DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.
Anakin was pulled roughly to his feet. He stumbled along behind the Emperor, struggling to regain his balance. His hands had gone numb a while ago due to the tightness of the cuffs and his shoulders were aching. It was nothing he couldn't deal with though. The pain from those months of torture had been much worse. His threshold for pain had grown but no matter how many times the cuff shocked him, he would never get used to it.
He could hear the reporters calling out questions, demanding statements but Palpatine never turned back or slowed his pace. They entered the Senate, walking in silence. Palpatine mostly ignored the men who bowed respectfully as he passed. Anakin could feel their eyes on him as he followed closely behind the Emperor.
It wasn't long before they were in Palpatine's office. It was exactly the same as the last time Anakin had been in here. Palpatine walked them straight over to his desk where he sat down with a sigh. Anakin was practically forced to his knees by the short length of chain.
Without a word, Emperor Palpatine started shuffling datapads and sorting through holodisks. He had been away from Coruscant for too long and he hadn't been able to take care of everything from on his ship. Most of the datapads were unimportant messages from other Senators while the holodisks were more important. He had a lot to catch up on.
For a few hours the Emperor worked through all his backlogged paperwork. Anakin's knees were sore from kneeling in one position and his arms were numb from being locked behind him. He didn't move though, nor did he say a word. He knew better.
He didn't know where Padme had been taken after that press conference or what was happening to her but he knew it couldn't be good. The Emperor didn't need her the way he seemed to need Anakin and now that he was under Palpatine's control completely, he doubted that he would even keep her alive. Terror rose up within him as he realised Padme's uselessness in the Emperor's plan now. Surely Palpatine wouldn't kill her! A silent tear rolled down his cheek because he knew that the Emperor would. Without a doubt.
Consumed by his fear for Padme's life, Anakin didn't notice Palpatine's angered cry until the Sith pushed himself to his feet. The leash pulled taut, yanking Anakin off balance and causing him to fall against the Emperor's leg. With an impatient shove, Palpatine pushed him away.
"Cinders!" the Emperor shouted.
As Anakin struggled onto his knees again, a burly Senator who was built like a house, entered. He bowed to the Emperor.
"Yes Emperor?"
"Why was I not informed of this?"
The Emperor held out a datapad. Senator Cinders took it hesitantly. He scanned it quickly. Anakin kept his eyes down but he was curious too. His head was lifted only high enough that he could see the Senator on the other side of the desk, but he wouldn't risk anything higher. Not while he was chained to the Emperor's belt.
Cinders cast Anakin a quick glance before straightening to stand before the Emperor.
"The Senate deemed it not important enough in light of your recent escapade. The majority of Senators have it in their heads that the members are only minor ones and that it is just a coincidence. They believe that they somehow found out about your absence from Coruscant and decided that it would be their best chance at infiltrating us," Cinders explained.
"Meer days after the leader of the Resistance is captured, a small group of them just happen to sneak on Coruscant and none of the Senators found this suspicious?" Palpatine asked.
A thrill ran through Anakin as he realised what they were talking about. The Emperor's voice was calm but Anakin had spent enough time with him in the past month to recognise the anger boiling beneath the surface. Apparently, so could Senator Cinders.
"Sire, I tried to make them see sense but you know how stubborn Senators can be. The longer serving Senators are set in their ways and have grown complacent. They believe..."
Suddenly Cinders started choking. His eyes widened as realisation and panic set in. He coughed and spluttered, his fingers clawing at the invisible hand around his throat.
"I don't want excuses Senator. Bring me whoever is leading the hunt for these Resistance members."
Cinders nodded and then breathed in deeply as he was released. He bowed again and nearly ran backwards out of the office.
The Emperor shook his head. He turned to Anakin.
"You just can't get good help these days."
Anakin didn't move. He wasn't really listening. His mind was still turning over the information he had just learnt.
Resistance members on Coruscant!
A small glimmer of hope ignited within Anakin. Since Palpatine had taken over Coruscant, the Resistance had been struggling to get their people onto the planet. The whole planet was on lockdown, security and surveillance tighter than anything they had encountered before. Anakin, Ferus and Obi Wan had been working hard on figuring out a way to get onto the planet for months. Obviously they had found a way.
A small smile touched his lips. Only Obi Wan would be smart enough to figure it out and only Ferus would be stupid enough to go along with his ideas. He didn't see how that would help him...
Next thing he knew, Anakin's cuff flared to life and he was lying flat on his back, writhing. The scream was choked off in his throat as the collar tightened around his neck, not helped in the least by the short taut leash. His muscles were cramping and the twitch was back. He tried to redirect his thoughts from rescue and escape to anything but.
Palpatine watched his young captive as he thrashed around. He knew how Anakin would react to the news of his comrades being near and he had not been disappointed.
Anakin regained control over the cuff. He lay still for a few moments, trying to catch his breath and relax his muscles. He didn't get to rest long before Palpatine was standing again and his collar was digging into the back of his neck.
With great difficulty Anakin managed to get himself onto his knees. Palpatine stepped in front of his prisoner.
"You know who the Resistance members are?" he asked. "Who is here? Are they here for you or was it indeed a coincidence?"
Anakin didn't move. He knew this was only a small part of why Palpatine was keeping him alive – information. Anakin was one of the leaders of the Resistance and his knowledge on everything they were up to would be very valuable to the Emperor. But Anakin didn't want to tell him anything.
He gasped as the warning spark escaped from the cuff. His hand went numb as the tingle spread up his arm. His right hand clenched into a fist. He swallowed.
"Please..." Anakin whispered.
Palpatine's eyes narrowed in anger.
The cuff activated fully. Palpatine watched emotionlessly as Anakin thrashed at his feet. He could see the collar tightening viciously around his throat. Anakin's face had already turned red and was slowly going blue now. His mouth gaped as he struggled to draw breath into his starving lungs. Palpatine continued to watch, waiting until Anakin's eyes started to close and consciousness began to leave him.
The cuff didn't deactivate until Anakin was fully unconscious. He was lying on his bound hands, body twitching occasionally. It was only moments after the collar loosened its hold that Anakin awoke. A coughing fit wracked his body.
While he was still fighting back the pain in his muscles, an invisible hand grabbed his throat. As it squeezed Anakin was lifted to his feet and then higher. His feet dangling a foot above the floor and struggling once again to breathe, Anakin had to force himself to keep his eyes away from Palpatine's face.
There was a knock on the door, a soft sound that seemed to boom in the silence.
"Enter," Palpatine said, his Force choke hold not wavering.
Maxon Codi, a Mandalorean bounty hunter who had trained under the eye of both Jango and Bobba Fett, entered. His helmet was tucked under one arm and his blaster holstered in his belt. He didn't look like anything special; standing at just six foot with dark hair and dark eyes, but his lean body was strong and fast. An easily, and often, misjudged opponent, Codi was as lethal with his hands as he was with his blaster.
"Your Eminence?" Codi bowed low.
"You are the one leading the hunt for the Resistance members?" Palpatine asked.
Codi straightened and stood to attention before answering. "Yes sir."
"Tell me what you know."
Codi took in Anakin's weakly struggling bound form in silence before answering. The Emperor was a powerful man and he wasn't going to incite his wrath in the same way as Anakin.
"They arrived only days after you left Coruscant but they managed to evade detection for at least two months. It was one of my men who discovered them. He was patrolling in the markets down in the lower levels when he came across two of their numbers. Sculli, the man who found them, had had a run in with both of these men before. One of them is a Clone, the other an average looking human but Sculli recognised him from the scar on his forearm. He was the one who put it there after all," Codi reported. Anakin thought he sounded smug, almost proud of his man. "Sculli tailed him for a while but lost them in the crowds. A few days later the Clone was spotted with a Togrutan female. We believe there are more of them but we are still working on finding their hideout."
Palpatine tightened his grip slightly. "Now your turn. Don't hesitate this time."
Anakin swallowed. I'm sorry Ben, Ferus but I can't help you. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold back the information for long but that didn't mean he would reveal more than he had to.
"The Clones' name is Rex," he began softly. Palpatine loosened his hold so Anakin could talk easily.
"How did he bypass my orders?" the Emperor demanded.
Anakin tried to shrug. "We're not sure. Rex keeps to himself but we know it took a lot out of him to resist Order 66. He isolated himself for a year before he felt it safe for him to return. Then he joined us straight away. He's one of our best and has shown only loyalty to our cause."
When Palpatine didn't say anything Anakin continued to reveal the identities of his comrades.
"The man with the scar is Pieter Gorvus and the female..." Anakin barely believed this one himself but he couldn't think of any Resistance members who were Togrutan. "I think it is my old padawan Ahsoka Tano."
"You think?"
Anakin nodded. "She is not a part of the Resistance. In fact I haven't seen her in many years, since before the end of the Clone Wars probably but I know that we have been keeping an eye out for her location. We were trying to gather as many Jedi or potential Jedi as we could find before your troupes got to them."
"How many more of them are there?"
"I don't know Master," Anakin replied.
"Your best guess then. I need an idea on numbers pet."
"It is highly likely that either Obi Wan Kenobi or Ferus Olin will be with them. On high risk missions, which any trip to Coruscant would be considered, one of us would always go with them."
"Is this a rescue mission?"
Anakin shivered at the thought. "Most probably."
The Force hold disappeared and Anakin dropped to the ground. He just barely managed to keep himself on his feet.
"Codi, you will come with us. There is much we need to discuss."
With that Palpatine started walking out of his office, Anakin still attached to his belt and a Mandalorean bounty hunter swaggering along behind them both.
Okay readers, I have a dilemma. I have a lot more in store for this story but at the moment I am tossing up between making it a long story or making it with a sequel. What are your opinions on this? Thanks!