Chapter 156 - Shape-shifter

"You are not Onaconda Farr. Who are you?"

When General Di said that, the senator -the impostor, actually - nervously shifted his feet. He fiddled with his hands, not knowing where to put them. The impostor looked behind him, only to see Brain's and Dab's unhappy faces.

""W-What do you mean? I-I... I am Senator Farr, of course I am. I don't understand, Jedi master."

The moment he said that, Dageer noticed his hand reaching inside his clothes, and a dangerous glint flashing through his eyes. Commander Keeli obviously saw it too, because he yelled at Brain and Dab.

"Hold him!"

General Di, however, was faster than any of the clones. The Nikto swung his lightsaber in a blur, and the K-7 Watchman Pistol that the rodian had pulled out was cut in half, together with three of his fingers.

The fingers were originally green and membranous, a characteristic of the rodians. However, in midair, they became long and grey, and yellow blood oozed from them.

The person impersonating Senator Farr kneeled, holding his hand near his body. Dab grabbed his arm, and twisted it around the back of the person, at the same time putting his knee against the person's neck, so every move he made caused intense pain.

When the person tried to get up, Dab twisted the arm harder, and the impostor was unable to bear with it, and crouched with his face against the metal floor.

General Di switched off his lightsaber, and the lethal weapon turned into a harmless metal stick. Serious as always, the Jedi approached the impostor. He had now become a grey-skinned and skinny being. His face had burn scars, and he only had a few scattered clumps of hair.

"Atyri umbiti chilek!"

General Di frowned when he heard the impostor speak.

"A clawdite. Speak the common language."

"Tiryr weedte! Kitoy..."

Before the clawdite could finish, Dab pushed him to the floor.

"The general asked you to speak the common language."

"Stand down, trooper! He is a prisoner, but that doesn't mean you can treat him like that!"

The aura that General Di released made Dab stagger backward, and let the impostor go. For a moment the clone looked at the Jedi, then acknowledged the order and let the clawdite get up.

Dab was a quiet soldier, but that didn't mean he was unemotional. Being scold by the general in front of the others - for something he considered unjust, since the clawdite clearly killed many clones - made his face heat up with shame, but he could do nothing.

Not for the first time, Dageer wondered if the compassion the Jedi showed for everyone and everything wouldn't be their doom. He, like many clones, respected the Jedis almost more than anything, but had his doubts about their qualifications to lead armies in a war.

"What do you want, Jedi?"

For the first time, the clawdite spoke the common language, although his tone was disdainful. General Di waved his hands in front of the impostor, in a gesture that Dageer now knew it used the Force to control the mind of a person. However, what General Di did was different than what Ventress did.

The clawdite's eyes became misty, and lost focus, but he didn't appear to be mind-controlled as Dageer had been, neither showed signs of feeling pain. Like always, the Jedi had a gentle way of doing things.

"Who sent you?"

"L-Lord Dooku... sent me..."

The clones had no reaction to the name, since, for them, Count Dooku was only the Separatist leader, and nothing more. However, General Di and his padawan exchanged glances. They knew that Count Dooku wasn't only a fallen Jedi, but had become a Sith Lord, and a powerful one on top of that. And there could be only one reason why he would send a shape-shifter to impersonate Onaconda Farr.

"Why did he send you to Mygeeto?"

"The madam... would give me a package... to get to my lord..."

It was unnecessary to say that the madam was Ventress, and the package must be the red crystal. During the few seconds that he saw the crystal, General Di sensed it's power. He could not let it get to Count Dooku's hands.

Now, it was obvious that all that happened, from the three senators being captured, and then being released by the 303rd, and finally, to the clawdite blaming Senator Lee, was just a plan by the Separatist to get the red crystal.

And General Di had to admit it was an almost perfect plan. By blowing that bridge, the clawdite provided two hundred workers to Ventress. And, if he really got its hands on the 'package', he would have the protection of an entire Republic fleet, all the way to Coruscant. From there, the impostor could go anywhere.

"Take him away."

Two troopers grabbed the clawdite by his arms, and pulled him out of the command bridge. The impostor would be locked on a cell, where he would stay until they got to Coruscant, where he would be judged and sentenced to life in prison.

General Di also ordered that Senator Lee was released. He and the human senator had been coerced by the clawdite, and had been too afraid to expose him.

"Dageer, get your men ready. Now that your Three-four is with us, Hell Squad should be complete, right?"

"Yes, general."

"That's good. Ragout, prepare a corvette. Dageer, get some rest. You won't be able to battle if you stay as you are now. Commander Keeli, you will stay with the fleet. Your orders are to stay near the Pyrilia System, and guard the trade routes, at least for now."

All the clones acknowledged their orders without questioning, as they had been trained to. Ragout, however, didn't have such discipline.

"Where are we going, master?"

"Our path is still unclear. However, it stars on Iktotch. Be patient, my young apprentice."

"What are we going to do on Iktotch? The only thing there is the being Dageer met... Ohhh..."

General Di smiled with the gentleness he only showed to his padawan.

"As I said, you have to be patient."

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A few hours later, one of the CR90 Corvettes that General Di's fleet had separated itself from the fleet, and entered hyperspace.

Aside from the pilots and the crew, the ship also carried Hell Squad, General Di and his padawan, and the clawdite. Their first stop would be Iktotch, since Ventress had shown interest in the white lizard that Dageer met. Then, they would go to Coruscant and transfer the prisoner to the Coruscant Guard, as they did with Aurra Sing.

They also had a secret, and much more important, objective, which was to deliver the red crystal to the Jedi Temple, where it would be safe from Count Dooku's hands.

Inside the ship, Dageer was sleeping soundly. Three-four had given him painkillers for his eye and arm. Two days later, when they arrived in Iktotch, his arm was almost healed, and his eye didn't hurt as much as before, which Dageer interpreted as a good sign.