TIMELINE: I am going to have a three-month jump from which point you will not be seeing the Republic's view point. I'm doing this because my own novel doesn't have as many points of view as my fanfic and I want more practice plot developing from a one sided frame. So enjoy Anakin and the Council and Palpatine, because you shant being seeing them for sometime ;D
KEYnote: A few people noticed that Obi-Wan's position isn't that bad and if he theatrically called Dooku's bluff the clones would probably side with him. However, at this point, Obi-Wan can't trust that and the droids likely wouldn't. The most likely scenario of starting conflict with Dooku is starting a civil war that Obi-Wan was trying to avoid, only this time the Republic wouldn't care.
AN: Thank you Nauze! And reminder final chapter of The Kenobi Scandal releases this week :D
Chapter 5 - Gone Dark
Anakin could hardly control his expression for the sheer glee he was feeling.
He had finally done something right.
Exactly right. No mistakes, no missteps, well, none that he hadn't been able to recover from at any rate, and he had even played it by the book.
His first solo mission: Was an undeniable success.
He wasn't due back for another few hours at the Temple but he had made excellent time.
So instead of going straight to the Council, he went to Obi-Wan's room.
He had done so well, he knew it would reflect well on his Master.
They had their ups and downs, but Anakin was ready for a fresh start.
It wasn't until Hoth did he truly appreciate how capable Obi-Wan had always believed he was. He was no longer a child, he was going to make his Master proud, and live up to his potential.
Anakin knocked on the door of their old apartment, "Obi-Wan, it's me."
He was too impatient to wait, but when he entered the suit, he knew Obi-Wan wasn't there.
Anakin frowned at the space, it wasn't that Obi-Wan was always here but something was… off.
Anakin checked Obi-Wan's room in search of a clue. He knew Obi-Wan had just arrived back on Coruscant. He had messaged him so two days ago.
But Obi-Wan hadn't told him that he had been reassigned so quickly.
Judging by how empty Obi-Wan's room, it looked like it would be a long mission. All his robes were gone, well, the nice set and the two everyday robes as well as his cold gear and his suit for non-breathable air planets.
Anakin walked back into the main room, that the gear was gone was a sign Obi-Wan likely was no longer working with Padme.
He frowned at the room, something was missing.
Then it hit him.
Qui-Gon's favourite plant was missing.
Obi-Wan cherished the kriffing thing, and when Anakin checked the kitchenette, he found that Obi-Wan's personal favourite was gone in addition to his stock of tea.
What kind of mission had his Master been assigned to?
Anxiety nagging at him, Anakin checked his old room, maybe Obi-Wan had left a messag-
Anakin cursed as he nearly tripped over a box by his door.
He stared at it, uncomprehending.
It was a box of his things.
Had Obi-Wan been so quick to remove him from his life? It had only been two weeks!
When he opened the door to his room, he found it…
Empty.
Cleaned and ready for someone else to move in.
Anakin took in a steadying breath.
He was overreacting.
This had been Qui-Gon's rooms originally. Obi-Wan was probably moving into his own space, a single room perhaps.
A fresh start.
Obi-Wan deserved that.
Anakin left before he could think of other reasons.
He saw one of the Padawans, Offee, he thought, "Padawan," he called, "You wouldn't happen to know what Master Kenobi's new room assignment is, would you?"
Her eyes went wide, "You mean you haven't heard?"
Anakin's heart thudded and his breath caught.
No.
The Padawan glanced behind him, gave a slight bow before running off.
"Skywalker."
Anakin spun to face Mace Windu, having no idea what to think or do.
This couldn't be happening.
He couldn't even think what…
"We need to talk," Mace said.
A lump formed in Anakin's throat, "He's not dead. I would know if he had died."
Mace's expression softened a bit, "No, Obi-Wan, to my knowledge, is still among the living. But I do need to speak with you, come."
It wasn't a question and he didn't wait for an answer.
Anakin's heart was pounding as he followed, the Council member to one of the meditation rooms he knew Master Yoda favoured.
And sure enough, Yoda was there.
It took some effort to sit, waiting for Mace to take his own seat.
Mace began, "Anakin, have you spoken with Obi-Wan in the last forty-eight hours? Has he tried to contact you at all?"
"No, I mean, is he missing? What happened? Is he okay? What was his new assignment? I thought he was just supposed to be looking after the Nubian Senator."
They exchanged a look.
"What is it?" Anakin snapped.
Mace sighed, and his voice was solemn when he said, "Obi-Wan Kenobi has left the Jedi Order."
Anakin let out a startled laugh, "You're joking. Obi-Wan is perfect, he would never think of-" He shook his head, "He is Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"Left the Order has Obi-Wan Kenobi, before," Master Yoda said, "Went against his Master he did, when new to a Padawanship he was."
Anakin didn't know how to process that, "Wait, what? Obi-Wan left the Order once because of Qui-Gon?"
Yoda nodded, "Moved by a people's plight he was, stayed to fight he did. But different this time is."
Mace nodded, "Anakin, you have to understand. Obi-Wan was being considered for a position on the Council. He's disagreed with us in the past."
"No, he hasn't," Anakin said. Do they even know Obi-Wan?
Mace smiled ever so slightly, "He has, but he's also always respected our verdicts. Which is why he was being considered. However…" Mace's expression darkened, "Obi-Wan hasn't just left the Order, he's left the Republic."
"No," Anakin said firmly, "you don't know Obi-Wan like I do."
Yoda sighed, "Sure of Obi-Wan, I was. But sure of my own Padawan as well I was. Misplaced my trust was, like yours perhaps is."
"We thought he might still reach out to you," Mace said, "Whatever Obi-Wan's motives, he's only ever wanted the best for you."
"What aren't you telling me?" Anakin asked, "Why did Obi-Wan leave? Is he in danger?"
Not that he really believed that Obi-Wan had left, not really, he was still waiting for the punchline of this tasteless joke.
"Remember Master Sifo-Dyas's first attack, do you?" Yoda asked, sounding sadder than Anakin had ever heard him.
Anakin suppressed a shudder. He had been very new to the Temple then.
Sifo-Dyas had been brought in strapped to a stretcher.
He had been sedated.
But he had managed to wake up all the same.
Anakin would never forget that sound, the screaming.
Sifo-Dyas hadn't screamed with just his voice but with the Force.
Obi-Wan had shielded him from the worst of it.
But that initial burst.
Anakin had never understood a pain so deep until he felt Sifo-Dyas's being breaking within the Force.
"I remember," he said softly.
"Sifo-Dyas finally confirmed who did that to him," Mace said.
"Who?" Anakin demanded, that person deserved to be imprisoned, or worse.
Much worse.
"My Padawan," Yoda said, meeting Anakin's gaze, "Lost Jedi Master, Dooku."
Anakin blinked, "Qui-Gon's Master? But I thought… Wasn't he Sifo-Dyas's best friend?"
"According to Sifo-Dyas," Mace said in a rye tone, "he still is."
"I'm so confused," Anakin admitted. "He broke Sifo-Dyas's mind, nearly killed him, and they are still friends? Why? Why would Dooku do that? And what does any of that have to do with Obi-Wan?"
"We aren't exactly sure," Mace explained, "You will have to ask Sifo-Dyas, he keeps giving us contradicting answers. As for Dooku's relationship to Obi-Wan? Dooku has fallen to the Dark Side of the Force and is a Sith Lord. He has convinced Obi-Wan to turn-"
"No," Anakin stated, standing to his feet. "No. This is Obi-Wan. I will never believe he could fall to the Dark Side of the Force. The Sith killed Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan would never work with one."
"Dooku was Qui-Gon's Master," Mace said, "and he... " he sighed, "Dooku was always blessed with a silver tongue. It is possible that Obi-Wan would be willing to listen."
Anakin shook his head, almost violently, "Obi-Wan said he had never met Dooku in person before. And I don't care if he is Obi-Wan's grand-Master within our lineage, Obi-Wan wouldn't- Obi-Wan has his own kriffing silver-tongue. He's no fool."
"Anakin," Mace coaxed, "I know how hard this is to hear, but Obi-Wan has left the Order. He has sided with the Separatist movement."
"What?" he squawked, "But Obi-Wan believes in democracy and the Senate. Why would he ever side with the-"
Anakin cut himself off before swearing in Huttese in front of two Council members.
"Spoke with Dooku, he did," Yoda said.
Anakin felt his jaw tick, "There has been some kind of misunderstanding. None of what you told me makes any sense. Obi-Wan is not a Sith Lord."
"No," Mace agreed, "Not yet."
Anakin made a disgusted sound and pulled his com from his pocket, pacing away from the two Masters. As long as Obi-Wan wasn't in hyperspace and near enough to a decent receiver, a planet like Serreno definitely had those, the comlink should go through.
But when he turned to the correct frequency the tone told him that there was no one listed.
Not that Obi-Wan was out of range or unreachable.
Not that the com had been destroyed, but the user had unlisted from the frequency.
Yoda and Mace gave him pitying looks.
"This doesn't mean anything," Anakin said between his teeth.
But he knew that it did.
It meant something, something that he didn't want to look at too closely. That Obi-Wan had purposely made himself unreachable without warning him first...
"If he contacts you," Mace said, "we need to know."
"Is he," Anakin started before swallowing, "there isn't a warrant on him, is there?"
"No," Mace said, "but he hasn't just involved himself with the Sith but the politics within the Senate. I'm not sure if you have heard yet but when the Senate approved the security act, Naboo left the Republic."
Anakin felt his brows go up, but learning that Padme Amidala had gone against the Senate was far less surprising than Obi-Wan joining the Sith.
After all, Padme had unseated a Chancellor once before and waged a war without the Republic, meanwhile, Obi-Wan had killed the first confirmed Sith in a thousand years.
Mace continued, "We don't know how, but Obi-Wan might be involved with a plot against the Republic that could threaten the sovereignty and safety of the Republic. Several systems were emboldened to follow Naboo's example. The Separatist movement is no longer a few hundred systems but a few thousand systems that have expressed sympathies or who are ready to break with the Republic completely."
"Obi-Wan is not an anarchist," Anakin said through his teeth.
"I hope you are right," Mace said, "All the same, if he contacts you, please come find us."
Anakin nodded but departed without a formal dismissal.
This wasn't happening.
Obi-Wan was coming back.
His Master had always had a perverse sense of humour.
Anakin would certainly be laughing after he kicked Obi-Wan's arse.
Two Weeks Later
Obi-Wan never contacted him.
Anakin knew he was in a state of denial.
But no one was really concerned with his feelings, which was understandable, seeing as the Senate had managed to misplace an army.
One of the largest security bills had been paid out and they had not a single soldier to show for it.
In fact, no one could even contact the army.
Anakin wasn't exactly sure what to think of a clone army, but he knew it didn't look good that these Kaminoins had taken their money but not shown up.
Well, they had sent one Legion, but they had taken off the day they arrived.
Sifo-Dyas chucked, "You are not asking the right questions, young one."
Anakin rolled his eyes, "Why are you still friends with Count Dooku, the Sith Lord and leader of the Separatist movement?"
Sifo-Dyas's smile was fond, "Dooku and I have different perspectives, that is no reason for us not to be friends."
"A difference of opinion?" Anakin repeated. "He hurt you."
"I did ask for his help," the madman said with ease.
They were sitting in the guardens where Anakin had planted all of Obi-Wan's remaining plants.
A green thumb, he did not have but he couldn't let the things waste away waiting for Obi-Wan to come home.
"Has Dooku contacted you recently?" Anakin questioned cautiously, knowing that this was a rocky topic for the man.
Sifo-Dyas shook his head, "No, not recently. He knows I can't leave the Temple, not for long. He doesn't want to be responsible for my health."
"But he's the one-"
Sifo-Dyas touched his hand, "I am who and what I was meant to be, Anakin. We must trust that the Force has a purpose."
Anakin sucked in a breath, for all his broken parts, Sifo-Dyas was perhaps the strongest Jedi Master he knew.
There were not many people who could live through what he had, what he still lived through, and still have faith and hope that things would work out.
"Obi-Wan hasn't contacted me at all," Anakin confessed.
He had been mostly avoiding people, working on his ship and obsessively checking his com as the days passed.
Sifo-Dyas looked thoughtful, "That… is not what I expected him to do. You know he thought of you first, before himself or another, when I made him attend the Padawan Trials with me."
Anakin frowned, "What? And weren't those trials-"
"On the day he returned, yes. He brought three Commanders with him, a Captain, and two other clone soldiers with him. They were most curious. But who wouldn't be? It was their first time off Kamino."
Anakin was frowning, "The clone troopers were with Obi-Wan? Did you tell the Council about this?"
"Plo was with us, and of course, many saw us."
"Where did Obi-Wan meet up with the clones?"
"Dooku introduced them," Sifo-Dyas said, mirth shimmering in dark eyes.
"On Kamino?" Anakin asked, mind spinning.
"Yes," he said, his tone airry, "the Council believes that Dooku was there to steal the clone army and that he perhaps used Obi-Wan for this purpose. The clones, you see, were raised to follow a Jedi from the Republic. Sadly, Dooku is no longer that."
Anakin gaped at him, then spoke slowly, "So you think Obi-Wan is the reason the army hasn't arrived?"
"Obi-Wan and Senator Amidala arrived with the clone Legion and departed with them as well. Surely this isn't such a great leap of logic."
Anakin was appalled, "Are you implying that Obi-Wan gave the Separatists a second army? That he knowingly left the Republic defenceless?"
Sifo-Dyas smiled, "The Outer Rim is vast and wild, the Mid Rim is… opportunistic, but ultimately loyal to the Core. The Inner Rim might as well as be the Core and the Core itself. Well, Anakin, it doesn't much matter how many armies the Separatists have. They will never have the numbers to overtake us."
"Unless," Anakin argued, "Dooku is able to politically conquer the Mid Rim and it becomes the Inner Rim that is 'opportunistic'."
Sifo-Dyas was quiet for a long moment, his attention snagged by a nearby piece of foliage, "Yes, I suppose that could become problematic if they got that far."
"What is the Council going to do?"
Sifo-Dyas shrugged, reaching out to pet a leaf that had grown above the bench they were sitting at, "I do not know, nor do they. They are in session now, trying to think something up. I think we should let the systems who wish to leave, leave, and call a draft for military education. It would be good for the Republic for them to re-evaluate and take their safety into their own hands. The Order has grown too small and too removed from the seat of power to protect them."
"Why aren't you there now?"
Sifo-Dyas shrugged, "They don't like what I had to say and they don't know enough to come to a decision. I will listen when they come to terms with the stakes of this- well, I suppose it isn't a war, but it could have been."
"But you think Obi-Wan is responsible for the missing the army?"
Sifo-Dyas froze, and Anakin went tense as he felt the shimmer in the Force, Sifo-Dyas eyes glazed over in vision.
Anakin didn't have time to so much as reach for his com when the vision passed and Sifo-Dyas laughed out loud.
"What?" Anakin asked.
"I lied to them, you know?"
"What?"
"About her being a farmer," he clarified, which clarified absolutely nothing, "Obi-Wan had an unknown hidden talent for plants. But her?" Sifo-Dyas chuckled, "No, no, she was going to be initiated into the Explorer Corps. She would have done quite well there."
Anakin was lost, "Who are you talking about?"
"Obi-Wan, I just said farmer because it would hit closer to home for him and give her a happy surprise rather than a tragic one."
"What?" Anakin repeated.
"Qui-Gon didn't pick Obi-Wan before he was sent to the Corps."
"Wait, I'm lost. What happened? What do you mean Obi-Wan wasn't chosen by Qui-Gon?"
"Originally, Qui-Gon thought Obi-Wan was too hot tempered to become a Jedi Padawan. So Obi-Wan was sent to join the Agricultural Corps, but Master Yoda arranged for him to be sent to a, how should we say, developing- no, recovering planet, that Qui-Gon just so happened to have a mission on. There were pirates and Hutts involved, I think some of the crew and passengers were eaten."
Anakin was gaping at the Master, "Whoa, slow down, what?"
Sifo-Dyas smiled at him, fully understanding the effect he was having, "And that was just on the trip over. Qui-Gon still hadn't chosen him, but then Obi-Wan was kidnapped while investigating some shady criminal business in the fields, at which point he was enslaved in an underwater mine, and it was quite the fascinating report. Obi-Wan was quite the acolyte even then. He nearly gave his life for Qui-Gon's in the process of saving thousands of slaves."
Anakin gaped at him, "What? He never told me-"
"He was ashamed, I think. Not a few months after that, he left the Order against Qui-Gon's commands and the Council was… well, we were a bit hard on him. He and Qui-Gon went through quite a lot together. Qui-Gon's second apprentice before Obi-Wan, fell to the Dark Side and he battled with Xanatos quite a bit. Obi-Wan, you see, was no stranger to what would befall a Jedi if they strayed down the Dark Side. Even after Xanatos' demise, Obi-Wan walked in that boy's shadow for far too long. By the time Qui-Gon found you, Obi-Wan had healed him of his doubts, about his fears in his ability to teach. But Obi-Wan…" Sifo-Dyas sighed deeply, "Qui-Gon died before such wounds could be healed, and his Master's death left deeper wounds besides."
Anakin's mind was spinning, "Obi-Wan… Obi-Wan never told me any of this."
Sifo-Dyas smiled at him, "Of course not, he wanted the best for you. Perhaps it would have been better for you if he had shared his mistakes with you."
Anakin glanced up at the tree approaching Jedi Knights as Sifo-Dyas finished.
"Or perhaps you would have thrown it back in his face as you did with your fascination of Darth Maul."
Anakin felt as he had been slapped, his thoughts a chaotic mess as Masters Ali-Alann and Cin Drallig reached them.
"Master Sifo-Dyas," Master Ali-Alann greeted in a hurried tone, "The Council is still in session, however, you and Plo were among the last to see Initiate Ahsoka Tano."
"Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and no, we weren't. She joined her Master in protecting the Senator from Naboo."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi is no longer a Jedi Knight," Cin began.
"No longer among the Order, you mean," Sifo-Dyas corrected, "As a Master, he is now the Lost twenty-first. I have had the archive commission a bust for him."
Cin gritted his teeth, "Kenobi can no longer take a Padawan. Ahsoka was meant to be on that ship to the Outer Rim but she never arrived."
"I am assuming she arrived in the Outer Rim safely with her Master."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi cannot be Ahsoka Tano's Master!" Ali-Alann exclaimed, "He left the Order!"
"So did she," Sifo-Dyas said calmly.
"Obi-Wan took another apprentice? Already?" Anakin asked.
It had only been two weeks.
Sifo-Dyas turned a smirk on him, "Yes, they have. And she is going to be a wonderful Knight one day. Obi-Wan will certainly have a legacy of having two of the most powerful Force users among the rising generations."
Anakin didn't really want to look at why that hurt so much.
He hadn't thought he would be jealous of a stranger, but…
Whoever Ahsoka Tano was, she must have been Temple raised and Obi-Wan had graduated Anakin early.
Had his Master actually believed in him, or had been pushing so he could take on a more normal student.
Or perhaps someone better.
"Obi-Wan joined the Sith," Cin said, "this is no laughing matter, Sifo, she could be in a great deal of danger."
"Not to worry," Sifo-Dyas consoled, "we are all in a great deal of danger."
Anakin felt as if he had been left out to freeze in space, with no life line to reel him back in.
He had thought he had known Obi-Wan, but right then, he felt as if he didn't know the first thing about him.
The line finally, finally, clicked over and the image of his apprentice rose in a shimmer of translucent blue.
"Master," he drawled with a bow.
"Where is my army, Tyrannus? They are two weeks behind schedule, the Kaminoins are making us look like fools. Why have I been unable to reach you?"
"The Kaminoins are dead," Dooku said with ease, "As for the latter, well, there has been a change of plans."
Rage roiled in Sidious's gut, "Dead how?"
"I ordered their execution."
"What?" Sidious bit out.
"I had them killed, the clones weren't too happy after they discovered the chips."
Sidious felt the blood drain from his face, "How did they find out?"
"I told them."
"You what?"
"I bought their loyalty with the truth."
"You fool," Sidious sneered, his mind reeling as he realized how deeply this ruined his plans.
And the credits they had transferred…
"They will never trust you now. Unless you plan to betray me and rejoin the Order."
"No, I have no such plans, however, with two armies and the Republic all but defenceless, well…"
Sidious went very still as his mind tried to accommodate the shift of probabilities. "It will never work. If you were truthful with the clones then they will never trust you."
"They don't," Dooku said pleasantly.
Sidious shook his head, "What game are you playing, Apprentice?"
"You wanted a war that would destroy the Republic. I shall deliver you such a war, Master."
"Traitor," Sidious snarled, realizing that he would have to scramble for a draft after having wasted an absurd amount of credits.
Credits which he had given to the Separatists, who now had both superior weaponry and superior numbers.
Even if every Jedi was thrown at them, it wouldn't be enough.
The Jedi might have been convinced to lead armies, they would not be convinced to wage suicidal warfare that would buy the Republic next to nothing in turn.
"Sith," Dooku corrected.
Unfortunately, betraying your Master for your gain was terribly Sith, however, "You have not killed me, Apprentice."
"No, not yet, but before all this is over, I will be the cause of your death."
"Why hasn't the Order broken down my door yet?" Sidious asked, already thinking of his contacts.
"I have told no one your true identity, Darth Sidious. As I said, the plans have changed. You remain in power destroying the Republic from within, while I build an Empire from the outside in."
Sidious stiffened, "So you will be the Emperor? The plan-"
"Was for me to be your stocking horse," Dooku interjected, "to be the evil and you the savior and the Jedi the demons. You never intended for me to live. The Separatists lose in the end. This story I know. But I would rather destroy the Republic utterly than trade one corruption for another."
"In your plan, the Jedi survive. You could send your every resource after them and they will still survive."
"Destroying the Jedi was never my intention, Palpatine. It was the Republic I wanted gone, and when I am through, the Jedi will have two options, retreat with only the mysteries of the Force as their allies, or step out of subservience to a broken government. Either will do for my purposes."
"They will kill you," Sidious snarled, "and the clones, whatever you told them, it will be turned against you."
Dooku smirked, "Unlikely, and no they won't. I have found myself a general that people may very well come to worship one day."
"What are you talking about?" Sidious demanded.
"I've found myself a Jedi of old, the kind who were able to unite the galaxy through benevolence and ruthlessness."
"There are no Jedi of old," Sidious said in a low tone.
"Master Obi-Wan Kenobi," Dooku stated.
Sidious felt his expression go blank.
Kenobi.
Kriff.
Sidious despised that man. He had a way of finding things he ought not to have and surviving things that would have killed anyone else.
It was almost enough to make a person believe in luck.
"How?" Sidious asked.
"I gave him the clone army and told him the original plan. Now he is my servant."
"If he controls your armies, then he is the one with the power!" Sidious exclaimed.
"You underestimate him. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a good man, the type of man compelled to do the right thing."
"Yet you believe he will help you raise an Empire?"
Dooku smiled, "You are a Sith, the Republic is corrupt, the Outer Rim is crawling with slavers and pirates. He no longer has the Council or Senate to answer to. What do you imagine General Obi-Wan Kenobi will do with an army?"
Darth Sidious had to take in an even breath to keep from breaking his own shields and revealing himself within the Force.
Kenobi could easily be manipulated by Dooku in ways that Sidious had never been able to. Dooku was the gundark's Grandmaster after all.
"You shall not be hearing from me in the future, Sidious. Consider this my official declaration of war."
"You will regret this," Sidious said through clenched teeth.
"Will I? Because you can do what exactly? Wage war against us and quicken the Republic's descent? Reveal me to my allies? But wait, they already know who and what I am. Obi-Wan knows, he even knows that I plan to use him for my own purposes. You're the one with secrets. You have everything to lose, and I, everything to gain."
"I will kill you myself," Sidious threatened.
Dooku smiled, "I invite you to try, though you may find your schedule a bit full."
With that, Dooku signed off and Sidious allowed himself to rip the machine apart with the Force. His private rooms were sound proofed and no one heard his below of rage.
Kenobi.
Why was it always Kenobi?
Kenobi who had killed Maul.
Kenobi who had thwarted too many smaller pieces of his plans.
Kenobi who had kept Anakin-
Anakin.
Sidious smiled to himself, his mind already reaching out into the vastness of the Force, the Dark Side revealing paths to him that Dooku was not powerful enough to truly grasp.
Sidious may have lost an army, but he still had the Chosen One.
A Chosen One Kenobi had abandoned.
He had meant it to be Anakin's mother, but this? This would be so much sweeter. A wound he could tease open then rip away at Anakin's very soul.
"So let it be war," Sidious said to the darkened room.
It had been three long months, and still, Anakin had yet to receive any contact from Obi-Wan.
Anakin refused to believe the rumours, and soon his only allies in this dwindled to just Master Plo and Sifo-Dyas.
To say that the Republic hadn't taken well to Fallen Jedi Master, Dark Lord of the Sith, Count Dooku declaring the secession of the Seperatist systems well was a profound understatement.
That he could do so unchallenged because Fallen Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi had stolen the Grand Army of the Republic and all their weapons and ships, adding to criminal statistics of the Separatist Forces, had been received with outright hostility.
Nor did it help that any system that aligned itself with the Sith cut all trade routes and communication with the Republic, a phenomenon that had become known as 'Going Dark'.
It was like the Separatists were trying to be evil.
Though they hadn't attacked any planet that chose to belong to the Republic, if any Republic representatives were sent to investigate Separatist territory, they were never heard from again.
The only exception to Republic territories seized was an abandoned moon that held a facility capable of holding Force sensitive prisoners.
It was the only hope the Order had that the Knights that they had lost in Separatist territories might still be alive.
The draft to hastily risen military academies scattered throughout the Republic had pushed many systems to declare themselves neutral.
That people would rather let themselves be open targets to the Separatists than defend themselves and the Republic boggled Anakin's mind.
But then, not much had made sense lately.
Knight Anakin Skywalker, Chosen One and Apprentice of a Sith Lord.
Anakin heard a number of gruesome murders, everything from Obi-Wan being a murderous General to his kidnapping a Jedi Padawan.
Anakin knew that Initiate Ahsoka had gone willingly with Obi-Wan.
But Anakin was angry at Obi-Wan for allowing it.
No, he didn't think Obi-Wan was a Sith, he just knew he was wrong to have sided with the Separatists, and even worse of him to put a youngling into the reach of Count Dooku.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Looking down at a map of the galaxy, the Outer Rim bleeding in shadows, the common denotation of Separatist territories, Anakin had no words for what he was feeling.
Tatooine had fallen to the darkness today. A dust bull that had little chance of survival if one wasn't afraid of the Hutts.
Count Dooku was not afraid of Hutts.
Jabba and Gardulla the Hutt were dead.
They only knew that because one trash piece of a ship had slipped through the barricades.
Anakin should feel glad that the Hutt who had owned him and his mother was dead.
But all he could think was how it might be years until he knew how the Separatist rule over Tatooine had affected the conditions on Tatooine, where his mother still lived.
"Anakin," Palpatine said softly, "You must see now that-"
"We have no proof Obi-Wan has anything to do this," Anakin snapped.
So, so sick of people speaking to him only to discuss how his Master had fallen to the Dark Side.
There was no proof of those allegations, none.
Palpatine sighed.
Anakin stiffened, Palpatine's disappointment of him grating on Anakin's last nerves.
He hadn't been sleeping well but he knew Palpatine didn't deserve his sharp tone.
The Chancellor was not a popular man at the moment, even though Anakin knew he was doing everything in his power to protect the Republic as best that anyone could in these circumstances.
"I didn't want to have to show you this, but I've been told that it has already been sold to the press before coming to my hand. Perhaps you should sit down."
"I can stand, I don't need anything," Anakin said harshly, tired of people asking him what he needed.
Tired of their pity, of their askance looks.
He needed Obi-Wan to return home.
To explain himself.
To just-
To do anything, to give semblance to this madness, to why he betrayed everyone and everything he had ever stood for.
To explain why Obi-Wan had abandoned him.
Palpatine took his time retrieving the datapad from his desk.
Anakin took the pad wordlessly, the numbness already settling in. He knew by Palpatine's body language alone that whatever he was about to be shown would be bad.
The scene that unfolded before him made his gut turn.
Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in armour, troopers in orange and blue behind him as they tore through the streets of Mos Eisley.
Anakin had wished for much of his earlier life that someone would come, that the Jedi and the Republic army would descend the crime-ridden streets of his homeworld and free the slaves.
When he came to the Temple, Obi-Wan had taught him to let go of his hatred. Explaining how revenge was ugly and that oftentimes, violence begot violence.
In a place like Tatooine, Obi-Wan had told him once,Killing the Hutts would just allow for another crime power to step in and fill the void. Unless the people overwhelmingly wanted to join the Republic, there would be no holding the planet safely.
Anakin had never really agreed with it.
Until now, until he watched his Jedi Master blaze down the streets with deadly force, leaving charred and savoured bodies on the hot sands in his wake.
At his side was a small Togruta female with two green sabres in either hand, using as much deadly force as Obi-Wan.
They were moving so fast, there was so much blaster fire, Anakin couldn't even count the dead as they fell.
Anakin swallowed back the bile.
Obi-Wan hadn't chosen a Jedi Padawan, he had taken an initiate and was raising her to be a killer.
A weapon.
Palpatine took the datapad from his frozen grasp. The silence was so deep between them that the sound of the datapad being placed on the table was thunderous.
Anakin had spent months coming up with excuses, snapping at anyone and everyone who dared to slender his Master's name.
But at some point, reality had to be faced.
Palpatine put a kind hand on his back, "I'm so sorry, Anakin. He never deserved your loyalty."
Anakin closed his eyes, attempting to fight back the tears and failing.
Everything they had said was true.
Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Sith Lord.
Anakin would have liked to have clung to some hope. But he had none. Obi-Wan had betrayed the Republic and left it defenceless, had kidnapped or coerced a powerful Jedi Padawan to join the Dark Side and was now building a Sith Empire that looked as if it would surround the Republic before it attacked them directly.
Traitors. Murders. Cowards.
He had always been taught that there was no returning from the Dark.
So it was with a perverse twist of fate that it was Obi-Wan's voice he heard in his mind, You must let go of your attachments, only then can you become one with the Light.
Anakin bowed his head, and Palpatine wrapped him in an embrace, "This will not be easy, my son, he has fallen beyond reach now."
Anakin buried his face in Palpatine's shoulder, and for a moment, let the pain take him.
He felt that he deserved a moment if he had to live in a universe where the ever-present light that was his Master had gone dark.
AN: Thoughts, reactions, killer whales, or feedback? Pretty, pretty please?