The Society: Chapter 1: The Investigation

The Society: Chapter 1 — The Investigation


 * Coruscant

The Chief of State had just started reading a disturbing intelligence report relating to the weapons shipment that General Darklighter told him about about earlier when one of his aids entered his office.

"Sir?"

"Yes?" Wynn replied without looking up.

"The Jedi team has arrived in the hangar," the aid answered. "Should I bring them to you?"

Wynn looked up at him. "Yes, right away."

The aid nodded and left the office. Wynn looked back down at the report and quickly scanned it over. The shipment of arms purchased by the Alliance Defense Force, worth several million credits, was hijacked on its way to Coruscant. The vessel carrying it was captured by an unidentified group of militants. The escorts were destroyed. It is unknown where the weapons were taken by this group. The Chief of State sighed. As if he did not have enough problems on his hands. Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps and the door sliding open. Looking up, Wynn saw a group of four Jedi enter. One was a tall green-skinned Rodian male. The second was a fair skinned Human male. The one following him was a female Lutian Twi'lek, and the last was a young Human female. The leader, the Rodian, walked up to his desk as Wynn began to stand up.

"Hello, Chief Dorvan," greeted the Rodian in a neutral tone. "I am Master Naxon Vorr."

Wynn nodded and extended his hand to the Jedi Master. "You have no idea how reassuring it is to see a Jedi here."

Vorr replied with the best Rodian imitation of a chuckle, and then turned to his comrades.

"That is Knight Vyrkan Xentas," he said, pointing to the Human male, who merely nodded, with an unreadable look on his face. "That next to him is Knight Isadi Malex—" he gestured to the Twi'lek "—and the last one is my apprentice, Padawan Henyara Vi."

The Twi'lek Jedi Knight and Human Padawan nodded to Wynn, who responded with a "hello". The Chief of State then turned back to Master Vorr.

"Well, I am sure you are wondering why you are here."

"Indeed, very much so," said Xentas. "Master Skywalker told us little."

Wynn nodded. "I did not want to give too much detail over the comms."

Malex looked at him with a questioning look. "You think you are being listened to?"

"No, I just think it would be easier to explain it to you personally than relaying a large amount of information to Master Skywalker," replied the Chief of State. "Come with me."

Wynn walked over to a small door on the far side of the room. Opening and gesturing to the Jedi to follow, he entered the dimly lit chamber. As the Jedi walked in, they could see it must be his personal archives.

"Sit down," said Wynn, motioning to some chairs nearby. The delegation of Jedi sat down.

The Chief of State turned on the holo projector to play a compilation of HoloNet recordings of recent events.

"I suppose you have not been really keeping track of galactic affairs from your location?" Wynn asked.

The four shook their heads.

"Very well."

Wynn began playing the recordings. An attractive Human female appeared, and began speaking, though her image was replaced with on-site recordings as she talked about the news.

"Yesterday a mass slave uprising on Orvax IV left hundreds killed and thousands wounded. Local authorities put down the initial revolt, though groups of slaves continue to fight in certain parts of the planet. Exact causes of this sudden uprising are currently unknown. The Alliance government stated it does not have reason to interfere—"

Wynn, with the controller, skipped forward a bit. The scene changed to some kind of military facility.

"A number of soldiers were killed at an Alliance Army base on Commenor when a group of beings in Alliance military uniforms entered the base and opened fire on the troops. The attackers killed thirty-four personnel and escaped. Their identity and motives are unknown—"

The Chief skipped forward again, changing the scene to a skyscraper.

"The Senator of Fondor was killed in the government district when a gunman in a speeder committed a drive-by of the Senator's office. The Coruscant Security Force says the gunman remains unidentified—"

He skipped again, and this time it showed the face of a Human anchorman.

"A Galactic Alliance Security spokesperson said that crime rates among the Core Worlds has gone up by a staggering forty-one percent over the last sixty days—"

Wynn turned off the holo projector, and turned to the Jedi, who had mixed looks on their faces. Master Vorr looked like he was deep in thought. Xentas looked very surprised, Malex had a slightly worried expression on her face, and Vi seemed only slightly disturbed by it, largely remaining indifferent by the revelation.

Vorr cleared his throat. "Well, I assume you want us to get to the bottom of this . . . crisis?"

"Very much so," said Wynn. "I cannot allow the situation to get anymore destabilized than it is now."

Vi spoke up for the first time since they got there. "So, isn't this a job for Intelligence or Security?" she asked in a soft voice.

The Chief of State looked at her coldly. "The Jedi are the guardians of peace, am I correct? This is definitely violating the peace of the galaxy."

The Rodian nodded. "And you believe this is not just a regular occurrence?"

Wynn looked over at him. "Master Vorr. You tell me if nothing looks out of thee ordinary here to you."

"Point," he replied. "We will begin investigating the matter. When we make progress, we will report to you."

Wynn nodded. "I prepared a team of Alliance Security agents to aid you. They should be waiting by your vessel.

Well that was not expected, thought Xentas. Disturbing, definitely.

The Jedi walked down the corridor leading back down to the Chief of State's private hangar in his office building. He had been pondering the implications of these occurrences, and had no doubt that the others were as well. Not a word had been said. Xentas decided to break the silence.

"Well that was interesting."

Malex looked over at him. "Now the problem is deciding where to start."

Xentas looked back at the Twi'lek, and his gaze lingered on her for a bit, though, thankfully, she didn't notice.

"Hopefully the Security officers will have some more intelligence," said Master Vorr. "Maybe."

By that point, the four Jedi reached the hangar and passed through the doors. As they approached their vessel, a dated YT freighter that Skywalker spared them, called the Outbound, Xentas could see five figures in dark armor. One was wearing an officer cap rather than a helmet with a face plate. He stepped forward and greeted Master Vorr as he approached.

"Hello, sir. I am Captain Gustave Mastein, the commanding officer of Theta Squad, a commando unit assigned to assist you."

The Jedi Master nodded. "Greetings, captain. I am Naxon Vorr. These are Vyrkan Xentas, Isadi Malex, and Hanyara Vi."

Captain Manstein, a middle aged Human male, nodded, with his stern look remaining unchanged. "Good to meet you."

The Jedi nodded in response.

"Come aboard," said Master Vorr. "We have to begin the investigation."

The Jedi walked aboard the freighter, and the five GAS men followed them onto the Outbound. Xentas personally had a distrust of GAS due to their anti-Jedi operations during Daala's leadership of the Alliance. But he would deal with them.

Captain Manstein and his men stayed in the main room of the freighter as Vorr, Malex, and Vi made their way to the cockpit. Xentas stopped at the head of the hall leading to the cockpit, and turned back to the GAS commandos.

"Where do you suggest we begin?"

Manstein looked like he was thinking for a moment. "Well, reports indicate a surge of criminal activity in district gamma-three, we might want to check there first. There is a small Security post in that area. I can guide you there, if you want."

Xentas nodded and told the man to follow him. In the cockpit, Vorr and Malex were seated at the pilot and co-pilot seats. The Jedi Master looked up at the captain.

"Where to?"

After severa minutes of flying, the group arrived in the Gamma-3 district. Located just south of the senate district, the area was home to various entertainment locations, which rich senators frequently visited. Vorr guided the Outbound over the various attractions.

"The post is just over here," said Manstein. "A bit further."

Vorr nodded, and the flight continued. Finally, they reached their destination: a small building with the Alliance flag flying from a mast at the top. The building itself had a typical Coruscanti box shape to it. A landing pad was located on the east-facing side of the building. The Jedi Master guided the ship down onto the pad.

"Let's go see what information they have." Vorr said.

Malex looked concerned. "If they even have any."

"I assure you they will, this post has been tracking criminal activities for weeks," Manstein replied quickly. "Let's go."

The group left the cockpit, meeting the four commandos sitting in chairs around the table in the main room. They stood up and followed the group of Jedi as they disembarked from the Outbound and headed towards the building. The doors opened as they approached, and a man in a uniform identical to Manstein's walked over to them.

"Hello, sirs. I am Lieutenant Gannex. How may we be of assistance?"

"We are a Jedi investigation team. We require your records of criminal activity in this district."

Lieutenant Gannex raised an eyebrow, but nodded as soon as he saw the look on Manstein's face. "Understood, follow me."

The four Jedi and the two security officers entered the building. As Xentas noted, the commandos remained outside.