Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 78 - Ryan Bontry in the Files

Three Jedi Masters were crammed onto one ship.

And they weren't just ordinary Jedi Masters; they were all members of the Supreme Council.

Master Pro and Master Tien were sent to Metalon together because they had worked together in the past, and Metalon was simply too important to this war.

"Master, please have a seat!"

Obi-Wan dragged over two chairs for himself and Master Tien to sit down, then turned to Prokhor and asked impatiently, "Master, what exactly happened on that ship?"

“We’ve run into the man we’ve been looking for,” Prokhor said, looking directly into Obi-Wan’s eyes. “Raine Bontry… He beat Skywalker in Koval, beat you in Christophersis, and now he’s beaten me over Metalon.”

Wasn't he on that ship?

“No,” Pro Kong sighed. “He was projecting his holographic image onto the bridge of that ship in real time via narrowband communication. The reason we previously identified the ‘Revenge’ as his flagship was simply because it was the command center… Now it seems that this was clearly a trap. The ‘Revenge’ was just a signal relay station, not the source.”

“He’s already fooled us three times now,” Tien said gruffly. “The clone intelligence department has a file on him. He’s a relative of Mina Bontri, a former Republic Ondron MP. He joined the Royal Army as an adult, then transferred to the Ondron Space Force, and then… Geonosis got into trouble.”

"So we still know too little about him," Obi-Wan concluded. "Do you know why he joined the Navy?"

“After the Royal Army supported a pro-separatist coup, he and several other officers were transferred directly to the planetary navy,” Tien explained. “What happened after that is just speculation.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi had been in the Jedi Temple for so long before he could discern a thoughtful expression on Kael'thas Dol's masked face.

In addition, there was a faint fluctuation within the Force.

"Grandmaster?"

He then looked at Pro Kong.

“That was a protest,” Prokhor rubbed his chin. “He and the other officers left the Royal Army as a way of showing their opposition. They didn’t support the coup, but ultimately obeyed the government’s decision. The Space Force provided a way to continue serving the planet while avoiding the turmoil of terrestrial politics.”

“When the separatist crisis escalated into war, Ondron was forced to send their naval officer,” Obi-Wan continued. “That makes sense… although it doesn’t seem to match what we know about those Bontries, he’s been working for the Separatist Alliance all along.”

Prokhor's brow furrowed even deeper. "I don't see it that way, Obi-Wan. If he really wanted me dead, I would be dead already. On the contrary, he let me go."

Seth Tine leaned forward, taken aback, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

“We spoke once on the ‘Revenge’,” Pro Kong recalled. “Near the end of the conversation, he reminded me to leave the ship as soon as possible… He could have continued to use the holograms to stall us and continue deploying weapons. I suspect… that was his purpose in talking to me.”

"What did he say?"

"First, there's a force within the separatist camp that wants to overthrow Count Dooku..."

Obi-Wan was startled, but Master Proud's next words caught him even more off guard.

"Secondly, there is a Sith Lord controlling the Republic behind the scenes, just like the unbelievable story Dooku told you. In fact, he knows that Dooku told you this."

Master Proud looked directly into Obi-Wan's eyes.

“This is definitely a misleading statement,” Obi-Wan said in a low voice. “If this were true, we couldn’t possibly not have noticed. Dooku told him about our conversation.”

"Would Dooku tell a nobody about his conversation with you?" Master Pro's tone was full of skepticism. "Do you think he's trying to leave himself an escape route?"

"And what about you?" Master Tien asked seriously. "Do you believe what this man says? Is there really a plot within the Separatists to bring down Dooku?"

“I suspect that ever since Geonosis, he’s been using his anti-separatist background to secretly win over those who oppose Dooku. I think there’s a mole on Dooku’s side; that’s the only reasonable explanation he could have for knowing you’ve met Dooku,” Master Pro concluded. “When he spoke to me, I didn’t sense he was lying… but to be honest…”

Pro Kong's voice lowered.

He tilted his head, his gaze passing over the two of them, then blankly staring into the void. "Master?" Obi-Wan gently nudged him. "What's wrong?"

“I can’t seem to remember how he felt to me at all,” Master Pro murmured to himself. “I can’t feel him in the Force, and I can’t even remember his face…”

Obi-Wan suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.

No matter how hard he tried to capture it, the feeling always slipped through his fingers like water.

Trying to bring those memories to mind is as futile as trying to grasp flowing water with bare hands.

“He might be in another galaxy,” Master Tien said. “And the quality of the hologram might not be very good either. However, Pro, I believe your intuition is correct. If this makes you uneasy, it’s worth looking into.”

“No…no, perhaps you are right,” Master Pro sighed, “but in any case, I tend to believe him.”

“If that’s the case, we might have to find a way to make contact with him,” Master Tien said thoughtfully. “The sooner Dooku falls, the sooner this war can end, and the sooner the galaxy can be reunited.”

Upon hearing this, Master Pro moved his body extremely slightly, almost imperceptibly.

But the Jedi's senses are incredibly sharp; Obi-Wan saw it clearly, and Master Tyne also noticed it.

However, neither of them pressed for further details.

There's an unspoken understanding between old friends; if Master Pro feels it's necessary, he will speak up at the appropriate time.

“The Senate won’t agree,” Obi-Wan reminded them. “They passed the No Communications Act, which requires all such contact to go through the Republic’s intelligence services.”

“If we go through the intelligence services, we can’t tell the Republic agents everything, especially about the Sith Lord,” Master Pro said. “Besides, Bontri specifically chose the Jedi, and he won’t trust Republic spies. If we really want to facilitate future cooperation, we have to establish direct trust between the two sides.”

“Then send a Jedi specialist,” Seth Tear suggested. “We already have a few Jedi in the intelligence department. We’ll give them the general information, and only tell our specialist the specific details.”

“This is… crossing the line, and I don’t like it,” Prokhor sighed. “But I have to admit that this may be the only solution right now, and we need to talk to the committee about it as soon as possible.”

“All of this is predicated on Bontri’s willingness to cooperate with us,” Obi-Wan cautioned. “However, this could be a trap set by separatists, and we cannot deny that he is a very cunning man.”

“Yes,” Master Pro agreed, “the situation is tricky, we must be extremely careful, and all precautions must be taken.”

Master Tien nodded decisively, "Then it's settled."

"Then what about Metalon?" Master Pro asked again. "What about the enemy fleet?"

Seth Tion said, "The trajectory of their retreat suggests that they may have jumped to Wabani, Salukami, or Jabim."

“It’s a pity we can’t go to Salukami or Jabim,” Obi-Wan sighed. “There’s a ‘ghost fleet’ threatening our rear supply lines. Only about 60 or 70 percent of the supplies are being delivered to the front. General Landils has ordered us to clear out the Brix Sector before we go to Simmyth and stop reinforcements from the south. They want to end these skirmishes as soon as possible and prepare for a decisive battle at Centares.”

"Inform them that we will move out once we have completely dealt with Metalon."

“Two masters!” Obi-Wan took a deep breath and mustered his courage: “Speaking of this, Admiral Brock insisted on carrying out the Zero Protocol. After a brief discussion… I was persuaded by him. However, I would like to hear your opinions on this matter.”

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Under the watchful eyes of his two mentors, Obi-Wan felt less like a Jedi Master on equal footing with them and more like a junior apprentice waiting for his master's approval.

Although they were all members of the Supreme Council, he always felt that his qualifications and prestige were far from comparable to theirs.

“The Force guides us, Obi-Wan,” Seth Tion reminded him. “You must trust your instincts, and if necessary, meditate and think. It’s not about our opinions, but whether you believe it’s the right decision.”

“That’s what frightens me, masters,” Obi-Wan looked them straight in the eye, feeling as if he had aged years with age, as if this decision had aged him several years. “I believe it was the right decision.”

(End of this chapter)