𝗙𝗔𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 | anakin skywalker

✰ 37: we won't let you down

"Masters Jedi," nodded the president of Kisorix to the four Jedi as they walked down the ramp and onto the grass in one of the secluded clearings on the planet reserved for private landings. They had taken a shuttle down along with Cody, Rex, and some other clones. Two more shuttles followed, landing as the Jedi took their first steps on the planet. "Welcome to Kisorix."

The president of Kisorix, Macey J'Tavé, was a human woman with gray hair that faded into deep purple tones as it went past her ears. She had a kind face with deep smile lines, signaling her age to be about 50 to 60. The president wore an elaborate lavender lace dress along with a cape adorning her right shoulder, the edges of which were colored gold. Next to her stood the Senator Rylan Ke'eefs, another human. He, too, wore a purple cape along his right shoulder, though his had no gold adornments. He wore a gray suit that buttoned up like a turtleneck and simple pants of the same color. He looked to be about ten years younger than the president, as some of the parts of his brown locks were visibly graying. The two of them were accompanied by five guards that stood behind them, all wearing armor of a metallic navy and carrying large blaster rifles, with a more pistol-like model attached to each of their left thighs.

"Thank you, Madam President," said Obi-Wan with a slight bow. "Senator," Obi-Wan greeted, with another bow.

"We are very grateful you're here," she said to them. "Come. I will take you to the factory. Lieutenant," she called, and one of the men stepped forward, saluting. "Are the transports ready?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good." She turned back to the Jedi. "Let's go. Take your soldiers, too. There's enough space." She began walking toward the woods, where Akya could see multiple land transports waiting. They had no roofs, but did have metal benches lining the sides. Akya helped the president and senator up first, then she, the other Jedi, Cody, Rex, and two other clones took their seats. The president's five guards each piloted a transport, and once all the clones were seated, they took off, westward.

"The search and rescue is my top priority right now," began President J'Tavé.  "I've got some soldiers on the job, but they're spread thin, and there's a lot of ground to cover.  How many troops have you brought?"

"About fifty men," Rex told her.  "But we have more in orbit up in the cruiser if necessary."

"That's sufficient," she replied.  "I recommend you keep 20 on the search and rescue, and put the rest to finding the weapon. We've made sure nothing could leave the planet." The Senator sitting beside her handed her a small data drive, which would plug in to any handheld holoprojector and be able to display any data inside.  "This has all the camera footage, ship logs, and lists we've got," she said. Anakin held his hand out, and she handed it to him.  "It should be of assistance.  It's also got my clearance codes so you can get anywhere you need to go, open anything you need to research.  I want this weapon tracked down and destroyed, and I'm trusting you to do the job, Master Jedi."

"We won't let you down, Madam President," Anakin nodded. 

"I know you won't."

— ★ ✰ ☆ —

"Wow."

The weapons factory was a very long building with a central foyer in the middle.  The entire east wing was torn to bits, a simple pile of rubble and dust, spanning almost 150 meters of land. Akya spotted only about 20 Kisorixian soldiers searching through it, some helping people out, others patching some up on the sides.  It looked like they hadn't covered much ground.

"It's a lot," the president said, as the group stared at the wreckage. "There were 200 people working in the east wing that day. Right now, we've only found 30 alive. 7 dead. I hope you can find more. My people need you."