was really going undercover. Even so, more important than any one Padawan's feelings was the future of the Galaxy. As long as the Sith were out there, hidden, and planning their return, everyone everywhere was in danger, and that included Aayla.
With a sigh, Vos nodded his head. "I'll do it."
...
Sturn finally found his grandson Yash, abandoned in the streets of Celanon. The only thing that allowed him to find the boy was their connection in the Force. When Yash recognised Sturn, he wrapped his arms around his grandfather and bawled his eyes out.
The blood on his scalp had scabbed over into brown chunks in his hair. The boy was barefoot in the streets during what seemed like a spring thaw, with cold slush everywhere. His lips were blue, and Sturn took his time carefully checking the boy's toes to make sure he wouldn't lose any to the cold. Yash was hungry, filthy, and looked like any other child abandoned on the streets. Seeing his own flesh and blood treated like this, Sturn felt an anger stirring in his heart like nothing he'd ever felt before.
Where was that kidnapper? Had he really just abandoned the boy in some alley?
Sturn searched with his mind, but found the monster nowhere. Gritting his teeth, he lifted the boy up and hurried him back to his ship. The uncaring crowds of the city street didn't even glance at him, and the port authorities only barely questioned him. What an absolute cesspool. Didn't they care for each other at all? On Corellia, if anyone saw a child wandering alone in such a state they would immediately call CorSec.
Back in his ship, Sturn got Yash cleaned up and bundled into a blanket at the center console. He was able to feed the boy a few ration bars and get him a warm cup of hot chocolate to sip while he called the boy's father. Yash was the only one who had gone missing in the explosion on Correllia, and the entirety of the Green Jedi had been searching frantically for the youngling.
"No ransom? Then what did he want?!" Sturn's son demanded, furious. "Then what was this about!?"
"I don't know, son." Sturn answered. "I just don't know."
Finally, with his ship headed back towards Corellia, Sturn ducked into a side room. With the kidnapper keeping him on the line, Sturn hadn't been able to answer any of the numerous calls people had made to him until he got to Celanon. There were a multitude of calls from Serenno, and even one from Dooku.
He was probably furious at Sturn.
With a sigh, Sturn mentally prepared himself to get reamed out by his boss.
The phone only rang once, before Dooku answered, and immediately Sturn could see something was wrong. Dooku didn't look angry, he looked murderous. Even through the blue of the holocom, his eyes blazed with fire.
"Where are you?" Dooku demanded in his aristocratic bass.
"Celanon." Sturn answered immediately. "I apologise, but my grandson was kidnapped. I had to collect him from here, or he would have been killed."
The expression on Dooku's face seemed to grow even darker. "I see. You didn't think to inform any of my men?"
"The kidnapper was on the call! If I hung up or stopped to talk, he would have killed Yash."
"...In your absence, an assassin has attacked the Palace."
...
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