Darth Mirayya gritted her teeth, though she was more than accustomed now to the sounds of blasterfire and explosions. It was almost calming in a way, especially since they quieted those voices in her head that seemed always invade her thoughts when she wasn't fighting for her life. It was ironic. The battle cleansed her soul, and she cleansed the galaxy with each victory over her opponents. Especially on Nal Hutta...they were especially going to enjoy the end of this siege.

Their society highly stratified, Padmé had found the campaign easy to manage from the perspective that there were few civilian population centers to plan around. Most Hutts were heavily involved in the criminal underworld anyway, and the clans barricaded themselves in heavily fortified palaces populated by little more than scum and villainy, making each a prime target for a direct obliteration. The campaign had already wreaked through more than a quarter of Nal Hutta's key ports and logistical centers, and seeing certain defeat in isolation, many of the clans had banded together in a larger holdout on the planet's Northern Ledges, one of the more dryer and inhospitable regions of the mostly swampy planet.

All the easier to wipe out at once, Padmé thought. Taking the fortress and its gathered defensive forces would leave the rest of the campaign a mere mop-op operation. There was more to the Hutt Empire than just one planet of course, and fully dislodging the slave conglomerate from its trade routes and economy would require a more sustained campaign, one that would take years even with the full concentration and might of her future empire, but knocking out the Hutt homeworld at this stage of the war would serve as a powerful symbolic defeat for the Hutt's, enough to knock them out of their fragile alliance with the Republic so that she could concentrate on her final return to Coruscant.

She felt an unwelcome presence on the planet and swore as two small Jedi fighters landed next to in her proximity. Next to her, Anakin raised an eyebrow, reading her mind.

"I hope we're not too late for the fun part," Obi-Wan said as he jumped out of his ship, lightsaber immediately raised to deflect the flurry of blaster fire coming from the compound, located high above them on a formidable cliff.

Padmé replied in her politician voice. "War is hell, Master Jedi. You out of anyone should understand that there is nothing fun about it."

"I can think of a few things," Quinlan said with a wink as he expertly aimed one deflection that took out three droids in a row before hitting one of the Hutt cannons hundreds of meters above. "

"Oh, impressive," Padmé remarked with a smirk. So it would be a contest then. As she twirled her blades to one-up the Jedi, she noticed Obi-Wan maneuver himself next to Anakin.

"Your form is quite unique, young Skywalker."

"Not something you'd teach in your temple, I imagine," Anakin said nonchalantly.

"No, not one of our standard katas," Obi-Wan said, somehow methodically studying the mechanics of Anakin's movements even as he dodged, ducked, and swung back at the endless blaster shots. "Had you learned in the Temple though, I dare say you would have been a natural adherent of Soresu." He studied the young man's movements even more. "Or Djem So, actually. Your reflexes are suited to a more aggressive form."

"Why restrict yourself to one form though," Anakin pressed, flipping and somersaulting ahead of their group, swinging his two lightsabers wildly and almost recklessly...reckless if he didn't know exactly what he was doing. Hitting the cliffs, he effortlessly shot his ascension gun upwards, pulling him up rock face and landing under an overhang. Watching the rest of the group catch up, he taunted, "so many forms for the Jedi...all equally boring if you're the one teaching them."

Obi-Wan let out an uncharacteristic scoff. "Boring? I'll show you boring." Raising an outstretched hand, he pulled down several hut sized pieces of the rock cliff. With a deep breath, he copied Anakin's somersault and jumped onto each falling boulder after the other until he landed unevenly onto Anakin's small ledge. "Did Darth Highness teach you that little trick?"

From below, Padmé should her head as she retrieved her own gun. It was nauseating what Obi-Wan was doing, trying to ingratiate himself with his would-be Padawan. Anakin played along, being the gregarious, friendly boy that he was, and Padmé almost pitied the old Jedi, and hoped he wasn't about to get his hopes up.

"Not that trick," Anakin replied back to Obi-Wan. "But she did teach me this one." Discarding his gun back into his robes, Anakin took a deep breath and jumped impossibly high, propelling himself almost a hundred feet higher onto the cliffs, then clambering on the steep jagged rocks as gracefully as a nexu before disappearing out of view.

"He's even better in bed," Padmé said mischievously, landing next to Obi-Wan, who extended his lightsaber out into the open air to deflect more shots coming from above.

"My condolences to Queen Jamillia, by the way." He felt Quinlan Vos land next to him, soon followed by Rex and several more of the clones. "A heart attack on someone so young...such a shame. And with no prior medical history of the sort either."

"Make room for the Fives and Dogma," Padmé said, shooting her sling to catapult her to another level above, followed quickly by both Jedi. She sensed that they were close to the base, though the enemy fire had ceased for the most part. Thank Shiraya for Anakin. "Yes, it is quite the shame. Jamillia honored all of Naboo with her service. I believe had she lived, she would have surpassed me in both reputation and deeds." With that, the Sith Lady disappeared into the heights above.

"Your humility is most charming," Obi-Wan mumbled to himself before following her up the cliffs. Upon reaching the fort, followed closely by the vanguard of the 501st, Obi-Wan found a trail of fried clankers and dead mercenaries alike, most of the latter having seen their fatal blows before a blade rather than blaster fire. Far ahead, barely visible through the smoke, were the fleeting flashes of red, green, and blue marking the twin lightsabers of the sith, and Obi-Wan propelled his running with the Force to catch up. He found Padmé first, stabbing one blade down into a bunker amidst the screams of the defenders inside, while at the same time raising an outstretched hand to collapse the ceiling of the neighboring bunker into itself.

"I read up on the autopsy," he screamed, his voice barely audible through the trembling murmur of battle. "Scant details, really. Surprising for such a public figure...a head of state at that."

"Her majesty was a private woman," Padmé shouted back, the annoyance on her face evident as she cut the heads off of three bounty hunters with one stroke before leaping onto another defensive barrier. Obi-Wan followed closely behind. "To Queen Jamillia, Naboo came first, she her humble servant."

"I hear you took in her chief handmaiden, Dormé's was her name?"

"The poor woman found herself unexpectedly in need of employment," Padmé said through gritted teeth. Ducking and deflecting the blaster fire around her, she screamed angrily at Obi-Wan, "Shiraya be damned, make yourself useful Jedi and give me some cover! I have not survived years under Sidious to have my head taken off by a damned half-wit hunk of metal!"

Doing as he was told, Obi-Wan could not help but retort, "my apologies, Darth. Clearly as a Jedi I must ensure to the life and limbs of a Sith..."

Padmé breathed a sigh of relief with Vos jumped into the fray. "Considering our current predicament, I think we're beyond such labels."

"I know," Padmé exclaimed with exaggerated sarcasm. "Labels are soooo out of vogue...like soooo pre-Ruusan."

Though they were all distracted by the ongoing battle, all three Force-Sensitives could feel the blinding presence of the Chosen One suddenly appear next to them, the trademark grin still tracing his face.

"Ladies, I understand right about now is high tea hour on Alderaan standard time, but I could appreciate some help once you're finished chit-chatting."

"You seem to have things well in hand." Obi-Wan almost shook his head, wondering how Anakin could maintain his levity in the heat of a battle. Perhaps it was the impetuousness of youth, unfazed by fear and experience, made to feel invincible from his ridiculous power and potential. The boy was a Sith too, Obi-Wan had to constantly remind himself, irredeemably tainted by the Dark Side, so of course he would enjoy chaos and death. Even if he did so in almost an innocent, childlike manner.

"Well, I'm a natural at this," Anakin remarked nonchalantly, pivoting backwards to ward off some of the droids coming at their left flank.

"Natural at war," Obi-Wan remarked, raising one eyebrow. "Must be a Sith thing."

"You Jedi aren't so bad at it yourself. Considering the history of our Orders, and how the Jedi ended up atop the Republic in the first place...I'd even go as far to say that the Jedi are the undisputed masters of war, considering that we the Sith are historical losers." Anakin turned his blue eyes at Obi-Wan, and the older man could not tell whether the naivete the boy was projecting was genuine or some kind of act or deception.

Ignoring the boy's taunts, Obi-Wan adopted a neutral tone. "We protect, but we do not revel in war. Besides, and not to downplay the brave acts of our forebearers and, but in the end it was the Sith Order that destroyed itself...or so we believed at least.

"True," Anakin said, contemplating his response. "But we were pushed to that point due to the pressures of a war that we were losing. To the Jedi."

"I wonder what kind of history you've been learning..."

As she strode calmly through the secret tunnel by herself, Padmé thanked the Gods for the billionth time for her luck. Despite the prominent role the Hutts had played in his childhood, Anakin had selflessly distracted the doddering Jedi away from her on the battlefield, giving her the opportunity to enjoy finishing off the enemy in her own special way. He would have enjoyed it just as much, but they both knew that she needed it more at the moment.

Cutting into the durasteel door with her dual blades, she laughed at the thought that the Hutt clans would believe themselves safe behind such a paltry barrier. A light Force shove did the trick after she had cut a circle through, and Padmé savored the collective fear, thick in the throne room and feeling as if it were about to burst.

"It's her, the Sith witch..."

"How dare you intrude mortal..."

"Please, I will make you wealthy beyond what you can imagine..."

The reception was varied from the varies Hutt clan lords, and Padmé ignored both the threats and the attempts at bribery. Spotting two Hutts cowering in the back corner, she set her lightsabers back into her belt and reached out with both hands, lifting the two crime lords up in the air. Fear turned to terror and then into sheer pain and agony as she crushed the two against each other, the invisible pressure against their bulbous bodies distorting them into unspeakable shapes until both screamed one last primal yell of agony as their internal organs burst outwards under the pressure, exploding massive gobs of flesh, blood, and other fluids all across the throne room and onto all their brethren.

Having kept all the debris off her own body with a Force barrier save for one drop of blood on her forehead, Padmé wiped it gently off her head and onto her robe with one finger, and surveyed the room with cruel, unfeeling yellow eyes.

"Consider them lucky," she hissed. "They enjoyed the least painful deaths out of everyone gathered here."

Frozen in fear, none of the remaining Hutts could even muster out another word.

"I like stars sometimes," the Consular said in a soft voice belying her authority. "I find they shine greater after a victory."

Rex glanced over at his commanders. Skywalker was charmingly stoic as always, the same demeanor before, during, or after a course of battle. The Consular he was most keen to observe however. It was clear that command suited her, a savvy field general who had guided them to success in both the Zygerrian and Hutt campaigns. General Skywalker, whose skills he had previously thought unequaled, clearly deferred to his wife in every manner on, and likely off, the battlefield. For good reason too...the Consular's Jedi skills were equal to her husband or any Jedi. Though she was not a Jedi, a technicality to be sure, but Rex wasn't quite sure how all that religious stuff yet.

"With all due respect Consular, they look the same to me. Though I sure as hells feel better staring at them after a victory."

"I remember the nights gazing upon them as a child, camping out in the woods with my family." She had spoken to her parents several times since the Sith revelation, their reactions to her true nature ranging from anger to sadness to sympathy and, of course, guilt. Needless guilt, she wanted to say. Ruwee and Jobal were upstanding citizens of Naboo...and would have been completely helpless before Sidious were he to deem them threats. Padmé herself remembered the early years of her training, how she had spent her teenage years simultaneously trapped in Sidious's shop of horrors, and fervently shielding her family from the truth for the sake of their own safety. Sola will always be Sola, but Padmé wondered whether her relationship with her parents would ever be the same.

At least she had a childhood, she thought, however brief was, it had been happy. And though Anakin began life as a slave, and despite all the Sith training she truly had done her best to make the remaining years of his childhood a happy one, before be grew into a teenager and young man under her tutelage. Studying the clones sitting across the fire from her and Anakin, Rex, Fives, and Dogma, a realization came to her.

"I'm sorry that the right to a childhood was denied to you and your brothers," she said solemnly. "Master Sifo-Dyas was a good friend, and he did what he thought right at the time. I am thankful, because his actions ten years ago saved the Alliance before it existed. But I don't think he gave much consideration as to the full moral implications of his actions."

Fives shrugged. "I don't know anything different. None of us do, I guess. I like kids though." The young clone smiled. "They are innocent. I won't ever know what that's like, but I'm not going to fret over it."

"Childhood was denied us," Rex added. "But in its place we have our brotherhood. That means something to me, to all of us."

"The war will soon be over," Anakin said, grabbing a handful of dirt and tossing it aimlessly into the fire. "We will ensure a place in the galaxy for all of your brothers in the coming peace. It is more than deserved."

"With all due respect General, I'm meant to serve." Rex frowned. "We were created for it."

"Service will always be required to keep the galaxy safe," Padmé answered. "Those who wish to stay in the army may continue to do so. While I hope there will be less wars to come, conflict will always require an answer so that we do not lose the peace, or the principles we fought for."

"But you are sentients, not machines," Anakin continued. "You may be surprised at what you are capable of."

"Many of you would make for fine, very capable administrators," Padmé said. "More than that though, life never fails to surprise. Maybe Fives here finds a passion in the arts. Or Dogma, a politician."

Fives burst into laughter. "This guy? A Senator? That will be the day."

"When that day comes, Fives, you have my permission to paint my official portrait," Dogma retorted.

"Peace will be a challenge for many of us," Padmé mused, looking up again wistfully at the stars. "But I have no doubt you will rise to the occasion with the same vigor and pride as you have in war."

"Master Kenobi," Bail Organa rose to greet the arriving Jedi from his office on Hosnian Prime. "A pleasure to see you. Unexpected, but a pleasure nonetheless."

Obi-Wan bowed politely. "Consular Organa. Consular Mothma."

"We have received word from Consular Amidala on the successful completion of the latest siege on Nal Hutta," Mothma said, standing and matching Obi-Wan's bow. "I congratulate you on yet another victory."

"A success, to be sure. But only peace will mark true victory in this unfortunate civil war." Taking a seat, Obi-Wan took out his comm. "I believe you received the latest peace overtures from the Republic."

Organa scoffed. "Honestly, Master Jedi, they are farces, no more than that. No actual compromise is possible with the Supreme Chancellor."

"We are winning this war," Mon added. "I can only surmise Gunray's overtures are made purely for the sake of publicity. Or worse, to lull us into in a false sense of complacency before one last desperate gasp."

"All true." The Jedi cocked his head. "But what if the Chancellor were to leave the picture?"

"Is that a realistic possibility," Organa asked, confused.

Obi-Wan activated his comm, and the distasteful visage of Tub'r Fafi appeared.

"Master Jedi, I send my greetings. I do not begrudge the actions of yourself or many of your colleagues on behalf of the Alliance. Grave mistakes have been made on both sides for us to have arrived at our present juncture. But I believe we have more in common than you suspect.

Both sides are led at its head by fanatics, ideologues for whom compromise is impossible. I believe I need not educate you, Master Kenobi, on Chancellor Gunray's lapses in judgment...or the true nature and history of the Sith Order. While the fanatics remain in charge, there can be no true or lasting peace. But I believe that there remains those like us on both sides of this conflict, men and women to whom reason is still not yet out of reach.

It behooves us to ask the question then, whether much can be accomplished were we to eliminate the extremes and form a coalition of the reasonable. After all, it was not so long ago that, despite our disagreements and imperfections, we stood together as one Republic, proud of our shared history and traditions. We split in two due to the actions of fanatics, but the damage is not irreversible.

I have, on my end, the will and means to do the right thing, to right my wrongs."

The transmission ended abruptly, and Mon Mothma's face lit up in delight. "This is wonderful, Master Kenobi! Fafi's arrogance has finally ruined him. Once we release this footage, Gunray's regime may very well devour itself."

"That is true," Obi-Wan stated. "But I believe we should give more thought to the course of action Senator Fafi is suggesting."

Bail Organa frowned, indignation creeping into his voice. "Surely you are not suggesting that we listen to this poor excuse for a Senator? That we stage a coup against our own on merely his word?!"

"Not a coup," Obi-Wan correctly, "merely an exercise of your legal powers and might I say, duties, as Consulars. I agree, Senator Fafi is no beacon of virtue, and we will have to be wary of his every move. But the galaxy is no utopia, and we must work with the best options available to us."

"You also ask us to betray our trusted colleague," Mon protested. "And a good friend. And for what? A compromise that alleviates the injustices and evil we have fought so hard to defeat?"

"What do you truly know of Amidala," Obi-Wan asked pointedly. "She hid her abilities from you for many years, to begin with. If your entire relationship with her started with a lie, how much of what she has said to you since can you really believe?"

"Could it be you are biased, Master Jedi." Organa still frowned, but Obi-Wan sensed more anxiety and conflict within the man than he let on. "I understand this grudge between Jedi and Sith date back centuries."

Obi-Wan sighed thoughtfully. "It is true, I was raised to shun the Sith and the Dark Side. A Sith killed my master, a man I would almost consider my father. But remember, I volunteered to assist Alliance after Amidala's revelation. I came with an open mind, willing to believe her, that the Order has changed. What drives me I do not believe to be bias, but a compilation of factual observations."

"Explain," Mothma said coldly.

"I will be blunt. Wherever Amidala goes, death and chaos follows. The campaign on Nal Hutta saw the deaths of nearly every single leading Hutt clan member along with their councillor advisers."

"I have read the reports," Mon said, pulling them up on her datapad. "They were unfortunate casualties of battle. Or accidents, such as the gas explosion...or the cave in...or the flood..."

Her voice trailed off as she reviewed each of the official reports on the demise of the Hutt elders, and sensing her growing doubt, Obi-Wan continued pressing. "A pattern of coincidences is inevitably just that...a pattern. You can take away the coincidence and the chance."

"This is all speculation," Bail said, shaking his head uncomfortably. "While I agree the evidence seems disquieting, you have no proof."

"I have what I have personally witnessed," Obi-Wan countered. "I was present in the throne room on Zygerria. Anakin slaughtered their Prime Minister in cold blood, in front of myself and General Rex. Consular Amidala was seconds away from doing the same to their queen until I intervened."

"If what you are saying is true," Mon said, "then General Skywalker has committed a grave crime. Why did you not report this immediately?"

Bail looked over at his fellow Consular. "He wanted to lead them further, clearly. See how far they would go."

"It is true, I did not act perfectly according to protocol," Obi-Wan admitted. "But these are strange times. And despite all this, I did not believe she would go so far as to murder an innocent. But I have one last piece of evidence to show you."

He pulled out a datapad of his own and handed it over to the Consulars. "A transmission was made from Naboo the morning Queen Jamillia allegedly died from a heart attack. It communicated the Queen's directive to her ambassadors, instructing them to initiate Naboo's exit from the Alliance and commence negotiations to return to the Republic. This transmission was later deleted from the official records in Theed, but I was able to get the best slicers within the Jedi Temple to extract it from the Senate records. Unfortunately there is little more I can prove, considering Naboo is in a virtual state of lockdown these days, practically the personal fiefdom of Amidala since the Queen's passing. But that in itself should be revealing for the same reasons."

"More circumstantial evidence..." Bail said hesitatingly.

"But a such a substantial amount of it," Mon added, the distress clear on her face. She looked over to Bail. "I always thought the death of Queen Jamillia strange. She was so young, and had no prior medical history. This transmission...I'm afraid...may lead us down a path we find unpleasant."

"The truth can be harsh," Obi-Wan continued, "which makes it even more imperative that we do not ignore it. Additionally, the autopsy was closed and the resulting reports sealed from the public. Add to all this the fact that those who conducted the autopsy, Queen Jamillia's chief handmaidens, now find themselves in Amidala's employ."

"I thought it a generous gesture at the time," Bail said, shaking his head sadly. "It appears we all may have been too naive."

"Amidala used your rightful distaste for the Chancellor's abuses of power," Obi-Wan concluded, knowing that he had successfully made his taste. "She has masterfully wielded the better hopes and righteous sentiments of the entire galaxy, its opposition to horrible things like slavery and corruption, for the sake of amplifying her own power. But look what follows Amidala throughout her entire career? Death. From Chancellor Valorum and Senator Palpatine ten years ago...to the deaths of the entire ruling council on Ryloth in yet another accidental casualty of battle. Nal Hutta. Zygerria. The murder of her own Queen. These are merely the ones we know of, yet more than enough to establish the pattern. Not only do the Sith kill, but they target most those who sit at the highest seats of power."

He let the words marinate in the room, both Consulars temporarily speechless.

"You're suggesting she is willing to kill us once the war is over," Bail asked.

"I know the two of you are both noble politicians. You are what Amidala pretends to be, and you will both sacrifice your lives for the greater good. But I doubt you wish to offer yourselves at the altar of the next Sith tyrant, for the sake of her power."

Regaining his composure, Bail Organa rose, as if to escort Obi-Wan out of the office. "Master Kenobi, I thank you for your time. It appears Consular Mothma and I have...much to discuss."

"I thank you for listening to me with open minds," Obi-Wan said, bowing before he started out. "And I trust we will be seeing more of each other in the coming days."

1saaa: Thanks! Don't get your hopes too high because, who knows? The story may very well end with George Costanza waking up one morning after falling asleep watching Star Wars and eating chinese food, thinking about what a strange dream he just hand :\

Nightshade's sydneylover150: True, but that might be a good thing, considering Anakin equates "greatness" with tyranny and the willingness to do evil things for the sake of power and glory. And yes, Padmé met Satine earlier this story during their negotiations on Takodana, when they were attacked by Ki-Adi-Mundi.

PaulLenzen: Thanks! Definitely getting darker.

TheWateringWizrd: For now at least!

ichigo urahara Shihoin: Thanks! The tension is definitely increasing.