The normally pleasant hum of a shuttle's engine gently thrumming against his boots does little to alleviate his growing stress. The uncomfortably small transport vessel is full of Separatist traitors, who he is certain will continue to ramble about such frivolous subjects such as 'the weather' for the entire journey to the senate building. Part of him wonders if they are all part of some ridiculously abstract strategy aimed at getting him to commit suicide before his mission can even begin; death by babbling.
Vader sighs and crosses his arms in a weak attempt at hiding his obvious unease behind a veil of intimidation. He has spent most of his life surrounded by no more than two or three people at a time, and there are more people in this shuttle than he has talked to in nearly twelve years. Suffice to say it's a little uncomfortable.
"Ah, so this is Count Dooku's new representative?" A pale blue alien says with a smile as she looks him over, she saunters carelessly into his personal space. Into his corner of the shuttle.
Vader grits his teeth. Then gives the leash to his anger a powerful yank for good measure, least he snap the aliens neck.
"Anakin Skywalker," he says and stiffly and extends a hand in greeting.
"Amita Fonti," the alien gurgles as she shakes his hand, her protruding eyes stick staunchly to his, "It's such a pity what happened to dear Bec; he was a good man"
Vader nods silently, the only sort of conversation skills Dooku ever bothered to teach him was how to take orders respectfully and how to give reports. Of course, he learned how to sarcastically berate people and complain all by himself. However he can't see any way to apply any of those skills here. Though the alien doesn't seem to mind his silence, she's too busy burrowing her beady eyes into his skull.
"I'm surprised Dooku managed to find a replacement so quickly, you would have to have already been on Raxus to arrive here on time," she continued.
Vader nods silently again, not quite sure how he is supposed to reply to her and be polite at the same time. His eyes dart around the small shuttle. Maybe if he listens in to how other people are talking he would know what to say to her?
Senator Fonti closes the distance between them, and suddenly her warm breath is tingling in his ear.
"Interesting that I've never heard of a senator Skywalker before" Amita snarls dangerously. Vaders' eyes instantly shoot down to hers, his eyes widening ever so slightly.
Has he already managed to blow his cover? Sithpit! Maybe he should murder the sneaky senator and pretend that she choked on some food or something.
"Anita, don't be so hard on the boy," a tall human woman with matching brown hair and eyes chuckles. She moves to place a hand on Anita's shoulder, as if she is holding her back from jumping on Vader and clawing him to bits right this very moment.
"Mina, Bonteri," the tall woman announces, a long elegant hand extends to grab a gentle, yet frim hold of his. The two shake hands, Vader isn't sure if he even wants to speak at this point; in case that witch Senator Fonti somehow manages to incriminate him for saying his name again.
The familiar thump of their shuttle landing floods Vader with relief, he has to get as far away from Anita's little mini-interrogation as he can, right now.
The large sliding doors running along both walls of the shuttle slide open and Vader is the first to jump out of the blasted thing and into the clear, fresh air beyond.
"Avoid Amita," mauls distinctly gravelly voice commands in his ear.
"You think?" he hisses back quietly just before the rest of the party join him, and desperately hopes nobody saw him talking to himself or they may think him a madman. Curse Maul for making him wear this uncomfortable ear piece anyway.
Suddenly he is surrounded by senators once again; they all clump together as a small group of droids approach from behind the long line of shadowed pillars decorating the walls of the senate building.
"Senators, this way," a battle droid squeaks.
Senator Bonteri, who has made her way to the front of their little group nods, and once she begins to follow after the droids, so do the rest of the senators.
They are lead down a long corridor that, while being fancy, is nothing compared to the elaborate wealth of Dooku's palace, and does little to distract him from the growing discomfort settling on his chest. He walks in silence at the edge of the group, berating himself for giving in and going along with maul's idiotic plan.
They eventually arrive at a large set of double doors, which the droids curtly open to reveal a large room carpeted in blue and bright with the light streaming through a balcony that occupies the entire far wall. Long azure curtains hang from the windows and an open bar is already offering light drinks to the awaiting Republican senators.
Vader lazily follows his group in, only to very quickly wake up when he notices a figure who looks to be in his early thirties, with a neatly clipped auburn beard and steely blue eyes, dressed head to toe in Jedi robes. The sight freezes him in place, there is not supposed to be a Jedi here.
Just as he freezes up completely, the Jedi turns his head to look Vader square in the eye. He can't do anything but continue to stare back, a mixture of surprise and disgust ruminates in his stomach.
The blasted Jedi seems to take their unwanted eye contact as an invitation to initiate conversation, and before he knows it, he is been handed a drink by the fiend. Vader struggles hide his growing scowl, Jedi are disgusting; they spend their lives hiding their cruel deeds behind the veil of 'justice'. Pathetic.
"Hello," the Jedi greets pleasantly.
Vader swallows his disgust, and slowly opens his suddenly very dry mouth to answer.
"Greetings," he murmurs.
The Jedi nods with a smile that suddenly turns somewhat sympathetic. Vader nearly recoils away, why is the Jedi giving him that look?
"I'm so sorry to hear about Senator Lawise, I am told he was instrumental in initiating these negotiations. I would have loved to meet him," the Jedi continued.
Vader had forgotten about Bec, he grunts in acknowledgement, but thinks little more on the dead senator, his mind is screaming at him to kill the Jedi heretic where he stands. Even looking at him is a struggle, especially when his lightsaber could be activated and the Jedi dispensed with in mere seconds. Of course he can't do that though, not if he doesn't want to blow his cover. Force, he will actually have to converse with the Jedi. This day is just getting better and better.
"Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi," the Jedi says after a few awkward moments of silence.
"Senator Skywalker," Vader replies begrudgingly, though he does make the immense effort of forcing a smile.
The small smile seems to work, because Kenobi's expression relaxes considerably. Though Vader isn't sure if he likes that or not; he was much happier making the Jedi as uncomfortable as possible.
"Forgive me senator, but I'm afraid I have not heard of you before, which sector do you represent?" he asks casually, taking a sip of what Vader notices to be water of all things. Trust the Jedi to pick kriffing water when everyone else is choosing the most elaborate drink possible. No matter, Kenobi's 'selfless' charade wont fool Vader.
"I'm representing Count Dooku," he replies as he continues to force a smile, if he keeps holding this smile for much longer his expression may turn sinister.
"Ah, of course. It's a pity he couldn't make it," Kenobi acknowledges.
Vader is starting to become certain that he is allergic to small talk, because the urge to snap the Jedi's neck simply to stop him talking is so strong he can hardly contain it. He racks his head for an excuse to get away for Kenobi and just… go stand in a corner somewhere.
He swivels his head around the room, not caring if it appears rude or not. Too his immense disappointment, the room is very quickly filling up with even more people. Bodyguards, aids, servants and even the buildings chef have entered now; the only place of solace left seems to be the balcony.
"Have you been to Raxus before?" Kenobi inquires with such an obnoxiously polite tone Vader nearly scrunches his nose.
"No" He replies sharply before suddenly breaking away and making a mad dash for the balcony. He steps outside and quickly closes the doors behind him, then turns to face the city so no one will see him speak.
"There's a Jedi here," he hisses to Maul through the earpiece.
The line remains silent, and as the moments tick on Vader seriously starts to consider the possibility that the Jedi somehow managed to tamper with it. He paces down the length of the balcony, inevitably stopping at its end and placing a vexed hand on the bannister. He needs something to squeeze.
"That is impossible, master Sidious never mentioned any Jedi," Maul eventually snarls back.
"Maybe I'll kill him and let you see his corpse for yourself," Vader barks as the dark side urges him to sate a suddenly consuming blood lust.
"No, this must be a test," Maul rumbles thoughtfully across the line, "Continue with the mission as planned. Don't arouse any suspicious, especially those of the Jedi."
"If this is a test, then maybe we're supposed to kill him,"
"We don't know that," Maul growls.
Vader can feel bile rising to his throat, the Jedi is practically right in front of him yet he can't kill him?! What sort of madness is this? He has been training to kill Jedi his whole life yet the first time he meets one he is supposed to play nice?! A deep growl emanates from his throat; he can feel a rant itching to be vented.
"The Jedi scum must be eliminated, he is a scourge upon-"
Suddenly the doors to the balcony swing open. Vader's hand jumps to his saber as he whips around to face the intruder.
His hand is however, is quick to fall from the hilt. Vader watches in dismay as possibly the smallest, most petite woman he has ever seen comes barging out unto the balcony like a rabid Nexu with a head as red as fire. She is so angry she doesn't even see him, and he quickly slinks behind a large, high-relief statue of a native animal to watch the proceedings.
Her long chocolate locks bounce against her back as she shakes her head in disgust. Long nails dig into the stone bannister with a conviction he has seen in few before. The door opens a few seconds later, senator Bonteri joins her on the balcony.
There is a long silence, in which both senators seem content to exist in each other's company and enjoy the view, while keeping to their own thoughts. Vader watches with a heightened interest; this conversation could be the key to finding a weakness within the Republican party.
"Padme, not everyone sees the Galaxy as Gunray does," Bonteri eventually soothes.
The woman, Padme, slowly turns to face Bonteri, allowing Vader get a glimpse of her face.
The sight makes him feel... very odd.
"That doesn't help when Gunray is practically leading the separatist movement," Padme quickly asserts.
Vader quickly realises that his eyes are wandering down her long white dress, and even though he knows he should, he doesn't stop himself. It hangs low from her neck, slowly tightening as it reaches her small waist, only to expand once more and flutter down to the ground. It's odd how well the dress fits her, she looks the image of perfection. Almost... angelic.
"There are plenty of people within the movement that don't want a war, you wouldn't be here if that weren't true," Bonteri replies.
Vader doesn't even hear Bonteris comment.
Force, this woman is very different than any other he has ever seen. What, what is it about her that's so….
Wait. He is here for a reason. What's the reason? The mission? Yes, right… right, the mission. What was it? Oh yes, find weaknesses within the Republicans…. Weakness, yes. Weakness… in the Republicans…
Padme's face turns sympathetic, "I hope your right, Mina," she says with a somewhat defeated voice.
She turns to look out over the city, her hair blows ever so slightly in the wind, and she leans further into the bannister, allowing him a spectacular view of her form. And for some unknown reason, his heart thumps a little harder in his chest.
"I hope so too," Bonteri admits, she places a consoling hand upon Padmes shoulder for a brief second, slips something into the younger senators grasp ( which Vader fails spectacularly at noticing ), then turns to leave. The door closes with a soft thud after her, leaving Padme alone on the balcony. For some reason that thought excites him immensely.
He watches her silently as she ponders something grave within her head. He can feel her radiant presence in the force slowly seeping through the entire airspace, and he sucks in every last drop of her presence with wide eyes and tickly skin. But then something starts to hurt. The tense pain drags his eyes away enough to notice that he has been grabbing the statue with a bit too much conviction. His hand is killing him. He curses quietly and quickly releases his grip. Rubbing his aching hand, he looks back up to see Padme leaving.
Her dress flutters around her as she walks towards the door, allowing him an idea of the legs hidden beneath. She opens the door, her stance becoming the image of regality as he strides through.
The pickling in his skin explodes, his heart rate rises. His legs scream for the release of a run. But something holds him back. He wants to, he shouldn't. There's no reason... Who is this woman?!
His heart sinks as the door closes, it's a desperately pathetic feeling he never wants to feel again. But he doesn't know what caused it, was… was it her? His stomach is doing flips, all the colour surrounding him feels somehow intensified. Never before, has he felt anything like this.
"What happened?" Maul growls expectantly over the earpiece.
Vader blinks his clouded eyes a few times.
"…What?"
"What do you mean what? I asked you what happened," Maul spat.
Vader eyes flick back and forth at nothing in particular as he tries to devise some sort of coherent sentence.
"I was interrupted by a couple of senators," he finally manages voice.
A loud sigh emanates from the other end
"Stop wasting time and get back to the mission. We don't have long to complete the mission," Maul cajoles, the buzz of the earpiece cuts off, signalling the end of their conversation. Though Vader's sure the Zabrak is still listening.
He coughs awkwardly and steps out from behind the statue. Then dusts himself down and fixes his tunic, allowing a frown to fall over his face. Whatever that was, can't happen again, his mission is at stake.
He strides towards the balcony doors, but despite his best efforts, the muddled feelings of confusion and… something he can't even begin to describe follow like shadows behind.
With an unfavorable growl, he roughly pulls the doors open and heads back inside. Quickly scanning the room, whole lot more people have joined. Namely what seems to be the entirety of the trade federation's leaders. Including that sniveling idiot Gunray. After watching him shamelessly suck up to Dooku for just under a decade, Vader has lost all respect for the man, if he ever had any to begin with.
Senator Padme is right to hate him…
He curses himself silently for thinking of her, and intensifies his focus on the environment an attempt to forget about her. Wait. The Jedi, where is he? Vader does a double take of the room, and scans every visible head Sithpit, the blasted Jedi has vanished! Did he know who Vader was? Was he informing his cursed counsel right this moment? That thought alone is enough to wipe all of those new, odd emotions cleanly off his palette.
A small grunt escapes his lips, and he roughly powers through the crowd. A Jedi on the loose will be the least of his problems if his master finds out that the Jedi council have learned of his existence.
Hello all! Sorry again for my poor update speed, I'm REALLY busy at the moment with school. But hey, I eventually got it done :D.
Heh heh heh. Enjoy your fluff while it lasts dear readers... heh heh heh. *Cue scary flash of lightning as I chuckle manically from the darkness*