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Chapter11
Their journey to Raxus seemed to be taking forever for a restless Anakin. The dream he had had before they left was still haunting him and even the clones seemed to know there was something off with their new commander. Obi-Wan had given him command of a small group of specialists in the much larger battalion they would be serving with and he was pleased with the show of trust from his Master but a part of him still felt unworthy of being a Jedi. He kept an eye on his troops as they ran their drills in the training facilities on the transport but more often than not his focus would shift back to what that dream could mean.
"They're quite good," Obi-Wan said, stepping out onto the observation platform with Anakin, who looked surprised by his sudden presence.
"What?" Anakin asked, shaking his head to clear it before risking a glance at his Master.
"The clones, they're impressive," Obi-Wan said.
"They are," Anakin agreed. "I don't need think they need a Jedi to lead them. The one who has stepped up as their leader, Rex, he's a better commander than I am and they trust him."
"Anakin, I have never seen a Jedi as young as you are do so well in the military strategy simulators," his Master said proudly. "You have a knack for seeing the possibilities and compensating for them with the support you are given. If I had to choose any Jedi to serve beside on a battle field I would want it to be you."
"You're just saying that because you're my Master."
"When have I ever said something I was not completely serious about?"
"You do tend to have a rather wry sense of humor when the mood strikes you."
"And you have a sharp tongue that has gotten you into trouble more often than not."
Anakin grinned sheepishly and turned his attention back to the clones as they ran through their exercises. "You don't think we'll actually have to fight do you?"
"I don't know the answer to that Anakin," he admitted. "The Separatists have ordered a cease fire while the negotiations are being held but it could be a trap for all we truly know."
"There haven't been any incidents with the Senators that are there already so maybe it can all work out peacefully," Anakin said hopefully.
"Perhaps," Obi-Wan agreed. "Would you mind telling me why you have been so distracted lately? Ever since you returned from the Senator's apartment you have been distracted by something."
"I had a dream that's bothering me."
Obi-Wan now knew better than to question the nature of Anakin's dreams and instead nodded his head in understanding. "Can you remember what it was about?"
"A battle."
It now made sense why Anakin had questioned the likelihood of them facing another battle. "What did you see?"
"Fire and I heard screams."
"What else?"
"It was flashing too quickly for me to really know what I was seeing."
"Anakin."
He sighed and looked down at the mark on his left hand, the ink was faint and drew little attention to itself but he took comfort in knowing that it was there. "There was a red lightsaber," he admitted.
"Another Sith? Do you think it is one we're looking for?"
"No. This one wasn't even as skilled as Dooku," he said. "I think he might have been training someone in secret so that he could overthrow the real Sith Lord."
Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully, a habit he had taken up since he had grown his beard out. "If this is true then we best keep an eye out for any possible surprises that may await us on Raxus."
"Master, I don't know if I'm ready for the responsibility of being in charge of these men," he admitted, his gaze drifting back to the clones below. "They're not normal human beings in that they don't have a Force signature but they all have emotions and attachments. They feel pain and joy just like we do."
A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder and he turned to look at his master in surprise. Ever since he had come clean with Obi-Wan their relationship had become stronger than it ever was and his Master seemed far more supportive than he could remember him being. "They have been created to be the perfect soldiers Anakin," he explained. "They will serve the Republic with a great deal of loyalty and their respect for the Jedi is unquestioned. You need to stop doubting yourself, my young apprentice. The Council would not have placed you in charge of them if they did not feel you were up to the task."
"Thank you," Anakin said softly.
Obi-Wan squeezed his shoulder and smiled. "You will be a great Jedi Anakin, just give yourself the time to fulfill your potential."
Padmé was just settling into her office for the day when Bail barged in looking frantic and almost frightened. She quickly got up from behind her desk and crossed the room to stand in front of him.
"What is it? Has something happened?" she asked.
"You have to see this," he said, waving a data disk in front of her. "This may be all the evidence that we need."
"What are you talking about Bail?" she demanded.
"Just watch. I'll explain after."
She took the data disk from his trembling fingers and placed it in the reader on her desk, stepping back to allow both of them to see the image that popped up. Before them stood Count Dooku, pacing his tiny cell with his arms clasped behind his back, the stump of his right hand still bandaged after he had refused to have the limb replaced when the offer had been made. He glanced towards the door of his cell and Padmé gasped when she saw the Chancellor enter. She looked up at Bail and he motioned for her to keep watching.
"I am quite displeased with you Count Dooku," Palpatine began. "You seemed so sure of yourself the last time we spoke."
"Some things are beyond even my control," Dooku replied.
"So it would appear." The Chancellor circled the prisoner, a look of pure distain on his face. "I trust you were training another, as all of your kind seem so willing to do."
"Perhaps I have."
"Where have you stationed your new protégé?"
"Why should I tell you?"
"Because Skywalker and Kenobi have been sent to Raxus to help oversee the peace treaty with your Separatist supporters."
"You want to send them into a trap. Why?" Dooku asked
"I'm not sending the two heroes who defeated the mighty Count Dooku into a trap, I'd simply like for them to eliminate all the threats to my Republic."
"Your Republic?" Dooku scoffed. "If they knew you were down here speaking with me they would remove you from office before you could blink. Your precious Senate would cry foul and blame you of tampering with evidence. They would remove you and replace you with some incompetent fool. All your years of hard work would be for nothing."
"Your tongue is sharper than I remember it being, my apprentice, and here I was hoping that defeat would make you humble," Palpatine growled and he slowly stalked towards the other man, pushing him into a corner. "They have you cut off from the Force, correct?" Dooku nodded weakly and Palpatine brought a hand up to touch his head, and in the next the instant the Count cried out in pain and slumped to the floor. "Now tell me how to reach your little pawn so I can eliminate any threats to this Republic."
"She's hiding on Raxus," he gasped. "The only way to reach her is through the Force, I made sure of that."
Palpatine smiled and walked towards the door. "Then I'll have no trouble finding her," he said before disappearing just as the recording ending.
"How did you get this?" Padmé asked.
"The husband of one of my aids works at the detention center where the Separatists are being held," Bail explained. "He happened to be working in the security booth when this happened and he made a copy of the recording to give to his wife, who in turn gave it to me. They felt it was something that should be seen."
"All right. Well what exactly did we just see?" she asked.
"I was hoping you'd be able to understand this a little better," he admitted.
"Why would I know anything more?"
He glanced around the room suspiciously and nodded when she typed in the privacy code to seal the room. "Padmé, you're practically an honorary Jedi," he started, choosing to ignore the protest he saw coming from her, "You've fought beside them in two separate battles, surly they must have told you more than what most of us know about the Force and those that use it."
"Bail, they would have no reason to inform me on such matters," she replied, moving towards the large windows in her office to gaze out over the city.
"But you've seen two of these so called 'dark Jedi.'"
"That still does not place me in a position to know any more than you do about the beings that wield the Force," she insisted. "Right now I'm more concerned with the fact that we saw our Chancellor essentially threaten a Republic prisoner."
"To get information about another dark Jedi that could be a threat to your Jedi friends." He crossed the room to stand beside her and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "I need to know if there is a greater threat to the Republic than the Separatists."
"I can't tell you," she insisted, shrugging his hand from her shoulder. "I gave Master Yoda my word."
Bail frowned and began to pace the length of the room. "Well, at least tell me if you think that Master Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker are walking into a trap if there is another dark Jedi?" The flicker of fear that passed over Padmé's face surprised Bail more than he was expecting, it was well concealed behind her usual mask of stoicism but he knew her well enough to see it in her eyes. It knocked him even further off balance when he realized that she obviously felt something deeper than a professional friendship with those two Jedi. "Padmé?" he asked gently.
"I can't Bail," she whispered, sinking down into her chair.
He rushed back to her side and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his own. "Padmé, what is it?"
"We need to contact them," she said after a long moment of silence in which he knew she was waging an internal war with herself.
"How do you suggest we do that? All communications to the fleet have to be sanctioned by the Chancellor himself."
She looked down at her hands in his and prayed that he did not notice the mark on her left ring finger; he would ask too many questions if he did. "I have Anakin Skywalker's private comm channel," she admitted. "We could use that."
He frowned slightly and looked at her with an intensity she was not accustomed to from him as he tried to read her. "Why would he give you that information? I thought Jedi kept that between themselves."
"He and I grew quite close while he was protecting me," she explained. "He insisted that I have it in case I ever found myself in an emergency. Well, I'd say this is an emergency."
"There's something you aren't telling me," he said.
"Not now Bail," she replied as she pulled her hands from his and reached for the comm panel on her desk. "You need to trust me."
"I do."
She nodded her acceptance and typed in the number Anakin had given her, and together they waited for the transmission to go through.
Anakin was still standing on the observation platform when he heard his comm link go off and he was instantly grateful that Obi-Wan had left to go meditate when he saw the number trying to contact him. "Skywalker," he answered with as much calmness as he could manage.
"Padawan Skywalker, this is Senator Amidala," she announced over the tiny speaker.
He frowned at her professionalism and then realized that she must not be alone. "What can I do for you, M'lady?" he replied.
"I have received some troubling information about the possibilities of another dark Force user that could be awaiting orders on Raxus," she explained. "It seem that Count Dooku had an apprentice he was training."
"How did you get this information?"
"One of my sources stumbled across it," she lied and he knew it.
"Thank you for the heads up Senator," he said and she knew he was frowning from the tone in his voice. "I would greatly appreciate you passing this information along to the Jedi Council as well."
"Certainly," she agreed.
"Thank you again, Senator," he said before cutting the transmission and glaring down at the tiny comm link in his palm. Something had happened on Coruscant and he wanted to know what it was.
Padmé frowned at the device on her desk before she turned back to face Bail. "There, they have the information and now it is up to them if they heed it or not," she said.
"Thank you," he said, getting to his feet and offering his hand to help Padmé stand. "I feel better having them know that there may be a threat."
"As do I," she said, walking with him towards the door of her office.
"The Republic is a far better place because it has you championing its causes," he said, reaching down to clasp her left hand to bring it up to his lips.
"You flatter me, Bail," she said, trying to pull her hand away before he could spot anything different, but it was too late. Her shoulders slumped when he moved her hand far enough away to look at it properly, his large thumb moving lightly over the marked skin.
"Padmé, this looks like a mark of betrothal," he said, his eyes shifting back to hers. "I was not aware you were even seeing anyone."
"Bail, please," she whispered, pulling her hand free.
And then it all clicked into place for the other Senator. The fear he had seen earlier had not been for both Jedi, it was for one, specifically the one that had given her a private number usually kept among those in the Order. "Its Anakin Skywalker, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, meeting his gaze with her own as she nodded her head. "We intend to marry after he returns from this mission."
"Well, I certainly did not see that coming," he admitted, stunned by her announcement.
"Love can be rather unexpected," she said.
"Yes it can be," he agreed. "Congratulations, Padmé. I am happy for you."
"Thank you."
"Perhaps you and your dashing Jedi could join us for dinner, or something, at some point."
"I think we would like that very much."
He grinned and shook his head, laughing slightly at the sheer unexpectedness of it all. "You certainly know how to surprise people," he teased.
"Sometime a surprise is good for you."
"Well, in your case, I believe that surprise is good for you."
"Very good," she agreed.
"I'm glad," he said warmly. "In fact, I believe I should get a hold of my own special someone. Don't worry; your secret is safe for now."
"Give Breha my love," she said.
"I will," he said. "And don't worry about Anakin, the boy defeated Dooku, I'm sure he can handle whatever may be thrown at him next."
"Yes, I believe he can," she agreed as Bail bowed his head ever so slightly and took his leave.