Well, I did it. A second regular update! Fun fact: I wrote this entire chapter, all 5,500 words of it, in one day. After not updating APSCF for two years. I'm still not sure how. Anyways, I've been wanting to write this chapter for a long time, and I loved every minute of actually doing it. Enjoy the story, and don't forget to leave a review.
WHO SAW THE CLONE WARS SEASON SEVEN TRAILER? HYPE.
Chapter 25: A Senator's Last Stand
The Senate was anxious. Ahsoka could sense it from outside the building, and the feeling only got stronger as she sat in their pod and watched the Rotunda fill up. There was little chatter; everyone seemed to be waiting on a knife's edge. Riyo was included in that—she had been so nervous as to be bordering on irritable all day long, and she wasn't any better now that the session was about to begin.
"Palpatine couldn't have picked a worse time for an emergency session," Riyo muttered. "There's too many senators still away at their home planets. I don't like this at all."
She was right. As Ahsoka looked around, she could see a large number of pods that were empty when they should've been occupied by now, and there was an even greater number that had only a senator's hologram for an inhabitant. Palpatine's entrance was just minutes away.
"So what happens if there's a vote?" she asked. "Is it legal to do that? If there's not enough people here?"
Riyo shook her head. "It's quite illegal, but who knows? For all we know, Palpatine might make it legal today." Her datapad went off, and she looked down. "Sorry, I need to reply to this. It's from Senator Amidala. This'll be a minute."
Riyo started typing, and Ahsoka let her gaze wander around the Rotunda again. Her eyes came to rest on the Jedi pod where, as always, Windu and Yoda watched impassively. Suddenly, Yoda's gaze swung towards her. Ahsoka blinked, resisting the urge to turn away from his gaze. It seemed as if his eyes were boring straight into her visor. She steeled herself, straightening up. Yoda knew it was her. But even so, Ahsoka's face, hidden under her blue Senate Guard helmet, was invisible to him. It was comforting.
Finally he looked away again without a change in demeanor, and Ahsoka gave an internal sigh of relief. Kriff, he could get so damned creepy sometimes. It was something that she was noticing more and more the longer she was out of the Order. There were a lot of things in the Order that no longer made any sense to her at all, but Yoda was the starkest example. He'd gone from a wise leader to an overconfident and unreasonable totalitarian. Then there was Windu, whose transformation in her eyes was less extreme but still noticeable. Once the powerful and decisive fighter, his arrogance and his tendency to jump to conclusions were a lot harder to ignore now that she was an outsider. Either way, those protestors outside the Jedi Temple didn't seem so far off from reality anymore, that was for sure.
She forced her attention away from the Jedi and returned to scanning the Rotunda. Although she didn't expect anything inside the Senate Building, her mind was always considering security threats. Jorys and Edose were still absent, but according to Riyo, they would be returning any day now. As for now, that meant that Ahsoka's duties had essentially tripled. She'd gotten less rest in the last few days combined than she had gotten during one night of the Corellian mission. She could've been doing better.
The sound of an echoing chime interrupted her thoughts, and she refocused her attention on the center of the Rotunda, where the Chancellor's podium was rising out of the floor. The Senate fell into a deathly silence. Palpatine stood on the podium, his expression revealing nothing. As the podium rose to its full height, he turned in a slow circle, observing the Rotunda. As all noise had stopped as soon as Palpatine appeared, Mas Amedda skipped over his usual call for order. Instead, he simply nodded to Palpatine, who briefly fussed with a stack of flimsi before beginning to speak.
"My honored delegates and colleagues in the Senate," he began. At once, Ahsoka knew something was going to happen. His voice was grave, and full of more concern than she'd ever heard it.
"I have called this emergency session of the Senate not to ask you to take action, but to inform you of a decision that I have made. I began this war with the Confederacy of Independent Systems because I knew that letting this rogue state continue to exist would mean unprecedented strife and lawlessness in the galaxy. And three years later, I am proud to say that we have doggedly worn down the Confederacy to the point that it cannot endure much longer in its current state. It has lost over half of its territory, and the territory that it does hold is under constant siege from the Republic. The industrial might of the Republic far outstrips anything the Separatists can bring to bear; if all else fails, we will bring the Separatists back into the Republic through sheer force alone."
So far, this was nothing that Ahsoka hadn't already heard. It sounded almost exactly like the situation that the war had been in when she'd left the Order. Except for the part about sheer force alone. That worried her, because that meant an even longer war. A war of attrition was the last thing she wanted.
"However, our impending success should not be a cause for any kind of complacency. And I worry that I have begun to see complacency, both in the Jedi generals fighting our battles in the Outer Rim, the governing bodies in charge of recaptured worlds, and even in the general populace." Palpatine paused, before adding, "But perhaps I have found the most complacency in this legislative body." He punctuated his point with one of his trademark sweeping glances around the chamber, sending a cutting glare toward anyone his eyes passed over.
Ahsoka felt a wave of anger roll off Riyo.
"The failure of the Senate to enact any strong action for our newly conquered Outer Rim territories has resulted in numerous disastrous reverses for us both on and off the battlefield," Palpatine continued. "First the fall of Mygeeto, Felucia, and Saleucami, which two months ago we believed would soon be in Republic hands. Those three planets are the key to a speedy Republic victory, and yet the Separatist resistance has completely pushed Republic forces off these planets and so fiercely contested their systems to the point that for the foreseeable future, I do not believe we will recapture any of those three planets. And the hyperspace lanes which they guard that are imperative to our victory will remain untouched by Republic ships. Action must be taken if we are to have any hope of ending this war within the year."
He paused, and a murmur spread through the Senate. Ahsoka cast a sideways glance at Riyo and saw that she was clutching her datapad so tightly that the duraplast was deforming.
"No," Riyo whispered. "No. Don't do it."
Of course, Palpatine couldn't hear Riyo's words, and so he went on: "And then there is the matter of what happened on Corellia."
Riyo jumped to her feet—silently, but the senators in the pods immediately surrounding them noticed it. Riyo ignored their stares as she shot to the front of their pod, leaned over the rim, and fixed an intent gaze on Palpatine. Ahsoka could see a look of dawning horror on her face.
"The Corellian uprising utterly blindsided the civilian government, and now a large part of Coronet City lies in shambles. There are no answers for what happened, only burdensome questions. Tell me," Palpatine said, his voice rising slightly, "How did a fully formed and operative Separatist cell take root on Corellia, one of the beating hearts of the Republic? How did they manage to steal technical secrets with such incredible ease? How did they manage to assemble a droid army under the nose of a loyal populace?"
"Because there was a karking Sith there, you fool," Riyo muttered. "Do you think there's a Sith running around on every karking backwater planet?"
"There is no legislative action that can prepare for such a threat, effectively prevent it, or defend against it. No, what is needed for such a situation is a discerning eye, a capable individual who can assess any threat and make split-second decisions that they have the power to carry out. We need administrative individuals such as those installed around the galaxy to avoid chaos in the coming months. The Confederacy may be dying, but a dying animal lashes out in the most unexpected ways."
A looming dread built up in Ahsoka as she realized what was coming—what the Chancellor was about to do.
"I already brought a proposal for such a plan before this body, but that proposal was rejected—a decision that I hope you now see the consequences of."
The brief spike in the Chancellor's emotions had subsided, and he spoke with complete calm again. "I believe that if put to a vote, the Senate would vote the right way on the same bill, but I cannot legally bring a vote before the Senate today due to the large number of absences. Instead, I am invoking the executive powers vested in me by emergency order of the Senate at the start of this war. I am issuing the Sector Governance Decree—"
Democracy's judgment day had come again.
"No," Riyo said, her voice louder. "No."
"—which does not differ in any way from the previously proposed Sector Governance Bill. This act will provide the Republic with the stability it desperately needs. I have already signed the decree into law with members of the Senate as my witness, and I—"
Several things happened at once. Ahsoka felt a burst of Force energy from next to her, and something went whizzing by her head. Just as she turned to see the unidentified object, she was thrown backwards, nearly falling to the floor of the pod. She didn't realize what had happened until she heard Riyo's voice booming throughout the Rotunda.
"Chancellor, you are lying to the Republic."
Blinking, Ahsoka steadied herself, and realized that their pod was now floating in the open space of the Rotunda. The thing that had gone flying by her head was one of the holorecording droids—pulled there by Riyo with the Force, she realized belatedly. And Riyo stood alone at the front of the pod, addressing the entire Senate. At her words, a shocked murmur spread through the Senate.
"The uprising on Corellia was an isolated incident, and you cannot use that as an excuse to justify installing martial law across the galaxy!"
"Senator Chuchi!" Abruptly, the Chancellor's voice was thunderous. "If you have any quarrels, you must raise them in a less incendiary fashion!"
"There is nothing incendiary about what I say, Chancellor!" Riyo snapped. "You are the one who is setting democracy aflame in pursuit of some nonexistent perfect war!"
A rising tide of shouts began to echo through the Rotunda, creating a din that even the Chancellor struggled to make himself heard over. Whether the shouts were in favor of Riyo or Palpatine, Ahsoka couldn't tell.
"Senator Chuchi, unless you desist such behavior, I will motion for an immediate censure upon you!" Palpatine said.
At those words, the shouting in the chamber grew even louder; it was positively a war of words now. The cacophony seemed to favor neither side. Instead, it seemed as if it was simply an outburst of nervous energy, bottled up from the last two weeks of inaction after Corellia as political factions braced for conflict, and now, with Riyo as the trigger, they were releasing it all as one great wave of sound.
"Order! ORDER! ORDER, I SAY!" Mas Amedda had joined in the shouting, but his demands were futile. Nothing would placate either side of the Senate now. Riyo stood there amidst the chaos, her face deathly pale and her mouth set in a resolute line. However, pure, roiling anger darkened the Force around her.
Ahsoka, by now recovered from her shock, was searching for anything. This was dangerously close to becoming a mob without a cause, and if that happened, Riyo might've very well been the first target in mind for some less scrupulous senator. The Chancellor's decision was horrible, but she was no longer interested in giving Riyo a platform to speak. Safety was the only thing on her mind now. She reached forward and pulled Riyo towards the back of the pod.
"What are you DOING?" she hissed to Riyo, looking for the switch that would send the pod back out of the center. Finding it, she pulled it hard. "You can't just—"
The pod smacked into the dock, and now out of the focus of the Rotunda, Riyo turned to Ahsoka, her eyes glittering with rage, and lost all composure.
"He's doing it. He's murdering the Republic in the name of furthering his own power," she snarled. "Nothing is too extreme for him or for us now."
"Riyo—"
"Chi Cho. Just like Chi Cho," she spat. "The exact same methods, down to the letter. Palpatine is a criminal."
Before Ahsoka could respond, the pitch of the noise changed, and she turned back to the Rotunda to see Palpatine's podium descending back into the floor. The session had been adjourned.
Riyo, noticing it as well, whipped around. "Let's go," she said, smacking the button to open the exit.
Ahsoka jumped forward. "Wait, where are we—"
"The Chancellor's office," Riyo said, stalking forwards. "I'm sure he'll be expecting me."
She set a frighteningly fast pace, pushing past bewildered senators and ignoring anyone that attempted to speak to her. It wasn't until she'd stopped at the turbolifts at the end of the hall that Ahsoka managed to catch up to her.
"Riyo, please, you're not thinking clearly right now—" she tried desperately. She really did not want Riyo to get arrested right now.
Riyo stabbed at the turbolift buttons. "The one who's not thinking clearly is the Chancellor," she growled.
The turbolift arrived too quickly, and Riyo stepped on before turning to look at Ahsoka.
"Well?" she asked. "I'm going to see him. Are you?"
Ahsoka hesitated briefly, considering the consequences of walking in on Palpatine at this moment, and then stepped on. Riyo was in too deep. Might as well join her.
As soon as the doors closed and they began their descent to the Chancellor's offices, Riyo closed her eyes. Her entire demeanor changed, and she seemed to shrink in on herself—the very Force seemed to shrink around her, and her breathing quickened.
"Riyo, are you—" Ahsoka stopped yet again as Riyo opened her eyes, and her Force presence exploded outward again, a new determination filling her. She turned to face Ahsoka, her face flushed indigo.
"I am not okay," Riyo said. "I will not be okay until the Chancellor fixes this horrendous mistake."
And with that, the turbolift doors opened. A long hallway greeted them. A series of doors were arrayed along the walls, but only one at the other end of the hall had the Chancellor's red guards posted at it. There were two of them, and they raised their electrostaffs in a warning gesture as Riyo bore down on them.
"The Chancellor is waiting to see me," Riyo declared, not slowing down. Her voice vibrated in the Force in a way that made Ahsoka pause. And then, amazingly, the guards moved aside.
Ahsoka blinked. Was that… Force suggestion from Riyo? She would have to worry about that later, though, because a much more dire situation confronted her as she followed Riyo into the Chancellor's office. The Chancellor was indeed there, behind his desk. And sitting in a seat across from him was none other than Cara Tebathia, the Alsakanian senator that Ahsoka had a score to settle with.
Palpatine stood up, displaying no notion of surprise as he did so. "Senator Chuchi," he said smoothly. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Save it, Your Excellency," Riyo snapped. "You know why I'm here. You have just singlehandedly put an end to the Republic's greatest period of peace and democracy."
Unexpectedly, it was Tebathia who made the reply. "What are you going on about, Chuchi? The Republic hasn't been great for at least a century. We're the ones trying to make it great again."
"Says the woman who's crawled her way into the Chancellor's petting zoo!" Riyo shot back. "It's a wonder the Chancellor hasn't put a leash on you yet, Tebathia. It would fit you well."
"You—" Tebathia rose to her feet and her hand went to her hip, but Ahsoka was already moving in front of Riyo by the time Tebathia's hand was on her concealed blaster.
"Tebathia, sit down!" Palpatine barked, leaning forward. "I will fight my own battles, thank you very much."
"There isn't much of a battle to fight, Chancellor," Riyo said, turning her attention back to Palpatine. "You don't have anything to stand on, let alone defend. This is a criminal action against the Republic, and the Senate will not stand for this!"
"The Senate," Palpatine said, shaking his head in a suddenly condescending manner, "does not have a say in this matter."
"And why is that?"
"My executive powers authorize such an action as this," Palpatine said.
"Your emergency executive powers," Riyo said sharply. "But I'm not interested in the legal quagmire of how you got here, Chancellor. I want to know why you decided that the opinion of the Republic's governing body was essentially worthless to you."
There was a long pause, in which Palpatine stared at Chuchi with a contemplative gaze. Riyo shifted her weight, angling her body more towards him, but otherwise did nothing. Finally, Palpatine responded—not with words, but by sitting back down.
"Senator Chuchi, will you please have a seat?" he asked, gesturing toward the chair. "And your guard as well. I hate to leave anyone standing while I talk to them—it makes me feel as if I'm isolating them."
"Oh, I'm fine with standing," Ahsoka said, pulling off her helmet. Ahsoka thought she saw a hint of surprise flit across Palpatine's face as he recognized her, but it was so quick that it could've been any emotion. Tebathia, however, did not take nearly as many pains to hide her surprise.
"You again?!" Tebathia squawked. "Chancellor, Tano there is a danger to both of us, and she should—"
"Tebathia." Palpatine held up a hand. "Need I remind you that I am doing all the talking right now?"
Cowed, Tebathia retreated back into her chair.
However, Riyo had not taken a seat. "You still haven't answered my question, Chancellor," she said.
Palpatine rubbed his forehead slowly and deliberately. "The simple answer is that the Senate would not pass the bill before, Senator Chuchi, and there was simply not enough time for me to go through the motions of calling another vote. We needed Sector Governance months ago. Perhaps Corellia could've been avoided with such a bill introduced earlier. My only goal is to avoid future incidents like what happened on Corellia."
"You KNEW about Corellia in advance!" Riyo snapped. "You were the one who gave us the intelligence! Were you planning to do nothing about it at all?"
"I acted on that information as soon as I received it. And it was too little, too late." Palpatine reached for his datapad. "Need I remind you of the evidence that you and Tano provided with us, Senator Chuchi? That cell was active and dangerous long before any word of it reached Republic ears."
Okay, the situation was getting pretty serious right now, but Ahsoka could still find a moment to be amused by how Tebathia was looking back and forth between Riyo and Palpatine with a bewildered expression. Ahsoka had to admit, if she hadn't known what they were talking about just then, it wouldn't have made much sense. Tebathia probably wasn't used to not knowing what was going on.
"That cell was an outlier! The only reason they were at such a strength was that they had a Sith apprentice for a leader, and tell me, do you honestly expect that there's a Sith apprentice lying in wait on every other Core World?!"
"You underestimate the power of both the Separatists and the Sith," Palpatine said.
"I'm underestimating their power?" Riyo's voice rose an octave. "Out there, you were talking as if wasn't possible to underestimate the Separatists! You opened your announcement by talking about us being on the brink of victory, and now you act as if we're a decade away from such a thing!"
"Senator Chuchi." Palpatine arched an eyebrow. "Do you honestly believe that I would reveal the full picture of the Sith conspiracy to the general public?"
"The—" Riyo started, only to be cut off as Palpatine continued.
"I have spent this entire war in close council with the Jedi Order, and the same story has been repeated. No doubt you have heard of the Sith Rule of Two, of there being always a master and an apprentice, but the Sith have positively proliferated in this war. Dooku, and then Ventress, and then Savage Oppress and the return of Darth Maul, and there's Grievous—although I truthfully have no idea what he actually is—and of course, who can forget all the fallen Jedi? Pong Krell, Sora Bulq, Barriss Offee—"
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over Ahsoka, and she turned away from the argument, feeling nauseous. That name… Force, she almost hated to hear it now. Would Barriss ever stop haunting her?
Shoving those thoughts aside, she returned her attention to the conversation.
"—completely overblown," Riyo was saying. "You overestimate these threats. And even if these threats are real, this is an utterly inappropriate way to deal with them. You have essentially choked away the future of the Republic."
"Senator Chuchi. Putting aside all your accusations of being undemocratic for a moment, there is one point of that you have ignored. Let me remind you that, as was promised with the bill, the Sector Governance Decree will only remain in effect for the duration of the war. The Republic will revert to its old systems of governance when the war is over."
Riyo crossed her arms. "For the duration of the war? And there lies the problem, Chancellor. A month into the war, we were promised that it would be over in six months. Six months into the war, we were promised that it would be over in a year. A year into the war, we were promised that it would be over in two years. Now it has been three years, and still the Separatists have stood their ground, with no sign of it ending. Who knows how long these undemocratic institutions may hold power over the population? Who knows what lasting damage they inflict upon the state? It seems to me that the longer these proposed Moffs hold power, the less that they'll want to give it up!" She paused, took a heaving breath, and kept going. "And if all we did was listen to you, Chancellor, we'd be believing in one moment that the Separatists are finished, and in the next moment, we'd be thinking they might very well be about to turn the tide of the war! Your reports on the war have become so conflicting that you've made it seem as if the war could end both tomorrow or in a decade!" Riyo's voice grew low and dangerous. "Perhaps the real reason that we've been so slow to finish the war is because you seem to be much more preoccupied with drawing all of the power in the Republic around you, Chancellor."
Palpatine stood up in a rush, slamming his hands down on his desk. "That is enough, Senator Chuchi," he said, his voice as severe as Ahsoka had ever heard it. "The matter is simple. I have enacted the Sector Governance Decree for the good of the Republic, and nothing you can say or do will change my mind." He gestured towards the door. "I have no idea how you managed to get past my guards, but I will have no reservation about calling them to escort you out of here by any means necessary."
Riyo stood, unblinking, as Palpatine's gaze bore down on her, while Ahsoka shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the door. Them both being arrested was a real possibility, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen right now. She was actually starting to consider picking up Riyo and carrying her out.
Finally, miraculously, Riyo turned, relenting.
"Let's go, Ahsoka," she said, her voice tight, holding her head high. "There's nothing I can do here."
However, at the door, she stopped and turned to the Chancellor.
"This is a grave mistake, Chancellor," she said.
"So be it," was all Palpatine said in reply.
Riyo shook her head and stepped out of the office. Ahsoka was about to follow her when Palpatine spoke again.
"Tano," he said.
Ahsoka stopped and turned her head to Palpatine while keeping an eye on Riyo's receding form. "Um… yes?" she asked. "What is it?"
"If at all possible, I'd like to speak to you alone sometime. I have some questions for you. Some of them about your mission to Corellia."
"Um," Ahsoka said. Riyo was almost to the turbolift. "I don't know if I—"
"You can come to my office in the Executive Building at any time that is convenient to you," Palpatine said. "If I'm there, just identify yourself and my guards will let you in."
"Right," Ahsoka said. "Thanks for the offer, I'll think about it, but I really have to go now." With that, she turned and sprinted down the hall towards Riyo, catching up with her just as she arrived at the lift.
Riyo didn't seem to take notice of Ahsoka's hanging back. Ahsoka didn't dare to say anything as they waited for the turbolift. What on earth could the Chancellor want to know from her? She puzzled over this, wishing that the lift would come faster. Riyo looked as if she could explode at any given second.
When the lift finally came, they entered wordlessly. Ahsoka pushed the button for their floor and watched the doors close.
As soon as the doors were completely closed, Riyo leaned back against the wall and let herself slide to the floor. The blood drained out of her face until it was a lighter blue than Ahsoka had ever seen it.
"So that's how it is," Riyo said weakly. "There's nothing I can do about it."
Ahsoka got down on one knee next to Riyo. "I know. It's horrible." She'd never seen anything like this from Palpatine, ever.
And then Riyo pulled up her knees, put her head between them, and let out a gasping sob. "Just like Chi Cho," she said. "Just like Chi Cho and just like Pantora."
Oh, Force. Ahsoka hadn't seen Riyo like this in a long time. Since the early days of their campaign against the Sector Governance Bill. And now, the decree… this was bad. She reached out, putting an arm around Riyo. "Breathe, Riyo. Breathe. It's—" She stopped herself from saying 'It's okay' just in the nick of time, because that was very clearly not the case. "It's—it's hard. I know."
Riyo raised her head, tears now staining her cheek. "At least Chi Cho had the sense to ask the Assembly to give him such authority, instead of simply declaring it to be legal," she said bitterly.
Ahsoka didn't know what to say to that. They remained on the floor like that, with Ahsoka trying in vain to steady Riyo, until the turbolift stopped with a ding.
The doors opened, and Riyo slowly got up onto her feet. All action in the hallway before them seemed to cease as people took notice of Riyo and watched her walk past. It was another long walk down this hallway. Their transport awaited them at the other end of the Senate Building, and Riyo seemed to be in no hurry to get there.
"What do we do now?" Ahsoka asked.
"What do we do now?" Riyo repeated. Her face hardened, and suddenly she looked nothing like the lost senator in the turbolift from moments ago. "What we do now is we contact Senator Amidala and Senator Organa and start assembling the opposition. If Palpatine wants a fight, he'll get a fight."
Back in Palpatine's office, Tebathia had watched Riyo and Ahsoka leave with no small amazement. Turning back to Palpatine, she shook her head. "The sheer audacity of Chuchi. I can't believe it."
"Indeed." Palpatine appeared deep in thought.
"First the outburst in the chamber, and now she dares to barge in here like—"
Palpatine held up a hand. "Tebathia. Just a moment."
Tebathia immediately fell into silence, watching Palpatine carefully. He was gazing off into some point in the distance as a contemplative frown worked across his face. Finally, he seemed to reach some sort of decision, and turned back to Tebathia. "There we are. You may continue."
"You went soft on her towards the end, Chancellor," Tebathia said. "Why? You could've squeezed her into silence, but you just let her walk away thinking she had a moral victory."
Palpatine nodded. "I had my reasons."
"What good could possibly come of that? She could be slinking off like a rat right now, and instead she'll be trying to rally half the Senate against you for the next month."
"Exactly." Palpatine tapped a small button on his desk, and a holoprojector emerged from its surface. "Now is a better time than any other to know where my allies in the Senate are, Tebathia."
"Well—fair," Tebathia admitted. "But it's still a risky move. It could spiral out of control."
"Believe me, it won't," Palpatine said. The holoprojector in his desk flickered to life, and a small map of the galaxy appeared over his desk. "I'm making sure of that."
"Still… I can swing some political pressure towards her, if you want," Tebathia offered. "If you want her censured, I can get the Senate to do it before the end of the week."
"Hm." Palpatine tapped at the map, zooming in towards a sector of the galaxy. "I don't think that'll be necessary," he said, mostly concentrating on the map before him. He was searching for something that he seemed to be having trouble finding.
Tebathia blinked. "Why? Even if you want to draw out your enemies, she still needs to be muzzled. She's a few steps away from outright rebellion against you."
"That may be so." A satisfied smile crossed Palpatine's face, as he'd found what he was looking for. One particular planet on the map, marked with a blinking red light: Mandalore.
Tebathia noticed the planet he'd zoomed in on, and ever so briefly, unease flicked across her features.
"However, you shouldn't worry," Palpatine said. "I have my own plan for dealing with Senator Chuchi."
Well, there you are. This is a chapter that I'd been looking forward to writing for a long time. And it's here now. In a few chapters, we'll be entering the start of Revenge of The Sith. Good times, good times. Also, I've made the decision to start updating weekly, which will probably lead to disaster and complete failure to do so.
If you'd like a hint as to what that plan is, just think about the planet that Palpatine pulled up on his map. Please leave a review if you liked it. Or if you didn't like it. I'm not picky about reviews. Just got to get that sweet, sweet review count up. (Side note: APSCF hit 100 reviews last week! Very fun.) Have a good one, everyone.