Intuition - Book 1 - Captain Rex

[Chapter 36 - Democracy]

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"You're all probably wondering why we've gathered you here, and I promise your questions will be answered soon. But first we need to know for absolutely certain that everything discussed in this apartment will stay in this apartment until the time is right for us to make a move." Lenora looked around at the senators hopefully- "I will say though, that given the volatility of this situation, if you do not wish to get caught up in something that could very likely risk you your job, and your life, then you may leave." 

Lenora watched as Senators Amidala, Chuchi, Organa, and Mothma, all stayed rooted to the ground. They weren't leaving any time soon. 

"What is it that you have to tell us?" Padme urged.

"I take it you all know of the hiccup with Fives several rotations back?" Rex asked the group. 

They all nodded carefully.

"We have reason to believe that much of what he was saying was true. That there is a conspiracy in the works against the Jedi, and by proxy, the entire Republic." Lenora delivered the news. 

The Senators all looked at each other in concern, Padme stepped forward.

"Who could be behind this?" she fretted- Lenora had a feeling she was worried about a certain Jedi in particular. 

"We're going to present you with the evidence we've gathered first, and allow you to come to your own conclusion. That way we'll be getting a mostly unbiased opinion." Rex suggested as Lenora pulled out the holopad and other pieces of evidence.

Lenora first explained exactly what Fives had told them, opting to leave the part about his distrust of the Chancellor for the minute, and then the toxins she found in his blood. She also let them into the now steadily growing list of people who knew about Fives's survival. She told them what the Kaminoans had told them, about how the chips were simply to 'inhibit violent tendencies'. It was then that she pulled out the Chip extracted from Tacky, and the holopad with the information on it. The senators listened in horror as she described the most jarring of the orders. She ended it by reading out the exact wording of Order 66. The Senators were horrified.

Chuchi twirled a lock of her hair concernedly- "That's such a vague wording- you could call just about anything 'acting against the interests of the Republic'. And to go straight to lethal force...?" Chuchi trailed off.

"It is cruel and unjust. I have no doubt that you are correct, this has to be some sort of plot." Mothma observed.

"But who would have the kind of power to pull off something like this?" Bail Organa placed a hand on his chin.

"Haven't the Jedi been dealing with a re-emergence of the Sith?" Padme observed- "Are there any Jedi in on this case that you can call in?" 

Lenora nodded, shooting Kie'sha a holomessage. While they awaited her arrival, Lenora decided it was time to let the Senators in fully.

"We have reason to believe that the Supreme Chancellor is wrapped up in much of this- we don't know for certain if he's the one behind it completely, but we know that someone is clearly trying to cover up his presence in all this. There are many of the orders on the inhibitor chips that center around giving absolute power to the Supreme Chancellor, essentially creating a dictatorship."

The Senators looked shocked, but after thinking about the logic of it, they found themselves not half as surprised. It was then that Kie'sha stumbled in, with her arms laden with books.

"Sorry I'm late- you caught me in the middle of studying." She walked in, dumping the books on the kitchen counter- "Oh hi Padme! Senators." She waved at Padme, and bowed her head respectfully to the others.