Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 160, Part 162 - A Scam? (Third Update)
Obi-Wan was the first to notice their return. "Anakin! You're finally back, willing to share...you!"

The Jedi Master's casual words came to an abrupt end.

His gaze instantly locked onto the lightsaber that Anakin was gripping tightly in his hand, which had not yet been activated, and his expression immediately became extremely solemn.

“I have just spoken with the Speaker!” Anakin’s voice was clear and loud throughout the hall. “Now, the summit must be terminated immediately, and the Republic delegation must leave Ondron at once.”

"This is the Speaker's order?" Bell Organa jumped up from his chair. "What's the reason?!"

“The separatists deceived us,” Anakin replied bluntly and without reservation. “The entire negotiation was a deception from beginning to end, an elaborate trap.”

Astonishment and disbelief spread rapidly through the crowd like ripples, and disbelief was written on the faces of everyone from the Republic's representatives and officials to the reporters present.

Anakin let out a short, cold snort, as if he had anticipated this reaction.

“Anakin,” Padmé Amidala’s voice was reproachful, “the Independent Galaxy Confederation, as our host, has been very friendly and cooperative throughout our stay…”

“Indeed, Jedi Master,” Raine’s voice suddenly rang out. He had silently circled the long table and was now standing a few steps away from Anakin, one hand seemingly casually resting on the hilt of his saber. “So, tell us how the Jedi saw through our ‘deception’? Tell me, so that my already low level of understanding can be baptized once again.”

Anakin slightly adjusted his sword grip, took a deep breath, and prepared to respond...

Just then, the Force suddenly began to vibrate violently!
It was as if an invisible heat wave instantly distorted the air, bringing suffocating pressure.

Anakin immediately shut his mouth, and Master Prokone and Master Kenobi also became highly alert, their eyes scanning the entire hall intently, trying to pinpoint the source of this unusual fluctuation.

At this moment, time seemed to stretch out.

An indescribable, heavy sense of unease spread like a cold fog, growing thicker with each passing second, making it hard to breathe.

The eyes of everyone in the hall became tense and flickering, frantically darting between each other's faces, trying to find a sliver of comfort.

But all I saw in their eyes was the same fear and confusion.

The separatist representatives and republican loyalists, who were just a moment ago striving for the peace that was about to be achieved, now stared at each other warily like frightened wild beasts, and the air was filled with hostility that could erupt at any moment.

“…Master Skywalker, we are not questioning your integrity,” Bell Organa said, sensing the sudden escalation of tension, “but we urgently need to contact Coruscant for further official instructions and confirmation.”

“You can try to contact them,” Anakin said in a low voice, remaining highly vigilant, “but there will be no response.”

The Force visions before Ahsoka churned like a raging fog, countless fragmented and elusive illusions flashing through her mind like an ungraspable gale.

"Put your weapons away, Jedi," Raine's voice turned cold, his grip on his sword tightened noticeably, and his posture shifted from relaxed to poised for attack. "Let's stay rational. What do you mean by 'there will be no response'?"

Suddenly.

The taut string snapped.

With a crisp yet menacing buzz, Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber instantly activated, unleashing a dazzling blue plasma blade.

Ryan's reaction was equally swift.

Without the slightest hesitation, he flicked his wrist, and the military knife at his waist was already drawn.

The strange black metal blade emitted a faint sound, like a ghostly whisper, when it was drawn from its sheath.

Even more bizarrely, when the lightsaber's blinding light came into contact with the black blade, it seemed to be greedily devoured and absorbed, causing the space around the blade to dim slightly.

This sudden turn of events triggered panic!
The delegates and senators pushed back their chairs in alarm and began to back away or seek cover.

The sounds of chair legs scraping against the stone floor and chairs tipping over echoed throughout the room.

Many people frantically pulled out their communicators, trying in vain to contact the outside world.

Behind them, the Holy Knight Ondron and the Republican Senate Guard immediately sprang into action, loading their weapons and engaging in a tense standoff with the separatist guards.

"Put down your weapons!" Renn shouted sternly.

“…Master,” Ahsoka whispered, while quietly activating her lightsaber, a green light shining in her hand, “It seems he wasn’t lying. Even the separatist senators look shocked and confused; they really seem unaware.”

“I know,” Anakin’s voice lowered, filled with gravity, “that’s exactly what I’m most worried about.”

“Anakin,” Prokhor asked in a low voice, maintaining a facade of calm, “can you tell us the specifics of what you know?”

“We’re leaving,” Anakin said decisively, his gaze sweeping over the entire Republic delegation, the meaning clear. “I have received direct orders from Master Gallia. Will you let us go?”

Upon hearing the name of their Jedi Council colleague, Adi Gallia, mentioned, Prokhor and Obi-Wan both flinched slightly. "After you've already drawn your sword?" Raine's black saber pointed steadily at Anakin, his voice chilling. "Now, no one's leaving easily unless you provide a convincing explanation."

“Major General Bontri is right, Anakin,” Senator Padme Amidala echoed anxiously. “What happened? Why isn’t Coruscant responding to our calls?”

Anakin Skywalker's gaze swept across the faces in the hall.

There was fear, anger, and a deep sense of frustration at the disruption of the peace process.

Ryan decided to take his own way to "de-escalate" the situation and demand an explanation.

Without any warning, the black military knife suddenly sliced ​​through the air, so fast that it seemed to have completed its attack before the Force could even give a warning!

However, even without the Force's warning, Anakin Skywalker was a top-notch swordsman.

He swiftly raised his sword to parry!

At the same time, the other four lightsabers instantly hummed and lit up with a blazing light.

Obi-Wan's blue, Prokhor's yellow, Ahsoka's green, and Scout's green all point to Rennes!
"Clang—Sizzle—!"

The pitch-black blade slammed into Anakin's blue lightsaber blade!
However, the anticipated energy collision did not occur.

Instead, there was a piercing crackling sound of electricity!
A dazzling arc of electricity suddenly erupted from the lightsaber's blade emitter and flux aperture, flashing violently a few times before the blue plasma blade instantly extinguished and disappeared!
Anakin's lightsaber, the Jedi Knights' most famous weapon, turned into a useless metal tube in the blink of an eye!
Anakin didn't hesitate to check the damage. He instinctively swung his hand, and a powerful Force shockwave instantly pushed Raine several meters away.

Scout and Ahsoka immediately stepped forward, shielding their master behind them. Their lightsabers were pointed warily at Renn, but their eyes inevitably revealed their fear of the strange black metal.

“Bescar alloy!” Obi-Wan’s voice was tinged with seriousness. He recognized the rare and dangerous metal. “Pure Bescar alloy of extremely high purity.”

Just then, Renn lightly touched a device on his wrist.

Several doors in the hall were suddenly kicked open!

Immediately afterwards, came a chilling voice that Asoka hadn't heard since arriving in Ondren.

The uniform, cold, ruthless, and inhuman heavy footsteps, accompanied by the hum of high-speed servo motors and the ear-piercing noise of metal joints rubbing and colliding, intertwined to create a "symphony" of death.

Combat robots.

And it's not a regular model.

They are elite assault robots!
There are dozens of them!
Each one is equipped with a black military knife made of Bescar alloy that gleams with a cold, eerie light.

Behind them, more super combat robots poured into the hall. They were enormous, with heavy metal bodies that rumbled as they moved, and their thick arms were equipped with rotating blast cannons.

Even more alarming is that the shell of each super combat robot is covered with that light-absorbing, non-reflective black metal!

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Prokhor immediately adjusted their positions, with their lightsabers in front, protecting the young apprentices behind them.

The Senate guards quickly tightened their formation, forming a tight defensive circle that protected the Republic's representative and the stone table in the center.

Several unfortunate journalists were roughly grabbed by the robot and forcibly dragged away from the scene.

The heavy metallic footsteps finally stopped.

The entire Republic delegation, along with several Jedi Knights, was completely surrounded by a dense army of robots that shimmered with a cold red light, leaving no room to move.

“Tell me what happened,” Raine’s voice rang out again, this time with a hint of barely perceptible impatience. “That is the only way to peacefully resolve the current crisis.”

“This matter can no longer be resolved peacefully,” Anakin’s reply was not cold, but rather carried a heavy, almost desperate clarity. “I really wish that signing that armistice agreement could still be a realistic option.”

After saying that, he put away the malfunctioning lightsaber and took out the holographic projector again.

He skillfully turned the knob, and the device emitted a soft running sound, beginning to play the last stored communication record.

Anakin raised the projector high, ensuring that everyone in the hall—representatives of the Republic, separatists, and even the droids wielding knives—could clearly see the small blue image.

In the suffocating silence, the voices of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and Jedi Master Adi Gallia, filled with terror and urgency, echoed with unparalleled clarity in the ancient stone hall.

"Coruscant is under heavy attack by an unidentified fleet that is characterized as a Separatist force," Anakin Skywalker's voice echoed like a cold judgment in everyone's ears. "The Republic's capital... is under siege. I have received direct orders from the highest command to evacuate from Ondron immediately at all costs."

(End of this chapter)