"War on many fronts!" "While battles are fought by clones in the field, a different war is waged in the Galactic Senate." "As heavy losses add up, a group of senators led by Halle Burtoni of Kamino propose an escalation of troop production." "Senator Padmé Amidala, recognizing that more troops will only prolong the fighting, works tirelessly with her allies to introduce a bill to cut military spending and stop the creation of more clone troopers." "Yes, of course, Senator." "Thank you for telling me yourself." "I completely understand." "Did we lose someone else's vote?" "Senator Stonk." "Worried about public opinion." "But he wants us to know how very sorry he is." " "Sorry" doesn't get us votes." " We'll get votes when, in your speech, you convince people to stand up for what they know is right." "I hope you're right, Uncle." "You've been doing an amazing job rallying votes to our side." "Chos koo, Senator Farr." "Perhaps I am the most influential man on Rodia, Lolo, but after all the mistakes I've made, peace is what matters to me now." "Senator Amidala?" "They're ready for your speech now." "It's time." "We'll see you in the Chamber, Senator Amidala." "Good luck, Padmé!" "It is quite exciting." ""Exciting" isn't exactly the word I would use." "I think "terrifying" is more appropriate." "Pay her no mind, Senator Organa." "Even as a girl, Padmé downplayed her strengths." "Helps her maintain the element of surprise." "I learned it from you." "See you inside, Senators." "The creation of more warriors will not end this war." "The financial costs alone will bankrupt and cripple the Republic." "By adding more clones to the conflict, we are only escalating destruction, not winning the war." "Which is why we must vote For this resolution, to promote more diplomacy and to bring an end to this killing and hatred." " That was quite a moment, my dear." " Thank you, Senator Deechi." "Oh, it wasn't a compliment." "You shouldn't make speeches like that." "It's unpatriotic." "The only thing I find unpatriotic is your warmongering." "Truly, you have turned the tide!" " My dear, you were brilliant." " Thank you." "But perhaps we should wait till we actually win the vote" " before we make a victory speech." " What a novel idea." "Imagine that." "Amidala's actually making sense for once in her life." "Senator Burtoni, this is a private conversation." "Private conversation or Separatist conspiracy?" "How dare you?" "We are not pro-Separatist." "We want to end the war." "Committing more troops to the front lines will not allow diplomacy to resume." "Diplomacy failed the Republic long ago." " Senators, please!" " Senator Burtoni." "The Kaminoans might have bartered their creation of the clones into a seat in the Galactic Senate, but this does not give you free rein." "Thank you for visiting, Senator." "We would like to continue our meeting now, if you don't mind." "Enjoy your moment in the spotlight, Senators." "This war will not end soon." "Well, we must be doing something right if we've rattled Senator Burtoni." "What matters is that we've made great strides in our fight against this bill." "Ono, you've done a wonderful job leading the effort." "I am just trying to do what's right." "I only wish I'd tried doing that a long time ago." "You're doing it now." "To victory and an end to this war!" "To victories." "My heart." " I can't breathe." " Uncle, what is it?" "Ono!" "It's his heart!" "Please, someone get help!" "And we are all aware that Onaconda was a flawed man." "He knew better than anyone of his own mistakes." "But he never compromised his principles." "And what he did, he did for his people." "Their needs always came first." " Senator, if you need anything..." " What we need is to get his resolution passed." "He was my mentor." "I don't know how to carry on without him guiding me." "I know." "No one could ever take his place." "Excuse me, Chancellor Palpatine has summoned both of you to his chambers." " What's happened?" " I'm afraid, my friends, that Lieutenant Divo here has some questions." "About Senator Farr." "Do you know of anyone who, hmm, how to put this, hated Senator Farr enough to kill him?" "What?" "I'll need to find out who wanted to hurt Senator Farr." "Actually, "kill him" would be more accurate, what with him being dead." "No one wanted him dead." "Everyone loved him." "Well, that's obviously not true, or I wouldn't be here, and he would." "Lieutenant." "Even Ono's political enemies respected him." "We need time to deal with this situation." "Time." "Time." "There's no time for time!" "A murderer is on the loose, and it's my job to find him!" "Now if I were a guy who committed senator-cide..." "What makes you think it was murder?" "Poison, of course!" "The politicians' preferred method." "Found a chemical in his bloodstream, killed him right away." "It's an obvious case." "Politicians always have something to hide, and it always comes back to haunt them." "Am I right?" "Look who I'm asking." "Room full of politicians." "Huh." "So, one of Farr's secrets must have resurfaced." "Ono had no secrets." "That's not it." "Perhaps someone was upset about the clone-troop bill currently on the floor." "It's very controversial." "Thank you, Senator..." "Amidala, is it?" "But I already have my theory and I'll follow my hunch, if you don't mind." "After all, I am the inspector, you're the senator, so I'll handle the inspecting, and you can stick to the senating." "Good day." "Murder?" "It's inconceivable." "Who would wish Onaconda harm?" "What if it's the bill?" "What if we're all being targeted?" "Speculation gets us nowhere." "There is work to do." "We should double our efforts on the vote." "It will be even harder with Ono gone." " No." "No, we should delay the vote." " But why?" "No one will give the vote their full attention until they know what's happened to Ono." "Well, maybe I can put a motion on the floor." "I don't think anyone will object, given the circumstances." "Good." "Then we'll have time to conduct our own investigation." "Detective Divo specifically asked us not to interfere." "Well, he didn't exactly inspire confidence, did he?" "He didn't know Ono." "We did." "We'll have a far easier time looking into this than Detective Divo will." "Running around could disrupt our coalition." "Yet you still seem determined to see this through." "Indeed I am." "And I don't suppose you'd consider bringing Captain Typho with you." "No, I'd rather do this quietly." "Then perhaps, Senator Organa, you should accompany her." " I think that's an excellent idea." " I don't need a guardian." "Of course not, my dear." "Think of it as precautionary." " Don't worry, I won't get in your way." " Very well." "I have no objections." "And I know exactly where to start." "You're suggesting one of us killed Onaconda Farr." " How delightful." " I don't find any of this amusing." "Neither do I." "Every time Ono opened his befuddled mouth, it gave us another quote to use in our fundraising." "Why would we kill our best source of income?" "You both opposed Ono's ideas in the Senate." "With enough at stake, maybe you decided to silence his voice for good." "Onaconda and I were often at odds, but I respected him." "I respected him greatly." "For the record, I had no respect for Onaconda whatsoever." "Ono had a secret meeting at the docks under the derrick major the night before he died." "And you just happened to know about this meeting how?" "Oh, I was having Ono followed." "Just because I respected Ono doesn't mean I wasn't trying to get dirt on him." " Of course." " The point is, a clandestine, off-the-books meeting under cover of darkness, perhaps that location holds some clue." "Fine." "I will go look." "But whatever we find, I'll have more questions for both of you." "Have I said that I think we're very far out of our element here?" "Yes, Bail, I believe you mentioned it once or twice." "You know, using this investigation to bury your grief" " might not be the best way to..." " I'm not." "Then why can't you just leave it to Lieutenant Divo?" "Padmé!" "Wait!" "Watch out!" "Hey!" "Senator Amidala, is it possible you might be going deaf?" " Lieutenant?" " Because when I said" "I didn't want you to interfere with my investigation," "I can only assume that you didn't hear me." "I had some information about a lead here at the docks." "Which you naturally brought to me straightaway so I could investigate, only..." "No, wait, you did the exact opposite of that!" "There are rules, Senator." "My friend was murdered." "I don't care about rules." "Don't care about rules?" "My dear, without rules, there's only chaos." "Everyone must care about rules." "We know that." "But now you've alerted the killer that you're on to him." "And my investigation is that much harder." "Do you have any idea how many reports I'll have to file now?" " We alerted the killer." " Yes." "That's what I'm saying." "What if we were sent here on purpose?" " To the docks?" " Yes!" "What if this was all a setup?" "What if Deechi sent us here just so he could kill us?" "If we hurry, we might still be able to catch Deechi" " before he leaves the Senate." " Agreed." "But wait!" "I'm still investigating!" "This is still an active crime scene!" "You can't..." "Oh, fine." "Senator Deechi, I'm sure you're surprised to see me after what you..." " He's dead." " He's been stabbed." "This is definitely gonna require another report." "The killer is obviously targeting the leadership." "You must stay here under my protection." "Why?" "So the killer can take us all out at once?" "Oh, that's preposterous." "Even if the killer did get through my security, it's very unlikely that all of you would end up dead." "We're far too easy a target sitting here." "I'm leaving." "No, you can't leave, Lolo." "I think, in this instance, the inspector is right." "Out of my way." "Who else knew you were going to the docks?" "Just Senator Burtoni." "She was the only other one in the room with us." "Burtoni, eh?" "Sir, Senator Burtoni is not here." "Oh." "Looks like that long-necked Kaminoan has flown the coop." "It's been a difficult time." "You've handled yourself well." "I had to try." "Ono believed if you see injustice, you can't wait for someone else to fix it." " You must stand up and get involved." " He did." "Help!" "I have been attacked!" "She's over there!" "She tried to kill me!" " What happened?" " Senator Burtoni." "She jumped me!" " She's in the East Wing corridor!" "Hurry!" " Guards!" "Go!" "You're insane." "I didn't kill anyone." "Last thing I remember, I was walking to my office." " Then I woke up here." " Senator Lolo has a very different story." " She says you attacked her." " Attacked her?" "Lolo?" "If I ever attack someone, I hope it'll be someone mildly important." "Someone like Senator Farr?" "Ono was a harmless bug." "I wouldn't bother killing him." "And Deechi was my ally." "I've been thinking about how you were in Senator Amidala's office" " right before Farr died." " So what?" "And I've been thinking about how you were in Deechi's office to hear about that meeting at the docks." "A meeting I think Farr had with you." "It wasn't me!" "You have no proof!" "No?" "I have this." "I ordered an extensive forensic report on Farr as soon as he died." "The poison which killed Farr only affects Rodian blood." "And it was developed by Kaminoan scientists." "But that's..." "I didn't kill him!" "You're Kaminoan, you had access to the poison." "That's motive, means and opportunity." "Guards!" "But the scan must be wrong." "If the poison was in all our drinks, Lolo would have died, too." " What?" " She's Rodian." "She'd have been poisoned, too." "Unless she didn't drink." "But you drank, right, Lolo?" "Lolo." "You didn't drink, did you?" "You're right." "I should have pretended to drink." "All right, you're coming with me for insurance." "Why did you kill Ono?" " He brought war to my planet." " No!" "He made a mistake, Lolo." "Which everyone seemed to forget, including you." "I didn't." "Did you honestly think he had the moral right to lead us?" "After he betrayed us?" " He was sorry." " He was weak." "We needed someone with strength to stand against this war." "I tried to scare him at the docks, but he wouldn't go away." "So I removed him." "And when I heard Deechi knew about that meeting, he had to go, too." "Halt!" "Put down your weapon." "With the final votes tallied, let it be known that the motion to stop the creation of more clone troops has failed, and the continued manufacturing of clone troopers shall proceed as scheduled." "After all that, we lost." "I know this decision was most unexpected." "I myself don't support it, but democracy must stand." "Of course." "You are right, Chancellor." "Hmm." "Actually, given recent events, perhaps it is for the best." "For how can we justify fortifying our security here in the Senate if we don't also provide reinforcements on the front lines?" "You see, the victory of the clone army, for now, is the only thing that can lead us to peace." "English" " SDH"