***1***
"Can you tell me the truth? Are the Jedi monitoring all Force-sensitives?" Padme asked her friend after a long time of contemplation. Palis was chasing after Imperius to give her a brushing, but the furball refused to come close.
"No. I gave the same answer under oath in the court. I could be sentenced to prison for a long time for perjury if I cover-up for the Order." Palis put aside the brush and moved closer to Padme. "Jedi are not running a surveillance program. They are tracking down Dooku's new Dark Side trainees and have arrested many. They sent out notifications to the Force-sensitives who have records in the database, to warn them about Dooku's manipulations, so that they would not fall into his trap and be used as a tool."
"If Dooku's trainees are running the recruitment for him, the Order will inevitably end up following the Force-sensitives that the trainees contacted," Padme thought aloud.
"You are correct. There is a fine line, but the Order has no intention to watch over them beyond the purpose of stopping Dooku's Dark Side operation," Palis explained. "However, by some people's definition, it is considered massive systemic oppression, I guess. I cannot reason with them."
"You mean Anakin." Padme sighed. "He was convinced that the Jedi Order was watching everything that he did. I tried to talk him out of this idea, but I was not successful."
Palis winced slightly. "He is not exactly the most popular person with the Jedi. He is the instigator of this radical 'Children of the Force movement'. The Order is wary of him," she added awkwardly. "I warned Obi-wan to watch over the new episode of movement. He must be stopped before it becomes galactic news. Navy v. Jedi Order. It is a win for Dooku and the Dark Side. Believe me. I did not suggest anyone invade his privacy, not the way he was paranoid about."
"Paranoid is the word," Padme agreed. "I do not consider what the Jedi Order did unethical, but he felt differently about it. I know where his feelings came from. He has a unique perspective on freedom . It is very personal and important to him, but it affects his health."
"Unique perspective. Can you tell me more?" Palis looked very interested in this topic.
"His beliefs come from how he grew up. It is private though. I cannot tell you more. You can ask him if he wants to talk."
"Do you mean Palpatine is an abusive parent who restricts his freedom?" Palis was alarmed.
"Oh. No. It was before he came to Naboo. His mother, Shmi, was not abusive either. You need to ask him." She changed the topic; otherwise, Palis would ask more questions that she had no right to answer. "I have another issue that I want to consult with you about. A clone trooper attacked Chancellor Palpatine. The reports said a viral infection caused his aggression. Anakin could not sleep after that. He believes in a conspiracy that Dooku invented a virus that could mind control clones and they would murder senators."
Palis' eyes widened, and her body trembled for a brief moment.
"You know something, right?" Padme asked cautiously, "You were on Kamino when the clone army was discovered."
After a long wait, Palis answered, "The Jedi Order has their own investigations. I do not know exactly what they are doing, but I have a suggestion for you. Use your position on the Galactic Security Committee to demand a thorough investigation of Dooku's activities in the Senate before he left the Jedi Order. Besides that, you should demand that the Jedi Council tell you more about Dooku. This is all the advice I can give you. "
"What about the virus?" Padme asked while writing Palis' suggestions down. "Anakin wanted to investigate that."
"His theory was not entirely impossible. I remember the genetic vulnerability is one of the arguments against the expansion of the Clone army. Targeting senators? Another clone killed a Jedi. Sounds like a solid anti-Republican plan. What else did Anakin say? He has interesting theories. The possibility is worth thinking about." While she was talking, Imperius sat down in a spot within her reach.
"He would appreciate what you just said." Padme smiled awkwardly. "However, he thinks the Jedi and Dooku are plotting together to take over the Republic. I demanded that he see a doctor and receive treatment. He dropped this crazy idea for now. His job is too stressful. The doctor said after the war was won, he would feel better."
"It's good you did that. There is indeed too much stress. He has to fight the Separatists and fight a secret war with an imaginary Jedi oppressor at the same time. Tough time." Palis pinched her nose bridge. "I am tracking all sorts of anti-Jedi propaganda. The most damaging stories are that Jedi have failed the Republic because they lead the war efforts poorly. Unfortunately, leading the war efforts poorly is accurate, in my opinion."
Palis paused to think, and added, "Please remind Anakin not to spread his 'the Jedi are working with Dooku' conspiracy theories."
"I demanded to know whether he was spreading this rumor. He said he only told his father and me." Padme shook her head. "He admits that it will make him sound like an insane person, and damage my and his father's reputation."
"What did Palpatine say about it, do you know?"
"His father dismissed it, calling it immaturity."
"Just immaturity? Palpatine did not tell him how absurd and impossible this idea was?" After seeing Padme nod, Palis continued, "He should have used his authority as a parent to ground his son to reality. His ambivalence just leaves room for more paranoia."
"I know. I want Palpatine to be more assertive in family matters, rather than assertively grabbing more powers in the Senate." She fought to keep her sadness out of her voice. "Anakin and I are very divided on this issue. He does not see that giving one person so much power is destroying the Republic from within. I can only hope the war ends quickly and Palpatine will step down as he has promised. I am pessimistic that he would do it willingly, so I am fighting very hard for it."
Palis came close and gave her a hug. "It must be very difficult for your relationship. I am curious how you two spend free time together without getting into an argument."
"We both are very busy, we have little time together even after he was assigned back to Coruscant. He spends many nights in his office. When he can not sleep, he devotes his time to work."
"Like for the past couple of days?"
"I guess it is because he wants to avoid you," Padme chuckled, and patted Imperius who just moved to her lap. "When he is back home, we talk about our travel plans for after the war. He would open a star system map, and point at the places that he wanted to go together with me. He is very knowledgeable about different worlds. I feel so happy when we talk about things like this, like when we were children during the Naboo Occupation. It brings hope." She became emotional as she talked.
"I like to travel as well." Palis said quietly, "I do not like to travel to these war-torn worlds to investigate the Sith, but I have to. I hope that one day, I could travel to these same worlds after they are rebuilt, and see people's new life."
"It would be great." She smiled. "I plan to retire from politics, and maybe I will teach in universities. It is what my father does. Anakin will stay in the military. If he can choose, he wants to lead the corps of engineers. He wants to build things."
Palis looked intrigued. "Of course he can choose! He is a free person. I thought he would devote his whole life to the cause of bringing justice to the Jedi Order or try to be the most powerful military leader in the past 1000 years. Being a head engineer will be a wiser decision."
"I only hope when the time comes, he could make a wise choice. I do not know. I may choose to not retire if I see Palpatine stays in power, or see someone else more threatening come to power." She took the brush from Palis and started to brush the Loth-cat.
"I wanted to be on the Jedi Council once." The former Jedi looked out the window. "I thought the Jedi's reclusive way of living and seeking enlightenment from the Force made the Order distant from people who we are supposed to serve. The Council meditated on this and that, but will follow the Senate's mandate when receiving an order. It is like the Order had surrendered our own free will. Instead, they followed the Senate or the Force's command. Suddenly, the Jedi found themselves becoming generals of war. So, I quit. More freedom to do things without the Council making decisions for me." Then she laughed. "This sounds like Anakin and Rackeli's speeches, but I had the freedom to leave, and I left. No grievance from me. It is a hard decision though."
Imperius left Padme's lap and sat next to Palis.
"I am wondering why this war is so hard to fight. Our side has more military might, but the Separatists seemed to understand our weakness," Padme mused.
"Maybe Anakin is right about one thing. There may be a collaboration between Dooku and someone from the Republic, but not within the Jedi." Palis seemed to contemplate what she should say. "The Jedi Order now believe Darth Sidious exists. Sidious may be working closely with some key senators or maybe a senator themselves. It is possible that Dooku and Sidious are not against each other, but have some shared interests. But Sith love backstabbing and infighting more than anything else. Anyway, like I said, looking into Dooku's friends in the Senate before he left the Jedi Order may give us some clues."
The Lothcat grumbled. Palis tried to calm her down, but she hissed and jumped away instead.
"Imperius is a really interesting cat." Palis measured the cat carefully. "Her name is funny. Sounds somewhat familiar. A princess cat?"
"Princess of the Galaxy according to Anakin. It is a joke, but it made me feel uneasy because his father is more and more like a dictator. Anyway, it is an innocent name, and she is just a cat." Padme stood up and readied herself to go back to work.
"I hope I can talk to her, and she may tell me something important," Palis spoke with seriousness.
"If you think a cat can give you some intel, then I have to recommend Anakin's doctor to you," Padme said scandalously and picked up the cat who purred loudly.
***2***
Obi-Wan was meditating in his apartment when Palis called him.
"I have a few important things to tell you. Anakin has a Loth-cat. She is a Force-sensitive creature, sort of his familiar . When I was speaking ill about Anakin or the Dark Side of the Force, she was unhappy. Her name is Imperius. It could be a Sith name." Her anxiety showed clearly in her voice. "Anakin knows how to use a lightsaber, and is very skilled at it. He may have some connections to the Sith. A worshiper at least."
"A Sith worshipper because he has a cat named Imperius? I just looked it up on the Holonet; thousands of pets share the name Imperius. You think the cat dislikes you talking about the Dark Side of the Force. Maybe the cat is not a fan of you." Obi-Wan noticed the irritation in his own voice and fought to lower it. "These are groundless charges against a military leader. It is divisive and dangerous. Anakin already stopped talking about his misgivings about the Order in public. I don't want a new reason for the Navy's anti-Jedi sentiment to resurface. Everyone is on edge nowadays, the citizens, politicians, naval leaders, and even many Jedi Knights!"
He called upon the Force to calm himself down. "I didn't mean to be harsh to you. After almost three years of war, I feel there are super-battle droids in every corner, ready to ambush me. You are looking for the Sith, probably you see Sith suspects in every corner as well. You need to keep yourself grounded, not let paranoia take hold."
"You are right. But maybe, just maybe, if Anakin has some involvement with the Sith, it will destroy the Republic from within. His father may be involved as well. He gathered so much power in such a short period of time," she pleaded.
"You must stop here. Palpatine having too much power is a separate matter." He tried to calm her down. "You are always a cheerful person, now you act like you are desperate. You need to take a break from this Sith search. We have a list of suspects who may be Darth Sidious and we are working on it. You don't need to put all the burden on your shoulders, it could crush everyone."
Palis quietly nodded, thanked him, and bid goodbye. Her image disappeared.
A few minutes later she sent a message. "I am going to visit the last few worlds where the anti-slavery operations were conducted. If I cannot find any information about the being using a white lightsaber, I will put a stop to all of these."
Then another message. "I am going to be a fiction writer!" She added a big smiley face. "And make a lot of money!"
Obi-Wan was always very impressed by her ability to cheer herself up. More importantly, her willingness to adopt new ways of thinking when facing a challenge, whether the challenge was from outside or within. He hoped that the Jedi Order could have more of her spirit, but not her wild imagination. He hoped the future generation of Jedi could be different, not the same Jedi Order that was losing its way in the conflict.
In the holocall, he hadn't wanted to tell her that one of the Sith suspects was an advisor to Palpatine. He was almost certain that Palis would combine this information into her guesses about Anakin and produce some blazing conspiracy theories featuring the First Family of the Republic.
Anakin was not reformed enough to stomach such a personal attack. The recent clone incident made the young man look at every Jedi with suspicion. His demand to look into the clone production and virus was a welcoming one. But, if he knew Dooku was involved in the clone creation, he might think the Jedi and Dooku had a shared secret agenda.
Now it came to the question about Dooku. He knew the clone's genetic vulnerability, which meant he could create bioweapons targeted at the clones. If he had not done it yet, he certainly could do it in the future. Sifo-Dyas created an army for the Republic, but the Sith made sure the clones had vulnerabilities to exploit by providing the genetic template, Jango Fett.
The most troubling aspect was that Dooku's involvement with Kamino was under his Sith name. He was already a Sith before he left the Order, which was an astounding revelation. It meant that his turning to the Dark Side happened much earlier than the Order had suspected. More importantly, it meant that being a Sith was not detectable even for powerful Jedi Masters, including Yoda.
Sith could not be found until they revealed themselves. Either the Sith were caught doing their dark job on the spot, or they came out of the closet themselves. Otherwise, the Jedi could only have speculations. And some speculations could be seen as treason if they involved the Chancellor himself.
Even if Palis' theory about Anakin being a Sith admirer was correct, what could the Jedi do about it?
Nothing. As long as he was not sharing intel with Separatists, defecting to their side, or causing some tangible damage to the Jedi Order, he had the right to do whatever he wanted, including being a nuisance to the Order. Rackeli's radical movement (with Anakin's not-so-secret and steady fast backing) accomplished very little, compared to the daily state-sponsored news on the Clone Wars latest death toll (under Jedi Leadership), and the anti-war protests in front of the Jedi Temple.
When Anakin's recommendation to High Command was sent to the Jedi Council, there was a brief moment of spirited discussion. It was not a popular idea to have a radical person in such a high position, but the Council had no alternatives. All other candidates were more problematic in their own ways. There was no question that he was selfless in his service to the common good of the Republic, not to mention his track record of leading the Republic to victory. The worst fear was that he would have dramatic episodes with the Jedi leadership because of his personal feelings, but that fear had already been proved not true in the past that first year. The Council approved his position unanimously.
However, the words unsaid in the Council Chamber were that the single-family had too much power. Two established political leaders, and a fledgling military leader. The two politicians were in conflict on various issues, but still too much power in the same family.
Obi-Wan turned off his commlink and entered a meditative state. Finding Darth Sidious needed a lot of meditation.
***3***
"I know why the Court issued a determination so fast. Usually, it would take a few days, but they ruled against us in a blink of an eye." Rackeli stood up to relax her body after reading the court filing a few hours in a row.
"I guess we didn't convince them of the existence of systemic discrimination," Anakin's agent, a man calling himself Crusader, answered. He had been working with her on investigating Jedi for more than a year. Crusader of course was a codename. He gave her the impression of a military man. When he first showed up, he had a few patches of bacta on his face, claiming he had been injured in an accident.
But later she figured it was more likely plastic surgery. He was careful, efficient, and, most importantly, he was willing to do anything to expose Jedi's wrongdoings. His obsession made her nervous at times. Compared to him, Anakin was moderate.
"No, it is an excuse. The judges believe the Force-sensitives are dangerous. I rewatched the recording, their facial expressions told everything. They were afraid of these people," she said bitterly. "Red did a great fear-mongering job."
"But we get the footage of her and Kenobi making these hateful accusations. I am almost done with editing. Do you want to watch it now?" Crusader was eager to show his work.
"Wait until later. Their speech is triggering. I don't want to get myself too upset." She shook her head. "I am going home. Let us come back to work tomorrow. We need to convince the public that the Force-sensitivities are not inherently dangerous. Some were recruited by bad actors, which is the problem. People blindly believed the Jedi and their accusations."
"Maybe you can ask the other side, the Sith, to say a few words?" he teased.
"Go ahead to get Dooku or his students to speak. They can give a talk on how they turned harmless people to evil. Let the Sith give us a quote," she grumbled. "Seriously, we need more quotes to make the video. Your boss is still deciding whether he will speak or not. By the way, how do you want to name the video?"
"Jedi Cult! The Shadow Galactic Ruler for 1000 Years," her colleague declared. "Do you like this title?"
"I would say absolutely no if I hadn't heard all these blatant things they said in the court," she said angrily. "Yesterday Red replied to my blog calling me a Sith agent." She paused when she saw Crusader smiled awkwardly. This was not a great joke, sounding like a traitor to the Republic.
"We will give it a last try." She changed the topic. "Senator Ferrics already filed our bill. Chancellor Palpatine blocked it immediately. Anakin said he could not convince his father to change his mind. So, let us stage a big protest. I hope the video can get viral." A few sparks of excitement emerged. "We are fighting for freedom for ALL!"
If her younger self knew what she was doing now, she would think the older self had gone crazy. She used to want to be a judge in the High Court. After seeing how the judges were afraid to rule against the Jedi, her faith in the court system had a free fall. For now, she just wanted to finish what she had started. She started with trying to get her neighbor's child back. Now she was overthrowing the Jedi Order.
Rackeli was pulled from her thoughts by the chime of Crusader's comm. He answered and Anakin's image sprang into view.
"I have an urgent assignment," he said. "I already sent the document to you. I want a sample of that clone brain virus."
"Yes, sir." Crusader looked at his boss with almost reverence. "It will be done, assuming it actually exists."
"This is my suspicion as well. Tomorrow the Senate will hold a hearing on the clone accidents." Anakin turned to Rackeli and looked at her knowingly. "I need you to review my notes. Not the best day for me."
"Gladly." She smiled at him.
When they were preparing the lawsuit together, she had found that Anakin's writing style was interesting. When he could not sleep, he used criticizing the Jedi to kill time. Sometimes his writings were terse, blank, and disconnected; sometimes, they were long and full of emotions, ideas jumped around. On some other days, he wrote eloquently, with assertive, measured, and concise language. She pointed out the inconsistency. He told her about his medical condition. No matter how powerful he was, he was a vulnerable human after all.
"Don't be bothered by what Palis wrote on your blog." He shook his head. "We are doing a good thing. If the Jedi disliked something, they always found a way to call it the enemy's agenda. I may see you in the Senate building tomorrow. Good night." Then he disappeared.
She and Crusader parted ways. She had moved to a small apartment on upper-level Coruscant. She was a few steps closer to her dream, but her faith in both the Senate and the Court was faltering. The Senate was totally dysfunctional. The hearing on the Clone accident should have the highest priority, but some senators kept on blocking it, using it as leverage to negotiate for their own agenda. Chancellor Palpatine forcefully cleared up all the procedures and ended the bickering. Some people called Palpatine a dictator, but this was the only way to get things done in a war. Her own world's political turmoil and drama had new episodes every few months. It would not end until the war was ended.
To her own shock, she found that she believed in Palpatine more than she believed in any institution, despite the fact that he blocked her bill. She could find a dozen reasons to be angry at the Jedi, but it was hard to hate Palpatine, even though he was helping the Jedi.
Rackeli decided that she needed a break after the fate of the Children of the Force Freedom Act was decided. The bill's chance was slim, but she would make sure that the public saw the Jedi in a new light.