*** 1 ***
Obi-Wan Kenobi had come to the Supreme Court Building many times. He either served as an eyewitness or testified as an expert. This time his role was different. In about a standard hour, the court would hear the oral argument of Children of Force v. Jedi Order.
The Order was accused of infringing individual freedom and discrimination on the basis of Force-sensitivities. As a High Council member, he was sent to defend the Jedi in the court.
Under the leadership of Rackeli Loo, the organization "Children of Force" represented several dozen plaintiffs. They were either parents of Force-sensitive children who had been given to the Order, or Force-sensitive adults who believed they had been discriminated against by the Order in diplomatic disputes. These adults had political influences on the planetary level, thus the lawsuit gained some media attention.
He carefully reviewed all the files provided by Rackeli. The Order was accused of committing large-scale systemic oppression, yet most of the evidence was either emotional testimony or anecdotal. If the court ruling was solely based on the merit of evidence, he was confident that the Order would win. However, if high-profile plaintiffs joined the lawsuit at the last minute, they may bring political pressure on the judges.
The deadline for evidence submission had passed. The name that he feared to see did not show up.
Now he was waiting for the lift to the courtroom. A familiar voice spoke to him from behind.
"Long time no see. Master Kenobi." Anakin Skywalker bowed to him respectfully. "I hope you are doing well." His boyish defiance was gone but his fierceness remained. Wearing a stylish black uniform with a black cape, his posture was authoritative, reserved, and in some way regal. The rumor about the Navy's attire department was true. They had indeed hired fashion designers to promote the image of high-ranking officers.
After the battle of Felucia, he had only seen his former assistant a few times. They had never had a chance to talk. Anakin was the director of the Military Strategy Unit. Obi-Wan was not the Jedi Council member who participated in those meetings.
"Thanks. I am well. I hope it is the same for you. I should call you Admiral Skywalker," he returned the greeting.
"Vice-Admiral still. The promotion is on the desk of the Jedi High Council." The lift had arrived at its destination. Anakin gestured to him to go in first. "Like old-times, just call me Anakin."
"Your promotion will pass. I did not hear much debate about your case in the last Council meeting." Truth to be told, every single naval admiral-level officer had written a letter of recommendation. The Council members were surprised since the politics and infighting in the navy were quite a thing.
"I am grateful for your guidance." The young man smiled at him.
Obi-Wan was surprised by the change in Anakin's manner. It seemed like living on Coruscant with Padme transformed him from an unpolished boy to a rising aristocrat, though the Outer Rim accent remained. He still had many bold military endeavors, which did not change at all.
"I am glad to see your career advancement." Obi-Wan smiled back at him. "When will you start to serve on the GAR High Command?"
"I already started to attend the meetings as an observer while waiting for my new rank to be approved," Anakin answered while following him out of the lift.
Enough of pleasantries.
"My friend, what brought you to the Court today?" He already knew the answer, but asked nonetheless.
"The same reason that brought you here," Anakin said politely but intensely. "I am curious about how Ms. Loo made her case. And I have questions to ask you about the Clone troopers Tup and Fives."
Her case. It was his case as well. Palis helped with the draft of the rebuttal when she was traveling between the Outer Rim worlds. She circled out the sections that clearly were written by Anakin, including some word-by-word quotes from his old Holonet blog "Pod Racer."
They sat down in the courtroom. Obi-Wan decided not to point out his involvement in the case, instead, he answered the question about the clone accident. "You meant the incident where Tup accidentally killed Jedi General Tiplar. According to the report from Kamino, some virus damaged his brain."
"Then Fives attacked my father ." Anakin narrowed his eyes. "Fives was infected as well according to the report. Interestingly, at the same time, Fives arrived on Coruscant for more tests and pleaded his case to my father, I was tasked to lead an Outer Rim campaign and shipped off-world."
He turned to Obi-Wan sharply, glaring at him with a dangerous look. "I can tell. There was more than what was written in the reports. Is the virus completely under control? No more infected troopers? Is it really a virus, or maybe something else?" he said slowly with a hint of a threatening tone in his voice. "The Order must submit the full reports to the High Command. It is a terrible idea to commission a clone army in the first place. Now, this new madness may cause a bloodbath in the Senate."
The way Anakin spoke commanded authority, at a level beyond a high military rank could give a person at this young age. It made Obi-Wan unconformable, but he could not tell the reason.
"All the individuals whoever had contacts with Tup and Fives have been tested. They were all free from the virus. Kamino is sending more information,." Obi-Wan replied calmly.
"I would not take their words as it is." The intensity in Anakin's voice reduced. "I will request the Senate to have a future investigation. The Kaminoans need more pressure to cooperate."
"Very well. We agreed here."
"I will leave you to prepare your case. I wish you good luck." Anakin stood up, shook hands with him, and moved to sit next to Rackeli who just arrived in the courtroom.
"I arrived on time! The Force is with us." A hand laid on his shoulder. Palis dropped herself on the bench next to him. "They do not even have a legal basis to sue. The so-called discrimination defined by them is legal. We didn't discriminate against anyone. Force-sensitives are different from others, thus should be treated differently. They just do not understand."
"And refuse to listen. They know they will lose. They do not care about the ruling results. I can tell. But I don't know why they pursue this case so relentlessly," Obi-Wan said to his former student thoughtfully. "They are up to something else. Good to see you back, Red."
"I found something in my investigations. I will ask for your opinion first before I report back to the Senate Committee." She gave him a warm smile. "Time to show them who are the real experts of the children of the Force."
*** 2 ***
Palis winced as she listened to Rackeli's passionate assault on the Jedi Order as she waited for her turn to give testimony. Rackeli cut a surprisingly polished figure in her silver-grey top and black skirt.
"We request the Court to rule in our favor by demanding that the Jedi Order stop mandatory blood test and data collection, return the younglings to their concerned parents, as well as stop special surveillance and other discriminatory actions based on Force-sensitivity."
Palis peeked in Anakin's direction. He listened to the argument with a blank face. Occasionally he nodded in agreement. He seemed lost in his thoughts a few times.
Then Obi-Wan's turn came. He refuted each of the accusations against the Order.
She thought Anakin would show a flare of anger or at least some strong irritation. Instead, he only slightly frowned when Obi-Wan ended his argument with a forceful statement.
"When keeping the peace of the Galaxy, the Order has the legal right to do everything the plaintiffs have accused us of. The plaintiffs do not have adequate knowledge about either the Force or the Order. Their evidence cannot justify their allegations, thus, on behalf of the High Council, I request the Court to dismiss the case."
When Obi-Wan returned to his seat, Anakin gave him a curt nod to acknowledge him.
Then the plaintiffs gave their testimony. They either told sad stories about how their families were torn apart because their child was no longer with them, or accused the Order of ruining their political ambitions.
One plaintiff told of her failed revolutionary career. "When I was in my early 20s, I led a revolution against the oppressive regime of my home planet. The King called the Jedi Order to intervene. The Jedi mediators said the Force revealed that supporting my side would cause chaos and deaths. They scared my followers into abandoning me," the human woman recounted as tears ran down her cheeks. "The King soon went back to his old way, silencing speech, and crushing protests. I rose up again to fight the Crown, but the Jedi Order came immediately to side with the King. We are still living in misery."
Palis could empathize with her lost cause, however, the lady didn't acknowledge that her followers were anarchists. This woman herself was full of hatred and called for retaliation against the ruling class. This was how she rallied supporters. Despite the flaws of the Crown, he was a better choice than the revolutionaries. It seemed like the plaintiffs could not see their own flaws.
A few more plaintiffs made their cases, then Rackeli spoke again.
"The only justification for these discriminatory actions is the prejudiced assumption that the Force-sensitive individuals are inherently dangerous. Can you provide proof?"
"We have plenty of the proof." Finally, Palis spoke as a witness, she provided all the evidence that she collected from both the Jedi Archive, and her trips to Outer Rim. In her concluding remark, she announced, "throughout the history of the Jedi Order, there have been countless bloody testimonials of the violence committed by the Force-sensitives. If the Jedi Order hadn't adopted the current practice, the Galaxy would not have had a thousand years of peace. Now the real danger has returned. The Sith are trying to destroy the Republic. Attacking the Jedi Order undermines the backbone of the Republic. The Children of Force are an extremist group. They don't have the best interest of the Republic in mind. They are influenced by the Dark Side. It is the Sith bidding."
She felt confusion and fear from the audience. They didn't understand what the Sith were. Rackeli was furious. Anakin had a very strong reaction, breaking the pretense of calmness. However, unlike the rest of the audience, it was hard to read what his emotion was.
Interesting. She needed to figure out what specific things she had said had caused this response. She had said plenty of things. Was it that the Jedi were the backbone of the Republic, or that Force-sensitives were dangerous? Or was it about the Dark Side, the Sith?
She had many issues to discuss with Obi-Wan. Watching over Anakin was one of them. The number of Jedi haters was growing, with more and more people becoming frustrated by the war. A few Jedi deserted to join Dooku, thinking the Separatists would be a better choice for the galaxy.
What if some Dark Side agents had made contact with Anakin, promising a swift victory for the Republic if he agreed to learn from them? It would be a blatant lie. In the Order's record, most of the individuals around his midi-chlorian count ended up in the Agriculture corp. However, the offer could be tempting nonetheless.
Some rudimentary Dark Side training was enough to cause some craziness in the young man's mind, given he was not the person with the best temperament to begin with. An unstable person on the High Command. Quite unthinkable. It was exactly what the Separatists wanted.
She looked at the plaintiff's seats after she finished her testimony. Rackeli and Anakin were exchanging words with low voices. The lawyer gestured at the podium with an encouraging look. Anakin seemed to be struggling with a decision. Eventually, he shocked his head and put forward a hand to stop his friends from further speaking. She nodded with understanding and resignation.
Palis read Anakin's lips with the aid of the Force. He was saying, "Not today."
This was really interesting. The more level-headed lawyer became more radical than Anakin, the pioneer extremist. But it was good for the Order. His nonsense about the Jedi being incompetent and lusting for power would not be aired today.
She thought the Court would wait a few days to make a ruling. To her surprise, the Chief Justice issued the determination immediately, ruling in the Jedi Order's favor. She allowed a big smile to show on her face. She was relieved at least for the time being.
Obi-Wan already walked toward the plaintiffs to shake hands. Several plaintiffs refused and said some nasty words. Rackeli and Anakin both offered their congratulations in a reserved manner.
"It seems like you have questions for me," Anakin spoke first.
"I saw you want to say something as a witness. What would you have said? " Palis responded straightforwardly.
"I disagreed with your statement about the non-Jedi Force-sensitives being dangerous. You have some guts to say that out loud." He frowned. "That was all."
"I will stand by my statement because it was true. You didn't see what happened in the Outer Rim. Dooku's agents are basic savages. Avoiding the truth just to sound polite only leads to disasters."
"Very well. I hope you have realized the irony. You just declared that you yourself are dangerous. On paper, you are not a Jedi anymore."
It took her a few seconds to realize what he meant. She'd never thought about it that way. "Thanks for your concerns." She extended her hand to him. He took it, and shook it firmly, then left.
"Go to the Jedi Temple, and find some privacy. Then tell me your findings." Obi-Wan finished his handshaking and talking to reporters.
At the Temple entrance, she showed her Senate employee badge to the guard. Anakin's words flashed back, making her wince. She brushed these thoughts away.
They went all the way to Obi-Wan's apartment.
"What did you find, besides the information you already presented in the court?" Her former master inquired.
"Did you notice Anakin's reaction when I gave my testimony?" She spoke fast.
"Of course. It is not news that he does not like the Jedi. He had stopped openly criticizing the Jedi since he left my fleet. I consider it good enough." Obi-Wan did not sound alarmed at all. "He may come around if we stop antagonizing him."
"Hopefully, but I will stay watchful. I feel the Force is telling me something about him. He is a shatter point in the Force," she added some weight into her voice.
"Since I've known you, you said the Force never told you a single word." He chucked. "But you probably are right. I meditated on the same thing during the battle of Felucia. He is a powerful leader on his own right now, the new face of the Navy. If he ran into some trouble, it would not be good."
"If there is more than that? If he has some secret agenda?" She paused here, but Obi-Wan still did not get it. "Anyway, I have warned you."
"I know his agenda. We all know. Decommissioning the Jedi from war leadership. Not a bad idea, ironically," Obi-Wan said with a frown. "Now you sound like him. Be careful. Don't fall into the trap of conspiracy theories. You were the one who scolded me for not being respectful to people outside the Order."
"I meant the ordinary people, not the radical 'Children of the Force' organizers. But you are right. My attitude was not good," she said apologetically.
Obi-Wan changed his tone. "I have something to tell you. Maybe it could be a clue for your search for Sidious. Do you remember the bounty hunter Fett on Kamino? He told us he was recruited by a man named Tyranus?"
"Yes, I remember that ominous name. You found him?"
"It is Dooku's Sith name," he said as if it pained him. "We accidentally found it out when we investigated Kamino. Sifo-Dyas was the person who proposed the commission of clones to Kamino, but the real deal was sealed by Dooku. This all happened before he quit the Order."
"Oh, no." She covered her mouth with a hand. "The clones were commissioned by a Sith. One clone killed a Jedi, and another attacked the Chancellor. This was really bad. Did the Council tell the origin of clones to the Senate?"
"No. We decided not to tell. At least not now. We highly suspect that Darth Sidious is hiding in the Senate. Dooku spent quite some time in the Senate to promote his ideals before he left. We will look for clues here. We need your help."
"Probably you should tell the Chancellor, but it is not my place to say. My Darth Sidious Transparency project already caused quite some problems, I admit." She shook her head with frustration.
"How about you come back to Coruscant and do more investigation together with the Jedi?" Obi-Wan looked at her expectantly.
They fell into silence. After a while, Palis answered. "No, I will not join you. I believe the answer is in the Outer Rim. I heard a few tales. About 6 or 7 years ago, a mysterious person crushed quite a number of slave trade businesses. These operations were bloodbath." She paused a little bit and continued. " I found a witness. A former slave. She saw the person use a white lightsaber. A male Humanoid. The person never showed his face, but the voice sounded young, maybe in his 20s by human standard."
"You think he was a Sith student or Sidious himself? But a white lightsaber?" Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "A purified Crystal. That makes no sense."
"Yeah. It makes no sense but deserved more investigation. I am going to look for this person. He may know something."
*** 3 ***
Anakin put his folk down as he finished the roast steak. Some days he and Palpatine met as father and son, instead of two Lords of the Sith.
They were sitting in a high-end restaurant's private booth. He employed some Force tricks so that no one could hear what they talked about.
"Congratulations, my son. You are now on the High Command. I am very proud of you."
"Thank you, father." He felt this was quite ridiculous since nobody else was listening, but Palpatine had insisted that they acted like a normal noble family, so that he could learn how to behave like the proper heir of House Palpatine. His adopted father said he was improving impressively.
These teachings were helpful indeed, otherwise, he would be in endless clashes with Jedi Council members as well as other high society members. But he felt like he was being Imperius the Lothcat. She gained adoration by becoming fluffier. It was a very silly feeling.
He appreciated that Palpatine was spending more time with him. Before the war, he was either studying with private tutors, doing work in Outer Rim, or attending the Academy. The only time they'd really spent together was during the Senate recess, when they visited Sith Temples and other relics for training. Most of his training was through studying the Sith Holocrons by himself.
He was a citizen of Naboo, a permanent resident of Coruscant, however, he spent so little time on neither of these two planets, which meant he had little practice on how to act as a member of the elite class. It didn't reflect well on his family when he was frowned upon for being uncivil. His accent was already a trait of inferiority, certainly, he didn't want to add more to that list.
He signaled the waiter to order dessert, and carefully pronounced a long exotic name. He hated dessert, but it was a part of being a Naboo noble. He preferred to be the no-nonsense person he was in the GAR buildings or on the battleground, however, his House Palpatine adoption paper was part of the package.
"I heard from Padme that you saw a doctor. You are not well?"
It was pointless to hide now. "Yes. A mind healer. She insisted." Anakin sighed. "And got some medicine."
"Your diagnosis?" The older man looked at him curiously. "I see doctors as well. Don't worry, son."
"Some brain chemical imbalance, causing sleeping disruption, volatile mood, paranoia, and many other functional impairments, such as concentration." He scowled while quoting the words on medical records. "The healer gave me some medication. Padme watched me taking them every day. I am not paranoid. They are . I can't tell them about the Force."
"Maybe they are right." Palpatine's comments surprised him. "Our career has very high health risks indeed. Does the medicine help? Does it hurt your ability to work ?" he asked like a real father.
"It doesn't weaken my connection to the Force. But for all the problems they are supposed to address, the effects are little to none."
Palpatine quietly measured him. He didn't seem to mind his new weakness. "I trust you can find solutions in our way."
"I have to live with it for now. The navy-issued stimulants are potent enough to get things back to normal when I needed them to be. The Jedi are breathing down my neck. It is dangerous to experiment with the Force even when I am at home. They are running some surveillance programs. I don't want to take any risks."
"Yes. You need to be extra careful with the Jedi's meddling," Palpatine said appreciatively.
Spending time with his adopted father brought a weird sense of security. The Senate prohibited any type of surveillance over the Chancellor's office. It meant the Jedi could not probe him if he was with the Chancellor.
He was certain that the Jedi had their eyes on him. His own fake midichlorians count had become a nuisance. The number was deliberately made to cover up his unusual agility and reflexes, because his Force ability was too high to be passed as an ordinary person, no matter how hard he tried to hide. If his papers said he was not Force-sensitive at all, some curious Jedi such as Obi-Wan could request a new blood test in the Temple. Then he and Palpatine would have a lot of explaining to do.
However, it was a double-edged sword, making him subject to Jedi surveillance. The burden on him was more and more obvious. Palpatine didn't have the same problem because he was a politician from the beginning.
Anakin sighed again. "At least the problems will not impair my function in the way of Force if the Jedi take actions against us. It is treason. I will take them down as a Lord of the Sith." Sudden anxiety surged in his mind. "The Clone Army is a big uncertainty. I will leave no stone unturned until I find out the complete truth. This is what keeps me awake at night."
"I will take care of it. Son, you focus on Yoda, Windu, and your old friend Kenobi. He will be the next rotating Jedi Council member on the High Command. You figure out what they are up to."
"If they have some secret agenda, these discussions will be in their own Council Chamber. We will never know."
"Things will change." Palpatine placed a hand on the back of Anakin's hand. "I am very glad that you didn't give in to the impulses to testify in the Jedi lawsuit."
"I indeed wanted to call out their self-righteous nonsense. All the rebuttal arguments already formed in my head." Then he laughed. "But you are right. I don't want to become the civil rights icon of the Jedi children's affairs. I am grateful that you allowed me to attend the trial in person. It meant a lot for me, father."
The lawsuit was doomed to fail from the beginning. No law gave Force-sensitives any protection from the Jedi Order. It was the honorable duty for the Jedi to take down every trouble-making Force user, proudly claimed by Master Kenobi. The whole purpose of this lawsuit was to hear the arguments from the other side, so they would be prepared. More importantly, it had allowed them to obtain the video of the arrogant and offensive words from the Jedi's own mouth.
Palis' testimony on dangerous Force-sensitives outraged Rackeli. Finally, she started to truly see his perspective. The Jedi were not some annoying privacy intruders. They were the tyrants of the Galaxy. Not only the Force-sensitives, but every citizen was under their oppressive rule.
"You upheld your side of the deal. You indeed didn't confront the Jedi in public anymore. Of course, I kept my side of the deal." His adopted father pushed his own dessert dish to him. "You can have mine. I am too old for sweets."
"I just pushed my share down my throat," Anakin grumbled. "I will bring this home. Padme had a visitor. Palis Athia will stay with us for a few days. She loves this sort of thing."
"Please pass on my regards. I am very curious about what she will report to the Senate this time," Palpatine said with a small smile, then his expression became serious. "You need to be careful around her. I think you may have underestimated her."
"Why do you think so?" Anakin was a little confused. She spent more than a year looking for evidence in the wrong places. "The reports on Dooku's terrifying students impressed you? Or her writings on the so-called Sith history?"
"Her single-minded obsession and perceptiveness. She's quite creative and adaptive as well," the older man said thoughtfully. "Most importantly, she does not think like a Jedi. It makes her more dangerous than Obi-Wan Kenobi. Do you understand?"
"I see." He still thought Obi-Wan was a bigger threat, but this was not a topic worth arguing about. "I will make up some excuses to stay in my office for a few nights. There's a lot of work to do anyway. Tarkin has been living out of his office for two months now," he said as he packed up the dish. "Palis will have my cat Imperius as her company."
"Is that a Sith name?" Palpatine lifted up an eyebrow.
"You may think in this way." Anakin grinned.
"Then keep your cat away from her, otherwise she may try to feed some lies to your cat."
The two Sith Lords walked out of the restaurant. The senatorial guards in civilian clothes left their assigned posts and quietly followed them into the dark night.