Notes are at the end to save space, simply because I never say anything shortly. Hmm, maybe I would be a good friend of the Ents... : )
15
"Good. In time, the Jedi shall no longer be a threat to the Empire. You have done well, now go – you know what you have to do," Emperor Palpatine said to the shimmering hologram before him. The miniature figure it displayed bowed its head, muttered a few words of acquiescence, and blinked out of existence.
A faint smile crept onto the old Emperor's face as he slowly swiveled his chair around so he could watch Imperial City.
His city.
Think what the Jedi may about power, he knew he now held the true power in the galaxy. After all this was no longer their galaxy but his. There might be that slight issue of the person he just spoke with, but with time, he would come to realize his true place in Palpatine's galaxy.
Youthful enthusiasm could be contained. Time and proper training were all that were needed.
Finally, after some time, Palpatine turned his attention to other matters. Systems in the outer reaches of the galaxy, those that formerly were under the control of the Federalist cloning movement, refused to behave under his dictatorship. Entering in a new communication code, he raised another of his minions.
"My Lord?" Commander Tarkin asked politely. His face showed neither pleasure nor disgust at receiving the Emperor's call, merely the attentiveness required of business.
"I hear that you are having slight troubles in the outer territories of your sector, Commander," Palpatine said matter-of-factly.
Tarkin's eyes narrowed slightly at the implication of the Emperor's words. However he showed no other emotion. Carefully, he responded, "It is nothing that cannot be handled with the proper display of power."
"I see."
"These primitives oppose the new taxation laws. While they are in a distant system, they will not be allowed to continue. Only complete obedience to the Empire will be tolerated and an example must be made of them."
Tarkin stopped speaking, and Palpatine considered his words. All semblances of rebellion had to be quashed as soon as possible, so that the power and establishment of the Empire would not falter. Finally, he said, "Very well, Commander. I trust you will have this under control quickly."
"Absolutely, My Lord," Tarkin said, nodding his head in salute. Needing no further words, Palpatine cut off the transmission.
He rather liked the young commander from Eriadu, and would have chosen him as his apprentice if it had not been for the fact that Tarkin was as capable of using the Force as a nerf was capable of calculating a hyperspace jump for the Alderaanian royal family's pleasure yacht. On top of that, Tarkin adhered to Imperial policies a little too strictly with the kind of devotion that Palpatine knew would only bring about his ruin. In time, Palpatine knew, Tarkin would fall but until he did so, he would serve the Emperor's purposes in the Outer Regions.
His other choice, no matter how insane right now, was much better. Especially for the moment, as his protégé was taking care of the Jedi problem in the rest of the galaxy.
Ah, yes…the Jedi problem, Palpatine thought to himself. It was now time to clean up the rest of that galactic scourge.
"Good. In time, Jedi you shall be," Yoda said gently to the younglings. Several of them smiled bashfully, not sure what to make of the wizened master's praise. They all had lived in the Temple long enough to know the rumors surrounding Yoda's teaching methods.
"Master," one of the ones in the back spoke up (a quiet little Bpffashi humbled by the rumors of those of his kind that went dark), "someone's coming."
"Right you are," Yoda replied. "Return, after speaking with our mysterious visitor, I shall."
There was no need to tell the younglings to behave themselves in the Master's absence. Quietly Yoda shuffled out of the room, his gimer stick making a light tap on the floor with each step.
No sooner had he left than the small group broke out in conversation.
"Who do you think is here?" a human girl asked the Bpffash.
"I think it's someone important! Maybe it's the Emperor!" called out an enthusiastic, if somewhat untalented, Bothan.
"It wouldn't be the Emperor. Master Yoda would have been worried," the girl shot back.
"No, Master Yoda doesn't fear anything."
The girl rolled her eyes at the Bothan.
"Maybe it's Anakin Skywalker!" someone else called out from the back of the room.
"Don't be stupid! Anakin's dead."
"You don't know that!"
These words erupted an argument between all the younglings over whether or not Anakin Skywalker was in fact dead or alive – and whether he would come back to help them. One thing no one disputed was the fact that Anakin could take down the Emperor with one hand tied behind his back.
Outside the room, Yoda shook his head as he felt the ripples of innocence from the younglings through the Force. Even after all these years of instructing Jedi candidates, it always made Yoda smile when he felt such youthful earnest. After a second he focused his attention back on his visitor.
"Senator, most thankful for your message are the Jedi," he said, with a sigh.
"Senator Organa would have come, but certain duties were required of him by the Emperor."
The young woman kneeling next to the small Jedi Master spoke with a soft voice. She was one of the rare senators, at such a young age, which was able to command the attention of the entire senate chamber without the need to raise her voice. An educated background and experience made her wise beyond her years. Her fellow senators knew well enough to not make an enemy of the young woman from Chandrila.
"Good to know it is that the Jedi have more than one friend in the Senate. The most use of this information we will make."
"What do you think you will do, Master Yoda?"
For a second, Yoda paused. "Leave, we must. Let such a fate befall the younglings we must not – the future of the galaxy are they. The future are all young ones, including yourself, Mon Mothma."
The young woman could not help the blush that flooded her cheeks at the Master's words. Some senators tried to use her age, or lack thereof, against her, but to Yoda almost everything was young. Twenty-five years to the old Jedi was a blink of an eye.
"All these long months we should have seen this coming; it is nothing less than can be expected of Palpatine. No matter the cost, the Jedi cannot be allowed to disappear from the galaxy."
"Worry about it now we cannot. Deal with the current situation we must. Fear not for the Jedi, always hope for them there will be." Yoda's voice became quieter than usual and his eyes looked into the distance. Perhaps he was thinking about the two children recently fathered of the strongest Jedi, or perhaps he had some epiphany through the Force enabling him know for certainty that there would always be one Jedi.
Regardless, his words alleviated the Senator's thoughts and she rose to leave.
"Very well. I trust that you will be in contact with Bail Organa."
Yoda nodded in reply then bade her goodbye. As she turned to leave down the corridors of the Temple, he made his way back into the room with the younglings.
"Younglings!" Yoda called out upon entering the room.
"Who was that, Master?" one of them asked him curiously.
Yoda smiled.
"That is something not to trouble your mind with," was the coveted reply.
In the back of the group, a couple of the kids jostled each other and shot glances of "I told you so" back and forth. A disapproving look from Yoda quickly cut the behavior off.
"Know Master Plett, do any of you?"
The children glanced at each other nervously. "I do, Master," one of them said timidly, raising his hand.
"Anyone else?" Yoda gave them a cursory look.
A couple more hands went up.
"Good. Go, and find him. Use your senses – ask no one where he is! When found him you have, bring him here. Waiting I shall be."
Instantly the group of children gave out a chorus of "Yes, Master!" and hustled off to the door as one. They poured out of the room, some of them saying Master Plett was in one direction and others saying that he was in another. Yoda couldn't help but smile. With time they would learn to work together, to use their senses as one.
After a short while, which Yoda spent in a half-meditative trance, the younglings delivered Master Plett. Upon entering the room, the Ho'Din master bowed to Yoda, who acknowledged him with a nod of his head.
"Master Yoda, you called for me?"
"Mmm, yes," Yoda muttered. "Glad to see you within the shelter of the Temple I am. Many years it has been since you have been here."
"Yes. It's always nice to return to a place one used to call home."
The smile that Yoda gave him showed that the small green alien understood all too well.
"What can I do for you?" Master Plett asked.
"True, is it not, that you have a settlement near the outer rim?"
The taller master nodded. Yoda continued:
"And heard the latest turn of events, this latest threat against the Jedi?"
"Yes…" Plett replied, somewhat confused. "You mean that hideous doctrine that Palpatine unleashed, calling for us to be wiped out?"
The look Yoda gave him told him he was right. Plett sighed. "It's only a matter of time before the Palpatine gathers enough troops and tries something completely insane, such as storming the Temple."
Plett glanced around the room, almost as if he could see where the children stood just that afternoon, training with Yoda. "We can't let it happen. I assume you have something in mind, that the Council has something in mind?"
Yoda's head bowed before he answered. "Perhaps a little too much time away from the Temple have you spent."
Understanding passed across Plett's face. There was no Council. Several masters, like Mace Windu, were missing. Others, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, were scattered across the galaxy trying to contain other catastrophes. Yoda was all that remained of the Council in the Temple. The Jedi were no longer governed by a common body; now it was the goal of every Jedi to merely survive.
"You want me to take the younglings," the Ho'Din suddenly said.
A smile crept across Yoda's face.
"Correct, you are. The future of the Jedi Order are they. Safe with you we will be."
That last part caught Plett by surprise. "You are coming too, Master?"
"Too old for this am I." Yoda's eyes danced and one corner of his mouth curved up in a smile. "Forget, you do, that I am nearly nine hundred years old."
"Not at all, Master," Plett said, not sure what Yoda meant. Had he heard the old Master actually make a joke about wanting retirement? And who was he to look after all the younglings?
"Worry not, you should. Trust in the Force we must."
Somehow Yoda's words did not put Plett's mind completely at ease. "Of course, Master Yoda. I'll leave immediately – and prepare my place for the younglings."
"And bring them to you, I shall."
With that, Master Plett gave a slight bow to Yoda and turned to leave the room. As soon as he was gone, Yoda made his way to one of the windows. It was one of the low ones, so that if an observer were to look in they would see a pair of green eyes framed by large, pointy ears peering back at them.
Content with his standing, Yoda watched the movement of the city outside the Temple. Traffic now flew in a wide birth around it, for fear of being associated with the Jedi. Anyone wishing to enter the Temple had to do so from the lower levels. Looking hard enough, Yoda could see the dome of the Senate building – now more a senate in name than in being.
Completely alone in the room, sadness took over the small green alien. Despite his years as a Jedi master, he was not impervious to grief. Never before had he witnessed such dark times. Reaching out to the Force, there was nothing but darkness. As he did so his focus stayed on the Senate building. Evil seeped from it like thick smoke clouding a planet and covering it in false night.
Letting the Force take him further out into the galaxy, thousands of tiny points of light dotted his senses. A couple of them suddenly winked out of existence; Jedi that were handed over to the Empire. In the outer reaches something different reached him.
The dark spot that was moving to join the one thriving on Coruscant.
Pushing towards it, Yoda increased his concentration.
The twisted rage and hatred almost knocked the Master over. There was no name for the dark identity. It consumed the mind it lived in, wound up beyond its breaking point. Only a faint whisper remained of what the darkness had previously been, and the hunt for one person consumed it:
Obi-Wan Kenobi.
With a flash of understanding, Yoda knew that it wanted to find the other Master and exact revenge on him. It saw Obi-Wan as the source of all that plagued it and strove to erase that scar.
Yoda took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, allowing the physical world to come back to his vision, he slowly made his way to his quarters. Obi-Wan had to be made aware of the threat that hunted him and the truth behind what that threat had once been.
The child struggled a second more before finally falling quiet. Gently, Padmé held her close, willing her daughter to be calm. Swaying back and forth, while whispering for her to be calm, Padmé could not help but marvel at the way her daughter had grown. All these months, Bail Organa had been kind enough for her, Obi-Wan, and Barriss to remain on Alderaan. The more dangerous it became for him to house them, the more indebted she felt.
"Shh, sweetie. It's okay. Someday, I'm going to take you home. You'll love Naboo…" Padmé trailed off, thinking of her homeworld. It had been so long now since she had seen the beautiful city of Theed, the green plains, her family.
A knot rose in her throat and she forced herself to focus on her daughter.
You have a different family now, she told herself. Glancing down at the little girl, she could not help but smile. Anakin would be so proud.
Once more bittersweet memories ran through her mind. Her daughter definitely took after her looks, but if she tried hard enough, she could see traits of Anakin in her. Mostly, it was in the child's disposition that her father was recognizable. The little girl, while usually quiet, proved to be quite stubborn at times. As Padmé watched, her little mouth fell open and she knew she was asleep.
A knock on the door broke her thoughts.
"Just a second," Padmé called out as she stepped into the other room to put the child to bed. Walking back to the entrance to the suite when she was tucked in, Padmé hurried over to the door and opened it.
"Obi-Wan!" she exclaimed with mild surprise. In response he gave her a nod of his head and came into the suite.
"I trust you are all well?"
"As well as can be expected."
The words were formal and cold; it was not until Padmé shut the door that Obi-Wan began to explain the real reason behind his visit. While Bail Organa was a friend, spies for the Empire still lurked everywhere.
"I just came by," Obi-Wan began, "to tell you that I have to be going."
Padmé gave him a quizzical look.
"Barriss is going to stay here to look after you, but I've got to leave."
Her eyes narrowed at him. "Why?"
"I'm…endangering you by staying here," Obi-Wan said, admitting only half the truth.
"That's not an answer. It's something to do with Anakin, isn't it? You've found him, haven't you?"
"We have figured out what's happened to him, yes."
Her glare intensified. "And what's happened to him?"
Obi-Wan sighed, wishing he did not have to say the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
"I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but there's no use in hiding it from you. The Jedi have managed to track down Anakin, but only because of his actions. Our worst fears have come true – he's turned to the dark side."
Padmé could only glare at him; her words only a flat denial. "That's not true. I know him. He could never do that."
"We figured out what happened to Mace Windu. Anakin killed him," the words came out strained, making Obi-Wan's voice crack. The very idea that Anakin could have killed Master Windu made him sick at heart. Struggling, Obi-Wan went on, "And he's been chasing after other Jedi in the outer territories of the galaxy – not all of them have been killed by the Empire."
"No…no…" Padmé muttered, turning away from Obi-Wan. Desperately her eyes searched the room for some sign of comfort, hoping to find some hold that could save her from this nightmare.
And the truth of her reality hit her.
Her family was dead.
She would probably never see the Naboo she knew again.
Anakin, a thought she could not fully comprehend.
Padmé let out a wail and whirled back to face Obi-Wan. Suddenly feeling out of control, she raised a hand and started hitting the Jedi Master on the shoulders with both fists.
"You let this happen to him! You let him get so lost, and then you gave up on him!"
The outburst caught Obi-Wan completely off guard. Unsure of what to do, he froze in place.
"It's all your fault!" Padmé howled. "It's all your fault, Obi-Wan!"
With those words she sank against him, her shouts replaced with tears. Leaning against Obi-Wan she finally let out months of frustration, loneliness, and loss.
Tentatively, Obi-Wan put one arm around her in the hopes of calming her down. This most definitely was not his area of expertise – thinking in the back of his mind that perhaps it was a good idea that Jedi were not allowed to have romantic attachments. With his other hand, he patted her on the back a few times to soothe her.
"I'll bring him back, Padmé," he found himself promising. "I swear to you, I'll bring him back."
"You – what?" She looked up at him, her eyes puffy and red and tears still wet on her cheeks.
"I won't let anything more happen to him. It hurts me as much as it does you to loose Anakin – he's the only brother I've ever known. I never wanted anything but for him to be happy either."
The words just came from him, as he finally admitted to his emotions. Searching his face, Padmé could see the pain that lurked behind his steady Jedi exterior. After a second she turned her face down and leaned on him.
"Obi-Wan, I," she started, not sure of what to say, "I'm so sorry."
Obi-Wan said nothing in return.
Finally after a couple of awkward minutes where Obi-Wan did not know what quite to do, his experience with women was minimal at best, he managed to disentangle himself from Padmé. He pulled back from her and opened his mouth with the intent to say something.
Nothing came out.
Instead, Padmé turned her back to Obi-Wan. With one hand she wiped her eyes but no more tears came from her. She sniffed a couple times then left the room, going to check on her daughter.
Obi-Wan left the room. First he stopped in his room to shed his standard clothes in exchange for his Jedi robes. The journey ahead was going to be long, and he wanted to be comfortable. Anyone he met along the way could easily be persuaded to forget they saw him at all.
Making his way though the palace, he finally came to one of the many docking bays. A few hints, backed up with the Force, allowed him to slip past the service tech and into one of the sleek Alderaanian shuttles. For a second he sat staring at the control panel, trying in vain to get the ship powered up. The system was proving to be rather difficult, but he got it working just before he changed his mind and got into another ship.
With the ship gliding through the atmosphere, finally seeming to cooperate, it asked Obi-Wan for coordinates to plan a hyperspace jump. He paused for second then plugged in some coordinates.
The computer told him they were invalid and asked for coordinates again.
Shaking his head, Obi-Wan put them in once more.
Again, the same message flashed.
Wondering why he had to get the computer with an attitude, Obi-Wan entered the coordinates a third time thinking that if the computer did not accept them he would pull out his lightsaber and fry a few key components. Let the computer see what it thought of that.
Well, at least after he landed. No matter how uncooperative, he still needed it to get to off Alderaan.
The ship flew through the atmosphere with ease and Obi-Wan settled back for the flight. A slight twinge of guilt went through him for what essentially was the theft of the shuttle.
Times had changed, however, and had Obi-Wan along with them.
And Anakin.
He was the reason that Obi-Wan was leaving. After talking to Yoda, hearing what he had to say about what Anakin turned into, Obi-Wan found himself unable to stand aside no more.
He had had enough.
Yoda told him that there was nothing left of the Anakin that Obi-Wan knew, that he was completely given over to the dark. Obi-Wan refused to believe it. When Padmé had said that she knew Anakin would never do such a thing, Obi-Wan had been thinking the exact same thing. By taking the trip, he hoped to find Anakin – and turn him from what he had become.
Strengthening his resolve, he leaned back into his seat and went into a hibernation trance for the long flight ahead.
Over a day later, Obi-Wan steered the Alderaanian shuttle to the atmosphere as he stared at the planet looming before him. Viscous gasses choked the atmosphere with such high toxicity levels that life was nearly impossible. Crannies created by the tall mountains covering the entire surface of the world made small pockets of breathable air that hung low to the surface. From space, the world glowed in a way that reminded Obi-Wan of Coruscant.
This world, however, would never be Coruscant.
Suddenly, his danger sense flashed. Without even thinking he jerked his craft harshly to the left. A mere second later, molten lava shot into the air, just where he had been.
"Blast!" Obi-Wan cursed, realizing how close he came to becoming roast Jedi, served well done.
Warning alarms began to screech in the cockpit, alerting him to the imminent doom guaranteed by the intense heat.
"I know, I know…" he muttered to himself as he steered the ship further away from the spewing lava.
Just when he thought he was out of danger, another stream shot up. The warnings grew louder as the heat strained other systems. He tried to divert more power to the shields, but the computer let him know that there was no more to give.
And that was when the computer failed completely.
"I see how it is. Now computers decide when they want to work and when they don't. Soon enough droids are going to be demanding medical benefits and requesting time off," Obi-Wan let out bitterly.
An attempt to reboot the computer resulted in the shields nearly failing.
"Oh, now isn't that just cute." Obi-Wan went on to grumble something else about computers under his breath, something not too becoming of a Jedi.
Deciding to navigate himself through this mess, rather than attempting to bring the computer back online and most likely getting himself turned into a crisp in the process, Obi-Wan sank into the Force. His senses reached out, and he darted through the dangerous terrain. His true ally, the Force, warned him of upcoming lava spouts, letting him dodge through the maze.
No sooner, it seemed, had he given himself to the Force than Obi-Wan felt the danger pass. Opening his eyes, he saw a small valley before him. It was not beautiful, by any means, but the structure of a long-abandoned processing plant remained. Knowing that the air would be breathable there, Obi-Wan guided the small shuttle towards it and set down on a small paddock in the middle of the complex.
Powering down the remaining systems, a grand total of about three, that were not affected by the main computer's belligerence, Obi-Wan felt no urge to step outside his spaceshuttle. Off in the distance, a creature that looked like an oversized flea crawling on the surface quashed even further his desire to stretch his legs.
Taking a deep breath, he settled into his seat. This was going to be another long wait, and now that he was here he wondered what exactly it was that he was supposed to do here.
In fact, he didn't even know what here was called.
Regardless, the Force led him to this place – all would be revealed in good time, as was the nature of the Force. Knowing what he had to do next, he found in the Force the dark storm that was his former apprentice.
Anakin, or what was left of him, was tearing around the galaxy, desperately hunting for Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan did not know what Anakin wanted with him, but an inkling of intuition told him it had something to do with Padmé and the children.
Just before he sank into a hibernation trance, Obi-Wan called out to the dark shadow lightyears away, Come find me, Anakin…
To be continued...
To Fell Dragon: While I have this thing written, it does not mean that I can't make changes - I realized that I left out something that George Lucas said he was going to explain, and Master Windu will fill that role perfectly. After all, he is one of the most powerful masters... I'll let you know when I get it worked out.
To DicoShopGirl: I didn't think it would be possible for Anakin to go Dark while he still loved Padmé since love is the opposite of hate and the Dark Side. Hence, as long as the young Jedi has his love, he's somewhat safe from falling. I'm glad you like the technique!
To dmitchell: I'm glad you like this story a lot more! The reason Padmé died in 3 was one of the biggest issues my friends and I had with it. She went from a strong character to a glorified incubator so the twins could be born. It was horrible.
And thank you to everyone else who has left comments along the way. I hope you keep reading, there are only three more chapters to go after this one!