Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Lets' get to it.
Chapter 5- Senate Vote
Anakin paces anxiously around the hangar of the Jedi Temple where he is waiting. The Jedi Temple has been completely locked down, and almost everyone capable of combat are guarding the main entrance or at other entrances. The sole exceptions are Ahsoka and Mace, who are with Anakin in the hangar.
It's been a few hours since the end of the first attack on the Temple. Anakin has been waiting anxiously ever since, for two reasons. The first being anxious to be gone to the Senate Building to testify against Palpatine, knowing that time will make the difference regarding more Jedi dying at the hands of the clones and in tracking down Palpatine. However, the second reason is for leaving the defence of the Temple behind. He had been the one in command of the defense, but now had to leave it behind. Although the defense was now being jointly commanded by Cin Drallig and Rex, who Anakin has faith in, but he is still anxious about leaving his command behind in such a situation.
"What's taking them so long?" Anakin muses aloud in frustration.
"Patience, Skywalker. We need to trust in the Senators. And we can't let you go too early or we'll alert the clones and give them too much time to track you down. Be patient," Mace counsels Anakin.
"It'll be okay, Sky Guy. Just be calm," Ahsoka says.
Anakin smiles a bit. "I know, but you also know calm has never been my strongpoint," he says, making both him and Ahsoka smile.
Right then, Anakin's commlink begins to buzz. Anakin pulls it out and activates it. A second later, Padme appears on the commlink.
"Padme. What's the word?" Anakin asks.
"Everything is set. The first Senators are arriving in the Senate Building. Everything is ready. We're ready for you to come," Padme informs her husband.
"Good. I'm leaving the Temple now. I'll see you soon," Anakin says before deactivating his commlink. He then turns to Ahsoka and Mace and says, "Hold the fort until we solve this!" He then rushes over to the shuttle he selected to take to the Senate Building.
Hurriedly settling himself into the cockpit, Anakin quickly powers up the shuttle, then carefully lifts off the floor of the hangar. He turns and gives a quick wave to Ahsoka and Mace before streaking out of the hangar.
Anakin keeps low to the surface, avoiding some ground fire from the clones laying siege to the Temple. He stays low, weaving between the buildings in his path, trying to avoid being either seen or followed, while staying on a constant course towards the Senate Building. He knows he has to get there as fast as possible.
(Short time later)
Padme and Bail are sitting anxiously in their chamber, waiting for the time to come to go out onto their pod to address the Senate. The meeting of the Senate is due to start in just two minutes, and Anakin has yet to arrive.
Padme is wringing her hands a bit. She's anxious for Anakin to get here. However, for once, it's not out of a desire to see her husband. Although they have other evidence, part of their testimony hinges on Anakin, and she's somewhat worried that if Anakin doesn't get here in time, their evidence may not be able to convince the Senate enough to be able to vote no confidence in Chancellor Palpatine.
"Where is he?" Padme mutters aloud.
"Don't worry, Padme. He'll be here," Bail says.
Padme nods, trying to look confident, but worried. Then, with only about a minute to go until they have to go out onto the pod, they both hear something. Rapid footsteps. A second later, Anakin comes rushing through the door into the chamber, his Jedi robes flapping around himself.
"I'm here!" Anakin says, a little out of breath. He stops for a second to catch his breath, then says, "I'm sorry I almost didn't make it."
"It's okay. You got here just in time," Padme says with relief flooding through her voice. Then, she composes herself and says, "Are you ready for this?"
"Yeah. I'm ready. Let's put an end to his deception," Anakin says firmly.
"Good. Let's do this," Bail says. Then, all three of them move through the passageway to their pod in the Senate chamber.
After a minute or two, the chatter in the Senate chamber dies down, and Bail stands up, pressing the buttons to move the pod off the wall and into the middle of the Senate chamber.
"Members of the Senate, we are here in this emergency meeting this morning for one specific purpose. We are to call an emergency vote of no confidence in Chancellor Palpatine in absentia and remove him from his position as Supreme Chancellor," Bail declares.
Chatter erupts in the Senate chamber as Senators digest what they've just heard. Senator Kim Robb moves her pod off of the wall and declares, "This is highly irregular and somewhat outrageous. On what grounds do you wish to remove the Chancellor from his office?"
"Let him speak," Mon Mothma, one of their secret allies in the Senate, declares.
Bail continues his speech. "We are here to make the case that Chancellor Palpatine has committed gross misuses of his position as Supreme Chancellor, and has been in secret collaboration with the Separatists since before the Clone Wars began, as well as being behind the Naboo Crisis 13 years ago," he declares to the Senate.
Again, chatter erupts around the Senate Chamber. Another Senator who's been a staunch supporter of Palpatine declares, "Preposterous! These claims are outrageous!"
"Perhaps at first glance, but the evidence states otherwise," Bail retorts.
Senator Tills of Mon Cala now speaks up. "If you have evidence, please present it to the Senate," she requests.
"Gladly," Bail responds. He then sits down, and Padme stands up.
"We will begin with preliminary evidence and suspicions that led us to investigate Chancellor Palpatine. Some time ago, we became suspicious of sudden departures of the Chancellor from the Senate complex, when he could not be found anywhere. While this may not arouse too much suspicion, we discovered that one of these instances was right after the Battle of Geonosis, and another instance occurred at the same time the former Sith Lord Darth Maul disappeared from the planet Mandalore under mysterious circumstances," Padme declares.
Some Senators are intrigued at this, and agree it is suspicious, but many are still far from convinced, made obvious by the murmuring that echoes through the Senate Chamber. Having expected this, Padme now says, "To present further evidence, we present Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker."
Many Senators mutter, some having heard rumors of the Jedi turning against the Republic. Padme sits down, and Anakin stands up and moves forward to the front of the pod.
"Members of the Senate, I am Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Many of you have heard of me, and some know I have had a very good relationship with the Chancellor over the years. Recently, I was made his personal representative on the Jedi Council, against normal practice. Because of this, I, more than any Jedi and more than some Senators, have gotten to know the Chancellor personally and seen and heard much from him."
"In some degrees, this has made me blind to potential warning signs from the Chancellor. However, at the same time, it has made him far more relaxed and comfortable around me. The first major warning sign I saw from the Chancellor was some time ago during the Separatist attack on Coruscant. When me and my master, General Obi Wan Kenobi, attempted to rescue the Chancellor, the Chancellor pressured me into killing Count Dooku when I had Dooku disarmed and without hands on his knees in front of me. It went against my morals and the Jedi Code, but the Chancellor pressured me until I did it. This showed me for the first time a darker side of him. In the following days, he repeatedly requested my presence without informing the Jedi Council of the reason. In addition, throughout his years knowing me, he made multiple attempts to paint the Jedi Council in a bad light and drive me away from them."
"While this information, I recognize distinguished Senators, is not sufficient to convince many of you, what I have told is only the set up. All of this suspicious activity came to a head yesterday afternoon. In the Chancellor's Office, after informing the Chancellor of General Kenobi discovering and engaging General Grievous, the Chancellor, I believe, sensed a weak moment in myself and attempted to seize his chance. There, in his office, he fully admitted to me that he, Chancellor Palpatine, is a Sith Lord, and the Sith Master who Count Dooku answered to."
The Senate erupts as most of the Senators start talking at once, trying to command attention. Mon Mothma, however, quickly shouts over the speaker, "Order! Order!"
Slowly, the Senate quiets down. Once they've quieted down, Anakin continues talking, "Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord, who we believe goes by the name Darth Sidious. He has been the one pulling the strings of the Separatists through Count Dooku, and we believe also was the one behind the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo 13 years ago, due to recent evidence of Nute Gunray's collaboration with the Sith. He confessed such to my face just yesterday."
Chatter continues to fill the Senate chamber, but many Senators are starting to sway. Anakin is a great hero of the Republic whose achievements in the war are legendary by now, and his word holds a lot of sway. However, many Senators are still unconvinced.
Anakin knows this, and follows up by saying, "For those of you who don't believe me, I invite Senator Bail organa to stand up again and show you evidence he collected just hours ago proving my claims." Anakin then sits down, allowing Bail to take the stand.
Bail inserts the datacard with the info retrieved from Palpatine's office into the control panel for the pod. "Yesterday, armed with the knowledge of the Chancellor's true allegiance, four Jedi Masters travelled to his office to attempt to glean more of the truth and to arrest him for treason. The encounter was recorded on cameras and other recording devices within the Chancellor's office. I successfully retrieved the video from the Chancellor's office after he fled following the encounter. And now, I will play that video for you."
Bail presses a button, and a large hologram is projected over the pod. Senators watch in rapt attention as the video first shows the interaction in the smaller chamber of the office where the Masters first confronted Palpatine. Senators watch as the Masters announce he is under arrest, and Palpatine's attempts to declare they have no right. Then, the Senators watch in shock as Palpatine ignites a red lightsaber and, without hesitation, attacks the Masters and kills three of them very quickly. Bail skips ahead after showing a few seconds of Mace and Palpatine fighting,n then skips ahead, showing Mace disarming Palpatine. They watch as Anakin arrives, he and Mace hold off Palpatine, and Palpatine finally escaping out the window.
The Senate is remarkably quiet as the video ends. Bail then speaks again as he declares, "Chancellor Palpatine has been deceiving the galaxy for decades. He has sought to rule the entire galaxy as Dark Lord of the Sith under his iron fist. Consulting with the Jedi Order, we believe that he has conspired for decades to attain the position of Supreme Chancellor, and then engineered the Clone Wars to give him the opportunity to slowly obtain absolute power. We have also confirmed that he was secretly behind the creation of the clone army, and has, since the program's beginning, had an inhibitor chip placed in all clones that forces them to follow an order to kill all Jedi. Following his escape from his office, he issued such an order, and we so far have confirmation of hundreds, if not thousands, of Jedi being killed by their clone soldiers."
Bail pauses, then says, "It is not too late to stop him. The Chancellor clearly fled after being confronted in his office for fear that the Jedi would kill him, and we believe he intends to take public control of the Separatists now. For that reason, I move for an immediate vote of no confidence in Chancellor Palpatine to remove of his office and political powers, and to appoint an interim Chancellor."
Muttering echoes around the Senate chamber, but it's relatively subdued. Mon Mothma then speaks up and declares, "Senators of the Galactic Senate, I move to accept Senator Organa's proposal."
Mothma's declaration seems to incite the Senate to action, and other Senators begin calling out their support for the motion. It's quickly clear that the motion is accepted, and the vote begins.
Anakin watches anxiously as the vote gets underway. Padme, seeing his anxiety, takes his hand in hers, no longer caring about hiding their marriage. Anakin smiles at Padme, her action calming him down a bit.
Soon enough, the vote is concluded. Mon Mothma gathers the votes, and quickly declares, "The votes are in! With an overwhelming majority voting in favor, I hereby declare that, by the consensus of the Galactic Senate, Chancellor Palpatine is hereby relieved of his office as Supreme Chancellor."
Several Senators who had voted against the motion shout in protest, but are quickly shouted down by the rest of the Senate. Many of those Senators quickly flee the Senate Chamber in embarrassment, but they are detained by Senate security on the way out to be investigated for any Separatist ties.
Mon Mothma, supervising the vote, now speaks up and declares, "With Chancellor Palpatine relieved of his office, and a new Chancellor urgently needed, I hereby move for a vote to name a replacement to fill the position of Supreme Chancellor! You may cast your votes!"
Every Senator still in the Chamber begins inputting their votes into the control panels of their pods. The process takes a few minutes before all the votes are in, and Mothma proceeds to count the votes. After a few more minutes, Mothma finally addresses the Senate, "The votes are all in. I am pleased to announce that, with about 70 percent of the votes, Bail Organa will succeed Sheev Palpatine as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic!"
The Senate erupts in cheering. Although Palpatine had been immensely popular, Bail Organa was also very popular with the Senate. His attitude, kindness, dedication to democracy, and many other characteristics appealed to many. It's no surprise that Bail will be replacing Palpatine.
Bail stands up to address the Senate. "It is my honor to accept this position as Supreme Chancellor. I vow as Chancellor to see us through the end of the Clone Wars, end corruption in the government, and see that the Republic is safe once more." Bail pauses, then says, "And my first act as Supreme Chancellor is to declare former Chancellor Palpatine as a traitor of the Republic, and that a warrant will be issued for his arrest. I will work with the Jedi order and the Grand Army of the Republic to ensure that he will be brought to justice for his treason and deceit, and ensure that the Republic will be kept safe from his evil!"
Members of the Senate begin cheering for Bail. Behind Bail, Anakin grins broadly, very excited. Now, someone who can really be trusted is Chancellor, and they can get to work on finding Palpatine and bringing him to justice.
And, I'll end the chapter there. Hope this was a good one.
Next chapter will be up in a week or two. Until it's up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!