Terrorist attack of 14:9:19

Previous	Escape from Rattatak
Concurrent	Battle of Cerea
Next	Assassination of Viento
Terrorist attack of 14:9:19
Conflict	Clone Wars
Date	c. 22 BBY (14:9:19 GrS)
Place	Coruscant
Outcome	The Galactic Senate is galvanized into passing the Enhanced Security and Enforcement Act
Affiliations involved	Order of the Sith Lords Dark Acolytes
Participants	Sajé Tasha Finis Valorum†

The terrorist attack of 14:9:19 occurred on Coruscant around 22 BBY. Palpatine secretly orchestrated the attack under the guise of Darth Sidious. The attack was later publicly attributed to the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Finis Valorum, the key victim of the attack, had been Supreme Chancellor of the Republic before Palpatine.

Prelude

"The Senate barters away fundamental rights upon which the Republic was built! You trust that the tyrant you are creating will give them back to you when the crisis is over? Palpatine will give back nothing! No one who seeks power the way that he does ever surrenders it willingly!… Palpatine will make sure that any individual or group that opposes him or is in his way is removed! Look what happened to King Veruna! Look what happened to me! I know it was Palpatine who had me framed. I was forced to resign as Chancellor so he could ascend to it! Just as I am certain he arranged for those pirates to attack your transport!… I have no more proof of that than I do that he masterminded my fall. If I did have it, Palpatine would be in chains this moment."

―Finis Valorum to Bail Organa

Palpatine wanted to get rid of Valorum because Valorum had been talking to Senator Bail Organa about Palpatine's political maneuverings. Around 22 BBY, Finis Valorum reappeared in politics following his retirement after being replaced by Palpatine. Valorum had observed Palpatine's activities, both public and private, from a distance, especially how the chancellor's opponents had a habit of disappearing. The most noteworthy of these disappearances was that of Seti Ashgad who disappeared following his opposition to cam droids. Possibly the Enforcement Act had been the last straw in a string of offenses which forced Valorum into action. But Palpatine had ears everywhere, even in custodial droids working in Bail Organa's residence at Cantham House, so when Valorum came to visit Organa there, it was not long before comments like this reached the Chancellor's desk:

What Palpatine thought of Valorum's words is unknown, but they clearly buttressed Organa's courage, so the next morning he appeared at the Chancellor's Suite to insist that under no circumstances would he support the Enforcement Act, and that in fact he would oppose Palpatine on it. The Chancellor said nothing about it, though he did offer Organa a cryptic warning.

The attack

"Might I give you a small warning? It would not be wise for you to see Finis Valorum again. Dirt rubs off so easily, and can tarnish those who would otherwise seem clean."

―Palpatine to Bail Organa

Shortly after the Battle of Jabiim, Sajé Tasha, an Anzat assassin, was hired by fallen Jedi Sora Bulq and Senator Viento, both subordinates of Darth Sidious, to assassinate former Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum. Valorum boarded the freighter Star of Iskin, and Tasha followed and killed him, drinking his "soup". Tasha planted a bomb on the Star and presumably exited before the ship lifted off. The Star of Iskin was destroyed to cover her tracks. All aboard died, and the burning wreck killed thousands on the surface when it crashed.

Aftermath

The information of how Tasha had been contacted would later be utilized by Quinlan Vos in his hunt for the Sith, though it would lead him to believe that Viento, and later Bulq, was the elusive "Second Sith" whom Dooku had mentioned to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Geonosis three years before. Originally tabled,the Enforcement Act was brought back to discussion following a pirate attack on the ship of Bail Prestor Organa as well as the destruction of the Star of Iskin carrying Finis Valorum. The bill was ultimately passed.. The Enforcement Act gave some of the Senate's powers to the Chancellor, and also gave away some fundamental rights of citizens to the central government, something that was never intended to be done. Among other things, the Act allowed for searches and seizures to be conducted without warrants or due process, and permitted the unrestricted use of observation droids. It also dealt harsh penalties for captured pirates, resulting in them preferring to fight to the death than to surrender. Palpatine, who had orchestrated both the assassination of Finis Valorum as well as the pirate attack on Bail Organa, benefited tremendously because he was given more power as a result of his machinations as Darth Sidious. The Finis Valorum Memorial was constructed on Coruscant to honor the last being who served as Chancellor before Palpatine's rise to power. Only 200 people attended the opening ceremony. Future generations, however, would look more kindly on him.

Behind the scenes

The terrorist attack of 14:9:19 first appeared in the sixty-first issue of the comic series Star Wars: Republic, published on February 18, 2004. The Star Wars: The Clone Wars sixth season episode "The Lost One," which first aired March 1, 2014, portrayed Finis Valorum as alive in 20 BBY, contradicting his previously established death in Republic 61 and leaving the canonicity of the attack in the Star Wars Legends continuity uncertain.

Appearances

• Republic 61 (First appearance)
• "Republic HoloNet News Core Edition 15:01:13" — Star Wars Insider 73 (Mentioned only) (First identified as terrorist attack of 14:9:19)
• Republic 73 (Vision)
• Labyrinth of Evil (Mentioned only)

Sources

• The New Essential Chronology

Notes and references

In other languages

• polski