Gloopra listened to Kale talk. Kale was right, he was afraid. He had fought thousands of foes, almost met death on too many occasions to count... But the idea that this Dark Sider's was a prelude to another Jedi Holocaust... To lose the only people that had ever given a damn about him as a person. He had lost sight of the big picture. He had read the reports, the stories, he knew that the last holocaust had been preluded by a Dark-sider that had been thought to be Sith slaying a Jedi Master. Things were... Eerily familiar. "I apologize..." He said, once again to Kale "I will need to... Meditate... But first, I believe Knight Anari also deserves an apology." He bowed to the master, before turning and walking away.

He soon found Anari talking with Lahana, who had adopted some Civilian attire. He didn't stay long, he was brief and blunt "Knight Anari, I apologize for my outburst in the wardroom. I am afraid that I have allowed Fear to cloud my judgement. I do not make apologies for feeling fear, Master Skywalker taught me that it is not the emotions we feel, but the actions we take with them... And I am afraid that, were I not stopped, I could have made a grave error. I thank you." He said. He didn't feel there was anything more to be said, he bowed to Anari, then to Lahana, then left.

****

"Please, you have to be able to spare something? Anything?" she pleaded. The bold man in the hologram stared at a dataslate.

"I'm sorry, but their is nothing. All ships coming in and out of the system are already assigned to other sectors. I cannot divert a ship to you."

"Anything will do, I'm desperate. I've already called my contacts on Kuat, Corellia, Mon Cala, hell, i've even had to call up my friends on Raxus and asked if they have any ships that they have yet to break up that they can pull out of mothballs to send us. Fondor is the third largest shipyard in the galaxy, I doubt you have nothing at all."

"Nothing without prior conscription." He said. "Look, I sympathise with you, but you are not the only woman waging their own little war."

"But I am doing this for the good of these people here. I'm not in this for the guts or the glory. I am in this because people are suffering and, to them, it seems like the only thing the Republic are doing is making a token effort. If I can get a ship in orbit, we can start raiding slaver ships, stopping their outgoings and incomings, show that we are actually making a difference here. I hate the idea that the Populace will hear my speech and say "Oh, well it's all well and good for her, she's not the one living under scum boots. She can pretend to care all she wants, but she's not doing much but squashing a few drug dens here and there." I need something to show the people that the Republic is in this for the long haul. That we are in this till the bitter end, win or lose. That when we say we will help them, that we will move the very stars themselves to free them from this oppressive regime of scum and villainy." She seethed. The man sighed.

"Dammit, Vrerr, you always did have a way with words..." He sighed. "Look... I'll make some calls. I might be able to put you in contact with some mercenaries that I know-"

"No mercs, it needs to be a Republic ship." She shook her head.

"Why Repiblic? The people will not care where the Republic's aid is coming from, so long as it is coming."

"2 reasons: 1) The Republic will be seen to just be throwing money at a problem to try and make it go away. Not exactly confidence inspiring. And 2) Mercenaries can't be given authority to make arrests, it'll cause more trouble than it'll quash. And I will not just send people to kill them. I want these sentient-smugglers and drug traffickers to brought to justice, not shot to pieces." The man nodded a little.

"You're not making it easy for me... I'll do what i can, but I cannot promise anything."

"Anything will do, a small boarder-patroller will be enough, as far as i'm concerned." She said. He nodded and ended the transmission. She threw herself down into a large chair and rubbed her eyes. "Force... Dammit..." she groaned. "I need a drink..." She trudged over to the refridgeration unit and poured a small glass of Juma, before walking back and beginning to stare into it. Just before she could drink, the comm-link started to beep.

[i]"Senator, Master Gloopra is here to see you."[/i] said the voice of one of the guards.

"Send him in." She responded, before getting up. Gloopra opened the door and walked in. "Gloopra, I was..." She put the drink down. "I'm not going to Lie, I was about to drink myself stupid, come up with a speech, then fix it into something coherent tomorrow... It's been a long day."

"Indeed it has... I need you to do me a favour." He asked. She nodded. "I need you to let me use your secure senatorial comm-channel to contact... Someone..." Vrerr starred at him.

"Your w-" Gloopra put his hand up to indicate her to stop, then nodded. "Of course... I know how much you value your privacy on this one. There's nobody in the galaxy that could trace this, unless they knew exactly what they were looking for. Do you want me to leave?"

"If you could." He sighed.

"Of course..." She walked over to the communicator and pressed in the senate's daily scrambler algorithm. "Just put in the location and you'll be good to go." She said. She then walked over to him and gave him a hug. She knew that he wouldn't have asked this unless it was something rather serious, she didn't want to pry. She felt him hug her unusually strongly, before they left their embrace and she walked out. The door closed. She looked at the [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/b/b0/Senate_Guard_Databank.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20180331031027]two guards[/url] "Master Gloopra is performing some very serious communications. He is not to be disturbed under any circumstances." She ordered.

"Would you like one of us to accompany you?" one asked.

"For the last time, I will be fine. Why do you think i've been asking you to guard my room instead of me?" she smiled. They stood to attention, one with his force pike in hand, the other with a blaster rifle. She decided to go for a wander whilst Gloopra was using her room. That glass of Juma would stay chilled for a while...