Adoven woke up at around 10am in his king-sized bed, the sun flitting through the blinds, casting a warm glow on his face as he stretched and yawned, shaking off the last of sleep’s hold on him. His valet droid, having heard his master rise from his slumbers, gently made his way into the room with a robe in one hand, cup of Chandrilan tea with a saucer in the other. Adoven sat on the side of his bed and slid his feet into slippers before standing up, taking the robe and putting it on as he did so. He finished tying the sash and grabbed the saucer, thanking the tall and rather lanky looking droid he had named “Tipping”.

“I’ve maintained communication silence as per your request, Sir. But it appears that a few people have tried to reach your comlink. Shall I…” Tipping started before being interrupted. “No, no. This is my first day off in… ages. I want to take advantage of it as much as I can” said Adoven with a smile, dismissing the droid.

Sipping his tea as he walked, Adoven crossed his vast apartment and made his way towards the kitchen. He’d have breakfast in the adjacent dinette rather than in the formal dining room this morning. No use being too officious on a lazy day after all! He deposited his now empty teacup in the sink and started to prepare a nutritious if not indulgent breakfast: fresh fruits, brioche, smoked fish with creamed cheese, and mujajuice with champagne to drink. Today was about him and him only. No politics, no diplomacy: just pure vanity and decadence. He grabbed the different (and proper to each food) utensils and plates, arranged everything on a tray and carefully made his way to the expensive table to regale himself. He activated the holoscreen on the adjacent wall and switched channels, attempting to find something interesting with which to occupy himself as he breakfasted. He stopped on a morning show but only half-paid attention to it, savouring his cooking. He did have a knack for it and loved to throw parties. Indeed, the last soirée he had thrown about two months earlier had been called a raging success by all the attendees. Getting bored with the show, he switched to the HoloNet News’ live report. He caught up on weather predictions, sporting results and the quick recaps of galactic affairs. That’s when he spotted the time and closed the holoscreen, needing to go shower and get ready for the day ahead. Had he watched the news programming for another 5 minutes, he would have gotten the surprise of his life when his name would have been mentioned. But alas, he would remain in the dark.

He passed the valet droid on his way to his bedroom suite and ordered it to have the airspeeder brought for him and to clear the kitchen and dinette as he would be leaving shortly. Adoven then stepped into his en-suite refresher to ready himself. He took a shower and shaved, the dressed and groomed, looking in the mirror to dust off lint from his clothes before stepping back into the hallway. Now 12:05, he was seated in his speeder and driving through the skylanes en route to the hairdresser’s. His appointment was at 12:30 and he figured on arriving a bit earlier as was his custom in life. He turned on the miniature holoscreen on the speeder’s dashboard and deactivated the video, wanting only to hear the news and music as he drove. No need for distractions. He quickly got bored of the opera and changed to a news report to keep himself in the know. The fateful words were pronounced at 12:16, almost making him collide with the transport in front of him: “Now on to the ongoing follow up on the controversial report proposed by well known New Republic diplomat and ambassador, Adoven Ryner. As the Coruscant Journal has released this morning, Ambassador Ryner has been working on a document in which he recommends the creation of a secret task force to "exterminate" former Jedi who commit crimes or threaten the peace. He goes on to suggest the "registration" of all Force sensitive beings”.

Life drained out of him and his usually controlled demeanour gave way to a panicked and shocked being. His face was pale white, his mouth opened and quivering, his body starting to perspire. No… this couldn’t be. No one could have gotten hold of this document. It was merely a draft! Something he’d been working on for a few years now… Nothing he’d ever go public with… not yet, at least. His speeder ducked out of the skylane and broke all airway conventions as it zoomed back towards the Senate District. He parked in his reserved spot at the Central Administration Building and rushed towards his office at a brisk pace, ignoring the looks and whispers he was generating in his wake. He stopped in the doorway of his office, starring, agog, at the missing computer and files that normally stood neatly on his desk. No doubt they had been confiscated by his supervisors for the time being in order to assess the situation. He slowly turned his head to look at one of his coworkers as he came to stand behind him, addressing him. “Geez, Ryner, what were you thinking dropping a bombshell like that? And what possessed you to go public with it? That was just mental. Didn’t think you’d ever pull a crazy stint like that. You were always such a stiff.”

“I didn’t” he said feebly as he walked into the office. “I never informed the press of this… Someone who knew about it leaked it. That’s the only explanation. I took every precaution for it not to be given out. They must have sliced into my work or home computers… And judging by the encryptions the work one has, it’s bound to be the home one. Damnit!” he shouted, slamming a fist against his desk.

It was supposed to be a beautiful day. But then the news came and changed everything. There would be no haircut, no shopping and no dinner at the Clarendox later on. And as he stared out the window to gaze at the city beyond, Adoven couldn’t help but fear the potential backlash of this entire debacle. He wasn’t anti-Jedi. Far from it. But he was very much against misuses of the Force. But in the public’s eyes, he was bound to be perceived as the former rather than the latter.