Vader's second chance
A Star wars story
Chapter 25
Disclaimer: Disney owns everything except my plot.
Hello there everyone and welcome to chapter 25. Before we begin, I'd like to thank you for all the reviews this story has gained! I can't believe that you guys have reviewed 66 times…wait a minute…
Darth Sidious-66? Ah yes… Commander, the time has come. Execute order 66!
Cody-Yes, my lord.
Me-Uh, Cody…No, no don't!
Cody-Blast him!
Me-No Cody no!
*sounds of blaster fire and lightsabers swinging*
Me-Okay guys, I "dealt" with Cody. No need to worry about him anymore. Anyways, let's get back to the prologue.
So…that happened. Um, okay. Anyways, as I was saying, thank you guys for all the reviews and follows! With that now over with let me explain what today's chapter is about. Now that our four heroes have (finally) returned from their trip to the sandy dunes of Tatooine, they find themselves thrown in the middle of a secret investigation conducted by the GAR's Commanders, lead by Captain Rex. As Jedi Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi start filling the gaps in the ongoing investigation and uncover new information regarding Darth Vader's motives all the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place for the eventual reveal of the Sith Lord's true identity…
Coruscant's atmosphere, Republic Starship, Anakin Skywalker's point of view:
The trip back to Coruscant has been less than ideal. After comforting Luke and trying to help him let go of his painful memories regarding Darth Vader and a nerve-hurting discussion with Obi Wan where we talked about the Sith Lord's identity I had decided to take a much needed nap, in order to clear my head from all the confusion It's been filled up with lately. I woke up a couple hours later and decided to go speak with my Padawan, which escalated into a sparring match quicker than you can say "lightsaber" and ended up with me winning, as always. Not much happened after that and I decided to stay with Snips and help her improve her saber skills. We continued training for a while before Luke came to tell us that we were about to land. All three of us sprinted towards the hangar bay and thankfully arrived on time. The transport ship took us back to the Temple and I decided to check in with Rex and see what he's been up to while we were away, not knowing that this decision alone would cause me to have the greatest headache in Galactic History.
Anakin-Rex, can you hear me?
Rex-General Skywalker! I hear you loud and clear sir!
Anakin-Good. I wanted to inform you that we've returned from our mission to Tatooine.
Rex-Finally! Um…I mean…I would really appreciate if you and General Kenobi could come by the barracks sir. It's urgent.
Anakin-Is there a problem?
Rex-Sir, I'll tell you when you get here.
Anakin-…Fine, but it better be important if you're dragging us all the way back there.
Rex-Sir, I assure you, it's very serious.
Anakin-Don't worry, we're on our way.
I shut my communicator off and groaned as I went to go find Obi Wan, who had probably gone to the Council Chambers. Would I ever get the chance to finally rest?
Moments later, 501st barracks, Rex's point of view:
As soon as General Skywalker told me he was going to inform General Kenobi about my request I got to work and immediately sent word to the other Commander's so they could notify their Jedi about the meeting. Bly, Wolf, Cody and I have been tirelessly working to uncover this mystery during the last few days and we weren't going to back down. All four of us had agreed that we would inform our respective Jedi and that we would request that the information stays between the eight of us, perhaps nine if General Kenobi thought it wise to bring Commander Lars with him. After I was done with calling everyone I left them to do their work and even turned a blind eye to the fact that General Secura just happened to be in the same room as him at this ungodly hour. One by one, everyone soon managed to establish a secure connection with each other and we were all waiting for Generals Skywalker and Kenobi to appear, which of course, they did. I had told Sergeant Appo that I wanted him to tell the Generals to head to my quarters and excused myself so I could greet them.
Anakin-Alright Rex, what's so important that you had to drag us back here?
Obi Wan-That is something both Luke and I would like to know as well.
Plo Koon-The same is true for Master Secura and myself.
Anakin-Master Plo? What are you doing here?
Rex-Sir, I promise I'll explain everything.
Obi Wan-Well Rex, we're all ears.
Rex-Alright. So, weeks before the Battle of Geonosis someone visited Kamino without authorization. This was before General Kenobi had ever stepped foot on the planet to begin with. I was on patrol near the landing zone on that day and decided to check out the disturbance. I approached the ship with my blaster raised, ready to stun the intruder. The ramp lowered and a female walked out of the ship and I demanded she tell me who she was and why she was here. She ignored me and I tried to shoot her, but she did something to me before I could. She raised her hand in front of my face and said something that I can't remember. Everything went black and when I woke up I was standing in the same spot as I did before the ship landed, with said ship having vanished. I was suspicious and went to check in with the troopers responsible for handling the security cameras, only to find them mindlessly staring at the screens in front of them. I called out their names and they didn't respond or give any indication that they had even heard me. I had to physically push them to get them to acknowledge my presence sir!
Plo Koon-That is…unusual.
Rex-Sir, there's more. When I checked the security footage I saw that as soon as a weird looking shadow entered the frame the camera went completely black and returned to normal right after this individual was out of view.
Obi Wan-That is a very interesting story Captain, but is there proof to this claim?
Cody-Sir, I checked in with the two Clones that Captain Rex mentioned beforehand, and they claim that they can't remember anything weird happening that day. To use my brother's exact words "I don't remember anything happening. One moment, I was doing the same thing I've doing for years now and the next I was being pushed by Rex, who was yelling at me, saying that I should wake up."
Anakin-Cody, do you believe Rex?
Cody-Yes sir. So do Commanders Bly and Wolf sir.
Aayla-Well, as I told Bly, this memory loss seems to be a side effect of a Mind-Trick of some sort.
Plo Koon-Perhaps it is, but where would the Force Sensitive come from?
Obi Wan-That is a great question. Captain, could you describe this individual?
Rex-Sir, I can't recall anything about her appearance, but I can tell you that she sounded like an adult and that she was a female.
Cody-Generals, Rex and I discussed this with Bly and Wolf and concluded that it could have been one of those Sith.
Anakin-It's possible, but I fail to find a reason for this visit. If it was a Sith then Vader could have simply contacted the Kaminoans.
Obi Wan-Anakin, if you remember correctly, I told you and the Council and Vader was making a deal with the Separatists right before the Battle of Geonosis.
Aayla-If it was not Vader then it must have been Dooku.
Plo Koon-And we know that Darth Sidious was the one behind Dooku at the time, or at least that is what Vader claims.
Anakin-Which is also supported by Luke…and uh, his visions.
Obi Wan-That is correct Anakin.
Wolf-Sir, if you don't mind me asking, who is this "Darth Sidious"?
Obi Wan-Darth Sidious is a Sith Lord is supposedly controlling the Republic, but we've found no evidence of foul play yet.
Anakin-Again, we know that Sidious exist because both Dooku and Vader have mentioned him many times and referred to him as an active player in the war.
Aayla-If you don't mind me interrupting, Vader has even gone as far as to claim that the only reason he is fighting in the war is because he wants Sidious dead.
Bly-Well, if he's telling the truth then why don't we just deal with this Sidious and get rid of both of them?
Obi Wan-Because being a Sith Lord isn't against Republic law and we can't arrest him. Besides, if we kill him, his accomplishes will try one of Sidious' many contingency plans.
Anakin-Hold up. Where is that coming from?
Obi Wan-Luke told me that Sidious has always loved scheming. Besides, I doubt that the Sith wouldn't have a contingency plan in case the Sith Lord that is behind the plan is killed. They have been hiding for a thousand years and have had more that enough time to prepare before they made their move.
Aayla-I can't argue with that logic.
Plo-I admit, Master Kenobi is correct to assume this. It is the most likely scenario after all.
Anakin-Okay, now that we've talked about Sidious, I suggest we go back to the original topic.
Bly-I agree with General Skywalker sirs.
Aayla-Alright then. What do we know about this person and what could drive them to visit Kamino?
Rex-Generals, all four of us have done our best to find out and we've narrowed it down to two things. Either this individual wants to find a way to defeat the army and was looking for potential weaknesses, or the Kaminoans have some hidden agenda we don't know about.
Anakin-The second option sounds more likely. Besides, there are other ways to obtain information on the enemy and this one is just too risky.
Plo Koon-Are you saying that the Cloners could be behind this?
Aayla-They could be. Master Ti was complaining about them keeping a very close eye on her after all.
Cody-I agree. Those stinking long-necks are probably planning something as we speak Generals.
Obi Wan-Rex, is there a way to perhaps control the Clones?
Rex-What? Why would that even exist?
Obi Wan-I am just curious.
Bly-General Kenobi, I may have something about that.
Anakin-Oh you have got to be kidding me!
Bly-Well…the GAR has the contingency orders.
Aayla-Contingency orders?
Bly-Yes sir. There are a hundred and fifty different contingency orders that cover a lot of different scenarios ranging from treason in the Senate to the loss of Coruscant or Kamino sir. From what I understand, there just different protocols sir.
Wolf-There is one regarding the Jedi betraying the Republic, but I don't think it's ever going to be used.
Anakin-What? What does it say?
Wolf-It says that Jedi officers will be removed with lethal force sir, but it's just for traitors.
Obi Wan-I suppose it's a security measure against Dark Jedi.
Plo Koon-It does make sense for this to be here.
Aayla-According to Luke, this is going to be an issue.
Anakin-Bly, who has the power to authorize this?
Bly-It requires direct authorization from the Chancellor sir. If he confirms it, then we follow the order.
Anakin-Oh, poodoo…
Rex-Is something wrong sir?
Anakin-Nothing Rex. I just…remembered something.
Obi Wan-Moving on, do you really believe this could be used against us?
Wolf-Sir, the only way this can happen is if the Chancellor authorizes it.
Aayla-Skywalker, you know him the best. Do you think he would do it?
Anakin-I wouldn't know. I've only spoken with him a few times and the last one was months ago.
Rex-General Skywalker, you and General Kenobi have had the most encounters with Darth Vader. Do you believe that he could be behind the breach on Kamino?
Obi Wan-We wouldn't know Rex.
Anakin-Yeah. It's not like I have coffee with the guy every week or something.
Aayla-I'm not saying that he's above doing something like this. It fits his MO.
Plo Koon-I suppose you are correct. He tries to not injure anyone unnecessarily, even Jedi.
Cody-Generals, haven't we made it clear that the attacker was a female?
Obi Wan-You have Cody, but Vader has a female apprentice. If she was the one responsible then we must understand how this would benefit him.
Rex-So, we're back at square one because we don't know the motive?
Anakin-I wish it were otherwise.
Bly-We'll keep looking into it sir.
Aayla-If any of you need help you know where to find us.
Cody-Thank you General. It's appreciated.
Obi Wan-So, the meeting is adjourned then?
Rex-I think so.
Anakin-Actually, there is one more thing.
Cody-Sir?
Anakin-In the words of Master Yoda, "began, the Clone War has", so please, don't exhaust yourselves while trying to find answers that aren't there.
Rex-Understood General.
Aayla-May the Force be with everyone.
After the others terminated their connections and Generals Kenobi and Skywalker I went to bed, disappointed by the fact that none of the Jedi seemed to understand how important this really is.
Another long chapter for you guys! Mind you, I'm posting this early so you have something to read, but I'll revisit this to make sure I didn't make any mistakes and maybe add Rex's thoughts during the last scene if you guys want me to. Anyways, the next chapter is a Vader chapter so you guys can rest easy knowing that I haven't forgotten about him or Ahsoka. As a side note, Ahsoka hasn't and never will use the Dark Side in this fic. The powers she has and will display are all Light Side exclusive, or neutral abilities and the "Force Lightning" she used when fighting Anakin and Obi Wan on Nar Shaddaa and Vader in his ship's training dojo is an ability called "Electric Judgment". Just saying that so I don't confuse you later on and to give myself a chance to deal with all the people that wanted a "Dark Ahsoka" fic before there are too many of them. Mind you, in that case I'm sure that Master Skywalker will protect me. In all seriousness, I wanted to tell you guys because I feel like I didn't make that very clear in the early chapters. Lastly, I want to tell you that the action I promised last chapter will begin two chapters from now (chapter 27). Oh, and before I forget, make sure to review the story and give me feedback (I really appreciate it when you do)! Anyhow, I'll see you all next time, but until then, May the Force be wi-
Obi Wan-Hello there!
Me-General Kenobi! What can I do for you?
Obi Wan-I was wondering if you've seen Cody anywhere. I've been looking for him, but he's nowhere to be found.
Me-I'd offer to help you, but I'm in the middle of the epilogue so…
Obi Wan-Oh, I apologize. How uncivilized of me!
Me-I'll check in with you later okay?
Obi Wan-Sure. Now where has that Clone gone to?
Me-You should check the barracks. Surely someone there knows something.
Obi Wan-A good idea. I'll go there right away!
Okay, Obi Wan is gone! Thank the Force for plot conveniences! I, uh…I'll have to deal with that later won't I? Yeah, I probably will. Anyways, as I was saying, May the Force be with you!