The Chosen Apprentice/Chapter 21

A datafile flashed into the view, the holocron gave general specifics such as species, gender and a few details on background and age in standard years. Yet it was the information at the bottom of the readout that Bail Organa was focused on: EXECUTED FOR TREASON.

Bail sighed, while he had no fond feelings whatsoever about the late San Hill whose file he was viewing, he still had reservations about the sentence that had been given. It was not so much about any sort of justice, more a political ploy to show that something was being done to heal the wounds that war had left in the Republic.

But as far as Bail was concerned, there were better ways to do that. He reviewed the rest of the files one by one.

Poggle the Lesser: EXECUTED

Wat Tambor: EXECUTED

Passel Argente: LIFE IMPRISONMENT

The long arm of justice in the Republic, formerly known to be slow-moving and easy to bribe, had gone from that to being swift and harsh. Mostly caused by the loud voices of senators wanting blood for blood.

Yet there were a few other cases where things had gone a bit awry, like the case of Rune Haako. He had been initially sentenced to death, yet the Neimoidian had saved his own neck by giving information about Gunray. His sentence had been commuted to thirty years.

And then there were ones like Po Nudo and Tikkes who had taken their own lives before the sentence was carried out; the former facing life imprisonment, the later execution.

Finally, there was the case of Shu Mai who had been killed before she could be brought to trial. Bail still had reservations if her death was the accident it was reported to be, given it involved her starship exploding.

Yet these reports were but a sterile record of what had taken place, they spoke nothing of the in-fighting amongst the Separatists following the end of the war, nor was there anything about the worlds that were decimated by these attacks. Bail had argued against this at the time, and had quite a lot of support in the Senate, yet in the end he had had to give in; as the Separatists were made to answer for their crimes during the war, anything after was deemed as inadmissible.

The long arm of the Republic had certainly fallen short in this case, or so Bail thought

At this moment his aide entered. “Senator, Master Kenobi is here,” she told him, “shall I show him in?”

Bail nodded. “By all means,” he said, shutting down the holoprojector just as the Jedi Master entered.

“Apologies for the late hour, Senator,” Obi-Wan said, bowing slightly.

Bail dismissed these with a wave of his hand. “No need to apologise, Master Kenobi.” He gestured to the seat. “Please.”

Obi-Wan compiled, yet looked not completely at ease. If truth need be told he had never completely given up his distrust of politicians, even though he knew Senator Organa of Alderaan was beyond reproach.

“I must say your return is somewhat later than expected,” Bail observed.

“Let’s just say there was some sort of delay,” Obi-Wan admitted reluctantly, “but the fact is I arrived in one piece and the data is secure.”

Bail raised an eyebrow curiously. “Shouldn’t you be telling this to Danta? After all, it was he who advised the Jedi Council wasn’t it?”

“I would have,” Obi-Wan conceded, “except for the fact that I knew in advance that this was all your idea.”

Bail chuckled. “And how could you have known that?”

Obi-Wan smiled wanly, crossing his arms. “Jedi intuition? A lucky guess?” He shook his head. “It was a foregone conclusion, so it was natural for me to come to you when I discovered there was a leak. Not that it’ll do any good right now, given what Anakin did this morning.”

“I heard,” Bail said. “Is it simply a case of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

“No, there’s more to it,” Obi-Wan replied, “according to Anakin, Stokra asked to see him. It just so happened that the attack happened prior to his arrival.”

“That’s no coincidence,” Bail observed.

“I know,” Obi-Wan agreed. “It sounds…arranged.”

They were both silent for a moment.

“He’s going to have a hard time making any connections,” Bail said at last, “Political machines like Stokra normally have their political agendas on sub-light engines, they can change course at a moment’s notice. Besides,” Bail added, “Stokra’s not the kind that would cut his own throat.”

Obi-Wan looked thoughtful. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” he murmured.