Palpatine laced his fingers together as he sat at his desk. He knew exactly why Maul would do something like this. Skywalker and Kenobi were a close pair- so close that it even made him doubt the effect that he was having on the boy at times. He was also aware that Maul had wanted revenge on not just Kenobi, but on him as well. Palpatine was confident that Maul knew that he had plans regarding Skywalker. He knew that Maul was impulsive, but he was not stupid. He had groomed Maul when he was a young boy as well, so Palpatine was sure he could spot the same behaviors taking effect. The chancellor got up and turned to face the window. Weighing his options, he looked at the pros and cons of interfering. It would eliminate a rival and speed up the process of getting Anakin back with the republic. There was the danger of being revealed to the Jedi- especially if they arrived to perform a rescue mission while he was trying to fight off Maul himself. No, perhaps it was better to operate from behind the scenes. He knew that Senator Amidala and Skywalker were close; she was the Senator in charge of his case. When she approached him about it, he could sense the raw emotion rolling off of her in waves through the force. Carefully composed behind a mask of makeup, she expressed her desire to help The Hero with no Fear.
Yes, that would be the way to do this. It also would help with morale- seeing the chancellor himself get involved with the consequences of the war. Perhaps this would make it easier to sway more determined politicians when they remember the deeds that he has done. No one would deny rescuing one of the republic's best generals, and no one would dare say no to Palpatine either.
Now came the issue of the Jedi. If Kenobi was not granted the rescue mission by the council- Palpatine decided that he would intervene. He would be granted the mission, and the council would not deny him. He will find Maul for him as well. Kenobi's attachment to Skywalker was something that he constantly tried to cover up, but it seeped through the force like water leaking through cracks in an old wall.
This then led to the predicament of where to find Maul. Palpatine was certain that he was on Mandalore, but he also knew that he needed to present evidence towards this claim. Then it begged another question- how did he come to know this information? The risk of being interrogated about this was too risky. It would be better to design some kind of political scandal to get the attention of the senate.
With this in mind, the Chancellor began to consider senators that had close ties to Mandalore. Again, Senator Amidala was the senator of choice for this. He knew that she had a close relationship with the Duchess of Mandalore. Perhaps in their meeting tomorrow morning, he would ask her how she has been doing, as a gesture of kindness.
A heavy silence filled the room after the Chancellor ended the call. Ahsoka looked at Master Kenobi, who gave her a slight smile.
"Do we have any information on where Maul could be?" Master Mundi asked.
"None." Master Plo responded softly. "We didn't even know that he was still alive until fairly recently."
"So how should we proceed with this investigation?" Master Windu asked "We have practically no information about the incident, who took Skywalker and why. We are going off of a guess that it was done by a former sith apprentice." Master Windu shared a look with Master Kenobi before continuing "It makes sense, but I feel as though we do not have enough information to proceed with certainty."
"The senate and the police will be giving us a report tomorrow around midday about anything that they have found that could be of use." Master Kenobi supplied. "Based off of the information that they provide us, we could plan our next move."
"How long." Ahsoka began, her voice wavering with emotion "How long until we are sure about where to look?" She asked while looking at Master Windu
"Hard to say, it is, Padawan Tano." Master Yoda replied. "Do what we must, we will. Meet tomorrow we will."
"Until tomorrow then." Master Windu said. "This council meeting is adjourned." The council members rose slowly to their feet from their chairs and began to shuffle towards the exit. Obi-Wan hoped to move faster than the others in order to catch Ahsoka again, but she moved very quickly when she wanted to. He figured that she had caught the first elevator out of the council chambers and was trying to get as far away from them as possible. Not that he could blame her, and it was a behavior that she shared with her master. At the thought of Anakin, a pang of sorrow ran through his body. He wanted to reassure Ahsoka that things would work out in the end, but he himself had no idea.
Master Yoda had always told him that all is as the force wills it. Sometimes though, Obi-Wan though as he entered the elevator to go to his quarter, that the force and himself were seeing things through very different perspectives.