Disclaimer renewal: I do not own Star Wars or any of the planets, characters, or other things they created. I also don't own the comic strip Mutts, which I mentioned in the chapter 'Stupid Names' or the planet Cardassia, mentioned very early on the story. That's from Star Trek. I couldn't think of any of the Star Wars one.

"This is boring," announced Ani.

"Somehow I guessed," muttered Luke.

"How?"

"Oh, I don't know. You've only said that five times!"

"No need to be so crabby about it. I was just trying to get a point across."

"Well, I get it!"

"Okay, okay!"

The two boys worked in silence for another moment or two, until Ani broke the silence.

"This is boring."

"Oh come on!" complained Luke. "Not again."

Their inevitable argument was broken by a beeping from the monitor.

"I'll get it!" cried Ani, before Luke could say anything.

"No, don't…" began the other boy, glancing around, wondering if the Jedi would like them answering their calls.

"Hello?" asked Ani cheerfully, flicking on the screen.

A dark-skinned Jedi stared out of the screen, confused.

"May I speak to Obi-Wan?" he asked uncertainly.

"No!" cried Ani joyfully. "He's not here! Can I take a message!"

Luke shook his head a bit, wondering at his friend's unusual capacity for putting his extreme cheerfulness into every sentence.

"Umm, this is a little important… Do you know where he is?"

Luke shoved himself in beside Ani. "He's off with Qui-Gon and Anakin… No, not you, Ani! Taun We and Jar Jar are with them, and Padmé's out chasing after Boba."

"What are they doing?"

"Boba ran off to get some ice cream. I really have no idea what ice cream is, but Boba says its good, and he wants to get some, so Padmé ran out after him to keep him out of trouble because he sort of ran away…"

"No! I mean the Jedi!"

"Oh! They're off trying to find out who the Sith Lord is. They had us research about past Sith."

"Hey!" Ani shoved in again, chattering happily. "Do you know what perseverance means? I think its sweat, but Luke says…"

"No! Perspiration is sweat. Perseverance is… something else," retorted Luke uncertainly. "Hey, what does perseverance mean? And who are you?"

"Mace Windu," answered the Jedi, looking more and more confused with each word the two boys said. He really had no idea how to deal with children.

"Perseverance means Mace Windu? So what's Mace Windu mean?"

"No! Mace Windu is my name."

"So what's perseverance mean?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I told you, we're researching the Sith and we can't understand a word these Archives are saying," snapped Ani.

"But why do you want me to… Look, can you just go find Obi-Wan for me?"

"No. Padmé told us to stay here."

Windu looked like he was about to argue, and the thought better of it. "Fine. Did Obi-Wan and the others have any clones with them?"

"There are clones on Coruscant?" demanded a sudden voice from the doorway. The Jedi had returned.

Windu looked extremely relieved to see the adults in this group, being unable to handle the children.

"Yes. They just seem to have appeared here. We don't know how, but they're tearing up… well, everything. Killing everyone in their path. They're nasty."

"I've never seen clones behave like that," muttered Obi-Wan, as the adults crowded in around the monitor, pushing the children out of the way.

"You've never seen clones behave like anything," retorted Taun We.

"Well, have you ever seen clones behave like that?" asked Qui-Gon.

"Only if they're ordered to," answered the Kamioan.

"Which means someone must have ordered them to do all of this," pondered Windu.

"Whosa would do that sorta bombad thing?" demanded Jar Jar.

"Someone nasty," suggested Ani, trying to wiggle his way towards the monitor again.

"A Sith?" asked Anakin, lifting his younger counterpart and depositing him outside of the circle around the monitor.

"It would have the sort of cruel irony I'm getting used to," commented Obi-Wan, giving Anakin a stern look and allowing the two boys into the group.

"The problem is," explained Windu, "the Sith has to be someone who both knew about the order for the clones, and has the authority to control them."

"Why would Sith care about whether they're authorized or not?" asked Luke, looking from one Jedi to the next.

"They wouldn't," explained Qui-Gon. "But the clones would."

He fell silent suddenly staring at the wall. "Sith," he muttered angrily.

"What?" asked Obi-Wan, looking at him, confused and worried.

"I think I know who this is." And without any further explanation, he turned and hurried out the door. Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other, and then at the others in the room.

"Don't worry," said Taun We with a small smile. "This time I won't sneak after you."

"Thank you," answered Obi-Wan tiredly as he and Anakin followed Qui-Gon.

Taun We said goodbye to Windu and flicked off the monitor. Only then did she look around the room.

"Where are Padmé and Boba?" she asked.

As Luke explained about the ice cream, Taun We began to look more and more worried with each word.

"Sith," she muttered, glaring at the wall. "You boys stay here. I have to go find them."

"Why?" called Ani as she exited.

"If the clones are destroying everything in their path, I'd hate to see our friends get in the way," answered Taun We over her shoulder as she left.

Once she was gone, Luke and Ani stared at each other, confused. "Well, this looks bad," commented Luke as his friend walked over to the window.

"It just got worse," commented the boy. "Much worse."

Thank you, Satra for reviewing. And yes, to all who were confused, I did get rid of the 'shamed' in the title, and add humor to the genre. I think the ending is drawing near, but I'd still like suggestions as to who Obi-Wan takes as a Padawan. I've got most of the other stuff figured out, just not which one it is. Hope you enjoyed it!