CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CORUSCANT
JEDITEMPLE
BRIEFING ROOM THREE
Vandar and Jolee sat in two of the front row chairs surrounding the huge holo image of the galaxy, Brose Thimina occupying a third. Dustil and Mission sat behind Jolee, the bluish images of Revan, Dacen and Canderous to Vandar’s right, and the images of Carth and three other Fleet Admirals to Brose’s left. The bluish images of Bastila and Anja made up the remainder of the first row of seats. There were another two dozen senior Jedi and Republic officers in attendance, all of them sitting quietly and listening to the briefing officer as he spoke, and taking notes.
The briefing officer was a Brigadier General and a member of the Kiffar species. The distinct yellow markings across his nose and cheeks distinguished him from normal humans. He was a career officer in the Republic Fleet, and a veteran of the three major battles in the opening weeks of the war. He had been on Coruscant for several weeks, recovering from serious injuries sustained in the last battle, and had volunteered to give the briefing. He still moved with a distinct limp, but he held his head up and grimaced through the dull pain.
“… Ordo’s fleet will arrive within Coruscanti space in the next twelve hours. Admiral… all planetary stations as well as orbiting pens are ready to take your damaged ships. I will be launching one hundred G-Wing transports when you arrive, and they will begin shuttling your wounded down to Coruscant. Four hospitals are already on standby waiting to receive your people.” The General pressed two buttons on the display control panel, and the holoimager changed slightly. “Republic Sienar Systems has completed construction on twenty-three new INTERDICTOR A2-Class ships. They will be awaiting you here on Coruscant. They also have pulled everyone off all non-ship building projects and sent them here to aide in getting your command back up and fully operational again.”
“How long?” Canderous asked.
“With respect Admiral, you are a combat officer. Since being injured I have found I have a distinct ability with logistics. If you stay out of my way sir, I’ll have your command back at full strength in one standard week.” The General replied.
Canderous chuckled at the officer’s brash response, and despite Brose’s surprised look Canderous nodded. “You get me out again in one week, and I’ll give you a medal.”
“Yes, so will I.” Brose commented with a smile. “Please continue General.”
The man turned back to the holoimager. “As you all can see, Admiral Onasi has spread his forces in such a way as to occupy both the Hydian Way and the Perlemian Trade Route. Our forward sensor units on Rhen Var continuously monitor all traffic in the Auril Sector extending into the Cronese Mandate. Admiral Onasi’s forces are in constant action, but it appears at least for now, the Sith are not willing to commit more than reinforced squadrons into this area.”
“I’m in constant touch with the Telosian Parliament,” Carth spoke now. “They are nearly overwhelmed with volunteers, and within the next three weeks will be able to commit a full two divisions of ground troops. Many of the instructors are Mandalorian, and they have turned them into a damn fine group of soldiers.”
“Ah… what did you expect Republic? Toy soldiers?” Canderous chimed, clenching the cigar in his teeth.
Everyone hid their smiles waiting for the comeback from Carth, and they weren’t disappointed.
“Here it comes.” Bastila said softly, but with a large smile.
“You never can tell Candy, they have such pretty armor.” Carth retorted.
Carth’s comment caused Revan, Bastila and Mission to burst out in laughter, while Jolee simply shook his head. Revan’s bluish figure looked at the briefing officer, as he tried to contain his laughter. “You’ll have to excuse them General. They’ve been doing this for what… going on thirty years now?”
The General forced a grin and nodded. “Of course General Panlie.” He said.
“Quiet! The both of you!” Jolee hissed from his chair. “Let the lad continue.”
This brought a groan from the others as both Carth and Canderous turned to Jolee. “Who’s talking to you old man?” Canderous snapped.
“Stay out of this Jolee!” Carth barked.
“Enough!” The voice sounded like it came from a giant, yet everyone looked at Vandar. “We have much to discuss. Your attempt at levity is appreciated by all of us, but we have more pressing matters.”
Canderous nodded as did Carth. Neither of them wanted to get on the bad side of the small green alien, not since he was now solidly in Revan’s corner, and becoming almost militant in his desire to end the war. They all knew that he and Revan were sharing very secret talks weekly, and no one wanted to guess what they were concerning.
“General Vorsut’s forces have completed the move into the area between The Corellian Trade Spine and the Rimma Trade Route.” The General continued again. “We are still outnumbered six to one, but the Sith have become much more cautious since Admiral Ordo destroyed the shipyard near Dosuun. All signs point to the fact that we hurt them badly at Dosuun, and coupled with their defeat at Sneeve and the loss of men and material there, it would appear they are having to draw from more conventional means now.”
“Why would they need to do that?” Brose asked. “They still have two of these shipyards left don’t they?”
The briefing officer nodded. “We are assuming that General Panlie’s operation on Honoghr will reveal the location on one of the remaining yards. All the information provided to us by the Noghri representative indicates that such a shipyard exists there.”
“The information from the Noghri can not be trusted anymore.” Revan spoke, causing everyone to turn and look at him except for Brose and Vandar.
“What are you saying Revan?” Canderous asked.
“Rev contacted me just before this meeting. He reports that the Noghri representative is a plant, and the entire mission to Honoghr is a trap.” Revan explained. “His intentions are to insert onto the planet regardless. He believes the Noghri initiated the contact, but the Sith discovered it and switched out the representatives.”
“He knows it’s a trap and he’s still going?” Bastila nearly yelled.
Revan nodded. “He indicated that the intelligence presented to him was factual, but the Noghri representative knew far too much about him personally, and about the Sith units on the surface.”
“They know he’s coming and he’s still going?” Bastila said again.
“He has changed the plan somewhat, and will make contact with the Noghri resistance once he is on the surface.” Revan continued. “I trust him and those with him. And as much as I hate to admit it, he’s turning out to be a far better tactician than I am. The Chancellor and Master Vandar agree with me on this. Revan will not be captured, nor will any of those with him, at least not… at least not alive.”
Bastila’s eyes burned at her husband, and everyone could see Anja grip her hand in the holoimager.
“Will he contact you soon General?”
Revan nodded. “As soon as they make planet fall and contact the real resistance.” He told the briefing officer. “I’ll give you all the details once we are finished here, but from the intelligence he has seen, the shipyard on Honoghr is the real deal. He also indicates that it is very likely the largest one we have seen yet, and would be able to build the mammoth ships that Canderous encountered near Dosuun. We can not pass this opportunity up.”
“Revan he is your son!” Bastila snapped.
Revan looked at the image of his wife, and everyone could see his jaw twitch even in the image of him from his flagship. “I know who he is!” Revan snapped right back. “He is also a Jedi! He knows the risks, and he accepts them just as we all do!”
Brose chose this time to intervene before the situation got worst. He leaned forward in his chair. “Revan… I understand and appreciate your son’s dedication, but he is far too valuable to our war efforts too lose. If he senses in any way that things are getting out of hand, inform him he is to extract from the planet in any way he can. And he may consider that a direct order from the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.”
Revan looked at him and nodded slowly. “I’ll let him know.”
Brose then turned to Jolee and nodded. Jolee stood and looked around. “Thank you everyone, you can return to your tasks and we’ll see you here again tomorrow morning.” Jolee waited for a moment while those present in the room began to file out. He gently reached out and motioned for Dustil and Mission to remain.
Brose waited until everyone had exited the briefing room, and he heard the door seal once more before getting to his feet. He looked at those still present in the room, and the images of his most senior commanders.
“I have been keeping Master Vandar and Master Bindo advised of an operation my office is conducting.” Brose told them. “I briefed General Panlie fully two days ago, and he agreed that we needed to include more individuals in the loop. We agreed that only those in this room would know what is happening. You are the most senior commanders and Jedi we have, but this information does not leave this room. Are we very clear on that?” Brose saw everyone nod his or her head. “Excellent. Most of you don’t know General Akman,however I have known him for quite some time. He has been in my employ since entering the Republic military academy nearly thirty-three years ago. As of right now, he is the assistant to Master Knal in charge of Intelligence. He is also someone I go to when I need special work done.”
Everyone present in the room came a little more alert with the way Brose used the word special in his sentence.
“Chancellor, would you care to define ‘special’ for those who are not yet aware of our actions.” Revan spoke.
“Actually, I’ll have General Akman explain everything.” Brose replied turning to the man. “Go ahead Tion.”
The Kiffar stepped forward now, the limp in his leg completely gone, as he stood a little taller. They all noticed this but said nothing.
“I have worked with the Chancellor since he came into politics. I have worked my way through the Republic military the same as everyone else, so I have earned my rank.” Tion told them. “However, I do occasionally respond to calls from the Chancellor for items that need ‘special’ treatment. In laymen’s terms I and the people who work for me are the Chancellor’s information getters.”
“You’re spies then?” Dustil said.
Tion smiled. “That is a very general term.” He said. “Our role is… much more compartmentalized. Only three people know of our existence. That number now includes all of you in this room. If that number increases by even one without the expressed orders of the Chancellor, you will find I am not a very forgiving man.”
“So then why are Mission and I here?” Dustil asked. “We have nothing to do with the Intelligence side of the war.”
“You and Knight Vao have been chosen for a selective mission Knight Onasi. I will get to it if you allow me to continue.” Tion said.
Dustil grimaced. “Sorry.”
“What General Akman is saying is that he assumes missions that no one else can accomplish, and that can not be in any documented record.” Brose spoke, looking at all of them. “For all intents and purposes, he and his team do not exist outside of their normal military and civilian duties. I will not go in to detail as to how our relationship came to be. I have filled in much of it talking with General Panlie and Master Vandar, but that is the extent of what I am willing to share. I gave General Akman a special mission three days ago, and he is now going to report his initial findings on that mission.” He turned back to Tion. “My apologies Tion… continue.”
“Due to the nature of this war we are involved in, the Chancellor asked me to ascertain, if you will, the loyalty of a certain Senator.” Tion explained. “Two of my people began the surveillance on Senator Overlet three days ago, as he was leaving the Chancellor’s office. I’d appreciate if none of you asked me how they were able to obtain what you are about to see, as it could well lead to you being brought up on criminal charges.” Tion turned to the holoimager and adjusted the control panel. The image of Jamus Overlet appeared as he was exiting the Chancellor’s office. The picture was crystal clear and almost as if they were directly in front of him filming it themselves.
“The good Senator was picked up and tagged from the moment he left the Chancellor’s office. His air speeder was then tracked to the Uscru Entertainment District, where he was seen entering the Vos Gesal Hotel. He remained here for twenty-eight minutes and then left, followed three minutes later by this woman.” He pointed to the cloaked figure that exited the hotel from the same entrance. She blended into the crowd immediately in her dark cloak and cowl. “My team split at this time, two remaining with the Senator, the other two trailing this woman.”
“Playing Sith advocate here, how do you know it is a woman?” Dacen asked, now leaning forward in the chair of his desk on his ship. The others were already quite taken with what they were seeing. “And how do you know he even met with her inside?”
“I’ll get to the female part in a moment General Vorsut. As to whether he met her or not, let’s just say, it’s one of those things you don’t need to know.” Tion replied, nodding to Dacen before turning back to the holoimager.
Dacen nodded back. “Fair enough.”
“Senator Overlet was followed back to his office in the Senate building where he met with a variety of other Senators. His conversations ranged from discrediting the Jedi and the Chancellor, to outright rebellion. He also kept referring to information he was going to obtain which would prove the Jedi Order is in fact the organization that started this war.” Tion turned to face everyone.
“That’s preposterous!” Bastila barked from her place on the cruiser that was returning her and Anja to Coruscant. “We’ve been fighting them for nearly thirty years in every back alley and dark planet you can think of! Every hostile move has been initiated by them!”
Tion looked at her image. “I was not implying anything Master Shan, simply stating what Senator Overlet seems to believe, as well as many of those he is meeting with.” He told her. “I am in fact on your side Master Shan. Senator Overlet has an intense and unique hatred for the Jedi Order in particular, and it is very disturbing to see.”
“What conclusions have you drawn so far Tion?” Brose asked.
“I would rather not speculate Chancellor, but it would appear from information my people have gathered so far, there is far more to Senator Overlet than we know.” Tion replied. “What we have learned so far is incomplete, but by itself very suspicious. We have discovered that the good Senator did not exist prior to Master Revan returning from the Outer Rim thirty-five years ago. We were able to trace documents and data back to a Jamus Overlet, born on Metellos, however after a careful search it was discovered that Jamus Overlet died at the age of seven.” Tion looked at Revan. “This lends quite a bit of support to your theory General Panlie.”
Revan nodded. “That it does.”
“What theory is that Revan?” Canderous asked the question in everyone’s eyes.
Revan leaned forward. “A few hours after leaving Kashyyyk, it was discovered that Lanni Overlet, the good Senator’s daughter, is a clone.” He stated. “She has a small tattoo on her body that indicates she is part of a project I started during the first months of the Jedi Civil War. This project was commanded by a man call Banak Derred.”
“Derred!” Carth exclaimed, obviously knowing whom Revan was speaking of. “I thought he was killed right after the battle of the Star Forge.”
“Who is this man?” Bastila asked.
“He was one of the Republic commanders that followed me after the Mandalorian War ended. I placed him in charge of a cloning project we began. The clones were being bred to hunt Jedi.” Revan explained, his words coming out with no small amount of shame. “Just before Bastila led the mission that changed everything, I had ordered Derred placed in charge of the project and everything moved to the Star Forge. Apparently after my feigned death, Derred took all the materials pertaining to the clone project and fled. He went into hiding and later married, and it appears he implanted a clone embryo inside his wife. That embryo was Lanni.”