"I make no defense of the Republic, today.  That would require blatant lies.  But the Jedi Order, for as long as I have worked with them, has been striving to do as much good as it can, despite the Republic's corruption.

"And now, that corruption has been dramatically revealed, for everyone to see.  Perhaps things can change in its wake.  Perhaps we can make the galaxy a better place.  But we can't do it under the thumb of the Sith, who Count Dooku presently serves.

"Let me tell you why."

"No offense to you, Count Dooku, but you've been taken in by their honeyed words.  Their actions, however, speak louder.  And you know it.  I felt your anger at the petty, pointless death of Qui-Gon Jinn, murdered with a rocket launcher for the crime of being close to me.  Do you think they really care about the things they claim to care about?  Or can you see the lie they've told you in their actions?"

"Really?" says Dooku. "You still want to accuse me of working for the Sith? I most certainly admit to being here on the orders of my, ah, so-called Master. But I have not, in fact, defended the ways of the Sith, in any way but infiltrating their ranks to take away their power. Palpatine here - Darth Sidious, if anyone wants the name he uses to boost his ego - is most certainly no friend of mine, and neither is any other Sith Lord."

"And I am quite curious, Kina Skywalker, as to what makes you think the Jedi are good for the galaxy. As I understand it, your argument is that a Jedi's job often requires them to refuse to help people, but occasionally they decide to go against orders, so they must be doing the right thing? Far better, I would think it, to just go out and help people ourselves, than to hope that against all odds some Jedi will do what little they can to save us. And an organization led by the Republic is too restrained to have any substantial impact on the galaxy."

"Should the Jedi break free from the Republic, and begin to make the galaxy a better place regardless of the rules, I will concede the point. But I doubt such an event will occur."

"I accuse you of facilitating their plans, and being almost as callous as they are, because while you are pontificating and posturing, there are good people dying because you are letting them die, unless you somehow don't have any access codes to the droid army; I know, were I in your position, doing the thing you claim to do, I certainly would.  So prove your intentions.  Steal their power, shut them down and stop this madness.

"I already said I'm not here to defend the Republic, Count Dooku.  I'm here to ensure it doesn't drag the good the Jedi can do down with it, if it cannot cut the corruption off like the rotted, gangrenous limb of the apparatus of power it is.  And while we're speaking of Sith, I don't suppose you know the name of the other one?  Muun, male, obsessed with midi-chlorans, very likely wealthy in his own right because there's no way Palpatine arranged all this on even a Senator's budget, kidnaps and murders Force-sensitives to experiment on their heartsblood...Anyway.  I'm not actually here to debate you."

Kina turns, pacing a circle, meeting as many Senators' eyes as she can.

"Senators of the Galactic Republic, you are here today because of a situation unprecedented since the time of the Ruusan Reforms.  The Sith, long thought forever defeated, stand within your center of power, maneuvering, scheming, to break the Republic apart, to rend its heart in two and feed upon its suffering.  The Jedi stand here to defend you, fighting as best they can from within the chains you've placed upon them.

"Will you squabble, and bicker, and infight, and give them yet more power, yet more ways to hurt your people and yourselves, until your power-seeking grasp seizes nothing but Sith-struck suffering ruins?  Or will you stand up for the ideals the Republic professes, or even simply in sheer self-interest, and free us to help, as the Force wills it?  I call for a vote: If you believe the Republican ideal - freedom, justice, mutual aid and the rights of all sapients - and the Jedi defending it and you, are worth having and supporting...Vote aye.  If you wish to chance it on your own, as Independent Systems, the Sith left to run rampant, with the man dancing on a blood-slick knife's edge as your supreme leader...Vote against this resolution.  Let the voice of the people speak, Senators."

Kina triggers a new vote, pressing buttons on the Chancellor's podium, and the Senate's lighting dims to show its results as she disconnects Dooku's booth's microphone.  Dooku doesn't get more speech time.

Kina and Dooku seem not to have noticed that there's still a battle going on! The droids have been mostly destroyed, but a second Jedi is dead, Adi Gallia! And a third, Even Piell! Who's doing this? Jango doesn't even look like he's here - there are lightsaber wounds -

It's about now that Plo Koon finds the bodies of Oppo Rancisis and Mas Amedda, hidden in a closet. It's also about now that Jango's Clawdite friend attacks him from behind, her face already shifting from Rancisis's to Koon's in preparation for her next kill.

Yoda watches Koon fight the assassin out of the corner of his eye. There's a part of him that wants to help, but his other priorities seem more prevalent at the moment, and oh, it's fine, Koon killed her. For now, though, Yoda's impulse to kill Dooku seems like a pretty good idea! He's a Sith, no matter what he says! It's not the decision he would usually make, but it's still a reasonable one. Nothing's wrong with it.

And so he ignites his lightsaber, and he flips through the air to slam his blade down at his former apprentice -

As he reaches the peak of the jump, the other lightsaber slides from his pocket, and the Nightsisters' spell cuts out.

Kina leaps in the way via telekinetically-levitated plating, bracing herself, lightsaber whmm-ing to parry the blow!  "I really ought to have confiscated the kriffing Sith artifact when I saw it, but I wasn't actually expecting it to do mind control!"  Speaking of which, she will be taking that now.

And telekinesing it at the droids if it's actually a lightsaber.

What just... Dooku's slashing at him now, and he's still dazed, wondering what's going on, and why he... why...

His head's at least starting to clear. He blocks a few times, and Kina's saber is doing some of the work, but he's still... he... he'll leave, for now. Yoda leaps away from the fight, and...

Oh, great, there's the bounty hunter.

Jango's back! His shoulder's fine! And here come the rocket launchers! It is not fair that Zam killed four Jedi Masters, even if she did get a bunch of help. Probably not going to get all eight, but he can at least score a few.

Did Kina's skill with telekinesis not get mentioned to Jango?  She's vaguely surprised, but honestly.  Unguided rockets?  What was he thinking?  Was he thinking at all?  She can just nudge those!

She flips one right back in his face, and finds somewhere non-destructive-of-the-Senate for the others to blow up.  In the mass of droids, probably.

The droids are pretty much all gone by now. The eight remaining Jedi converge on... Palpatine?

He's awake, faster than someone should be able to naturally get up, but he is Darth Sidious and he does not let blasters stop him. Four points out of twelve is a very bad score, but he can't afford to play anymore. The bounty hunters and the droids are gone, Dooku's betrayed him, the spell's broken, and the last person he contacted hasn't actually shown up, although that one was a long shot anyway. He is entirely out of tricks. Except for this one! He throws two Senate pods through the ceiling, and the pillars begin to crumble as he prepares to leap through.

"Master," hisses Dooku, and he lands his blade in Palpatine's heart.

Kina blasts his head off, careful to not actually catch Dooku in the line of fire.  Just to be extra sure.

...Kriffing collapsing building stoppit.

Dooku helps!

"Was there some sort of vote happening?"

"On continuing support of the ideals of the Republic - freedom, justice, all sapients' rights to pursuit of happiness, et cetera - in the face of this treacherous Sith assault, I do believe.  All in favor, Senators?"

The Senators are not actually in a voting mood right now! There is still a giant hole and a bunch of broken droids and bodies! Could they do this some other time?

"Hmph, no sense of dramatic timing.  Anyway.  Dooku, you and I need to have a talk."

"Excuse me, Skywalker," says Senator Antilles, "but I think it's slightly more urgent for me to speak with you. In private."

She has no idea what she's done, does she.

"...Oh, great, something else is about to be revealed to be yet more kriffed up than I ever expected it to be.  Dooku, if you don't want yourself placed firmly in the 'working against the galaxy's interests' bucket, find me after this."

Sure, Senator Antilles.

As Antilles and Kina walk off, the rest of the Senators either split into smaller groups to discuss or hurry out of the room. There also seem to be quite a few reporters and police forces around, and the surviving Jedi are trying to clean things up, but... where's Dooku? Isn't he technically a criminal? But the crowd is too large to handle anything, at this point.

Antilles pulls Kina into a private room, hopefully far enough across the Senate building that it won't have any structural damage.

"Hello, Miss Skywalker. I'm Senator Bail Antilles, if you're not aware. I'm very grateful for your help with the crisis. That being said, your experience with politics seems not to be quite as advanced as your skills in the Force. I'm worried your words to the Senate may have just given the Count's movement a substantial advantage."

"We're very lucky the Senate wasn't prepared to decide the future of the galaxy right then and there, as you wanted them to. But if they had, what factors do you think would have determined their decision?"

When they are finally in a somewhat private space, Kina practically collapses onto the nearest sittable surface.

"I really, truly don't know, Senator Antilles; I have been running off adrenaline, intuition, and sheer panic for the past several days because there was a Sith in the Senate.  I don't honestly think that Dooku is entirely wrong that something needs to drastically change about the way the Republic operates, though, because - Hutt Space exists, Senator Antilles, and the Republic cannot coordinate action to make it not, slavery and all, despite claiming to acknowledge no such entity!"

Kina inhales.  Exhales.  "So tell me what you see, please, because you're right; I don't know how politics actually works.  I have a dream, but - only that.  That people will - act on this moment when the truth was laid bare, and build something better.  Something that actually works, rather than - allowing bribery to run rampant such that Jedi walking the halls of this institution would overhear prosecutable offenses being committed.  Rather than something that permits another Naboo, as exceptional as that was.  There's more Sith out there; they'll try again, and the Senate wouldn't notice.  Do you think there's a way to thread this needle?"

"But in answer to your question: I expect them to be majority driven by greed and fear, though I believe there are yet a few who listen to moral concerns."

"Greed and fear. You expect them to do whatever will help themselves? You give them a little too much agency. Palpatine, Teem, Dod - they, are at least, intelligent enough to be driven by greed and fear. Most are far worse."

"Sadly enough, most politicians - and people in general - do not try to do things that will satisfy their goals, whether those goals be the good of the galaxy or advancing their own wealth. Rather than looking forward to the consequences of an idea, they look backwards, to who proposed it, to some group or ideology that they can round it off to. Prior to your arrival, there may have been at least a chance that the Senators would think about the consequences, and realize that rebellion would only make things worse. But you instead prompted them to do what was all too easy, and choose on a personal ground."

"This is what you presented to them, Miss Skywalker. Imagine some Senator in the middle of a frightening battle, already furious and looking for an enemy. Count Dooku is trying to present his own spin on things, telling them that their enemy is the Sith and the institutions as a whole, and that he will be their friend. And then a kid arrives in front of them, and she gives a speech on how the Jedi, and by extension her, are better than the Senate. That they are, as you said, 'self-centered, corrupt, money-grubbing egotists.' In any case, the Senate would be reluctant to listen to the word of someone so young, but a child who insults them so, tries to call herself superior to them, will give them a narrative to easily slide into."

"Before you arrived, the Senate was choosing between continuing with the way things are, and rebellion, possibly leading to war. Now, the choice they most clearly see is not between actions, but between two sides - between a charismatic politician who, despite unsavory rumors about him, just killed their enemy and told stories of a new order for the galaxy, and a stupid child who arrogantly disregards the adults' experience and describes them as worthless and evil. The content of what you said is irrelevant. All that matters is who said it. And now the symbol for all that we fight for is a child they despise. Do you really expect them to look beyond that symbol?"

"It goes without saying that you were correct about everything you said. Your only mistake was saying it."