Chapter Eighteen: The Dark Side's Master
Mace scanned the room, realizing that Saa, Tholme, and Luminara had left during the recording. If they had heard anything, he trusted them enough to keep it to themselves.
"You need a drink?" Anakin practically screeched, taking a threatening step towards the Master of the Order. "You just heard the most blasphemous thing about the Chancellor and that's what you say?!"
"Anakin, calm down," Obi-Wan whispered tiredly.
"We have no idea where Master Gallia got this information." Anakin looked at the former Sith assassin. "Ventress, you were a Sith! How could such a homely man be the Sith Lord we're looking for?"
Assaji looked at him in disbelief. "...my master was Dooku. I have no idea who his master was - some creepy old man that was obsessed with Kenobi being killed."
"Creepy old man? Sounds like the Chancellor," Aayla muttered, earning herself a fist-bumb from her partner.
"Obsessed with Obi-Wan - probably Maul then!" Anakin insisted, only to be met with silence. He looked at Obi-Wan, almost snarling when the man didn't meet his gaze.
"Well...the Chancellor does usually ask Obi-Wan to take the most dangerous of missions," Mace mused, almost to himself. "The fact that he's survived this long is the will of the Force and nothing more."
Depa sat beside her old master, pressing her lips together. She watched his face, the gears turning over in his head. Taking his hand, she murmured, "Master?"
"Everyone besides Obi-Wan and Anakin leave. Tell this to no one. I will call a Council meeting at 15hundred hours - all of you need to be there." Mace finally looked up, scanning the room, daring for anyone to speak against him.
Without a word the rest of the group filed out, throwing glances behind them.
Worry. Fear. Anger.
Depa lingered, unsure if she should stay or not. She received a shrug in response, and moved to the cushioned seat next to him.
"Why do you need to speak to both of us?" Anakin demanded, folding his arms over his chest. "This can't be - "
"Why would Adi lie?" Obi-Wan asked sharply. He stood, staring his friend down. Anger crackled between them...an unhealthy emotion for a Jedi. An undesired one… but a natural one that was experienced. "She was the best Jedi there was, she would never do such a thing."
Mace leaned his elbows against his knees, eyes closed while he thought. He felt incredibly old and tired. So tired.
"She's human, she could have been making a mis - "
"We've known about the existence of a Sith Lord for years, ever since Darth Maul appeared…"
"That defies the rule of two," Depa pointed out. "Darth Sidious, Dooku, Maul...Ventress, for a time. That's too many."
Obi-Wan paced, trying to process the new information while trying not to also have a panic attack. This was too much...the answer had been under their noses for years and they hadn't noticed? It would make sense, the Chancellor had always had something off about him… He'd assumed because Nubians were generally a bit off in the head, but this went beyond that…
Scratching at his beard, Obi-Wan turned to the Master of the Order. "You've said before that Dooku is not capable of executing a war on such a scale - "
"No, he's not...Yan was one of our finest diplomats. It didn't surprise me that he left, he was always dissatisfied with the Order heeding every order from the Senate." Mace rubbed one of his temples, the argument that had gone through his mind millions of times raging again. "He saw first hand the suffering of the Galaxy...but with the wealth he inherited it still makes no sense why he turned to the Dark Side."
Obi-Wan frowned, sitting back down. He beckoned the same to his former padawan, who stayed standing. "Dooku left right after Qui-Gon died...but it still makes no sense why he would lead an intergalactic assault to devastate the Galaxy if he wanted to make it better."
"Grief and fear can make you do horrible things," Anakin muttered harshly. Everyone looked at him in surprise.
"...what do you mean by that Anakin?" Obi-Wan knew he had to tread lightly. This... didn't sound right.
Anakin opened his mouth, then closed it with a grimace. "Nothing."
Mace stared at the young man, brows furrowed for the longest time. The room felt warm. Eventually, he nodded. "Skywalker's correct...grief can make you do the unimaginable, act irrationally…and you can easily be indoctrinated into something before you know it, your beliefs shifting if you have no one around to challenge you."
"Are you saying that the Chancellor is controlling Dooku's moves?" Anakin scoffed in disbelief.
"... maybe influencing them is a better way of thinking about it." Obi-Wan held up his hand when Anakin went to fight again. "Think about it Anakin...a willing participant to do your bidding. That's what a Sith Lord would want... that's what Chancellor Palpatine always asks of the Jedi, of the Senate. More missions that end in death, more clones all over the Galaxy, more emergency powers - "
He froze. Everyone froze, even Anakin, as much as he didn't want too. Staring at each other in horror, because…
"He's taking over the Galaxy," Obi-Wan whispered in horror.
In theory the meeting should have been easy.
Gather everyone in the Council Room. Even Duchess Satine.
Explain that Death Watch was gaining power, even as so many wanted to leave. Argue and fight that the Jedi did not need to intervene, even as information about Maul was exposed to the gathered.
Show the message Adi Gallia had recorded.
More arguing. Shouting. Tears. Frustration.
More than one lightsaber being ignited, because few liked the Chancellor but this was insane right?
Explain the reasoning that Count Dooku couldn't possibly be the Sith Lord, as he still had too much respect for the Jedi but not enough for himself.
Emergency powers.
The Chancellor kept asking for more emergency powers and more clones and more Jedi on increasingly dangerous missions instead of reinstating the Coruscanti militia.
All the shouting, all the bickering...came to a standstill when -
"Vote of no confidence, Senator Amidala gave, for the former Chancellor. Question her intentions, why aren't we, alongside Palpatine?"
Satine was sitting on the arm of Obi-Wan's chair, and went to calm him but -
"Senator Amidala would never do that!" Anakin snapped, glaring fiercely at the grandmaster. He had been surprisingly quiet, standing behind Obi-Wan's council seat, but now he was trembling with rage. "You and I both know she could never - "
"You have pointed out on multiple occasions that Naboo has a past of secrecy and sabotage." Mace kept the glare of the young man, ignoring the animosity towards him in the room. "It's only fair that we consider it, Anakin. I like her as well as any politician and - "
"Keep my wife out of this Mace."
Silence.
Crickets.
All anyone could hear was the sound of the speeders of Coruscant, the air conditioning blowing gently, the soft breaths of everyone -
"I beg your pardon, Anakin?" Agen Kolar murmured.
Plo Koon and Ki-Adi-Mundi looked at each other, then the rest of the council that... wasn't reacting.
Because most everyone in the room knew. Depa, Bant, Aayla, Quinlan, Kit, Luminara, Saa, Tholme, Satine...Mace. Obi-Wan. Had known for a long time. Didn't care...anymore.
"Know about this, you do, Master Windu?" Yoda asked. He looked a little mischievous, a little too giddy at what was happening around him.
Mace nodded slowly after a minute, though it was unclear whether he was responding to Master Yoda or not.
Someone cleared their throat. Everyone turned, realizing it had been Assaji Ventress. She'd been leaning against the wall with those who didn't have a chair or reason to sit - but now she sauntered forward.
"Look - as much as I love a good argument, I live in this Galaxy too. I don't want it destroyed by a Sith Lord. They're not good employers, and they sure as hell won't be good rulers." Assaji scanned the room, then shook her head. "As much as I want to go ahead and kill the Chancellor - there are more pressing matters."
"Like?" Plo Koon asked, sounding inquisitive.
"Well first of all - the funeral has to happen. With as much security as you can muster. Those types of things tend to cause rumblings. You have to be prepared in case Maul or Death Watch strike - but I doubt they will."
"What's next, have someone watch the Chancellor too?" Satine muttered.
Ventress smirked. "Not a bad idea...you could leave your nephew here while Kenobi and you go back to Kalelava - "
"Excuse me?" Satine screeched, shooting to her feet. "Leave my nephew with that wrinkled dick! No! Absolutely not!"
"It might not be a bad idea," Obi-Wan started before shrinking from his fiancee's look. "Or we can leave that up to him, my dear."
"Shut up."
"Of course."
Satine turned to the assassin, eyes narrowed and body trembling. If she could breathe fire, she would have. "Regardless of what happens with my nephew...what do you suggest for Death Watch and Maul? We obviously need to eliminate them before striking the Sith Lord. Without Mandalore there is no Neutral Systems, and without the Delegation there is no intergalactic trade. The economy collapses beyond the recession we're currently facing and Palpatine all but wins before the war is even over."
Ventress smirked, gesturing at Satine's engagement ring. "You two get married. Make it as public as you can - I know you Mandalorians, even the bad ones are sluts for dramatics. Maul certainly would not be able to resist ruining your perfect day Kenobi."
Neither of them said a word walking out of the Council Room, down the halls, or even to the hangar. They didn't even hold hands, didn't look at each other...and just slid into their seats and leaned back.
Satine closed her eyes, trying to process the day. What had turned from a quiet day of paperwork was now making her wish for a Senate meeting. She just wanted some sense of normalcy.
The driver's side shifted, and she cracked her eyes open to watch Obi-Wan dig out his comlink. He punched in a code, face solemn.
"What - "
"Dex's Diner, how can - Obi-Wan!" Hermione's chirpy voice was a strange sound to hear after all the pain and tense words of the afternoon. "The usual?"
"Double it, actually." he briefly angled the comlink to show Satine before turning it back to himself. "We'll probably be there in thirty minutes or so."
"You got it - oh, and congratulations you two! About time!"
Obi-Wan nodded, signing off and putting the comlink back in his pocket.
"I'm not hungry," Satine muttered before receiving a look from her fiance.
"If someone didn't put food down in front of you every few hours you'd waste away, my love."
Satine tried to crack a smile, knowing it was true, but she found tears beginning to slip down her cheeks. She wiped them in annoyance, trying to keep her voice level despite...well... everything. "Why can't this damn war be a matter of ideological differences and not run by a Sith Lord?"
"...if only it was that simple...but I don't think it's our lot in life to obtain happiness easily."
The statement made her pause, wiping at her face while she turned to him. He had the keycard in the ignition, but hadn't turned it on yet, staring out at the hangar door that had opened for them but not leaving. There was something unsettling about the way his jaw was set, the tenseness of his shoulders and the glassy look in his eyes.
"What? Obi, that's a horrible thing to say."
Obi-Wan sighed, slumping back in his seat and running a hand over his face. The wrinkles around his eyes were far more pronounced than normal. "Just once in our lives I'd like to have a month or two not inturputed by a Sith Lord."
"...I believe you once told me that as long as there are Jedi there are Sith."
"I should've killed Palpatine as Hardeen. It might have saved us some misery."
Satine rolled her eyes, not having the strength to get angry... she'd thought that more than a few times as well. "As much as I dislike Sheev - regardless if he's a Sith Lord or not - I don't think his death would have saved us any heartbreak...I think the miscarriage would have happened regardless. And Maul would have still sought revenge, I believe...as much as I wish he didn't."
"I know... rationally, I know that. I know it was the will of the Force or just nature taking its course..." he whispered, staring at his hands before looking at her. "Satine...are we right trying to bring a child into this galaxy if there are two Siths at the heart of the Republic? It's unfair and - and Satine, what if - what if I die?"
"And what makes you think you're so special that you'll be targeted?"
It took him a moment to register she was being sarcastic, and he had to snort.
Satine pressed her lips together before taking his hand, feeling all the callouses and scars. "I don't want to stop trying...I feel like we'd be giving into fear if we stopped living life."
"I don't either - and copious amounts of sex aside," Obi-Wan managed a smile when she gave him a playful shove before kissing him. "You'll have a target on your back."
"More than I already do? Obi, it might not be the brightest idea but - but who says we'll conceive that quickly - don't make a joke about your potency - it could be six months or a year before we're pregnant again. The war could be over by then."
Obi-Wan sighed again, squeezing his eyes shut for a few seconds before untensing his muscles. "I hope we don't have to wait that long."
Satine raised her eyebrows. "For the war to end or to conceive?"
"...mmm. Both, I think." He winked, turning back around and keying the ignition. "We should get to Dex's before our food gets cold."
