Leia grinned at the operative. If the long, hard trip that she had just been forced to undergo in order to get onto the ship completely unnoticed had fatigued her any, it did not show in the slightest.

"A pleasure," she said as she began to peel off her bright orange flight suit, to reveal a set of Jedi robes underneath.

They stood in the middle of one of the ship's empty hangar bays, next to the New Republic X-Wing that Leia had just landed in. Leia popped open the small cargo compartment on her X-Wing and pulled out her gunbelt and her heavy dark brown outer Jedi robe.

The actual infiltration had not been hard. It had been the flight insystem to Corellia that had been taxing. Leia had ordered a pair of New Republic mechanics to jury rig the computer of her X-Wing to register as one of the X-Wings from Drayson's fleet group. That successfully completed, she had departed from Naboo alone, hours before her flagship and it's detachment of ships were scheduled to leave. She had a set of extra hyperspace jumps to make, to ensure that she would come in from the complete opposite vector that her fleet detachment would arrive in.

She would pop out right in the middle of the battle that reports said was raging in the system. In the confusion of battle, her arrival went completely unnoticed. She had to rely on the Force to guide her, so that she would pop out of hyperspace in the middle of the battle, without colliding with another ship.

Her X-Wing was just another friendly blip on any of the New Republic ships' sensor screens. Also in preparation for her arrival, she had sent the message to the operative based on Isstal's command ship just prior to her last jump in system.

Her flagship and it's assigned fleet acted as decoys. As far as anyone knew save for Leia herself and very few others, she was on the flagship enroute to Corellia...

Her fleet detachment departed as scheduled, and arrived in system right on schedule.

As Drayson's sensor officer noticed the new arrivals, Leia had been shutting down two of her engines. She radioed in, claiming to have been severely damaged, and she was immediately cleared to land on the nearest available ship... Drayson's.

And now here she stood. And nobody knew they were there.


Leia shrugged into her robe and quickly put on her belt, turning back to the operative.

"We had better get moving... we shouldn't pick up any resistance on the way. Drayson probably placed his most loyal offices on this ship, and those we may have to... dispatch with on terms of treason. The rest will obey me."

And with that, they set off unimpeded for the bridge.

The trip to the bridge had been uneventful. Few had even noticed them, due to the combined Jedi sense techniques the two used to mask themselves.

Upon reaching the bridge, a set of command codes were entered. They were of the highest level and would allow the Special Agent into any part of any New Republic ship.

Once reaching the bridge, the Jedi Assassin removed her saber from her side, allowing it to fall neatly into her right hand. She looked at the officers and crewmen, then allowed her eyes to fall upon Drayson.

Her blade snapped to life with a hiss then was followed by a distinct hum. The hum made only by the weapon of a Jedi. The hum of a light saber blade of pure, and hard, light energy.

She allowed Leia to enter, after she had made sure it was secure, and would easily dispatch any officer who made attempt at the Chief of State.

Leia calmly strode onto the bridge, with an unmistakably regal air about her. Her gaze quickly swept across the bridge, and landed directly on a clearly startled Drayson.

The air was so tense that Leia felt she could cut it with her saber. She kept all of her senses save her actual eyesight wearily attuned to the officers on the bridge. If they decided to shoot at her, she would have to whip out her sabers rather quickly. However, this did not worry her. Such an exercise as deflecting blaster bolts was a task she mastered years ago. Even if all of the officers fired on her, with the help of the Jedi assassin she could bat all the shots aside and disarm all of the officers with a bat of an eye. Ok, perhaps two...


When Leia spoke, her voice was smooth as silk.


"Why hello Drayson. I just thought we'd drop in on your little party here, and see what's going on... In case you don't recognize me, I am Jedi Master Leia Organa Solo, Chief of State of the Republic."

She noted that every single officer on duty on the bridge swallowed and shifted their stance uncomfortably. Even if they had declared their allegience to Drayson, Leia mused, this was the moment of truth...

He turned slowly and motioned for the soliders to lower their blasters. These were, naturally, the finest troops available. Their loyalty, like Drayson's did not lie with Leia Organa Solo, but with the Republic.

If one person had to die to ensure the continued existance of thousands of others, and of the Republic itself, they would shoot her without question.

But they lowered their guns, regardless, on the order of the Chancellor. He may have seized power, and it may have been illegal in the eyes of some, but they could see where others could not: the future.

Even Organa Solo's vaunted Jedi powers could not see that if she were to take control of this warship now, in this moment of truth, then all would come to an end, and the Empire would reign as the Authority indefinately.

He gave her a cold smile.

"Princess Leia... a pleasure, I am sure. You are here to denounce me as a traitor to the Republic, I am sure." He stopped, drawing her attention to the flashes of laser fire outside the viewports, the dagger-shaped Star Destroyers surrounding Corellia, the Republic Defenders, his defenders.

"Please, save your breath, Princess. I do not have the time to deal with your wild accusation of who is a traitor and why. You yourself have not been seen by the people for months, and yet here you are, sneaking aboard a Republic warship and threatening her crew," he spared a glance to the Jedi Assassin, who still held the humming lightsaber.

"Like the majority of people on this bridge, I am busy. If you didn't notice when you arrived, those are Imperial warships out there. And I have a war to fight. If you have nothing more to say than throw accussations, then please leave my bridge or I will have you removed. We can discuss this matter later... asssuming it is relevent."

With that, he turned away, already forgetting Princess Leia. The guards, however, did not, and their weapons were turned on the two Jedi.

To the Jedi's free hand soared a blade of matching power and intensity of the first. Now a duo of light energy blades hummed in the Jedi's firm grip.

Her style was unusual. She bent in ways that would turn heads, or stomachs. Her blades moved with a precision that could not be matched by any who was not trained in the art of battle.

The first man fell as her blade spun around and cleanly removed his head. Then it came.

A raining firestorm of blaster bolts. Her blades move so quickly they blurred. Soon all that could be seen of the Jedi was a blue blur of light energy. Blaster bolts shot off in at all angles. Men fell, one by one, their own blaster fire being returned to them with skill and precision.

After a time, and not a long one at that, all the offending security officers lay sprawled across the floor. By blaster fire or saber blade they had fell, one by one, to the Jedi Assassin.

It was her job, it was what she did.

How dare they fire upon the Chief of State, how dare they fire upon a Jedi.

Her blades finally came to rest, though they still made a distinct hum in her grasp. She moved forward, slowly, silently, she stalked towards Drayson, halting just beside the Chief of State, Leia Organa Solo.

"Your men follow your lead, I see. Traitors stick together, or betray one another.."

She displayed no emotion. No remorse, no regret, no anger, not even a sign of physical exhaustion.

She was, infact, unaffected in any way by the scuffle.

Leia did not flinch as the assassin went about her work.

While she did not approve of the killing, she knew that each of the officers was loyal only to Drayson, and had already earned the death penalty not onlt by committing treason, but also once they had turned their blasters on her, they had foreited any rights to the mercy of the Republic, or it's Chief of State. Once the assassin had completed her work, Leia continued.

"On the contrary, Drayson. I am here in the best interests of the Republic. And if you do not surrender control of this fleet to me and it's rightful officers immediately, your fate will be similar to that of the other treasonous nerfherders that were just dealt justice."

Leia casually strode over to Drayson, the Jedi assassin had her back. Both hands briefly dissapeared under her outer robe, and when they reappeared there was a lightsaber in each one.

Even as short as she was, in her current form many had called her as imposing a form as Vader himself.

Leia ignited both blades, one green, one purple, and pointed them both at the defenseless Drayson.

"Surrender your stolen command, ex-admiral Drayson. The Republic has no need for your arrogant assumptions, as well as your treacherous and treasonous acts."

(Who said they were firing laser bolts?)

<hr>

It is a widely known fact that a skilled Jedi Knight can delfect laser blasts with little effort. But it is somewhat harder for them to deflect stun rings, and even heard for them to counter sonic-based weapons.

The guards on the Twilight had been armed with the two latter, and as the Jedi Assassin deflected the initial, distracting volley of laser fire, a volley of stun beams took her from behind.

A Jedi could absorb a single, maybe even two, stun blasts with a little concentration, a second's worth. But the Assassin had not even that. And for what concetrarion she could have had, was broken by a high-pitched sonic wailing.

Her cold body dropped, stunnded, to the floor, behind Leia, and the guards aimed at the Jedi Princess, careful.

Drayson looked at the lightsaber-wielding princess in disgust, then to the bodies of six dead men, all loyal to the Republic.
"So this is the price for your greed, Princess. Six dead now, and how many when the Republic falls? A trillion? Two?"

He turned away calmly, and spoke into the open air. A microphone would pick it up and broadcast it to all units in the sector.

"This is Fleet Admiral Hiram Drayson, aboard the Super Star Destroyer Twilight. Rogue forces have attempted to sieze this vessel by force. As such, I am hearby ordering the Star Destroyer Home Fire to attain command duties if the flagship is lost.

"If the flagship should be lost, all friendly units are to turn their guns on her and destroy her with due haste. That is all."

Then he turned and entered a number, then placed his palm on the reader and said simply, "When my palm leaves the reader, Princess, the Twilight will self destruct.

"Make your choice: leave now, or join the men you just killed."

(Sorry, Pisstal, those guards are already dead. Unless you have a time machine.)

Well, #1 since when was I even in system, Isstal? Went along with that one there for ya, and that was a biggie.


#2, at the end of my post there were no living people in that room except you, me, and the assassin. This is not changable by any means. Better edit.

Two Days Earlier, Unmarked FIO Building, Corellia

Xeneth Tellien sat silently at his desk in the Foreign Intelligence Office building, tapping a pen repeatedly on a small notebook -- made of paper, rare as that was -- and skimming over the notes made on the open page, over and over. He smiled. There was something real, something concrete about the printed word, that couldn't be recreated in hologram.

Similarly, there was something, to the young General in the Rogue Order Naval Forces, about true leadership that could not be recreated by even the most carefully-planned facade. And, if any man in the Republic had laid a carefully-planned facade, it was Admiral Drayson.

Admiral Drayson
-Abitious
-Experienced
-Politically Impaired
-Fairly Intelligent

Notes of that sort continued on down the page. Xeneth looked up at the man in front of him -- an intelligence agent, about five years younger than he -- and smiled. "You have a datapad for me, Officer?"

"Yes, sir." The man said, handing Tellien a small pad, which he took and placed in his desk's holoprojector. From it sprang surveilance tape of Drayson, sitting quietly, typing on a holopad at his desk.

"Anything suspect, just from circumstances?" Tellien asked.

"Well, sir, you ordered him observed." The agent shifted. "We're not an official branch of the RJO navy, or military, or intelligence -- we do what you tell us, and not much more."

"I was asking you a question."

The agent took a steadying breath. "Well, the recent Imperial attacks have put Drayson on edge, as it has most of the Republic. Combined with his obvious ambition, Hexyra's death, and the amount of time he's waited on the sidelines..."

"It's high time that he do something?" Tellien nodded. "Good. Yes, I trust you've analyzed what he's typing, there?" He asked.

"Yes. It amounts to little more than reports on military spending." The agent sighed. "I'm afraid we've found nothing, sir. Absolutely nothing."

Tellien watched the tape a moment more. It was moving forward at an accelerated pace, now, throughout Drayson's day. He was attended to by various messengers and dignitaries, all seeking a brief audience with him. "I assume the whole tape goes on like this?"

"Yes, it does."

Xeneth frowned slightly, slowing the tape to a normal pace as another dignitary entered the room. It wasn't just him; each of the meetings were short and succinct, with Drayson dismissing the attendees shortly after they began. This one lasted only three minutes. "Look at that," Tellien murmered.

"What?" The agent looked at the holoprojection. "Yes... that's Fre'Len Tivil, leaving the room. He's minister of --"

"I don't care." Tellien cut him off. "Look at it. Each of the meetings... they're no more than three minutes. He always sends them away." The General tilted his head. "There are warships assaulting half of the Republic's worlds, Sith pounding Mon Calamari... and he sits here, waiting. Why would a prominent admiral attend to idiotic bullshit reports, at a time like this?"

"I... don't know, sir." The agent was perplexed.

"He's waiting for something." As the hologram progressed, a Chiss -- from his garb, a low-ranking messenger -- entered the room, handing Drayson a paper note, which the admiral quickly read and threw away. "Stop." Tellien said. "Reverse." The computer complied, back to where Drayson was reading the note.

"What is it, sir?"

"That is a Chiss." Tellien said.

"Yes, sir... Jiren brought Csilla into the fold --"

"No, you idiot." Tellien snapped. "Stop jumping to conclusions. Look at the shape of his eyes. They're more narrow. He's not from Csilla, he's from Vyrnaliq."

"So?" The agent asked, now thoroughly perterbed.

"So, there are no Vyrnaliqian Chiss in the New Republic. We own the planet. Chiss who enlist from that world do so by default into the Rogue Jedi Order." He paused. "Magnify that paper. Four-hundred percent." He paused again. "Refine." The picture became clearer. The words popped out at him.

"Shit." He said, standing up.