I am so sorry it's taken so long to upload this, but I hope you enjoy what I've written. As usual, I don't own Star Wars.

Galactic Vigilante.

"Mm," Master Yoda said as he processed the news Master's Windu and Kenobi had given him concerning the CEC experiment. "Unexpected, this is."

Obi-Wan fidgeted in his chair as he watched the flickering form of Master Yoda and some of the other Masters. The Jedi Purges had scattered the remaining Jedi through the galaxy, and only a few members of the Council had survived. All the others had either died in the first day of the Purges, either in the Temple itself on Coruscant, or on other planets during the Clone Wars.

When Order 66 had come…

Obi-Wan closed his eyes as he remembered the waves of pain, suffering, and death in the Force on the day of Order 66. It was even worse when he had heard the screams and the death cries in the Force on other worlds, but when he remembered the screams in the Force coming from the Temple…he knew the cries of all the younglings and the apprentices screaming in terror and agony before they were killed by either the Clone Troopers or Vader when they'd invaded the Temple would haunt him until the day he died. It was worse for Master Yoda given how close the aged Grand Master had been to the children.

Most of the Council were on other worlds in remote sectors of the galaxy, or some were actually deep inside Imperial Territory so they could spy on the Empire while they remained in hiding from both Palpatine and Vader. Other Jedi Masters were a part of the Rebellion which was growing all the time as more and more oppressed people flocked to resist the Empire, while others took part in missions either granted by the Council or on their own initiative to find other Jedi survivors while making sure they never encountered Darth Vader.

While Palpatine remained on Coruscant which had become the Imperial Capital, Vader travelled from one system to another as the second in command of the Empire which was his unofficial title, but every Jedi and member of the Rebellion knew Vader was looking for any sign of them and was putting down all resistance in the galaxy. In the last five years, Obi-Wan knew Vader had managed to kill many Jedi survivors.

Obi-Wan had no idea where in the galaxy Master Yoda was currently hiding; the ancient Grand Master of the Jedi Master had been shaken by his failed duel with Palpatine, a duel which showed that while Master Yoda knew better than to push his limitations with his powers.

Aside from himself, Yoda and Mace, the other Masters to have survived were the Dark Woman, Master Fisto, and Master Shaak Ti, and Master Gallia. That was it. There was no doubt in Obi-Wan's mind there were likely to be other Jedi Masters out there who had survived, but they were either laying low or they were part of smaller resistance movements against the Empire. Obi-Wan wished them luck, and he hoped to be reunited with those Jedi whom he had known, and whom he had missed for so long in this warped galaxy.

"Unexpected is an understatement," Mace shook his head while he looked from one Jedi Master to the next solemnly. "We never expected to hear about Skywalker ever again."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I tried to contact him a few times during the war, but I never got a reply."

Mace and Yoda exchanged a look, and Obi-Wan went still. "What is it?" he asked tensely, sensing something amiss. But Obi-Wan instinctively guessed whatever the two Jedi Masters were hiding because he was certain they were hiding something, it was bad.

"Send messages to you, Skywalker did. Blocked them under order of myself and Master Windu. Block messages to him, by you, our order did," Master Yoda admitted.

Obi-Wan thought for a moment he had misheard. "You blocked our messages?" he whispered.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. A part of Obi-Wan wondered if he had somehow fallen into a parallel universe without his knowledge, or at the very least into one where the Jedi Order didn't adhere to the concept of privacy because, in Obi-Wan's eyes, the senior members of the Order did not do something like this.

At the very least it explained a lot, like why Anakin hadn't contacted him. Obi-Wan had been hurt, especially since he had always thought, barring their arguments, he and Anakin were firm friends. But Obi-Wan had gradually realised at the time before he'd even learnt of this dirty little secret that Anakin just simply wanted nothing to do with him anymore, and as a result, he had gone on his own way. It wasn't as if he didn't have responsibilities anymore, and as Obi-Wan thought about it, he realised the Jedi Masters had a good reason even though he had seen for himself just how poorly thought his old apprentice was even if Anakin's actions had been far from laudable.

He had the war to worry about, the constant battles, being on the move, having to rely on dodgy intelligence while he and his new apprentice, which had probably been a slap in the face where Anakin was concerned, had to deal with the Separatists before Palpatine unveiled the true horror of his grand plan to not only destroy the Jedi which his Sith forefathers had longed to destroy for countless generations, but to bring the galaxy under his thumb.

But now, finding out the Masters he had followed so faithfully for so long had interfered with his privacy was a major blow, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was at a loss about what he should do about it. On top of that Obi-Wan wondered what would happen when he met Anakin again, there was no doubt in his mind Anakin would be hurt by the lack of contact.

Master Windu sighed. "We had to, Obi-Wan," the Jedi Master said, confirming his thoughts. "We needed all of our most experienced Masters in order to fight in the war, and you are still one of our best Masters. You needed to be focused," he said in a manner which made it clear to Obi-Wan this was going to be made about them as well, "we all did, and we couldn't let your attachment to Skywalker cloud your mind."

The reply would have satisfied anyone else, but Obi-Wan wasn't. When Obi-Wan had been an apprentice himself, he had followed the Code to the letter. It had been expected of him, although his Master had never really been as staunch a follower as some would wish. Qui-Gon had always been a maverick, and he had really tried to make it clear to the young Kenobi the rules were flawed. Not mistakes, not misunderstandings, but sometimes flawed in how they were thought out.

Unfortunately, Obi-Wan had never seen it like that. He had begun to see the flaws in the Order on the day Anakin had been expelled, and the screams which had come from Anakin before he'd ended up in the infirmary following the procedure before he'd been unceremoniously kicked out of the Temple would haunt Obi-Wan until the day he became one with the Force.

Other flaws came out during the war; the mess where Ahsoka was expelled and framed for something she hadn't done, the way dozens of plans were thought about, and how the Knights and Padawans who wanted to leave during the war because they couldn't cope with the bloodshed occurring out in the galaxy were treated, it had Obi-Wan, who was a kindhearted man at heart, wonder if the war was warping the Jedi to the point where they would be the very monsters they were fighting.

The Jedi Master had been sitting on the Council for a long time, and as a result he had become familiar with the politics of the Order. A part of him wondered if the Jedi Masters had done it deliberately to keep him and Anakin apart.

"Enough of this; what happened with Anakin was regretful," Master Gallia interrupted, looking firmly but respectfully at the three Masters, "but we don't have time to debate the issue; we have to think about what we're going to do about this news. If Palpatine gets hold of this test ship, he will soon have a fleet of ships built to cross into territories currently unknown to us. We need to find a way of stopping him, and the easiest idea would be to sabotage the ship."

"With Anakin onboard, Master Gallia?" Obi-Wan asked pointedly before he shook his head. "Anakin probably knows about the danger already."

"What makes you say that?"

"Anakin, despite being reckless, is far from stupid. He knows now he is no match for either Vader or Palpatine in his current state," Obi-Wan explained, "so he has probably tried to lay as low as he could; I don't know what he's been doing for a long time, so there's no telling if he's got something in mind, but he knows with this type of Faster than Light drive, Palpatine will have fleets of ships going into the Unexplored regions of the galaxy, maybe further beyond. Unfortunately, with his name out in the open since there's no doubt Palpatine knows who'll be crewing the test ship by now, Anakin knows how dangerous it will be."

The Dark Witch nodded. "I see where you're going, Master Kenobi," she said, tilting her head back thoughtfully, "but I am still not clear on what we can do in this current situation?"

Master Yoda grumbled. "Speak to Skywalker, we must," he said, holding up a hand to forestall any protests. "In the best position to help us, he is."

Master Windu glanced at the older Master, clearly not happy about what was being suggested. "Can we trust him?"

"Anakin may be reckless and he let us down, but he is probably more than aware of the danger if Palpatine gets his hands on this technology, Master Windu. In any case, do we really have any choice?" Obi-Wan looked pointedly at the Korun Jedi Master. "The Empire has inquisitors out there which makes it nearly impossible for us to travel through the galaxy to make any difference. Two of us can reach Corellia, and we can speak to Anakin without the Empire knowing."

The Council stilled. The Inquisitors were an organisation of dark-sided Force-sensitives which had been formed in the aftermath of Order 66 by Palpatine. They were made up of fallen Jedi who had miraculously survived the destruction of the Order, but had been turned and twisted by the Dark Side, and now they were dedicated to hunting down and destroying what was left of their former friends and colleagues of the Jedi Order. All members of the Council had survived many encounters with the Inquisitors, either through luck or by using their superior skill and experience to fight them off, although the dark side fuelled their aggressiveness.

"You've made a good point, Obi-Wan," Master Gallia began slowly, "but how long do you suppose it will take you to get close to Skywalker?"

Obi-Wan looked down at the floor wearily, although there was a tinge of frustration burning away inside of him. They were stalling; he knew that. He knew this was the best chance they had of dealing with this problem, but their distrust for Anakin was making them stall in the hope one of the other Masters could come up with something better.

"If I went now, I could reach Corellia in a few days. But if I went with Senator Organa who could travel there to make contact with other members of the Alliance there, I could get through in just a day. After that, I could spend another day finding where on Corellia Anakin lives. Once I've found him, I can speak to him."

"Would Skywalker really help us?" Master Windu asked, the scepticism thick in his voice.

Obi-Wan turned to face him. "I don't think we have much choice," he said in as sage a manner as possible. "It would be easier for someone on the inside of this test to deal with this crisis and nip it in the bud as it were before it becomes a major problem than for someone on the outside to get involved. But if we can speak to Anakin, we can hopefully persuade him to help us."

However, as soon as the Jedi Master finished with his suggestion, he sighed inwardly and he had to vent his irritation into the Force when he saw for himself they still weren't entirely convinced even though they could see the logic to his argument. He sighed. Why was it everything about Anakin always made the Jedi Council, even if it had been reduced to this sorry state, behave like a group of children throwing a tantrum and pointing the blame around?

Obi-Wan sighed as he prepared himself for another round with them, only this time he hoped he could find the words needed to persuade then, but fortunately, he knew he wouldn't need to do too much since he could see they had accepted the truth of his words. Now all he needed to do was keep going.

This was going to take a while.

XXX

Padme sat back and watched as her friends and colleagues and allies processed what she had just said to them. She had just spent the past hour telling Mon and Bail about her history with Anakin; how they had met on the lawless lump of sand known as Tatooine, the pod race which had not only won his freedom from Watto, which surprised and horrified both Senators since they, like herself, found the whole practice of slavery to be disgusting and they couldn't imagine something as unthinkable as a sentient being owning another sentient being like a pet, but a pet who did everything from cooking, cleaning, gardening, everything.

She described all of it, how Anakin had initially been refused to be trained as a Jedi for reasons she had never understood before he had destroyed the Droid Control ship which had been the stranglehold around Naboo during the invasion the Trade Federation had enforced on her beloved world. She described their meeting a decade later, how she had nearly been assassinated multiple times before the Jedi Council and Palpatine when the Emperor's identity as a Sith Lord was still unknown had ordered that she return home with Anakin as her bodyguard. Padme described the days she'd spent in Anakin's company, how he had eventually confessed he loved her. She told Bail and Mon about the mess of how she had pushed him away when the war had started, and how things had turned ugly enough for him to lose his temper and shove her away. Bail was horrified that a man, a Jedi would do something like that.

Padme went on, telling her friends about her complaint to the Jedi Council before they had shocked her with the sentence they had in mind for Anakin. "And when I was there, I saw for myself how everyone in the Council distrusted Anakin, and it went back a long way," she went on, "I was there when they decreed Anakin would be expelled, but they went further than that. They made Obi-Wan sever some kind of bond, and I saw it left Anakin shaken. I remained near the Council chamber for a bit before I started down the way, escorted by one of the Knights….and then I heard a terrible screaming."

Bail's eyes widened in horror. Mon wasn't that far off. "They were torturing him?"

"I don't know," Padme admitted. "I know nothing about the Force, and I tried asking the Knight about the procedure, but she was too shaken herself to properly answer my questions. After that I had little to do with the Council.

"I never saw Anakin again. I tried to contact him dozens of times, but he ignored my messages. In the end he became so frustrated he sent back a letter saying he never wanted to see or hear from me ever again, and after that, he changed his communication codes so I couldn't contact him ever again. I tried once or twice, but I never managed to get through to him."

That was one of the most painful parts of the whole mess, really, and she saw the equally painful irony; she had denied she loved Anakin when he had pressed her during that nasty confrontation on Naboo, and when he had lost everything that had made him who he was, she had changed her mind and tried to show him she loved him back in reversal so instead of Anakin pursuing her, she had pursued him, only to get slapped in the face.

"What do you mean, you had little to do with the Council?" Mothma pressed.

Padme sighed. She knew she would need to make sure her beliefs the Jedi Order didn't trust her or other politicians for that matter didn't get out since both the Order and the growing Rebellion still needed each other, and they needed the Jedi more than ever to stop Palpatine and Vader, and indeed any more Sith that may appear in the future. If it got out the Jedi inwardly distrusted politicians then there would be tension between both sides and that was the last thing they needed.

"I didn't like the way they treated Anakin," she said to them. "They pretty much admitted Anakin was more powerful than they were, and yet they were prepared to shove him away because they simply did not trust him for reasons that were never clear when he could have been a great ally during the war. But there's time to change that."

"What do you mean?" Bail had the impression there was more to what Padme was saying, and one glance at Mon told him she had seen it as well. But there was plenty of time for that.

"I know Anakin; he's not the type of man to bow his head and let some two-faced piece of slime like Palpatine take over like that; even before he was a Jedi he was headstrong enough to jump into a star-fighter and blow up a Droid Control Ship," Padme replied, hoping that she was right in her statement although truthfully she had no idea what Anakin was like now since apparently, he didn't have access to his powers as a Jedi anymore.

"That may be true, Padme," Mon Mothma's voice showed her scepticism. "But if what you are saying is true, how is it we have never heard of this Skywalker before if he is the fighting type you have just described?"

Padme wanted to retort but at the same time, she knew her friend and fellow senator had a point. If Anakin had been on Corellia all this time, why hadn't he done anything? A part of her cruelly jibbed it was her fault but at the same time, she had to accept the fact there were so many people fighting the Empire anonymously while others proudly resisted the type of world Palpatine was pushing on the galaxy for the next ten millennia or so, a decision which obviously got them killed or imprisoned. Personally, Padme would prefer to die than be imprisoned by the Empire since Palpatine's sadism had filtered down into the prison system until prison had become a place to avoid.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "But I intend to find out," she went on as the decision sparked in her brain. It was as a door had opened up into a room of clarity and she had stepped into it. "I'm going to Corellia."