Author - LexLuthor13
.net/u/359048/LexLuthor13
Anakin,
Of course I am always grateful to receive your letters but I must say, please do not as they say 'beat yourself up' over these correspondences; I do enjoy them so. Please recall that I am never too busy for your concerns, Anakin. You always have my ear, and I do hope I have yours. Now then, to this Obi-Wan business. You mustn't blame Master Kenobi for his lack of vision. He is a Jedi, straight and true. Of this I have no doubt, but you must also remember that he above all serves the Jedi Council. Their whim is his and it behooves him to follow it. This is the cornerstone of civic duty on which our great Republic is founded. Master Kenobi is doing what he believes is right. He is following protocol, which from the sound of things seems to involve directing his investigation of Dooku and the Separatists toward you.
I have no doubt that this letter, this diary found among the effects of Vice-Secretary Rune Haako, was a forgery--a skillful facsimile meant to pry eyes away from the real danger lurking behind this war--or, if you prefer another term, political secession. I daresay someone is out to get you, or perhaps even test you. I have said it many times before, Anakin, and it always bears repeating: you are the most gifted Jedi I know. You have great power and great wisdom, but if you are not open to the experience of using either, they will destroy you. You must clear your mind of the lies, the half-truths, the obfuscations, and focus on the truth in front of you. I would not venture to say 'walk in fear of the Council', for none should. Merely conduct your business as you always have. If you are brave, if you stand, an if you are true, then you have nothing to hide. Let the Council's spies follow you in their caprice. When they find nothing, let them draw their own conclusion, but do not confront them. That would serve no constructive purpose. Now, onto other matters.
It is the regrettable truth that some unknown assailant, no doubt working for the Separatists and under the guise of a political assassination, bombed Senator Amidala's star cruiser. I have read through the security report given me by her Captain of Security, Typho, and concluded as much. I do not think Master Kenobi would fabricate something of that magnitude, knowing as he does your closeness to the Senator, unless it were the truth. Neither I have heard suggestions from my circle or the Jedi Council regarding protection for Senator Amidala. Please be assured that I will certainly keep your name in mind when I speak to the Loyalist Committee later this day.
In the meantime, I do wish you luck as you progress with your studies. I'm certain they are quite the challenge, though I must confess the Jedi system of trial and tribulation is foreign to me.
Perhaps Master Kenobi is waiting for some sign. On the world of Hypori, the natives have a particular phrase for such a mindset--'when the stars align', they believe, miracles happen for an individual. I believe such things are in store for you, Anakin. I hope your stars align sooner rather than later. You deserve it.
As to the matter of Count Dooku, who held the hereditary title on the world of Serenno before he became a Jedi, I indeed knew him once. I say 'knew' because I suspect the Dooku that now heads the Confederacy and the Dooku I knew as a mere Senator are not the same man. In his HoloNet broadcasts and his propaganda, he seems changed. More machine than man; his words twisted and sympathetic, his voice particularly hypnotic. He has become a dark wizard of rhetoric and his manipulations are many. If his purported connection to the Sith re true by any extent, we should be rightly wary. Were it not for my unflagging believe in the democratic fundament of this government, I admit that I might be swayed. Such is the power of strong ideas when given strong agency, Anakin.
Some years ago, just around the time of Master C'Baoth's failed 'Outbound Flight' expedition, a wise man once told me that all thoughts were worth listening to, whether they were to be judged later to have any merit or not. I do not know if I believe that, but I do know in my heart that it behooves us as men of action and of reason to reach out to Dooku. To put it in an idiom you might understand more clearly, clemency is a virtue. Reaching out to Dooku for parley and a cessation of hostilities ('before things get really ugly', in the Hyporian parlance), might even be the Jedi way. To answer your query, then, yes: I do believe Dooku is essential to winning this war. I believe he can still come back to the Republic that I have no doubt he loves. At the same time we must temper our thoughts of vengeance, or hate, or retribution.
Viceroy Gunray and his staff have indeed filtered through our system many times, always slipping through the holes in the system--holes for which Dooku expresses a simultaneous contempt and envy, I believe. However, we would be greatly remiss to simply charge onto Cato Neimoidia or Utapau or even Raxus Prime or wherever Dooku has headquartered his movement and simply kill them. We are, as I said earlier, men of action, but we must also be men of reason. This is the most important function of the Republic: to safeguard the temperance and latitude of freedom we enjoy. Perhaps you are right, though, that the Neimoidian command cannot be trusted. Mistrust and suspicion are certainly human nature, and even rightly virtues when applied in the right quarters. But we mustn't let them blind our other faculties. And on a lighter note, speaking as one utterly out of the loop as they say on matters Jedi or Sith, I suspect Viceroy Gunray knows even less. But we mustn't tarry on matters of judgment or accusation. Time is an ally, a vessel in which we fly and we are all companions on the journey. Let us speak more of right and wrong later, shall we?
Now is the time to be whatever you wish to be, Anakin. For my own part I wish you luck in your search. You have been a faithful companion and I could not ask for a more precocious or astute young pupil. To think of you as a son indeed brings warm feelings to my heart, though I must confess it dates me as well. Please do not think I am quite ready to enter the gerontological beyond quite yet, Anakin; it's a big galaxy and I still have a lot of living left to do.
As I hope you do.
Warmest personal regards,
--P.
Part 2
Anakin,
In light of certain developments with the Loyalist Committee of which I'm sure you're aware, I wanted to follow-up with you on the matter regarding Senator Amidala's personal safety
A toxic dart, you say? My, what a particularly insalubrious end. We should be so lucky that Senator Amidala was spared that gruesomeness. It is also regrettable that the bounty hunter who I assume launched the attack was lost and so unable to be questioned. Such are the many and manifold dangers of the galaxy in which we live.
I am pleased to hear that you were indeed assigned to protect the Senator. I trust it will be a problem-free task, and I am glad the Council seems to have taken my advice. It is a welcome change.
Now, to Senator Amidala: I will talk with her. She will not refuse an executive order, I know her well enough to assure you of that. As a matter of fact, in the course of my dictation of this letter I've just instructed my aide Sate Pestage to schedule her for this afternoon.
Yet I feel your words convey great fear, great tremulous doubt, Anakin and I hope I have not caused it unduly in any way. In point of fact, on receipt of this letter I implore you to come visit. It has been some time, I think, since we last met in person and I would very much like to see how you have grown. You are an excellent Jedi and a fine young man; you need not fear for Padme's safety. As her new Jedi guardian, I'm certain of two things. One, that she is now in the most careful of hands. Two, that your mother would be proud of everything you are doing and everything you have become.
In the meantime, I shall await your visit.
Fondest personal regards,
--P.