First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone that celebrates! I'm sorry this took so long! Holidays are literally no joke and I had to deal with writer's block for quite a while for one scene early in the chapter. Thank you for your continued support, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
"Master Windu!"
Mace looked up from the holotable he was looking at to see Anakin Skywalker's padawan running up to him, her eyes gleaming with distress. "Yes, Padawan Tano?" he responded. The Togruta's Force presence was wracked with nervousness, an almost overwhelming anxiety he had not sensed from her since she was an Initiate.
"There's—" she paused and swallowed, looking around at the other Council members gathered in the room. They weren't having an official Council meeting, but Mace was about to send a distress signal to the Jedi outside of the Temple to not return to Coruscant. At least for now, until the threat on the Jedi has passed and the clones were subdued. But for now, Coruscant was the least safe place for the Jedi to be. The thought of the Temple—the home of the Jedi—being considered dangerous was appalling. But it was the truth.
"What is it, child?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked gently, looking up from the holotable as well with a concerned expression on his face.
Ahsoka bit her lip before she spoke again. "I'm afraid Master Skywalker left the Temple to go speak to Chancellor Palpatine," she began. "Master Kenobi and Master Jinn think that…" She swallowed, eyes openly showing her anxiety now. "They think that the Chancellor might be the Sith Lord."
Mace closed his eyes briefly, allowing the shock and surprise to consume him for just a brief moment before releasing it to the Force and letting it dissipate. There would be time, later, once the crisis has passed, to react. Right now, it was time to act. He had to act. Now.
"Tell me what happened, Padawan," Mace commanded. "From the beginning."
"Something is going to happen."
Qui-Gon opened his eyes slowly, pulling himself out of his meditation and turning towards Obi-Wan, who betrayed absolutely no emotion except for his hands tightly gripping the controls of the speeder. His voice was only slightly strangled, and Qui-Gon couldn't exactly tell through the fog in his own mind if Obi-Wan was completely alright, but…Anakin needed Obi-Wan, even more than Qui-Gon now. That much was clear.
Obi-Wan glanced at him before he swerved the speeder sideways, avoiding the view of a nearby Coruscant police speeder. He was taking a less direct approach to the Senate building, to avoid detection.
"Don't worry about that—"
"I wouldn't normally," Obi-Wan cut him off sharply as he turned the speeder at another quick, sickening angle, and Qui-Gon swallowed, pushing away his nausea to focus on Obi-Wan again. There was something in his eyes, something that spoke more volumes than his voice could. "But Anakin did something. I can't reach him, and the Force feels wrong, Master."
"I know," Qui-Gon answered. The Force did feel wrong; balance was very quickly slipping away, leading to pure chaos.
Obi-Wan fell silent and continued driving, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Qui-Gon leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes again, unsure of what to say. What could he say? There was now the very real possibility of Anakin Turning. The boy he found on Tatooine only a few weeks ago…the one he was sure to be the Chosen One, now turning to the Dark Side?
No. It sounded wrong, almost like swallowing a bitter poison. Qui-Gon kept thinking of the boy who loved his mother so wholeheartedly, the boy who spoke about piloting and travelling amongst the stars with tremendous passion, the boy who won his own freedom in a pod race. How was all of this even possible? Anakin was the Chosen One; how could he completely desert the destiny that was bestowed on him?
"If something has happened to Anakin, you shouldn't blame yourself for that," Qui-Gon murmured finally.
Obi-Wan exhaled before he answered. "Maybe I shouldn't, but I will." His knuckles were completely white now as they gripped the speeder's controls. "You told me to train him, Master. It was your dying wish. Do you really think that means I wouldn't take responsibility for his actions?"
"He is responsible for his actions, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon pressed. "I know. You know how I was after…after Xanatos."
Obi-Wan deflated again, and turned the speeder slightly right as the Senate building came in view. Almost immediately, the Force shivered. Qui-Gon felt Obi-Wan tense slightly, but he guided the speeder smoothly towards one of the lower hangars without another word.
Asajj Ventress flopped over on her cot and looked up at the grey ceiling above her. After Kenobi and Windu left her alone in her cell, she felt even more confused than before. To hear that the Jedi (or Kenobi, at least) were willing to change, so long after Ky Narec's death, completely changed things for her. What was she supposed to do?
She sighed and looked down at her hands. Although she told Kenobi and Windu the truth about what she knew about the inhibitor chips (which wasn't that much) and the Sith Master (which admittedly was even less), they hadn't removed her Force suppression cuffs and put her back in her cell, and being unable to access the Force was quite irritating. She couldn't think properly.
Had Dooku truly turned away from the Sith? Was he working with the Jedi? She hadn't been able to track him down in those last few weeks before his death. Now that she's lost a Jedi Master and a Sith one, she began to wonder if all of this was worth this pain. What was she supposed to do now, anyways?
The sound of light footsteps approaching her cell stirred her out of her thoughts. Whoever was coming to meet her sounded like they were hoping not to be detected, but even without the Force, Ventress was an expert. She could always tell when someone was trying to sneak up on her undetected. It was her specialty.
"Who's there?" she asked, standing fluidly and moving towards the bars of her cell. Being without the Force was frustrating; she would easily have been able to tell who was approaching her, but now she feels half-blind and stripped of her power. It's not fair.
"It's me."
Skywalker's padawan walked into the light, her eyes wide and curious. Ventress raised a brow in surprise. "What do you want?" she asked.
The Togruta stared at her for a long moment, as though she was judging her for some reason, before she sighed and released a long breath. "I need your help," Tano answered.
Ventress rolled her eyes before turning away towards her cot. "I already answered questions for the Council and told Kenobi everything I knew about the Sith Master, child," she hissed, lying back down on the cot and staring up at the ceiling. "Now leave me alone."
The child didn't move, except to cross her arms and to continue staring at her. "The Chancellor is the Sith Lord," Tano said, and Ventress felt her heart skip a beat in her chest. "Masters Kenobi and Jinn went after him, and I don't know if Master Skywalker has joined Palpatine or not. They will need backup," she insisted.
Ventress barked out a laugh and sat up again to stare at the Togruta. "Why ask me, then? I'm sure your precious Council can decide how to deal with this situation," she snorted.
"They're not!" Tano exclaimed. "They're just wasting time arguing about this, and I can't just stay here and wait. Not when everyone I care about is in danger and the clones—my Vode—are brainwashed like this! I can't just stand by and watch my world fall apart, Ventress!" There was passion, a fire, burning in the padawan's eyes.
Ventress closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. Things were more dire than she had initially thought. Perhaps it was time for her to act, and quickly. "Get me out of this cell, Tano," Ventress murmured, pulling herself to her feet once again. "I'll help you."
"We do not have time to waste on this matter, Master Tiin," Mace said. Padawan Tano had barged into the room about twenty minutes ago, to tell them that the Chancellor was the Sith Lord they were looking for, and that Masters Kenobi and Jinn are going after him and to rescue Skywalker.
"I understand that, Master Windu, but we can't come to this conclusion based on some assumption that Kenobi has. He could be wrong," the Iktotchi Jedi replied, leaning forward slightly in his seat.
Mace looked around the Council chambers at the other Masters present. Besides Masters Kenobi and Shaak Ti, everyone was (thankfully) present. Shaak Ti was in charge of training the clone cadets on Kamino, so it came as no surprise when her death rang loudly in the Force not long after the chips were activated. Master Koon appeared by hologram, having had to escape the Wolfpack's attack and fly to Naboo for safety.
"We have thousands of Jedi that are unaccounted for, Masters," Master Tiin continued. "We need to oversee Master Che's extraction of the inhibitor chips on these first few clones. The Senate is not pleased with this turn of events. I understand that it was the Chancellor who issued the order in the first place, but it may already be too late for us to help Kenobi and Jinn. We need to help in the ways that we know we can."
Mace sighed. He had a good point. The Jedi were spread too far thin, and now that extinction was looming on the horizon, he had a responsibility as Master of the Order to preserve the Jedi tradition.
Plo Koon's hologram flickered as he shifted. "We may need to consider the possibility of…moving to another Temple," he said.
"Have we truly reached that point?" Master Fisto asked, brows raised.
"Too dark to tell, it is," Master Yoda sighed, then looked up at Mace expectantly. As if he expected Mace to decide the fate of the Jedi in about one minute. The thought of that made his head ache. There were millions of shatterpoints, so many that Mace couldn't make sense of which path was the correct one.
"We'll wait," Mace said finally. "Let's see how the extraction surgeries go, and if we can get in contact with anyone outside the Temple. We'll need to send out an emergency signal warning everyone to not return to Coruscant. And I am going to the Chancellor's office. There's no time to waste."
"Ah, I was wondering when you would come by, Master Kenobi," the Chancellor said pleasantly as Obi-Wan walked into his office with Qui-Gon in tow. Anakin stood facing the Chancellor, his back to Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan nodded before tightening his shields. The action sent a pulsing ache through his mind, and he barely suppressed a shudder. "I'm afraid all of this must be a misunderstanding, Chancellor, but I've been told that you ordered the clones to march on our Temple. I must ask you to rescind that order," Obi-Wan said, glancing at Anakin as he spoke. Qui-Gon stood silently besides Obi-Wan as he spoke, face pale.
"That will not be possible, Master Kenobi. You know that as well as I," Palpatine replied. He smiled, but the sight of it was almost horrifying. Palpatine's Force presence began to peel back its layers, revealing a core that pulsed with cold, predatory darkness.
"And why not, Chancellor?" Qui-Gon asked. His voice was calm and firm, even though Obi-Wan knew that he could sense the darkness emanating from the Chancellor now. Obi-Wan felt it pressing firmly against his shields, and his vision blurred slightly before he blinked a few times. No, he whispered to himself, not now.
Qui-Gon continued talking. "Surely you cannot execute the entirety of the Jedi Order on no grounds. The Senate will not allow it."
Palpatine chuckled. "Master Jedi, I am the Senate. And I'm sure you haven't yet been brought up to speed on everything that has happened in this time. But I am aware of one thing. You both know the truth about who I am."
Palpatine smiled even more widely and turned towards Anakin. Obi-Wan felt his heart pounding, racing in his chest. Just the sight of Palpatine looking at Anakin with a sort of possession in his eyes was…wrong. Anakin wouldn't…believe in that, would he?
"You may be familiar with the Sith Rule of Two that was established by Darth Bane generations ago. Tyrannus was my apprentice, but once I knew that he was a traitor, I had my eyes set on my new apprentice, and he has finally agreed to join me."
Obi-Wan sucked in a breath and pain shot through his skull. He exhaled quickly and forced the pain away, feeling Qui-Gon's shock almost as keenly as his own. No, Anakin. "Anakin, what is he talking about?" he asked, though there was a sinking feeling in his stomach and his heart was racing in his chest.
"You have failed your apprentice, Kenobi," Palpatine hissed, standing now. "So I have taken him as my apprentice instead."
But Obi-Wan ignored that and took a few faltering steps forward towards Anakin, ignoring Qui-Gon as he tried to stop him. "Anakin, why?" Obi-Wan whispered.
Anakin finally spun around to face him, eyes blank and cold. "You've lied to me enough times, Obi-Wan," he said finally. "My mother is dead because of you, and unless I don't do anything, I will lose Padmé too. I can't lose her, Obi-Wan."
"What do you mean? She's not in danger," Obi-Wan answered. His voice sounded far away, echoing just barely over the roaring in his ears. He knew that Anakin's feelings for Senator Amidala were beyond the friendship that he often claimed to have with her, but Obi-Wan had decided not long after the war started to turn a blind eye to their relationship, whatever it was. If he investigated it any further, he would have to report it to the Council, and that would have…complicated things.
"She is my wife!" Anakin exclaimed. "She is everything to me, and I've been having nightmares, visions of her death. Do you remember what you told me the last time I had visions like this? And what ended up happening?"
Obi-Wan blinked dully in shock, Anakin's words barely registering in his mind.
"Anakin." Qui-Gon took a few steps forward to stand besides Obi-Wan, his voice pleading. "Why don't you calm down and come back with us to the Temple? We can fix this; I'm sure—"
"No!" Anakin exclaimed, cutting him off. "I trusted the Jedi for all these years, and they've only caused me pain. And I'm done with this."
Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon, who once again seemed stunned to silence. Of course he was. Qui-Gon was the one who found Anakin on Tatooine, who whispered with his final breaths that he was the Chosen One, and that he had to be trained. Qui-Gon believed in Anakin with all his heart.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said. Palpatine was staring at him with a strange look, eyebrows furrowed. "If you wish to leave the Order, I will not stop you. But think about this. Palpatine is the Sith Lord we've been looking for. Ahsoka and Padmé wouldn't want you to do this."
Anakin blinked. "He says he can save her. He will save her," Anakin muttered.
"Enough of this, Lord Vader," Palpatine spoke up, voice scratching almost painfully in Obi-Wan's ears. He blinked, and Qui-Gon flew backwards suddenly, slamming harshly against the doors of the office with a sickening crack before crumpling to the ground, unconscious.
Padmé Amidala paced inside the bedroom of her apartment at 500 Republica, mind racing. Something was wrong with Anakin; there was a twisting feeling in her stomach that told her as much. He was more concerned about her wellbeing than the fact that the Jedi were dying across the galaxy, that the war was ending and everything was going wrong. And Palpatine was at the head of it; just as she'd predicted, he had gained too much power as Chancellor and was now extremely corrupt.
And the clones that fought alongside the Jedi throughout the war had now turned on the Jedi, on the Republic itself. The Senate was completely divided about this; some Senators even saying that the Jedi were a hindrance to the Republic, that they only cared about the progression of their Order and nothing else. That it was time for the Jedi to end, and for everything to change.
She had to meet with Senators Organa and Mon Mothma in about half an hour, but Corscuant traffic seemed to have moved to a complete standstill, with the police and clones now checking every speeder for Jedi trying to escape Corscuant. It was near impossible to get anywhere, but that wasn't going to stop her. There had to be a way to fix all of this. Bail was talking about possibly calling a Vote of No Confidence for Palpatine, but it was clear that the movement would not have enough support right now. Palpatine simply had too much power, and too many supporters.
Padmé sighed and walked out of her bedroom into the living room. It was time to go. Just as she took two steps towards the landing platform connected directly to her apartment, a loud knock resonated through the apartment.
She jumped in surprise. "Who's there?" she asked finally, bending down to pull her blaster out of her boot.
"Padmé?"
Padmé's eyebrows shot upwards, and she slid the blaster back into her boot before racing to the door and opening it. Ahsoka Tano stood in the doorway, expression relieved. Behind her, however, was someone Padmé did not expect to meet in her apartment at all. "Asajj Ventress?" she guessed. The Dathomirian woman gave her a strange look, but nodded afterwards. "I'm afraid I don't understand," Padmé continued.
"It's okay; she's on our side," Ahsoka reassured her. "We need your help, Senator. Can we talk?"
"I have to meet with some of the other Senators, Ahsoka," Padmé answered.
The Togruta blinked, then continued talking, completely unfazed. "I know that you're married to Anakin, Senator," Ahsoka said. Padmé saw one of Ventress' eyebrows raise fractionally at that, but she did not say anything. "And he's in trouble. The Chancellor, he's…Masters Kenobi and Jinn and I discovered that he's the Sith Lord we've been looking for. And Anakin is with him, and I have a bad feeling that he's going to join him."
Padmé's heart skipped a beat in her chest. "No," she whispered, "he wouldn't do something like that." She swallowed before speaking again. "A few of us are aware that the Chancellor has become corrupt, but I had no idea it was this bad."
"You need to come with us to stop Palpatine and convince Anakin to come back to our side. I don't think he's completely turned yet," Ahsoka pressed.
Padmé frowned. "All right; I'll send a message to Senator Organa, then I'll come with you."
"Now, Master Kenobi," Palpatine continued, almost as though he didn't throw Qui-Gon Jinn across the room with enough force to break bones. Obi-Wan could sense that Qui-Gon was unconscious, but might have broken a rib or two from the attack. "Let's talk about Zigoola, shall we?"
Just the name of the planet sent a shiver down Obi-Wan's spine, but he kept his face completely neutral. "What happened on that planet is classified, Chancellor. Even to you," he responded.
"Ah, but I do know a lot about what happened there," Palpatine responded. "You and Senator Organa arrived there in pursuit of a Sith Holocron that was placed on the planet. There was a Sith Temple on Zigoola, Kenobi; who do you think placed that holocron there?"
Obi-Wan blinked. Of course. All the pieces were coming together now, and it all made sense.
"But you haven't recovered, and you don't know why," Palpatine whispered, walking forward. Obi-Wan glanced at Anakin, who was staring intently at Palpatine with no emotion in his eyes. His Force presence was completely blocked off to him.
"Let me tell you why."
"Anakin…" Obi-Wan said, voice shaking slightly. "You don't need to do this; we can figure out a solution to all of this without destroying the Jedi. This is not the answer."
"Shut up!" Anakin responded. "You've failed me, and you've failed Master Qui-Gon and Ahsoka and everyone. This is all your fault, Obi-Wan. I've done nothing wrong."
Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "While you did survive Zigoola, Kenobi, the holocron left a parting gift in your mind. And no matter what you do, Master Kenobi, there's no removing it. It's been slowly destroying you without your notice," he continued, as though Obi-Wan said nothing at all.
Obi-Wan felt Palpatine's Force presence rushing forward and slamming itself against his shields. He grunted in surprise, quickly fortifying his shields. The dull pain that resided behind his eyes exploded into fiery agony, but he ignored it, focusing everything on keeping his shields up.
He dimly heard Palpatine let out a bark of laughter, and then the pressure on his shields doubled, then tripled with speedy accuracy. Obi-Wan's knees buckled, and he crashed to the ground with a hoarse cry. His shields were trembling, on the verge of collapse. He could taste blood on his lips, there were tears running down his cheeks, and his ears were ringing.
Anakin, he thought, trying to send whatever emotion he felt at the moment to him, trying to make him understand. Palpatine's attack was relentless, though; it felt that the Sith Lord was holding him down to the ground with the Force, pushing himself into his mind. Obi-Wan continued fighting back, trying to keep his mental shields up with everything he had. He could barely feel his body seizing on the ground.
He couldn't breathe. Why couldn't he breathe? Obi-Wan struggled to open his mouth, to allow air to rush in through his nose, but it felt as though he was pinned down to the ground by the throat, with his air supply cut off.
Blackness began to seep into his vision, and his heart began to beat loudly in his ears. Everything hurt now, and his shields were barely staying up, faltering against the dark force that slammed against them.
Just let go, something whispered to him, and he desperately wanted to do just that. It would be so easy. The pain will go away if you let go. His shields shattered with that thought, and for a brief moment, there was agony that he's never experienced before rushing into his mind.
Anakin, he thought one more time, one final time, then he knew nothing more.
Qui-Gon came to consciousness with a shout, feeling a burning pain flash across his mind. He sat up, wincing as he grabbed at his ribs, and looked up at the scene before him. Obi-Wan was on his back in front of the Chancellor's desk, features completely slack. "No!" he shouted, struggling to his feet as he ran forward, left hand pressed to his middle.
Obi-Wan's body laid crumpled at his feet, blood dripping out of his nose and mouth, completely and utterly still. Qui-Gon fell to his knees besides him, placing a hand at his neck, desperately feeling for a pulse, though he knew from the burning pain in his mind that the bond he had with Obi-Wan was broken by death, once again.
"No," he repeated, ignoring the Sith Lord who laughed, and the boy who he once believed to be the Chosen One, who now stood with emotionless eyes. "Obi-Wan, don't do this to me," Qui-Gon whispered, clasping his hands together and pressing down on Obi-Wan's chest. He could bring him back. This was never supposed to happen.
The compressions were exhausting him quickly, and his ribs were screaming in protest, but Qui-Gon ignored it, and leaned down to breath into Obi-Wan's mouth. Nothing happened. Qui-Gon sat back up and continued the compressions, ignoring Palpatine's continued laughter.
"Lord Vader," the Sith Lord announced. "Strike this fool down in his misery. He is worthless now."
Qui-Gon ignored him, barely hearing a lightsaber ignite and footsteps coming towards him. "Come on, Obi-Wan," he muttered, ignoring the fact that the Force itself was crying out in agony, that he knew very well what a broken bond felt like and that this was pointless.
"He's dead, Qui-Gon." Anakin's voice sounded deeper than usual. He stood in front of him, eyes slightly red. His lightsaber was ignited in his mech hand, pointed towards the ground next to Obi-Wan's left leg. "There's no point."
Qui-Gon only shook his head. "There's always hope, Anakin. Have you forgotten?" he asked. He bent down to breath into Obi-Wan's mouth again, trying to will life and oxygen into a body that was ice-cold with death. A body that would not and could not be revived.
When Qui-Gon sat up again, Anakin held the lightsaber in front of him, considering it carefully. "I have no choice, Master," he announced, a bit louder than before. "I will do what I must."
Several things happened at once. Anakin spun quickly around and buried his lightsaber deep into Palpatine's chest, the grand doors swung open to reveal Ahsoka Tano, Asajj Ventress, and Padmé Amidala, and Qui-Gon Jinn disappeared without a trace.