Anakin, once again, was walking through the front doors of the Senate Building. This time, he had been sent with a message from the Council to the Chancellor. After yesterday's Council hearing the Jedi Masters decided that the Chancellor ought to know of this new threat, both the person and the message she gave. Since Anakin was the one to hear the message firsthand, it made sense to send him.
He maneuvered through the extensively decorated and complex halls absentmindedly. Anakin made this journey hundreds of times recently, both to see Padmé and to see Chancellor Palpatine. He probably knew the layout of the Senate Building better than some of the Jedi Masters by now. He passed the security to the top floor, where the Chancellor lived while he stayed on Coruscant, and approached the guards that were stationed outside his doors.
"Is the Chancellor available right now?" Anakin asked, even though he had already sensed his presence inside the room.
The guards checked in with their charge, then nodded and let him past the doors.
Chancellor Palpatine looked up from his desk and smiled warmly. "Ah, Anakin. I apologize for the guards. I told them to let you in if they ever see you, but security is security." He sighed. "The price of safety only grows in these dangerous hours."
"I agree, sir," Anakin responded, not really caring but not wanting to contradict the politician. He sat in the closest of the two seats in front of the polished desk. "I was sent with a message from the Jedi Council, and I think you will want to hear it."
Palpatine looked up and folded his hands on his desk. "For me? From the Council?"
"Well, not necessarily," Anakin amended. "It's from someone else, but the Council sent me to tell you."
"Ah," said the Chancellor, secretly amused. "I see."
"Do you remember that tip you gave me the last time I was here?" The Jedi asked. "The one about a new Separatist base in the Xlenian system?"
"Partially, although I can't say I recall any of the minor details, other than I recommended you for the mission."
"I met someone there," Anakin said, sitting forward in the seat and leaning his elbows on his knees. "She said she was an Inquisitor."
Palpatine resisted the urge to smile. Did she now?
"She told me as she left that '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.'"
Palpatine furrowed his brow. "That is quite a frightening message."
"The Council views it as a direct threat to your safety, sir."
"Well, how do you view it?" Palpatine asked innocently, but in his head he watched his words work in the Jedi. When the Chancellor asked for Anakin's opinion over the Council's, it only brought him closer to the betrayal of the Order. A small step, but a step forward in his plan, nonetheless.
Anakin thought for a moment. "I'm less concerned with the message than with the person," he said finally.
I'll bet you are, Palpatine thought. "What about her?"
"Where did she come from? How did she manage to rise in the Separatist Army without the Order noticing?"
Palpatine let the Jedi's questions swirl through the air before answering. "Well, it wouldn't have been the first time something has slipped past the Order."
He had done it. He had said the magic words. Just the indirect mention of his lost Padawan had his thoughts churning, and turning against the Jedi.
"As for her origin, I would trust your instincts, Anakin," The Jedi looked up at the Chancellor. "But remember, her actions right now are more important than her past. If she is a threat to the Republic she must be taken down."
"I understand, sir." Anakin looked out the window, lost in thought, before falling for Palpatine's silent cue to speak. "I don't suppose you have heard anything about her whereabouts?"
Palpatine turned and took something off of the shelf behind him. "I can't say I have ever heard of an Inquisitor before, but maybe something in here can help you." He motioned to the projector that held his military reports. "Perhaps you can find what you're looking for. As for me," he stood up, "I'm afraid I am due for a meeting with Senator Organa, but feel free to stay and read as long as you'd like."
"Thank you, Chancellor."
"You are most welcome, young Skywalker."
And with that, he left Anakin in his office, all but trying to hide the sinister grin on his face.
The man in his office was falling helplessly into Darkness. Every time Anakin visited the Chancellor, he spun farther out of the control into the Jedi. Come the proper time, Palpatine was sure that he would abandon the Jedi Order. The Sister's game was already taking effect.
Anakin watched the Chancellor leave the office, and did not move for a moment afterward. His words were still snaking about in his mind, but the Jedi shook his head and forced himself to focus. If he was going to find anything on the Inquisitor, it would be here.
He fired up the projector and started scrolling through the reports. It started with the earliest first, and the date got closer to the present the more he saw. It wasn't long before he had seen all of the files, and nothing even hinted at the Inquisitor.
He was about to power the device off when it chimed, and a red dot appeared in the corner, indicating a new submission. Anakin looked to the door and decided that the Chancellor probably wouldn't mind if he took a look. He opened it.
It was from the Republic station on the planet Bespin. It only held a few sentences and a picture.
'Possible threat spotted. New Sith/Separatist general? Requesting Jedi backup ASAP'
Anakin opened the photo, expecting the worst.
He was right.
"Are you sure, Anakin?"
"It was her, Obi-Wan. She's on Bespin, but she might not be for long. If we want to catch her, we need to hurry."
Anakin and Obi-Wan were walking hastily to see Master Yoda. There was no time to secure the permission of the whole council, but if they got emergency clearance from Yoda, they could leave immediately, and hopefully get to Bespin before the Inquisitor left.
Obi-Wan breathed heavy. It was somewhat difficult to keep up with Anakin's long strides.
"Anakin, I don't mean to rain on the parade," he paused, and touched his apprentice's arm to slow him slightly. "but how can you be sure it's her from just a picture and a caption?"
He hadn't meant for Anakin to stop completely but he did, just outside of Master Yoda's quarters. Obi-Wan looked at his Padawan, who wouldn't meet his gaze. Anakin stared at the floor, and his master realized there was more to this person than what he had been told.
"If you had seen her, you would have known," Anakin said finally. "You wouldn't forget the way she looked either."
The two Jedi knocked, and at Yoda's verbal beckoning they entered the room and sat in front of the Grandmaster.
"Something on your mind, there is?" Yoda asked, opening his eyes. He had been meditating when he felt the two approach him.
"Master," Anakin spoke. "There's been a report that the Inquisitor was on Bespin not fifteen minutes ago. If we hurry, we might be able to intercept her there."
"But we need clearance," added Obi-Wan. "That's why we're here."
"Will Master Kenobi be coming with you, Skywalker?"
Anakin hesitated, if only for a second. Truth be told he hadn't really thought about it, but he realized that he wasn't sure. What if he thought she was Ahsoka, too? How would he react? On the other hand, if Obi-Wan came, maybe they could get some answers out of the Inquisitor.
"Yes, Master, but we need your clearance."
Yoda nodded, making eye contact with the Jedi and smiling. "Go."
They bowed and left the room swiftly. Yoda watched the door seal and returned to his meditation.
Something sinister was at work, he could feel it in the Force. He could not see it, which worried the Grandmaster, but he knew that the Order as a collective was more concerned about the war on a daily basis. The war was present now, and the Darkness was clouded and hidden and waiting. To add the fear of the Darkness to the fear of the war would only invite the Darkness into the Temple.
But that is the way of things, the way of the Sith. The Grandmaster did not know it but the Darkness had already crept into the Jedi Order, more specifically the Chosen One. The Sith weren't waiting for the Order to attack them.
They were waiting for the Order to crumble from the inside out. Patiently, eagerly waiting, but not for much longer.
Not for much longer.