Finally Chapter 12. :D Working on 13 even as we speak…thank you all for your kind comments; they really keep me going! Enjoy.
= Thoughts transmitted through the master/apprentice bond.
TWELVE
Senator Padmé Naberrie Amidala was more than aware of the growing unrest in the Galactic Senate regarding the Republic's long-standing relationship with the Jedi Order. This motion on the floor now, this attempt by Malastare to regulate the Order's operations was just ridiculous.
However ridiculous or no, it was gaining support among the senators, particularly among those who seemed to support the long-term use of the Chancellor's "emergency powers." While it was true that desperate times often called for desperate measures, she wasn't sure if those measures should include censuring the one body that had upheld the Republic for a thousand years.
She'd wondered at first if perhaps her opposition to this growing anti-Jedi sentiment had been based on her feelings for Anakin alone, but the more she thought about it, the less sense the motion made. The Jedi had been nothing but guardians of peace and truth; what possible reason could there be for such fear? She herself had been a firsthand recipient of that guardianship, first for her homeworld and then for herself…she would not dismiss it out of hand like so many others seemed willing to do.
Of course there were always the rumors, the more arcane abilities that Jedi supposedly possessed that made lesser people fear them, suspect them. It was often on many of these rumors that this growing movement against the Jedi was finding its support, superstition allowed to prevail over logic. Such was the sad nature of fear…no wonder Master Kenobi trained Anakin so rigidly to resist it.
Padmé was glad to have found an ally in Bail Organa, the senator from Alderaan. He felt as she did, that the Jedi Knights were a necessary asset to the peace and safety of the Republic. He had proposed a compromise, a measure that would allow the Jedi to serve in the ranks of the Republic army, as specially commissioned officers, thereby appeasing some of the more outraged systems while still allowing the Jedi some freedom of movement within the Republic. Already there were some whispers of titles like "General" being applied to a few choice Knights and Masters, Obi-Wan Kenobi among them.
It wasn't what should be, but it was possibly the closest thing to it they would get if this wave of hatred—there really was no other word for it—continued to rise. Queen Jamillia had agreed with Padmé that a show of support for the Jedi was a good idea, since Naboo was the Chancellor's homeworld and since it was a Core World of some influence. The reception had been meant to display that support openly.
Master Kenobi's unexpected mission had somewhat derailed that for the time being.
Padmé shook herself from her reverie, pushing aside the small stack of reports she needed to go through, allowing her head to rest in her hands a moment. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, seeking to relieve the tired strain there, from reading. From thinking. From worrying.
She wondered if Anakin and Master Kenobi had reached Uleare yet; Ani had not told her what transport they were taking or what time they were leaving or any details at all, actually. The only reason she even knew that their destination was the Uleare system was a protracted conversation with Master Windu regarding the now-postponed reception and even then, the information had been parted with reluctantly.
What Padmé did know was that Uleare was not a good place for two Jedi to be. Prior to withdrawing from the Senate, the Ulearean senator had been one of the most vocal supporters of the "restriction measure," as it was coming to be known, against the Jedi. His contention was rumored to be highly personal; a measure of revenge for something that had happened on Uleare involving a Jedi Knight. We're being sent after a master and apprentice who ran into some trouble on their mission. Anakin's own words had borne out the fact that this was a potentially dangerous assignment.
Stop it. Padmé told herself firmly, drawing the small decorative shawl that accompanied her dress a little more tightly about her shoulders, even though it wasn't really that cold. She shook her head; it wasn't as if she'd never faced danger herself any number of times; at Geonosis she had fought at Anakin and Obi-Wan's side. She'd known what becoming Anakin's wife meant, waiting in secret. Jedi often—not always—but often saw danger in their missions; keeping the peace sometimes came at a price.
Like Master Kenobi paid on Naboo. The thought rose unbidden in her mind, and Padmé pushed away from the desk a little, taken by surprise. She had not thought of Qui-Gon Jinn in quite some time, and why she thought of the departed Jedi Master now she didn't know. With that thought came the memory of that day…standing alongside the ginger-haired Jedi as they watched the body of his master burn on the funeral pyre, his spirit long fled to the Force. One hadn't needed to be Force-sensitive to feel Obi-Wan's grief as the flames licked hungrily at the leonine features and once strong hands. Obi-Wan's hood had been pulled low over his face but Padmé had seen him trembling ever so slightly next to her and she knew there had been tears…
The senator rose from her chair now, shaking herself from her dark thoughts. She didn't understand where these fears were coming from; I'm stronger than that. Perhaps it was merely the fact that neither of the two Jedi had truly fully healed from their wounds on Geonosis; while she knew firsthand how skilled her husband and his master were with a lightsaber it was only logical to assume that their incomplete recovery was a danger to them both. Should they be taken in battle, it would be that much harder for Anakin to defend his master if it came to that. Harder than it would have been for Obi-Wan all those years ago had he been allowed to be at Qui-Gon's side in that fateful moment on Naboo.
"Senator Amidala?"
Padmé looked up, startled, at the sound of the soft voice, already knowing it belonged to Sabé. The handmaiden stood framed in the doorway, dwarfed by the columns that were perfect replicas of the ones flanking the entrance to the throne room in Theed.
"What is it, Sabé?" The senator acknowledged graciously. Sabé inclined her head slightly then met her gaze.
"There is a transmission coming in for you on the coded channel, milady."
Coded channel? At this time of day? Sighing softly, Padmé nodded to the handmaiden.
"I'll be right there."
++++++
Ich'im dropped from the pressure service hatch of the small cramped bay he had called home for the past few hours, the moment the Moonrise Trader set down. The ship's gravity moorings hadn't even been cast yet as his feet landed heavily on the deck and he pushed the hatch closed.
From the landing platform's far shadows, he waited and watched as the passengers began to disembark from the vessel. For most of those leaving the transport, Aure IV was their intended destination and they labored along with luggage or whatnot. For a few of them Aure was a momentary diversion while additional passengers and cargo were taken on.
For two, the stop was a desperate necessity to return to Coruscant.
Ich'im was rather well pleased to catch sight of the two Jedi as they exited the Trader; even from this distance the assassin could tell that Kenobi didn't look so good. His apprentice was fairly guiding him across the platform to seek return passage to the Jedi Temple.
"You're a little late, m'boy." He murmured softly. "But I'm sure he'll appreciate the effort."
With that he melted away, seeking his own way back; he was sure his employer was anxious to know the results of his handiwork.
++++++
Anakin steered his master toward the nearest shuttle-pod; there were other transport platforms nearby; surely one of them could be chartered back to Coruscant. Between Obi-Wan's limp and the shivering that swept through his frame despite the Jedi robe drawn tightly about him, keeping his master upright and moving was quite the task. Even though Anakin had a few inches' advantage in height, he was slighter of build and still possessed a rangy youthful awkwardness.
"Here, Master…" He guided Obi-Wan to one of the small cushioned benches that were located throughout the open area where a few scattered passengers waited for their scheduled transports. "Rest a minute while I try to get us something to Coruscant." Obi-Wan sat down slowly, wrapping his arms around himself in a futile effort to stop his shaking. "I'll be right back." Anakin reassured him as he stepped away toward one of the nearby kiosks to arrange their transportation home.
Home. Coruscant had always seemed so contrived to Obi-Wan. Like all Jedi candidates, he had been taken there at a very young age, too young to really remember his own family or homeworld very much. However he had always had the strong impression in the recesses of his mind that his place of birth had not been the most urbanized sector of his homeworld. While Coruscant had always been the location of his dwelling-place, the Jedi Temple, the only home he'd ever known or wanted to know, Obi-Wan had always suspected that the family who might have raised him were simpler folk than that. And that was all right with him; it left him with the imprint of awe at natural landscapes, where his Padawan was much more comfortable in the glowing neon of Coruscant's bustling heartbeat, preferring to leave the dusty memories of Tatooine behind.
Still. He would be glad to see the tall spires of the Temple when they arrived.
It was only a few minutes before his padawan returned, all business.
"W…wh…what did you…ff…find?" He managed to get out between bouts of shivering. Anakin pulled off his own robe and wrapped it around his master's shoulders before helping Obi-Wan back to his feet.
"It's a small Aurean ship, Master…not much more than a skip-ray really, but she's got enough for us to make Coruscant in half the time it took us to get out here on that bucket." Skywalker explained as he clasped Obi-Wan's left wrist and ducked his head long enough to drape his master's arm across his shoulders, placing his prosthetic arm at Obi-Wan's back. He didn't care if anybody stared; the artificial limb was stronger, supporting Obi-Wan a little more as Anakin directed his unsteady steps.
Somehow they made it to the shuttle-pod that had been their destination; Anakin gave the driver the location of their ship's landing platform as they entered, and steered his master to the closest seat available. Obi-Wan sank gratefully into it. He looked Anakin thought, even paler than before if that was possible and the young Jedi sent a cautious, comforting touch into the bond. He was met with tightly raised mental shields and perceived that to be a sign that Obi-Wan was hiding his discomfort. Master? Anakin inquired gently. It's all right; I know it hurts. Is it bad?
Obi-Wan felt the question, the careful worried mental touch. Without dropping the shields he had put into place, he simply nodded once. Truth be told, walking had been agonizing; sitting here holding his head upright was only slightly less so. The steady aching that had begun to spread throughout his body was rapidly becoming a searing haze; every movement hurt right down to his fingers and toes.
It's…tolerable.
The shuttle-pod detached from the landing platform, the slight lurch making Obi-Wan wince in spite of himself, his sudden soft gasp betraying his pain. Anakin's concerned expression deepened as he watched his master hunch forward slightly.
"I'll get you home, Master. You're going to be all right. I promise."
The journey to their destination was less than two standard minutes; most of the landing platforms on Aure IV were similar to those on Coruscant. Space wasn't nearly at such a premium here as it was on the capitol planet, but Aure's thriving tourist trade necessitated the most efficient ordering of its interplanetary travel.
The Aurean skip-ray Anakin had secured for them was actually a little larger than Obi-Wan had been expecting, given his padawan's description. As the shuttle-pod nestled up to the platform and docked, he slowly pulled himself to his feet. The Jedi fleetingly hoped, as his apprentice steadied him, that he didn't look like he felt; he felt as if he'd aged a hundred years in the span of a few hours, every joint and muscle protesting horribly as they made their way from the shuttle out towards the waiting skip-ray.
Slowly they made it across the landing platform and into the ship; Obi-Wan gritting his teeth and stubbornly placing one foot in front of the other. There was a single sleeping area aboard the vessel; Anakin carefully helped him to lie down on the small sleep couch and covered him with the lone blanket available, promising to get them to Coruscant quickly.
Obi-Wan nodded a little, closing his eyes almost immediately, the efforts of getting him from one ship to the other having tired him. It wasn't long before he felt the vibrations of the ship's engine; this was hardly a luxury ship and she felt like it. His thoughts became hazy despite his best efforts to focus, fever and exhaustion combining to muddle his mind. Something... Obi-Wan blinked a little; feeling as though something was slipping from his grasp but he wasn't sure exactly what it was… Belatedly he realized that his calm center, the one place he might have fled to try to fight, seemed to be just beyond his reach as he succumbed to his body's demands to be unaware and drifted into the beckoning darkness.
In the cockpit, Anakin ran the fastest preflight routine he'd ever made, preparing the ship for take-off. He kept a tight focus on his master; he felt Obi-Wan's slide toward unconsciousness and his throat tightened anxiously. Stay with me, Master. He thought desperately as he received the clearance for takeoff and guided the vessel quickly into Aure IV's atmosphere.
As the skip-ray climbed into the Aurean sky, Anakin quickly scanned over the communication unit. Like much of the ship, it was a little on the disused, possibly abused side but looked workable enough; the skip-ray was all Anakin had been able to afford with the amount of credits he'd had on hand. He had to get a message through to the Council, but it was possible that they were being tracked, traced or both. If someone wanted his master dead that badly, it was very conceivable that they were waiting for such a transmission to be made. Anakin thought a moment. He needed something unexpected, secured and reliable…
Padmé. I'll tell Padmé. The thought came to him as naturally as breathing and Anakin quickly moved to bring the communications unit to life, examining its cryptology systems. The Naboo senator's personal codes were one of several things Padmé had committed to him after their wedding and now Anakin was glad that he'd taken the time to memorize them.
Fiddling with a pair of circuits, he managed to bring the scrambler unit online and he quickly established a secure link to the Hall of Naboo on Coruscant. Slapping another switch he brought the holocam unit to life. Time was of the essence, so he knew he could not wait for an acknowledgement by receiver code and he quickly keyed in a timestamp. Clearing his throat lightly as the ship entered the blackness of space, he began to speak.
"Padmé."
++++++
Padmé slipped into the small closed-circuit room that received all secure transmissions from the main communications center and keyed in her personal code. Voiceprint and retina scan confirmed her identity and a moment later a small holo-image was displayed.
"Ani…" She breathed out as the image of her husband flickered into life before her, even though this was a send-only message and he could not hear her.
"Padmé." His voice and expression were strained and she instantly knew something was wrong. She checked the timestamp on the message; nearly an hour ago. How had they missed this transmission? "I'm sending this coded because I don't know if we're being traced. I need you to take a message to the Council and to the Chancellor. We're just leaving Aure Four…our mission to Uleare has been sabotaged. Tell the Council that Master Obi-Wan has been poisoned and we're on our way back to Coruscant. Tell them to have a healer meet us on the platform…He's…" Anakin swallowed hard. "He's in bad shape, Padmé…really sick. I have to go; I'm about to make the jump to lightspeed. I'll see you soon."
The transmission flickered out, and Padmé stood still a moment in shock. Master Kenobi, poisoned? Oh, gods no… Erasing the memory crystal that contained the message, Padmé gathered up her things and rushed from the room.
"Sabé!" She called out and the handmaiden appeared from seemingly nowhere. "I need a transport; we have to go to the Jedi Temple. Hurry!"
++++++
"The battle is joined."
Mace Windu's voice, as serious as ever, penetrated the relative quiet of the Council chamber.
"Hmm…" Yoda nodded once, his vision not totally faded from his memory, knowing that their next test would be on those bloody fields. "Informed us, the Chancellor did, a distress signal from Varix received has been. Invaded by the Separatists they are." The Jedi Master's voice was as heavy as his expression; the suffering he had been made aware of by the Force was now a fact and the deadly ground had finally given up a name.
"Varix?" Master Adi Gallia steepled her fingers and drew her features into a mild frown. "Hardly a Core World of import…what does the Coalition have to gain by striking there first?"
"Resources." Even Piell spoke next, his voice grave. "Varix is a fairly simple world, easily controlled and rich in resources. The Coalition knows that it will not long survive with battledroids at the heart of its armies; the Varixians will be ripe targets for forced conscription."
"Sense this I do." Yoda agreed with a small tap of his gimer stick. "A foothold only Varix is, but allow their destruction we cannot. Sending a task force, the Chancellor is."
"And if we are being drawn into the battle as we were at Geonosis?" Depa Billaba was next to speak, her voice soft but with an edge of concern that echoed that of the other masters present. "We must choose wisely who goes with that taskforce. Dooku's loss to the Dark Side means his intentions are clear; darkness always seeks to swallow light. We must know exactly what his happening on Varix if the battle there is to be won."
Billaba's meaning was crystal-clear; the Council had long been concerned with their diminished ability to see into the Force, an ability that was critical if they were to not only to aid the Republic in this burgeoning war but if they were simply to survive as an Order. Too many Jedi already had been slain as the darkness rose; Geonosis had taken a terrible toll.
"Correct you are." Yoda affirmed. "Cautious and wise we must be if see this through we will. What say you?" The question was directed at Ki-Adi-Mundi, along with an expression that prompted a response.
"I suggest that all field teams that have not already been called in should be…and furthermore I suggest that a single Council member and a Knight be dispatched to Varix. Intelligence is our aim and two might secure that more quickly and easily than a larger team. They can act as advisors to the taskforce as well; the team sent should be well-versed in tactics and strategy."
"Agree with you I do." Yoda nodded, casting his glance to the others, awaiting further opinions to be expressed. And they were; the manner of the Council was to come to as much of a consensus as possible regarding the will of the Force, each of the members listening to its prompting within and speaking what they heard along with their opinions of what should be done in response to those messages.
"It seems prudent." Adi offered, making a sweeping sort of gesture with one hand. "Our numbers are such that we must pick our battles wisely. But we must know what is happening on the front that has been presented to us."
"Send who will we?" Yaddle inquired softly. She was not the most vocal of the Council, but when she spoke it was usually to the point.
"Dangerous this assignment will be." Yoda stressed as he looked at his fellow Jedi. "Use caution we must, for a servant of darkness Dooku has become. Take them he will if an opportunity he receives."
It was a sad admission, one they had not wanted to believe in, that the former Jedi was lost to them, governed by the Dark Side but it was indisputable after Geonosis. That Dooku had practically single-handedly torn the Republic in two in forming this separatist force was bad enough…that he had betrayed and killed many Jedi in the process was nearly unfathomable. That he was using his training to destroy a world was unbearable.
"I think that—" Mace Windu had begun to speak, when the door opened abruptly and a young page, an Initiate, hurried into their midst—followed by Senator Amidala. "Zaren?" Windu's question went to the page first, although his gaze was fully set upon Padmé Amidala and her determined expression.
"Master, forgive the interruption, but the Senator says she has an important message for the Council…about Uleare."
Yoda's decision to dispatch Kenobi and Skywalker to the Uleare moons had gone undisputed by the other Council members as diminutive Jedi master had predicted; despite the current stresses that faced them, all had wanted an answer to the deaths of Master Varou and her padawan-learner and had conceded that while the two recovering Jedi were at something of a disadvantage physically, Obi-Wan Kenobi was an astute Knight and would pursue the investigation with an eye to detail.
However, involvement from the outside—and in particular this involvement by the Senator from Naboo—was unexpected. Yoda regarded the senator for a long moment before nodding in her direction.
"Speak she must, go now you can, Zaren."
"Yes, Master." Zaren bowed deferentially and made his escape, leaving Padmé standing in the midst of the meeting she had gate-crashed. For a moment there was silence; Padmé suddenly understood why Ani sometimes felt nervous standing before them all. She cleared her throat lightly after a time, however and focused her attention on Masters Yoda and Windu, as she knew them the best of all the Council.
"Information about Uleare, you say?" Yoda prompted a little, leaning forward in his seat, his hands crossed over the ever-present gimer stick.
"Yes." Padmé finally found her voice, and pressed on with her mission. "I received a coded transmission from Anakin Skywalker; it was sent almost two hours ago now, but I only received it a short while before coming here. He requested that I come to inform you that their mission to Uleare has been compromised and that Master Kenobi has been…attacked. He—"
"Attacked?" Mace Windu leaned forward now, his expression reflective of the concern that rippled through the rest of the Council.
"Yes…Anakin believes it to be a toxin of some sort; they are on their way back to Coruscant from Aure IV and requested that a healer meet them on the landing platform when they arrive."
There. The message had been delivered. So why was she trembling?
"Why did he not contact us directly?" Windu asked, and Padmé met his gaze.
"He said he thought they might be under a trace."
"Sense I do that trustworthy young Skywalker considers you to be." Yoda confirmed, nodding a little. "Safe with you his message would be so trust you with it he did."
"This is most unfortunate." Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke up, and there was a compassionate note to his voice. "We thank you for your assistance, Senator."
It had a note of dismissal in it, but Padmé remained standing in the center of that circle. They might be able to order Anakin to leave but she was not a Jedi, and they could not command her in the same way.
"Honorable masters…" She said, using their titles for diplomacy's sake. "I request that I be there to meet them with you."
"Unusual this is." Yoda said at length, and the green-skinned master regarded her curiously. "But no harm in it I see. Granted this is."
"Thank you, Master Yoda." Padmé answered sincerely.
"Have Zaren take you to the gardens; we will send for you when they are on approach." Mace Windu said now, and the young senator nodded, acquiescing to the end of the discussion since they were giving her what she'd asked for. She withdrew to speak with the Initiate who still waited outside the door for her, and Mace looked down at Yoda.
"Disturbing this is." Yoda commented quietly. "Look into it we must; for more than meets the eye I sense."
"And Varix?" Adi Gallia spoke up. "What is to be done?"
The venerable Jedi Master closed his eyes, seeking, listening, and desperately trying to divine what action should be taken. Finally he opened them and fixed them on Adi herself.
"Go to Varix you must, Master Gallia. A Knight of your choosing you will take. Seek the answers we must have and report to us you must."
Adi was on her feet instantly; she was not one for wasting much time and even if the Council had other matters to discuss, they could do so easily enough without her presence.
"I'll take Master Unduli with me. Her intelligence missions are always good, and her instincts are sharp." Adi informed them. "And…should it come to being in the thick of battle, her 'saber skills are exceptional."
"Very good." Mace nodded in approval; Luminara Unduli was one of the most talented Jedi in the Order. "May the Force be with you."
As Master Gallia swept from the Council chamber, her robe trailing gracefully around her ankles, Yoda sighed heavily, the weight of the galaxy pressing on his 800-year old spirit.
"The Force, with us all, may it be."