Where Loyalties Split
"You're late."
"Sorry, Obi-Wan."
"Trouble pulling away from a certain Senator?"
Anakin replied with a cheeky grin, utterly unrepentant.
Obi-Wan put on a disproving frown, but Anakin dutifully ignored it. Instead he asked, "What did I miss?"
"Only the entire briefing of the Outer Rim sieges," Obi-Wan answered. Anakin could feel the irritation along the bond, but he knew it was superficial. He next felt caution, and that made the young Jedi frown. "You also missed a call. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine wants to have a meeting with you. He called your quarters. Ahsoka let me know."
"Wait, you mean he didn't go through the Council?" Anakin asked. "Do they even know about it?"
"When I told them they were quite concerned," Obi-Wan replied. The two started walking the halls. "They don't know what this is about. I don't know what this is about. Do you?"
Anakin blinked. "No, how could I?" he demanded, irritated that his old teacher even needed to ask.
"For the record," Obi-Wan said, offering placating tones through the bond. "At least this way I can tell the Council I asked; they always seem a little edgy whenever we do something across the bond."
Anakin sighed through his nose and nodded. "I understand. Sorry, Obi-Wan. I'll grab Ahsoka and head over to the Senate building now."
"He wanted to see you personally, I rather got the impression he didn't want any other guests for this meeting."
Anakin frowned at that. His visits with Palpatine as a child had always been private, that was true, but he'd had more than a few meetings with the Chancellor that had others present. The private audiences were always at Anakin's behest, however, not Palpatine's. What could he want that others needn't be there? Or was it just a visit for the sake of a visit? Then why not go through the Council? Was there protocol for this kind of thing? He'd have to ask Padme...
"Focus on the now, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, responding to Anakin's confusion. "Go to the meeting and see what he has to say."
"Ah, Anakin! So good to see you," Palpatine said, rising from his desk.
The Jedi bowed slightly, following decorum, before getting right to the point. "You sent for me, Chancellor," he said, phrasing the question in his tone.
Palpatine caught on quickly. "Ah, yes. I regret calling you at your personal apartments. Padawan Tano was quite confused at the call."
"Yes," Anakin replied, already feeling at ease. Palpatine would be able to explain this.
The Chancellor's entire demeanor changed, his warm smile fading slightly, almost breaking. His shoulders dropped and his posture shifted. It looked as though the weight of the galaxy were on his shoulders. Anakin felt he impulse to do something.
"I need our help, son."
His heart clenched. "What is it?" he asked.
Palpatine put a hand to his forehead, rubbing it as he sat back heavily in his chair. Anakin quickly grabbed a chair of his own and pulled it behind the Chancellor's desk. "Oh, Anakin," Palpatine moaned, "I don't want to burden you, but when it comes down to it you are the only Jedi I truly trust. Not only for what you did on Naboo but more recently when you risked everything just to save me."
Anakin flushed at the praise; Palpatine gave it out so freely - and yet these high words of esteem were only ever directed at him. Palpatine would never - had never - complimented other politicians so highly, nor did he give anything but the most reserved and polite words to other Jedi. He held Anakin at a level of adoration that no one else did; and it always, always, felt good to hear it.
Palpatine continued. "This war is horrible, it's corrupting everything. The Senate is a shell of what it once was, filled with profit-mongering special interests who bought their seats; everything is mired in self-serving lip service. They make themselves look good to the public while they muster everything they can to rebuke any real effort to end the war. And the Jedi!" Palpatine threw his hands up, despair and frustration paling his face. "Anakin, you know how I've supported the Jedi, surely you've seen the steps I've taken, but everything I've seen points to them-" he cut himself off, the hand rubbing his face again. Palpatine sighed, leaning back in his chair.
Anakin leaned forward, putting his organic hand on the Chancellor's shoulder to try and assuage the man. He wished his bond with Palpatine was stronger, he simply never had the time he did with Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and even Padme. It left him feeling inadequate as he funneled reassurance through his mind and project it at the Chancellor. "What are you saying, Chancellor?" he asked softly.
"Anakin, when all is said and done, when the war is over, I fear the Jedi will take their clone army and take over."
The world tilted.
Obi-Wan, back at the Temple, gave a startled WHAT?
Anakin stared at Palpatine openly. His expression a mixture of all the emotions he was feeling, he gawked as his brain tried to accept what it had just heard. At length, he finally managed a forced chuckle and said, "Chancellor, that isn't funny."
"No," Palpatine said in utter gravity. "It is not."
He... was serious.
He really felt that way. Anakin's brain overloaded with the absurdity of the claim, in conflict with the tiny whisper that anything was possible in this war, remembering the disturbing conversation Obi-Wan had had with Mace Windu, unable to process a sentence that shook him to his very foundations. His brain was struggling not to turn off, really, but Palpatine still kept talking.
"Anakin, I'm sorry. Truly I didn't want to share these suspicions with you, but I need a man I can trust to help me. You aren't part of the plot; your reaction just now is proof of that. I need someone to see if my reasoning is valid or not; a man inside if you will. Anakin, you have to help me. Prove me wrong - please, I want to be wrong but I fear I'm not."
"But..." Anakin started, but his brain still wasn't working. Struggling, he tried again. "How could I..." He still couldn't finish a sentence.
"Anakin," Palpatine said, a shadow of his old smile on his face. "I am electing you as my personal representative on the Jedi Council."
The world tilted even more, and Anakin's brain at last shut down.
Obi-Wan had been sitting in meditation with Yoda, Mace, Shaak Ti and Kit Fisto when Anakin's filters dropped without warning and he was assaulted with a turbulent roil of emotions and the voice of Chancellor Palpatine accusing the Jedi of plotting to take over the Republic. He couldn't quiet stop the startled squawk that bubbled into this throat, but he put his indignity aside and pulled off his own filters. What on earth was going on over there? Anakin's emotions were overpowering, the confusion and the absurdity and uncertainty and the tiny sound that it might be true stuffing and clogging his mind. He was not thinking clearly. Obi-Wan would have to help, he pushed through the emotions, fighting them off to listen to Palpatine explain Anakin's nomination to the Council.
His eyes snapped open. He briefly registered that the four Masters were staring at him, but his gaze focused immediately on Mace and Yoda.
"Did you know of this?" he asked.
"Know of what? What did you see, Obi-Wan?" Mace asked.
"Anakin has just informed me that Palpatine is going to place him on the Jedi Council. Did you know this was going to happen?"
Silence.
Then, finally, Mace: "Then the bill was passed." The Korun Jedi leaned back, his face tight and drawn.
"Feared this we did," Yoda said, a tiny hand reaching up to rub his thin white hair.
"What bill? What are you saying?" Obi-Wan asked. Had he really been on the front lines so long that he hadn't seen this? He looked to the other two Councilors. Shaak Ti, often busy with the clone facilities on Kamino, held a neutral face except for the concern in her eyes. Kit, often in the front like himself, looked as confused as he did.
"I said before that there is little that the Chancellor is not in control of. There was a bill on the docket that would vote even more executive powers over to him, enough that he could, in theory, do something like this. We had hoped that he would not."
"He wants Anakin to spy on the Council!" Obi-Wan said, shocked at the news. "He thinks the Jedi are going to take over the Republic!"
All four Masters eyes widened.
Mace leaned forward. "When did you learn of this?" he demanded.
"Right now, it's happening right now," Obi-Wan said. Oh, Force, Anakin! He shouldn't be in this position; his loyalties shouldn't be made to split like this...
Master... his partner's voice said quietly in the corner of his mind. He sounded small, confused, lost. What if it's true...?
"Of course it's not true, Anakin," Obi-Wan hissed, closing his eyes and sending all of his own feelings through the bond. We have the Code for a reason, don't let Palpatine's misgivings hurt you like this. You KNOW the Jedi; Mace and Yoda would be disgusted if anyone even SUGGESTED such a travesty.
He could feel Anakin take heart, his footing take firmer ground. He saw the picture of Yoda and Mace politely telling a faceless voice offering them the Senate that they were idiots, the comical picture solidifying and giving Anakin strength. There was gratitude, and a slow release of pressure. Obi-Wan allowed himself a deep breath, content that Anakin had managed to work his way through enough of the maelstrom of his emotions to think under his own power. He opened his eyes and faced the Council again. "Something is seriously wrong if the Chancellor actually thinks that we're going to take over the Senate, believes it enough to put Anakin in this position. I can only assume that the Sith are behind this. What do we do?"
"Should we address the Senate?" Kit Fisto supposed. "Reassure them that we have no interest in positions of authority?"
"And yet what do we have but positions of authority?" Shaak Ti said softly, deep in thought. "We are the leaders of a clone army, in a strong military position; would it not be natural for people who are fearful to make such an assumption? We must meditate on this..."
"One thing we must not do," Mace interceded, "Is alert the Sith that we know anything about this. We will not address the Senate, that will tip him off."
"An opportunity, this is," Yoda said slowly; his eyes closed in meditation.
Obi-Wan frowned. What possible opportunity could there be in this disaster?
"I agree," Mace said. "With Skywalker on the Council and reporting to Palpatine, we can feed the Sith false information. This may be advantageous to us."
Wait... what?
Mace leaned forward again, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together, thumbs supporting his chin. "We could leak information to the Sith in the Chancellors office; force him to show his hand by making him believe that we are divided and vulnerable. Skywalker could feed the information and then we would be ready when the Sith made his or her move. A trap."
Obi-Wan blinked, absorbing the information at a pace that was intolerably slow. His rational mind immediately saw what Mace and Yoda were thinking, the strategic advantage they had in exploiting this opportunity. His logical mind knew that the potential benefit was extraordinary: they would capture the Sith, end the war, rid the galaxy of darkness all in one fell swoop. His rational mind completely agreed. His emotional mind, however, was in an uproar.
He ventured very slowly. "This plan, it puts an extreme risk on Anakin," he said softly, uncertain how he should negotiate this. "He'll be in close proximity to the Sith Lord; a creature that obviously has a high degree of skill in manipulation and controlling other beings. The Sith could try to use Anakin as much as..." as much as you are about to use him, quickly changed to, "The Sith could send his own misinformation. Besides, playing a double agent is extremely stressful, I'm not sure Anakin..." He didn't want to say it out loud, say that Anakin's passion and compassion, his innate fear of loss and his desperate clinging to those that were close to him made him vulnerable to the Darkside; that he had already touched the Darkside when his emotions took control of him. The only way he could voice his concern was to look to Mace. "We talked about this before," he said lamely, cursing himself. "Master Windu, Mace, you were just saying the other day that Anakin should stay as far away from Palpatine as possible."
Mace leaned back, his gaze narrow and intimidating.
"Skywalker is not my first choice, no," he admitted. "But it would appear that in this we do not have an option."
"Meditate on this we must," Yoda said at last, his eyes opening. "Many dangers there are, many risks. Tread carefully we must. Make lightly this decision, we should not."
"I agree," Shaak Ti said, standing. "We must commune with the Force and ask for its guidance. There are many insights it may be able to afford us."
The five slowly got up and dispersed; Mace stalking off to inform the other Council members, Shaak Ti to begin her meditations. Yoda eyed Obi-Wan for a long time before hobbling off to parts unknown. Kit Fisto lingered, also eyeing Obi-Wan. Finally, though, the aquatic Jedi put a comforting hand on the human's shoulder. "I know how close you are," he said gently. "We must hope for the best. The Force knows what it's doing, and we will let it guide us."
Obi-Wan nodded mutely, thankful for Kit's friendship.
He turned his thoughts to Anakin, hoping the other Jedi had a better grasp on his emotions now that they could talk.
Author's Notes: Again, things are different. Anakin knows things he's not supposed to and the Council gets a heads up on things that they wouldn't have. Gotta love what that bond does, ne? We like the idea of a chibi Mace and chibi Yoda telling whoever is giving them the Senate that they're morons and then getting kicked out. ^_^ Note that Palpatine is still "getting" to Anakin. Anakin still has a lot of insecurities and suspicions, to say nothing of trust for Palpatine, to not take these allegations seriously. But Obi-Wan has a much easier time setting him straight. For Anakin, Palpatine is just another poor victim of the Sith's influence. Of course, two people Anakin are loyal to, Obi-Wan and Palpatine, are offering very different (read: opposing) views of things at the moment and he can't support both.
Next week: Dooku's view of things.