Droids Everywhere (Month 9, 30BBY)

Count Dooku looked out over his balcony. There wasn’t much of a landscape. The arid planet he had chosen to meet with new, potential leaders was always somewhere out of the way. Someplace where ‘republic’ eyes and ears would not see. He knew there was a lot of worn to do yet. They needed thousands of systems to join them yet. His newest ally, General Grievous was still looking for a new site to build his Droid army. The troublesome Jedi had discovered his factories. Ever since the trade federations bungling, the Jedi have locked into the fact that they used droids of a different design. And, like Akk Hounds they were hot on Grievous’s scent.

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Zavian shined his signal light at Kaia who was hiding up in the catwalk of the factory. They could see that the factory was making soldier  droids. But who they were making them for and why was another thing altogether.

Zavian’s and Kaia’s force bond was strong. Almost tangible. He knew what she was feeling and she knew what he was feeling. In some rare cases, even what the other was thinking. They needed to find out who these droids belonged to and quickly. The longer they were here, the more chance that someone would discover them. His signal meant that he was in position to back her up. There were a lot of different alien ships in orbit. Any one of them could belong to General Grievous but the hard part was getting a glimpse of him.

Kaia could feel Zavian near her. Knowing he was close always had a calming effect on her. She wished that they were married and far away on another planet planning their future together, but after she had completed and passed the trials the Jedi Council had managed to convince Zavian to convince her to remain for the time being. They were "needed." It had not been easy, but he had finally managed it. Kaia's request was that she not be forced to take on a Padawan and that she and Zavian be allowed to continue to work together. The Council had no choice but to agree to their requests. The Council knew that they had discovered new Sith on Korriban, but Kaia did not reveal who they were.

Since then, Kaia and Zavian had been sent on several missions together. They proved to be an effective team, and though the Council knew that they were continuing their relationship, they turned a blind eye to it. Kaia's skill with a lightsaber was incredible and she was getting stronger and stronger with the Force everyday.

She and Zavian had been sent to investigate a factory that appeared to be making soldier droids. The Council had sent them to figure out who they were being made for and why. The lightsaber Kaia had made with the dark blue crystal hung at her hip. She waited for Zavian's signal before beginning to move. She and Zavian were convinced that General Grevious was behind all of this, but they still needed to prove it.

Large machines dumped large amounts of metal into large bins and then the bins allowed the slag to trickle down into the molds. The molds made the main visible pieces for the droids. So, if this factory just made the pieces, there must be another one, somewhere that put the pieces together. Zavian did not sense another force sensitive there but he did feel something. Something he could not really describe. He saw Kaia release her holo globes into the air. They would hover around the factory and collect all the 3 dimensional data that they could then flutter back to her. While she did that Zavian decided to move toward the odd feeling he felt.

He could also sense a growing need for action from Kaia. She hated this kind of work. She was much more prone to just handle things head on. She was a Jedi but she still had some to learn yet. Jedi Knights which is what he was, a promotion from the basic Jedi Initiate which was what she was, had that patience instilled in them. Experience was important to a Jedi. Just as important as their kinship to the living force.

Kaia saw several sentinel droids heading her way. She could destroy them before they saw her or avoid them. The latter was better they needed to find out more about this factory. But the prior, though it would hide their arrival, they’d have to quickly try to find one of the drop ships that took these materials to the main assembly plant. Zavian found his way out of the main factory area and into what appeared to be offices or meeting areas. He saw two techno-union guards, guarding the entrance and he created a force diversion for them. The two guards peeled away toward the diversion. Zavian silently moved past them and deeper into the offices.

The factory was quite large and Kaia watched as machines dumped large amounts of metal into bins.The metal then trickled down into the molds for the main pieces of the droids. There was no visible assembly happening here which meant there must be a second factory where the pieces were put together. Kaia used some of her holospheres to collected three dimensional data about the factory. Once they finished collecting the data they flew back down to her and she pocketed them into cloak.

Kaia was starting to grow impatient, but she did her best to remain calm. This was why she and Zavian balanced each other out so well. Suddenly, Kaia spotted several Sentinel droids heading her way. The two options were to either destroy them, or avoid them. Destroying them could draw unwanted attention her way so she opted to avoid them. She hid from them and then used the Force to cloak her presence. Once they were gone she continued on. She no longer saw Zavian, but could still sense he was near.

Zavian saw several more Techno-union personnel and it was clear that they were running this facility. He and Kaia had discovered that that Dooku was, for some reason, gathering systems to join his separatist movement. There just wasn’t any logic to it. They already had lucrative deals with the republic. Why was Dooku doing this? He had never met him but he knew he had trained The Jedi Knight Qui-jinn. The man had disappeared for a long while, but not had recently resurfaced though none of the Jedi had seen him. Zavian thought the man had gone rogue, possibly due to the death of his old friend and Pedowan who was killed by an unidentified Sith. Now Zavian and Kaia met 2 more, her mother and a young man, her brother. That’s 2 more Sith and there were likely many more. This whole thing stunk badly. He needed to get back to Kaia and they needed to get a tracker on one of these ships.

As Kaia hid she suddenly felt as if someone was watching her. As the sentinal droids left the area and she moved back out onto the catwalk she suddenly had the urge to parry...something with her lightsaber.

Kaia had a strong suspicion that there was more to Count Dooku than everyone believed. Was he working with General Grevious? She had seen everything she needed to see on the ship and wanted to find Zavian so they could get a tracker onto one of the ships and then get out of here before they were found. However, as she moved back out onto the catwalk her senses suddenly alerted her to...something. In the blink of an eye she had unclipped her lightsaber. As she activated it, she was bathed in a dark blue glow. She turned and parried...

Something or someone had come out of the shadows. The weapon was not a lightsaber but it was some kind of sword that had blue energy that crackled up and down its length. The creature was masked and draped in dark clothing that blended into the surroundings of the dimly lit factory. As she parried his or her, she couldn't tell if this was a woman, she felt something else and shifted her lightsaber to deflect the incoming projectile. In the blink of an eye she saw it. A dart of some kind. So now she faced at least 2 assailants. One up close and at least one, ranged. Somehow they masked her ability to sense them.

As she and her assailant fought she found that they were not large, not as tall as she was. She managed to get past the creature’s strike but when she hit them they had managed to block her blow with some kind of shield strapped to their arm. Two more darts came in and it took all of her training and ability to deflect them. Kaia had seen that kind of weapon before. If it hit her it would knock her on her butt and she’d not be able to use her muscles properly for several minutes. Those darts coming in also spoke of someone wanting to capture her, not harm or kill her.

Zavian felt the sudden rush of concern and the uptick on the use of the force. He didn’t find what he was looking for but Kaia was in trouble. He backed up and found Techno-Union guards. They drew weapons and he moved quickly forward to engage them.

Kaia watched as someone...or something came out of the shadows. They held a weapon that was not a lightsaber, but appeared to be some kind of sword with a blue energy. The person or creature was draped in dark clothing and masked and had blended into the dark shadows of the factory. Kaia was able to block the being's attack, but then she suddenly felt something else. In the blink of an eye she moved just before the dart hit her. That meant that there were at least two attackers. She knew that if one of those darts hit her that she would be in trouble. She also knew that if they were using darts that meant that they did not want to kill her...they wanted to capture her. For what purpose, she did not know and she wasn't certain she wanted to find out. She managed to continue to block the first assailant's attacks, and through the Force she was able to keep the darts from hitting her. She needed Zavian and she hoped he would arrive soon to help her.

"What is it that you want?" she finally asked the creature she was engaged with.

“You, ofcourse!” It said from beneath its mask. She could tell it was fast, very fast and whomever was firing those darts was very accurate. She felt Zavian using the force and felt the rose in his heart rate. He was fighting as well. Whomever these people were they waited until they were separated to attack them.

Zavian force pushed 2 droids down and he blocked a blaster bolt woth his lightsaber. It richoted and hit another droid and it fell like the others. More droids came into the area though and Zavian began to back up. It was clear to him now that they must have known they were there. He did not recall checking their ship for tracking devices after they left Coruscant.

Kaia’s blade found her opponents flesh but it didn’t fall and it continued to fight as if she hadn’t hit it at all. Their blades moved fast against one another but Kaia’s blade was just to quick. She managed to thrust into its chest but then the thing moved up to her and touched her wrist. It was the tiniest of pin pricks but she felt the strong sedative as soon as it enerered her body. The droid she fought fell as she pulled her lightsaber from it but then she felt something sharp and painful hit her in the shoulder blade. When she reached and plucked out what it was she saw the dart and began to feel woozy. A figure in the skylight shifted and their shadow made the light and darkness near her shift around her as the room began to spin. She tried to ply her will to slow the drug but there was just too much in her system.

“There is someone that wants to talk to you, Kaia Kaldera. And he’ll have to pay for that droid!” The woman said angrily but her face was obscured as well.

Kaia felt woozy from the sedative and her knees grew weak. She was using all the energy she had to try and slow the drug, but the drug was just too strong. She collapsed down to her knees. She heard a woman's voice and she looked up and saw someone, but their face was obscured. Someone wanted to talk to her? Who?

"You know, they could have asked nicely," she said sarcastically.

She felt darkness start to take her, but before it could she managed to contact Zavian telepathically. Only a few Jedi were able to harness telepathic powers and Kaia was one of them.

Zavian, I need your help. I'm being taken.

It was all she managed to get out before she lost consciousness.

The woman’s expression did not appear to change as everything went dark. Zavian fought the droids. He was one with the force and it was clear that they did not intend to capture him. THey wanted to kill him. He felt Kaia was still alive but he no longer felt her thoughts. She must be unconscious and his awareness of her grew less and less as if she were being moved away from him.

The drugs in Kaia’s system weren’t perfect but she could not affect the force enough in her present state to overcome them either. She knew she had been carried and that the air where she was, was drier than it had been. She also felt the hum of engines around her. A ship? She knew she was in a ship now as well. Zavian raced toward where he felt Kaia was. He didn’t know if she had come here for a reason or if she had been forced. His feelings toward her were muddled as if his ability to see her was covered in a thin cloth that his eyes could not penetrate. By the time he arrived the ship was already lifting off. He managed to get a tracker attached to the hull but the ship had sped away in an obvious hurry. He lifted up his comm device.

“R2, get the ship prepped for launch,” Zavian said.

Kaia felt her consciousness return but there was something attached to the back of her neck as she lay on what looked to be a cot. There was a silver protocol droid that was looking at her and when she stirred it shifted up to her.

“Hello, I am RA-7, please do not be alarmed. My master does not mean you any harm. Can i gt you anything? A warm beverage or food?” It asked her. Kaia knew she was in a ship but she didn’t know what kind exactly other than it was big enough to not feel so cramped as her and Zavian’s ship. She wasn’t tied down and found she could sit up. The clamp on the back of her neck hurt but she knew she’d not be able to remove it. It was there incase she tried anything. It would send an electric shock that would incapacitate her in a moment.

Kaia slipped in and out of consciousness as she was moved. She didn't know where she was being taken, but slowly became aware that she was in a ship. She could hear and feel the engines as the ship began to lift off. She slipped back into unconsciousness for a few minutes before her eyes slowly began to open again. The first thing she was aware of was that something was attached to the back of her neck. She was laying on a cot and could feel that the ship she was in was in flight. She began to sit up and quickly noticed the silver protocol droid looking at her. She lifted a hand up to touch the clamp on her neck and she realized that she wasn't going to be able to remove it. She suspected that it was meant to deter her from trying to escape or harm the person who had put it on her. She glanced over at the droid.

"Where am I being taken?"

“Oh, I’m not quite certain,” he said as he set down a tea service he had brought and set it on a small table near her cot. “Would you care for some tea?” He said. There were no outside windows in this particular room and large crates that were strapped down were nearby. She was in a small, cargo hold of some kind it seemed and her lightsaber had been removed from her. She could still sense the source though. That had not been diminished.

Devasti watched the Jedi from the viewscreen in the cockpit. She almost never took jobs like these. Jedi were not easy to deal with and she lost one of her best droids to boot. Already what she stood to gain from the delivery of the Jedi woman would barely pay for the repair to her droid that now lay in a heap in the storage locker below deck. But she owed the man and so she would bring the Jedi to him.

Corbos was an arid wasteland with massive deserts, huge volcanos and high plateaus of volcanic rock. Long ago Dark Jedi had lost a battle here but now though a possible sight for good mining. The planet was largely ignored do to its desolate climate. Lightning rolled along the high ridges in the distance. Devasti’s ship came out of hyperspace and came down toward a large platform that opened up for it. The ship moved down inside of the opening and the opening closed as the ship landed.

The door to the cargo hold opened and Devasti, still hidden by a mask took a step back from the door. She held some kind of blaster rifle. “Someone wants to talk to you...Jedi. Don’t make me have to put you down,” she said in a very dangerous tone.

Kaia wasn't really thirsty, but she accepted the tea politely. There were no windows down where she was being held and she wasn't certain where they were going. She hoped that Zavian was alright. They were far enough apart now that she could no longer feel him. She could only wait and see where she was being taken and figure out who wanted to speak with her. Clearly, they had gone through a lot of trouble to do so.

After a while, she felt the ship come out of hyperspace and slow. After they landed the masked woman came back to the cargo area to collect her. The woman held a blaster rifle, but Kaia wasn't intimidated. However, she did quietly walk with her out of the ship

"Can you at least tell me who it is that wanted to speak with me?"