Chapter 40. Shadowfall
The man is boring beyond belief, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine thought as he listened to his handpicked Military Governor of the Naboo System drone his way through a speech that made up in length and insensitivity what it lacked in charm and purpose. The crowd below the dais was sullen and restless, and he could have sworn he heard one of the musicians snoring.
On the other hand, the idiot lacks the imagination to do anything other than follow orders. That was of course why he had been selected for the post.
Persuaded that the speech was likely to go on even longer, Chancellor Palpatine returned his attention to his true work, and reached out with the Force to gauge the mood and intentions of the crowd, the city beyond, and the key players who stood around him, all the while reflecting on the accomplishments of the past few days and the tasks ahead.
It was one of his great pleasures to use the Force undetected right under the nose of a member of the venerable Jedi Council. Master Windu stood next to him like an Alderaanian garden ornament. He was shielded and closed, and he wouldn't notice a thing. Confidently Palpatine sent his awareness slipping through the shadowy channels that criss-crossed his universe, probing and prying and searching with the complete freedom to which he was accustomed.
He was therefore singularly annoyed when Mace Windu unexpectedly turned to him and remarked quietly, "Are you quite happy with your choice for the post of Military Governor, Your Excellency?"
A Jedi making small talk? Palpatine wondered. In the middle of a ceremony? With his irritation and distrust perfectly hidden, Palpatine leaned companionably toward Windu and said, "He will do, Master Jedi. His post is more functional than ceremonial."
The Jedi nodded, and Palpatine returned to his dark ruminations.
"Let us hope his gifts as an administrator are greater than his gifts as an orator," Windu said suddenly, once again cutting into his focus.
Small talk indeed. Now deeply suspicious, Palpatine decided very quickly that there was more to the innocuous comment than appeared on the surface. Again, it very effectively had ended his deeply private train of thought – and his thoroughly cloaked exploration through the Force.
Had that been its purpose?
If so, then the Jedi Master deliberately had meant distract him. And that could only mean that he had noticed something. Had the Jedi finally taught themselves some new parlor tricks? Could they now, at least in some primitive way, sense the movements of the dark side of their beloved Force? Experimentally, Palpatine sent out a dark tendril of intent to probe for the individual whose whereabouts he took care to always track. As he did, his demeanor showed nothing more than ceremonial courtesy. But when he found what he was looking for, it took a great deal of skill not to allow his irritation to become patently visible. Skywalker was there, but had become difficult to latch onto. Somehow the young man's consciousness seemed to be slipping from his mental grasp like a beam of light.
To add to his irritation, Windu immediately interrupted him with yet another thinly veiled comment. It had to be deliberate.
"Let us hope that he is as competent as you say," Windu murmured quietly. "It is important for someone in his position to understand the enemy."
I see, Palpatine thought coldly. This is not a conversation. It is a duel. Very well, then.
"To be sure, Master Jedi," Palpatine said mildly, with a long-suffering air, "that is the challenge, isn't it? For it is certain that knowing our enemy, and being able to defeat him, are two entirely different things."
"Perhaps," Windu replied, with composure. "But knowing our enemy is a great step forward in the battle for freedom and justice."
Palpatine smiled and nodded, and went back to surveying the crowd. He sensed, rather than saw, Windu do the same beside him. So the Jedi thought they knew his true nature. Such arrogance. Their feeble ability to penetrate the outermost veils of the dark side of the Force would not help them. To defeat the darkness required the use of darkness, and that was something they would never do.
At least I'm not bored any more, he thought with a small glimmer of pleasure. Clearly it was time to move a few of his major plans forward. But it did occur to him, briefly, that the Galaxy would be a duller place without the Jedi to toy with. Still, for the time being he could derive some satisfaction from playing the game. Boldly Palpatine reached out and sent a dark wave of energy washing through the crowd. The shuffling and muttering and fidgeting stopped. The huge crowd of onlookers seemed to freeze; in some subtle way, to cohere into a single-minded group. All eyes looked in the same direction. All bodies had the same posture. The throng was silent.
Palpatine waited.
Almost immediately, another wave of energy, generated by Windu, rolled through the crowd, soothing and relaxing every person it touched. The crowd once again became individuated - a group of independent beings rather than a single, cohesive mob. Murmurs arose. People resumed fidgeting, jostling, and joking with one another.
Then Windu had the temerity to offer another asinine comment.
"You know what they say about the best-laid plans, Supreme Chancellor…"
Palpatine smiled and nodded sagely, but declined to reply. It was unimportant. The Jedi were not long for this Galaxy. Indifferent to the possibly augmented abilities of the Jedi Master by his side, he continued to track Skywalker's slippery and now exasperatingly elusive path through the dark side of the Force.
And still the new Military Governor of the Naboo System droned on.
* * * * *
Alone in his meditation room in the Jedi Temple, Yoda sat hunched on his round stool, searching through the heights and depths of the Force for… for what? What was he looking for? He knew what was to come. He could not avoid knowing.
The long shadows cast into his sanctuary through the slatted windows were echoes of the shadows through which he now was forced to move during every meditation.
Shadowfall.
Bound only by its own laws, the Force folded and compressed time and space so that he could move backward and forward, in and out at will. But wherever he went, he could not avoid the shadows … unless of course he imagined time as being linear. In that view the past was bright. Golden. A glorious stretch of harmony and accomplishment. And then the shadows inevitably fell on that long, long line of time, and grew darker and darker until their depth and significance was enough to break his heart.
Yoda knew this. He had foreseen it all, and knew that, whatever obstacles were placed in its path, destiny had its own ways and came in its own time. So what was he still searching for? The ancient Jedi Master shifted on his cushion, trying in one part of his mind to relieve the sense of being crushed by the shadows of the inevitable. What did he seek?
He sought solace, of course. He sought hope. The solace and hope that would provide the strength to carry on. To survive the unthinkable. To trust in the ultimate balancing of the Force. Where there had been light, there was now growing darkness. It followed, then, that where there was now darkness, there would again be light. And in order to find faith in the resurgence of the light, to remind himself of the inevitability of its return, he had to move beyond the shadows. Far beyond, on that linear representation of time.
There was light ahead. There was hope. But it would be born out of darkness and sacrifice.
Yoda sighed, and shifted again. To recognize inevitability of shadowfall was knowledge. To have abiding faith in the resurgence of the light was wisdom. Gathering himself, and allowing the Force to be his guide, the ancient Jedi Master held steadfastly to a point between the two polarities, and once again dedicated himself to that glimmer of hope.
* * * * *
Anakin shot through the endless service corridors of the Palace at Theed like a bolt of pure energy. He felt like a beast of burden whose load had suddenly been removed; leaving him light, lean, mobile and swift. Doubt was gone. Fear was gone. So was any kind of hesitation or caution. All that was left was desire and intention. Anakin knew what he wanted, and the need filled him completely.
He wanted his family together, and away from here. And he wanted it now.
He had never moved so fast. The investiture wouldn't go on forever, no matter how long the speeches were, and he had already used up precious time.
By the time Anakin reached the side of the Grand Plaza, the Military Governor evidently had just finished his speech, to scattered and sullen applause. The band began to play again, but the crowd clearly had had enough. Little by little, clusters of people began to move away from the Palace, turning their backs on the remainder of the ceremony.
Emerging easily and unnoticed from the Palace through a basement service entrance that always was kept securely locked and shielded with a security force field, Anakin merged into the fringes of the shifting throng and made his way toward an array of white-armored troopers who stood in formation about midway between the dais and the far end of the Plaza. Zeroing in on the ranking officer, Anakin reached out with the Force and latched firmly onto his mind, planting a suggestion that was quickly transmitted to all the others in the troop.
Without waiting to see the results of his action, Anakin next made his way to the opposite side of the Plaza where a group of gray-uniformed regular soldiers were positioned close to the musicians. Reflexively Anakin checked the dais. The eyes of all the dignitaries, including Master Windu, remained facing forward. Well, that didn't mean anything, but that would have to do for the moment. Anakin took care to remain well behind the group of soldiers, since he knew that non-Force sensitive people who received powerful Force suggestions always looked around them to seek physical confirmation for the planted thoughts. Gathering himself in the Force, he sent the ranking officer a very persuasive impression that was quite different from the one he had given the Trooper.
Again without waiting to see the immediate effects of that action, Anakin doubled back around the edges of the crowd and headed in the direction of the Palace.
Before he had gone very far all hell broke loose.
* * * * *
"What's going on?" Tec Andros asked tersely. Something was wrong. To the Force-sensitive, the atmosphere in the Plaza had begun to spit and crackle like a power coupling, although on the surface it didn't seem any different.
Obi-Wan's eyes flew to the dais. He didn't need a com connection to know that Mace Windu had sensed the same thing. It was a full minute before a phalanx of white-armored troopers began firing into the air, causing an outbreak of panic in the crowd. But the three Jedi in the Plaza already had linked their minds and will to encircle the Plaza with a calming wave of energy. The crowd remained stable despite the fear and screams that resulted from the firefight against…nothing. The bravest among the unwitting spectators, the ones who dared to look up rather than hiding their heads or flinging themselves to the ground, saw and heard nothing in the blue sky above them but the flame-red traces of volleys from repeater blasters.
And still the troopers continued to fire, and were joined very quickly in their attack on thin air by other armored soldiers who were stationed around the wide plaza, with whom they evidently had communicated.
Without losing his concentration on the work of keeping the crowd from turning into a terrorized mob, Obi-Wan sidled around the edges of the Plaza until he reached the nearest firing troopers.
"What is it?" he demanded.
"Aerial attack, sir. Separatist forces. Watch out!" A strong, armored fist roughly pushed Obi-Wan backward as the trooper dropped to one knee and fired repeatedly at an evidently moving target that wasn't really there.
Anakin, Obi-Wan thought grimly as he made his way back to Tec Andros. "It's a mass Force-delusion. We'll have to close the ceremony down before this gets out of hand. You start evacuating the section on the other side of the fountains. I'll try to counteract the delusion on this side."
"Skywalker," Tec said flatly. Obi-Wan nodded once, sharply.
"Time to evacuate the Senator," Tec declared.
Obi-Wan nodded again, and was just raising his com to his lips when the Force was rent by a different kind of emotion, emanating from a point near the dais. It wasn't merely fear. It was outrage, and fury, and was teetering very close to bloodlust.
"Change of plans. I'll go," Obi-Wan snapped to Tec, who had sensed the change as clearly as he. The order to move the Senator was postponed for the moment. "You stay here and evacuate this end of the Plaza." Without hesitation Tec turned and sprinted around the edges of the crowd to deal with a serious case of mass hypnosis, while Obi-Wan put the com link away and shot around the other side of the Plaza toward the dais. Before his eyes the fearful but otherwise orderly crowd turned into a surging melee. Obi-Wan could make out gray-uniformed officers apparently forcing citizens at blasterpoint to lie down on the ground with their hands over their heads. He redoubled his speed toward the nearest officer.
"What happened?" Obi-Wan demanded, using a slight Force compulsion. There was no time for friendly persuasion.
"We have received word of an assassination attempt, sir," the officer replied readily. "We are under orders to search the crowd for weapons, section by section." Despite his haste, Obi-Wan allowed himself a fleeting moment of objective appreciation of the efficiency and cleverness of Anakin's double attack. Nothing would arouse the peace-loving Naboo as much as a blatant violation of their civil liberties.
"An assassination attempt on the Supreme Chancellor?" Obi-Wan asked suspiciously.
"No, sir. On Queen Jamillia."
Obi-Wan groaned inwardly and corrected his previous assessment. Nothing would arouse the Naboo to outrage, and action, as effectively as a direct attack on their beloved Queen. The problems caused by the mass delusion could be resolved fairly straightforwardly. This additional problem was much more difficult to deal with, both politically and in the potential volatility of the emotions that had been aroused. Fortunately there were enough Jedi on Naboo to prevent it from getting out of hand. Anakin must have known that, or he wouldn't have done it.
Or would he? The cold calculation behind Anakin's diversionary tactics, and his evident willingness to risk innocent lives, chilled Obi-Wan to the bone.
That's it, Anakin, he thought bitterly. You have gone too far. Using innocent people to further one's private ends was about as far away from the heart and conscience of a Jedi as one could get. Obi-Wan felt his deepest hopes – that there were limits to Anakin's horrifying slide away from light and grace – slip away, leaving only a bottomless well of sorrow and regret.
He raised his com to his lips. "Master Medulla, bring the Senator to our ship. And get some Naboo Security Forces to accompany you – there is trouble on the Plaza." Never mind now that the participation of the Naboo in the Senator's disappearance would cause political problems later. There were much greater issues at stake.
Without pause, the Jedi Knight turned the powerful focus of his full attention to the threatening crisis before him.
* * * * *
By the time the Jedi had reacted to keep the disturbed crowd from turning into a mob, the Military Governor was by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's side, whispering into his ear.
"What is it?" Windu's gravelly voice asked by his other side.
"We must secure the Queen," Palpatine said quickly, in a voice that betrayed only terrible concern. "It appears that Separatist agents are planning an attempt on her life."
"That was not our information," Windu said quietly, already moving toward Queen Jamillia, who had stepped forward on the dais to call for calm.
Nor mine, Palpatine thought, with well-hidden pleasure, but it is delightful news nonetheless. He liked nothing more than taking advantage of situations and turning them to further his own goals. Even though in this case he had not foreseen what Anakin would do, it was clear to him that it was the boy and the boy alone who had instigated the trouble. It was easy to infer why – Anakin was hoping to escape with his favorite Senator. That in itself wasn't bothersome – it would be dealt with by and by. But this opportunity was simply too good to pass up.
Thank you, my young friend, he thought in the darkest part of his soul. Even I could not have prepared a more effective beginning.
Of course there were Separatist agents in the crowd. He had planted them himself, as a precaution. With one carefully coded signal from his hidden com, transmission from which would not be noticed in the surge of communication that was taking place throughout the Plaza by the military and civilians alike, Palpatine set a new stream of events in motion.
Given the amount of blaster fire that was already emanating from the troopers, at first no one but Windu and Palpatine noticed when some of it was suddenly turned on Queen Jamillia. Leaping in front of the startled Queen, Windu successfully fought off the first volley that came from somewhere in the middle of the crowd, but even he was not fast enough to stop the second barrage that targeted her simultaneously from the side. The Queen of the Naboo staggered sideways and fell to the ground in a spray of blood, her Own Guard immediately surrounded the fallen Regent. Windu flung himself through them, presumably to see how badly she had been injured and to assist her, while Palpatine's own Red Guards closed instantly and unflinchingly around him and forced him off the dais and toward the Palace.
The Supreme Chancellor allowed himself to be secured by the elite who were trained to protect him at all costs. Concealed inside a towering shield wall of red armor and red flowing robes as he was marched rapidly away from the open danger on the Plaza, Palpatine used his hidden awareness to survey the chaos he had left behind. It was going very well indeed. Knowledge of the attack on the Queen was spreading through the crowd like wildfire, turning it into a mob. Soon the political chaos would become more than even the Jedi could control.
And so the Naboo would learn the painful lesson that only the Republic could save them. And it was a lesson that would spread throughout the Galaxy.
Palpatine smiled.
* * * * *
Far from the seething Plaza, Anakin sighed as he calculated the time it would take him to cover the distance back to Padmé's apartment. The Palace at Theed was enormous – it was almost a small city by itself. He simply had to take the shortest route. He had no choice. Letting himself out of yet another locked basement door at the rear of the Palace's left wing, he sighted straight up the towering wall.
Here we go again, he groaned inwardly, and jumped toward his first handhold. It would be even more challenging to get back down together with Padmé, but as always, Anakin refused to waste any energy worrying about the future. He was on his way to her. He was on his way home. He was confident in his decision to entrust Balé's safety to Sabé and Poulin, so his immediate concern was simply to get Padmé – which of course felt quite normal since that had been the principal goal of his life for most of the years he could remember. Anakin fairly flew up the walls and across narrow stone ledges and the occasional terrace balustrade.
Within minutes he had reached her very familiar terrace. Climbing up to it near the eliril vine, Anakin once again pulled himself over the stone balustrade, the handle of his weapon already in his hand as he did so. Not surprisingly, the terrace was deserted. Keeping his back to the sun-warmed stone wall of the Palace, Anakin sidled over to the glazed doors, boldly reaching inside the apartment with his awareness. There was no point in trying to hide now.
He found nothing. It felt empty.
He tried the door and found it locked.
Still nothing.
Despite his growing and infuriating conviction that there was no one inside, Anakin unlocked the door stealthily enough using the Force. But his perceptions had been right. He could have smashed the glass panels and not aroused the slightest notice, because no one was there.
Where did they take her? Anakin thought fast as he efficiently and furiously searched Padmé's silent and empty home.
Padmé's arrest warrant had come from the Chancellor. She had believed that the Naboo intended to negotiate with the Republic for her release. Assuming that the negotiations had been agreed to, it made sense that the Jedi, as a neutral party, would have been asked to hold her in custody until the final outcome had been decided.
Anakin opened the apartment door and checked the hallway outside. It was empty.
But now the Jedi had removed her… and from what he could tell, not long ago… probably around the same time that he had begun the disturbance in the Plaza. Suspicion sent Anakin straight back to the Chak'la game in his head. He backtracked as far as his last confrontation with Obi-Wan in the Senate training room on Coruscant – Gods, that seemed a lifetime ago now – and then moved systematically forward, through the visit to Alderaan, and then forward to the Jedi's fortuitous appearance on the task force in time to help fight off the attack on it.
By the time he got that far Anakin already had leaped back over the balustrade and was scrambling his way downward, driven full throttle by the twin engines of suspicion and pure determination.
He was halfway to the ground when he once again had gone over the details of the unusually numerous Jedi presence on Naboo, and the fact that Padmé and Balé had been kept separated. Replaying his own encounter with Master Andros in the cargo hangar got Anakin as far as the ground. He was moving fast. The logical conclusion, that the Jedi, led by none other than Obi-Wan, were planning to remove Padmé from Naboo in defiance of the warrant, was like a demon breathing fire into Anakin's soul all the way to the Plaza. Of course Obi-Wan knew that where Padmé went, Anakin would go, too.
You have gone too far, Kenobi. You are interfering with my life. My future. Everything that is important to me. The thought blew the dormant embers of frustration and fury in Anakin's heart back into warmth and life.
Anakin stopped short, leaning against the Palace wall and breathing in gasps, as soon as he had a view of the Plaza.The noise of blaster fire and screaming had reached him long before, even behind the Palace, but he had been so intent on this own thoughts that he had ignored it. Now, confronted with the battling mob that the formerly peaceful crowd had become, Anakin came face to face with another aspect of the deadly game he had been playing.
Anakin knew he had created trouble on the Plaza, but he hadn't created this. There would have been enough Jedi to contain the disturbances he had set in motion – he knew their capabilities. They had been a central part of his plan. But this … this…
It wasn't a game at all. It was a matter of life and death. And he couldn't see a way out of it.
