Jedi Insurgency 209

A day had passed since Corvus had entered the holocron. After that first experience, he had gone in to experience the battle of the painting several times to hone his skills, yet after defeating the Jedi & Sith in the courtyard, Ulic Qel-Droma would wreck his shit everytime. That actually wasn’t so bad, because each new duel, Corvus would progress just a little bit further. Although he wasn't any faster or stronger, this constant form of fighting was excellent for honing his skills. As someone who preferred stealth kills, it was brutally refreshing to safely practice against someone whose abilities vastly dwarfed his own. 

At the moment, it was the day of the so-called Super Eclipse. Although the moons, and galactic phenomenon weren't in full effect, the surrounding cityscape was already incredibly dim. If he had to liken it to anything, Corvus would say walking the streets outside right now, was like walking at night in a well lit outdoor market. The sky was dark, and the locals of Gyndine were shining their lights everywhere they could. That being said, this was a special event, and the Force felt particularly thick during this celestial event. Even though everyone's house light was turned on, they barely pierced the darkness. It was as if a thick fog had descended upon the world, and light had difficulties moving more than a few feet forward. 

Speeders were grounded for safety purposes, but that didn’t stop the people from coming out in robes and masks. Apparently this was a semi-frequent event that occurred every 20 years. During his walk to meet up with Madine and his men, Corvus saw plenty of kids running around pretending to shoot lightning at one another from their fingertips. Others fought with sticks, making ‘humming whooshing sounds’ like kids back on Earth pretending to fight with laser swords. The adults, meanwhile, often wore the most gruesome of masks. From what he could tell, a night like tonight was like Halloween for these people, and they had co-opted some of the horrors of the Great Sith War, now treating such distant history as nothing more than a legend. In a way, this somewhat mirrored Earth history. Kids had fun singing ‘ring around the rosy’ but in reality, that was a grim dark tale about people dying from the bubonic plague. 

Cloaked, and wearing his mask, Corvus didn't even need to hide himself, as he blended right in with everyone else. Chuckling to himself, he followed his minimap towards an agreed upon meeting place with Jax & Yon in tow. 

Entering the back of a restaurant that was relatively close to the sprawling Kuat Drive Yard's research installation, a raucous party was underway inside. Guarding a door, a masked man stopped them in their tracks. 

“The Republic is doomed to fall.” He stated roughly. 

“And we shall rebuild it.” Corvus replied, responding with the proper code words. 

“Welcome, General. Follow me, the Commander is waiting for you.” The man nodded his head, and spoke in a quiet whisper before turning around to lead the way. 

Descending down some steps into a crowded basement, Corvus heard the partying upstairs disappear, and saw a crowded room with about 30 guys inside. Many of them were dressed in the orange work crew uniform ubiquitous across construction sites, and quite a few of the guys carried tool bags. Several others wore Star Wars style suits full of zany colors, and large, baggy pauldron-like shoulderpads. Corvus was so accustomed to dealing with soldiers, Jedi, Sith, and the scum of the galaxy, he forgot how the style for the well to do was based upon 70's sci-fi, and barely repressed a chuckle at their appearance. 

A couple of people noticed him, and the commandos checking their disguises and talking in whispers between one another shut up. One man went to salute, but Madine was quick to pull his arm down. 

Dressed in corporate attire, the blonde man mean mugged the soldier, then scratched the back of his head apologetically at Corvus. 

“Sorry, General, but my men have standing orders not to salute anyone on our side unless it's part of the mission. We don't want even a civilian thinking we're some military unit. All it takes is some curious Imp to notice the pattern, and then our cover is blown.” Madine explained. 

Corvus nodded along in approval. The more he saw of Madine's outfit, the more impressed he was. Sensing the embarrassment from the enlisted man who had been rebuked, Corvus decided not to rub salt in his wounds, and wanted to amp everyone's morale. 

“You men are clearly professionals. To perform so many missions successfully, you clearly know what you are doing. You, Commander, and each man & woman under your watch are a credit to the Republic.” Corvus said, and turned to make sure he made eye contact with everyone present. 

Most people were happy to see him, some were neutral, three were bouncing in place practically unable to contain themselves, whilst one of them was ducking her head in the back barely repressing her fear. 

Waving his hand at the woman who was fearful, he cast a [Mind Trick] suspecting she was perhaps a spy, afraid that she would be found out. 

‘Step forward, and let everyone know your fear. If you do not confess now, then you will be found out, and punished.’ 

“Thank you, General, you-Diana what are you doing?” Madine began to reply, only to turn in confusion as a young pretty woman stepped forward, bowing her head. 

“I-I want to thank you, General Revan for what you did on Eriadu. My mom can breathe now, and her aches were healed. P-please go out with me!” The girl stuttered with a crimson red face. 

“Are you even worthy?” Yon huffed, crossing his arms. 

As for Corvus, he could only say the grin on his face that had formed after successfully outing a ‘spy’ froze in place. 

For a second there was pin drop silence, then the entire room erupted with laughter. The commandos were mostly dudes, and their words were extremely crude, and ribbed her good. The girl ran back to the corner, and buried her face in her clothes a second later, mortified by the experience. 

“Ahem, sorry for the show.” Madine coughed into his hand, and bowed his head in apology. 

Corvus waved his hand like it was no big deal. At the same time, he cast [Valor] & [Inspire] on everyone, to improve their morale. Turning to address the crowd, he raised his voice. 

“I've been told your objective is to snatch the blueprints for the Empire's latest toy. I can see that you're all geared up, and ready for a perfect infiltration. During this mission, I will be observing each and every one of you.” Corvus said, suddenly [Shadow Hopping] behind a man in a worker's uniform, making him flinch in place. 

“I could be over your shoulder, and you might not know it.” He teased, as several people turned to look at him with wide eyes. “I might even look like an Imperial Agent.” Corvus continued. 

A second later, his entire uniform swapped to his Bond outfit, and he gave off an intimidating appearance. Next, he was a clone trooper, then a droid mask covered his face, and he looked like a droid, before the familiar mask of Revan came back into place. Going invisible in front of everyone, he then hummed a song walking towards Madine before becoming visible again. Tossing a thermal detonator into the air, he juggled a continuous stream of grenades into the air from his inventory, and then pocketed them one by one as if he were some stage magician performing a magic act. 

“During this excursion, everyone is to be in and out within 5 hours of entry. I might just destroy the facility with explosives, or a rogue AT-ST might just go on a rampage. If I'm truly lucky, the Empire might just turn on the research facility, and vaporize it from orbit.” Corvus playfully remarked as if accomplishing all this was as easy as taking a walk through the park. 

The commandos had completely forgotten about the girl's embarrassing confession by now, and were all looking at him in disbelief. Yet underneath it all, there was naked awe. A handful of people had at some point, pulled out necklaces with the symbol of the Jedi Order, and were clutching them in their hands like a particularly religious person might hold onto a cross. 

“Do well on this mission, and I might just ask you brave soldiers to come along with me to Coruscant. After today, I'm mounting a mission, but the details are on a need to know basis. You all understand.” 

“Yes sir, General! We would be honored to help you in your mission. Whatever you have planned is certain to shake the very foundation of the galaxy.” Madine agreed, and nodded along like a true believer. 

Corvus slightly cringed at the wild switch up, but between his buffs, high Personality, and the feats he just demonstrated, any ordinary person would believe in the clearly bullshit Space Wizard. 

“Mmm. I look forward to your performance. Before we head out, I'd like to introduce my two students, Commanders Jax & Yon.” Corvus nodded at his boys, and gestured for them to step forward. 

“If there's any targets to be eliminated or some list, let me take a look. Just a handful of days ago, I boarded an enemy Star Destroyer, and took out a traitor before she could leak our secrets.” Yon crossed his arms, and confidently stated. 

“There are some people of interest…ideally we would kidnap their scientists. B Squad has practiced for this, and their objective is to recover eight different people. If we cannot grab them, then B Squad's orders are to eliminate them, you can tag along.” Madine said, appraising Yon before turning to his crew, and barking an order: “Someone get him a worker's uniform!” 

Yon wore a pleased look on his face, and smugly glanced at Jax to see how his rival would contribute to the mission. 

Although Jax was as chill as usual, and didn't seem to really care about socializing or saying anything, he silently held out a holopad. A moment later, a 3D holographic map of the facility came into view. 

“This should help everyone…” Jax slowly stated. 

“Thank you, but our informant already produced a map.” Madine politely declined. 

“Just a minute, Commander, this map is special.” Corvus was quick to intervene, seeing that Jax had already lowered his arm, and was about to put the dataslate away. 

Giving Jax a sideye, his student reluctantly raised let the projector display the holographic image once more. “Pull up your own map, doubtlessly you'll notice some discrepancies.” 

Following Corvus’s suggestion, Madine did just that. When overlapping the two maps, it was clear as day that Jax's was more detailed, and included several rooms & facilities that were missing. 

“Indeed it is different! How did you come across this version?! Only an executive should have this kind of access.” Madine marveled, and looked at Jax with curiosity. 

Jax bowed his head, and spoke in a low tone. “I saved someone in need. They wanted me to come find them later, and handed this map to me…” 

Yon narrowed his eyes, and wore a lewd grin on his face. “What Princess did you save this time?” 

The commandos looked at the group of Jedi, and sensing some gossip, were extra quiet, waiting for Jax's reply. Even Madine looked on in curiosity. 

“...while I was exploring the city yesterday, I came across a girl about to be kidnapped by some hooligans. She's the daughter of KDY's CEO, and is visiting this research facility to gain experience.” Jax quietly intoned. 

“As expected of my rival.” Yon shook his head, and sighed. 

Madine typed away at a holopad, then showed a 3D image of an absolute bombshell of a babe. “It was this girl right here?” 

Jax mutely nodded his head. 

“If we captured her, no no, if we honey potted her, there's a chance we could turn Kuat against the Empire.” Madine stroked his beard, and had a faraway look in his eye, before glancing at Jax with a hungry expression. 

The white haired teen silently stepped back, and stood behind Corvus, using his Master as a shield. 

A wry grin spread across Corvus’s face. He too had thought about using Jax's good looks, and cold outwardly, heart of gold inwardly woman magnetizing persona to turn the Empire's elites towards the Republic, but he couldn't in good conscience do that to his student. 

“Right. Anyway, the Super Eclipse is upon us. Commander Madine, mobilize your men, I am looking forward to your performance.” Corvus clapped his hands to break the man from his fugue, then sharply issued his orders. 

“Yes sir, General.” Madine nodded, then turned to his men. “Let's go, for the Republic.” 

“For the Republic!”