Upon triumphing over Sly Moore, Corvus Paused to take stock of his current situation.
Starting with exp, he was nowhere near the next level up, as he sat at 45,730/171,000 to lvl 19.
Moore was worth 10k, just a few days ago, Corvus would be through the moon getting that much. In layman's terms, her death was worth the equivalent of 50 clones. A significant accomplishment to be sure, but Corvus would take the mind numbing insanity of safely farming mines any day.
Moving on, Corvus assessed the room.
Less than 2 minutes had taken place since Isard had pulled his gun, and the place was a mess.
Moore's corpse was all gross and crispy, and her wraith had dissipated upon her death.
As for the remaining officers, only the five that he had diced through had died. The rest were on the ground holding bleeding ears. They had expressions of pain and curiously, self loathing upon their faces?
It would appear that the psychic scream unleashed by the Umbaran was quite sinister.
Corvus could thank [Force Valor] for helping him keep a level head. If he was afflicted with a mental malaise upon the issues with hearing/balance, than perhaps even his actions under Pause could have been affected.
Now wasn't that a scary thought?
Curiously, the shards of glass had completely evaded the officers, and they were 'only' mentally scarred by the events that had transpired.
Corvus wouldn't be surprised if they became mental after this. Perhaps only those with the strongest wills-such as Doddona-could make a full recovery.
As for Tann, she was at the doorway, and looked as if she were trying to run and help him, but also was bracing herself.
The last second of the psychic scream was rather fierce, and his fight with Moore was less than a minute long. He couldn't blame her for not teaming up for a 2v1. It had happened so fast, Corvus felt as if Tann might be liable to get in his way.
Internally shaking his head, Corvus considered his next move.
The logical thing would be to kill the pro-Empire officers, heal his allies, then escape before any more Force Adepts under Palpatine's employ arrived.
….however.
Corvus glanced at the mentally scarred pro Imperial officers, and internally sighed.
He was a Jedi, was he not?
Whilst he wouldn't idiotically offer his enemy a gun to shoot him with, that didn't mean he couldn't show some compassion.
Besides, Corvus saw this as an opportunity to recruit more people to his cause.
Severely weakened, and mentally compromised, these people were ripe to be swayed under the influence of [Mind Trick].
If Corvus could convince them of Palpatine's supernatural abilities, then he might just be able to recruit a new group of loyalists!
Not to mention, Tagge and Rampart were still alive. These two men were a couple of self assured smug assholes, but they were also hypercompetent.
In the OT, Tagge was the only one who called into question the viability of the Death Star. After its destruction, he would go on to be named Supreme Commander of the Imperial armed forces.
Of course, Palpatine did this largely in part to snub Vader, and fuel his anger, but the point remained, Tagge had the skills to back his large ego up.
Corvus would be a fool to pass on such a golden opportunity.
Un-Pausing, Corvus felt adrenaline coursing through his veins, and smelt the acrid tang of burnt flesh.
Many of the injured moaned, and wriggled on the floor in pain.
Taking a seat, Corvus waited for his FP bar to recharge.
"You are more than meets the eye, Corvus." Tann cautiously approached, lightsaber still lit.
Corvus internally chuckled. She had such a strong showing against the clones earlier, but this act now made Crovus think of her like a kitten barring its claws. She was like an animal saying 'stay away' yet she still drew near. Afterall, the kitten knew who fed her milk, no?
"Are you afraid?" Corvus tiredly looked up, and said with some mirth.
"The time to leave is almost upon us. Will you have enough energy to retain your invisibility?" Tann asked in a critical tone, ignoring Corvus's jab.
"Yes? Why?"
"Because we'll leave the same way we entered. This-" Tann waved a hand at the mess in the meeting room. "was a terroristic act perpetrated by the CIS. I am an escaping officer. None shall bar my path."
"She is as clever as she is beautiful." Corvus lifted a broken glass cup from the giant boardroom table, and saluted.
"One of us has to be." Tann preened.
Corvus shook his head, and wordlessly chuckled.
Brandishing her saber, Tann walked past Corvus, and moved towards Tagge. The way she strutted, she was showing off her curves, and she knew it.
"Hold, Tann." Corvus spoke with some levity, yet his voice carried with it a hint of steel.
He wasn't playing around.
Tann turned back, and arched an eyebrow at him.
'How she can look like a supermodel after 3 years in prison is a mystery.' Corvus thought to himself, as she looked quite sexy in the half-turned around pose she was currently striking.
"I have a use for them yet. Stand aside, and observe."
"A puzzle to be certain. What piece will you unveil for me next?" Tann questioned, and then sauntered her way to the Umbaran's corpse, and poked it with her saber for good measure.
Corvus ignored the blue skinned baddy, and turned his attention to the injured officers.
Expanding his mind, Corvus held out both hands, and applied [Mind Trick] to every officer in the room.
'What you witnessed is the truth. Palpatine's confidant, and longtime ally is a Dark Jedi under his thumb. As absurd as it is, you cannot help but wonder…is Palpatine evil like her? Would he do the same to his allies in a fight? Is he secretly a Dark Jed-'
And then Corvus cut the [Mind Trick] off.
Tortured souls or not, Corvus didn't want to overplay his hand here. These men and women were some of the greatest minds of the current era. By giving them just enough rope, he was certain that they could come to the proper conclusion themselves.
When working with intelligent people, it was difficult to manipulate them. But when they got in their minds that an idea was their own, why, they would die upon a hill defending it! These types of people were so conceited with the belief in their own high IQ, that anything contrary to what they know to be truth is simply gaslighting, and an ignorant take.
Corvus smirked to himself. Of course, none of them had accounted for Space Wizardry.
Now time for the coup de grâce. To foster good will by healing them of their wounds inflicted by a supposed ally.
[Heal II] should he wish it, had an AOE feature, as did [Valor II]. Casting both of these abilities, a minty green light spread to everyone within the room, and cured them of the mental malaise caused by Moore, as well as the damage done to their eardrums.
Corvus felt Tann's confusion through the Force, but he ignored her.
Rising from the ground on wobbly feet, Tagge, Doddona, and all the others glanced at Corvus, and then at Moore as if they had seen a ghost.
One officer hesitantly picked up a blaster, her eyes fluttered left and right nervously.
"There is no need for further violence. Please lower your arms. I may have found you pro-Imperial officers guilty of treason, but I hope that this event has illuminated you on the true nature of this conflict. That Palpatine is much more than he seems. No normal man would declare themselves Emperor of the entire galaxy. If the Jedi were so powerful and as corrupt as you believe, we would have done so eons ago." Corvus held up a hand, and spoke peaceably.
"This…this changes nothing. The Jedi are a corrupt institution. The Empire will correct the corruption and wrongs of the Republic." Tagge shook his head, and declared. However, his voice was noticeably lacking the strong conviction from earlier.
"Open your eyes, General. Clearly there is more to Palpatine than we were aware of. I do not believe I am not the only one who found his appearance and change in demeanor to be unnerving." Doddona quietly spoke up from the far side of the room.
Everyone in the room seemed to pause and consider the aged man's words.
"How can we trust the word of a Jedi? They are traitors!" One officer raised his voice.
"The Jedi did not betray the Republic, one need only look into a mirror if they wished to see a traitor. That being said, I too wish for a world without corruption. However, I must inform you, the events leading up to the Clone Wars are suspect. You are all intelligent people. I encourage you to view the damage done to the senate chambers, to investigate Palpatine's office, and compare it to the damage done to this room." Corvus spoke.
What went unsaid, of course, was that Palpatine would be a participant in whatever fight might have taken place. By letting them draw their own conclusions, Corvus would have them right where he wanted.
You could drag a horse to water, but that didn't mean you could make it drink. Declaring that the sky is blue, or the Earth is round just wouldn't convince some people. Why try to convince them with words and clever sophistry, when their own eyes would do the work for him?
"We will investigate these claims, Revan. But know this Jedi, if your assertions run false, then I shall not rest until you and your ilk are hunted down to the far reaches of the galaxy." Tagge held up a hand, holding back the aggressive officer, then addressed Corvus with a searing intensity that only the most accomplished of military men were capable of.
"You had best hurry then. Palpatine is off world, retrieving his apprentice, a powerful killer whom you all shall come to know as Darth Vader. His powers and cruelty dwarf anything I am capable of."
"Anything else you wish to inform us of, Jedi?" Tagge raised an eyebrow, and sarcastically asked.
Corvus realized he was dropping too many hints, but he really did have a couple more pieces of vital information that were worth investigating.
"Yes, actually. Look into a Muun named Huugo Damask II, you will find he is an important figure amongst the banking clans, and was the lynchpin between Palpatine and the CIS. Their collusion was fascinating. If you should ever capture a member of the Separatist Ruling Council, do be sure to inquire about Darth Sideous.
Act swiftly, sons and daughters of the Republic. The fate of the galaxy rests on your investigation." Corvus said, then nodded at Doddona, and turned to leave the room.
As soon as the door closed behind them with a snap hiss, Corvus entered invisibility.
"Really, the fate of the galaxy? I doubt those simpletons listened to a word you said." Tann scoffed.
"Perhaps a little melodramatic, but they do need to hurry. Palpatine is sure to cover his tracks, and when he returns to Coruscant, there will be hell to pay."
"Mn, you should have killed them. They are future daggers in your back, enemies that I must face in the field. You will regret this."
'Unfortunately for you, my dear Chiss, you are unaware that I have the cheat code known as Persuade. Why do you think you're so affable with me despite my glaring deficiencies? The military officers, and intelligence officials cannot ignore what happened. Revan was simply too charismatic.' Corvus mused to himself, silently laughing at how absurd Persuade really was.
Channeling some of that inner mirth, Corvus said his next line with the proper amount of dryness that Obi-Wan would be proud of.
"Indiscriminate slaughter is not the Jedi way."
"Oh don't give me that bantha spit. I've seen you, Revan. You were completely willing to dice everyone in that room." Tann said, and shook her head.
Corvus shrugged his shoulders, and remained silent at her assertion. She wasn't wrong per se, if none of the officers were willing to meet him halfway after the Umbaran's attack, then he would have cut them down then and there.
But he at least tried to act like a good Jedi.
To Corvus, it was like trying to be a good role model, parent, student or worker. Sometimes you succeeded, other times, life just sort of happened.
Shaking his head, Corvus kept quiet as they approached their first patrol of clones. Corvus stood back from the safety of invisibility, and watched Tann work her magic.
"Sir, an explosion was reported in this area!" A clone commander stepped forward, and stated, yet based on his tone and posture, he was really asking a question.
"Affirmative, trooper, a CIS terrorist had attacked the executive meeting room. You and your troopers secure this area, and take a group of medics inside. I will be in my office writing up a report, understood?" Tann spoke with all the swagger of an accomplished officer, then saluted.
"Understood, sir!" The commander saluted back.
As they bypassed many running clones, and entered the massive room full of cubicles, both Corvus and Tann paused in their step as they sensed a presence.
"It seems another pawn has made themselves known." Tann spoke up in anticipation.
"Yes, and he's waiting in the hangar."
"He?" Tann questioned.
"The Grand Inquisitor."
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AN: Read up to ch 50 at patreon.com/KarpQQ
I update there every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday without missing a day.
Publicly on Fridays.