Attack on the Senate Building

"That's right, Master Tachi. This will be a day the Senate will long remember. A bloodbath."

- Granta Omega to Siri Tachi.

In 24 BBY the galactic criminals Granta Omega and Jenna Zan Arbor led an attack on the Senate Building on Coruscant. The attack saw 21 Senators, as well as 24 aides and guards, killed.

Overview
"I have been tracking Granta Omega and Jenna Zan Arbor, both of whom are familiar to you. What if they were behind this latest scheme? What if it is merely a smokescreen for their real plan?"

- Obi-Wan Kenobi to Senatorial aide Tyro Caladian.

In 24 BBY, Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Siri Tachi with their Padawan apprentices Anakin Skywalker and Ferus Olin, respectively, embarked from the Mid-Rim planet Romin, near the Perlemian Trade Route, in pursuit of Jedi arch-enemy Granta Omega and mad scientist Jenna Zan Arbor. Zan Arbor had, along with deposed Romin dictator Roy Teda, escaped from an uprising of the Romin people aboard a star yacht navigated by con-artist Roper Slam and his gang. The Jedi tracked the criminals to the Mid-Rim planet of Falleen, near the Corellian Run, where they hoped to find and apprehend Granta Omega, with whom Zan Arbor and Teda were rendezvousing, for they'd discovered that the malicious trio were plotting a major operation against the Republic.

Believing themselves to be on the brink of finding Omega within his secret drug-manufacturing and testing facility on the outskirts of Falleen's capital city, the Jedi teams were unexpectedly summoned back to Coruscant by Jedi High Council member Master Mace Windu, who informed them that the Galactic Senate, based on a growing tide of anti-Jedi feeling among its members, was considering withdrawal of its sponsorship of the Jedi Order.

Windu and the Jedi teams met with Chancellor Palpatine, who informed them that leading the charge of the anti-Jedi faction was obscure Nuralee Senator Bog Divinian, husband of Kenobi's friend Astri Oddo. In speaking with Senatorial aide Tyro Caladian (also a longtime friend of the Jedi Knight), Kenobi began to believe that Granta Omega was behind the debate to withdraw Senatorial support of the Jedi and that the Senate argument was in some way connected (although it perhaps served only as a deceptive smokescreen) to the major criminal operation the Jedi knew Omega had been planning with Zan Arbor. It was shortly thereafter that the Jedi found evidence suggesting that Omega and Zan Arbor were indeed planning a major treasury heist of crystalline vertex, to take place at the inaugural ceremony for the All Planets Relief Fund in the Bank of the Core Plaza.

Ultimately, however, the heist—carried out by the Slam gang—served only to divert to the plaza all Senate security personnel from a massive assassination attempt of Omega and Zan Arbor's true target—thousands of Galactic Senators with their top advisors, and Chancellor Palpatine, who was presiding over the full-Senate debate in the Galactic Senate Building on whether to bar the Jedi Order from further action on behalf of the Senate. Indeed, Omega proved to be the mastermind of the debate itself, for it was the result of a petition that originated with Omega's early sponsor, Eeropha Senator Sano Sauro (his power-hungry eyes set now on the Republic Chancery), and brought to fruition by Jedi-shamed Senator Bog Divinian and Jedi-deposed dictator Roy Teda. The conspirators hoped to eliminate both Jedi interference and Palpatine in a single day.

Although the evil plot was ultimately foiled by the Jedi, and Senate support of the Order was not only retained but strengthened, the attack on the Senate Building left 46 individuals dead, and Granta Omega and Jenna Zan Arbor managed, once again, to escape the reach of both the Jedi and Republic justice.

Flight to Falleen
"They aren't all official security droids. As a matter of fact, most of them seem to be private droids. And they're armed." "Omega? ... Looking for us, perhaps." "Just as we are looking for him."

- Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Siri Tachi, and Ferus Olin.

Obi-Wan Kenobi felt as if he'd been chasing an elusive shadow for years. In fact, he had. A shadow in the form of one man—Force Blank Granta Omega. Time after time, he'd found him, fought him, lost him, then found him, only to lose him again. And the Jedi Master had vowed each time that the encounter would be their last. Two Jedi teams had sped from Romin to the Mid-Rim world of Falleen in their pursuit of Omega. The galactic criminal's flight with mad scientist Jenna Zan Arbor and Romin's deposed dictator Roy Teda begged a showdown, which Kenobi felt was near. This arch-enemy who wished to destroy the Jedi Order had to be stopped once and for all. But like the other encounters with Omega, Obi-Wan sensed that it wouldn't come in a manner of his own choosing.

It had been a day since the Jedi had landed on Falleen and, dressed as space travelers, they had continued their tracking of the three criminals through the booming center of commerce and industry that was Falleen Throne, the planet's capital city. Searching the three-tiered city packed with diverse beings, they could not pinpoint Omega's position, nor did they know why he was on Falleen. He seemed one step ahead again. Kenobi was in danger of repeating the scenario: bursting into an empty room, only to see an escaping transport take off. Obi-Wan's Padawan had somehow escaped this kind of haunting defeat, for Anakin Skywalker didn't contemplate the possibility of failure, though he was haunted by things so deep that they couldn't be shared at one time with his Master. But they worked so perfectly together now and shared, often without speaking, their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes Kenobi even believed that Anakin's dark internal shadow had vanished, was gone, that he was finally at ease with his formidable gifts, and that he'd at last conquered his struggle to accept his role as 'the Chosen One'.

Anakin had been able to confront and release many of his fears while on Romin, where he'd been under the influence of Zan Arbor's secret drug, the Zone of Self-Containment. It could make beings feel blissfully, if dangerously, content, allowing them to forget their cares, or any need to take action. Even so, the criminal scientist hadn't yet learned how to transmit the drug to more than a few individuals at a time. Now, Omega, Zan Arbor, and Teda, with the enlisted help of the Slam gang, were poised to execute a major criminal operation in the Core worlds, and the Jedi suspected they would use 'the Zone' to do it. Along with Siri Tachi and her Padawan Ferus Olin, the Jedi were now in the process of investigating the origins of Falleen's thriving businesses and major corporations, hoping to find any ties to Omega, but weapons merchants hid so often behind other companies that the Jedi weren't investing too much in actually tracing who owned what. Even so, they wanted to investigate a new factory—Blackwater Systems, beyond the city outskirts—already marked by a bad reputation among the Falleens because it had been built so quickly and was the worst on the planet for hiding its illegal practices and making bribes to the government to overlook safety violations and keep inspectors away.

Hopping on a cloud bus, they arrived at their destination, exiting at the last available stop, then walking the rest of the way in the bitterly cold wind that howled off the plains from distant mountain ice-sheets. They were in the Yellow District—so named for the constant haze of color that hung in the sky from factory-belched toxins. The Blackwater Factory, windowless and built of black durasteel and stone, was at line's end, more than two kilometers from the last cloud-bus stop. Almost immediately, Master Kenobi felt a surge in the Force: the Jedi were being tracked by surveillance droids. From the facility's main walkway, they darted into a narrow side alley and began to run. They had passed several smaller outbuildings when Skywalker's Force-sensitivity picked up something, and he bade the group follow him through a maze of gravsleds and durasteel bins marked as waste. The entire area was barren, void of life—no living creature would linger in such a place. A lofty stone wall brought the Jedi to a halt; they could hear a crowd of beings on the other side of it.

Activating their cable launchers, the Jedi scaled the wall and saw a female Falleen speaking passionately through an amplifier headset to a crowd of on-lookers. Jumping down, the Jedi moved quickly and covertly through the crowd. Having doubled back in their race to lose the droids, they were now outside the factory's main gate. They learned from the Falleen's interaction with the crowd that no one apparently knew what the wastes produced by the company were, nor how they were disposed of; that unknown experiments were being conducted in the factory's secret wing; that four factory workers, over a period of three months, had died without any reports filed on their deaths; and that the protesters were committed to making the company obey their world's laws, even if their planetary leaders failed to do so: they were prepared to enter the facility by force, if necessary, to obtain their evidence against Blackwater Systems.

At the Falleen's signal, a small explosive charge broke open the company gates and the crowd surged forward with a great shout. The Jedi were caught in the midst, moving forward with them. But suddenly, attack droids flew out of the facility, and the crowd—understanding that these droids were programmed to kill, not stun—retreated in a panic as the Jedi continued forward towards the droids. The Falleen leader didn't retreat but instead broke toward the alleys, pursued by two droids. Obi-Wan and Anakin followed; both understood the need to speak with the Falleen. Anakin moved with astonishing speed and took down the trackers with his lightsaber, leaving them in smoking ruins. Siri and Ferus joined them and they raced to the wall, where they saw the Falleen trying, without success, to scale it. Setting her at ease by telling her that they weren't from Blackwater, Siri reported that the pursuing droids had crashed into each other and were destroyed. The Falleen advised her mysterious would-be rescuers that they not linger, as Blackwater had her vitals and would soon find her—that her back was literally to the wall. Admiring her bravery, they told her the wall wasn't a problem: within moments all four Jedi and the Falleen had scaled it with cable launchers and dropped to the other side.

Introducing herself as Mazara, the Falleen told the Jedi she knew a back way to the cloud-bus stop, which they then took behind the factory, having to scale the locked gates between properties to reach the un-monitored plains. Mazara stated to them her disgust of Blackwater, but also the disgust she felt for her fellow Falleens who, while growing distressed with the situation, were not doing anything about it. Mazara wasn't a natural activist—she'd started out as a journalist before being fired for writing an article on Blackwater—but both sky and land were turning into dumping grounds, and she could not watch happen to her homeworld what she'd seen happen on other worlds. Mazara had targeted Blackwater because they were the worst offenders of all the planetary corporations. Whenever an investigation into a death was done, the results always put the worker at fault. When the Jedi asked Mazara if she knew who the company owners were, she said her investigations had come up empty—Blackwater was murkier than most when it came to the game of companies hiding behind companies.

Mazara, of course, was too shrewd to swallow their explanation about the crashing droids. She knew they weren't factory workers and guessed that they had taken down the droids themselves—that they were, in fact, Jedi. There was word on the streets, moreover, that those who identified Jedi would be paid for it. Now it was Mazara's turn to put the Jedi at ease, by telling them they could trust her. In reply to her query if they'd come to help the protesters' cause, the Jedi said that they'd come to investigate several of Falleen's factories. Mazara welcomed the news, as now the Galactic Senate might be informed of their plight. The Jedi knew that the Senate, of course, was ill-prepared to come to Falleen's aid, however, roiled as it was in its own problems with the new Separatist movement that frayed old loyalties as it created new alliances; legislative procedure was blocking petitions from needy planets in a bureaucratic quagmire of the Senate's own making.

Though she wasn't familiar with Omega's name, Mazara knew who the ousted Teda was, lamenting that her planet seemed to be attracting the galaxy's worst, these days. The deposed tyrant was staying at a reclusive hotel reserved for the ultra-rich, but no one was staying with him, meaning that he and Zan Arbor had probably parted ways, at least in the strictly physical sense. Beyond the deaths at Blackwater, Mazara also disclosed that there had been illnesses as well, which couldn't be diagnosed, but which resulted most likely because the Falleen were forced to work in the factory's water tunnels (their species had a natural ability to be submersed for long periods of time). The mention of water tunnels, of course, threw up warning flags for the Jedi, as Zan Arbor was still working to perfect mass-transmission of her drugs through water, particularly her newest, the Zone of Self-Containment. The transmission experiments were reserved for the factory's secret restricted wing: workers were forced to sign a statement of confidentiality in order to work there, and penalties were probably severe for those refusing to sign, though no one had yet contested it. Obi-Wan asked Mazara if she could get them inside the factory to examine the secret wing. She told them, with a Falleen working in the employment office, she could, but that after that, they were on their own.

Escaping Blackwater
"I suspect that despite the laws, they experimented on the workers themselves." "They did. Different levels of the Zone. The four worker deaths were from overexposure. They were trying to calibrate exact amounts for large crowds ... This factory is definitely Omega's. Zan Arbor can't be far off."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

While Siri and Ferus went to investigate Teda's hotel holdout early the next morning, Mazara was able to get Obi-Wan and Anakin into the factory as workers. In the frigid morning air, Skywalker good-naturedly joked with Olin, asking him why he got to hang around a luxury hotel while Anakin had to freeze on a factory floor. Kenobi was encouraged by the Padawans' easy banter and exchange. While on Romin, Ferus had spoken to Obi-Wan and unburdened himself of his fears about Anakin. Though Kenobi had been both iritated and alarmed by Olin's insights, the mere expression of his worries seemed to have freed Ferus to relax a bit more around Anakin, and the tension between the two of them had eased considerably.

Obi-Wan and Anakin soon were off with the other workers to begin their day at the Yellow District factory. Their job interview with Wanuri, the employment officer, was a mere formality, and they were immediately issued passes to the main factory floor. Though they'd wanted assignment to the secret transmission wing, Wanuri told them he couldn't manage that even for Mazara; they would have to settle for their regular shift, which ended precisely at six, as the night shift had been canceled. As the last hire always swept the factory floor, Kenobi and Skywalker were to ensure that they locked the hydromop and repulsorbroom back in the utility closet and that they not stay, as the security droids made a sweep of the facility every fifteen minutes thereafter. But Wanuri's last instruction was, again, a stock formality, as he well knew that that was precisely why they were there—to stay—and his words revealed to them, moreover, how factory security was handled.

Clipping their security swipe cards to their red unisuits, the two Jedi were split up by their assigned manager to different areas of the facility, with each area being sealed off from the next area. Kenobi could only guess that the canisters (for which he was checking injection levels) contained the Zone, but he had no way of knowing if it was packaged as liquid or gas or some other kind of suspended particle. Deeply carved troughs carried waste through the floors, which was then flushed to outflow valves: unfortunate was the worker who stepped or fell into a trough by accident—for, without decontamination rooms like other factories had, there was no way to know if the substance was indeed toxic. The grindingly dull work was made less so by light supervision (the machines rarely made mistakes), but oddly, no central authority existed for work or quality control. This worried Kenobi somewhat, as it wasn't like Omega or Zan Arbor to run a shipshod organization. Was this the right factory, after all? At work-break he met with Anakin, who said he'd learned additionally that all the managers had changed two weeks before, and the workers, to their relief, didn't have to work as hard. Obi-Wan's uneasiness continued until just before closing time, when he reunited with his Padawan to clean the factory floor. When the buzzer sounded for all to retire, the two Jedi headed to the utility closet to return their cleaning equipment, but then stayed inside the closet and didn't exit until they heard the last worker leave, the passing security droid complete it first round, and the building locks slam down for the night.

Quietly exiting the closet, and with about eleven minutes until the next droid sweep, they headed for the restricted wing, where they were faced with a double-coded door lock; their cards would work if they could override the codes. Working at the keypad for several minutes with different combinations, the next security sweep was suddenly upon them, and, frustrated, they had to jump behind a gravsled before the droids swept by. Kenobi had studied codes with the great Jedi Master Nan Latourain at the Temple, but he now was faced by a lockcode beyond his abilities. Anakin made his own attempt at the lock, calling upon the Force; but as it grew, pulsed and shimmered around them, even with its added strength, the codes would not unlock. Suddenly there was Qui-Gon's easy smile in Obi-Wan's mind: You know the answer. Kenobi seized his lightsaber and slashed through the lock with one stroke, and the door swung open. Coming to another security door, Obi-Wan immediately buried his Jedi weapon in the durasteel until it peeled away in a glowing arc of light and smoke.

Finding themselves in a laboratory, they approached its consoles hoping to find the information files they needed. Seeing valves that led to tunnels large enough to walk in, Kenobi suspected that Omega and Zan Arbor, despite the laws, experimented on the workers themselves. Anakin, reading the files, confirmed the suspicion, but also that they were indeed standing in Omega's factory: there were different levels set for the Zone, and the four worker deaths were from overexposure when they were trying to calibrate precise amounts for large crowds—thousands at once. Although Zan Arbor had already perfected one-on-one transmission, she was now trying to infect a whole city. Looking at the bottom of the file, Kenobi read: Track A Experiment VOIDED, Track B Experiment BEGUN. The science they were scanning was beyond their understanding and they realized they needed to get inspectors in. But their evidence was sufficient to go straight to the Supreme Chancellor with, which was, of course, the only way to get things done anymore, anyway. With six minutes left before the next droid sweep, they thought they'd check out the tunnel.

Opening the valve, they stepped inside the vented tunnel, using their glow rods to light the way. Peering into one of the vents, Obi-Wan could see ducts and hoses through which, he suspected, the Zone must be administered. Stepping over to observe a schematic that was light-lasered onto the plastoid wall, he viewed an extensive system of kilometers-long tunnels branching out from the main tunnel, approximating an entire small city, it seemed. It was so detailed that Anakin wondered if it was based on an actual city system. Suddenly, they heard the sound of rushing water and looked up just in time to see it crashing upon them. Swept up and propelled forward, their bodies smashed up against the tunnel walls and somersaulted wildly against the water's power. Seizing and fastening their aqua breathers, they continued to careen down the tunnel with the current's force. Kenobi remembered the laser drawing: the tunnel had seemed to end in bedrock, which meant that they'd be killed instantly. But a worse noise was now heard behind them. The tunnel was imploding and they'd be crushed in the collapse even before hitting the bedrock.

Struggling through the water torrent that had both Jedi tumbling end over end, they sought a way of escape besides the vents, which were too small. Anakin, too, remembered something from the schematic, though he'd only looked at it briefly: there was a larger vent that came roughly a quarter-kilometer before tunnel's end, but it was coming up fast. Obi-Wan had remembered it also and yelled at Anakin over the rushing water's sound to grab onto the vent, which was closing at about 500 meters to his left. The collapsing tunnel's roar was now deafening; dust and debris filled the air, and the ground underneath shuddered. Kenobi sent out the Force to his Padawan to assist him to swim against the water's force, to feel the spaces between the water drops as the waves broke over him. But rather than costing Anakin his strength, it doubled it, allowing him to make headway against the water and reach the tunnel's side immediately behind his Master. Using their cable launchers, they were able to hook the vent and pull themselves to it. As the water pressure held the vent in place, they pulled at the grating with all their strength, just as the water began cascading over their heads. Chunks of plastoid and durasteel sailed past them as the tunnel continued to collapse. The vent grating popped off with the gathering Force and bounced away on the rushing, churning water as the Jedi pulled themselves up and in.

Master and Padawan crawled swiftly forward through the violently trembling pipe toward a dim, grey light—it turned out to be a vertical ladder against the blackness. When they reached it, they began to climb, just as they heard the pipe beneath them collapse. They might be buried underground at any moment now. Stopping, they felt layers of durasteel above them, and Obi-Wan began to cut through with his lightsaber. Another stream of light joined his from above: it was Siri, cutting down towards them. The way now open, they scrambled up the ladder that was melting beneath them and were half-hauled up to the surface by the other Jedi. Speeding over the turbulent ground as it pitched and heaved, they reached the safety of the open plain, then turned back to look: the sight was astonishing as the ground swallowed the huge factory whole, caving in with a shower of fire and dust. The durasteel complex had completely imploded. Only a smoking crater remained where Blackwater had once been, with all evidence now sucked into the ground. Knowing Kenobi and Skywalker would be in the transmission wing, Siri and Ferus, seeing the collapse begin, and guided by the Force, had raced around the perimeter to find the glow of Kenobi's lightsaber.

Omega had known the Jedi were there, Anakin rightly surmised, and he destroyed his factory to silence them and cover his tracks. Since Teda had left the planet, Siri reported, she and Ferus feared Omega and Zan Arbor went with him. And since no flight plan was filed, they could be headed anywhere in the galaxy. The rising frustration was almost more than Kenobi could master; even his Padawan knew he was at the end of his control. Granta Omega had slipped from their grasp yet again. At that very moment, Kenobi's comlink signaled a message from Master Windu. Activating its holomode, Windu appeared in miniature holographic form. His message was non-negotiable: ''The Jedi teams must return to Coruscant immediately ... There was trouble.''

Recall to Coruscant
"On Romin, do you remember how Teda said they would be going to Coruscant? We couldn't decide if that was a diversion or not." "We didn't think Teda was clever enough to create a diversion." "Exactly. What is happening here ... it has the marks of Omega on it." "Do you think Omega is involved in the movement to discredit the Jedi?" "I don't know. Maybe not directly, but it's best to keep it in mind. It certainly fits his interests, doesn't it? Maybe returning here was not an end to our journey, but a continuation."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

Master Windu, on his way to a Senate meeting with the Supreme Chancellor, could not meet with the newly returned Jedi teams in the Temple's High Council Chamber, but the four weary Jedi were briefed by him, rather, as he strode down the Great Hall on his way to the Senate Building. They needed rest, but there didn't seem to be much of that for any of the Jedi, these days. Mace informed them that for some time they'd felt among the Senators a feeling of distrust toward the Jedi Council. Though not overly concerned, they were aware that Senators like Sano Sauro undermined them whenever they could. False stories had been spread and events twisted, to make the Jedi appear disloyal to the Republic, or as interfering in galactic political matters by making them worse. Of late, however, things had escalated with an active, influential Senatorial faction, behind which they sensed an unknown presence. Kenobi, who hated politics, could scarcely believe they'd been called back for this—a Senate power struggle! But Master Windu challenged Obi-Wan to tell him who was more deadly—the powerful enemy outside, or within? Sensing the Jedi's fatigue and frustration, Windu conceded that Senate power struggles were not unusual. But the mission they'd just returned from, while important, was only one of hundreds in the galaxy that involved peacekeeping, saving lives, helping governments, fostering alliances. They all would be compromised, and the strength and effectiveness of thousands of Jedi decimated, if this determined faction achieved its aim: the withdrawal of official Senate support for the Jedi Council.

Allowing Windu's words to sink in, the Jedi could now appreciate and better understand the grave nature of the situation: operating without Senate approval would make them rogue diplomats, undercutting their authority utterly. It would, indeed, decimate the effectiveness of the Jedi Order. Even so, Anakin—nonplussed by Mace's severe gaze (but to Olin's horror)—boldly asked why they were called back to fight this new threat. Kenobi's Padawan—strong, graceful, sure of himself—simply waited for a response as Windu's piercing eyes plumbed the depths of his soul. They were chosen for their special skills, came the answer (and Master Yoda, then on Kashyyyk, agreed with Windu): Obi-Wan's invaluable Senatorial contacts and knowledge (though he hated it) of Senate workings; Siri's boldness and nondeference, to inject the Senators with a sense of imbalance; Ferus' knowledge of Senate structure; and Anakin's powerful Force-connection that had now gone beyond objects to the inner workings of beings. Obi-Wan suddenly realized this truth (had known it, in fact, without acknowledging it), but he wondered at Windu's recognition of it, for Mace had only been on Romin with them a short time, when that quality or capacity in his Padawan seemed to have manifested itself for the first time. Windu was on the High Council for a reason, Obi-Wan concluded—it was why, except for Yoda, that Kenobi thought him the most powerful Jedi he'd ever known.

As if pointing up Anakin's solemn obligation to this newly discovered strength, one that, with observation and intuition, could help him see into the hearts and minds of others, Mace told Skywalker: "That is why the Force must be respected and handled with care." This last truth was one, Windu said, that was understood more by every Jedi with each mission he or she embraced. Mace added that Chancellor Palpatine had made the special request of a meeting—to see Anakin and Obi-Wan specifically. Kenobi's heart sank—even groaned—for it doubtless meant the first of many Senate meetings wherein it would be explained to him why the simplest way to do things was actually the most complicated. Obi-Wan thought he caught the slightest of smiles on Mace's face when, resigned to his fate, he asked the venerable Jedi Master when said meeting would take place: Kenobi wasn't to fret, Mace said, for Obi-Wan at that moment was on his way to it.

The Jedi contingent, arriving at the Senate Building, waited patiently outside Palpatine's private offices: Obi-Wan and Anakin by the window, peering out at the busy space lanes; Siri and Ferus near the Chancellor's door; and Mace, sitting calmly in a reception area chair. Skywalker was quietly offering sincere condolence for his Master's disappointment that their crucial mission had been cut short, but Kenobi seemed lost in thought. Noticing how the airspeeders jockeyed for position, while some came to dock at the vast landing platform that served the Senate, Anakin wondered, if the Senators or their underlings could not obey traffic rules on when to yield and when to go, how could they solve the problems of an entire galaxy? Obi-Wan suddenly spoke. He asked Anakin if he could remember Teda's comment back on Romin about his and Zan Arbor's plan to go to Coruscant; the Jedi had not been able to decide then whether or not it represented a diversion. Anakin remembered that they'd not been sure if the tyrant was clever enough in the first place to create a diversion—which, indeed, was precisely Kenobi's point, for in his mind the current situation bore, rather, the marks of Omega. Startled, Anakin asked his Master if he actually thought Omega was involved in this movement to discredit the Jedi. Unsure, but still recognizing the need to be wary, Obi-Wan pointed out to his Padawan that the prospect certainly fit their arch-enemy's interests—and that perhaps the Jedi's return to Coruscant was not an end to their journey, but rather a continuation.

The Chancellor's senior aide, Sly Moore, clad in silvery fabric, came from the interior room to usher the Jedi in, as Palpatine was ready to receive them. The Chancellor stood by a grouping of chairs when they entered. Though his face was pale and drawn, almost bloodless, Anakin thought him imposing in his simple robes of muted colors. Skywalker suddenly realized that Palpatine was sacrificing his life to save the Senate from those intent on using it for their own ends. Thanking the Jedi for responding so promptly to his call, the Chancellor asked them now to sit, for time was of the essence. Saddened by and ashamed of the Senate, Palpatine said that even the best of them had been unable to stop the growing tide of anti-Jedi sentiment that was filled with lies and half-truths, twisted to fit an agenda. At a loss to explain it, he suggested however that, in their conflict-mired galaxy, some might turn to a scapegoat to advance their own plans—or deflect attention from those plans, Mace was quick to add.

Obi-Wan wondered if Sano Sauro was behind the machinations: he was, after all, a staunch enemy of the Jedi  (and Omega had been his protégé as a youth ). The leader of the anti-Jedi faction, Palpatine said, was a formerly obscure Senator from Nuralee by the name of Bog Divinian. Kenobi, of course, started at this, for Divinian, whom he'd met on Euceron while on a mission during the Galactic Games, was married to his dear friend Astri Oddo, the daughter of Didi Oddo. Though not a Senator at the time, Bog, in order to protect the Commerce Guild, had lied in his testimony to an official Games Council investigation. With the makings of a politician, it didn't surprise Kenobi to discover Bog had succeeded in his career, no doubt rewarded for his lies by a grateful Commerce Guild. Obi-Wan, glancing at Mace, suddenly knew another reason why the Force had called him to aid in this new peril—his acquaintance with Divinian as the husband of an old friend, which he disclosed now to those in the room. Palpatine thought it good news and appeared relieved: he urged Obi-Wan to make a direct, personal appeal to the Nuralee Senator. Silently doubting that it would help, Kenobi nevertheless inclined his head in agreement.

But then the Chancellor said he felt compelled to inform the Jedi of a recent development—which was nothing short of electrifying for the Jedi: for recently arrived on Coruscant from Romin was the planet's deposed dictator, Roy Teda. The Jedi, of course, were involved in the recent coup of the planet's tyrannical government. The electric wave of Palpatine's bombshell announcement was palpable among the Jedi: perhaps Kenobi's suspicion about Omega being involved in the anti-Jedi scheme wasn't so far-fetched, after all. Teda, who had lost no time, Palpatine said, in joining the anti-Jedi faction, had already given testimony that the Jedi were responsible for aiding and abetting the unlawful coup on Romin. Mace admitted, arching an eyebrow at Obi-Wan, that unfortunately this was technically true, though a clear misreading of events (Windu was still annoyed at Kenobi and Tachi for aiding such a coup without first consulting the Jedi High Council). Even so, the news was good news for Obi-Wan: it meant a chance to closely observe Teda, to learn more about Omega and how Teda fit into his larger plans. As Teda was not a bright creature, Kenobi had no doubt that such discoverable intelligence was within their reach.

The Chancellor, in conclusion, said that in the Senate hearing, Teda also made a claim that the Jedi were responsible for a factory implosion on Falleen—a claim Teda had managed to get the Falleen Senator quite upset about, for the presented evidence held just enough weight to make it credible. As Teda had the right to petition for asylum on Coruscant, it was up to the Jedi Council to refute the charges. When Mace asked if the charges were formal, Palpatine replied that they were—hence, the reason for him calling the meeting. A hearing was set for that afternoon, and the Chancellor suggested a Jedi presence there was needed. When Windu officially appointed Kenobi to be that presence, Palpatine stated that such was a foregone conclusion, as Kenobi had been called as a witness, implying that Mace should perhaps also attend. For his part, Obi-Wan, though he again inclined his head in obeisance, seethed inwardly at the distraction—a meeting and a Senate hearing, all in the same day. With Omega possibly within his grasp, his luck seemed to wither, even die. If he wasn't careful, his time would be bound up in meetings and hearings, and he'd never accomplish a thing—like a Senator, he groaned again.

False friends and politics
"Obi-Wan! So good to see you again! ... Oh, you didn't mind my questions, did you? Politics. A rough game, eh? I hope there are no hard feelings. After all, politics is temporary. Friendship is forever ... Astri! Astri! I found our friend! ... A perfect Senator's wife. She's involved in relief efforts, which is so important for my profile ... Astri, my dear, I fear that Obi-Wan is a little put out with me. You must tell him that each of us must follow our convictions ... You must tell him how I've struggled with my decision to throw my support behind this. But I've come to feel that the Jedi Council wields too much influence in the Senate and with the Chancellor. I don't want to make enemies, I'm just looking for a more balanced approach. Is that so strange?"

- Nuralee Senator Bog Divinian carries on a one-sided conversation with an incredulous Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Senate Hearing Chamber was smaller than the Galactic Senate Chamber, but it still held twenty tiers, repulsorpods for several hundred Senators, and seating for news correspondents and onlookers. The chamber was packed with an overflow crowd. Filling the pods, seats and tier aisles, beyond the Senators and their aides, were officials of the HoloNet news and curious Coruscant natives. Mace Windu and Obi-Wan sat together in a mid-level tier. Kenobi was surprised at the turnout, as meetings like this one were usually so dull that no one attended them. But Windu pointed out that the room was packed with Bog Divinian's supporters, all of whom had to secure a ticket in order to observe the proceedings; all Jedi supporters, on the other hand, were informed there were no seats.

Divinian called Roy Teda's pod forward to address the gathering. Teda greeted his captive audience with his usual flowery, redundant speech, but then began his tirade of lies. He accused the Jedi of coming to Romin to secretly plot with a rogue army to overthrow his government, of rampaging through the streets, and coincidentally being onworld when the planetary treasury disappeared. Kenobi found he could agree with Teda's last phrase, only because Teda himself had looted the Romin treasury. Windu, in full sympathy with the accused Jedi Knight sitting at his side, told Kenobi that truth had no place there, but that while this fabricated crowd didn't want to hear the truth, Obi-Wan must tell his truth anyway. Teda made a plea that Jedi interference be outlawed on every planet in the galaxy and that galactic governing be left to the Senate. Blocs of Senators roared their approval as the crowd hooted and stamped.

Bog, rather than docking his pod as the presiding Senator usually did, allowed his to remain in midair, high above the witness pod, so that he might be in full view of the crowd. Bog ignored the signaling for permission to question by Alderaan's distinguished Senator, Bail Organa, who duly and loudly reprimanded him for it, maneuvering his pod closer to Divinian's. When Bog begrudgingly offered up the floor, the stern but handsome Organa pointedly asked 'Former Ruler Teda' if he had any evidence for his claims, to which Teda smoothly answered in the affirmative, saying, however, that the evidence was on Romin: because he was in exile, he couldn't reach it. Divinian pointed out that the Senate investigating committee on Jedi Order abuses had ruled that a subcommittee would be formed to investigate the charges. Organa then queried who exactly was to be appointed to said subcommittee. And when Bog answered that appointments would come from Bog's own committee, Organa balked that all its members happened to be enemies of the Jedi!

When Divinian countered that the committee-member selections would be done according to rules and procedure, Bail thundered that those very rules were currently being revised by a committee headed by Senator Sano Sauro, another enemy of the Jedi. Moreover, the procedure itself had been changed, Bail continued, by the same Senator who had been asked to investigate unfounded charges that suited his own agenda: it was the very definition of unfair, and an outrage. Organa, a shrewd Senator who extensively studied the bureaucracy, knew that the tedious work of keeping apprised of it netted real results. Injustice was often seeded when the powerful Senators who headed committees changed obscure rules they were confident no one would take heed of—no one, that is, except Bail Organa.

While Obi-Wan was impressed with Organa's authority, composure, acidic precision, and courageous candor, the crowd would have nothing of it. Bog, refusing to get bogged down in procedural details, asked that Senator Organa yield the floor for the testimony of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, who forthwith maneuvered his pod to the center of the chamber. Obi-Wan noted that Divinian didn't give the slightest indication that he knew Kenobi or had met him before, not even with a slight nod. When Bog asked Obi-Wan if the Jedi had secretly met with the 'resistance army' on Romin, Obi-Wan said that members of the 'resistance movement' captured two of their own, both of whom were Jedi apprentices. Kenobi was rudely cut off when he began to explain that the Jedi presence on Romin was to pursue a galactic criminal. Bog deliberately shifted the discussion to the question of the legality of the Jedi presence on the planet, with only their false ID docs—he was not asking about intent, Bog said, only clarifying means. Kenobi explained that it was necessary sometimes for the Jedi to travel covertly. Even so, they were on Romin, contrary to its law, Divinian pointed out.

Bog next asked Kenobi if he had had dealings with the 'criminal' Joylin who had seized power on Romin. An action the Senate sanctioned, Obi-Wan pointed out, due to the criminal activities of Roy Teda. Skirting Kenobi's assertion while implying that the Senate action was highly suspect, Bog conceded there to have been 'some' in the Senate who pushed through the initiative, but that it was currently under investigation. Organa vehemently protested Divinian's outrageous statement, but Bog would not be deterred and called him to order, asking Kenobi again if the Jedi assisted the illegal takeover. Obi-Wan, hesitating because the Jedi help came only after the plans of Joylin's resistance were already in place, saw a flash of mean triumph in Divinian's eyes. Now in an impossible position to save the Jedi with truth, Obi-Wan had to answer the question affirmatively, and then face Bog's next question of whether the Jedi were involved in the reported factory implosion on Falleen. The Jedi had been in the vicinity, Obi-Wan said, admitting also to Divinian's sneering incredulity that they were laboring there as factory workers. "Truth is sometimes hard to believe," Kenobi frankly said. "That's why ignorant minds have a difficult time with it."

When Divinian, now embarrassed, next asked if the Jedi, in fact, sabotaged the factory, it was Obi-Wan's turn to interrupt and set the record straight: The Jedi were caught within the factory by the implosion—one deliberately set off by its owner to cover up factory violations. And when Bog tried to counter by suggesting that the Jedi were the only ones there during the implosion they claimed not to have triggered, Kenobi again embarrassed Bog by frankly stating that he didn't know if they were the only ones there: how, then, did Bog know? What Divinian saw before him, he announced with contempt, was arrogance and an utter lack of remorse at the destruction of property. "Oh, I feel remorse," Kenobi responded. "I never received my paycheck." But as the chamber exploded in laughter, Obi-Wan could see the slim, dark figure of Sano Sauro seated in a pod that hugged a dark corner of the chamber; looking back again at Bog, Kenobi sensed that Sauro, like a puppeteer, was controlling him—feeding information and questions into Divinian's datapad. Obi-Wan remembered how Sauro had questioned him as a young Padawan, accused of murdering a fellow Jedi student at the Temple, twisting his words. He held Sauro suspect again today of crafting Bog's questions. Divinian promptly dismissed his witness, and the hearing adjourned.

Master Windu conceded that Obi-Wan had done the best he could under the circumstances. The Council had felt a darkness growing there, he said, surveying the chamber, but every time they looked again, they saw nothing at all. Mace wondered if the Jedi's real job needed to be there, with the Senate, rather than traversing the galaxy to keep the peace. Obi-Wan responded that he hoped not: standing and fighting in a Senate chamber was like shouting into the wind. None of the Jedi wanted to be there. "Perhaps that is our undoing," Windu replied, as he turned and disappeared into the interior hallways. Looking out over the crowded chamber, Obi-Wan wondered how it had come to this—how so many were willing to believe the worst of the Jedi Order.

After the hearing, Kenobi endured a painful, hardly credible reunion in one of the Senate reception areas with Divinian and his wife Astri. Though Bog tried in vain to have Kenobi believe their relationship was a friendship, professing himself to be 'good friends' with Obi-Wan, the Jedi Master obviously felt otherwise: Bog was as false a 'friend' as they came, but as true a politician, speaking words that were hollow, as empty as the man before him. Bog had once groveled at the feet of those in power to advance his career, but now he saw himself as a great leader, and, indeed, had become a pompous, scheming bore. Kenobi could only stare at Divinian incredulously as he ranted on in a one-sided conversation that even snubbed his own wife Astri, who truly had been Obi-Wan's dear friend. But something was not right with her. Though she looked and carried herself regally, there was a disgenuine aloofness in her face that caused Kenobi's heart to fall. He was happy to hear that her father Didi was now a grandfather, that they'd been blessed with a beautiful boy named Lune, who'd just turned three. But this was not the same Astri he knew as a Padawan, who he'd watched brave blaster fire and bounty hunters despite the fear—all to save her father and Qui-Gon. She'd gone from run-down café cook to warrior. Now Astri was a Senator's wife, but how had she fallen for him? And she seemed so different now, Obi-Wan felt he didn't know her anymore. Catching a glimpse of Teda leaving the area, Kenobi gave a crisp farewell to Bog, and followed the former tyrant out.

Anakin, meanwhile, had spent the time during the period of the hearing with the galaxy's Supreme Chancellor in his red-walled office, with Red Guards standing at attention outside. Though he'd wanted to see the outcome of the hearing, how could anyone refuse the wish of someone whose Chancery term had expired years ago, but who continued to serve because so many saw him as integral to the well-being of the galaxy? One whose strong hand had kept the Senate together during these years of growing strife with the Separatist movement?

When their conversation broached the topic of power, Anakin said that it wasn't power that he was interested in. Naboo's former Senator replied that Skywalker's was "a very Jedi-like response" but one that wasn't entirely true. For while the Jedi did not seek power, yet they had it. When the Chancellor asked him why that was, Anakin responded that it was because the Jedi had the Force—a source of power, but one they didn't seek. It was simply there. And it was a Jedi's choice to use it, Palpatine said. As the Jedi Council's biggest supporter, the Chancellor sought a way to effectively fight those seeking to strip the Jedi of their power and influence. And he'd come to several, rather unhelpful conclusions—would Anakin care to hear them? The young man felt flattered that Palpatine took him seriously enough to talk to a mere Padawan learner this way, for the Chancellor usually dealt directly with the Jedi Council, with those who truly were powerful, like Mace Windu and Yoda.

Palpatine proceeded to explain to Anakin that the Senate's jealousy of the Jedi was rooted in the Jedi Order's inability to engage with them in the "war of words"—a disengagement which the Chancellor felt was a grave mistake on the Jedi's part. But the Jedi's actions and results spoke for themselves, Anakin said. Not in the Senate, Palpatine stressed. There must be someone there always to explain or interpret why the results are good, or someone else will do the interpreting. Facts were not important, only the twist that helped the Senators understand them: they needed to be fed their diet of truth. When Skywalker suggested to Palpatine that he made Senators sound like children, the Chancellor confirmed that indeed they were. Though he'd not sought his office, yet he was compelled to carry out the burden of carrying on its duties, Palpatine said. One of those duties was to recognize that what the Senate needed was a strong hand, just as children needed firm guidance. This wasn't what the Jedi believed, Anakin argued. Children in the Jedi Order were given the freedom to dissent and be independent. But unlike the Jedi, Palpatine said, Senators were not gifted with the Force. Giving their younglings freedom, because of their exceptionality, was something the Jedi could afford to do, but most beings were not exceptional and needed someone to tell them not only what to do, but sometimes, what to believe.

Anakin struggled to grasp what the Supreme Chancellor was telling him, for it seemed to go against what he believed. Attempting to summarize his understanding of Palpatine's words, he said finally, "You want to turn the Jedi into politicians." The Chancellor immediately disavowed the statement, saying rather that he wanted the Jedi to recognize that they already, in fact, were politicians, whether they liked it or not—for power and politics were inseparable. Palpatine then praised Skywalker for the power he saw in him—his use of it. Anakin's connection to the Force gave to him clarity and boldness. The Jedi Order needed more like him. But he was still a student, Anakin said. Then learn, Palpatine admonished, make the most of the opportunity he now afforded Skywalker to discover how to maneuver in Senate politics. For it might turn out to be the skill the Jedi Council needed most—not the glory of lightsaber battles, but crucial nonetheless. The Supreme Chancellor invited Skywalker, when Anakin asked how he might achieve such an aim, to accompany him to meetings where Anakin might watch, listen, and tell Palpatine what he thought. The Chancellor, in turn, would share his thoughts also.

Anakin, of course, knew he couldn't pass up such an extraordinary offer. When he told Palpatine he would first have to request permission of his Master, the Chancellor conceded that particular necessity, but then suggested that perhaps, in the end, Skywalker would be able to teach Master Kenobi a thing or two.

Conspiring confabs
"I can't say this is a surprise. I expected that you would be behind any plot to discredit the Jedi Order, Sauro." "As usual, you begin every exchange with rudeness. I don't know what I've done to deserve your contempt and I don't care, but it continues to be tedious to put up with it." "You know very well what you've done in the past, and what you are doing now. You are the shadow behind these hearings." "Senator Divinian is the presiding official over the hearings, not me." "How odd, then, that you are meeting with the main witness against the Jedi." "I'm merely holding out a friendly hand to an exiled ruler of a democratic government that was overthrown by Jedi aggression ... I have no hand in the utter demoralization of the Jedi. I am merely a witness to it."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Senator Sano Sauro.

Teda seemed to be too luxurious, for Kenobi, at the moment—in his dress, in how he strolled through the Senate corridors as if he belonged there, in his general ease and conscientiousness—considering the gross disparity between his life and those of the ragged and starving prisoners and citizens he'd left in the jail cells and slums of Romin. Compared to the suffering he'd pushed outside his capital city walls, the repugnant little man didn't deserve such ease as Kenobi saw him luxuriate in now. Teda finally came to a stop outside a small Senate café tucked into one of its hallway-flanking alcoves, looked around, and darted in. Obi-Wan followed as Teda went to a table in the far corner to meet with Sano Sauro. Leaving behind all pretense and efforts of concealment, Kenobi confronted the two conspirators directly, telling Sauro he wasn't in the least surprised to find him to be the shadow behind the plots and the hearings to discredit the Jedi Order. Though Sauro shot out his customary declamations of having taken offense at Kenobi's words, even as he adamantly professed that Divinian, not he, was the power behind the Senate's anti-Jedi faction, Obi-Wan would have none of it: he'd caught Sauro meeting with the central witness against the Jedi, and he warned him that, though the preferred company he kept of thieves and murderers had carried him far, they would one day ensure his downfall. With that, the Jedi Knight turned on his heel and hurried down the Senate passageways to seek out Senatorial aide and close friend Tyro Caladian—the one being with the most knowledge of Senate intrigue and the best political mind he knew—to convene a covert meeting of his own.

On the Senate Building's lowest level, at the descending end of a twisting corridor, he met with his Svivreni friend amidst his bins and boxes—the tell-tale marks of his friend's political acumen and industry. Tyro joyfully saluted his dear friend by first opening and closing his hand, then placing it against his heart and, afterwards, against Obi-Wan's. Kenobi mimicked the gesture, for with Tyro, he'd long since advanced to his friend's species' most affectionate codes of greeting and farewell (never 'good-bye'). Caladian had been at the Divinian-led hearing and conceded that, though both Kenobi and Organa had done well, the house had been rigged to the brim with supporters of the anti-Jedi faction. Bog's questioning had, of course, been an outrage that manifested no inclination whatsoever to uncover the truth. While Tyro was ever anxious about the state of the Senate and the dispiriting devolution of the galaxy's moral consciousness, no matter how hard the Chancellor tried, he had never seen anything like the present uproar against the Jedi. Even for the Senate, it was ridiculous—an annoying and frustrating distraction from the real work they should be doing.

With Tyro's last word—distraction—a bell suddenly went off in Obi-Wan's mind, but he didn't know why. There had been another word earlier that had hit him similarly: demoralized—Sauro had used it to describe the Jedi. And it suddenly came to him: Disruption + Demoralization + Distraction = Devastation. It was the formula for orchestrating evil to take root which Granta Omega's father—Xanatos—had devised. He'd engaged the full force of its power at the Jedi Temple, hoping to destroy it forever. Could it now be that his son was using the same formula to destroy the Senate? Was this Omega's real goal? For if he was indeed behind this current Senatorial effort, he had already succeeded in disrupting the Senate, demoralizing the Jedi, and distracting everyone. But, more pointedly, if all of this were actually the case, what was the coming devastation he was planning? Obi-Wan didn't know, but what he could sense, irrefutably now, was a sureness of what was initially an instinct: Omega was behind this.

And if it were possible, Caladian now informed him, the situation had gotten even worse: Bog Divinian's committee had taken an unusual step, for instead of a recommendation, it had just entered an official petition to permanently ban the Jedi Order from further participation in Senate action. Even so, Senator Organa had discovered a clause that allowed him to appeal directly to the Chancellor in a separate closed-door session, which had already been placed on Palpatine's schedule for that afternoon: both Senators would be present, and the Supreme Chancellor would decide on the matter once and for all. That these new developments had all come about since the hearing, earlier that day, surprised Kenobi, as he knew the Senate to be ever slow in achieving any sort of effective action. But Tyro assured him that it was a phenomenon that could happen when real things were getting done: when it came to political maneuvering, Senators knew that they had to move fast.

Sensing Kenobi was yet troubled, Caladian offered his ever-hopeful outlook: for though the Jedi Order was in trouble, yet they would find a way to fight. With more friends than enemies, the Jedi simply needed to remind their friends that they were still their friends. It was "the Senate way," Tyro said. "And what is that?" Obi-Wan challenged, rather cynically. Talk, deals, bribes, corruption. Caladian would not be swayed by Kenobi's candid observation. While certainly true, yet Tyro held onto his belief in the Senate, which was, after all, the living symbol of the Republic. Until the Galactic Republic was formed, the galaxy boiled in chaos. The Republic was their only chance to bring peace to the thousands of worlds that couldn't manage alone. There were many good beings in the Senate—like Bail Organa—and they would win in the end.

It was Caladian's most passionate defense of the Senate thus far, Kenobi realized, for he often railed against it. He expressed to Tyro his amazement that, no matter how many times his heart was broken, Tyro yet kept faith in the Senate, ever toiling to find ways to make it better. Tyro assured Obi-Wan that, though his heart broke from time to time, his will never would, and that in that way, the two of them were alike. When Tyro pressed Obi-Wan to please disclose what was bothering him, Kenobi confessed that it wasn't this newly created petition, but what that petition might conceal that continued to trouble him. For this recent action to discredit the Jedi could be a mere diversion to draw attention away from something worse that might occur. Obi-Wan then suggested to Tyro that the two galactic criminals he had been tracking—Omega and Zan Arbor—could very well be the driving force behind this latest anti-Jedi scheme. The scheme, in fact, might be simply a smokescreen for the criminals' real objective. Caladian felt compelled to concede that Kenobi's suspicion certainly meshed with the way Omega operated. It made sense, and was even likely, since Sano Sauro (Tyro's own personal enemy ) was involved, for he was Omega's longtime patron. It seemed for them abundantly clear now why Sauro kept to the background, for he didn't want investigators to connect him with the anti-Jedi campaign, else he knew that they would immediately make the connection to Omega.

But Obi-Wan knew that they were still not seeing something. As the Chancellor was a great supporter of the Jedi, Tyro thought it highly unlikely that he'd approve the new petition. And while there was the possibility that Divinian and Sauro could manipulate that defeat into a call for a "no-confidence" vote in Palpatine, allowing them to propose Sauro as Chancellor (his ultimate ambition) and thereby give Omega control of the Senate, such a prospect was highly unlikely. Palpatine was far too powerful and skilled to be outmaneuvered. Besides, Caladian seriously doubted that Sauro could muster enough support for a vote of no confidence; for although he controlled the Viga alliance and the planets in the Commerce Guild, and could get several systems in the Mid-Rim, there was no way he could do so in the Core. Sauro was powerful, but he was actively disliked. Bail Organa's strong opposition faction, moreover, should not be discounted. And because Senators never engaged in such extreme measures unless they were sure of success, Tyro couldn't see the anti-Jedi faction attempting such a vote. But it was the tremendous popularity of Palpatine at the present time that, above all other factors, made the petition's success a virtual impossibility.

In fact, on the very next day, the Supreme Chancellor was scheduled to attend the inaugural ceremony for the All Planets Relief Fund, one of Palpatine's pet projects, and a good one, Tyro noted, for its purpose was to respond to petitions from worlds in peril for immediate funding that otherwise would be stalled in the Galactic Senate's bureaucratic quagmire. A huge group of its supporters—including many Jedi—would be in attendance. Perhaps the realization of Mazara's hopes for reform on Falleen was not so far-fetched after all.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan's comlink signaled. It was Siri: they needed backup, as she and Ferus thought they might have found Omega and Zan Arbor's hideout, and the criminals possibly were at that moment inside. Finally, some action, Obi-Wan thought, to replace all the infernal Senate meetings! Kenobi closed his comlink and placed his spread-fingered palm to Tyro's—the Svivreni farewell gesture, made only to those closest to them: "So go," Tyro said.

Discovery at Dex's
"Gotcha." "What is it, Master?" "That's Dexter Jettster's slider garnish. I'd know it anywhere." "Congratulations. Our best clue is a garnish."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Siri Tachi.

Master Kenobi took a vertical monorail down a hundred stories to the Coruscant business district, near the Bank of Aargau, where Siri and Ferus were waiting. He met his apprentice on the way, after he'd contacted Anakin by comlink. Joining Tachi and Olin in front of an interior mall of shops and restaurants, the Jedi learned from Siri that a tip from an informer had directed her and Ferus to a small white building across the way—to rooms within an old sim-voyage establishment (whose blinking and hand-scrawled signs read VIRTUAL HAPPINESS, and OUT OF BUSINESS) where beings could enjoy a simulated luxury-vacation experience. Their source told them that a couple, who claimed to be starting a business (though nothing yet had been done), had moved in a few days ago and, strangely, only exited at night, it seemed. Ferus had run a check on the parked airspeeders there and found out, from Coruscant Security, that ticket-records for illegally parked airspeeders revealed a standard Ralion B-14 recently bought at a speeder lot some 20 levels down. It matched one of the false ID docs found on the Slams' ship.

Not wanting to waste any more time, they strode right to the door, through which Kenobi plunged his lightsaber. Obi-Wan stepped inside the darkened house, when immediately alarms blared, lights blazed ... and rockets fired. The Jedi Knight fell to the ground to evade and position himself to deflect fire, while the others moved in to flank him. Meanwhile, bright colors and holoprojections of scenes from popular vacation spots flashed about them: the famous shooting stars of Nantama, the mountains of Belazura, Dremulae's Sea of Translucency. But the deafening sounds smothered the whirr of the seeker droids that were soon upon them. Blaster-fire and leaping Jedi crisscrossed the space until a dozen droids were reduced to smoking scrap. Siri warned Obi-Wan too late, when he strode over to a panel to shut down the holoprojection system: a secret blast door opened to reveal three deadly droidekas (combat droids) as they wheeled out and clattered to life. Anakin moved quickly to disable them with three upward strokes at the precise spot where their generators lay, for he'd long studied them; the roar of blasters ended.

The Jedi searched the droid-littered house for clues. Siri observed that the only thing the criminals had left behind apparently were dirty dishes, which lay greasy on a table. Indeed, there wasn't a trace of the occupants to be found. The Jedi had come up empty again. But such was Omega's style, Anakin remarked. He knew how to leave without a trace. But then Obi-Wan noticed a puddle of sauce on a plate; bending in close to snif it, he discovered that it was Dexter Jettster's slider garnish. Siri suggested that Obi-Wan and Anakin head over to Dexter's Diner in nearby CoCo Town and ask some questions while she and Ferus studied the water delivery system there on Coruscant, to see what damage their enemies might do. As the monorails were packed, and it was faster to walk, Kenobi and Skywalker hurried through the crowded pedestrian ramps. They crossed through the Bank of the Core Plaza on their way to Dexter's Diner, which was crouched between large, dilapidated industrial warehouses. Pausing under the red glow of the diner's bright sign, they peered in through a window and saw, sitting alone at a booth, Astri Oddo.

Astri, of course, was surprised when the two familiar Jedi slid into her booth. So much had changed, she told them, from the old days, when she and her father ran the place, but Dexter had clearly made it profitable. Kenobi agreed that they had been good days. Things clearly had grown more complicated, like the fact that her husband was trying to destroy the Jedi Order. Anakin tried to lighten the suddenly tense situation and mood by engaging in easy-going banter, and Obi-Wan was relieved that his Padawan interfered so gracefully. But Kenobi was hurt and angry, for he'd expected better of Astri. She was at the present time, notwithstanding, engaged in relief work, because the economy of Nuralee, her adopted world, was failing. Kenobi surmised that it had probably fallen from its status of being prosperous when Bog took office. Astri was on Coruscant briefly, she said, to attend a meeting to request aid from the new All Planets Relief Fund and attend its inaugural ceremony. The Jedi team of Soara Antana and Darra Thel-Tanis were acting as couriers and protectors for a shipment of food and medical supplies to Nuralee, and Astri was set to return with them to her homeworld in two days, to ensure that it got into the right hands. She was anxious also to see Didi and her son.

Obi-Wan endeavored to remove his personal feelings from the situation and to focus on Astri simply as a being in need, so that he could see more clearly. When he did so, he discovered there to be something terribly wrong: he sensed deep fear. She was afraid. But of what? Anakin casually, and in a jovial tone, asked her if Bog had seen what Dex had done to the old place, gesturing to the red stools and curved counter. Kenobi thought Anakin's question excellent, for it would give them the information they needed to know: was there a connection between Divinian and the safe house they'd just come from? Astri answered that Bog had indeed been there, yes. Obi-Wan could tell, however, that she was clearly not interested in the subject of her husband, but the Jedi now had the answer they wanted. There was a link now: Bog had been the one who delivered the food from the diner to Omega and the others.

Because Astri was late for an appointment, she quickly excused herself, telling the Jedi it was always good to see them. Kenobi sadly noted Astri's posture and manner of walk: her hands thrust into the deep pockets of her tunic, her head down. She seemed so different now. When she'd exited the diner, Anakin noted precisely what Obi-Wan had, that Astri was afraid, but then added his own observation: but not for herself—for her son.

Kenobi found himself amazed that Anakin, so often now, it seemed, knew what secrets were inside others, what drove them to do the puzzling things they did. Anakin's sensitivity to others was growing and surpassing Obi-Wan's in some cases. It touched upon Skywalker's command of the Force, certainly, but it was more than that. And then he remembered Ferus' words on Romin—that Anakin wanted to control everything, and that his gift of seeing inside beings could turn dangerous if he tried to control the feelings he found instead of just observing them. But Anakin knew this, for it was a Jedi lesson ingrained in every Padawan.

Anakin spoke up suddenly to request Kenobi's permission to accept the Chancellor's offer to observe the proceedings Palpatine would attend over the next several days, to help Anakin gain insight into the political arena of the Senate. Kenobi thought the opportunity a great honor that Palpatine had bestowed upon his Padawan, and agreed, with no objections whatsoever, as long as it didn't interfere with their pursuit of Omega: Anakin might even learn something that could help them in their endeavor.

Now waddling out from behind the counter, wiping his four hands on his greasy apron, was Dexter. An enormous grin creasing a wide face betrayed his delight to once again see Kenobi and his "tadpole"—a descriptive he quickly repented of when Anakin stood up, for the boy had grown much since Dexter had last seen him. Laughing, he pronounced Skywalker to be "full-grown now," and that Dex had rightly been put in his place. Offering the Jedi to freely select favorite dishes from his famous menu, including alarm chili, sliders, and bantha-meat stew (the secret technique to which, he confided in them, was to leave the hooves in the pot while it cooked), Obi-Wan insisted (though the stew sounded delicious) that they were there, rather, for information. They were on the trail of some galactic criminals and believed that they had a taste for Dexter's slider garnish. Dex couldn't dispute the attraction of his special sauce, slapping his knees with two of his hands in agreement: he knew he needed to bottle the stuff and make his fortune, and one day he would, just as soon as he had a free minute from the stove.

Answering the Jedi's questions, Dex knew the "nasty bit of work" that was Jenna Zan Arbor, though he was unfamiliar with the Slams. And he also knew Astri's husband, Bog Divinian, who'd been there often, for Bog loved his addictive sliders and frequently picked his meals up to take them back to his lodgings. But things had been busy at his diner, of late, Dex said, and would get even busier the following day, when the All Planets Relief Fund Ceremony took place in the Bank of the Core Plaza, across the way. Many were coming, Dex said, just to see a fortune being transferred. Just being close to vertex and looking at it made people feel richer. The mention of crystalline vertex gave Kenobi pause. When he inquired more about it, Dex told the Jedi that, with every planet in the Senate donating, vertex would fund the central account of Palpatine's new imperiled-worlds project. After presenting the vertex to the Chancellor, his personal guard would bring it to the vault inside the Bank of the Core. Dex could already tell, for he knew them so well, that the Jedi were concerned about the security surrounding the event, but told them not to worry, because there would be security like they'd never seen, with both the Chancellor's Red Guards and Coruscant Security. Officers would be placed around the cordoned-off plaza. A HoloNet news journalist had even paid Dex, he said, to keep her airspeeder in the back alley so that she could leave the ceremony quickly for her vidcam studio hookup. But she parked it in front of Dex's food-delivery doors, so he got his pal Acey to break in, so that he could move it behind a dumpster. At Dex's words, red flags flew again in Kenobi's mind: the words added up to something significant, but he didn't know what. But at their request, Dex agreed to show the Jedi the airspeeder.

Passing through Dex's loud, steamy kitchen and out through the diner's rear exit doors into the alley, Kenobi and Skywalker observed the long airspeeder—a fully fueled Ralion B-14—parked at an angle behind a dumpster, wedged between durasteel trash bins. It had been parked earlier over top the round cover to Dex's utility tunnel—for his water delivery, he told them. The Jedi exhanged glances: every bit of this was adding up. Dex excused himself to check on his stew, but told them to come back when they had more time—they knew, after all, how he liked to feed them. Kenobi guessed that the journalist must have been Valadon in disguise, that the airspeeder was for their getaway, and that the utility cover was one of the entry points for the Zone. As Obi-Wan opened the speeder's door to inspect it, a whisp of blue thread wafted down. Placing it carefully in his utility belt, he would send it to the Temple lab for analysis, though it certainly wasn't the septsilk or veda cloth that both the mad scientist and the gang members liked to wear. Further inspection of the speeder's secret compartments produced a palm-sized datapad, which contained a holofile map of the bank plaza, with notations of street closings, space lanes ... and water transport tunnels.

The Jedi now were certain that Omega, Zan Arbor, and the Slams were planning to heist the new Relief Fund treasury. That was their aim. It would give them a fortune to work with and embarrass Palpatine—a political victory as well as a personal one. The imminent blow against the Chancellor explained Sauro and Divinian's involvement, though there could be profit in it for them also. Using the Zone would permit a small band to get around the entire Coruscant Security Force. Omega, too, in his arrogance, expected the heist to defeat the Jedi, for if they allowed it to happen, the Order would be disgraced, which would help the anti-Jedi faction pass its new petition—or win a 'no-confidence' vote against the Chancellor. The pieces were falling into place, and both Obi-Wan and Anakin could feel the electricity of the moment. They felt, at last, that they were one step ahead of Omega, and had but to set the trap.

Most dangerous enemy
"Capturing this Omega is important to your Master." "It's important to the galaxy. He's a dangerous enemy." "Yes, but not the most dangerous enemy. From my experience, the most dangerous enemy is the one you can't see."

- Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and 17-year-old Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker.

Because Obi-Wan never wasted time, Anakin was surprised when his Master lingered, rather than exploding into action. But Kenobi wanted his Padawan to begin exercising the strategic skills that he would one day need not only as a Jedi Knight, but also as a Jedi Master. So he asked Anakin to decide, of the many things that needed doing, what should come first, and how they should order the rest. The many restless tasks, for only a brief moment, seemed to crowd and jockey for position in Skywalker's brain, but then everything became clear and he knew what they must do. It was critical to contact Siri and Ferus and tell them all they knew, so that they could focus their study of the water system on the area immediately around the plaza. Master Windu next should be contacted, Anakin said, as the Council needed to come up with its own plans to protect the vertex during the ceremony. Obi-Wan thought his Padawan's strategy sound. And they should also request a meeting with Chancellor Palpatine, Skywalker continued, for it was the only way they could convey the seriousness of what they were convinced would happen: security needed tightened and monitors placed on the water systems.

Anakin also briefly suggested the possibility that they do nothing and simply allow the criminals to sabotage the system with the Zone, to give the Jedi an advantage. For unbenownst to the enemy, the Jedi wouldn't be affected, and the criminals would be lulled into the belief that they'd succeeded. The Jedi would thus give them what they wanted in the beginning, but the Jedi, ultimately, controlled the outcome. But that, Obi-Wan said, would mean exposing thousands of beings to the Zone. It wasn't toxic, Anakin countered: the beings would have an extraordinarily pleasant morning, that's all. That, however, was something, Kenobi stressed, they simply couldn't know, for Anakin had experienced it early on. They didn't know what Zan Arbor had done to it since then. Also, was Anakin forgetting the four workers who died? But they had every reason to believe the system had been perfected, Skywalker pressed. Anakin could see, however, that he'd displeased his Master. And he, of course, conceded that they didn't know that for sure, and so they needed to guard the entry ports to the system in order to ensure that the Zone would not be deployed. Kenobi was in accord now with Anakin's final assessment, and they headed for the Senate, with Obi-Wan calling ahead to request an emergency meeting with the Chancellor. Meanwhile Anakin brooded over his apparent error. Sometimes he'd make mistakes, but often not be sure why they were wrong. His Master's deepest desire was to capture Omega, and so he wondered—how much was it permissible to risk in order to accomplish that? ''How much risk was too much? And who was best to judge?''

Arriving at Palpatine's office, the Jedi were immediately ushered in. After explaining the threat to Palpatine and offering the most sensible course, which was to cancel the ceremony, the Chancellor demurred. Because the fund had been the result of years of steady work on the part of many worlds and stood as a tribute to the very ideals the Galactic Senate was originally founded on—cooperation and benevolence—he felt that cancelling the event couldn't help matters in any conceivable way, which, of course, was not surprising to either Jedi. Security had to be increased, then, Kenobi insisted. Palpatine assured the Jedi that the best measures were already in place, and he had every confidence in the Order's abilities to forestall the villains. When Obi-Wan asked that the Chancellor order that the water system be shut off in the bank plaza quadrant, he again refused, for he would not disrupt thousands of lives by doing so: the system would be strictly monitored and guards placed on the Zone's schematic entry points. It would not be difficult to foil the criminal attempt.

Now, however, Palpatine was faced with "the distasteful task" of having to attend the procedural hearing with Senator Divinian, and he asked Kenobi if he could borrow his apprentice, as the experience could prove valuable. Obi-Wan consented, then left for the Temple to meet with Master Windu and Siri—Skywalker really preferred now to be at his Master's side, but he'd requested inclusion in the Chancellor's meetings and felt compelled to go.

The small, private Senate hearing room was furnished with a long table and repulsorlift seats that adjusted to the heights of many differing species. With Palpatine at the head, and Senators Divinian and Organa at the center, on either side, Anakin sat quietly behind the Chancellor, to observe. Bog, after spouting off his official title and authority as committee head, announced that his committee had entered its findings and also delivered an official petition to ban the Jedi from future Senate business: they requested now an override of Senator Organa's counter-petition to stall their petition in a separate committee. Divinian's faction believed the petition must be debated in the full Senate and acted upon immediately. Palpatine then asked for Senator Organa's response to the new Senate petition. Senators from 200 planets had signed a protest, Organa said, and requested to investigate the petition committee for undue bias in its deliberations: until that investigation was concluded, he said, the Senate could hardly debate the committee's recommendations, let alone vote on the issue. Immediately, without further ado, the Chancellor said he'd reached a ruling. Both Senators appeared shocked. As Bog began to stammer out his protestations that the Chancellor had hardly had enough time to consider, nor he himself a chance to dispute, Palpatine silenced him with a raised hand, telling him to relax, for he'd ruled in his favor: the Senate could enter, debate, and vote on the petition to bar the Jedi Order from any further action on behalf of the Galactic Senate. The Chancellor rose, as Divinian looked pleased and Organa looked stunned. The vote must be quick, Bog urged. Palpatine agreed: the debate and vote would take place the next day, after the All Planets Relief Fund ceremony.

Palpatine swept out of the room with a confused Anakin Skywalker in tow. Anakin, of course, expected to hear a spirited debate and witness the justly renowned Bail Organa in action, but never did he suspect that Palpatine would rule for Bog. "You look lost, Anakin," the Chancellor said with a slight smile. And when Anakin asked why he let Bog win, Palpatine told him he gave Bog what he wanted because he was sure he would fail. The boy was struck—for he'd suggested (to his Master earlier) that the Jedi do the same for Omega: let him, for he'll fail. Though Bog didn't know it, Palpatine said, he'd just destroyed his career. Then Anakin suddenly realized that Palpatine had just done what he had done back on Romin, when he felt that surge of power and realized that the Force could allow him to see into motivations and consequences: many beings were transparent in their ego and greed, like Bog. Thinking several steps ahead was not that difficult—and Palpatine had not gloated. He appeared simply to be rather ... satisfied. Did Anakin's Master understand this, like Palpatine? Obi-Wan was so cautious. Anakin looked at Palpatine, admiring his sure, confident stride through the Senate Halls. The Chancellor did not exaggerate his power, but neither did he diminish it: ''he accepted it and accepted the ways in which he would have to use it. How satisfying it must feel to simply wait for events to unfold as you have foreseen them ... How powerful to know the outcome before it happened''. This was what Anakin could learn—and not from his Master. From Palpatine.

Vertex decoy
"You don't understand, Obi-Wan. He's not as stupid as he appears. He is cunning. I didn't realize ... I didn't know ... the lengths he would go. He got one taste of power, and it corrupted him. He has aligned himself with the worst in the galaxy. It started so softly. A favor for the Commerce Guild. Then another. And soon he was approached by another Senator—" "Sano Sauro." "Yes. He sold his honor. Well, the honor I thought he had. And now there is someone else, someone so powerful he does not say his name." "Granta Omega. And with Omega, Jenna Zan Arbor." "Bog was never a strong man. How strange it is to fear him now ... Bog is involved in something terrible. It is more than scheming against the Jedi in the Senate. There is some kind of plot, a takeover that will net him more power. He can't resist boasting to me. Soon we'll be able to afford whatever we want. A luxury cruiser for our trips to Nuralee. A villa by the Sea of Translucency on Dremulae ... He has these grand plans."

- Astri Oddo Divinian speaks to Obi-Wan Kenobi of her conspiring, possessive husband, Senator Bog Divinian. Obi-Wan Kenobi and his fellow Jedi, Siri Tachi and Ferus Olin, pored over the Bank of the Core Plaza water-system schematics at the Jedi Temple. The holomap of the targeted area in the CoCo Town sector of Coruscant was holoprojected as Siri, using a laser pointer, reported what she and Ferus had learned from the experts they'd consulted. She pointed out on the laser map the access points for the transmission of the Zone—the most likely places to strike—but also (bearing in mind they were dealing with Omega) the least likely places as well. They had undercover Senate security forces with the highest-level clearance at each point, to lend their strength to the patrolling Jedi teams. It looked good to Kenobi; they were prepared, had everything covered. Well, almost. Nothing had been uncovered in the lab by the droid analyst on the blue-thread mystery, except that the fabric it came from had thousands of uses and manufacturers—it was common throughout the galaxy. Looking back at the holoprojection map, none of them, oddly enough, felt entirely secure. Ferus doubted any of them would sleep that night.

True to form, Obi-Wan and Anakin spent the night patrolling the streets and skylanes. With watchers provided by Master Windu, they covertly ensured also that the water delivery system remained untouched. Not knowing when Omega's team would strike, but certainly knowing Omega's cunning, they trusted no one else to be fully prepared. Returning from their nighttime rounds as the Temple spires flashed the sun's first rays, Kenobi and his apprentice were awaited in the Great Hall by Jedi Master Soara Antana and her apprentice, Darra Thel-Tanis—Anakin's dear friend whom he'd scarcely seen since their last mission together, when she'd been wounded. Drawing Soara aside, Obi-Wan thanked her for coming so quickly. She told him, "They're having breakfast at the moment," and that Master Ali-Alann was with them. Kenobi told her to meet them at Dexter's Diner at the prearranged time. Anakin shot Kenobi a curious look, raising his eyebrows in question. Obi-Wan told him simply that ''the fear he saw on Astri's face ... he wanted to make it go away.''

The attack
"Ah, better. Let me explain. I have programmed a hundred seeker droids with the vital information to key Senators as well as to Palpatine. All I have to do is push the button."

- Granta Omega explains his plot to the Jedi During the Chancellor's speech where the latter accepted the treasury, the Jedi soon found that one of the guards looked suspicious, which pushed the Jedi into battle. Only too late did they discover that the true intent of Omega's plan was to assassinate the Chancellor.

With Skywalker assigned to protect the Chancellor and Tachi en route, Kenobi left in pursuit of Omega and Zan Arbor. When he found them in a speeder, he skirmished with the pair. Kenobi needed to retreat when Omega deployed seeker droids on him, and he soon was joined by Tachi and Skywalker, who revealed that he left Olin with the Chancellor.

The team confronted Omega, who instantly fled the scene. Meanwhile, Olin remained with the Chancellor and was fending off seeker droids that sought to shoot him down. As Kenobi noticed Roy Teda being followed by a seeker droid, Olin saved him by slicing it. But Teda aimed a blaster at Olin and attempted to fire, only to be shot by the final droid. A moment later, Tyro Caladian came in for Kenobi, but he was shot down.

Aftermath
Omega and Zan Arbor escaped, and Divinian's appeal to have the Jedi blamed for the attack failed. Divinian was disgraced after his failure and a memorial service was held for the late Caladian. Shortly afterwards, Kenobi and Skywalker would find a list to the places Omega had been too. Sometime after that, they found Omega and Zan Arbor on Korriban. Kenobi had killed Omega in self-defense, but Zan Arbor had slipped away once more.

Appearances

 * Jedi Quest: The False Peace
 * Jedi Quest: The Final Showdown 
 * The Last of the Jedi: Underworld
 * The Last of the Jedi: A Tangled Web