Anakin sat on the bench outside the Council room, not necessarily nervous but anxious to get the meeting over with.

He had purposefully tried to avoid Council members at all costs, except for Obi-Wan, and only spoke to them when summoned or when he couldn't get away. This was the first time in nine months that he had gone to them instead of them calling for him, but this was too important. They had to know about this Inquisitor.

The chime rang and the door slid open, so Anakin stood up and walked in. He stopped at the center of the room, bowed, and greeted them with the usual "Masters".

He released from his bow and looked at the Masters that were present. Obi-Wan, Yoda, Master Windu, Master Depa Billaba, Master Shaak Ti, Master Ki Adi-Mundi, and many others had come to hear Anakin. As a matter of fact, the only person who wasn't there was Master Plo Koon, who had just been sent to Christophsis to reinforce the troopers there.

Truth be told, the entire Jedi Council had been surprised to hear Master Kenobi tell them that Skywalker wanted to speak to them. It was no secret that a certain element of resentment still flowed between the Chosen One and the Council, so when Skywalker came to them all of the Masters were intrigued, and ready to listen.

Master Windu began. "Master Kenobi has told us that you encountered something in the Xlenian system but he did not say what it was, only that it was best if you said it instead."

"It was a person, Master, a new Force-user from the Dark side." Anakin still didn't like referring to Mace Windu as 'Master', but he had to focus on the Inquisitor.

"Abandoned the Sith Rule of Two, has Sideous?" Master Yoda said, with a hint of humor in his voice.

"No, Master, she does not claim to be a Sith."

Master Billaba's calm voice piped up from Anakin's left. "Tell us everything from the first moment you found her. The more we know about this Dark user, the more we can do to stop her."

Anakin nodded and began his account of the story. "My troops and I were preparing to enter the Separatist base from the underground tunnels of Xlenia when she revealed her presence to me. I told my troops to go in without me so I could see who it was. I asked her if the Sith had recruited her as their newest member, but she said that she wasn't a Sith, that there was already a Master and an apprentice. I asked her what she was if she wasn't a Sith, and she said she was an Inquisitor."

"What is an...Inquisitor?" Master Shaak Ti asked, not meaning to interrupt Anakin, but curious all the same.

"I don't know, but it was the only name she ever gave me," Anakin answered, trying not to look at the Togruta. "I was hoping you would have heard something." He admitted, looking specifically at Master Yoda.

Apparently, he had not. "Continue."

"I asked her why she was here, and she told me it was because I was there. I asked her to show herself but she refused. She said that she knew I had met with the Chancellor, but stayed in the shadows. I used my lightsaber to see her, and she...definitely looked like a Sith to me.

"She claimed she was on the side of people, so I asked her why she was helping the Separatists. She refused to give me a straight answer to her alliance."

"What did she say?" Master Windu asked.

"'Maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm not on either side.' Those were her exact words."

Windu nodded. "Keep going then."

"I told her that she was at a Separatist base, and she started talking about how to fight for people. All I heard was denial, so I fought her, and that's when she brought out her lightsaber."

"She had a lightsaber, too?" Master Adi-Mundi asked, sitting forward in his chair.

"A red one, double-bladed, that spun around the handle."

"...That's practically unheard of."

"How fast was it?" Master Windu asked.

"Fast enough. It could have worked as a shield if you were shooting at it with a blaster."

Master Windu nodded. "So you fought her. Did she say anything else?"

"When I threatened to bring her before the Council, she said 'not yet'. After the fight, she made some grandiose statement." Anakin paused, trying to remember her exact words. "She said, 'You can tell the Council that the Sith are tired of waiting for surrender. Mark my words, Skywalker. Within months, your precious Chancellor will have no choice but to bow to Darth Sideous.'"

The Council was silent for several moments. The Inquisitor's words hung in the air, almost defiling it.

Finally, Master Bellipa broke the silence. "She threatened the Chancellor?"

"Directly."

More silence.

"Was anything else said, Skywalker?" Master Shaak Ti asked.

"I asked her what would happen to her once the Sith won, according to her. She brushed it off, and suggested that my troopers were in danger."

Master Windu spoke up. "Your mission report said you suffered no casualties."

"I believe it was a trick to let her get away. None of my men were injured, or killed."

"I was rather confused myself," said Obi-Wan, "the first time I heard it. She hurt none of our men, and only fought Anakin, briefly."

"Trying to hurt you, she was not." Yoda declared, and all eyes focused on him. "Sending a message, she was. Threatened the Republic, she has. Later, death shall come."

Master Shaak Ti's face was washed with concern. "You're saying she was only trying to scare us?"

"That she was only present because you were, she said, hmm?" Yoda asked Anakin directly, and he nodded. "Then meant specifically for you, and for you to take to us, the message was. Using her as a tool, Sideous and Dooku are."

Obi-Wan spoke again. "Are you saying that the purpose of the base, and the entire mission, was just so the Inquisitor could meet Anakin?"

Master Yoda did not speak but nodded solemnly.

The entire Council sat in silence, turning the thought over in their minds. Anakin's mind was racing, but he also wanted to get out of the presence of the Masters. Finally, Master Windu spoke.

"Thank you, Skywalker, for bringing this to us." He looked up at the Chosen One. "When we believe the Inquisitor will show up again, we will be sure to call on you. You are dismissed."

Anakin nodded, bowed, and walked out of the room. He made straight for his quarters and spoke to no one.

A message. That's all the mission to Xlenia was for. So the Sith could deliver a message to the Council. Was there more to it, though? Anakin wondered. What if the Inquisitor was trying to deliver her own message, to me?

You are hopeless, you know that?

It's possible!

You're kidding yourself. You are so desperate to see her that you believe she would risk her life just to sneak into the Sith Order. Do you understand how insane that sounds?

It never bothered her.

This is different! Just because she's a Togruta doesn't mean it's her. Don't get your hopes up.

Anakin sighed in defeat. It was more likely that the Sith were using the Inquisitor to get at him. They knew about Ahsoka. They were cruel enough to stoop that low, just to play with his mind.

The problem was it was working.

The Council had not adjourned once Skywalker had left. Instead, they sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to comprehend the matter at hand.

The Sith had just sent a direct threat to the Republic, and that meant the Jedi Order as well. The two had begun to become one, and one was synonymous with the other. If the Republic fell, so would the Order.

"It makes sense, you know," Mace Windu mused. "If the Sith already have a Master and an apprentice, it makes sense that they would find other ways to recruit Force-users to help them."

"They tried to do the same thing with Assaj Ventress," Luminara Unduli said, speaking up for the first time. She tried not to speak to Skywalker when she could avoid it, due to her guilt about both of their Padawans. "She was Dooku's apprentice until he abandoned her. Now, because the Inquisitor is not an apprentice, she does not violate the Sith Rule of Two."

"But that also means she is expendable," Shaak Ti pointed out. "If she becomes obsolete to the Sith, they can kill her at any moment. Her life depends on her performance, which makes her a loyal and dangerous weapon of the Sith. She will hold nothing back to prove herself."

"If possible, we must capture her, and find out how much she knows." Obi-Wan Kenobi said, partially to the others, and partially to himself. "She might be persuaded to betray the Sith, under the right circumstances."

"My concern is where did she come from?" Depa Billaba declared. "How did the Sith manage to find her before we did, and train her in the Darkness without us noticing?"

"Perhaps, train her, they did not," Yoda said.

No one spoke, but everyone secretly stole glances at Luminara. There were two ex-Padawans currently unaccounted for, running about somewhere in the galaxy. One who had refused to rejoin the Order and one who was supposed to be executed, but had escaped imprisonment before the appointed day. It was possible that either one of them could be this new 'Inquisitor'. It would explain where they had come from, and how they had been trained.

"Know enough at this time, we do not," Yoda declared. "Watch for the Inquisitor, we will. Find her, we must, if to find answers, we are."

The Inquisitor, or the Sister, as the Sith called her, landed on the Separatist ship without difficulty. The droids admitted her to the private chambers of the Sith without question, and she went to the throne room of her allies. She did not kneel as Tyrannus did to Sideous, since neither of them were her Master, but she spoke with respect all the same.

Sideous', or Palpatine's (as he was currently in the Senate building), figure was projected onto the dark chair in the center of the room, and Tyrannus' tall, brooding figure appeared standing to Sideous' right.

"Your excellencies, the message has been delivered." The Sister said. "Skywalker alone saw me and he has doubtlessly reported to his Masters by now."

"Wonderful, Sister. I assume he did not take your presence very well," Palpatine guessed, a sinister smile playing about his lips.

"He already believes that I may be his old apprentice," she reported, pride laced in her words. "Twice he asked me, and twice I denied it. I could feel the turmoil in him as I left."

"Feed off of his turmoil, Inquisitor, let it strengthen you," Palpatine instructed. "Worm your way into his mind. When the time comes and the Order falls, he must be willing to cave in to the Darkness."

"Yes, Darth Sideous." The Sister answered. "What else do you require of me?"

"Rest, child, and prepare yourself. Another mission awaits you soon."

"Do not let your guard down due to your victory today," Tyrannus instructed, and made eye contact with the Togruta. Well, as much as he could through a hologram. "I know the Jedi Order. Next time, they will not send Skywalker alone. Your next mission will be more challenging than your last."

"Yes, Darth Tyrannus."

"Remember, child," Palpatine spoke again. "I want Skywalker alive. Do what you must, but do not kill him. I need him alive."

"Yes, Darth Sideous."

The connections to both Sith were discontinued, and the Sister exited the throne room and walked down the hall. She paused at the new plaque outside her personal quarters, which were prepared for numerous Inquisitors to come. Her picture was captioned by the title 'The First Sister', and next to her photo, dozens of empty spaces followed, waiting to be filled by the next Inquisitors.

Soon, the Inquisitor thought. Soon, I won't need the Sith. I can escape from this ship, and live my life in peace. Soon.