FORSAKEN II - Eternal Dawn

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

The night's performance of the Sedition of the Jedi at the Galaxies Opera House in Coruscant was sold out. Anyone who was someone in the ecumenopolis had seen its stellar premiere the previous week. The performance was always particularly popular among Imperial officers and certain politicians who still harbored resentment against the treacherous Jedi Order. The opera was rumored to have been commissioned by Sheev Palpatine himself, shortly after he named himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire. It was said he watched every performance of every production in secret from his high-security private box, which was believed to have been obtained from once-acclaimed holostory actor turned businessman, Romeo Treblanc, in payment for his gambling debts.

The six-act opera told the story of how the Jedi Council plotted against the Republic by commissioning a secret clone army in Kamino. Then, a former member of the Order, Count Dooku, riled the Confederacy of Independent Systems to secede from the Republic—a move the plot hinted was orchestrated by the devious Jedi Order—resulting in the Clone Wars. The covetous Jedi were portrayed as arrogant, violent, and callous black sorcerers, who had no compunction about the death and devastation they visited upon the galaxy. Only the courageous actions of a reluctant Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had thwarted the treacherous Jedi and saved the galaxy from their tyrannical rule, uniting the Republic and the Confederacy into a peaceful and prosperous Empire.

For Prince Xizor of House Sizhran, the story reminded him that history was not written by the victors, but by whomever controlled the popular narrative. It also presented a great opportunity to be seen by Coruscant's elite and hobnob with other power players. In this case, it was a woman in her late thirties with short dark hair: Sub-Director Sassich from the Corellian Security Force, or CorSec for short.

"The Kaldana Syndicate was destroyed aboard their ship by the Engineer herself," Sassich said. "She was paid to do so by the Droid Gotra, after the Kaladana Syndicate stole the data cube from them, at the auction she held at the Foundry in Coronet City."

The news worried Xizor. This kind of brutal retribution was reckless in the face of the Shadow Collective's aggressive recruiting efforts. The criminal syndicates opposed to the Collective needed to band together against it, not make things easier for Maul to take over the underworld. He made a mental note to speak with Kratos about interceding with the Droid Gotra to avoid repeating a similar mistake.

"I appreciate the information, Sub-Director," said Xizor, holding a glass of Josen blue wine with its signature luminosity, in his clawed hand. As the second intermission came up, the play had just depicted the dramatic Jedi attempt on the Supreme Chancellor's life in his own office. Xizor saw his custom-made BD-3000 luxury droid, Guri, standing by the door. "If you'll excuse me for one second."

"Of course." Sassich left the box.

"Yes, Guri?" said Xizor once they were alone.

Guri approached. "News from Nar Shaddaa, my prince. Someone attacked Grakkus the Hutt in his palace."

"The Shadow Collective?"

"The reports indicate they were Jedi."

Xizor glanced at the stage. "They?"

"It appears to have been a group of them. The details are still unclear, but the incident occurred after a battle in the arena between two of them. Apparently, the Jedi, posing as smugglers, used the event to steal from Grakkus' personal collection of Jedi artifacts, free his slaves, and tried to kill him. The authorities in Hutta Town are dealing with the aftermath of a disastrous airspeeder chase that had caused thousands of credits worth of damage."

Xizor tapped his glass with his thumb claw. "I guess the demise of the Jedi has been largely exaggerated. What has been the Empire's response?"

"They have been pretty quiet about it, but they're searching for them. My sources say they tracked them down to Nar Shadda, but they didn't make a move on them."