Here is the next chapter. I promised you it was going to be quick! Hope you enjoy, as the action and the storyline is about to pick up somewhat.
Chapter 4
"So you found me, Obi-Wan. Does that give you any sense of accomplishment?"
The weary Jedi Master looked down upon the young man and his wife, standing their ground and staring defiantly at him. He could tell that one hand of Skywalker was gripping the hilt of his lightsaber, while the fingers of his wife were thrust deep in her pocket, around what appeared to the outline of a blaster. He was not surprised at their apprehension; it was the fact that they expected his arrival and had been awaiting him so meticulously that caught him off guard.
"It has been a long time," he said as he glided off the ramp leading down from his ship. "Anakin…"
"You tried to kill me, the last time we met." Neither husband nor wife moved a muscle.
"I never wanted to kill you, Anakin, or Padme…"
"My wife," Anakin interrupted.
"…that situation…," Obi-Wan sighed regretfully, "became one that took over all of us, and made…myself at least, someone I did not want to be. Someone that I am not proud of."
"What are you saying then?"
"Understand me, Anakin, I am not condoning your actions all those years ago, nor those of your wife. But for what it's worth, I apologize, on behalf of myself and the Jedi Order, to the both of you. Our actions and our…reactions proved to be extreme, and the much of the more severe charges against you proved to be unwarranted."
Though his glare remained unchanged, Anakin's shoulders seemed to loosen up a bit. Seeing the severity of his stance diminished, Padme followed her husband's lead and allowed herself to relax, though she was still wary of every move the Jedi Master made.
"Well, old Master, you sure have a way of talking yourself out of things."
"They do call me 'The Negotiator' these days, Anakin."
"I'm sure you have a story to go with that, Obi-Wan."
"Thousands of them, it seems. Maybe one day you'll hear some of them."
"Maybe."
Almost inadvertently Anakin gave his former Master a quick bow, which Obi-Wan returned. Pleased by this more amicable turn of events, Obi-Wan took his first tentative steps towards the couple.
"If you are hungry, Padme and I made more than enough dinner for just the two of us. We have just ate, but the leftovers are still warm."
"I would be honored by your hospitality," Obi-Wan replied, truly grateful, and followed the Skywalkers into their small abode.
Throughout this time Padme had yet to speak a word, though she never took a cautious eye off of Obi-Wan. The last time she had seen him, he was trying to take her Anakin away from her, forever, right in the midst of her darkest hour. Though the Jedi had been nothing but courteous since arriving and the fact that even Anakin seemed satisfied for now to ignore their bygones, Padme still did not completely trust the man. However, as they led him into their house, a remnant of her diplomatic past urged her not to forget the proper niceties of having a guest in her home.
"Please," she motioned him towards their couch, "make yourself at home."
"Thank you, milady."
Anakin had gone into the kitchen to fetch the leftovers, and as Obi-Wan watched Padme take a seat in a chair to his side, he couldn't help but notice the awkwardness that hung between him.
"I am delighted to hear about your marriage to Anakin, milady. How long ago did this happen?"
"Several years ago," she stated abruptly, all the while eyeing the kitchen and hoping that her husband would come back as quickly as possible.
"I'm truly happy for the two of you, Padme."
"We are very happy together, Master Kenobi."
She nervously adjusted her dress, all-the-while cursing herself for not joining her husband in the kitchen. Padme did not know what to say to this man. Despite all that had happened seven years ago, Obi-Wan and Anakin still had between them the remnants of a close bond developed between a Master and a Padawan, between a father and a son, and between friends. She had none of that in common with him. Even during the occupation crisis, it was the other Jedi, Qui-Gon, that she got to know. Obi-Wan had barely said a word to her during the entire ordeal.
"Why have you come, Master Kenobi?"
Before he could respond, he noticed that Anakin stood by the doorway too, awaiting his answer.
"To be honest with the both of you, I really don't know."
"How is that possible," Anakin asked as he set down a tray of roasted meat on the table in front of Obi-Wan and then sat down next to Padme. "My all-knowing Master wandering absentmindedly into the farthest reaches of the Galaxy."
"Believe me, Anakin, I am not as wise as you think I am. Did you know," he asked the couple, "that upon my return after facing you, the Council granted me the seat left absent by Master Ki-Adi Mundi."
"I would not have expected that. After all, your conduct that day did not appear get the results the Jedi wanted."
"I do not disagree, Anakin. But Master Yoda commended me on my ability to let go of my attachment to you, thus demonstrating my wisdom and my dedication to serving the Order."
"But you do not believe that," Padme remarked. Her words definitely caught the Jedi off-guard, and for a moment he wondered if it was possible that the woman herself was also Force sensitive. But then, he remembered that she had been a great politician in her day, and still wielded the skill to read the sentiments of other people.
"No, I don't. I felt like a fraud that day, and that feeling still…resurfaces every once in a while."
Padme continued her interrogation: "So why do you think they appointed you to the Council."
"I can only surmise, milady. The Council does not take your husband lightly, I'm afraid, and still has not given up the hopes of one day 'reclaiming' him, so to speak, for the Order. Despite all that has transpired, they still feel that I am their closest link to Anakin, and by keeping me happy, that one day, I would lead them to their Chosen One."
Padme noticed Anakin visibly flinch at the mention of his prophetic background.
"And that is exactly what you have just done, isn't it? Now that you know where he is, the Jedi will soon following your footsteps and take my Anakin away from me."
"No," Obi-Wan protested. "I assure you, milady, that whatever happens will happen according to your own free will, and whatever decisions you and your husband decide on. My official statement to the Council was that I would be looking for you and trying to convince you to come back to Coruscant. However, I made them promise that they would make no attempt to track me, and that if you and Anakin wish to remain in hiding, that the Council will respect your wishes."
"Why now? After seven years, what makes the Council so anxious to get me back on Coruscant."
"Anakin, have you heard anything about the known Galaxy lately?"
He shook his head.
"No. This planet is the only Galaxy we have known for awhile now." Which was partly the truth. He hadn't heard anything about the rest of the world, but he sure as hell felt it.
"Anakin, the Republic is divided, and in turmoil. There is a Civil War going on right now. They are calling it 'The Clone Wars'."
Anakin was not the least bit surprised over the revelation, though it certainly got his wife's attention.
"How is that possible," she asked. "The Republic has stood for the last one thousand years. How could the Jedi let it be split into two?"
"No one knows, really. The Confederacy of Independent Systems formed out of allegations of corruption in the Republic. They are led by a former Jedi, Dooku, whom we suspect is now a Dark Lord of the Sith. He made an unholy treaty with Viceroy Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation as well as the leaders of the Banking Clan, Techno Union, and various other conglomerates. Together they ignored Chancellor Palpatine's pleas for peace and negotiations, instead creating a vast droid army and luring thousands of star systems into their lies."
The news hit the couple with different reactions. While Anakin recalled vaguely the nephew of the Dooku, with whom he had shared drinks and laughs with at a Royal Ball in Naboo moments before the assassination attempt on Queen Amidala that started it all, Padme's eyes burned with rage.
"That treacherous scum Gunray. I hate the Neimoidians. Why have you not captured and killed that traitor yet?"
Though he was slightly shocked by the gentle lady's venom, Obi-Wan remembered the glimpses of darkness he had sensed in her back on Naboo and chose his words carefully.
"Believe me, milady, we have tried our hardest to apprehend the Viceroy, but Count Dooku and his lackey General Grievous are brutal and effective leaders in their own right. The forces of the Republic have yet to come close to Separatist leadership."
"They are filthy aliens, and should all be slaughtered, every single one of them."
In an effort to divert the attention away from his wife's crude remarks, Anakin went back to the original subject.
"So why do they call it the Clone Wars?"
"Because the Army of the Republic is a Clone Army."
Both Anakin and Padme were shocked with that statement.
"How is that possible," Padme asked. "Since when does the Republic endorse cloning at all?"
"It was a subject of much debate in the Senate in the stalemate before the war occurred. Many warmongers wanted to create an army to defend the Republic from any Separatist attacks, while others felt that the creation of the army would lead to a war that would not occur otherwise. The debate raged on without a conclusion. At the time, I was investigating," Obi-Wan's face paled, and he hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I was investigating the kidnapping of a Padawan when I stumbled across the cloner planet of Kamino."
"So you commissioned this army," Anakin asked, slightly in awe of his old Master's adventures, "without the permission of the Senate?"
"No, my friend. The army had been commissioned ten years before, under the direction of a Master Sifo-Dyas, who, if you remembered, died years before that. The Kaminoan's claimed the army was created and bred for the sole purpose of serving the Republic."
"It sounds mighty suspicious," voiced Padme. "Did the Senate form a committee to investigate this matter?"
"They never got a chance. Moments after the discovery of the clone army, Master Windu and his Padawan discovered a vast Separatist droid army on the planet of Genoesis. Unfortunately, he was captured by Dooku right after he revealed the news to the Council. The Jedi sent a team, including myself to rescue him, but we were vastly outnumbered by the droids. Fortunately, the news of the droid army had quickly reached the Senate, who approved emergency powers for Chancellor Palpatine. The clone army was approved without any debate, and Master Yoda led the army to save us just before our entire force was annihilated."
"So there is a war going on," Anakin stated. "What does this have to do with me?"
"It's completely up to you, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied, aware of the rising hostility in the young man. "I told the Council I came to retrieve you, but that was more of an excuse than anything else."
"An excuse for what?"
The Jedi Master sighed and looked away. Anakin could tell he was hiding something, but then, Obi-Wan was under no obligation to tell him any his secrets. Much had changed in the man since Anakin had last set eyes upon him, and it was entirely possible that the man he had once called Master might not exist anymore.
"I wanted to get away," Obi-Wan finally admitted. "The war…is so tiresome. It wears you down physically, but it also wears down your soul. And it makes you find so much more value in the blessing of friendship."
"Because of the exhaustion," Anakin asked naively.
"No. Because so many of your good friends die every single day."
Two armed officers accompanied the lone man through the elegant corridors of the basement, towards the office that housed the Center of Alderaanian Intelligence. In normal circumstances even the mere thought of weapons were absolutely foreign to the residents of this peaceful planet, not to mention a full scale espionage agency, but much has changed on the since the inception of the Clone Wars.
Even when the first seeds of the Civil War were taking root, Senator Bail Organa had urged the planet to advocate a stance of nominal support towards the Republic while remaining militarily neutral. However, with the assassination of the beloved Senator less than two years ago, more hawkish approaches to diplomacy began take shape, and eventually power, on the planet.
Darin Lupes was escorted to a small windowless office four floors behind the ground. Under the ever watchful eyes of the armed bodyguards, the intelligence agent began his interrogation.
"Lord Darin Lupes," Gareth Antilles read off the datapad, "from the Separatist planet of Naboo, intercepted in Alderaanian airspace yesterday at 0323 Standard hours, claiming to be seeking asylum."
"Yes sir."
"According to my data, you used to be…to put it bluntly, a crime boss. In fact, your organization, Crimson Lake, was responsible for 73 of all illegal trafficking to and from the Planet of Naboo prior to the Trade Federation Treaty. Am I trying to be misleading with these allegations?"
"No sir. But you will notice that Crimson Lake today is a completely legal enterprise, and all of our businesses is well sanctioned by the Constitution of the CIS and of Naboo."
"Yes, legal after the Trade Federation and your new King changed the constitution. You seemed to have benefited from the disposal of Queen Amidala, who, needless to say, was a very staunch ally of our planet during her reign."
"Yes, yes, all that you say is true," Lupes acknowledged. He wonder how much more the spy knew about him, especially his role in the conspiracy seven years ago to assassinate the young Queen.
"However," Darin asserted, "I come before you today concerned not about the past, but about the present, and the future."
"Why have you come," Gareth asked, a glint of skepticism in his eye.
"Because I am a man of conscience," Darin replied, doing his best to look the agent straight in the eye. "Because I am having my doubts over the moral authority of the Separatist Confederacy."
"According to my documents, the droid and weaponry factories built on Naboo from your organization's pockets and authority account for over 28.5 percent of all Separatist arms."
"Again, Agent Antilles, you speak the truth. And yet, it is because of these very factories I own that I tell you today, the Republic is in grave danger."
"How is that?"
"Well, stated simply," said Darin, "we are producing a weapon that will guarantee the destruction of the Clone Army, and the final and complete victory of the Confederacy of Independent Systems."
