A Senator You Say?

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Sammael sat within his office at his desk slowly reading over the contents of a holo-pad that lay before him. Listlessly he scrolled over the information, his eyes moving up and down upon his mask over and over again. He appeared to be like any other Senator, or any other planet. He was doing his duty, for his citizens, for his country. The Senator seemed to be relaxed and at home here, he had no problem doing this work, he was like any other public servant, here to aid his people and the Republic.

Of course Sammael was not like any other public servant, nor was he like any other Senator or even member of the Republic. Sammael was something else entirely, he was a breed of evil like none other. He was the Dreadlord of Byss and the former Emperor of the Sith Empire. Sammael was Moridin, perhaps one of the most evil beings in the entire galaxy.

Behind his mask, behind his faceless visage, he was pure unequaled evil. And no one within the Republic suspected a thing. Recently there had been trouble around his name, a rumor brought up by the new Empress herself that he had dealings with the Sith. Some of his colleagues within the Senate suspected him of still dealing with the Sith, and he knew that the Jedi thought much the same way, none of them however knew just how treacherous he truly was.

No Jedi, no Sith, no trooper, absolutely no one suspected what he truly was, and none of them would know until it was too late.

Slowly Sammael dropped the data-pad onto the desk in front of him. He stood up and waled to the door of his office, a slight smirk on his face below the mask. He wandered into the halls of the senate and began a long trek towards the nearest hover-pad. Today the Senator would be busy, he had quite a few people to meet.

 

[Selena Halcyon]

Perhaps no one knew what he was. And no one really suspected what Sammael was either, in fact, the possibility of him being a Sith Lord was the farthest from their suspicions. However, with the accusations of the Empress, as untrustworthy as they were, and the so-called anti-Jedi rhetoric, the Senator was something of a topic of interest. Citizens were whispering about him. Senators were whispering about him. And he was a topic on the lips of the Jedi Council. The mystery that surrounded him was, to say the least, rather intriguing.

At some level, Selena was not altogether bothered by the man. The bill he proposed seemed sensible enough to her. The actions he had supposedly taken by talking to a Sith Lord, while suspicious to him did not overly offend her either. He had gained information on a fallen Jedi, who could theoretically be becoming just another threat to the stability of the Republic. As long as he was lending no aid to the Empire, she was not bothered by him either. Selena's personal opinions on the matter did not matter much though. She had no lofty expectations, and no desire to be the voice of anything. No, the Jedi Knight loved her somewhat low existence and being at the edge of the order. It made her a shadow in so many ways than just her capacity to act as one. However, with her recent elevation to overseeing all Shadow activities, she had been pulled in more than she liked.

Though, perhaps it was her position that made her the one chosen to look into this senator. Or maybe the Council had a feeling that she would actually agree with some of his methods, and as such she would not be a Jedi out to get him. She did not know why, but her assignment at the moment was to look into the senator. All around, the task seemed more fitting for Republic Intelligence, but the bill did put some Jedi interest in it.

As it stood, he was still just as much as an enigma as he had ever been. Evidently his election had been completely unanimous, and even with Byss' low population that was highly suspicious. Still, even that was not a reason to suspect treason. Just a potentially shady background.

It was the information surrounding the election that she had been mulling over when she noticed him leaving the main senate building. She let him get some distance before she began to tail him. The ability to sense his movements in the Force was easy enough, and she did not need to be close until he was somewhere. The Knight hoped not too many more days of this were needed. More important quarries were out there than some Senator that likely was not part of the established political games in the senate.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Sammael walked through the city with no one ever going near him. No beggars, no citizens, no guards, nothing touched him or even drew close to him. It was not some trick of the darkside, or anything else connected to the force. The Senator just had such a presence that people seemed to avoid him when he wanted them to, and flock to him when he wanted that. The Sith Master even in disguise carried himself as though he were a lord of all people, it was an interesting trait, and one he could not hide even if he wanted to.

Slowly the Senator made his way to a massive building near 500 Republica, it wasn't quite the center of political Coruscant but it was close enough to it. In this building some of the Republic...lesser Senators resided, men and women who were from the outer reaches of the Republic instead of the deep core like Sammael.

The Senator made his way to the 154th floor in a turbolift and almost immediately as he stepped from the high speed elevator he was met with the smiling face of the senator from Eclipse.

“Ah Senator Sammael, how pleasant to see you.”

Sammael smiled at the man and then clasped his Shoulder in warm greeting. He was here to negotiate a deal with Eclipse, a new set of trade routes for both of their worlds. Nothing secretive and underhanded...or so one would assume. “Hello Senator, lets get down to business shall we?”

 

[Selena Halcyon]

She tailed the man with ease and from a good distance as well. It was something that she was actually pretty good at, and on a dense planet like Coruscant unless one was looking for her it would be hard to notice her through the Force. It made pursuit so much easier on planets like these. And chasing non-Force users an even safer endeavor. When she saw him enter the offices of yet another senate building she grew curious. A fair amount of the senators in this reformed Republic were not at ease with Sammeal. Some agreed with him, but generally the tone from what she could tell was not one of cooperation.

Noting who he was getting along with could be useful. Knowing where he was hoping to find support for his bill would be nice as well. Assuming he was not intimidating them in some way, really nothing could be found against him for rallying votes. But it was still interesting to get a look in on the situation.

She entered the building a few minutes after Senator Sammeal did. It was simple, because while she did not look like a Jedi in terms of her garb she still carried the proper papers. So she worked her way with ease enough to satisfy security, but to onlookers none would know what she was. They would likely peg her for an intern or a secretary.

Selena found herself on the 154th floor as well, and with ease approached the secretary of the office that the Senator had entered. With a look of confusion she approached the woman, "I'm sorry, but I am a little new here. Where am I?"

The secretary smiled and said, "You are currently at the delegation from Eclipse's offices. My name is Kat, where are you trying to get to?"

"The Fresian offices."

"Ah, well just go down the hall till you pass the offices for Empress Teta and you will find them."

"Thank you very much," Selena said and bowed. With a quick turn she started to walk out the office. Her mind already trying to figure out why Sammeal would want to talk to the senator from such an insignificant system.

Just before she walked through the door the secretary said after her. "Watch out for Garen. He will try and give you a whirl, but it isn't worth it." The woman winked and waved.

"Thanks again," Selena said with a forced blush. The moment she was out the door she exhaled heavily. That was a long conversation.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Sammael discussed things with the Senator for quite some time, he was entirely calm and succinct the entire time making his points evenly. The Senator from Eclipse was an intelligent man, someone that most people within the senate trusted. Unfortunately however Sammael was not one of these people, nor was he one of the people that the Senator trusted. The man from Eclipse was skeptical of Sammael, as many senators were.

“Senator, I just can't see our worlds achieving this. Recent revelations about your...past have shown me you are not to be trusted.”

The Senator from Eclipse spoke with a weary smile on his face, as if trying to placate Sammael. The Senator from Byss however just frowned, not making a move to convince the other man or even try to correct him. Sammael stared at the ground for a few moments, looking at what was around him with a subtle gaze. Then he peered upwards towards the Senator and pulled something from within his robes.

“That is a shame Senator, I had hoped to do this without incident but unfortunately you leave me no choice.” Then like a flash of light Sammael moved across the room, in just a seconds time he was next to the Senator's guard, grabbing the man's blaster pistol and firing a dozen shots. Each of the guards fell to the ground in quick succession, dropping like flies as each of the bolts struck them square in the chest. It took only a few seconds before they were all dead.

Behind Sammael a window burst open as a final blaster shot rang out within the suite. Seconds later the Senator from Byss once again stood before the Senator with a small blade in his palm.

“I am terribly sorry Senator, but it must go this way.” Then Sammael sliced the blade across the mans throat, causing him to bleed out within seconds. Sammael turned the blade over in his fingers, and then stabbed it into his own abdomen. The pain was unbearable, but necessary. He fell to his knees, pain wracking his subnormal body, someone would be along shortly.

 

[Selena Halcyon]

Selena Halcyon was moving down the stairs when she over heard the commotion. Blaster shots had a very distinct sound and one that carried all too well in a building. She was too far away to have personally heard the glass breaking. The immediate thoughts of hers were to run to the location of the blaster fire, which she did but the bolts had long passed by the time she was half way to the offices she had just left. Activity was bustling there, people were crowding the area. Authorities were taking charge. When she saw them at a distance, she placed her lightsaber back into the silly bag she was carrying as part of her disguise.

A handful of the people gathered around the door were crying. They must have known someone hurt in the attack. But she was very interested in getting to the bottom of this. The undercover Jedi Knight moved to one of those standing in the hallway. "What is going on?"

"Someone killed the senator, his guards, and injured another senator."

Well, that at least made some sense. It was alarming though, brazen assassinations were absolutely troubling. Her mind, being what it was, instantly jumped to the Sith being behind it somehow. Though, Eclipse was an odd target. Unless he was a bystander. "What senators were involved?"

"The one from Eclipse is dead. Sammeal of Byss is injured." There goes that, she thought. So Eclipse was the target.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Aside from the injury to his abdomen Sammael had also seen fit to injure himself in a dozen different ways. He had bashed the back of his head against a concrete wall, bruised and broken several bones in his left arm, sliced himself several more times with the knife and finally battered his own ribcage. The Senator was well versed in hand to hand combat and what injuries a novice might sustain during a fight, replicating these things had been a simple matter.

Anyone who investigated this little...tussle would find no evidence of Sammaels wrong doings, and with the description he was about to give of the assailant it would become even more unlikely that the Senator from Byss would be targeted by any sort of investigation he wasn't already part of.

As he was strolled out of the room on a stretcher by a medical unit two Coruscant Security force Officers stopped him. Sammael nodded to the Medical officer and then began to speak to the CSF, making a detailed description of the phantom assailant.

“Thats all I remember about the man, he hit me quite hard...i apologize I can't be of anymore help.” Luckily for Sammael there were no cameras in the Senator's suite, nor on the outside of the building. Finding this would be assassin would be difficult for even a Jedi under normal circumstances, here it would be impossible. The CSF officers nodded to Sammael and then thanked him for his cooperation, before they let him leave however one of them asked him another question.

“Do you know why The Senator From Eclipse would be targeted for assassination? Forgive me for saying but the sector is of little importance.”

Sammael gave the man a solemn nod, the answer of course was a simple one. “I'm afraid the Senator had been caught up with the underworld regarding the mining rights on several of the moons within his sector. Thats why I came to talk to him today, I wanted Byss to buy those mining rights.”

It wasn't exactly untrue, The Senator had been mixed up with the Underworld...though in far the opposite spectrum. He had been trying to nationalize the Mining companies working on his sector's moons, thus taking the profit away from the Underworld and the corporations, Sammael failed to mention that.

 

[Selena Halcyon]

Selena slightly over heard the Senator when he was on the stretcher about to be moved to a medical center. Her eyes focused mostly on the bodies that were being covered. She could not make them out clearly from this distance but she did notice that it seemed like most of them were precision kills. This struck her as rather interesting. Especially as she looked at the form of Senator Sammeal who seemed to be rather beaten up. Odd, she thought.

While her investigation was specifically into the nature and character of Senator Sammeal, this assassination seemed like it would also require some attention. It was likely that a Jedi would be asked to take a look into what had transpired. Joint efforts were not unusual. Having another Jedi on the mission would probably not be as beneficial seeing as that she was already here. It was then that she resolved to get in touch with the Jedi order to try and take point on investigating this attack.

Senators did not just get attacked. That was very unusual. This would likely turn into a big affair, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. After all, she expected that Sammeal was going to be out of action for awhile with his injuries. She would not have much to look into while he was in a bacta tank or something like that. Having her working on this would be well worth her time.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Sammael not sat within a hospital, a slight frown on his face. There were massive bacta patches covering several parts of his body. This was now why he was frowning though. Pain for him was nothing, he had been torn apart and killed more than once so a few cuts and bruises were nothing. What really concerned him was quite simple. He had gotten sloppy. He should not have killed the Senator from Eclipse, it was a mistake.

The situation ran through his head over and over again, and he came to the conclusion each time. Killing the man could be his undoing. His frown turned into a downright scowl as he flipped a small coin between his fingers. This was why Moridin had never been good with the subtler details of life, he had always been impulsive and even disguised as a whole other person that impulsive quality was shinning through.

The Senator let out a sigh, he would need a back up plan.

 

[Selena Halcyon]

The following day Selena strode into the investigation's headquarters garbed not in a disguise but the robes that she normally wore. The white stood out among the uniforms and she was instantly identified by them. They knew that she was the Jedi liaison tasked with figuring out who the murderer of the Senator from Eclipse was. One of the younger officer's approached her and handed her a datapad, which she took but did not look at. "Those are the lists of potential suspects."

She shook her head, "How can suspects exist yet when we do not know anything?" The entire room grew quiet and looked at her. Selena moved down to the middle of the room where a holodisplay was. "Pull up the surveillance footage from the surrounding buildings that would be able to see the office."

Some of the people looked at her a little confused. But quickly five displays came up with various angles and clarity appeared on the screen. Without much delay she singled out the one with the best view. She pointed to that and it isolated itself before expanding. The footage played and everything was plain until the glass shattered. She watched it closely but nothing came out, she did see for a little bit a body moving around. Then it collapsed. Strange, she thought.

"Can the image be cleared up so that we can see what happened in that room?" She already had a feeling she knew the answer but she had to ask.

"No madam Jedi, the glass is protected from any kind of surveillance."

"And of course we have no audio from inside the room," she said rhetorically. She paced around a bit more. Witness reports clearly showed that the blaster fired had happened and then the glass shattered, but the time table on that mattered less because clearly nothing came in or out of the window. Stab wounds also meant that none of this had been the actions of a sniper but someone in the room. She tabbed the table in front of her a few times. "Can we pull up the plans for the building?"

Not much longer and the display pulled up the blue prints. "Give me the offices of Eclipse." The image shrunk. "Can you highlight the air ducts?" They lit up. One did connect to the office. "How does this pump in the air?"

"It is a small vent, built into the ceiling. We checked, nothing could have come in or out of it."

"Which means..." she said slowly then pointing at the room. "Our murderer was in that room."

"But the only person alive in that room was Senator Sammeal, madam Jedi. He also sustained serious injuries. All the others are dead."

This was fair. She did nod for a moment, but... "Can we get the autopsy reports up?"

"Yes ma'am." And they appeared. Selena got closer to the display and eyed it. The guards were all killed by blaster bolts at close range. It seemed that they went down fast. One or two shots per guard. All lethal. The senator was killed with a knife, but then Sammeal was stabbed multiple times and thrown around. Why?

Her fingers rapped on the rail for a bit as she thought this over. "Why would an assassin kill the guards so efficiently as well as the senator from Eclipse, but only brutally assault Senator Sammeal."

The men in the room looked back and forth at one another. Some seemed unsure how to answer. Another said, "To send a message perhaps? Or they did not expect him to be there."

Selena bit the inside of her lip a little bit and thought that over. A message? That was reasonable. But how did they get out? He only could have gone out the window but no one came out the window. That was obvious. If they did not expect him though, then why not kill him? Murdering two senators did not some how make the crime any less worse. No... "Could the senator's injuries be faked?"

"Sammeal's?"

"Of course..." She shot the speaker a cold look.

"Uh... I suppose, it would be hard but entirely possible." He rambled a bit, "Wait you aren't saying-"

She nodded. "Yes, I am... Our murderer has to be Senator Sammeal." The room got deadly quiet at that. "We need a security detail sent to the hospital, but do not approach Senator Sammeal until either myself or another Jedi gets there."

They nodded and began to go about their business. She walked out the door hastily, she pulled a communicator out of her robes and hailed the temple for someone from the council.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Sammael had already left the hospital. He had ignored the urgings of the Doctors and the nurses and had vacated the bed he had been put in rather quickly. The force had been poking and prodding him, something was wrong. He could feel it like slithering around like something was about to grab him. He hated that feeling, he had only felt it once before. If the Jedi found him out here he would be in trouble. Even he couldn't fight the entire Jedi Order by himself...although it would be quite a challenge.

As Sammael stalked through the streets of Coruscant his disguise began to slip. As the force bore into him he could start to feel his temper flaring. The calm of Senator Sammael of Byss was fading, and the rage of Moridin began to surface.

He moved quickly, arriving at Republica 500 in no time. Once there he began to take the turbo-lift up. His skin slowly began to peel as the Darkside ran through him again. The creature that covered his skin squirmed and moved about as the plague that was the Dreadlord began to shine through. Soon the Jedi would be able to sense him, feel him running around upon Coruscant. He scowled beneath the mask, he had to get to the apartment soon.

“Senator, welcome ho-”

“Out of my way.” He said in a low growl as he pushed back a woman who had approached him. He broke out into a sprint, running through the open door of his apartment and slamming it shut behind him. Just as he did Moridin fell to his knee's, the mask falling to the floor.

Quickly after the mask came flakes and pieces of skin, massive chunks of dead and dying creature. Moridin began to chuckle slightly as he looked on the ground. Slowly he began to tear off bigger pieces of flesh, until none remained. The Yuuzhan Vong biot that had been covering him was gone, The Gablith Masquer had done its job, though it could not withstands Moridin's plague for too long. The Dreadlord rose, uncovered for the first time in months.

A smirk was placed on his face. Slowly he walked across the apartment, the Jedi would be coming soon.

 

[Ben Watts]

Ben felt that something was off, but he could not quite put his finger on it, so he tried not to worry about it as he shuffled around Coruscant trying to get to his next meeting. What with all of the bills being passed that could potentially effect the well being of the Jedi, it was crucial that Jedi be present on Coruscant, especially after the endeavor with the Sith Empress accusing the Senator of foul play. Everyone had been on edge since then, some Senators were edgy around Jedi, while others flat out refused to talk to them. It made assigning security details and trying to organize events a tad bit difficult. Luckily, Ben had gathered a bit of respect and trust among a few of the politicians, so they did not flat out disrespect him.

"Master Watts!"

The sound of an out of breath young man caught Ben's attention, he turned his head to see a familiar Jedi Knight who he had worked with since being on Coruscant sprinting in his direction, a look of worry played across his face. Ben turned on his heels, stopping so that the boy did not have to run any further, reaching for his comm which had been switched to silent since he had just come from a gathering of Senators and Jedi to discuss a bill. He had forgotten to turn it on, and if this boy was running rampant around the city looking for him, something must have went wrong. Stopping in front of him, the out of breath Jedi gathered his breath, "I've been looking for you all over! The Senator trying to pass the Jedi registration bill, Senator Sammael, he is wanted for the murder of two guards and the Senator from Eclipse. We are to apprehend him."

Ben felt a bit of dread wash over him, he knew something was off about the Senator, he had gathered that much from the meeting in the Senate chambers. Looking down at his comm, he looked through his messages, and he turned it off of silent. "Selena Halcyon is on her way now, she has requested aid from the Council, you." Ben nodded his head and he closed his eyes, knowing that if anything was awry, he would be able to find it. Quickly, as if he was actually trying to project his location, Ben felt the darkside energy that the Senator was producing. He was not a Senator, he was definitely a Sith, and a Sith that Ben had met before. He knew the signature, he had felt it on at least two occasions, and he was not happy about the meeting.

"Selena, it's Ben Watts, I am sure you have already felt it, but the Senator is at his apartment at Republica 500. Wait for me outside, I am on my way." With that, Ben nodded, and he took off in a sprint. He was not far away, but it would be a run, but aided by the force they would arrive within the next five minutes or so. If you asked Ben, that was five minutes too late, but it was what it was. Running as fast as he could, aided by the force, he left the Jedi Knight far behind. This was not the time to wait or try and help someones ego, he had to get there before the Sith escaped.

Arriving, as advertised, in five minutes Ben approached Selena. "Ready to arrest some bad guys?" Ben asked as he slowed down his run and approached Selena casually, the Jedi Knight catching up from the rear, out of breath from trying to keep up with the in shape Jedi Master. "The Senator is on the five hundredth floor, so we have quite the trip up there, we will take the stairs up and we will confront him outside of his room. If he tries to run, we will pursue, but do not try and fight the man on your own. You feel the same thing I do, the Senator is not what he seems, and he is harboring a bit more power than any one of us wish to deal with on our own."

 

[Selena Halcyon]

As she had been walking down the hall way after speaking to a Jedi Knight at the temple, this was when she felt the disturbance in the Force. It came upon her like a wave and she had to regain her balance both mentally and physically. It took her so off guard that she had lost balance for a moment because of how it had hit her senses. The senator, she thought. Her jaw clenched in frustration. This should not be possible. She steadied herself though and began to run head long down the hall.

The words from Ben Watts over the comm did not come much later. He was right, she knew where he was now. However, he had put a name to the location. It also reminded her that she had a security detail to redirect elsewhere. She pulled her comm and shouted into it to the security personnel she had just been with, "Send the security detail to Republica 500. Myself and some Jedi will already be there probably, make your way up to the senator's quarters quickly. Lockdown the area."

The Senator's quarters, her mind gravitated towards those words as she ran. She had cased that building just a few weeks prior at a party the senator had held. A Sith sword was there, and she began to wonder what potential problem that might hold in and of itself. Selena shook her head, she had had that replaced with a fake already but she had been too busy with other tasks to get it done. Neglect was definitely going to come and bite her on this one.

She was at the base of the building maybe fifteen seconds before Ben Watts showed up. Her journey had only been slightly shorter than his. As he spoke she reached into her robes and pulled out the hilt of her lightsaber. The long simple hilt twirled around a few times, on of her few habits. "Sounds sound to me." She ignored the people that were beginning to notice the behavior of the Jedi out front of the building. Instead she moved into the building and began the climb with the group.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Moridin now stood clad in an entirely different garb than before. He wore heavy green robes, covering him from head to toe. Two massive blade sat upon on his back, each one with a heavy ring at the end. Over his hand was a pair of massive claws, with each finger ending in a claw. Upon his face sat an entirely different mask than before, it appeared to be a reaper. The Dreadlord adjusted his glove, and then walked over towards one of the other rooms.

The door slid open before him and for a few seconds he went inside the room. As he exited the room Moridin dragged something behind him. A faded corpse of a man seemed to tumble and stumble behind the Dreadlord on the floor. Eventually he stopped in front of the recliner within the center of his room.

Moridin forced the corpse of the man over his body, throwing him into the air and bringing him down in the recliner. The Crunch of bone could be heard as the entirely weak and vulnerable man landed in the seat and let out a loud pained groan. The Dreadlord frowned slightly...perhaps he had not payed enough attention to the man, he had been rotting here for several months now. The Sith shrugged, it didn't matter it would all be at an end now.

The Jedi were coming, he could feel them at the base of the building. They along with perhaps the entire Republic army would be here soon. Moridin scowled, this was not how it was supposed to be. He would have to remember to kill that Jedi.

He had of course sensed her when she had been following him. She had assumed he could not sense her, but that had not been the case. Moridin had marked her the minute she began to trail him. He had not done anything for obvious reasons but now....now he was free to kill her.

Moridin mused on his as he took up his position behind the recliner. He placed a hand on the still breathing mans shoulder, and then he waited.

 

[Ben Watts]

People were starting to get uneasy as they made their way into the building. They were not used to seeing Jedi around these parts, it was the most prominent complex in all of Coruscant, even the Supreme Chancellor made their residence in the building. Ben ignored them as they were nothing but distractions at this point. He had other things on his mind, namely, why was the Senator not moving? He was waiting in his room, as if he wanted the Jedi to come, and it made Ben extremely uneasy and he wondered if he had set up a trap for them. Whether he did or not, they had to confront him, they could not run from something like this. The potential of the man running free on the planet was not something that intrigued Ben.

Stopping at the elevator, he turned to face the Jedi who had assembled, "Alright, you three stay down here and watch the exits to the building, tell no one why we are here. You two, take the stairs, be hasty as you make your way to the top and keep your eyes peeled. Myself, Selena, and Knight Jacobs will take the elevators to the top. The Senator is in his room waiting on us, so be ready for anything." Nodding to the five Jedi he had given assignments to, they ran off to do their work, but in the back of his head Ben wished they had brought more. He was sure Republic soldiers were on their way but they did not have time to wait on them. As the two Jedi vanished into the stairwell, their elevator dinged, and Ben stepped inside and waited for Selena and Jacobs before pressing the correct floor.

"I have a feeling we are about to walk into something none of us are going to enjoy." Ben thought out loud, looking to Selena, he was glad to have her along. She was a Jedi Shadow, leader of them, and she was used to dealing with the darkside. Ben was as well, but it was her job, and having her around was certainly not going to hurt the operation.

The trip to the floor they were going to took longer than Ben had expected. Never having been to this building, he was not familiar with its set up, so the long wait did nothing but make him uneasy. Patience. He kept repeating the word over and over again in his head, he was going to need it, there was no reason to get hasty in a situation like this. The elevator dinged and the doors opened, and he was flooded with the darkside, it was all over the floor they were on. He could either not control it or he was taunting them, wanting them to find him, he had something set up and Ben knew it.

Stepping off the elevator, he walked down the halls, coming upon the room they would be entering. Stopping outside the door, he turned to look at the two Jedi assembled with him, nodding his head he knocked upon the door. "Senator Sammael, this is Jedi Master Ben Watts, we are here on behalf of the Republic to ask you some questions about the Senator from Eclipse."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Moridin stood behind the chair and sensed as the Jedi approached. He was entirely and thoroughly unimpressed when he heard Ben Watt's voice call out to him instead of banging down his door. The Dreadlord scowled slightly, the Jedi were as simple as ever. They could most definitely sense him through the door, and asking him to come out was just purely idiotic. He sighed, and then allowed the force to build up within his arm. He concentrated, and then lashed out with a powerful wave of the force.

His arm flung forward and the force lashed out. It tore up the metal sheeting of the ground and then struck the heavy wooden door. The massive wooden plank flew from its hinges and into the hallway beyond, catching a Jedi Knight by the curtails and forcing him into the wall beyond.

Moridin called out after the door, a smugness to his voice. “Do come in Jedi.”

 

[Selena Halcyon]

Danger. It hit her mind from the force like a freight train. She moved out of the way the moment the thought came to her. Not more than a second and a half later the door began to move off its frame. The poor Jedi Knight who was also there go hit hard. Perhaps it was that she did not know the man or the fact that she truly believed there was no death just the force, but when he was hit by the door she did not have a moment of concern. Her attention was on the Dark Lord before them in the room.

She barely even noticed the very close to dead form in the chair in the middle of the room. As far as she was concerned he was already dead. The only thing she was concerned about was the very powerful Sith Lord that was before the two Jedi now. Her lightsaber remained off and in her right hand. Fighting in this room would be stupid. But it is where the fight would have to happen now. The long hilt of her lightsaber tapped against her thigh over and over again as she waited for the first move.

 

[Ben Watts]

Ben knew nothing good was going to come from this, and the Sith Lord wasted no time as he lashed out with a powerful wave of the force. Ben was mentally prepared for something like this, so as it was coming, he casually jumped out of the way and looked back to see the Jedi Knight crash into the wall. Ben grimaced, knowing that the young Jedi was not ready for this mission, but when he was called upon he had to do his duty no matter how dangerous the situation was. Hearing the Siths voice almost sent shivers down his side, but Ben stood tall, and returned to the entrance of the doorway to face him.

Glancing down at the frail looking man, Ben wondered what had happened to him, he looked as if he was about to die. He could feel it in the force, he was as close to death as anyone could get. "I take it you don't want to do this the easy way, then?" Ben had a feeling it was going to happen like this. Taking a step through the doorway, he stood across from the Sith Lord, looking across at him and waiting for him to make any moves. His eyes were alert, his hand on his lightsaber, he would be able to react to him in an instant.

"You are under arrest for the murder of the Senator from Eclipse. Let's not make this harder than it has to be." Sometimes he hated how official he sounded, but he did not want to have emotion play a role in all of this, he had to do what he had to do and he was going to do it the right way.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Moridin watched as a few Jedi entered the room, the first one through was a man he recognized instantly and couldn't help but grin at the sight of. Ben Watts, the man who would be Grandmaster...if it wasn't for Darron of Teferi. The Dreadlord smiled, and then looked at the other Jedi that stepped into the room. He did not recognize her, though her force signature was the one that had been following him earlier that day. He looked at the two of them, studying them for a few seconds. Both of them seemed ready to jump the instant he made a move...good, at least they were prepared.

“Just that?” Moridin said quite loudly. He spoke once again as the Dreadlord of Byss, not the the Senator. His voice seeped into the room like flames into wood. His words seemed to bite into the flesh of anyone listening, bringing an unpleasant feeling every time he spoke. “I thought you would have come after me for much more.”

“I mean, I did kill your best friend after all.” Moridin said the last bit with a slight shrug. He was well aware of Ben and Teferi's friendship. When he had slain the Grandmaster he had taken the green aliens memories, a simple thing when one was a Kiffar.

Slowly the Dreadlord raised his hand left hand and grabbed the hilt of one of his swords. He pulled the blade from his back as he began to speak again. “Oh well. We both know the two of you aren't strong enough to stop me. Step aside and I will give you your scapegoat.”

With his free hand Moridin motioned to the man sitting in the chair, the real Sammael Tamlen.

 

[Selena Halcyon]

Selena had stopped tapping the lightsaber hilt against her thigh at this point. Her finger now slowly touched the ignition button. The edges of it were very familiar to her finger as it circled it with anticipation of the fight that was about to happen. At the edge of her vision she watched Master Watt's reaction. She was really at his command and would be forced to follow his lead. Everything within her knew that he would not accept the idea of a scapegoat, but she had to be ready for the moment that he initiated the combat. The dying man in the chair still did not really catch her attention. His life was essentially forfeit. The Sith Lord, now obviously Darth Moridin, was just too close to him and the conditions that likely would mean his survival could not be met. They just could not. Justice would not be served if the Jedi let the former Emperor of the Sith Empire leave the planet freely. Even if they were out classed, and even then combined attacks could strip away some of that advantage, it was their duty to do something. The only question was what Ben would choose. She knew what she would do, but she was a Knight and Master Watts was essentially the next in line for Grandmaster. His next words would dictate most of what happened in this room now. All Selena had to do was wait to act.