The Weaving Force: Chapter 115 (Patreon)

Chapter 115:

Hannah:

“I’m sorry.”

He didn’t answer her, not directly; she knew him well enough to know that meant he was conflicted about it.

Relieved that she was alright. Grateful for the apology. Happy that she would recover fully. 

But still angry. At the situation that saw her hurt; at the war itself, the fact that he wasn’t there. 

Even at her, yes. 

They’d promised each other something and she’d broken that promise, however unwillingly. She’d been… as careful as she could be given the situation and what exactly she did to win, no punctured organs, she’d manipulated her power so the thin shaft would slip into her first before forming the broad spearhead itself and then eliminated it just as smoothly. 

But still, she could have been wrong; the angle could have been off. A punctured stomach, a perforated kidney or liver. Even her spine.

There were a lot of things that could have gone wrong with her little stunt.  

So he had a right to be mad, even if he didn’t want to be.

So he stayed quiet; simply sat there, holding her hand.

She decided to change the subject maybe for both their sakes.“Have you heard from Dennis and Ventress?” 

“She is in surgery.” He rumbled. “The wound cost her, but, lightsaber wounds do not bleed. She will live…”

She was relieved, but she heard what he didn’t say. 

She would have to re-learn much on how to walk again.

Prosthetics were far far and away more advanced than anything found on earth. But losing your entire leg from the hip down would require an adjustment period no matter how good the prosthetic. Different weight, different sensations, balance. It could never be the same. 

Hannah let herself close her eyes for a brief moment, letting the cool air of the medical wing kiss her skin. 

“What’s…” She was almost afraid to ask. “What’s the latest estimates?”

Estimates. That’s all they would have for a long, long time.

Estimates.

Statistics.

“For which group?” His voice was almost a whisper. 

“The Clones… and the Jedi.” What she’d seen on the ground with Anakin’s legion… it might’ve been an emergency situation but if that number disparity was commonplace…

She can’t imagine they didn’t suffer horrendous casualties over the course of a straight month of combat under those conditions.

“The Jedi are not releasing those numbers.” He told her honestly. Likely to not give the separatists… or their own- any effect on morale.

If thats the case… the numbers must’ve been bad. 

“Vicky? Taylor? Anakin?” She ventured. “Are they all ok.”

None had come to see her directly; though supposedly they’d all been called before they managed to get in contact with Dennis or Aras. Too much confusion. Too many ships moving everywhere under like five different jurisdictions and Space territories as the Republic, Corellia and Mandalore retreated from Geonosis, leaving a token defense and monitoring force behind.

Three Venator ships.

It seemed almost laughable to think that just three ships was all it would take to keep a world that had cost millions of lives.

But the factory was destroyed. The hives decimated. The sith, killed. One of them by her own hand. Even the Queen had been captured by a Jedi strike force.

Geonosis was broken.

And the army that broke it felt like it was just as shattered. 

She squeezed tightly at his fingers, feeling the rough callous of his thumb brushing across her knuckles.

“I want to go home.” She didn’t plead.

But it was close.

“Then we will go home.” He answered with that calm, simple assurance.

Alexandria

The Senate Rotunda was never a calm body of deliberation. Truthfully- it was little better than a bazaar.

It might seem strange to compare it to such but that’s truthfully what it was. A bunch of merchants selling something to someone for the right price.

Very rarely did it live up to the legend, the supposed dignity of its power and station at the heart of the Galaxy.

When the attack on Geonosis was first announced there was much celebration amidst the warhawks in the senate. These came in all types. Corellia and its allies, the ones that had ‘skin in the game’ so to speak on a ‘personal’ level, however much one could ‘consider’ an attack on a planet or a city ‘personal’

The idealogues who were genuinely ‘offended by the Seperatists rebelling against the Republic and its rulership for their petty greed. 

The oportunists who saw a way to elevate their own standing by being on the ‘winning side.

And of course- the ones who would profit off of the war in some way.

Kuatt with its dealings in ships and munitions. Those who had ‘dealings’ with Manann for their Kolto and Bacta, or the Hutts for Adrenals Weapon manufacturers and profiteers.

These formed a solid ‘Bloq that was a solid majority in the Senate.

Then, the reports trickled in

And trickled in.

Casualties, damages, ships lost; either destroyed or rendered non functional, war materiel.

As they trickled in, the ‘peacemakers’ as they’d no doubt prefer to be called grew louder and louder.

Bail Organa from Alderaan was the most powerful of these; but unlike many of his contemporaries he was a shrewd politician. Idealistic, yes. But intelligent. A good man, rare as that was. He knew politics enough to know when to bite his tongue and bide his time for the moment people wanted to hear what he had to say.

Amidala, from Naboo. Not a powerful world, but the Chancellor’s home planet, she had clout, and charisma of her own, a strength of personality that carried more weight than her, frankly childish ideals.

Mon Mothma, another one like bail, but lacking his pragmatism. Her she held in the least regard. Not excelling at any one thing like her contemporaries but merely being mediocre at several.

This was the core of that bloq, and in their gravity they pulled in others. Rodia, Chandrilla, even the Twileks with Taa joining Padme’s plea to open negotiations.

Granted, charming Taa wasn’t exactly a high bar; the man basically parroted the last opinion he heard most days.

But it spoke well of Padme or perhaps Bail that they’d convinced him so thoroughly, tha- for the moment at least, Taa was staying on message and not simply defaulting to saying what Palpatine perhaps wanted him to say.

The constant stream of casualty reports likely helped.

Because indeed, even by her standards; where she’d become accustomed to entire cities, even whole landmasses being destroyed in the span of hours… it was difficult to see daily casualty numbers in the tens of thousands adding up to millions between the weeks.

And then of course; came the others. The less idealistic, the less altruistic.

Yes. Peace had its oportunists and profiteers as well. People who wished to elevate their careers by being peacemakers. Who wanted to make a play for the Chancelorship as the one who could finally bring the war to a close. Even the people who would profit by re-establishing trades with the Seperatist worlds. 

Oh yes. The peacemaker caucus was not as ‘good’ as perhaps someone like Padme wished to believe. 

So yes; they had their voices now, bolstered in no small part by the loss of a Praetor class battleship. That had certainly made many core worlds balk.

It was a struggle, a daily argument to convince Satine to not add her voice to the chorus. The chaos of it all.

Why? 

Because now is when things got messy. As victory was declared and the full picture, the cost came further and further into view; where people changed sides because suddenly, the picture changes. Where the war mongers balked at the true damage this victory had inflicted to their own interests and where the would be peacemakers saw opportunity in shifting their stances.

And then of course… there was the real player, and his catspaws.

“-and are we to continue trusting this archaic, out of touch order of glorified police with our army!? For all of the Jedi’s vaunted powers and foresight we have casualties in the tens of millions! Billions in ships! The security of this republic cannot be-”

“Why is he doing this?” Alexandria didn’t turn at the sound of Padme’s voice, nor Bail’s when he answered her.

“Senator Sauro has never been a friend to the Jedi.” The Alderaanian whispered quietly. “With such casualties on Corellia, no matter how expected or foreseen they might’ve been- he sees an opportunity to remove power from the order.”

“Will Master Gallia respond?” Padme asked.

Standing with the Peacemaker Caucus had been the compromise she’d reached with Satine, a tacit show of support for lack of a public declaration of it.

“I wouldn’t-” It was Alexandria herself  who answered the younger woman. “Anything she says will likely be used against her. If you’re explaining, you’re already losing- especially with a firebrand like Sauro or a half dozen others in this chamber used to twisting words.”

That had been clear enough during the first few Endbringer encounters. There were always people who simply complained about a poorly done job when they themselves weren’t involved in any way in the actual fight itself. 

Contessa had been a godsend in silencing those voices and getting the United States Government to fall in line as needed.

Unfortunately; they didn’t have a Contessa here. 

“But no one could have assaulted that world without suffering casualties.” Padme protested. No doubt she herself had been privy to a few messages delivered to her in secret by Skywalker that made her far more sympathetic than she likely would have been otherwise.

“Jedi are held to a higher standard.” She shrugged. 

“And now we are hearing rumors! That Jedi themselves sacrificed entire legions wholesale because of poor orders, with no oversight, no checks on their power! And even more rumors about yet more Jedi traitors! Because lets call them what they are! They are Jedi! This war is a Jedi war between them and their traitors and we are all being dragged into it”

She did not need to be Force Sensitive to all but feel Amidala grinding her teeth behind her, instead Alexandria turned her gaze towards Palpatine; wondering when he’d slipped that Talking point towards Senator Sauro. 

“I concur!” Senator Ask Aak called, his podium descending to join Sauro’s at the chamber ‘floor.’ “The Jedi cannot keep their house in order and are-”

“It was not the Jedi who invaded Naboo. Nor was it the Jedi who bombed Coronet city and its civilians!”

The Podium under Alexandria’s feet lurched and it was a bit of a struggle to keep her mask of stoicism as they began to descend towards the floor themselves, urged by Padme.

Bail, ever the diplomat, stood up from his seat, placing himself at Amidala’s side, in a show of solidarity for what she was about to say.

Alexandria weighed the pros and cons of her own actions and how it might be read; or more importantly, how it might mess with Palpatine’s own plans. 

Sauro hated the Jedi, manipulating him was very easy; but didn’t inherently mean Palpatine himself had done it. 

But Aak was Palpatine’s creature through and through. Him jumping in to support Sauro’s claims meant that Palpatine wanted it to happen.

And so, making the choice to stand and march over to stand at Amidalla’s side was an easy one. Keeping a careful eye on Palpatine’s face, she noted the barest hint of a twitch that likely meant he was irritated; however much his smile spoke of welcoming his young protege to say her piece even as Ameda tried to berate them into following the chamber rules. 

He truly was a magnificent actor. 

“To call this a Jedi war goes too far Senator Sauro!” Amidala declared. “However much I wish for peace to come; I will not allow this body to lay blame where there is none; we of the Senate called upon the Jedi to lead the Grand Army because we had no commanders able or willing to take up the charge themselves. They have always professed to be Peacekeepers not soldiers!”

But Sauro seemed prepared for that talking point. He sneered, and with a click of his podium controls, several holo posters bloomed across the chamber. 

Dallon, Skywalker, Noble Team, Secura and several other Jedi all being posed for the propaganda reels. 

“Yes.” Sauro said; “Clearly not a Jedi war.”

“These are all images the Senate and the Chancellor himself commissioned Senator Sauro- Not a single one of them was requested for by the Jedi.”

“I don’t see them protesting overmuch.”

“The Jedi serve the republic. If they had protested, no doubt you’d be right here complaining instead that they’re derelict in their duties and responsibilities and not doing everything they could to win the war, so which is it senator?”

“Do not put words in my mouth Amidala.”

“And yet you swallow them so easily-” It was Alexandria who cut in this time. Amidala was a diplomat, not a… brawler. Especially not one with an eideitic memory. 

Sauro shifted his eyes to her and she kept going before he could switch gears.

“Remind me Senator-” She said. “Several years ago you sponsored a young man to attend an educational institution yes?”

He stiffened and then growled. “That has nothing to do with these proceedings-”

“That young man named Omega if I recall, a now convicted criminal. Who is it that arrested him?”

“I am reclaiming my time from the Senator of Mandalo-”

“Was it not the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi? And since then you’ve been quite adamant in prosecuting and sponsoring all bills that would limit Jedi’s investigative and law enforcement powers yes? I’m not one to believe in coincidences.”

“You’re out of order!” The Senator snarled-”

Aak tried to bring the point back towards the subject at hand, no doubt realizing that the talking point was veering further and further off course. “Regardless, the Jedi have proven incapable of prosecuting this war; and now we’re hearing of even a new weapon, to fight the Jedi Dallon the Seperatists are escalating because of them!”

“Which is why we should open negotiations-” Amidala called “As we have stated for months now! This war will only continue to cost more lives and will cause greater and greater long term harm. We must bind up this Republics wounds and bring the Seperatist worlds back into the fold. The Worlds. Not their corporations-”

And like that things devolved again into the fractuous infighting of the caucuses once more.

She turned her eyes towards Palpatine, who offered her a small, barely there smile and a nod.

His plans were delayed. Nothing more. 

— 

It was no surprise when the Fleets returned to Corruscant- sans Corellia’s. It was one of the few locations that could deal with that many ships arriving at once, let alone that many wounded.

The Jedi and Clone vessels went off to their Space stations and temples, and the Mandalorian medical fleet was housed, refueled and resupplied in several orbital docking rings held for their private use.

Say whatever you wished about Palpatine and his administration, but the man knew logistics.

The Mandalorian fleet would be here for barely a full day before they would be ready to leave again, and even that would mostly be spent transporting the wounded towards their respective locations in and around the Jedi temple and Clone facilities. 

She hated getting on ships, but she made a point todo so this time, pulling strings to place Dennis, Ventress and Hannah in their own private wing ahead of their arrival so they would receive priority care.

They didn’t know and they didn’t need to know. 

Either way, once she was sure they were settled and she’d triple checked the vessel she would use this time she did ascend up from Corruscant to the Orbital station to see them- a ten minute ride.

It still boggled her mind at times. How simple it was. Space travel. 

Back home, a launch took months, even years to plan and execute. Millions of dollars, engineers, mathematicians- tests.

Here… it was like hopping on a bike to go to the convenience store.

What they could do back home with just… a dozen ships. How many lives could they have saved. How many colonies could they have established as contingencies to maintain the survival of the species?

…

It wasn’t worth thinking about.

And yet- she did.

Always… she did.

As the ship docked in the landing bay she stepped into the medical facility. There were Mandalorians present of course, even a few Mandalorian prisoners in mag cuffs. Captured Death Watch no doubt. But mostly it was medical droids and doctors making the rounds.

“How may I help you?” A floating droid asked. His legs were gone, hovering on an anti grav torso.

“Don’t worry, I know where I’m going.” She said, just here to visit one of the patients.

“Scanning.” The droid answered, doing a quick bio-scan. “Error, please report to doc-”

“Access three three six two four.”

“Access codes recognized. Greetings senator. Private Wing 37, is just down that hall.”

She knew already, but she thanked the droid anyway as she marched past him.

A few of the Mandalorians recognized her, some saluting her as Senator, others as ‘Vizier’ but regardless they saluted and stepped out of the way.

Entering wing 37, the air was a bit colder here. Not uncomfortable, but clearly free of the collective body heat of so many individuals in the main wing.

It was also quieter.

She caught sight of Dennis first, he was sitting in a waiting room chair, and didn’t even muster up a glare or a groan as he saw her.

“Thought we might see you.” He said instead. 

There was a wariness to his expression, but also a worried sort of exhaustion. He simply didn’t have the energy to be angry or spiteful towards her.

“How’s Ventress?” She asked diplomatically.”

He jerked his chin towards the sealed door. “Getting her measurements for the prosthetic.” He said. “Probably hating every second of it.”

She read the lines of his face again. He wanted to be in there with her. But no doubt Ventress’ pride got in the way. 

She likely didn’t want him to see her injured.

Shame really. Cook was one of the few she could probably trust with that level of vulnerability.

He’d been through and seen far worse things.

“Likely she is.” She answered neutrally instead moving to march past him. “I’ll check on Hannah.”

“Hn.”

Before she reached the door, it hissed open, and Aras stepped out.

She could tell just by looking at him, he’d been expecting her, perhaps even waiting for her. So she came to a stop, and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t move out of the way of the door behind him.

“Aras.” She greeted carefully, neutrally.

He was a tall man, and he towered over her without even really trying. 

“You are fortunate, an injury was all that happened.”

She read him, his expression, the tone of his voice.

He was threatening her.

“You’re angry at me-” She noted neutrally, feeling Dennis’ eyes boring into the back of her, watching the exchange.

“She did her duty as a Mandalorian-” Aras said. “I do not have a right to be angry at her… You are another matter entirely.”“Me?” She smirked ever so slightly. “But not the Duchess?”

“The Duchess did not want this fight.” He rumbled. “You did. And you wanted her involved to once again establish your importance.”

Shrewd. Accurate. For all his stoic, distant, simple  veneer, the man was sharp.

The Mandalorian glared at her. “If you ever cause her death for your ambitions- You will be following her shortly. That much I swear.”

It was said with such absolute conviction, such utter certainty; she almost wished she could chalk it up to sheer bravado.

“And how would you go about that?” 

She didn’t expect an answer. He was smart enough, dangerous enough to not give her one.

But- very few men could hide what they didn’t say.

And what he didn’t way was as loud as a gunshot.

‘How’s your breathing?’

He would be one to watch very carefully.

The Mandalorian stepped aside with nary a word, marching past her and towards the exit.

“Where you goin?” Dennis asked curiously.

“Water.” Came the simple response.

Alexandria opened the door and went to go see her protege. 

Hannah, when she saw her, offered her a smile. “Hey… you’ve looked better”

Alexandria snorted at the joke, the door shutting behind her. “I could say the same. Stabbing yourself to get the win?”

Hannah ‘s smirk widened. “Should see the other guy.”

— 

About an hour later, she was returning to her shuttle and was surprised to note she had… a passenger.

“Cupcake?”

Alexandria eyed the offered confectionery in the held out box “Master Fay… How did you get access to the stations airlock?

The sephi smiled… guilelessly. “It was unlocked.”

…

She wasn’t even going to bother, biting into the offered cupcake that was now in her hand. 

“I heard you were injured.”

Master Fay winked. “You should see the other guy!!!”

In spite of herself, Alexandria snorted. 

She took another cupcake, opening up her ship.

Alexandria remembered the supply manifest of the station for a split second.

She didn’t recall any cupcake ingredients… anywhere.

Or even an oven.

Again. She wasn’t going to bother.

Stepping onto her ship, Fay followed her.

“And you’re here because?”

Again, the Jedi smiled. “Cause it looks like you could use a cupcake… and for a ride to the Jedi temple.”

She wiped at the crumbs on her hands, getting rid of them. “Fine. Let’s go.”

—

It was almost two days later, that a ‘new problem’ made itself known.

Or at least, Alexandria became aware of it.

“You seem distracted.”

She could criticize Amidalla’s naivete until the heat death of the universe but the woman had a solid work ethic.

It was rare for her to be so distracted during a meeting.

But there was was- barely even paying attention.

She hid it of course, nodded and made sounds at all the appropriate times. But to Alexandria, it was obvious.

At her words, Amidala looked up, and Bail turned away from his documents over a bill they were reading over at the commission of a new committee to investigate the battle of Geonosis and why the casualties were so high.

At the moment, she wasn’t sure if this was another of Palpatine’s schemes; depending on that she would have to back it or sabotage it as needed. 

Regardless, Amidala looked for a moment like a child with their hand caught in the cookie jar. A brief flash of panic that she quickly masked up. ‘I-i’m sorry. I just didn’t sleep well last night.”

Not a lie. Per-se. But there were few things that made Amidala panic.

Off the top of her head, one subject readily came to mind.

Skywalker.

Something was wrong with Skywalker.

“Would you like some recaff?” Bail asked.

“That would be lovely Bail,” She cut in. “Would you get me one as well.”

Bail raised an eyebrow at the… rather blunt ‘Get lost for a second’ request. But eying the two of them, she could appreciate his patience and awareness as he stood up and went to go get the caff himself. Without calling the service droid.

She waited for bail to be out of earshot. 

“Something you’d like to say between us girls?” Alexandria asked. An answer wasn’t strictly as necessary as the question.

After all, its what people didn’t say.

Padme bit her lip, hesitation and concern, multifaceted emotions crisscrossing her face openly. 

Very concerned then. She usually had a much better poker face.

Her eyes shifted towards her holo, waiting for a call, or a message, and as she shook her head, her eyes darted towards the window behind Alexandria, who could remember that behind her was a view of the distant Jedi temple, the star port for the clones and the various venators hovering overhead.

She followed her gaze through memory alone.

Not the temple…

She was looking at The Venators.

Or… the sky… space.

Had Skywalker been redeployed already?

No. No she’d have heard about that and the latest news was that those who had been deployed on Geonosis were still on mandatory rest and recovery time for the time being.

So either… Skywalker was on a Venator and avoiding Amidala.

Or Skywalker was just off-world somewhere on a Jedi mission.

Or… and this would explain the extreme concern.

Skywalker was missing.

Hmmm…

“I think there’s something you really want to talk about Amidala.” She said, “It's just you and me here.”

The younger girl bit her lip. 

She didn’t have to answer.

She didn’t have to say even a single word.

(X)(X)(X)

So; take my next words with a grain of salt/death of the author thing in mind; its just MY personal interpretation of things and shouldn't overule yours if you feel different; but I'm not gonna lie. This chapter kind of made me feel bad for Alexandria.

As I was writing it (we all know I don't really plan out my stories) I kind of realized that... she's still partially punishing herself.

She has the capability to manipulate people, almost in any way she wants with her eideitic memory, cold reading and acting skills but she simply... chooses not to. Not because she doesn't necessarilly want to or finds them "beneath her" but because she wants to punish herself. She wants to sort of 'atone' for what she's done and the only way she knows how to do that is by doing "good deeds" while being miserable. While not connecting with anyone save for Hannah.

She's keeping herself at arms length because she wants to but also because she's amost scared of doing anything other than that.

She really is in a pretty toxic headspace where even if she has the oportunity to be happy she wouldn't take it because she doesn't think she deserves it. And very few people can see it- either because of their enmity or her sheer stoicism and professionalism.

So yeah. This chap made me feel bad for her.

At any rate my friends we are now just a few chapters away from the end of the arc. It might be one, it might be two, it all depends on how things play out as I write these next chapters and what works for pacing. If there's anything in particular you'd like to see that I maybe haven't covered or you think is being overlooked let me know, and I'll see you all next week.