Senate

Bennet turned off the hololink. Master Uriel Kelevra was one of his closest friends, and he knew he would never lie to him, but this was insanity. He thought back to the masters' words

"The Jedi have been attacked. Here on Coruscant and on one of our temples in the outer territories. Mark my words, whatever did this will not stop here. They mean to destroy the Jedi and the Republic."

What could possibly be a military threat to the Republic? Not even the Mandalorians could stand against the might of the Republic fleets. Then again, if you had asked Bennet yesterday, he would have said that an assault on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant was impossible as well, but he couls still see the fires burning from here. Eighty-three Jedi killed, along with almost the entire temple security force. The estimated casualties were at two-hundred and forty-one slain.

There were be calls for war in the Senate, that much was certain, but they would likely be shot down by more moderate voices. No Republic world had yet been attacked, as far as they knew, and whoever was doing this seemed to only be interested in Jedi for the time being. Still, it was likely that larger defense forces would be dispatched to the outer Rim worlds, Mon Calamari and Taris being the first to come to mind. The Jedi had a large presence on Taris as well, and Uriel told Bennet that is where he was headed.

"If the Senate will not respond, i promise you these 'Sith' will strike again. This war will begin on Taris."

Bennet sighed a heavy sigh and paced around his chambers one more time, gazing out at the temple fires. War had already come to the Republic, though it would take the Senate a time to realize it. He wondered mournfully how many more would die beofre they would acknowledge it.

Bennet got into bed, knowing it would be a long day in the Senate tomorrow.

The Meeting had gone much as he had suspected it would. A provisional bill to increase security forces in the outer rim territories had been proposed and passed, though nothing of huge substance, and an investigative committee formed, though it seemed obvious to everyone involved that whoever was responsible would claim credit known soon enough. The Senate required more intel from the attacks the Jedi had told them of in the Outer Rim before they would authorize dispatching larger defense fleets.

He sighed. Uriel would not be dissuaded from his plan of action. Even now he was telling the Jedi Council of his plan. He was not asking them: he was telling them. Bennett didn't know how well that was going to go over, but it was clear that now was a time for action, and the council knew that if there was likely to be violence, they had no more effective tool for the job than Master Uriel Kelevra.

The emergency session had begun without warning, and many of the senators were not even fully dressed. They all sat in silence as they heard the transmission from security forces fleet that had been dispatched only five days before.

"*static* Repeat, this is Cap...... Isander. We are under attack by numerically superior force! *static* efenses cannot hold! We cannot hold Mon Calamari without reinforcements!"

Mon Calamari was under attack. Uriel had been wrong about where the Sith would strike, but it was clear that they had made their move. The defense fleet of Mon Calamari could not hold for long, even with the backup they had been granted the previous week.

Immediately, an emergency resolution to declare a state of war was drafted and almost unanimously. Bennet added a resolution to request aid from the Jedi council, and Grand Master Aldaana had approved the dispatching of Jedi to serve as battlefield advisers and commanders, though on a voluntary basis only. Jedi would not be ordered to war.

It was now a matter of fact, though many of them still struggled to grasp the magnitude of the session's events. The Republic was officially at war with an enemy none of them even knew the true name of.