Demoralized. Sauro had said that the Jedi were demoralized.
Disruption + Demoralization + Distraction = Devastation.
Xanatos! Granta Omega's father had devised that formula for orchestrating evil to take root. He had done it at the Jedi Temple itself, hoping to destroy it forever. Could it be that his son was using the same formula to destroy the Senate? Was that his real goal?
If Omega was behind this Senatorial effort, he had already succeeded in disrupting the Senate, demoralizing the Jedi, and distracting everyone.
But if that was truly the case, what was the coming devastation he was planning?
Obi-Wan didn't know. But suddenly he knew in his bones that his earlier instinct was dead-on. Omega was behind this.
".. and I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this," Tyro was saying, "but it was inevitable given the circumstances, I suppose."
Obi-Wan wrenched his attention back to his friend. "What is it?"
"Bog Divinian's committee has taken an unusual step. Instead of a recommendation, it has just entered an official petition to ban the Jedi Order from any Senate action. This was clever… but not clever enough.
Senator Organa found a clause that allowed him to appeal directly to the Chancellor in a separate closed-door session. Palpatine is scheduled to decide on the matter later this afternoon in a meeting with both Senators."
"This has all just happened since the hearing? I thought the Senate was supposed to be slow."
"Only when real things are getting done," Tyro said drily. "When it comes to political maneuvering, you have to move fast." Tyro gave him a keen look. "What is it, my friend? The Jedi Order is in trouble, but we will find a way to fight, I promise you. You have more friends than enemies. You just have to remind your friends that they are your friends.
It's the Senate way."
"The Senate way," Obi-Wan pronounced in disgust. "And what is that?
Talk. Deals. Bribes. Corruption."
"Obi-Wan." Tyro silenced him gently. "I agree with you. All this is true. But I still believe in the Senate. It is the living symbol of the Republic. Until it was formed, the galaxy boiled with chaos. It is our only chance to bring peace to the thousands of worlds that cannot manage alone.
There are good beings in the Senate, like Senator Organa. Many of them.
They will win in the end."
Obi-Wan had never heard Tyro defend the Senate so passionately before.
Usually, he railed against it. But of course that was why he continued to toil down in his little office, searching for ways to make it better. "What amazes me is that you keep your faith in the Senate, no matter how many times your heart is broken."
"Oh, my heart may break from time to time, but never my will," Tyro said lightly. "In that way we are alike. Now, tell me what worries you."
"It's not so much the petition, but what the petition might conceal,"
Obi-Wan explained.
Tyro shook his head. "I don't understand."
"What if this action to discredit the Jedi is just a diversion so that something worse could occur?" Obi-Wan said.
What he liked about Tyro was that his friend did not waste time. His small, furred face grew intent. "Ah. Of course. Continue."
"I have been tracking Granta Omega and Jenna Zan Arbor, both of whom are familiar to you," Obi-Wan said to Tyro's nod. "What if they were behind this latest scheme? What if it is merely a smokescreen for their real plan?
" The possibilities clicked through Tyro's brain. "Of course if it is true that they're involved, this would be more than possible — it would be likely," he said rapidly. "It fits with the way Omega operates. And it makes sense, since Sano Sauro is involved." Tyro's face contracted into an expression of distaste. Sauro was his enemy, too. "That would explain why he has remained in the background. He doesn't want us to connect him to this campaign, because he knows we will immediately make the connection to Omega."
"There is something we're not seeing here," Obi-Wan said.
"The Chancellor is, of course, a big supporter of the Jedi," Tyro said, thinking. "It's unlikely that he will approve the petition. Bog and Sauro could then manipulate this defeat into a call for a no-confidence vote. That would allow them to propose Sauro as Chancellor. I know that is his ultimate ambition."
"Then Omega would control the Senate," Obi-Wan said slowly.
Tyro tapped his tapered fingers on the manuals. "But Palpatine is too powerful and too skilled to be outmaneuvered. And I doubt even Sauro could muster enough support for a vote of no confidence. Let's see, he controls the Viga alliance, and the planets in the Commerce Guild, and… yes, he could get several systems in the Mid-Rim. But in the Core? No. He's powerful, but he's actively disliked, and there is a strong opposition faction headed by Bail Organa that can't be discounted."
Tyro ended his speculation, realizing that Obi-Wan had grown impatient with the details of Senate politics.
"In conclusion," he said, sighing, "I have no conclusion. I can't see them trying such a thing. You don't try something like that unless you're sure you can succeed. Palpatine is tremendously popular, especially at the moment. Tomorrow there will be a ceremony for the opening of the All Planets Relief Fund. A huge group of supporters will be attending-including many Jedi. This is Palpatine's pet project, and it's a good one. He's worked his way through the tangled bureaucracy to get it off the ground.
Now any world in peril can petition the Senate directly for funds through one central account. Palpatine claims this will stop the bureaucratic slowdown for relief to troubled worlds. You see, before this, a world would have to petition the committee for Relief, which would then turn the matter over to a specially appointed investigatory committee, which would then — "
Obi-Wan's comlink signaled, and he held up a hand to interrupt Tyro.
He had to admit he was relieved not to get a crash course in the now outdated procedural details of Senate relief efforts.
Siri's crisp voice came through the comlink. "We found something.
Possibly Omega and Zan Arbor's hideout. We need backup. They could be inside."
She gave him the coordinates. Obi-Wan stood as he flipped his comlink closed and put it back in his belt — at last, action and not meetings. "I have to go."