Alethea did her best to focus on the task ahead, reigning in her mind and her thoughts, which threatened to stray from their task, to worry about the consequences of their actions. She thought that the best course of action was obviously to try to keep the original timeline in tact, but that might not be possible, especially if they were unable to intercept the enemy in time. The next best option would be to try to minimize any changes, or at least the alterations they might cause. Killing anyone who belonged to this time was not ideal, no matter how evil they were, because they had no way of truly knowing what the outcome would be.<br/><br/>She was quite adept at predicting the consequences, or at least potential complications of actions. This was something that came in handy during battle, as she was able to predict her opponents actions with a high degree of accuracy, and plan her own moves accordingly, even planning things several moves ahead of time. But even she couldn't predict all the possibilities, especially in a situation like this. There were too many variables and too many unknowns. Thus, they should avoid killing anyone who was meant to live, and try not to allow anyone to die who wasn't meant to. Likewise, it was best to avoid saving anyone not meant to be saved, because there was no way to tell how that would influence the timeline, either.<br/><br/>This, she thought, was why the Jedi forbid things like this. Even the smallest change could have unforeseen consequences. It was theoretically possible to strategically plan small changes to create a larger, overaching change for the better, but it had to be done very precisely, very carefully, and by someone with the ability to "see" the potential changes. It was certainly possible, but it took someone extraordinarily crafty and brilliant to plan something like that. Thus, most of the time, even the most well-intentioned plan ended in failure. Sometimes it even accomplished the exact opposite of the intented effect. It was not something to be done lightly.<br/><br/>That begged the question, what were they going to do? They could try, for the time being, to avoid any influence on the timeline, but what happened if they failed? What happened if the enemy succeeded in their nefarious plans to influence the timeline in some way that would change the fate of the galaxy? Was it truly better to try to avoid any interaction or any actions that might have some unintended effect? Or was it better to try to come up with some plan to outsmart the enemy and alter the timeline for the better before the enemy could change it for the worse?<br/><br/>For now, she didn't have an answer, so she had to focus on the task at hand. Once they stopped the enemy here, they could come up with a plan for how to move forward. Through the Force, she kept both the assumed assassin and the queen's presences in the forefront of her mind as they raced through the forest towards Theed. She could feel that the enemy was closing in on the city, just as they did. They weren't moving as fast, however, so they would likely arrive around fifteen minutes after they did.<br/><br/>The streets of the city were empty, seemingly abandoned. It was a little bit unnerving, but she could feel the presence of the people, so she knew it wasn't truly abandoned, which made it a little less so. "There," she pointed to the west wing of the palace. "The queen is in the upper portion of the palace, so the assassin hasn't reached her yet. We need to hurry," she urged him as she took both of her lightsabers in her hands and gestured for him to follow her as she rushed through the streets, leaping up to the rooftops when needed, whatever was necessary to reach their destination faster.<br/><br/>Once they arrived at the palace, she used the Force to push the doors open, knowing there were no guards nearby. She then gestured to the right with her head, knowing that her companion was still right behind her. They rushed through the halls, up the stairs, until she felt the assassin nearby. She stopped near the end of the hallway they were currently in, pressing her back against the wall just before the corner that would lead them into the next hallway. She gestured to let him know that the assassin was just down the hallway. "Ready?" she whispered, waiting for his confirmation before she would take the corner and confront their enemy.