Hearing on the Battle of Ando Prime

[Tsar Fire]

Adara cleared her throat, and voiced a question that she'd been holding.

"Was there any reason you couldn't have contacted me before leaving the Temple, Colonel? Communications were still operable, after all, my staff did send you an alert that the fleet was moving."

Her tone was polite, her face was neutral, and she gave no indication of hostility, but behind her professional facade, Adara was furious. This woman, standing so confidently at that podium, rattling off smartass answers that gave absolutely no information at all, had directly influenced the downward progress of the battle.

Adara was speaking the truth, knowing full well that it could endanger her career, and here this insubordinate, self-entitled SOLAG operative was giving these glib answers and acting like everything she knew was too classified for a committee that was cleared to hear classified information. Not a feasible course of action... as frackin if.

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

The Colonel looked to the Senators and Chancellor, was she to answer Adara's question or ignore it. This was a formal hearing for which speaking out of turn was not permitted.

 

[Dmitri]

"Supreme Commander Talai, please control yourself," requested Djibril.

Adara was getting bolder, noted Djibril. Apparently Adara believes Abelle is trying to weasel herself out of trouble. However, this will not turn into a blame game.

"Talai, if you have another outburst, you will be escorted out of here," informed Djibril.

The Senator of Obroa-skai returned his attention to Abelle.

"However, for the record, would you please answer the Supreme Commander's question?" requested Djibril.

 

[Ahdam]

The Senator of Alderaan.

Ahdam still couldn't get over that title. It'd been a few weeks since Chancellor Hoshiko extended the offer from Queen Laili Sundromiko. Even when Ahdam went back to Alderaan to speak to the queen, he questioned her as to whether the request was genuine. He had no reason to doubt the Chancellor, but, after everything that had happened since the bombing on Coruscant, he just couldn't believe that the universe was putting such an undeserved title before him.

Yet at the end of his considerations about taking the job, he couldn't say no. It would raise too many questions, and he didn't feel like the public mourning of his father's death was a good enough justification for declining the Senate seat. Not to mention that being the only Galactic Senator who knew about Sector 13 came with its advantages, allowing him to make sure the agency was operating as his father first intended it to. And selfishly, he could direct attention away from his own past transgressions.

Analia was just as surprised as he was at the offer, but for different reasons. She'd barely known her brother was a former agent by the time he told her about the Senate seat, but she was still supportive of him.

He'd been on the job for two weeks now, but this was his first Armed Services Committee meeting. The fact that he'd been appointed to the committee raised a number of questions, but, given what Hoshiko was hoping Ahdam could accomplish in terms of keeping Sector 13 covert and in line, the private reasons for his appointment were not unfounded.

The door to the committee room quietly slid open, and he walked along the wall so as to avoid making too much of a display. He practically held his breath, knowing how in over his head he was. He could kill anything he was ordered to kill, but politics… That was his father's arena, not Ahdam's.

Nonetheless, he took his previously vacant seat as Senator Djibril spoke, offering a faint smile in the direction of the Supreme Chancellor.

 

[Ru the Boatswain]

"Yes, sir."

Taking a moment she closed her eyes for a split second and took a quick breath in and out, the same kind of motion she would take when she measured an enemy in her sights.

"The question asking why I did not contact Adara before leaving on a stolen ship under guise of the enemy... Unfeasible. My team was damaged stranded, escape was of the utmost priority, in order to escape I needed to disappear. The lanes of communication were secondary to maintaining my cover and keeping my team alive. I could no longer consider the fleets above me to be friendly, I needed to minimize risk of death."

 

[Dmitri]

"Thank you," replied Djibril.

Hopefully, with Abelle answering Adara's question, the Supreme Commander wouldn't interrupt again. Interruptions derailed hearings. After all, this hearing was leaning to a court martial, when it was suppose to just be a hearing. The only purpose was to learn what happened and what could be done in the future.

"Senators, anything else you wish to add?" Djibril asked hsi fellow Senators.

 

[Ahdam]

"Fellow Senators, Supreme Chancellor, my apologies for my tardiness," Ahdam told them, shifting uncomfortably in his far too leathery and expensive seat. "My transport from Alderaan was unexpectedly delayed."

He'd already read over the reports filled by the current witness. The Battle of Ando Prime was a complete disaster, through and through. The Republic was more than likely the laughing stock of the Hutt Empire and the Bogan temple, wherever that was, by this point.

"I only have one thing to add," he said, sliding the report off to the side. "I obviously missed the previous questions, but I will say this. I was in the military once. My public record shows that I didn't leave on the best of terms, but I can tell you that once a mission is compromised the only concern a commander has is the safety of the people under his or her command.

"Now I may be new here," Ahdam told them, his voice suggesting a tone of condemnation, "but I can tell you that, regardless of the events that led up to the need for escape, the Colonel did what any good commander would do. She saved the lives of those under her command and got them home. All that can be can accomplish in a hearing like this is the unfortunate and unnecessary public humiliation of decorated military officers, so let's at least make sure the record is crystal clear in regard to the Colonel's saving of her men."

He sat back in his seat, a sudden and newfound confidence surging through him. He looked over in the direction of the Chancellor, hoping she approved and hoping it was things like this that she had in mind for him in the Senate.

 

[Tsar Fire]

"...the Colonel did what any good commander would do. She saved the lives of those under her command and got them home. All we can accomplish in a hearing like this is public humiliation, so let's at least make sure the record is crystal clear in regard to the Colonel's saving of her men."

Yeah, and she got my men killed to do it. Adara grimaced at the new senators words, but remained standing, silently, by the side wall. It was clear that he, at least, was not interested in allowing Adara to leave today with her reputation in tact.

All Adara wanted was to learn the truth.

Had it been her fault? Were all of those men and women really dead because of her? She didn't think so... she'd made some mistakes, but they hadn't been large. She'd been handed a bad situation, and she'd failed to fix it... Was it her fault? Could she have anticipated SOLAG's betrayal?

She hadn't been rested, she hadn't been prepared... She should have listened to the bad feelings she'd had about the raid, instead of pushing ahead.

Adara felt no respect for the SOLAG Colonel. She'd willfully allowed the 15th to come to harm, by her own admission. She was using short, abrupt, non-answers to try and distort the truth and avoid further questions. She stood there, with a pretty medal on her chest for running away and leaving good men and women to die, when she could have averted it.

Frack. Adara needed to calm down, and she knew it, but...

Was she really to blame for all this? After so many fingers had been pointed in her direction... so many accusations... it was sometimes hard to know. She couldn't help wondering what she might have done better.

 

[Raif]

Korembeck shook his shaggy heady in a sign of deep agreement with the young senator from Alderaan. Though he knew the 'boy' only because of his last name, he spoke with poise and wisdom; it was obvious the Thranta had not flown far from the nest, so to speak. He cleared his voice in a deep growl to regain the floor, then leaned forward again to speak.

"The purpose of this hearing is not to humiliate anyone, as Senator Bac just stated. That goes for Colonel Hallen and Supreme Commander Kalai. We want simply to gain the fullest picture of what led to this failure in the hopes of averting a similar catastrophe from occurring in the future. On that note, I believe we have heard everything we need to from the Colonel."

Korembeck paused a moment to make sure there were no objections to his last statement. If there were not, he would continue.

"Well then, I propose we call to the floor Master...Karasu, I believe is his name. The Jedi who gave that wonderful interview to the reporter after the battle."

Korembeck wasn't sure what affect his little sarcastic joke would have on his fellows. At first, the elder wookiee had been a bit steamed when he had seen the footage (which had luckily been initially suppressed from public viewing) but he had to admit, if he had survived what they had been through he may have run off at the mouth a bit as well.

 

[Will]

Th doors opened, allowing the towering Jedi Sword Master to stride through. He wore only his robes today, black, as ever. He regarded the room with yellow eyes, pale skin white under the lighting.

The attempted debrief, it seemed. Civilian representatives, trying to make sense of military matters. It would never go well. Nothing would be achieved here, it would probably only work to convolute this further. But, the Grandmaster had been pushing for more cohesion between the Jedi and Republic... Less so now, though. They had called, and he would answer the summons.

They knew his views. He had presented them to the whole of the Republic, to the ire of Colonel Hallen, to whom he nodded his head. He also nodded to Adara Kalai, rankless, for now. She would not enjoy his presence here. He knew that for certain. But, as ever, his face remained the impassive mask, his emotions locked down. Both outwardly, and inwardly, he was a sea of calm.

He bowed to them.

''Senators of the committee. I am at your disposal to answer questions regarding the Ando Prime mission.''

He stood before this group of senators, meeting them with the cold, emotion free gaze that had been seen all over the holonet during this war between the Hutts and the Republic.

 

[Dmitri]

So this is Jedi Master Huang Karasu, thought Djibril. He noted the exchange between Abelle and Huang. It was obvious the Jedi Master would talk highly of Abelle and lowly of Adara. Regardless, the debriefing had to start.

"Thank you for your time, Master Karasu," said Djibril. "Would you please recollect to thos present of the mission to Ando Prime?"

 

[Raif]

"Master Karasu, thank you for joining us today."

Korembeck knew that the Jedi technically was under no legal pressure to attend this hearing; being outside of any official chain of command, the towering Sephi could more or less come and go as he pleased. As such, the senator of Kashyyyk didn't want to come out too aggressive.

"Master Jedi, we have been told that the location of the Bogan base on Ando Prime was originally obtained by the Jedi. Could you enlighten us as to the nature of this intelligence?"

Given that this whole convoluted mess could be traced back to a failure in intelligence, Korembeck was hoping this Jedi could shed some light on things for them.

 

[Will]

Huang nodded to both, a sea of calm in this pressure cooker environment.

''I shall answer Senator Djibril first, If I may.'' It was phrased as a question. In reality, it was not.

''The mission, a joint operation with Republic and Jedi troops had been in planning stages since we gained light on the stronghold of the Bogan, of which I will discuss later. The Republic leadership had decided on a full fleet for our naval support, seemingly a defensive contingency plan in case things went wrong.''

''The bulk of forces landed to assault the temple, in the wake, led by Jedi forces. Unfortunatley, after apparent major damage to the lower structural areas of the temple, the majority of the Bogan forces were dead or trapped. At this point, fleet comms were lost. We had to presume the worst, that our fleet had been taken out, or retreated. As such, priority switched to extracting as many of our troops as possible. With the aid of Colonel Hallen, we managed to extract the majority of the paltry forces that remained, planet-hopping through Hutt space before finally getting back to the Republic. We had to appear to be Bogan forces, and, hidden by the planet's shadow, we had no way of ascertaining the size of our remaining fleet, or communicating with them. Even if we could communicate, such an act would breach cover, killing our soldiers.''

He then turned to the Wookie senator.

''That information was gained from a trusted contact, of whose character I can personally vouch for, yet their identity must remain secret. We gave that information to Republic command, which, as you can see, was correct.''

 

[Raif]

"Master Karasu, we can get back to the mission itself in a moment. I would like to focus on the original intelligence, given that without it the mission would never have occurred."

Korembeck sighed for a moment before continuing.

"Now, the intel from your 'secret source,' was partly correct, of that no one can dispute. After all, the Bogan were on Ando Prime, or else this hearing would never be happening. The key word, though, is were. By the time our forces arrived it seemed apparent these Dark Jedi had been gone for a number of weeks. Now, you say you trust this source, yet his information led our forces into a terrible defeat. How sure are you of the trustworthiness of the person or persons responsible for this intelligence?"

 

[Count Sam]

"Well master Haung I would not really call it a trusted contact due to what happened to the Republic fleet." Daniel finally spoke after being silent for awhile.

"After all, if that contact was really that trustworthy and dependable we would have at least had more information about the enemies huge fleets that almost wiped away our 15th fleet that was not ready for such a battle due to intelligence failure." Daniel spoke honestly as he took his breath.

"Also what makes you think that your so called contact is not a spy working for the Bogan and had everything planned to trap our forces?"

 

[Ahdam]

Ahdam leaned forward in his chair, speaking as the Chairman and the Coruscanti senator concluded their questions, "I'd also like to thank you for coming, Master Jedi. Pardon any offense that could be misconstrued from my questions, I'm sure you know of my family's longstanding support and friendship with the Jedi Order."

"I would though like to ask, for the record," Ahdam spoke up, having a clear goal in mind for this particular question, "if you are willing to state the identity of this source and how he or she came about this information."

 

[Empress]

Before anyone else could say a single word, Hisako stood from her chair, her violet and blue hair illuminated by the lights directly above her as she raised her hands for silence.

" before we continue" she stated, her tones cool " I would like to address all of those coming to speak."
Her eyes drifted to all those about before she offered a nod of gratitude for the silence.

" I would like to thank those who came, and I would like to reassure them that they are in no risk of prosecution in this chamber today. Perhaps those deeds done, or undone may be considered questionable, and perhaps may be seen as criminal by high command...however this is not something within the authority of the council as present.

The fact remains, that the Republic is gravely wounded. Never before have we faced such an onslaught as we do today. Our systems are falling into Hutt hands one by one, and billions of Republic lives have been lost in battles that seem only to end with yet another victory for the Hutt empire.

Ando Prime was simply the final, and most blaring example of our failures. Were these the results of specific commanders? Is this a symptom of a greater flaw in the system in general. It is Why we ask these questions of all of you here today. We need to understand what it is that is causing us such loss, and what must be done to rectify it.

I stress this to the Senators as well, that this is an inquiry into our current system, and the results of such matters, this is NOT the time for political bandstands, nor to further instigate personnel agenda . now, If you would please continue, and mind everyone to remain mindful of the intentions of this gathering. "

 

[Will]

All three had asked the same question. A typical meeting of politicians. it would go in circles. They had all found a scrap to latch onto. He debated internally on revealing his sources. To do so would be problematic. But to say nothing would cause more problems. He toyed with one of his piercings.

''The source to give the location of the Bogan stronghold was Jedi Knight Caed Ultor, a reformed member of the Bogan order. Please, rest assured that he was pure in motivation. He was monitored closely, and tested by the council. We rarely accept reformed members of the Bogan into our ranks. Normally, they still carry a taint. But Ultor proved himself. His information on the location was correct, as can be seen.''

''The reaction of the Hutt fleet and the Jade Armada ships was an unknown variable that could only be planned for by increasing republic ship presence, which would only trigger a larger response from the Hutts. The movement of the Bogan from their world was again an unknown factor to our source. That is something I gleaned myself from him.''

When Huang had returned, he had submitted Ultor to a punishing barrage of mental probes, to make sure he knew nothing of it. His honesty and innocence in that regard could again be confirmed.

 

[Ahdam]

"Thank you for the truthful answer," Ahdam said, nodding his head in respect. "I believe you when you say he was reformed and pure in motivation, and I defer to your wisdom in such matters."

He pulled his datapad back towards him again, searching through the files on the aftermath of the Jedi involvement in the battle. He recalled hearing about the news broadcast a few weeks ago, and it never sat well with him, particularly now that he knew the full extent of what was said.

"I'd like to ask you about the aftermath of the battle," Ahdam said. "You made it a point to speak to a reporter shortly after fleeinge, and you strongly criticized the Republic leadership for its failings during the battle."

He continued, "Whether there was a failure of leadership is exactly what we're here to figure out, but what I'm curious to know is why you spoke to the reporter. I believe another Jedi, Maiya...Lightesu, yes, Maiya Lightesu chastised you on your decision to speak to the media. I'll withhold judgment on that decision, but I would just like to know what it was that compelled you to take such a strong public action."

 

[Dmitri]

"Master Karasu is correct with his assumptions," said Djibril.

Djibril paused for a moment, considering if he should talk about the four days he'd been with the Hutt Empire or not. In order for the truth to be told, he decided to speak.

"According to Marquis Sirberius the Hutt, whom I meant during my four days as a secessionist from the Republic, the Hutts had received reports of possible Republic ships infiltrating their territory, but had no idea where the ships were headed. Many thought Nal Hutta was the target. Had it not been for two seperate warnings from two Bogan, one who later perished during the Battle of Ando Prime, the Hutts would not have discovered Ando Prime as the Hutts' target. The only reason the Hutts, and Jade, were able to arrive in time was purely by chance. Had those two Bogan not been where they'd been, the 15th Fleet probably would have been successful in its mission."

The truth was out. Sighing, Djibril leaned back.