Before Corvus left Yularen's office, he downloaded many different access codes for buildings, flight paths, as well as access to the emergency broadcast system.
Then, he pulled out a set of explosives from his inventory, and put a 4hr timer on them.
Leaving the office from the comfort of invisibility, Corvus had an hour to kill before the executive meeting was to take place.
Consulting his map, the meeting room wasn't too far from his current location, and would take maybe 15 minutes of brisk walking at most.
Corvus decided he would take this time to explore the security bureau's holding cells. As attached to this building was the notorious supermax prison known as the Central Detention Center.
This location served as a secondary objective for Corvus. He intended to cause a crisis for Palpatine. Releasing an untold number of criminals onto the streets-was something he felt bad about-but would look terrible for the newfound Emperor's promises of peace and security.
Besides this, Corvus was hoping he might discover a few Jedi that were captured during Order 66, and rescue them. That, or try his luck, and rescue a few VIP CIS politicians/officers which could be used as bargaining chips when he dealt with the Separatists.
Satisfied with his reasoning, Corvus followed his map function, and began to scout out the prison.
His first obstacle was a heavy durasteel door. It was the main entrance in, and from what Corvus could tell, only opened at set intervals.
There were two guards standing out front, and about three stories up, there was an office space where the gatekeeper operated the switch to the door.
Corvus didn't have much time to waste, and tried to cast Mind Trick on the gate operator, but the ability wouldn't automatically connect.
Frowning to himself, Corvus felt stifled by this development, but he was undeterred. Just because the system based power couldn't easily connect from this distance, didn't mean it was impossible!
Starkiller brought down a Star Destroyer from the atmosphere, to crash into the ground. Not just because of overwhelming power, but because he believed he could! Just like with Luke lifting the x-wing out of the swamp on Dagobah.
The Force wasn't about how big, or how far something was, it simply was.
Closing his eyes, Corvus focused himself in a zen-like state, and held out his hand.
Concentrating everything he had on the man behind the blaster-proof glass, Corvus imposed his will upon him.
'You will slip and open the gate.'
Such thoughts were transmitted for an entire minute, until Corvus's actions finally paid off.
Creaking open on squeaky wheels, the massive, heavy door ever so slowly began to inch forward.
The pair of guards out front instantly reacted.
"Hey, what's going on?"
"Close the gate, this isn't scheduled!"
The door was so slow, that there wasn't enough of a gap, so Corvus sent out another [Mind Trick] at the operator.
'Hesitate. You are uncertain with what has just transpired, and will wait 3 more seconds before complying.'
The gate continued to swing open, and Corvus took this opportunity to cast [Force Speed]. Whooshing into the narrow gap, he was in, he had infiltrated the prison.
Advancing forward, Corvus saw that there were multiple checkpoints made from prison bars, and that bypassing them would be a pain in the ass.
This prison escape plan was much more complicated than he had first imagined.
However, it wasn't as if all was doomed.
That front door was the only way in or out of this building.
Which meant that not only were the prisoners trapped inside, but so were the guards.
An evil grin began to form on Corvus's face as the inklings of a plan began to form in his mind.
First, he would need to find the Warden, and eliminate him. With his override codes lost, all Corvus would have to do was seize the control room, then none of the doors would open without his say so!
Stalking forward, Corvus approached a junction, and found a squad of clones loafing around, doing nothing at a security checkpoint.
'Perfect.'
Seeing this, Corvus decided to use the squad lead as his patsy, just as he had done with the clone commander.
Finding people and places was so difficult, it was much easier when using a guide.
Activating [Mind Trick], Corvus planted a suggestion on the squad leader.
'You have something to report to the Warden regarding the premature opening of the gate, it's urgent, and must be done in person.'
"Something isn't right about the gate. I want you boys to investigate, I'm going to go report to the Warden." The clone said to his squad, and then began to head out.
"Not going to stay with us, sir?" A trooper sharply questioned.
The squad lead put a hand to his head, and took a deep breath, clearly conflicted.
"Sir?"
"You're right. Sorry, something came over me. C'mon, let's go investigate." The squad lead said.
Corvus was shocked at the development, but was quick to adapt. It seemed that alternative logic could snap one out of the [Mind Trick]. This was valuable knowledge, and proved that the mental arts weren't fool proof.
At the moment, it was Corvus's favorite skill to spam, but it was good to know that with his current level, it wasn't absolute.
….that meant he still had to find the Warden. Oh well, might as well do so the messy way instead.
Corvus waved his hand at the clone that had called the squad lead's questions into action.
'He's a Jedi sympathizer, shoot! You know it to be true. Shoot. Shoot! Shoot HIM!' Corvus tapped onto the trooper's suspicion, and enhanced it to an insane degree.
"Tyrone?" The lead questioned as a shaky blaster pistol was raised at him.
"Traitor!" The trooper yelled, then blasted the squad lead.
"Man down, man down!"
"Tyrone's gone mad!"
All hell broke loose, but Corvus was fine hanging back in the hallway's shadow. If he wasn't going to be brought to the Warden, he might as well bring the Warden to him!
Bound and cuffed, the rogue clone was roughly hauled off to a nearby holding cell, and Corvus tagged along from a distance.
A few minutes later, the sound of a half dozen boots marching on the squeaky black floors of the prison reached Corvus's ears.
Entering the holding cell was a gaunt, pale faced, sharply dressed man.
"What is the meaning of this? Report, trooper" The man spoke in a Coruscanti accent.
To Corvus's ears, the accent was no different than that of a British Lord's. It screamed 'superiority.'
"Sir! Clone trooper 555D-IC shouted 'traitor' at the squad lead, then blasted him."
"Hmm, we were briefed that some of your brethren may go…haywire. Interrogate him, and have a report on my desk by sundown." The man commanded, then turned to leave.
Corvus, of course, wouldn't let that happen.
From Pause, he identified the most optimal path of attack.
There were 12 Clones within this area, each armed with a compact battle rifle and they carried with them a pair of grenades.
The area that he found himself in was a cell specifically used for temporary holding, and was quite cramped. If he moved fast enough, he should be able to act without them getting a single shot off.
OR
Corvus could simply follow the Warden.
Why risk revealing himself when he could get the man alone? This would be much more time consuming, and wasn't exactly something Corvus was prepared for considering he still had to make the executive meeting.
However, that meeting began in less than an hour. It was likely they would be there for some time, meaning Corvus wasn't entirely pressed for time.
Deciding to go with the second option, Corvus tried to leave a suggestion on the Warden's mind. Something simple, one that wouldn't go against his character.
'Look over the balcony at the prisoners below. They are your achievements. The Emperor is sure to reward you over a job well done.'
The [Mind Trick] seemed to take hold of the Warden, and the man began to move towards a viewing area with some railing that oversaw the whole installation.
Standing next to the man were two clone guards.
Corvus withheld a chuckle, and [Force Pushed] the Warden-and his two guards-in the back.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!" The man screamed as he splattered to his death.
When the three of them splattered, a faint [+650exp] floated in the corner of his eye.
With the Warden dead, Corvus had completed one half of this side mission, and moved on to complete the next part.
Following his map, Corvus came across the central security room.
Standing in front of the doors were another pair of guards.
For this next part, Corvus would be wielding some extreme violence.
Glancing left and right down the hallways to make sure no one else was coming, Corvus buffed himself with [Speed/Valor/Energy Resistance], and then reached out with his senses.
Feeling the other side of the door, Corvus located the button, and just like how a Jedi could pull an object towards themselves from a distance, Corvus took the same application, and depressed the switch.
The door to the security room slid open.
Both guards remained at attention, and Corvus walked right in..
"Hey did any of you guys flip the door switch?" A middle aged overweight man called over his shoulder from his terminal.
The eight other employees who occupied this room remained silent as they clicked away at their keyboards.
"Unbelievable." The man muttered under his breath, and stood to close the door.
As soon as he pressed the button, and the durasteel doors shut themselves, the snap hiss of a lightsaber ignited straight into his gut.
The man didn't even have time to express horror as he slumped to the ground dead.
As soon as the blade made physical contact with the man, the field of invisibility surrounding Corvus broke, and he moved.
"Hey who burnt something in the nanowave again?" One surly worker called over their shoulder, wrinkling their nose at a gross burnt scent.
Swiveling in his chair, the man saw the bisected remains of all his fellows. His face blanched as a blue bar met his face, and he knew no more.
Clearing the security room of all life, Corvus hacked into a terminal, and got looking for Jedi survivors or possible VIPs.
Typing 'Jedi' into the prisoner manifest folder, he saw an old file for Ahsoka Tanno, and one other name.
As Ashoka was listed as MIA, he was curious who this other person was.
Clicking on their profile, he saw that surprisingly, it was a blue skinned, black haired, and red eyed female Chiss. In these parts of the galaxy, the Chiss were relatively rare, so this was a surprise. Looking at her profile, she was a rather attractive young woman in her late 20's.
Reading further, he saw that her name was Sev'rane Tann, the personal student of Count Dooku!
Corvus almost fell out of his chair as he finally recognized her. But he had thought she died during the first year of the Clone Wars! Who knew she would be locked up?!
Listed as the Vice-Commander of the Separatists Army, she was, militarily speaking, a big deal!
Tann was no Jedi, or Sith, she could make for a valuable ally.
Corvus decided then and there that he must free her. If anyone was going to make Palpatine's conquest a living hell, it would be a Force sensitive with an axe to grind!
Continuing his perusal of the thousands of detainees, Corvus noticed that a few of them had a symbol next to their names, indicating the special nature of their imprisonment.
Most of the people he clicked on ended up being disappointing, however, there was one that peaked his interest.
It was a dark skinned, white haired, bearded, tired looking old man.
His name was Fang Zar, a Republic Senator who was arrested just the other day by Armand Isard.
Looking at the details of the arrest, this guy was extremely pro Republic, and belonged to the Delegation of 2,000 anti-war coalition of senators that formed during the Clone Wars.
Corvus vaguely remembered this guy, but he was sure to be an ally to the Jedi.
Reading his file further, Corvus saw that he had a ship impounded nearby, one YT-1300 light freighter to be exact.
Looking at the ship, it clicked into place.
This was the fucking Millenium Falcon before it landed into Lando's hands!!!
Forget bumming a ship from Bail Organa, Corvus just had to loot this now!
Clicking on the ship to see its history, Corvus discovered it was once owned by some corpos, traded to a pair of smugglers, before being sold at auction to an anonymous buyer.
Which meant it had already been modified at least three times, and likely had smugglers cargo holds already installed.
A small smile graced Corvus's face, but he was quick to drop it, as he still had a lot of work ahead of him.
His plan in coming to this prison was to find VIPs. Now that he had achieved that goal, and had come this far, he pretty much had to commit to the prison heist.
Loosely speaking, Corvus had an idea, and began searching the system to see if it was viable or not. After scanning a few of the features, Corvus discovered a viable approach to this prison break.
Since he effectively controlled the security system, these were the things he could do:
1) Place the prison on complete lockdown, eliminating any entry from the entrance, and stopping all doors from working.
2) Initiate the internal jammers within the facility, restricting any communications from leaving the building.
3) Unlock all the prison doors when he wished, as well as lock the interconnecting doors.
4) Issue orders to the troopers
These four points, in Corvus's mind, made conquering the prison a cake walk.
Doing another quick search on the computer, Corvus discovered that the prison was staffed by 2,500 clone shock troopers, and over a hundred regular staff.
Rubbing his hands together like a villain, Corvus was almost 98% complete with his plan.
Next, he searched his map, and found the perfect place to carry out his scheme.
The auditorium.
Now at 99% surety, he had one last thing to check.
Opening his inventory, Corvus scrolled down until he saw Mines (998).
"Perfect."
Corvus hurriedly left the security room-making sure to kill and hide the bodies of the guards along the way-then planted the bombs all around the interior of the auditorium.
Running back to the security room-gosh didn't he feel like the main character in an RPG doing all this back and forth-Corvus placed on a helmet with a voice modulator.
Finally, everything was ready for his coup de grace. Glancing at the corner of the screen, it was 11:20. It had been 40 minutes since he had assassinated Yularen, and the executive meeting would start in 40 more. He still had plenty of time.
Clearing his throat, and going over a few lines, he prepared himself for the next part.
Activating the intercom for the entire prison, Corvus's next words sealed the fate of every clone and employee who worked here.
"The Warden has met an unfortunate end within the prison at 11:00. Foul play is suspected, none are to leave until the perpetrator has been apprehended. The complex is hereby placed on lockdown. All soldiers, and personnel are to report to the auditorium no later than 11:45 for an address by the security bureau. Failure to comply shall result in immediate review."
Lifting his hand off the control, Corvus viewed the security monitors with satisfaction as the entirety of the prison staff began to hurry over to the auditorium.
At the same time, Corvus activated the jammers, and relayed orders to the front gate that the prison was on lockdown.
Dangling the detonator in his hand, Corvus kicked back in a swivel chair, and waited for the auditorium to fill up.
In just minutes, an explosion would rock the Central Detention Center, and no one within Coruscant would learn of this until many hours later, as this building was constructed like a fortress.
How he loved it when a plan came together.
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AN: Read up to chapter 34 at: patreon.com/KarpQQ
I update there Mon, Tue, Wed, and Th
Publicly on Fridays
I recommend you read for free there too-which is ONE chapter ahead of the public release date, so you could be reading ch 11 rn. I also post pictures/gifs of places/events that add context to people and locations.