Patriot-112: Hey Everybody! Here I am with my faithful co-writer and friend, 117Jorn, bringing you another exciting chapter of The Second Return!

117Jorn: That's right, and for this chapter, let's just say things will be VERY different than how they happened in the original Clone Wars episodes.

Patriot-112: Yep! So sit back, relax, and watch the magic happen!

Chapter 4

A day of Peril

Location: Jedi Temple

Time: One day after the Bombing

A Day had passed since the temple bombing, and Letta was under full Jedi custody. However today was the day that many of the Jedi Temple, along with several workers had gathered for the eulogy of the Jedi and Temple workers who died during the hangar bombing. Jaden, Matthew, Amy, and their parents were also present as well, along with chancellor Palpatine, Padme, and Bail, among other notable individuals.

Yoda walked before the bodies before them, covered in burial cloth. "One with the Force, they are," he began. "And our job it is, to remember that we will in time, also pass on. Luminous beings are we, but temporary vessels our bodies are. And we shall all find ourselves here, in time."

He then paused for a moment. "A moment of silence I ask," he said. "So we may remember, and to move on."

As the others bowed their heads in silence, Ahsoka looked to her side and saw her best friend Barriss Offee, who appeared to be more sad than the others.

"You were close to one of them?" she asked, and the Mirialan nodded.

"Tutso Mara..." she said. "We... we trained together..." she then smiled a bit "He... he helped me learn... how to hold my Lightsaber the right way..."

"Live for the living Jedi, we must," Yoda continued, as he came to a stop. "Live through us... forever they will."

With that he tapped his cane and the cloth covered bodies of the six fallen Jedi lowered below and six lights glowed, showing them being cremated.

After the funeral procession, the people who attended went back to their normal duties. Anakin, Ahsoka, Jaden and Barriss walked down the halls of the Temple along with Wilhuff Tarkin. "So, what happens to Letta now?" Ahsoka asked.

"She has been moved," Tarkin said, causing Ahsoka to blink in surprise.

"Moved?" she asked. "To where?"

Tarkin decided to elaborate, "The Senate has decided that this case be handled by the military, thus why Letta Turmond is now in Military custody,"

Ahsoka looked at Tarkin in surprise and shock. "B-But why?" she asked. "This is a Jedi matter, isn't it!?"

"Clones were killed, which makes this Terrorist attack a Military matter." Tarkin said, with a barely noticeable smirk on his features. "An attack on the Jedi, is also an attack on the Republic Senate."

"Admiral Tarkin is right," Anakin said. "Letta isn't a Jedi, it's not our job to be judge and jury over a citizen of the Republic."

"Yes, but we also need to find out what else Letta knows." Jaden said. "She obviously wasn't working alone, someone gave her those Nano-Droids to feed Jackar, and someone killed Lan Olesa to cover their tracks."

Tarkin still kept his stoic face. "True, but, the Chancellor has concluded that the Jedi be removed from as many military functions as possible, you have said it yourselves: The Jedi are peacekeepers, not Soldiers."

Ahsoka's eyes narrowed at that. "I just hope the Chancellor knows what he's doing," she said, and Tarkin smirked at that.

"I assure you Padawan Tano, that what the Chancellor decides, it rarely isn't without a strategy," he said as they arrived at an elevator. Upon its arrival, Tarkin stepped inside.

"I'll meet with you later, Ahsoka," Anakin said before he approached the elevator himself. Ahsoka nodded as she, Jaden, and Barriss turned and left. Once they left, Anakin sighed. "In ways, she's still very young," he said.

"Indeed," Tarkin said as the door closed behind them.

Meanwhile, the three others walked down the halls of the Temple, before Jaden groaned a bit. "Tarkin... I hate that guy," Jaden said bluntly, shaking his head. "He's a bit too over confident for his own good."

Ahsoka nodded in agreement. "I know how you feel. Even though after I saved him from being killed on Lola Sayu, I always get the feeling he secretly hates Jedi," the Togruta Padawan said. "But he always manages to get along with Skyguy somehow."

Jaden raised a brow at that. "Skyguy?" he questioned.

"Anakin," a voice said ahead of them. "Skyguy was her counter whenever he would call her Snips." They looked ahead as they saw three individuals approach them. The first was a woman who looked 16 years old, with a set of light brown Jedi Padawan robes with a visor which seemed to cover where her eyes should be, and had long shoulder length red hair tied into a ponytail,and stood at 5'11. The second was a man who looked just as old as the woman, only he appeared to be a Theelin/Zeltron Hybrid. He had short dark red hair and dark green eyes with a few horns on his head, while he stood at 6'0. The third person was wearing the uniform of a Temple Security guard, with an Echani Vibroblade strapped to his back, and a DH-17 Blaster Pistol on his side. He had short crew cut white hair and silver colored eyes standing at 5'9.

Jaden chuckled a bit, glancing at Ahsoka. "Snips?" he asked, while Ahsoka seemed to blush at that, while glaring at the person who said it.

"Thanks a lot, Jens!" the Togruta Padawan said, as the Miraluka woman who spoke giggled a bit while the two men laughed a bit as well, even Barriss was giggling a bit.

"Come on, it was funny," the Echani man in the security uniform said, still chuckling a bit. "Besides, your friend here would have found out sooner or later!"

Ahsoka sighed as she rubbed her temples. "You three, I swear...Jaden, these are my best friends along with Barriss. Jens Hantomar, Ben Pulastra, and Lanom Groshun."

"Pleasure to meet you," Jaden said with a nod.

"And you, Jaden," Jens said with a slight bow. "We've heard much about what you and the Mandalorian Knights did during the Battle of Sundari."

"It's nice to know the Jedi and Republic aren't the only ones fighting in this war anymore," Lanom said with a smile. "Hopefully you can help give us some breathing room."

Jaden smiled at that. "Well, we have just liberated Concord Dawn from the Seps, and there are plans for a major offensive, but the rest of it is classified," he said. "All I can tell you is that the Clanker's won't know what hit 'em."

"Man, I wish I could be out there fighting with you guys..." Ben groaned out. "But, being a temple security guard... I'm probably not gonna see any action unless the Sep's invade Coruscant."

Jaden could only shrug. "It could happen. Despite it being home to an entire army of clones, it is possible to invade Coruscant," he said. "It will be a hard fight, though."

"Honestly, I don't want the fighting to reach Coruscant," Ben admitted. "I'm all for a good fight... but I'd rather avoid getting civilians caught in the crossfire."

"Same here," Jaden said. "Hopefully we will be able to minimize casualties in the war, with the Mandalorians and Republic working together."

Everyone nodded at that, until Ahsoka's comm-link beeped. A moment later, Anakin's voice came up.

"Ahsoka! We're needed in the war room!" he said. Moments later, Jaden's own comm-link activated, as his father's voice came through. "Jaden, War Room, ASAP!" he said.

"What's up, Dad?" Jaden asked his father.

"It's the Separatists, they're launching another counter-attack, and it's near Mandalorian Space," Aren said. "They're invading Ord Cestus and Cathar!"

"The Mandalorian Union is mobilizing forces to defend the planets as we speak, and so are we," Anakin said. "We need to move out!"

Ahsoka looked at her Comm-link in surprise. "But... the investigation..." she began, only to be stopped.

"Don't worry about that now, Ahsoka," Anakin said. "We're already assigning another team to handle it. You and Jaden head to the War Room for the briefing."

"Ahsoka, we gotta go," Jaden said as he turned his own Comm-link off. "This is just as important as the Investigation, the Sep's won't wait for us after all."

Ahsoka sighed a bit, but she nodded. "We'll be there soon, Master," she said before turning off the comm-link, turning to Barriss and the others. "Well, duty calls, I guess."

Her friends nodded in understanding at that.

"You better hurry Ahsoka," Ben said. "Hopefully you can catch up to where the other team left off, when you get back."

Ahsoka smiled a bit, before she and Jaden turned around and rushed towards the War Room for their next mission. The group of four friends then decided to head in another direction.

"It's strange..." Jens said, causing the others to look at her in curiosity.

"What is Jens?" Lanom asked.

"The Mandalorians..." Jens said. "For almost all of our recorded history, Mandalorians have been the traditional enemies of the Jedi, along with the Sith, except on a handful of exceptions. Yet they are willing to put away their grudges against us, to fight a common enemy."

Ben hummed in agreement. "Yeah, the Mandalorians should have every right to hate us and the Republic," he said, surprising the others. "The excision nearly 700 years ago, the Battle of Galidraan..."

"And the Mandalorian Wars," Barriss finished. "That was the conflict that started the whole rivalry between the Jedi and the Mandalorians."

"Yeah..." Jens said.

"Ah! There you are!" shouted a voice and everyone turned and saw Master Arligan Zey approaching.

"Master Zey?" Barriss asked, the group turning to him. "What is it?"

"I came after I heard about the current investigation team being sent off to the front lines," he said, and the Padawans and Security guard rose an eyebrow at that.

"Well that was fast," Ben said. "Anakin had called Ahsoka to the War Room just moments ago,"

"I know, I just heard it myself." Arligan said, "Which is why I need to find a new team which will help me during the rest of this investigation."

The four teenagers all looked at him, with Jens asking. "But, you're the head of the Special Operations Brigade! Who will handle things in your place?"

Arligan just smirked a bit, "I already had Maze take over for me. He can handle it."

The young Jedi and Guard all had a feeling that the ARC Trooper will give the Jedi Master a mouth full when this investigation was over.

"So...who do you have in mind?" Lanom asked, and Arligan just smirked more.

"I believe you four should be the most help," he said, causing them to all blink in surprise. "I've read up on some of your files, you've all seen some fair action in the Clone Wars here and there, and Ben has experience around the streets of Coruscant, something many Jedi are lacking. Something tells me you four might be able to help out quite a bit in this investigation."

The four could only either scratch their heads or blush in embarrassment.

"Uhh, thanks Master Zey," Ben said, and Arligan chuckled.

"Don't mention it," he said. "Now, I already talked to your masters Jens and Barriss, so, no need to inform them."

The mentioned Padawans nodded at that. "Sounds good to me," Ben said. "It'll be nice to actually do something... I love my job here, but most of the time I'm just standing around here at the Temple. It'll be nice to actually get out more."

Arligan nodded at that. "I know how you feel," he said and then motioned for the Padawans and Security Guard to follow him.

Meanwhile

At the Republic Military Base

Not too far from the Jedi Temple itself, the personal military garrison base of Tarkin's forces stood, as patrols of AT-TE's, and Clone Troopers patrolled the base's perimeter in the night sky, as LAAT/i's soared over the skies.

Inside the base's prison sector, Letta Turmond sat in her own cell, unable to sleep. She had been held here for the past four days since she was captured by the Jedi, and their Mandalorian allies. Having a long time to think about everything she had done. She basically sacrificed her own husband, just to strike a blow at the Jedi. Though she had some respect for the Jedi, she believed this was something that needed to be done.

Suddenly, the lights of her cell began to flicker for a moment, before they died as the emergency lights turned on, as her cell glowed red. This surprised her for a moment, but she didn't pay much mind to it.

"Letta Turmond." A synthesized voice said, causing her to jump as she looked at the opposite side of the cell, to see none other than the Shadow-Born standing there. The woman's eyes widen in fear as she saw the visor glowing menacingly red, as it glared at her.

"W-What do you want?" she said in a terrified voice as the cloaked figure stood over her.

"I need answers" the vigilante said, "And you're the only one who can give them to me, don't bother calling for help, I temporarily deactivated the cameras, no one will hear you." He then strode towards her, before grabbing her by the neck, and lifting her up into the air "Who gave you the Nano-Droids?" He demanded, "Who are you working for?"

Letta grabbed the Vigilante's arm in a vain attempt to get free, "A...A man from Farelle Industries gave them to me! As well as showing me how to put the droids into Jackar! H-He said he was doing it on someone's orders!"

"Whose orders?" Shadow-Born demanded again. "And don't say Rayce Farelle, I know it was not him."

Letta seemed hesitant to answer, before she gulped. "H-He only calls himself... Martyr." She said, "That's all I know!"

"Martyr?" the masked man said, before tightening on the woman's throat making her struggle, "Are you sure that was the name he said?"

Unable to talk, Letta could only nod her head vigorously. "Thank you, then," he said. "Sweet dreams." And with that, he knocked her out as she fell to the floor of the cell.

…..

"Hey! Wake up!" shouted a voice, as Letta was beginning to come to. Her eyes opened and the first thing she saw was one of the many clone troopers of the GAR.

"Uhh... what...?" Letta groaned out as she stood back up. "What do you want?"

"I'm asking the questions here," said Commander Fox. "Did anyone come into your cell?"

Letta blinked at that, "What do you mean?"

"There was a power outage in this sector of the base," Fox said. "And there was a slight flux in the power to your cage, so I ask again: Did anyone enter your cell?"

She was half tempted to tell the Clone the truth, however she simply shook her head. "No..." she said. "No one."

Fox's eyes narrowed behind his visor, knowing that she was lying somehow. But, he'll let the interrogators figure that out. "We'll see if you're saying that when the Interrogators are done with you," he said, before he turned and left Letta alone.

As she once again sat down in her bunk, Letta was suddenly given a feeling of nervousness, almost as if she could feel that something was going to happen, and soon.

3 Hours Later

Jedi Temple

In the War Room, the Jedi, along with the Mandalorians of Clan Takeo, were looking at the Star chart which showed the entire galaxy. Obi-wan was there as he pointed out the Separatist attack.

"The Separatist Forces have attacked four sectors, which includes the Quelii Sector, near Mandalorian Space," he said, as the galaxy map zoomed in on the Quelii Sector. "We believe the attacks are being launched from the Gordian Reach, and their focusing most of their efforts on the Cathar and Ord Cestus systems, the latter of which has already been nearly overrun."

"The Republic and the Mandalorian Union are preparing to defend Cathar, and begin a counter-attack on Ord Cestus to aid the forces already there." Aren continued. "The GAR's 442nd Siege Battalion is already planet-side on Ord Cestus, trying to hold off the Separatists. But without help, they are going to be wiped out. The 3rd Mandalorian Strike Fleet is preparing to launch an attempt to reinforce their positions, but they won't be able to do much without help."

"On Cathar, we already have the 495th Legion lead by master Telma Klos, mounting a defense," Obi-wan said, shaking his head. "But they won't hold off against them for long without help."

"We got that covered," Sutura said, and then load a data disc into the hologram, and three images appeared, one was a wolf-like Sentient that reminded the Jedi of the Shistavanen, wearing what looked like red and white ceremonial armor. The wolf-like creature had black fur with white fur on it's belly.

"This is Master Solus Romul, Commander of the 33rd Mandalorian Division," She explained. "His unit is mostly made up of Lycan Warriors like himself, along with Jaster and Shae clones. I received word from HIGHCOM that his unit is among the closest, and will be moving in to assist. They should be able to help hold the line until we arrive."

She then turned her focus to the other two individuals, a Chalactan woman, who appeared to be just entering her 30's wearing jade green and copper brown female Mandalorian shock trooper armor, and wearing a grey colored kama. Her hair was a dark brown color braided in three ponytails, and her eyes were a grey color.

The final individual was a mystery to them, since they were wearing what they recognized as a hybrid between Ubese and Mandalorian Armor, but they could tell he was male because of his body shape. The armor itself was colored a dark yellow with maroon trim, while a blood red shoulder cape draped over his left arm. His trademark Ubese helmet was on his head concealing his face.

"These two are General Sepa Villanes and Fleet Admiral Rivash Reanne, they command the 115th Mandalorian Airborne Corps, and the 12th Expeditionary Fleet, Respectively," Sutura said. "They will join us on Cathar, to help out the 495th."

Mace looked at Rivash in surprise. "How does an Ubese fight with Mandalorians?" he asked. "I thought they were Xenophobic."

Sutura smirked. "Rivash was adopted by an Ubese Mercenary, who just so happened to be among the few Ubese who did not fall victim to Xenophobia, which is why she married a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter. And, he's human."

Anakin grinned a bit as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I heard the Ubese are good at finding rare hard-to-find technology, and that most of them are technocrats," he said, and Aren nodded at that.

"That's correct, and Rivash is one as well. Got it from his mother," he said. "He also has contacts with several other Ubese Technocrats, who are also highly skilled bounty hunters and mercenaries, but that aside, Rivash and Sepa will reach the Quelii Sector about the same time we do. However, we need to find a way to cut off the Separatist's supplies to the invasion."

Sutura then pressed a series of commands, as the map switched to the Gordian Reach. "Probe Droids report a large CIS presence in the Yavin system, it seems to be their Headquarters for the invasion on the sector, and also acts as the H.Q for all CIS forces in the Gordian Reach as well."

"What are you proposing?" Obi-wan asked, as Sutura and Aren grinned.

"While one force reinforces our troops, I suggest we lead our own strike force against the Yavin System, and the Gordian Reach," Sutura offered. "I suggest Anakin's 501st Legion, your 7th Sky Corps, and our 144th Mythosaur Heavy Assault Corps, attack Yavin, and throw the Separatist command in the region into chaos."

The two thought about that. "Hmm, yes, that would be the best choice," Anakin said. "Not to mention it will give us a position to cut the Hydian Way from them, we could kill two Mynok's with one stone."

Yoda thought about this as he floated in his hover chair, before he hummed in agreement "Launch the attack, you shall," he said. "Cut off Separatist forces, divide and conquer you can."

Aren and Sutura grinned at that.

"That is exactly what we intend to do, Master Yoda," the latter said, until Admiral Tarkin interrupted the meeting via hologram.

"I am sorry to interrupt, however I wish to inform you that the new investigation team has been assembled," Tarkin said. "And Master Arligan Zey has volunteered to become the new lead investigator."

Aren and Sutura blinked at that. "Master Zey? That old coot is still around?" the former asked, while Mace nodded.

"Yes Aren, and he is now the head of the Special Operations Brigade," the Master of the Order said. Tarkin raised an eyebrow at that.

"I assume you know Master Zey?" the Admiral said.

"Back when me and Sutura were in the Order, Zey was our temporary master when Master Windu and Master Shaak Ti were away out on missions," Aren answered with a light chuckle. "We tended to call him 'Uncle Zey', it annoyed the hell out of him."

"I see," Tarkin said. "Also, I'm sending you the roster for the new team,"

With that he Admiral sent the images of the new Temple Bombing Investigation team, with Ahsoka's eyes widening at who she saw.

"Barriss, Jens, Lanom, Ben and Scout?" she asked in surprise. "Why did you pick them?"

"They volunteered, actually, after Master Zey offered them the position," Tarkin explained. "Miss Scout is a recent addition who Master Zey recommended shortly after gaining the others."

Ahsoka couldn't believe it as he looked at the faces of her five friends and sighed.

"Scout, Ben, Lanom, and Jens I could understand jumping for joy about this, but Barriss? Sure she's a great fighter, and an excellent healer, but I don't think criminal investigation is her forte," she said.

"That may be, however she volunteered, either way," Tarkin said. "She may be more useful in this investigation than you may know, Miss Tano."

Ahsoka sighed at that. "I just hope she knows what she's doing."

Republic Military Base

30 minutes later

A single LAAT/i gunship flew over the base before landing in the fighter assembly. It's side doors opened, letting it's six passengers out, as Master Zey lead Ben, Lanom, Barris, Jens, and Scout out of the gunship.

"Alright, so our first order of business is to interrogate Letta Turmond," Zey said, as he looked through a Datapad. "Fox messaged me, telling me that there was a short power outage in her cell, and he believes she spoke with someone who snuck into the base at the time."

"Do we have any clue who it was?" asked Scout as they began walking toward the main building.

"No, unfortunately," Zey said with a sigh. "And Letta's not talking either, hopefully we can get her talking though... I've got a bad feeling about this, though."

"You're not the only one, Master Zey," Ben said. "And I'm not even a Jedi."

Arligan chuckled at the Echani's sense of humor as they entered the base. They arrived at the prison checkpoint, where the clones on duty saluted them as they arrived, as Fox approached them.

"Master Zey," The Clone said, saluting. "Glad to have you here sir."

Arligan nodded at the Shock Trooper commander. "Thank you, Commander Fox," he said. "The prisoner still isn't talking?"

Fox shook his head. "No, sir. She's still tight lipped," he said. "Though now with you here, it will be easier to crack her."

Zey sighed. "Let's hope so," he said as Fox lead them towards the cell. "We must know for certain if she is working alone or not, however I fear there is more to this investigation than what meets the eye."

Fox nodded. "I personally agree with you on that sir," he said and they stopped at the cell. Fox then turned to them. "This is it, sir. But I'm afraid I have to ask to leave your weapons with me and my men."

Arligan nodded at that, and turned to the others in his team, and motioned for them to do as the clone instructed, as they handed over their respective lightsabers, or in Ben's case, his Vibrosword and blaster, before proceeding into the cell.

Inside, Letta sat, her eyes downcast not appearing to registering the arrival of the Investigation team, at least until she glanced up. "So now its the Jedi's turn to interrogate me?" she muttered. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

Hearing that coming from her, Arligan knew it was gonna be tough.

With a sigh he signaled for the clone troopers to leave while he and the others entered the cell.

"It would be best for all of us if you'd just tell us everything, Miss Turmond," The Special Forces Director said. "You know that you are going away for a long time, so it will be best if you just come clean with it all right now to make it easier on yourself."

The woman could only glare at the director, as she looked at the gathered group, until her eyes settled on Barriss.

"I could only talk to one of you," she said. "Just one of you."

Arligan rose an eyebrow before he followed her gaze toward Barriss, knowing who she probably wanted to talk to. "Barriss, can you handle her?" he asked.

Barriss nodded. "Yes Master Zey," she said, "If anything happens, I will tell you."

The Jedi Master nodded, as he and the others stepped outside, as the doors closed behind them as Barriss turned to Letta, with narrowed eyes.

"Alright, Miss Turmond," she said, "Why do you want to speak to me alone?"

"Because my life is in danger," Letta said, as she sat up. "Feeding Jackar with the Nano-Droids was not my idea, the person who is really behind this will get to me unless I tell you the truth."

"And what is the truth?" Barriss asked, still looking at her warily.

"You already know a corrupt member of Farelle Industries gave me the Nano-Droids," she said. "However he had higher allegiances... a masked man, who called himself Martyr... He... he was the one who showed me how to use the Nano-Droids as a bomb."

"Why did he do it?" Barriss asked, as Letta glared at her.

"There are some people who believe the Jedi Order is not what it use to be!" She snapped. "The Jedi have become Warmongers, and Military Weapons. They are killing when they should be keeping the peace!" She then pointed at Barriss accusingly. "Martyr may not be a Jedi, but he does use the Force, and he knows the truth, to make a statement, and is willing to attack your order in order to do it!"

Barriss' eyes narrowed slightly, as her fists clenched. "It is difficult to keep the peace, when people like the Separatists are threatening to overthrow the Republic!" she said. "What do you suggest we do, Letta? Step aside and let the Separatists march all over the Republic?"

Letta was surprised at the statement, she never looked at the Jedi's situation, only the views of the citizens of the Republic. However, her eyes quickly narrowed. "Well, can you blame us for thinking it?" she demanded. "You Jedi spend all of your time locked up in that precious temple of yours! The only time you ever leave is when you take on missions from the Senate!"

Barriss reigned in her anger at the stubborn woman's continued accusations at the Jedi. It was difficult though, considering the words were somewhat truthful.

"The Temple has been my home ever since I was inducted into the Jedi at an young age," she said. "It was the only home I've ever known, the Masters, the Knights, even my fellow Padawans... even the younglings and people who just work there like Ben... I consider each and every one of them family," She then looked at Letta. "And like any family, we have our ups and downs, our strengths and our flaws."

The more Letta listened to Barriss' words, the more she believed that what she believed was slowly seeping away as the Padawan continued.

"You may not believe me or any other Jedi, Letta, but I can feel you regret killing those maintenance workers, who were just looking for work," she said. "And I can feel, you feel even more regret killing Jackar, because you loved him, just like how I love my friends, and my family in the order."

She then stepped towards Letta, as she put her hands on her shoulders. Her eyes holding no fury or anger, but rather sadness. "Please... help us, so we can find this Martyr, so that he won't ruin more lives like he did to you, Jackar, and all of the families and friends who lost their loved ones in the explosion, I promise you we will keep you safe from Martyr."

Letta bowed her head for a few minutes, before lifting it up.

"H-he's in the-," she began to say only for her to grasp her neck and be lifted into the air, choking. Barriss' blue eyes widened in alarm and horror, as she saw the woman in a strong Force Choke.

"Letta!" she yelled, as she tried to use the Force to lessen the grip, "Master Zey, MASTER ZEY!"

Moments after she shouted, Zey and the others rushed in, and their eyes widened. "Barriss, what are-"

"Someone is attempting to force choke her!" Barriss warned. "I... I'm trying to... lessen the grip!"

Zey immediately reached out in the force, and quickly saw Barriss was telling the truth. He began to trace where the person attempting to Choke Letta was, and found it somewhere on the base "Jens, Lanom, help her!" Zey shouted, "Ben, alert the guards and put this base on high alert! A Dark Jedi is somewhere in the base!"

Ben nodded and dashed out of the cell, while Zey turned to Scout.

"Scout! You're with me! I think I know where that Dark Jedi is! Let's go!" he ordered, and he and the Padawan left the cell to look for the Dark Jedi as Lanom and Jens helped Barriss trying to lessen the Force Grip on Letta.

Meanwhile, in the security room of the prison block, a clone shock trooper was seeing what was happening in the cell, and immediately turned to Fox.

"Sir! The prisoner!" the clone trooper shouted, as Fox hit the alarm button and then turned to the two troopers with him, while drawing his DC-17 hand blasters.

"Follow me!" he ordered and he and the troopers left the room, soon coming across Ben, Scout and Arligan as they ran.

"Fox, there is a Dark Jedi in the base," Arligan stated. "They're trying to Force choke Letta. Jens, Barriss, and Lanom are trying to lessen their grip, but we need to find them and break their focus before they kill our only lead!"

"Can you detect him?" Fox asked, as Arligan nodded. "Then we'll follow you sir! This bastard won't escape here."

Arligan smiled at that. "Let's go then!" he said, and the group darted to where the Jedi General was sensing the intruder.

Back in the cell, the three Padawans were beginning to strain as they kept whoever was choking Letta from killing her.

"Damn! Whoever's doing this is strong!" Lanom shouted, "I don't know how much longer I can hold it!"

"Just hold it for as long as you can!" Jens hissed, as she tried her best to hold off the force choke herself.

"Letta, breath normally," Barriss said, as calmly as she could while she worked on keeping her from being choked "We're going to get you through this, just calm down, and breath normally!"

Meanwhile, on top of the base, a figure in black and grey robes rose an eyebrow as the alarms went off, and he was beginning to sense resistance to his attack on Letta 'There is more than one fighting me off,' he thought. 'We had not anticipated others being here... no matter, they cannot keep this up for long.'

With that, the Dark Jedi pressed his efforts kill the loose end, lest the Jedi find their hidden base.

'I will not fail you, Master Martyr,'

As the figure continued to Force Choke Letta, the doors of the main building opened up, and Arligan, Scout, Ben, and the Clones rushed out.

"On the roof! I sense them on the roof! Get a gunship! We're running out of time!" Arligan ordered.

"Already on it!" Fox said, just as a LAAT/i soared right over them with its spotlight turned on, opening its troop bay and hovering in place just long enough for them to board before taking back off as Arligan guided them.

The Dark Jedi soon found himself under the spotlight, as he glared up at the LAAT/i. "Give up now, you cannot escape!" The pilot announced on the loudspeaker. He cursed, as he was forced to break his concentration, as he jumped away, and began running on the rooftops of the base, the LAAT/i quickly going out on pursuit.

"Stay on him, Oddball! Don't let him out of your sight!" Arligan said, with the Clone pilot nodding.

"He won't get far, sir!" he said, as the gunship continued it's chase of the hooded Dark Jedi, as another LAAT/i joined in the pursuit. It flew on one side of the running Darksider, with one of it's side doors opening and four Clones began shooting stun shots at the fleeing Dark Jedi who activated a pair of red bladed lightsabers as he deflected the shots.

He then jumped off from the roof, and onto the ground floor before he continued running again, as three squads of Clone Troopers chased them through the assembly area of AT-TE's. He jumped up on top of one of the Walkers, before he proceeded to jump from walker to walker, maintaining the high ground over the other troopers who fired their stun rounds, only for them to either miss because of the distance, or be deflected by the Darksider's lightsabers.

"Damn! He's just deflecting them away!" shouted one of the clones, as they continued to chase him.

"Just keep chasing him, if you have a shot, take it!" shouted a clone in red/black trimmed ARF trooper armor, and a kama, who was handling a massif. "Come on Grizzer! Time to get some chow!"

He then let the Massif loose, as it rushed forward to follow the Dark Jedi, who had found his way towards the sewage pipes, hopping onto one of the catwalks and continuing his escape as the Clones followed relentlessly.

'Damn, they're persistent for clones!' The Dark Jedi cursed in his mind as he saw the clones still chasing him. He then saw the Massif heading toward him, and then smirked. Skidding to a stop while turning, he prepared one of his lightsabers.

"Here puppy, puppy!" he said tauntingly as Grizzer got closer to him.

With the pursuing clones, Hound's eyes widen in alarm as he saw the Darksider abruptly stop.

"Grizzer! No! STOP!" the ARF trooper yelled to his partner, who didn't hear him as he leapt at the Darksider. The Dark Jedi smirked, as he swung his lightsaber several times, as the Massif yelped in pain before it fell to the ground, several lightsaber cuts on its body and legs smoking.

The hooded man prepared to finish the animal, only to be stopped by several blaster shots, as Hound and the other shock troopers ran toward them, with the former firing his DC-17 hand blaster, which was set on the kill setting. Seeing no point in staying the Darksider turned and kept running along the catwalks.

Hound and the other clones rushed over to Grizzer who whimpering in pain, with the ARF Trooper kneeling down and checking on his partner.

"Easy, Grizzer," Hound said. "You'll be okay,"

He turned to the other clones. "Well, what are you standing around for? Go get him!" he barked and the Coruscant Guard continued their chase.

The Dark Jedi continued to run, jumping over any obstacles and effortlessly blocking off any attacks thrown at him. However as he descended from a flight of stairs from the Catwalk, once again a Spotlight was on him as three LAAT/i's circled over him, as the Clone Guards began to surround him.

He merely smirked before he used a Force jump to hop clean over the guards and the LAAT/i's, and onto one of the larger pipes before cutting out a hole large enough for him to enter, before slipping into the sewers. But the clone's continued on, as they used cable to rappel into the pipe, and switched on the lights on their blasters as they ran after the Dark Jedi.

The Dark Jedi used the maze-like sewers to his advantage, running through different corridors, fainting turns, using everything he had available to avoid capture. Eventually after a few minutes of running, and after running through a series of slow-moving fans, he finally lost the Clones.

As the sounds of Clones rushing grew more and more distant, the Dark Jedi grinned as he continued to run through the sewers. However the sound of Lightsabers alerted him, as he turned around and cursed as he saw Arligan following in hot pursuit with Scout right next to him, their lightsabers active.

He then began to bolt again, as the shouts of Arligan ordering him to stop, fell on deaf ears.

'Dammit! I expected nothing else from the Director of Special Forces!' were the Darksider's thoughts as he ran down another sewer drain, which led him outside, and to a large pit that led to the Underworld of Coruscant.

"Hold it!" a voice shouted, and the Dark Jedi turned around and saw the Jedi Master along with Scout. "There's nowhere else to go! Surrender now!"

The Dark Jedi looked at the two Jedi before him, and smirked. "You won't stop it, Jedi," he said. "You cannot stop the flames in motion..."

Arligan's eyes narrowed. "We've stopped the Sith before," he said. "We'll stop Dooku all the same."

The Dark Jedi laughed. "Dooku? Ha! He is but the pretender," he said. "He is no true Sith... soon however, the true Sith'ari shall rise... and your order and the Republic shall burn in ashes..." The Dark Jedi activated his red lightsaber, as the Jedi prepared themselves for him to attack. But then, shockingly, he raised the lightsaber to his own neck.

"NO!" Arligan shouted, but was too late as the Dark Jedi cut his own head off, as his body fell down into the undercity below.

"Dammit!" said Scout cursed just as Fox and his men showed up.

"Sir, where's the Dark Jedi?"

Arligan gave a grunt of frustration. "He's dead," he said plainly. "Cut his own head off."

The Special Operations director then noticed the Dark Jedi's lightsaber that was near the edge and proceeded to pick it up, thankful he was wearing his gloves. He then handed the weapon to Fox.

"Get that to the CSF investigators..." he said, "...and have someone look for the body."

Fox nodded and took the lightsaber, and he along with the clones with him headed back to the base.

"What did he mean by Dooku being a pretender, and the true 'Sith'ari' will rise?" Scout said, which made Arligan shake his head at that.

"I don't know Scout," he said. "But my gut tells me something bad is going to happen. Sooner or later"

Back at the Base

Letta's cell

Back in Letta's cell, Barris along with Jens were tending to the almost strangled to death woman who was now unconscious. Ben and Lanom were outside, keeping an eye out for any more danger, as Barris used her healing abilities on Letta's throat.

"Her voice box is partially crushed." she said somberly. "And the trauma has put her into a coma, it might be a long while before she wakes up, let alone talk."

Jens let out a sigh. "Which means we're back to square one."

Barris nodded as she knew they just lost a major lead.

"And she was about to tell us where this 'Martyr' was." She said, "The Assassin who did this knew exactly when to strike."

It was then they heard Ben's voice outside.

"Girls, Tarkin's coming..." he warned. "And he does not look happy..."

Jens sighed "He's not gonna like this..." she said, and a few moments later, Tarkin entered the cell with the two, and although he at first glance appeared calm, anyone else who knew Tarkin could tell he was madder than hell. "What happened here?" he asked.

"We were interrogating Letta, when someone began to Force-Choke her from a long-distance inside the base," Barris answered. "Myself, Jens and Lanom managed to hold back the Force Choke keeping whoever was trying to kill her in succeeding the deed until Master Zey and Scout located whoever it was." She then sighed "But... now she's in a coma because of the trauma, and her voice box is pretty much crushed." She then shook her head. "And she was just about to give us some information..."

"What information?" Tarkin asked.

"Letta was helped by someone who calls himself Martyr," Jens answered. "He or She was the one who supplied Letta with the Nano-droids, and I'd bet my money that Martyr is also responsible for killing that man from Farelle Industries who had access to them in the first place."

Barriss then spoke again. "She was about to tell us where Martyr was until...this happened."

Tarkin then sighed at that. "Well, that's most troubling news indeed. Our only lead is incapacitated, and the only one who could tell us where this 'Martyr' is hiding, is long gone by now."

"Try dead..."

The group turned and saw Arligan standing in the doorway of the cell.

"The Dark Jedi killed himself with his own weapon, and his body fell into Coruscant's Underworld." he said with a sigh. "We had the bastard cornered too... before he killed himself, he just called Dooku a 'Pretend Sith' and that the true 'Sith'ari' will rise, to burn the Jedi Order and Republic."

Tarkin gave a sigh at that.

"Well, it appears, Master Zey, that you have your work cut out for you," the Admiral said in a tone that caused the Director along with Ben and Lanom to bristle slightly at that, as Tarkin continued. "I advise you to have a few more assigned to your team, ones with...punctuality."

Arligan's eyes narrowed, but nodded. "I believe you may be right in us needing more members," he said. "I'll have to ask the Council and see who they have to spare."

Tarkin nodded and left the cell, which made the group give a sigh of relief.

"I really hate that guy," Ben said with extra emphasis on 'hate'.

"You're not the only one Ben," Jens said. "How in the Force he became an Admiral is beyond me."

Lanom then looked at the Special Operations Director, who had two of his fingers on his head. "So, who do you think will join us, Master Zey?" the Theelin/Zeltron hybrid said, which made the Master give a sigh.

"I don't know," he said. "At this point, I'll accept all the help I can get..." However he then paused as he smirked a bit. "But I think I know someone who might be able to help out."

Meanwhile

Special Operations Brigade Headquarters

Arca Company Barracks

In the HQ of the Republic Special Operations Brigade, Republic Commandos and ARC Troopers moved about the base, either carrying out patrols or simply walking through the base as they awaited for their next assignments. Inside the base, one Clone in particular stood out. This Clone wore Phase-II ARC Trooper armor, the fore arm and thigh armor colored dark crimson, while his chest plate was colored brown, his Kama kilt possessing 5 diamonds imprinted on it, three colored crimson, and two brown.

This ARC Trooper was walking down the halls of the H.Q, before his commlink began going off. The Clone blinked, before he answered. "Brazen," he said into the Communicator.

"Brazen, it's General Zey." came the serious voice of Arligan.

The ARC, Alpha-60 Brazen, stood at attention. Knowing that when the Director sounded serious, it was trouble.

"Sir, what's happening?" he said and Arligan replied.

"I need your help, Brazen," Arligan said, cutting right to the chase. "I've been put on the case on the Jedi Temple bombing. There has been a few new developments, and we need more manpower for this one. I need your help on this, Brazen."

Brazen blinked at that, before he smirked. "I'll be there as soon as I can," he said. "Anyone else I should be expecting on the team?"

"I requested the assistance of a Mandalorian Commando team. I'm sure you're aware of the recent incident on Mandalore?"

"Hasn't everyone?" Brazen asked. "The entire brigade is talking about it."

"Right, well hopefully the Mandalorians will accept the request," Arligan said. "While you're at the HQ however, see if there are anyone else over there that wants to help out in the investigation."

Brazen smirked. "I'll get one of the best squads we have." he said.

"Good. How soon can you get here?" Arligan said.

"As soon as I gather my gear and my half of the team," the ARC Trooper said. "So, what's this other Commando Squad called?"

"They said they're called Jarkiv Squad," Arligan said. "They're a Counter-Terrorist and Piracy unit, I think we could use their skills on this. "

"Reminds me of our Commandos in way." said Brazen. "Alright, where do you want me to meet you?"

"Meet us in the East Temple Hanger. Our first stop is the City Underworld, the CSF is loaning us some of their gunships in order to get there, it was where a Dark Jedi Assailant was last heading before he...decapitated himself."

Brazen unconsciously rubbed his neck at that.

"Yikes." he said. "I'll be there momentarily, sir."

"Copy that, Zey out."

Brazen gave a sigh. "Just another day at the office." he said and began walking in a random direction to get the Commando Team for the mission.

Patriot-112: And another chapter done!

117Jorn: Thank GOD for that... sorry about the delay, but we have other fics to work on ya know!

Patriot-112: That's right. But hopefully, we'll try to get more chapters out to you...if we're not completely distracted. So, until then...

Both: Sayonara!