Courscant
Chancellor Palpatine's Kidnapping
Courscant, capital of the Galactic Republic, was no stranger to conflict. Less than four thousand years ago, the Sith Empire from the Unknown Regions had attacked, severely damaging the Jedi Temple and sacking Courscant in the Republic's worst defeat to date. And now, a similar event was happening; the droid armies and navies under General Grievous and Count Dooku had snuck through Republic lines and assaulted the capital, landing and carrying away Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. Now, he sat imprisoned on Grievous' flagship, the Invisible Hand, dueling with the Courscant defense fleet, and now the tired, but newly arrived Open Circle Fleet. Diving through the chaos of the battle were its two commanders, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, backed by a squadron of ARC-170 starfighters. They hurtled through the battle towards the Invisible Hand, dodging droid starfighters, scraping buzz droids off of each other, and leading the charge for the Republic.
Providing them with covering fire was the Venator -class star destroyer, Providence, a cruiser that had served the Republic well in its two-and-a-half years of service and was taking leave from the front lines when the CIS had attacked. It had emerged from its dock, its crew enraged that their leave had been interrupted and even more so that the Chancellor had been taken, and so it had dived into the fray. Now beaten and bruised, yet unbroken, the Providence had gone before the Jedi to soften the Invisible Hand and its escorts.
"Deflector shields at ten percent!" A bridge officer cried.
"Redirect power from all non-essential systems to the deflectors, we need to buy more time!" The captain cried as another volley racked the Providence.
"Shields down! Redirecting power!" Another officer called. A Munificent-class frigate, one that had been battering the Providence, released one final barrage as the Republic vessel let loose one of its own, cracking the frigate's hull and splitting it into two jagged pieces. The Separatist volley fell upon the Providence, breaching the armor towards the rear of the ship.
"We've lost steering! Engine controls are offline!"
"Sir! That volley has compromised our hyperdrive! It's currently charging."
"Shut it down, now! We are needed here, no matter how battered this bloody ship is, I will not abandon Courscant!" The captain bellowed.
"Sir! If the hyperdrive activates, the Providence will cut clean through the rear of the Invisible Hand!" The captain realized with horror the implications of those words; if the hyperdrive went active and the ship attempted to transition from real space to hyperspace, it would go through the Invisible Hand, potentially killing the Chancellor.
"I want all available engineers to the hyperdrive, now!" The captain cried. The Providence shuddered as the hyperdrive came online.
"Too late!" Someone cried as the Venator jolted beneath them, metal twisted and tore, and the Providence ceased to exist…as did the aft sections of the Invisible Hand. Obi-Wan and Anakin watched in horror as the ship leapt forward, crashing through Grievous' flagship, sheering the aft sections off and destroying them, before it too exploded into trillions of pieces. Word quickly spread throughout the two dueling fleets, and the battle space abruptly fell silent as both sides realized the gravity of the situation. Then, before battle could resume, the Separatist fleet turned and fled in different directions into hyperspace. A few Republic warships gave chase, but the rest began to consolidate around the Invisible Hand.
As they did so, like a delayed explosion, a massive blast of energy erupted from the space behind the ship, expanding through the space around Courscant before fading. To the clones and Republic personnel, it was an odd sensation, like a wave of unease and dread. To the Jedi on Courscant and in orbit, they recognized the dying blast of a Dark Side Force user. It was initially believed to be Count Dooku, but a patrolling corvette spotted a vessel that matched Geonosian star ship, as well as General Grievous' personal starfighter, leaving the system. As the Republic fleet pondered over what they had just seen and searched for the Chancellor, Obi-Wan and Anakin made a b-line for the Jedi Temple. They landed hurriedly, with Anakin being the first to leap from his Eta-2.
"Do you realize what this means?!" He asked his former master, who exited his interceptor more composed, but nonetheless quickly.
"It could mean several things; it may not be what you think it means." Obi-Wan cautioned as they made for the turbolift. Anakin got in front of him.
"No no, you know what this means," he said, pointing at Obi-Wan, "this means this whole war, everything that's happened, even Ahsoka-"
"Ahsoka was a failure of the Council, not you…but as for the rest, yes, it appears that it could be." Obi-Wan conceded as the turbolift opened, revealing the members of the Jedi Council present on Courscant: Masters Windu, Yoda, Plo-Koon, and several others. "Masters." Obi-Wan greeted, bowing, Anakin following suit.
"I assume you have felt as we have felt?" Windu asked.
"The wave of Dark Side energy, yes," Obi-Wan answered. "Count Dooku still lives, as does General Grievous….but we have no word on the Chancellor as of yet."
"Which could mean he still lives, he has been taken deeper into Separatist space-" Anakin began, but was cut-off by Master Yoda.
"None of those things, it means," the ancient Jedi said firmly, "a Sith, Palpatine was, blinded us, he did…played us for fools he did." It was silent in the hangar bay as the assembled Jedi contemplated all the time they spent with the Chancellor, following his orders, listening to his counsel, watching him guide the war.
"So…what now?" Anakin asked.
"We contain this information," Windu said, "if word gets out that the Chancellor was a Sith, the Jedi could lose credibility with the Senate."
"With respect, master, is it not our duty to inform the Senate?" Anakin asked, earning several stares. "While we do not answer or are beholden to them, we, at the very least, owe them an explanation." Before Windu could say a word, Yoda held up a hand.
"Correct, young Skywalker is. Share the Republic, we do, share the responsibilities of guiding it, we do. Contact Senators Organa and Amidala, we should." He said. Windu nodded his head, not willing to press the point and cause division in the Council at such a crucial moment. Yoda opened his mouth to speak once more, but before he could, all the Jedi felt something. It was a tidal wave, not of the Light or the Dark, but of pain. It slammed into all of them knocking them off their feet as it did every Force sensitive individual in the galaxy, causing them to scream and writhe in pain as an untold pain echoed through the Force. As Obi-Wan lay on the cold, hard floor of the Temple hangar, he opened his eyes.
Instead of the Temple, he saw a world covered in nothing but white, a burning eye watching over sheets of ice as far as the eye could see. He blinked and found himself standing in a room with thousands of pods, and inside were warriors, men and women, of numerous races, clad in ancient armor. At their center was a man in dark gray armor and a helmet that seemed to be an early model of the modern Mandalorian helmet, with a pair of red eyes reflecting off the glass of the pod. Obi-Wan watched as the Force seemed to curl around this man, and he awoke, finding fire surrounding him on all sides. He stepped from his pod onto a battlefield with clones on either side of him, what looked like Captain Rex and Commander Cody, as well as other clone commanders that stood and directed the battle alongside him. He strode forward, unafraid of the carnage around him as Mandalorians, ancient and new, fell in alongside him, as well as species from across the galaxy. Obi-Wan found himself, Anakin, Ahsoka, and two other young Jedi going with him, towards a line of battle droids, others he did not recognize, and soldiers in white armor that were not clones. At their heads, he saw Count Dooku, Grievous, Darth Maul, and others he did not know, among them a dark yet familiar presence. He found himself running forward, lightsaber drawn back to strike-
He then saw himself on another battlefield, droids before him, and humans behind him, wielding primitive weapons but holding their line. The white armored troopers were back, and at their head was the dark presence, a red lightsaber in his hands, his breathing hard and heavy. Obi-Wan engaged the figure, feeling the power in each and every blade swing of the figure before he found himself floating through space, beholding a moon with dead planets in its wake. The moon vanished and he found himself again in space, floating above a planet that had just been fought over. Ships of unknown make encircled the world, in varying hues of dark blue, purple, and pink, and as one they fired on the planet below. Obi-Wan clutched his head as he felt the Living Force began to die on that planet as it cried out for help, before finding his feet on another planet, the same humans behind him. He saw a tall, saurian-like creature running towards him, a two-pronged blade in one hand and another weapon that fired blue plasma in the other. He brought his lightsaber up to meet the creature, deflected a blow, and then saw behind it and all of its followers a titanic ring floating in empty space. And as he beheld this goliath ring, he felt himself being dragged back into reality.
"Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan!" Obi-Wan blinked his eyes open rapidly, finding Master Plo Koon above him.
"I'm quite alright, thank you." Obi-Wan groaned as he brought himself to a sitting position. Anakin was in a similar state, rising as Yoda and Windu were next to him. "What was that?"
"That felt like the pain thousands just dumped on me." Anakin said.
"Indeed," Windu said, "it appears the Chancellor was doing more than clouding our vision."
"Concerning, this is, that the Jedi have been blinded for so long." Yoda said. "See something, did you?"
"I'm…I'm not sure what I saw." Obi-Wan said, still in shock as Anakin nodded in agreement.
"Rest, you must both, deal with the Senate, Windu and I will." Yoda said firmly. The two younger Jedi stood and bowed as Yoda and Windu turned and left.
"It appears that already strange times have gotten even stranger." Plo Koon observed. "Do you require any assistance, my friends? That wave effected the both of you even more than the rest of us."
"I should manage the stumble back to my quarters, so long as Anakin can keep his feet." Obi-Wan said.
"Easy, what's to say you won't keel over first?" Anakin bit back.
"Because I've seen how you handle your drinks." Obi-Wan countered and sauntered away as Plo Koon chuckled and Anakin huffed behind him. But behind the humor, all Obi-Wan could think of was the man in the pod; who was he…. what was he, and why was he important?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Empty Space
Post-Battle of Courscant
Count Dooku sat in his Solar Sailor, chin in hand, pondering his next moves. His ship had landed in another Providence-class, but in the few hours since it had landed, Dooku had not moved. His eyes stared without sight out the viewport, he heard but did not listen, and was consumed by his thoughts. So consumed was he that the sounds of General Grievous coming aboard went unnoticed.
"My lord?" The cyborg general rasped, rousing Dooku from his thoughts.
"Apologies, Grievous…I have been deep in thought." He said, standing from his seat, turning to face the general. "A great deal has changed in the past few hours."
"Yes; the death of the Chancellor will weaken the Republic greatly, my lord." Grievous said. "Do we have further orders from Darth Sidious?" Dooku took a deep breath before answering.
"There is much about the Clone Wars you do not understand, General…come with me." Dooku left the ship with Grievous in tow. "Now that my master is dead and his plans essentially made worthless, you may now know the truth of the war. My master, Darth Sidious, was known as Sheev Palpatine…Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine." Grievous halted in his tracks, just shy of the landing ramp.
"Sidious…was the Chancellor?!" He exclaimed. Dooku turned.
"He was; for thousands of years, the Sith have been in secret, trying to eradicate the Jedi Order from the shadows. The Clone Wars were orchestrated in order to bring about the end of the Jedi, and institute a new galactic order; one where the Jedi would be gone."
"And what was to be my place in this new order?" Grievous asked, his long metallic fingers curling into fists. Dooku regarded the cyborg for a moment before he opened his mouth. "I was to be eliminated, like some hound, wasn't I?"
"That…was my master's intentions, yes." Dooku said, attempting to deflect the question away from him, to no avail. Grievous roared like an animal, his second set of arms detaching from the first as he drew his lightsabers. Dooku quickly drew his as the general came at him wildly, rage coursing through what few veins he had left as he swung his lightsabers in vicious arcs. Dooku, the ever calm and collected master, took the blows as they came, skillfully deflecting them and redirecting the blows. Dooku was not in the mood for this; he quickly disarmed Grievous before lifting him in the air. "General; control your anger!" Dooku snapped, tossing Grievous aside. "This is no time to become a slave to your emotions."
"You were going to betray me!" Grievous roared.
"No!" Dooku retorted. "My master was the betrayer, not I!"
"Why should I believe you?" Grievous asked, rising to a sitting position. Dooku deactivated his lightsaber and used the Force to return Grievous's lightsabers to him.
"My master's plans for this galaxy are in ruins; I am the master now…and I still require the services of warriors such as you, general." Dooku stated firmly. Grievous regarded the former Jedi for a moment before kneeling before Dooku.
"What is thy bidding, my master?"
"Rise, general, and assemble the generals of the Confederacy; there is new work to be done. I have seen something rising, in the Force, and I eagerly await its arrival."
