"I'm so glad you are alright!"
As Obi-Wan lightly embraced the senator from Naboo, who was also his former apprentice's love interest, as was evident by the bulge in her stomach, he was a bit apprehensive about speaking to her. Ever since the clones turned on their Jedi generals and the Republic ceased to be, he was worried about what happened to her and how it would affect Anakin, who was turning into a loose cannon by the last dregs of the war although he was always a loose cannon for as long as Obi-Wan knew him. Fortunately, Padme was alright, but how would he tell her what became of her lover? Obi-Wan had suspected their relationship since the beginning of the Clone Wars on Geonosis, but he never imagined it would blossom into a marriage and a pregnancy. It was a wonder how the two managed to keep a veil over the eyes of both the Jedi Council and the Republic Senate yet Obi-Wan had suspected, but refused to report his suspicions. Perhaps the relationship his former Padawan had reminded him of the one he had with the late Duchess of Mandalore.
"I'm also relieved to see that you were able to escape from Coruscant. I take it I have Senator Organa to thank for that."
Padme just smiled. "Once the Emperor declared the end of an era, Bail and I knew we had to escape Coruscant and the Emperor's grasp as we didn't want a part of what he had planned for the galaxy. Who knew what he intended, but I knew it wasn't anything positive. I can't believe he played us like puppets. This whole war between us and the Separatists was a farce so he could take over. So many have died, including many of my friends, but now that's behind us, I want to know one thing. Is it true that Ani died in what the media is calling the Jedi Purge?"
Master Kenobi exchanged glances with Senator Organa as the Jedi, clones, and the Alderaanian/ Naboo personnel that staffed the Envoy were engaged in separate conversations. He turned back to Padme.
"I'm afraid it is true. I only wish I was there to save him. Once our clones turned against us, we didn't stand a chance. If only we weren't blind to the light, we may have been able to foresee this and take preventive measures."
As the senator buried her face in the Jedi's chest, he couldn't understand why he had lied to her, but a white lie was better than her actually hearing the shattering truth. It would severely strain a 7 months pregnant woman to hear how her husband turned to the darkness and butchered his fellow Jedi, including the younglings. Making eye contact with Ahoska, who stood with her arms crossed by the window, he felt guilt rush in as he knew how dear his Padawan was to these two ladies, which might have discouraged him from telling the truth. Perhaps another time would suffice to explain what really happened.
"Alright, we know our course of action." Senator Organa turned to his crew. "Why haven't you set course to Mandalore. Let's jump to lightspeed already."
"At once, sir!"
---
"Red-5! This is Admiral Barton Koburn of the Wolfpack Fleet. Yularen sent me to reinforce you in your hunt for the Jedi. How do you plan to proceed, General Skywalker? I can have my forces open fire at the vessel or we can board it. How should we approach this?"
Startled out of his reverie, the newly christened Darth Vader glanced at the looming capital ships of the newly-formed Empire before responding.
"You will not fire on the corvette any cost! I will personally cut you all down! Is that understood?"
After a brief pause, the voice of the Wolfpack Fleet Admiral was heard. "Roger. Would you like us to make contact with the vessel and ask them to hand over the Jedi? If they refuse, then we can either use a tractor beam or send in a boarding party.
"I approve."
Admiral Koburn responded in the affirmative. "I will keep you informed of the developments."
---
"Sir, an Imperial ship is trying to make contact with us!"
From where he was standing inside the meeting room, Bail Organa turned to make contact with the messenger.
"Patch them over."
"At once, sir."
Karabast! Just when we were about to make the jump. How did they find us so quickly? No matter, I need to play this coolly for the sake of our passengers.
After a few tense seconds with the crew, Jedi, and clones glancing at him, the politician heard a voice that fit the bill of an older high-ranking military man.
"Consular-class cruiser, this is Admiral Barton Koburn of the Imperial Navy's Wolfpack Fleet. We require you to report your cargo as well as your passengers as we have cause to believe you are ferrying known enemies of the Empire aboard your ship. Moreover, you will need to comply as you may be boarded and subject to search for any contraband. Failure to observe this order could result in your vessel being deemed hostile and you will be subject to our cannon fire."
Bail gritted his teeth as he let the reality sink in. It seemed that their luck had run out and someone, possibly an Imperial, most likely spotted them and reported the Envoy to the Imperial Navy. It would be a matter of time until they were boarded by a contingent of Imperials and the senator didn't want to risk confrontation. The Envoy may be armed, but it was light compared to the turbolasers and cannons of a Venator or Acclimator. That was not counting the Arc-170s or the other assortment of starfighters they carried. Outrunning the Imperial ships wouldn't be a feasible option either so Bail Organa attempted what he was naturally talented at, playing it smooth.
"Wolfpack Fleet, this is the Envoy. I am Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan. I am on a diplomatic mission for the Emperor. I need to be in Naboo by half a turn and I will have to inform him of this unwarranted stop. Will you be willing to risk that?"
Senator Organa glanced up to see the concerned, tense, or panic-stricken faces of the room's occupants as they listened to the exchange. Well, at least those that didn't don helmets like the clones. Outside the port window, he saw the dagger shape of the Venator-class Star Destroyer while the two Acclimators hovered in the space beyond the clouds of the starboard window. Before he could process what was going on, Admiral Koburn's voice came back online.
"I can live with that. After all,I am sure the Emperor himself understands the need to tighten security around the Galactic space lanes. The risk of Jedi, Separatists, pirates, smugglers, and other scum of the cosmos is real. "
"I am sure you have your reasons, but I can assure you that there are no Jedi or Separatist personnel on board my ship. My crew can attest to that."
"I need to hear it from them in order to confirm that there is no contraband or illegal entities aboard. You wouldn't mind a holographic meeting, no?"
Nodding at the Jedi and their clones to leave the room, Senator Organa projected the glowing blue form of the former Republic Admiral, who reminded him of an angry toad, in order to negotiate. Koburn's narrow gray eyes, not unlike a Thunian wart-hornet's, surveyed the room as dozens of the Envoy's Alderaanian crew spilled into the room. Then, he faced the politician and began to issue demands.
"So far, I don't see any indication that you are breaking any intergalactic security codes, but I won't rest yet until I can have your ship thoroughly searched. After that, you'll be cleared to continue on your way, senator.
Bail felt some tension grip his chest, but willed himself not to display it to the former Republic admiral. After all, showing hesitancy or fear was dangerous in this situation.
"I have no objection of your proposal. You may board and inspect my ship."
A sinister smile formed on the wrinkled face of the green-clad admiral. "Wise choice. If you have nothing you are concealing from me, then you should have nothing to worry about. I am sending a detachment from my armada for the job so I advise you to open your hangar bay for the shuttles. I don't think it will come down to it, but if you force my hand, I won't have any qualms about using my tractor beam. Do I make myself understood to you?"
"Of course, I will comply with any task force you send me. I don't intend to incite friction between the Senate and the Navy."
"Very well, expect a force of at least two shuttles. While they will be escorted by starfighters, only the inspection force will land onto your cruiser. I hope to resolve this matter swiftly as we both have bigger fish to fry."
Once the hologram flashed out of existence, the politician cursed under his breath. It seems that they were stuck in the web of the Imperials and had no way to break free of their iron grip. Not even Bail's smooth talking could dissuade Admiral Koburn from dispatching a boarding party. However, he needed to keep a level head to keep the Jedi's confidence in his abilities to preserve what remained of their Order and the Republic. After all, the goal in collecting surviving Jedi and clones who were deprived of their inhibitor chips was to potentially restore the Republic. Though plagued with corruption, the Republic's government was much less oppressive than the Empire's. He had based this conclusion on the reports of atrocities committed by the Imperials, some still incoming.
"Oh drat! We are about to be boarded! What will happen to me? Nothing good, I imagine. It would be my luck to me melted down and scrapped."
Hearing C-3PO's anxious diatribe, the beleaguered senator turned around to see the golden protocol droid totter inside inside the room as Padme, Obi-Wan, and several of the Alderaanian/Naboo guards tailed after him in order to restrain him. As the guards succeeded, the Jedi and the Naboo senator turned to Bail.
"I take it that the negotiations were short?"
"You could say that." Senator Organa glanced at his feet. "In about a couple of minutes, an Imperial boarding party will land. I can't refuse them unless they take us in their tractor beam. "
Bail's Jedi friend stroked his beard, thoughtfully. "You've got a point there. Even if we let ourselves be captured, we will be outnumbered and possibly outgunned by the Imperial Navy."
"How do I get us out of this sticky situation?" Senator Organa wondered aloud.
"Pardon our intrusion, but perhaps we can lend a helping hand."
The senator turned to the other door to see two of the Bad Batch clones, Echo and Tech, standing behind the eccentric Jedi Kazdan Paratus. He had no idea how long the three were hovering there or how much of the exchange with the admiral they had overheard, but that didn't matter now. If they could get them out of their present predicament, that would be very valuable.
"Very well, I am most curious to see what you have planned. "
Echo and Tech stepped forward, holding their unique helmets in their arms.
"I can log Echo into the ship's console and from there he can do his thing."
Master Paratus nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can oversee the hack and provide guidance where needed."
Bail Organa narrowed his eyes. "I am not sure what you intend to do, but I will trust you to get the Imperial capital ship off our flank. "
Obi-Wan rested a hand on the Alderaanian's shoulder. "Rest assured, I seen what Clone Force 99 is capable of during the Battle of Anaxes. You will be surprised at what they are capable off. I can vouch for them."
Bail Organa sighed before turning to mutated clones. "If Master Kenobi is confident in your abilities, then I trust his judgment. "
"Right on, sir!" Tech saluted him before heading to the console. Two technicians moved aside to let the clones and the Aleena Jedi through. "We've tried this once against Kegruc and his Seppie forces in the Battle of Telos. If it works there, the results shall be equivalent here."
---
"Sir, the shuttles have left the bay. How do we proceed?"
From where he was standing behind the two technicians who were in charge of reorienting the Wolfpack's lead Venator, Admiral Barton Koburn turned to see the clone officer who had came to announce that the interception of the Corellian-manufactured vessel was underway.
"For now, just be on guard and watch out for any sudden or erratic behavior from the Consular. If you see or suspect any foul play, activate the tractor beam. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir!"
The officer saluted and headed off as the admiral turned his attention to the screen as the Star Destroyer drifted through the gray wispy clouds. The red dot representing the target ship was sandwiched by the green ones of the three capital ships. Outside, the bird-shaped shuttles made their way toward the brick-colored dot in the distance while several fighter escorts surrounded them on all sides. Admiral Koburn felt that the escorts were unnecessary as they didn't have any chance of being attacked or fired upon as the diplomatic vessel was outgunned and outnumbered by the fledgeling Imperial Navy, but his career in the Navy taught him to be extra careful.
I hope we can resolve this quickly. I'm needed back with Colonel Yularen's fleet back at the Lark Nebula. Perhaps I can prove General Skywalker wrong and return to where my skills are needed the most.
Suddenly, the alarms chirped as several yellow dots materialized and began to bear down on the shuttles.
"Sir! We have multiple unidentified spacecrafts bearing down at us from all sides. How should we respond?"
Cursing, the middle-aged non-clone admiral leaned over the console, his eyes scrutinizing the screen. His eyes grew wide as he recognized the claw-shaped dots.
"Crew, we have a red-10 alert! Recall the shuttles at once and redeploy the fighters to face the intruders. Wolf-2 and Wolf-3, ditch your objective and focus your efforts on the attacking craft! The Blazing Claw pirates are mobbing us!"
Admiral Barton Koburn recalled having several run-ins with these punks when he was serving the Republic. They were an unpleasant bunch, to say the least. The sooner they neutralized these outlaws, the better.
"Red-5, why aren't you complying?"
Admiral Koburn noticed that Skywaker himself had failed to partake in the counterattack against the pirates.
"Admiral, I don't understand where you see these pirates. Between our position and the Nebulon clouds, there is just open space. The only other ship that 's visible is the Envoy."
"Red-5, I suggest you take a look at your screen," the Imperial officer countered. "From there, you can-"
"Sir, we have no visual on the enemy although our radars display them as right on top of us. Can you clarify your orders?"
Hearing the clone pilot's report, Koburn frowned in confusion as he glanced at the radar before peering outside. The clone and Skywalker were correct in their assessment. Where were the pirate ships? He felt a cold feeling settle into his chest. No, they couldn't have...
"You lot are misguided. I will take on the vessel myself. I'll disable it if I have to."
---
"Artoo, activate the thrusters at full power. We may drain half our power, but we need to prevent this ship-"
As his Actis fighter was quickly closing the distance between him and the Envoy, there was a flash as the Consular-class cruiser made the jump to hyperspace once it exited the cloudy domain. Glancing in horror at the scene before him once he pulled his fighter to a stop, Anakin let out a shout of fury and frustration as he pounded the counter of his ship with his fist.
No! I let them slip through my fingers! I shouldn't have relied on old fools like Koburn and Yularen with their bureaucratic nonsense! I should have taken it myself! Now they all got away!
"It's too late. They pulled a fast one on us, but we will still see action on Sy Mirth. We will end the Separatists in one swift attack. Come, Red-5. Grievous and his fleet require our attention."
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---
"Boo-yah! We did it! They fell for the ruse! It's an old trick in the book yet it's still efficient."
Kazdan pumped his fist into the air as the ship made the jump to lightspeed. Their next destination, agreed to be Mandalore, was where the next perilous mission was to be undertaken. If what Ahsoka and the Nulls said proved to be right, then they'd collect some valuable assets. For now, Bail Organa felt the pressure in his chest leave as they were able to evade their Imperial pursuers.
"We sure averted a disaster there, haven't we?"
Bail smiled weakly as he conversed with Obi-Wan. "We sure have, but we will be up against many turbulent hotspots soon enough."
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