Return and Routine
The cruiser hissed as it landed back on Coruscant's upper spires, the Jedi Temple shining like a monument of calm against the chaos of the capital below.
Cain stepped down the ramp with Anakin and Serra, the first rays of morning catching on his cloak.
Master Fay and Plo Koon greeted them, proud but cautious.
"You've done more than observe Mandalore," Plo said quietly.
Cain nodded. "I've done what I had to."
Over the following weeks, Cain returned to routine:
Training with Seris, Anakin, Serra, Barriss, and Derran, pushing their forms and Force control to the edge. Quiet, late-night sparring meditations with Serra and Fay. Hours in the deep holocron vault, learning from Satele Shan, Bastila.
But there was a new addition to Cain's nights.
The Archives. The Temple roof. The encoded network.
The First Message
Cain sat under the starlight, wind brushing his hair, datapad in his lap. His saber hummed faintly beside him, inert.
His message template was clean, his encryption untraceable. Jedi resources, retooled and redirected.
He uploaded the first file—anonymously—to Senator Bail Organa.
Encrypted Source: "A Friend of the Republic"
Senator Organa,
There is a transport contract filed under Senate Oversight Code C-12-149. Its sponsor, Senator Melsh Tovo of Corellia, listed falsified supply quantities. Cross-reference with Medical Procurement Records for Sector J-17. You will find he embezzled over 300 million credits in humanitarian aid.
More to follow.
Not all of us are blind.
He hit send.
And breathed.
One down.
Spreading the Network
Over the next two weeks, Cain sent dozens of carefully timed messages.
To Mon Mothma, he exposed Senator Gume Saam's backdoor dealings with Techno Union shell companies. To Padmé Amidala, he forwarded secret minutes of military budget misappropriations involving Raxus officials. To Bail again—records of Senator Ask Aak accepting bribes in exchange for prolonging local insurgencies.
Each message built a profile—one of someone within the Republic who was watching, and not afraid to speak.
He watched carefully:
Subtle changes in committee agendas. Quiet investigations launched under the surface. Late-night meetings between Organa and Mothma.
And still… he knew it wasn't enough.
Cain's Reflection – Codex Log 011
Three years before it all begins.
The Clone Army already exists. I feel it. Somewhere beyond Kamino's veil.
But if I can't stop it… I can at least delay it.
I'm not trying to take down the Republic. Not yet. I'm trying to give people like Padmé, Bail, and Mon Mothma something to hold on to. A truth buried beneath this empire of performance and lies.
I'm eleven. No one listens to children.
But a ghost in the wires? A phantom who knows too much? They'll listen.
For now, the "Friend of the Republic" is just a whisper. But by the time the war begins… it'll be a fire.
One Step Ahead
In the Temple courtyard, Cain stood with Plo Koon and Fay, watching Anakin spar with Serra in the distance.
"You're restless," Fay said, reading him easily.
"I'm planting seeds," Cain said. "The soil is poisoned. The sun's fake. But if I'm lucky… something might still grow."
Plo Koon watched him quietly.
"You're walking a dangerous line, Cain."
Cain turned, eyes calm.
"So is everyone else. I'm just the only one preparing for it."