6 Emotion yet Peace; Peace is a Lie, There is only Passion 4 (1/2)
Part 4
Kenobi's command ship Negotiator
Ryndellian Sector, near Naboo
Kenobi was out of the hook. While I dealt with Grievous he had made a sensible decision and went to disable the hyperdrive. The one I had a bone to pick up with was Skywalker. The Malevolence was dead in the water. Damaged and without working hyperdrive it was ripe for the taking.
A Sith, a bunch of Jedi and the clone ground troops assigned to the three-star destroyers which were bombarding the dreadnought... Even if we did not receive additional reinforcements it should have been enough to capture the Separatist's flagship. By itself, the super cruiser was a great prize, not to mention its propaganda value. As it were, I hoped that at least Grievous would be out of action for some time. However, unless my Ion dart caused more damage than I suspected all the cyborg needed were some spare parts and a good engineer. To make matters worse, I didn't think that the Separatist general would be dumb enough to face me alone again. For our next meeting, he'll probably have at least a few squads of those elite droids seen in ROTS.
”Skywalker! Tell me what exactly were you thinking when you sent that cruiser at the moon?” I asked after we landed and disembarked.
”The ship needed to go,” he shrugged.
”Please tell me that you were out of comm reach from Kenobi and did not know that the hyperdrive was totaled?”
”Our communications were disrupted by jamming. I was only able to speak with Anakin shortly before we met near the Twilight. Why?” asked Obi-Wan.
”Well, with the hyperdrive taken out the Malevolence would have made a nice prize. Even if the ship itself was beyond repair it still could be sent to the breakers. You saw how big it was. Even if it was only used as raw materials, it could have provided enough for a whole new fleet.”
The pair of Jedi looked at each other. Apparently, neither of them thought about that.
”That's a good point,” said Amidala. ”Who you are anyway?”
I honestly forgot that we were not officially introduced.
”Delkatar Veil at your service, Senator Amidala.” I gave her a courteous bow. Who said that we Sith had no manners? We just picked carefully to whom we showed any kind of respect!
”It's a pleasure. Did you really fight that monster Grievous to a standstill as Master Kenobi said?” she asked curiously.
I grinned under my mask.
”Really, Kenobi? Do you have so little faith in me?” I asked and retrieved the cyborg's foot which I had secured at the small of my back.
I showed them my souvenir.
”He lost an arm and a leg but got lucky and escaped.”
They stared at the piece of the cyborg. If I am not mistaken so far no one on the Republic's side had managed to even scratch the local Boogie Man.
”Ah. That's certainly impressive,” mumbled Obi-Wan.
I could see it in his eyes. His estimate of my combat abilities had risen dramatically and with it the potential threat I presented.
”I just hope that with Grievous is disabled for the time being, so there so there might be a lull in the war.” as she spoke the former Queen had a faraway look in her eyes.
”It's unlikely. The Separatists must have other somewhat competent generals. Besides he is mostly machine now. All he'll need are some spare parts and few repair droids.” I had to be the voice of common sense. The CIS was on the offensive right now and it had strategic surprise on its side. There was no reason for them to slow down their attacks.
”Unfortunately Veil is correct, Senator,” said Kenobi. He was one of the best generals the GAR had and knew the situation better than me.
Amidala looked at me with a thoughtful expression.
”You appear to have a firm grasp of the strategic situation,” she said and frowned. ”I did not expect to see a Jedi with such an interesting outfit. You look more like a mercenary than an Order member, Master Veil.”
”Why, thank you, Senator. I am certainly no Jedi. You could say that in this day and age I am a mercenary with a contract to fulfill.”
Padme raised her delicate eyebrows in surprise.
”He's apparently a Sith from a few thousand years ago and fancies himself a mercenary,” Anakin explained.
”That is not a wise thing to do. Many powerful Jedi had tried and failed. What makes you think that you'll succeed?” asked the former queen, then Skywalkers words fully registered. ”A Sith, like the one who hunted us on Tatooine and Naboo?!” Padme took a step back.
While her dislike for mercenaries was evident, it was now replaced by fear and distrust. But was that a tiny bit of curiosity below it all?
”Precisely because I am not a Jedi, Senator. They are peacekeepers. I am a soldier trained in the art of war. In order to win a conflict such as the one the Republic had found itself a different mindset is needed.” I said with conviction.
”And what is that?! To bomb innocent civilians?! Take over neutral worlds? Do you want us to become as bad as the Separatists?” Amidala growled at me. ”As the Sith?!”
Joy. I was pushing her buttons without even realizing it.
”Bombing civilians, unless they are unfortunate enough to live near strategic objectives? No. That is usually counterproductive. It simply creates more resistance. From what I've seen since my arrival, Senator is a simple fact that the Republic has a better army and the Separatist possesses better generals. As things stand, even if your side wins, it will be over mountains of bodies and oceans of blood. All you'll have in the end will be a long list of shattered and poisoned worlds.” I gave them a piece of my mind.
She looked away.
”There are already too many such worlds,” Padme muttered.
Anakin placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ”We'll stop them, Padme.”