A/N—I own nothing. Star Wars belongs to George Lucas, Lucasfilms, and now also Disney. None of it belongs to me in any way shape or form. Disclaimer complete.
Notes: I've read a lot of Star Wars fanfiction, and I've perused a few Wikipedia/Wookiepedia pages to collect a bit of information, and I enjoy the prequel trilogy, but I have never, ever, ever written a Star Wars fanfiction before. So please be patient with me as I start my foray into this fandom. Thanks in advance. (:
Notes 2: The style of this story was largely inspired by Stover's Revenge of the Sith. I find his writing absolutely beautiful, and his ability to round out an already sculpted character very admirable. So I've tried to do tribute to his novelization in this prequel to his book.
Note 3: Much of this story revolves around something that I read on Wikipedia about the Separatist Regime being loosely modeled off the Civil War. That intrigued me, and I'm hoping to explore some of that through this fanfiction.
Summary: Geonosis is finished, and the Clone Wars have begun. The Jedi must learn to use new forces to combat new enemies, while Coruscant must learn to trust the once distant figures that are now inserting themselves into its everyday business. Rated T for violence, excessive angst, and possible triggers. Please read and review!
The Clone Wars: Katanos VII.
After Geonosis, Coruscant was uncertain about so many things.
The news of a clone army was terrifying: never had a word been breathed about such a possibility, and the realization that the Jedi had been preparing for a war through such an unorthodox manner was unnerving to a majority of Coruscant's inhabitants.
The news of a rising Sith influence was bone-chilling: red lightsabers were a sight that Coruscantians had never seen—had only heard of—and the realization that powerful people who could wield a red saber and access the dark side of the Force without regret or mercy were real was earthshaking for much of the Coruscantian population.
The news of the Separatist rebellion was shocking: the Federation had never seemed to be a huge threat, and the realization that they were, and that the entire Republic could fall apart because of the separation was frightening for the entire planet of Coruscant.
The news that the Jedi were going to fight was unsurprising, but not so very well received: for years, the Jedi had been distant figures residing in the Jedi Temple. Every once in a while, when conflicts arose—such as with the Federation—a few Jedi were dispatched to assess and solve the problem. Every once in a while a vague story would reach the HoloNet about either a Padawan turned Knight, or a Knight turned Master, and every once in a great, great while, a Jedi turned Sith. But the Jedi were never seen or heard of unless their presence was required, and their allegiance to Coruscant and any entity but themselves was dubious. The people of Coruscant had never truly trusted them…and now it seemed they had no choice.
After Geonosis, Coruscant was uncertain about so many things.
The clones were a body of persons that Coruscantians could not understand. Never seen without their armor and their blank-faced helmets, with voices all the same, they were utterly foreign to the varied population of Coruscant, and the fact that they could not fathom this new army scared them.
The Sith were just as new, and just as unfathomable. They did not look so frightening as the Jedi painted them: save for their cloaks and their red sabers, they were as unusual as the Jedi. What were frightening were the stories: the Jedi had never kept the Sith a secret—it was the Coruscantians themselves who had chosen to doubt the existence of these nearly mythological beings—and they had never kept hidden the tales of all their horrific acts. As the villains of fairytales and bedtime stories, the Sith were exciting. As a very real presence in an ever growing uncertainty of war and casualties, they were new, foreign, frightening. They did not look evil: but they did not feel good. And that was horrifying.
The Separatist regime shook Coruscant to its core. No longer was the Trade Federation the Jedi's problem, something easily dealt with by dispatching a few Jedi with blue, green, or purple lightsabers to make amends. No longer was the Federation something that Coruscant could ignore because it did not truly affect them. Now the Trade Federation was the Separatist regime, with red lightsabers aligned behind it. Now the Federation was something that Coruscant could not ignore, because every planet that separated broadened the force rising against Coruscant, and the casualties were going to be so much closer to home than they had been before. How could they not be shaken?
And all that they had were the Jedi. Those distant men and women who never ventured into the streets of Coruscant for anything other than the most pressing business. Those arrogant figures who spoke every once in a while over the HoloNet to assure the population that whatever was plaguing the nation—the Federation, the Sith, the Separatist Regime—was under control.
Coruscant had never truly trusted the Jedi.
Now they had no choice in the matter.
After Geonosis, Coruscant was uncertain about so many things.