Chapter 25 – Who to Trust
Ahsoka parried the swing with her lightsaber and pivoted herself upwards. She somersaulted right over her master's head and landed behind him light-footed. The girl smiled, now was her chance. Anakin may be an exceptional fighter but he lacked the agility she possessed.
The jedi knight swirled around and the teenager ducked low, moving underneath the blue blade. She deactivated both her lightsaber and shoto for a moment, getting down on all fours. Using her momentum, she faked a kick at her master's legs, making the man jump up. Instead, the Tortuga used the Force the instant Anakin's feet left the ground and yanked with all her might.
To her surprise, the plan worked. Her master actually lost his balance and toppled backwards. The padawan didn't waste a second to finish the fight. She vaulted right after him and activated her blades again. Both her feet made contact with his chest as he crumbled to the floor on his back. Blue eyes blinked up at her, as she held her lightsabers crossed underneath his chin.
"I won, master." A toothy grin spread over her face.
"Yeah, good job, Snips", Anakin mumbled, but somehow, he sounded distracted. Ahsoka frowned and got off her master's chest, clipping her weapons to her belt.
"You didn't even try, didn't you?", she asked disappointed. Anakin wouldn't normally fall for such a trick, except something was occupying his mind.
The padawan knew that her master was about to finally leave for Senator Amidala after everything had been settled with the council. Yet, she had insisted on one last spar as she didn't know when they get the next chance to do so in the future.
He got up from the floor and dusted himself off. He then looked at her apologetically.
"I'm sorry, 'Soka. It's just-", he sighed and his shoulders slumped, "I don't really know what to do."
"What do you mean?", she asked puzzled, "I thought the council approved of your request."
Anakin shook his head. "It's not the council."
The knight averted his gaze and bit his lip. "I don't like the idea of leaving you alone."
Ahsoka could do little to hide her irritation. "What? But I'll be staying here together with Master Kenobi. I don't see a reason for you to worry about me."
She tilted her head and searched her master's presence in the Force, when it dawned on her.
"You're lying." The slight flinch of his shoulder's was enough confirmation for her thesis.
"What aren't you telling me, master?"
He looked at her again intently. "The chancellor requested to see me."
"The chancellor? Why?"
"I don't know. He just said that he wanted to talk with a friend."
Ahsoka hummed in response. "Have you told Master Kenobi?"
"No. You know how much he dislikes Palpatine."
"He's sticking his nose in jedi affairs. Of course, the council doesn't like him."
Anakin's eyes darkened a little. "Careful, Snips. He's still a friend of mine."
"If he's just a friend like you say", Ahsoka wasn't backing down now, even if she angered her master, "then why are you so worried about his request?"
"It's nothing." Anakin was such a bad liar. Something didn't sit right with him on the thought of meeting Palpatine again. She knew that the man must have sensed something but he wasn't telling her.
"Stop lying."
"Watch your tongue, Ahsoka. I'm still your master."
"A master shouldn't try to lie to his padawan or keep secrets!", she bursted out. After all they've been through Anakin was doing it again. And she hated it. She had thought she had proven herself enough to gain his trust. But apparently no one had really earned that.
"I'm going to see Master Kenobi now. If you change your mind, you know where to find me. Otherwise, I wish you luck with whatever you're doing."
Ahsoka didn't wait for a reply and left the training room, leaving her master behind. The padawan did nothing to conceal her anger.
She would never understand the connection between Master Skywalker and the chancellor. The man's presence had always made her feel uncomfortable. For her, Palpatine felt null in the Force, like he wasn't even alive.
It unnerved her. Either her master was turning a blind eye to that fact or he didn't sense it, which was something she couldn't really believe.
People didn't call him the Chosen One for nothing.
He was losing Skywalker again. The boy had been so close to fall into his arms if it weren't for his stupid master. His apprentice had failed miserable at wiping Kenobi off the radar. Even more, the jedi master had managed to counter Dooku's attack and addle the Count's mind.
The man had been useless to him afterwards.
Palpatine didn't need a useless apprentice, so he got rid of Dooku.
He had to focus on the task at hand. Get into Skywalker's head. Make him distrust his master again.
The chancellor sat at his desk and put his hands on his face in thought. The jedi were insufferable, he had to get rid of them, one way or another.
The question was how.
Requesting Skywalker's presence was one step in his plan. He knew that the jedi knight had started to question his motifs. After Kenobi's mishap concerning Dooku, he hadn't been convincing enough to say at last.
His mask had slipped for a few seconds, revealing his glee about the option of killing Kenobi. Of course, Skywalker had latched on to that. The young man just wasn't clever enough to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The only one with enough braincells to figure him out might be Kenobi, as he miraculously survived his direct attack on his mind. If he found the trace back to him in his mind, Palpatine might have a problem.
It was time to erase the doubt from the boy's mind. He would handle the jedi master in the process.
A knock on the door to his office alerted him of a new presence. One of his guards stepped into the room and bowed slightly.
"Knight Skywalker has arrived, chancellor."
Palpatine nodded shortly. "Send him in. You may leave us alone."
"As you wish." The man sidestepped to let the jedi enter and then left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Anakin, my boy!" He set up one of the earnest smiles he could muster and approached the knight with open arms. "Have a seat, please", he gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"Thank you, chancellor." The jedi was holding himself rather stiff and reserved. Like he was suspecting something. He needed to change that.
As the jedi took his seat, Palpatine followed swiftly. "Can I offer you a drink?"
"Uh, no. Thanks." The young man shook his head and tried to smile politely. Apparently, the man was still alerted. Ready to spring into action any second.
"Very well." So, he had to worm his way into his head without him noticing. That would have been much easier if the man had accepted his offer to drink.
Time for more drastic methods, then.
"How's your master?", he asked lightly, "The last thing I heard was that it wasn't looking good for him."
Skywalker shifted in his seat and fidgeted with his fingers. A sign of nervousness. Insecurity. He could work with that, he just had to push these feelings further.
"He's doing better, I suppose", was all he said.
"I can see that something is bothering you, Anakin. You know you can tell me. Your secrets are safe with me", he said fatherly. "Did you have another argument with Master Kenobi?"
Blue eyes shot up to meet his gaze. "It wasn't an argument."
Hit. He got Skywalker on the hook now.
"You're your own man, Anakin. He shouldn't have the authority to control you anymore."
"He's not controlling me", the knight interjected instantly.
Interesting. Now he's defending the old man. Quite some change to before.
"It's just-", the jedi turned his head away, "I might have hurt him again unintentionally."
"I understand if you don't want to talk about it. But sometimes it is better to get your worries of your chest." Palpatine stood up from his seat and got himself a glass of Correllian whiskey. "You sure you don't want some?", he asked again offering the man a glass.
Reluctantly, the glass was taken from his hand. Palpatine smiled again and filled his guest's drink a little fuller than necessary.
He placed the bottle on the desk and sat down again, swirling the liquid inside his glass. "I'm always here to listen if you want to talk."
Palpatine watched as Anakin took a small sip from his drink. He almost laughed as the knight pulled a face. The boy certainly wasn't much of a drinker.
Skywalker seemed to think about something for a while. " I think I pushed him to far. It wasn't my place to stick my nose into his affairs", he offered then.
"With due respect, Anakin, but as far as I know he stuck his nose into your affairs far more often."
He could feel that he was on the right track. Just a little further.
Taking another swig from the whiskey, the knight shook his head. "Yeah, but not like this. He was barely recovered from his coma and I bugged him about his proposal."
"Proposal? I'd never thought Master Kenobi would be the one to break the code. Who's the lucky woman?", he didn't need to fake his surprise this time.
"Duchess Satine." The words slipped from Skywalker's lips without a second thought. Realizing his mistake, Palpatine watched as the jedi's eyes went wide. "No one is allowed to know that", he quickly added, now visible nervous.
"Like I said before, your secret is safe with me", he assured him.
Duchess Satine Kryze. He had only seen the woman once during her speech in the senate in order to defend Mandalore. A strong woman indeed. But she wasn't what he needed to make Skywalker fall. That didn't mean that the good duchess might not be caught in the crossfire of course.
Anakin swallowed thickly. "Thank you, chancellor."
Time to lead their conversation in a different direction. "What about your padawan? The girl surely isn't unaffected by this whole ordeal."
"Ahsoka's strong. She can handle it."
"Of course, I didn't want to imply anything. I just heard that you're leaving for a mission without her."
Palpatine knew exactly that the knight was sent to protect the pregnant senator. But it was easier to make the man disclose this information voluntarily.
Anakin emptied his glass. "She deserves a break after all. I let her stay at the temple together with Obi-Wan."
"I see." Palpatine lifted his own glass to his mouth and smiled unnoticeable. So Kenobi was in charge of looking after the girl for now.
A plan was already forming in his head. Skywalker was deeply attached to the girl, it would tear him apart if something were to be happening to her.
The man would never trust Kenobi again, if the jedi failed to protect the padawan. Such a pity.
Now he only needed the one to fulfill his plan. And that one was still waiting in the undergrounds of Coruscant. He would set his plan in motion right after Skywalker left.
As if on cue, the knight set his glass back on the table. "I think I should go now. It's getting late and duty calls. Thank you for your invitation."
"Of course, my boy. Thank you for accepting my invitation." He walked the man to the door of his office and waved him goodbye.
Good. He got what he needed. Showtime.
He took his black robe and slipped out of the senate building, unnoticed by his guards. Pulling the dark hood over his face, a dark and evil grin adorned his features. His eyes shone a sickly yellow, but that was covered by the darkness provided by his disguise.
His destination were the lower levels. He took one of the turbo lifts and stepped out onto the discarded, narrow alleys. Here and there were people sitting in the corners, either high on death sticks or to miserable to notice him passing by.
Sidious didn't care about his surroundings and took the straight way to one of the warehouses. He didn't bother with opening the door manually but just used the Force to open him the pathway. The Sith lord stepped down one of the rusty stairs, down into one of the moldy and damp cellars. He had to duck his head slightly as he approached a iron door at the back of the hall. He had sealed it shut with the Force. No one but him possessed the power to open it.
The door was burst open with a swift motion. The insides were scattered with claw marks. A desperate and pitiful attempt. The monster had learned it's place over the time.
As he stepped into the small room, a sharp, shrieking sound was to be heard as metal scraped over the stone floor. Yellow, bloodshot eyes stared back at him in the darkness, accompanied by labored breathing.
"You're time has come, Maul."