Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. Lucasfilm and Disney do. I am not making any money off of this story.
I want to thank the lovely FallonSkywalker for her work as a Beta. Her insight proved to be insightful and helpful.
Reviews welcomed.
Happy May the Fourth and please enjoy!
Obi-Wan watched Anakin leave the Council chambers and his stomach dropped. Anakin's skills in diplomacy, though improved, lacked finesse. Anakin's outward appearance showed humility and proper etiquette, but Obi-Wan knew him better. Anakin wore his emotions on his sleeves, despite his misguided attempts as a master to temper them and guide them into a respectful, if ideal, Jedi image. Obi-Wan sighed as he surveyed the other masters' expressions.
Stoic and pensive faces met his own. One did not need the Force to know the currents of tension rippled through the Council chambers. Outside, the eternal city's rhythm bounced and buoyed with each passing air taxi and personal speeder that ripped through the air lanes. The day came to a close for many as they went back to their homes, families, or vices as it were.
Inside, the day's light shone on all twelve seats of the Council and each master sat in their chosen seats. Obi-Wan knew enough to know that the Council had different names and meanings to different people. The High Council to the Jedi, sages to those of different Force backgrounds, or as it whispered through the hallways the War Council among Junior Padawans. Obi-Wan shivered, he did not like hearing that rendition of the Council Chambers or its activities.
His own thoughts whirled at the war. Every single mission, battle, loss, or perceived victory kept him on edge and he knew it was the same for the rest of the masters. Master Mace Windu, the Korun master with his dark skin and severe stare, steepled his fingers together and looked at the other eleven masters, but glanced at Master Kenobi.
"A matter we need to discuss concerning the Chancellor and his latest move for power, including his recent request with Knight Skywalker."
Obi-Wan felt at the far edges of his awareness a spike in the force. He had a bad feeling about this.
The tick of a gimer stick against the Council floor drew Obi-Wan's attention to the venerable Master Yoda, the Council's Grandmaster. His pointed ears lowered and his gnarled hands sat on his infamous gimer stick. The eldest Jedi's green, wrinkled face looked at all the member of the Council.
"Disturbing it is." His voice rumbled, and his chin set upon his gimer stick.
Obi-Wan nodded along with the other masters.
"Something to be done, then Master Windu? Suggest what, do you?" Master Yoda said.
"I suggest we send Knight Skywalker to ascertain what the Chancellor is up to. To be the ears and eyes for this council. We know the Chancellor is using Knight Skywalker for his own gains and we must know what he's up to."
Obi-Wan didn't need the Force to know the palpable tension in the council chambers increased and so did his pulse. He kept his sight in front of him ahead and to be the picturesque image of a keen Jedi Master, but he clamped on his mental shields for an internal storm raged. Words ran through his mind, and fought his control for proper procedure. It would be no good to speak up too soon on this matter.
The grandmaster stomped his gimer stick on the tile.
"Silence," Yoda said.
Yoda's ears bowed down further and he closed his eyes, before he looked across the council chambers to Obi-Wan.
"Thoughts on this matter, Master Kenobi?"
A few choice words that rubbed off from him from Anakin came to mind, but it would do him no good here.
"Not so much thoughts, Master. But, do we believe this is the best course of action?"
Mace Windu gave Obi-Wan a pointed look. "Knight Skywalker has a friendship with the Chancellor, does he not?"
Obi-Wan nodded, his stomach sunk with the knowledge that his brother-in-arms was more likely to trust the Chancellor than himself. Something, he knew, this potential task would push Anakin further from him and the Council. He knew his former apprentice's relationship teetered between reasonable acceptance (rare) to frustration (too many times to count) with the Council's decisions and actions, and, more than Obi-Wan cared to admit, he could see where Anakin was coming from. The most recent outburst was not one of those moments.
"His friendship with the Chancellor makes him the best candidate, he trusts him and that will allow us to get an understanding of what he is really planning. Is that your thought, Master Windu?" Master Ki Adi Mundi, the Cerean master with his ridged and pointed skull, said.
"Exactly," the Korun master said.
"If I may, masters?" Obi-Wan said.
He steadied his breath. He needed the masters to move on with another line of thinking. The pit of his stomach heaved with a sourness that took all his control to not get sick.
"The floor you have, Master Kenobi," Yoda said. His eyes crinkled.
"We are well aware of the Chancellor's motives, but do we think it's wise using one of our own in this capacity?"
"In what capacity, Master Kenobi?" Master Stass Allie said. The Tholothian Jedi master's hologram flickered.
Breathe. He needed to breathe.
"Masters, what we are suggesting is treason."
Yoda's ears dropped and he eyed Master Windu. "Master Kenobi, correct he is. To a dark place this takes us, Master Windu." Obi-Wan would have breathed easier, except the Grandmaster added, "But disregard it so quickly, we should not. Master Windu, continue you will."
The Korun master eyed Obi-Wan.
"We are at war, surely with your experience as a Grand General of the GAR you understand that there are certain risks we have to take. The Chancellor is getting too secretive and there is little to no transparency in the Senate and with us. This is our best chance to get a greater understanding of his motives."
The reasoning, as logical as it may be, made his stomach feel the same way it did with Anakin's flying. He once conveyed to his former padawan there was a difference in the paths they took during wartime. Sneaking behind the Chancellor's back and betraying a friendship, even one he might not agree with? Those were not the traits he instilled in his former padawan, or even his master before him.
"But at what expense, masters?"
His control lessened as he fought to keep it. His infinite patience was well known, but it failed him when he needed it the most.
"This is not the Jedi way. There are other ways, better ways. Anakin," Obi-Wan said. Murmurs erupted before Yoda's gimer stick pounded the floor and its vibration permeated the room.
"Master Windu, correct he is Master Kenobi. Times are difficult, yes?" He looked around the chambers before he narrowed his eyes at Obi-Wan. "Clouded your feelings are on this matter, too close to Knight Skywalker you are. Trust in your former padawan's abilities, do you?"
The rebuke was not lost on Obi-Wan, chagrined Obi-Wan continued his voice holding onto the last bits of cool effigy he was so well known for as "The Negotiator."
"Yes, master. It is not a question of Anakin's abilities, but to betray our mandate by placing him in this position is what worries me. Anakin has a history of dissatisfaction with us and that does not include recent dealings. The departure of Padawan Tano and our own failings in the matter already have caused a chasm; this task will only further estrange him from us."
Obi-Wan felt all their eyes on him. The force itself quivered with anticipation before Master Mundi said, "That is in the past, Master Kenobi. We must move forward and do what is best for the Republic. It is up to Knight Skywalker to make his own choices, rather than us to appease him."
A fire sprang into Obi-Wan before he could clamp it down.
"Be that as it may, Master," the steeled edge was not lost on Master Mundi or the other Council members as Obi-Wan continued, "We need Anakin to trust us, and I fear putting Anakin and the Chancellor together in this fashion will only do more damage than good, for all of us, masters."
Obi-Wan looked to Master Yoda, clinging that the Grandmaster will listen to reason. Even a reason Obi-Wan knew full well was delivered in a way that his former master, Qui-Gon Jinn, would be proud of.
The Grandmaster's ears lost their luster before they straightened out and the glare in his eyes reverberated throughout Obi-Wan's spine.
"Qui-Gon's defiance thought it left you, I did. Not the time for it. Clouded your thoughts are on the matter. Go to a vote, we will."
Obi-Wan bit his tongue, not a very Jedi Master act to do, but the sheer weight of the Grandmaster's words hit him. Qui-Gon's passing reared itself for the first time in a long time, and every mention of it still stung him. As the Grandmaster called for those in favor Obi-Wan knew Anakin's fate, and as the session came to a close. He was the one to tell Anakin about his new assignment. The headache which began with Anakin's outburst continued as he left the chamber to find his former padawan. His friend lacked nuance when it came to broadcasting his emotions through the Force.
He did not want to be the bearer of this assignment, but the Council gave him no choice in the matter. When this war was over, nothing would be the same ever again between Anakin and himself. If anything, his brother in all-but-blood might be the lost Twenty-Second, or the twenty-second Jedi to leave the ranks of the Jedi Order voluntarily. Obi-Wan wouldn't blame him for it either, seeing as the Jedi had lost their way. For a moment, Obi-Wan considered that once the war was over, he might seek the same path too. The Force rippled with a premonition that all was not well, but he held back a snort. There was a war, of course nothing was well.
A/N:
It's been eons since I've written a Star Wars story. I always wondered what happened after Anakin left the Council chambers in the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. We know that Obi-Wan was the only master who voted against Anakin's assignment to spy on Chancellor Palpatine. I know that Matthew Stover did do something to this extent, if I remember correctly in the ROTS novelization. However, I wanted to do my own interpretation. Please let me know what you think, any and all critiques, comments, and concerns are welcomed.
May the Force be with You,
Dark Horse Writer