Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen…

[Corvus Raaf]

Straight ahead was the tiny white dwarf sun of the Chazwa system, not all that distinguishable from the bright background stars around it. Nearby and a little to one side, a mostly dark circle edged by a slender lighted crescent, was the planet Chazwa itself. Scattered around it in the darkness of space the exhaust glows of perhaps fifty ships could be seen, both incoming and outgoing. Most were freighters and bulk cruisers, taking advantage of Chazwa's central trans-shipment location.

Corvus was piloting a stealth fighter — carrying one passenger/co-pilot and a droid. The astro-droid wasn’t just there for the ride — despite the fact that Corvus was piloting manually. If they went an hour without checking in, the droid was to transmit data to the Jedi Order’s temple. Because nobody knew they were there. She confirmed with her co-traveller [member="Faith Balor-Organa"] that they would be landing soon — at a spot away from civilisation — and walking the final few kilometres.

Corvus wasn’t the Grand Master of the Order for nothing. She hadn’t visited the Fallanassi or the Disciples of Dawn for no reason. She was not as asset of the Jedi Shadows without merit.

So they covered the distance to the former Senate building under the cover of White Current. Invisible to the naked eye. Or any electronic surveillance devices. Inaudible to those they passed.

Finally they reached their intended destination. It took patience and time, but they breached each and every security measure through the use of the Force — and when confronted with Force detection techniques, Corvus used Art of the Small. Shrinking her Force presence to a microscopic size. It helped that she knew the layout of the building, as did her travelling companion.

So finally they reached the office of [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]. Corvus’ friend. They’d sat not half a kilometre from here a short while ago — and the Prime Minister asked her to trust her. Asked her to believe in her. And Corvus did both.

Naïve? Invariably. But she was here none the less. To end this madness. It had to be done and between them, they had to either make Gen see sense or relieve her of her duties. There was no other option.

The fat lady was about to warble the last few notes.

 

[Faith Organa]

Faith was very quiet this was not a duty that she was looking forward to. Faith did not know the Grandmaster [member="Corvus Raaf"] and this was not a trip to actually try and build bonds, but even as they made the turn to land Faith could not help but wonder if there had been other signs that she should have been aware of.

This place it was supposed to be the safe house of the Republic. A government that made decisions that were in the best interests of the galaxy, that protected the people, and promoted a harmony within its borders.

Faith looked over again to Corvus as they walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts of could have, should have, would have but that was yesterday.

"I didn't see this coming" Faith finally whispered, "I feel like I should have" Faith was trying to ease her own conscience. After this Faith wanted a day or two off and a barrel of ale to drink. She hoped it would numb how she felt.

The doors to @Genevieve Lasedri office stood before them. Yes, the fat lady was preparing to sing.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus turned her head to face the Senator at her side. Despite their conversation being inaudible to anyone else, Corvus whispered too.

“We can all take some blame there…but as I tell my Younglings and Padawans, history is a rear-view mirror. It’s what we do now that counts.”

“If I’m honest, I have a limited understanding of what precisely has been done. I’m a Jedi — not a politician. I serve the Republic. I do not sit in judgement as a rule. But the Senate have asked us to step in and we have. I am here.”

“My plan is — as ever — simple. To arrest the former Prime Minister and hand her over to the authorities. To insist she ensures the Clone Army stands down. And to allow you to untangle whatever mess she’s created as expediently as possible.”

“And the Jedi will be on hand to help restore order. To show the people of the Republic that law and order has returned to the streets. And help you show the rest of the galaxy that we are back on stable footing. Which might take some time from what I’ve heard.”

“What’s been done cannot be undone. My advice…if you’ll hear it…is not to try. But to look forward and make things right for tomorrow, not attempt to repair yesterday. But then I’m just a Jedi, not a Senator.”

She flashed Faith a smile.

“Did anyone tell you she is gifted with the Force?”

And then she entered Gen’s room and dropped the White Current.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"] - [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

It was just like the Sith to defy all logic, common sense, economy, and even physics in their endless assault against the now-battered Galactic Republic. And so it should hardly have been a surprise that they attacked the one world that would be so fortified with an already-mobilized garrison and immense protective fleet in orbit and still somehow cause trouble. But what can you do? Roll with the punches, they say. And so Geneviève was abiding in her office for the time being, a platoon's worth of elite clone troopers guarding the halls and the entrance to her office just in case someone absent-mindedly attempted a strike on the center of government. What they had not been prepared for, however, was the silent and literally invisible infiltration of the building by a certain Jedi and a familiar politician.

There was little to do now as she awaited the storm to abate. The turncoat Prime Minister had emptied half a bottle of wine and was slowly bending her bow across the strings of an old violin she had hardly played in over a decade, its cords finally tuned and twitched into action with a timidly somber, wispy melody.

What had she done, truly? Gen had told herself it was for the greater good, taking over and steering the Republic by her strong and steady hand. The Senate was like a disease as of late, bickering instead of admitting that action was needed to be taken; debating over morality when there was a Sith empire just outside the door waiting to slaughter all of them. Decisions had to be made, and Gen had made a decision. Follow your heart.

Is my heart evil?

Her fingers were steady but their movements unrefined, years of neglect in her practice slowing her tune and sometimes breaking up the continuity. It was strange how much she had hated this instrument in her youth, but now she wanted nothing but to be intimate with it. There was something she had lost, and all practical methods of searching for it had evaded her. And so she resorted to picking up the old violin and tried to locate her soul through the notes... somewhere. My Republic.

And I am alone.

A powerful flash of light from the wartorn sky slashed through the blinds of her window, and the melody being forged from Geneviève's hands abruptly stopped with a familiar and painful screech. She made steps towards the glass to peer outside before her mind began blaring alarms, alerting her to activity just outside her door. Had they really come? She rushed to pick up her Scrubber and instinctively aimed it at the parting door, pumping the lower element and firing a violent outpouring of scattershot with a thunderous bang.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"], [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Faith Organa]

Faith now stood very still, "The force, no. The plan I endorse." Even if she did it with a heavy heart. Had [member="Geneviève Lasedri"] ever revealed that to her, that she was sensitive to the force? She wouldn't, for that would make her ineligible to be the Prime Minister and now it made sense why she waited to prosecute [member="Lady Kay"]. More lies, more deception. Faith shook her head. It was slowly becoming evident that Faith did not know the woman quite so well.

She looked at the familiar double doors that led into the inner sanctum of the Prime Minister of the Republic, no not Prime Minister she was now a Traitor to the Republic along the same lines as Palpatine and his followers.

As Faith stepped towards the door the door was shattered by a blast from a scrubber. Faith had little time to turn she dropped and rolled hit multiple times in the arms legs, and torso. The layers that she wore gave her little to no protection, she laid there on the floor looking up, "My Tia is going to kill me, and my mother is going to be so upset. " Faith then laughed, could she move.

She tried her arms, she could move but each movement brought on waves of pain, as her wounds oozed blood. She looked over " Master Jedi [member="Corvus Raaf"] , are you ok?"

Gen had fired on them, she was not going to give up easily even though it was evident she had already lost.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Perceiving the threat through the Force, Corvus reacted immediately. Her hand rose sharply, palm facing toward the source of the scattershot. The gesture was merely the physical manifestation of something infinitely more powerful and entirely unseen. It intercepted the discharge from the weapon, freezing it in midair as effectively as any solid barrier.

A few were outside her zone of focus and shattered the door they were standing beside. Some shards of door hit Faith, and she hit the floor. Corvus was unsure how badly injured she was. Sometimes, those unknown to battle, reacted in shock to any injury. Faith’s injures seemed superficial, but would no doubt cause a lot of pain.

“I am well, Minister, and we’ll tend to your injuries presently.” The fact that in front of them, scattershot was oscillating in the air was clearly of no interest to her. She helped Faith to her feet and as she held on to the Minster’s arm, the Force flowed between them. A mild burst of Force Heal that would, at least, numb the pain.

But her eyes were on the woman holding the gun and she spoke, her voice level and calm. “Please, put that down before anyone else gets hurt. And you know me, I never ask twice.”

“And then you can explain to Faith what you’re doing and how best to unravel it.”

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"] - [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Geneviève's first instinct was to stand down and find some way to administer help to her wounded political comrade, a sour feeling of guilt trickling down her soul as she looked upon Faith. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I just did what I had to, Faith. I'm not letting my Republic die. We've been dying for too long." And shooting people you admire is not dying? But it had to be done. For the greater good.

The rogue Prime Minister inched towards her desktop where she might press the silent alarm to call her loyal clone guardsmen to the room, eyes still focused on the two old friends before her. "Get out of my office, Corvus." Hesitant as she was, her words still came out gruff and threatening. She did not lower her gun, aim wavering but maintained in the direction of the Jedi and the senator as she flicked the blaster segment's toggle to rapid-burst. She would withhold her fire, but the Grandmaster's warning would not be heeded. "Figures you'd come. You didn't trust me after all."

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

The pain was near the level the time she broke her arm when she fell out of the tree she nodded to the Grand Master, "It's all good" Faith slowly got up clenching her teeth as she did so. She reached for the Grand Master's arm if only to steady herself for a moment, taking a breath she turned and looked past the splintered wood to the woman who was suppose to be a friend. It was in her eyes, Gen's eyes that same sadness and now what hint was there, was it clarity, or insanity.

"Gen what you've done is not a Republic, you've made the Empire all over again and no one, and I truly mean NO ONE would allow that. You had to know." Faith took a few steps loosening her hand from Corvus, her dark eyes swept the room where Gen stood. "I know you were tired, I know you were frustrated, but this was bad call now everything that you did that was good, that the Republic was proud of, now it's nothing it will be a foot note somewhere and the only thing you'll be noted for was an sad attempt to overthrow the Republic, you're the Villain now a modern day Palpatine."

Faith slowly pushed the remaining portion of the door open. Faith heard the weapon switch over, "Do you really want to kill us? After everything, that's your answer" Faith stopped she could feel the warmth of her own blood trickling down her arm.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was not here to talk. Or to necessarily fight. She was here to serve. To serve the Republic. And from her and the Jedi Order's viewpoint, that meant she was here to support Faith Balor-Organa.

She was in no mood to banter with anyone, let alone her friend - for she still saw Gen in that way - she was here on duty. But direct questions deserved direct answers. "I am here, Geneviève, at the request of Senator Balor-Organa. I shall leave if and when she requests it." It was not typical of her to address her friend by name - even in informal settings. It was a marker of their situation.

"And you know me well enough to understand that I trust the Force. The first advice I received from a Master when I arrived at Ossus? It sticks in my mind and is never more relevant than now. 'Trust in the Force' he said. 'People will let you down. Governments will let you down. Even you will let you down. But the Force will never let you down.'" Her face remained impassive. The words said it all. A prophecy? No. Just facts. Plain and simple facts.

And she fell silent once more. Vigilant but understanding of her role. This was a time for talking. For Faith and Geneviève to accept the future and deal with the immediate past. She would be entirely comfortable to have no further part to play in the proceedings. Naïve? Perhaps. But like the good Jedi she was, she planned for success. And then she planned for failure.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"] - [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

"It's not an empire," Gen seethed, her brown eyes narrowing to beads with each step Faith made. Her gun remained at the ready, but the Chandrilan refrained from triggering the weapon or the alarm for now, even as she was wary of whatever moves Corvus might attempt. "It's not a frakking empire. It's a republic--the people's Republic." Were they too blind to understand? She was setting the people free. Democracy had failed, but Taveism; Selectivism--that would save them. Solidarity.

The Senate had failed. "You know damn well that it was just you and I who cared. We may be different, but you always had the Republic's best interests in mind." Geneviève had not promoted the politician from Alderaan for nothing, noticing her dedication and uprightness in every attendance of the Senate's sessions. To have Faith oppose her was nothing new, yet there was ever respect in Lasderi's eyes for the young Minister. Surely she would see reason with a little time. "The Senate went to hell long ago. This war won't end unless someone takes control. You know I'm right."

The Jedi Master's use of her real name incited tremors within her limbs, the rarity of such an occasion not lost on her. Besides, everyone called her Gen; few used the full Geneviève. It had the impact of a mother speaking with disapproval on her daughter, and Geneviève could not connect immediately with a reaction as her spirit fluctuated between anger and shame. She decided finally to spit on Corvus' words, for she could not directly attack her friend. For someone known to be heedless and pragmatic, it was confounding how both of the women approaching her had somehow managed to emotionally trap her. Corvus seemed to have a knack for that. "The Force hasn't done crap to help us, Raaf. Look where we are. And if I'm in the wrong, then your Force should have known.

"I don't want to kill you, Faith," Geneviève continued, returning to the senator. "And I don't want to kill Corvus. You can help me. I trust you to help me make it all work." If they wanted this sentimental game, then she would play it right back. She had to. No one needed to die. "Or you should leave while you still can."

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"], [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Faith Organa]

What would D say to such tactics, if you're going to kill someone kill them don't talk about it. Faith's gaze never left Gen's face there were traces of seriousness there, treading carefully.

"Gen I think you should lay down your weapon" She knew from watching her family that [member="Corvus Raaf"] could disarm Gen with a flick of her wrist and this would be over with well it would be over when they got the cuffs on her.

"I'm not going to help you destroy the Republic any further. Did you see what the Sith did to the Capital?" Faith kept to the left of Gen's muzzle, while the shot would get her no matter what if she pulled the trigger. Faith sighed, "Gen I'm here to arrest you, you do realize this right? You realize you've committed crimes, that you are now a threat to the Republic."

Faith did not make any large movements but she was closer now to Gen.

"I'm not leaving, but I"m not helping either. My intention is to place you under arrest." Faith nodded matter of factly, "you know me, I'm not here to sweet talk you. Give up." There was this terrible feeling in the back of her mind that said Gen wouldn't give up, that pushing her was wrong, but she wasn't here to play patty cake she was here to perform a duty.

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus listened to her friend, but held her tongue. She was truly here to assist Faith, not debate the will of the Force with anyone.

So she nodded to confirm she heard she’d been spoken to but immediately turned her attention to Faith.

She approved of the tactics. They hadn't come into strong-arm the situation. If the former PM would see the sense in their approach and stand down? Then the outcome would be ideal. Corvus truly wanted nobody to get hurt.

She used the Force to sense her immediate surroundings. Nobody would sneak up on them any time soon. And if they did, she would cloak them in the White Current, to continue their conversation in private.

Her primary focus? To keep Faith alive. Corvus was close enough that if another shot was fired, the barrier in her necklace would automatically activate and cover the two of them against the firearm currently pointed in their direction.

But soothing words only got you so far and finally Faith made it clear why they were here. Corvus’ attention was on Geneviève’s response.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"] - [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

"What crimes have I committed, Faith? Do you not see that you are being manipulated by the cowards and the fascists?" Truly, the only unlawful thing she had done was arranged for the untried executions of what was left of the Imperial Remnant. She stood blameless and potent in her red coat. "I have only done what the Senate was never brave enough to do and the people too blinded by its stagnation to understand. I have birthed an army of and for the entire population.

"We will succeed. The Sith chose their target poorly." To attack the intensely fortified capital world that most assuredly had its entire local fleets and armies--and some which did not even belong locally except as insurance to enforce her control--was misguided to say the least. How the One Sith had been victorious for so long with minds like these was inconceivable.

Just as the Sith had erred, her friends may have likewise. Faith would not stop creeping towards her, and Corvus' silence was telling. "Stand back, dammit!" Geneviève hissed, removing her steadying hand from the compound firearm and raising it in the direction of Corvus. She felt for the throat, then the larynx of the Jedi Master with invisible digits, manipulating what little of the 'Force' she was sure of. "This is your last warning." Her voice wavered, resentment for her narrowing options engraved in her hardened tone. Her trigger finger tightened, a twitch only needed to spit out deadly red needles. It would not be her sin should there be blood. They had backed her into a corner.

"Please leave."

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

"Can't be done, and if you think about it, rationally, you would know that" Faith stood her ground now, this stare off would not accomplish anything. "Killing the last of the Imperial Remnant soldiers without trial, is just murder."

Faith was going to tempt fate, and the skill of [member="Corvus Raaf"] she took another step towards Gen. "Do you really think I'm manipulated? You should know me better than that, I am of my own mind." When Gen turned her attention briefly on Corvus Faith looked into the eyes of [member="Geneviève Lasedri"] was she wavering, or becoming more convinced, either way with all the effort and strength she could muster she ran full force as the desk shoving it back towards Gen.

She knew not what this foolishness would bring to her but she was not going to have a Corellian Standoff looking down the barrel of the rifle and she would not allow the Jedi to be harmed, even though she was likely more able to take care of herself than Faith was.

Faith had little patience. It had dissolved the day she found Gen in her office drunk.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus sensed the use of the Force. She was a Jedi Master and had used it for over two decades under the finest teachers the galaxy had to offer.

Her necklace would cut in if needed, but Corvus was able to deal with the challenge all by herself. At least for now.

So she erected a simple Force Barrier. Except it wasn’t over herself, or even Faith. It was over Gen. Any attack she made would not be able to penetrate the defence. Shots fired would ricochet back on the perpetrator. And Gen’s knowledge of the Force would allow her to sense the barrier and know what it meant.

But still no words spilled from Corvus’ lips. That was what Faith was here for. To talk reason with Gen. For Corvus believed it had to be possible to end this peacefully.

The desk took the brunt of the barrier, as Faith pushed it at Gen, but it bounced off the invisible wall that Corvus had put around the former Prime Minister. She hadn’t intended to protect the woman, but it was a fortuitous result. Nobody needed to get hurt, for then all consciences would remain clear.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"] - [member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

"Traitors," she accused, just as Faith rammed the desk towards her with a surprising amount of strength. Geneviève's gun discharged, three deadly bolts shooting off wildly within the blink of an eye as her finger coiled in reflex. They had forced her hand, and it was not exactly a pleasant one.

Even more shocking, however, was the fact that the desk, despite the unanticipated might with which it had been propelled, had been stopped dead in a physics-defying display. It was only explainable by that mysterious Force, yet rationally incomprehensible. If this was to be an arrest, Corvus was doing a rather poor job at enabling the end goal to be achieved. She would presently learn of her bad judgment.

Lasedri whirled about and grabbed the senator by the shoulder, simultaneously unleashing one of a plethora of blades sheathed within her red coat and pressing it against Faith's neck and positioning it at the approximate location of the right carotid artery. This was no time for fun and games. Gen had never been one to let herself get defeated. She was going to control the situation one way or another; Force or no Force; friends or none. "Back away, Corvus," the renegade leader husked. "I wouldn't let her die. But you might."

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"], [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

The benefit of hindsight. Corvus was never a fan.

No sooner had the desk rebounded off the Barrier she had constructed than she dropped it. A big mistake. A very big mistake.

She saw Geneviève grab Faith and knew there was nothing she could do without risking the life of the Senator. She was, after all a Jedi - and so had but one course of action. To preserve life.

So she backed away. It was up to Faith to resolve the situation now, as Corvus left the room.

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] - [member="Faith Balor-Organa"]

 

[Faith Organa]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]. [member="Corvus Raaf"]

"Really?"

Faith felt the weapon at her throat, "this is fun." She squeaked. She was disappointed that the master Jedi had not taken advantage of the move to disarm Gen so that she could captured [member="Geneviève Lasedri"] .

"You're a fool " She watched [member="Corvus Raaf"] leave the room. "Let me go and give up before assassins begin taking contracts, and mercenaries over take all of Chazwa."

This was going no where, negotiating with someone who saw no evil in what they did.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Gen watched as Corvus simply walked away, bewildered at how apathetic it felt. The Jedi had hardly spoken a word to her old friend, and she was even less convincing in her role of protecting the heroic senator. The whole series of events was hardly convincing that the Prime Minister had done anything wrong at all. If this utterly helpless and forfeiting pacifism-at-all-costs was what the Jedi believed in, then perhaps they were not the angels of light they had been made out to be all these centuries. The Grandmaster would rather risk the possibility of Faith dying than harm the woman with the knife?

As morally frustrating as the actions of the Raaf were, the reality still could not be ignored that Gen had threatened the life of someone she considered more a friend than most could ever earn in her sight. If she was willing to go so far as to press a blade to a comrade's neck, what worse could she have done surrounding this circumstance? Guilt dripping down to her shaky hands, Geneviève withdrew the weapon from its potentially lethal location. "Faith..."

Still having no desire to allow herself to be taken in, Gen led her captive over to her office's generously-sized window and looked out towards the flashes of artificial lightning in the sky that was the battle raging high above. The Sith were fools. But who was to say Faith was wrong? "Faith--please, listen." She grabbed the younger woman by the shoulders and glanced towards the door to see if Corvus might return, then brought her eyes to look directly into the senator's.

"Do you believe me? I never meant to hurt you." Not that it would be so obvious after she had just taken her hostage. But she was at least being honest. "I just want everything right. It will be right if you help me. We can win; restore; reform the Republic to something better than it has been. Democracy always tires.

"Faith, I value you like a sister," Gen confessed, looking down at the bloodstains on her clothes. Their disagreements had been many and had quite dramatically culminated in this moment, but even still, Geneviève Lasedri saw a person she could admire in her political associate-turned-enemy. It pained her, even now, to see how she could be so personally opposed. To someone so estranged from her own home, Faith was as close to family as she could fathom. "Please believe me. I just want someone to believe me."

Underneath all the warhawking, scheming, obstinacy, and vulgar nonchalance that formed her callous shell was a very scared and lonely young girl.

[member="Faith Balor-Organa"], [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Faith Organa]

"I value you too Gen, but you know when I was growing up there was something I did to my sisters, that maybe it's time you learn about" Faith reached over and grabbed Gen's shoulders.

"I believe you think you're doing the right thing, so take all of this as someone who wants you to do good things" And then with all her energy Faith head butted Gen, it ran her bells, and should ring Gen's.

All the while growing up Faith was a fighter, they had to learn to fight for the days when guards weren't around, and Faith had truly gotten sick of trying to be nice, "I've wanted to kick your arse for a long time now..."

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]