Bail Organa was enjoying himself.

As unexpected an occurance as that was in these times, and for him, it remained true. Even more unexpected was the location of this pleasure: the Room of a Thousand Fountains in the Jedi Temple. The story of his admittance to this area, held in reverance by the jedi, still seemed unbelievable, and he had been present as the events proceeded.

As the clone wars had drawn on, month after horrific, bloody month, the senator had slowly grown wary of Chancilor Palpatine's growing power. The aging chancilor had garnered far too much influence over the senate for his peace of mind. To compensate for this, Bail had established contact with senators of a similar mindset, and had cultivated a friendly relationship with the jedi council. Both of these measures were slowly bearing the fruit of his endeavers. His fellow senators were slowly spreading their concerns discretely among the senate, and the jedi council on Corusant was very cooperative and willing to help in any way.

One of those members of the council, Jedi Master Yoda, a small, greenish individual, seemed to particularly enjoy his presence, and frequently requested his presence at the temple, and not just in the council. The master told him, when directly asked, that he, Bail, was an excellant conversationalist.

At that point Yoda had skillfully redirected the conversation by asking about Palpatine's latest actions, a point that never failed to send Bail rambling. Bail had gotten the feeling that Yoda had simply wanted an excuse to, for a moment, concern himself over nothing more pressing than the latest antics of the padawans.

Currently they were seated at the base of one of the famed fountains, neither in any hurry to move, either literally or figuratively, from the peace that seemed to emit from the very stones and water of the massive room.

Time would give them no choice, however, as a rather ragged looking jedi knight stepped into the room and appoached the pair. Coming to a halt just before them, the Anx jedi nodded deferencially to the seated pair. "Master Yoda. Organa."

Face growing distant, Yoda waved a hand, motioning for his fellow jedi to rise. "Speak, Ak'nol Vett. Busy we are not."

For a moment the jedi before them remained silent, seeming to hesitate. After a moment the jedi spoke, his words instantly clearing any remaining cheer from the air with a vengeance. "We have finished the caualty list of the jedi who have fallen during the Battle of Jabiim."

The wizened jedi master sighed heavily. "Read them. Wish to forget the fallen, I do not."

"Of course, Master." Reaching into a pocket of his vuluminous robes, the Anx withdrew a data card. A snap of a carapaced finger turned it on, bathing the creature's brown face in an eerie blue glow. Clearing his throat in a raspy buzz, the jedi began.

For some time the raspy voice of the insectile jedi filled the room, emotionlessly reciting the names and titles of the deceased. After some minutes he finished with, "- Jedi Knight Kenobi, and Jedi Master Shaak Ti."

For the space of several breaths the only sound in the room was the gentle gurgle of falling water. Finally Yoda dismissed the jedi with a murmured thank you, and turned to Bail. "Fear I do, to cut short our time I must, Bail. Inform the familes of the deceased and these developments to the council I must."

Bail nodded grimly, rising smoothly to his feet. He had experianced death firsthand many times, and he deeply regretted that it should come to the jedi, who in peacetime were more diplomats and scholars than warriors. It somehow seemed even more tragic for death to have visited such people."Of course, Master Yoda. I am sorry for the losses to your order."

Yoda nodded, gripping his staff in both hands. His voice, when it emerged, was almost imperceptibly more hoarse than the norm. "Grow dispirited on our account you must not. Return to the Force, they have."

Bail frowned. That seemed to be a very callous attitude to have, especially considering the hundreds of jedi names on that list. Sometimes the code of the jedi was very hard to swallow. Before the battle, he had met a few of the jedi mentioned, and they had all, to a one, been very compassionate and kind people. He wasn't sure how he would feel if, after his death, his loved ones were told to be strong, that he had simply rejoined the force. "Of course. I shall speak with the council again on the matters relating to the senators at another time."

P)P)P)P)

Everything had become a hazy cloud of confusion and discomfort. Her world had been reduced to the cramped shipping crate that had been her home for time uncounted.

Occasionally the world clarified into sharp focus, and she heard muffled conversations and saw light fall onto her limbs in stripes of dusty illumination. But, inevitably, her crate would be cracked open again by someone she could never see, and she'd be knocked out again by various methods, most usually by a fistful of odiferous herbs shoved in her face.

The force inhibitor must have been forcibly put on her at some point, for between one moment and the next, the force was gone. It's constant whispers, the reassuring eddies and flows of life and steadying presence, was just- gone. It had been a constant hum in the back of her mind since the moment of her birth, protecting and guiding her like the herd had before her admittance as a padawan learner to the order as a yearling. It was only comparable to feeling the warmth of the sun on her face and then being buried alive.

Thus she was caught fully unawares when a sharp pain flared in her side. "Wake up, jedi!"

In a heartbeat Shaak Ti's golden eyes snapped open, focused and aware even as the Togruta female instinctively shot to her feet, lurching away from the threat she had not foreseen. As soon as her feet hit the floor, however, she listed heavily to the side; the muscles in her legs had begun to atrophy from lack of movement, and simply were up not up to the challenge of bearing her weight. At any moment they would dump her to the ground, most likly in the same spot she had just vacated.

Through habit drilled in her by years of practice, Shaak Ti reached for her lightsabre. Instead of brushing against the comforting familiarity of her sabre, they encountered only worn cloth. It was gone. That somehow wasn't as surprising as it could have been.

The creature who had awoken her in a rather abrupt manner, a small, rather thick human male, seemed amused by this, as a grumbling snort emerged from his nostrils. The human was dressed in the heat resistant garments common in mining worlds but little found anywhere else, and had the sallow features of a being who seldom saw the sun. His head fur was an indetirminate gray color and seemed to be fighting a losing battle for control over the scalp with small white flecks. "Don't bother jedi," his voice was a hoarse rasp that foretold a coughing fit. "You won't leave here alive."

Immediately her face schooled itself into an impassive mask, the false face she had discovered as a padawan. This triumph over surface emotions was somewhat offset by the undignified heap her traitorous legs dumped her into almost before her face had stilled. "I am jedi. Threats do not sway me."

Yellowed teeth bared themselves in a grin. "It's no threat. You won't leave here- not because they'll kill you, but because they own you."

"'Own?' Slavery is outlawed in the republic."

That hideous grin widened. "What the republic don't know won't hurt me and mine. If you'll shift those yellow eyes of yours, you'll see it for yourself."

For the first time Shaak Ti noticed the cold weight dragging down her hands and feet. Numbly, Shaak Ti obediantly glanced downward. Rusting iron manacles circled about her limbs in a very solid and final fashion.

This is manageable. Given time and proper materials, she could break the manacles with relative ease and make her escape from here- whatever planet here was. Somehow Shaak Ti highly doubted she was even in the same sector of the galaxy.

In the meantime, her captor, if that's indeed what he was, didn't seem to be inclined torwards harming her, so it was safe for the moment to attempt to wrest information from him. "You are an arrogant fool if you think to hold a jedi against her will for long." In her own fashion.

"I don't think any such thing. I'm as much a slave as you are, though probably for different reasons."