Chapter 25: The Viceroy

In the morning, Kenobi went to Quinlan's room, knocked carefully, and when the man didn't answer, he forced the door open and walked inside. There were six naked people in the room, all of them sleeping deeply and scattered across the room, as if they had simply been tossed inside. Quinlan was halfway on the bed, head resting on a human girl's stomach. Grinning broadly, Kenobi reached into the Force, felt Quinlan's calm, sleeping presence, and slammed into his consciousness, the Kiffar yelping quickly awake and grabbing at his head while the other Jedi laughed.

"Kriffing hell..." Vos groaned, looking about the room and glaring at the other Jedi. "What's wrong with you. Why didn't you knock!"

"I did knock, Quin, but you didn't answer. And I did say that I would come get you, so here I am."

"I hate you."

"Careful, that's not the way of the Jedi." Kenobi smirked as Quinlan set to picking up his clothing, sorting through the heaps all around the room until he had collected all his belongings. "You know what is the way of the Jedi?"

"Letting your friends sleep?"

"No. Making fun of them for sleeping with Neimoidians."

Quinlan's eyes flew open and he looked around the room, his brown eyes falling on the two Neimoidians, and he paled considerably, his gold tattoo standing out in stark contrast on his face. "I would be very appreciative if this didn't leave this room."

"We'll see about that, won't we."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are truly evil. We've got to get you back to Coruscant before you get any worse."

"No, we need to get to the Ambassador. Dress quickly, we've got work to do, and I don't think you want to be here when all of them wake up." The Kiffar looked about the room, saw the others begin to stir, and, quickly cursing under his breath, he threw his clothing on and dragged Obi-Wan out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Remind me not to drink like that again."

"Even if I did, you'd ignore me."

"...yeah, I would." They left the hotel, walking out into the streets with long strides, the city already alive and busy, and Quinlan clutched his brown cloak closer to him. "So what's the plan?"

"You're going to entertain the Senator. I'm going to find Nute Gunray."

"Yeah, alright, I like that plan," Quinlan said, nodding. "But how about you handle the Senator, and I find the Viceroy."

Kenobi glared at him. "Last time we were on a diplomacy mission, you left me to entertain three horribly boring diplomats while you made off with one of their daughters. And you were loud, covering for you wasn't easy. You owe me."

"...damn it. Fine." He crossed his arms, the palace visible at the end of the long, opulent street. "But you'll call me if you need help."

"Of course. We won't be far away from each other. Don't forget, the Sith Lord may have been here at one point. Touch everything."

"Will do, boss."

"I have to leave you here." He smiled, laying a hand on the older Jedi's shoulder. "May the Force be with you, Quinlan. Don't let me down."

Quinlan rolled his eyes. "You sound like the Council. I hope you don't end up there, I don't need another hard ass getting on my case..." He watched Quinlan walk into the crowd toward the Palace, saw him get held up by the guards on the bridge, and with the guards distracted, Obi-Wan managed to climb over the bridge, slowly creeping along the edge and past the guards, not pulling himself up until he was on the side of the palace.

He closed his eyes, imagining the layout of the palace that he drew from the Zabrak's mind. There was a servant's entrance around the back, and his Zabrak should have been stationed just inside.

"They sent a Jedi?" he could hear one of the Neimoidian dignitaries cry, the distress clear in his voice, and smirked when he heard Quinlan respond, "Of course they sent a Jedi! Who else is better to offer good-will and friendship on behalf of the Republic!"

The Kiffar was an excellent distraction, if nothing else, and Kenobi was glad he had him as he snuck around back, scanning the walls for the service entrance. It didn't take him long to find, and once outside, he closed his eyes, sensing the life forms nearby. There were only two, and one of them was marked with complete submission to the Dark Side. His Zabrak. Kenobi smirked, reaching to the soldier through the Force, and he felt the man shudder, the result of his swift surrender to the will of the Jedi, and the guard opened the door, kneeling when Obi-Wan walked through.

"What are you doing?!" the other guard snarled, drawing his weapon and pointing it at the Jedi, but he suddenly dropped it, grasping his head and sliding to the floor, convulsing.

"Sorry," Obi-Wan drawled as he stepped over the man, his guard following him. "I don't exactly have time for gentle treatment." He looked around the narrow hallway, eyes narrowed in concentration and pulling his black hood over his head.. "Can we get to the Viceroy without leaving they service hallways?"

"Yes, Master. Until the end. We must walk down the top hallway to get to the room."

"Lead me there."

"Yes, Master." The large guard pushed past the Jedi, and Obi-Wan closely followed behind him, sharp eyes looking down each hallway they passed, the servants in the halls quickly averting their eyes when they saw him. It did not take long for the two to climb three flights of long, narrow stairs, and before long, Obi-Wan found himself standing before a door at the end of the hall.

"Is this it?" He knew the layout, but being in the small, cramped hallways was disorienting.

"Yes, Master."

The Jedi nodded, closing his eyes and allowing the Dark Side to fill him. This was far more personal than he admitted before, but now, his rage that this creature was allowed free overtook him, yellow eyes peering out from under the shadows of his hood. If the Viceroy was responsible for what had happened on Naboo, than Kenobi would make sure he suffered. He thought of Padmé, and how she had struggled during the crisis on her planet, and it only served to make him angrier, even as the rational part of him struggled to understand why he was thinking so much of her now. He hadn't had a single thought in her direction for over a year, but now, her plight enraged him

If Gunray wasn't responsible, though, if he was simply the pathetic puppet of someone much more powerful...well, Kenobi would be sure to show him the power of the Dark Side.

"You will wait outside the door to the bedroom and make certain nobody enters. I mean that, keep everyone out, at any cost."

"Yes, Master."

"Come, lead the way." They left the service corridor, the door opening into a large, ornate hallway, and the guard led him down the hall, stopping before an elaborate double door inlaid with gold. Kenobi rolled his eyes. He was sick of the aggrandizing nature of the Neimoidians. The guard planted himself in front of the doors, and Obi-Wan opened the door, quietly slipped inside, and shut it behind him. In front of a large, open window, stood Nute Gunray, staring out over the ocean and the long bridges that linked the separate islands of the city.

He heard the Viceroy sniffle in irritation, his head lifting as if he were somehow superior, and he wheezed, "I told you, I am not to be disturbed."

"Oh?" The Viceroy slowly turned, his large, wide eyes growing comically larger as he looked upon the hooded man, piercing yellow eyes peering out from under the black hood, mouth upturned in an amused smirk. With a strangled yell, Nute Gunray moved to jump out of the window, but Kenobi grabbed him out of the air with the Force. "Oh, no, no, you don't get it that easy, Viceroy," Kenobi purred, dropping the man in to a large armchair, waiving his hand in the air and the window closed, the heavy red velvet curtains drawing swiftly over them and leaving the room in a dim, red light.

"P-p-p-please, my Lord, I'm sorry!" the Neimoidian stammered, fear gripping him and shaking uncontrollably. "I thought the plan would work, you told me the plan would work, it was the Jedi's fault, the Jedi!"

"Wow, you are something special, aren't you," Kenobi purred, more amused than angry as he watched the pathetic creature writhe under his gaze.

Shaking, Gunray finally looked at the man, confusion crossing his face, and he sat up a little straighter. "Y-you're not Lord Sidious," the Viceroy ventured carefully, and Obi-Wan froze. Sidious. The Trade Federation were pawns after all. "I-I had heard the other Sith was killed."

"He was."

"S-so you are the new one?" Kenobi said nothing, just looked at the terrified man with burning yellow eyes. "Please, tell Lord Sidious I am still loyal, just...delayed. Please."

"What did you tell the Jedi." Nothing, he knew it was nothing. Mace had said as much, but he needed the man scared if he was going to talk.

"Nothing!" The voice was high-pitched, strained, and he could tell that the creature was lying. But...how. He knew the Neimoidian didn't talk to the Jedi, but he was clearly lying. He was missing something. Kenobi reached out and grabbed the squirming man with the Force, eyes bugging out and large mouth gasping for breath.

"You're lying. I know you're lying. I can feel it. Haven't you learned how dangerous it is to lie to us?"

Gunray whimpered as he was released, grasping at his throat and slumping into the oversized chair, his eyes unable to leave the glowing yellow of the man before him. "I-I told one. One Jedi came to me after my capture. Dooku, he was called, I told him everything!"

"Everything..." This changed everything. Pieces were slowly falling into place, pieces that had been missing from the beginning, and the picture they were making wasn't one that Obi-Wan wanted to see.

"Everything!" Gunray began shaking again. "Please, I just did what Lord Sidious said! He promised he'd keep the Senate busy, we should have had more time! But the Jedi!"

"I already know about the Jedi," Kenobi hissed, and the Neimoidian scrambled to the floor, bowing before Obi-Wan and spouting apologies, and Kenobi sneered. This creature was a waste of life. It was a folly that the Jedi held all life sacred when creatures like Viceroy Nute Gunray were allowed to exist. "When did you last meet with Sidious?"

"Never, not in person!" The yellow eyes narrowed, and the Viceroy scooted away, head scraping the ground and hoping that it was enough to keep him alive. "He contacted the Trade Federation via hologram, he proposed his idea and pledged his support and he rarely contacted us after that!"

"What. Idea."

"The blockade of Naboo! He said the blockade would force the Senate to stop the taxation of trade routes to distant systems!"

Kenobi laughed, loud and harsh and bordering on maniacal. It was absurd, this whole thing. This Sith Lord, this Sidious, was manipulating taxation of trade routes. It made no sense. The Sith Lord would only see the Neimoidians as tools, and Kenobi knew this because he was disgusted with the Neimoidians as well. There was no way this Sidious could see any value in the Viceroy, because he certainly didn't. Something else was going on.

The blazing yellow eyes fell on Gunray, and the Viceroy backed up quickly, scuttling along the ground and frantically begging for mercy. "Oh, stop it, begging never helped anyone," Obi-Wan drawled, lifting the man into the air. "Your kind are weak, your resistance is non-existent." Kenobi grinned. "But this is still going to hurt. Because I want it to."

The Jedi reached into the Neimoidian's mind with the Force, the Dark Side raging through him, and he ripped into his consciousness, tearing it open and looking at what was inside while the man howled with pain, tortured by the wrath of the Dark Side. The Viceroy had no defenses to speak of, like the other Neimoidians Obi-Wan had handled, and he tore through his mind with no regard to the person he strongly held. The memories were vibrant, vivid, his fear enhancing the image, and Obi-Wan steeled himself for what he knew would come. This creature had seen the Sith Lord, had spoken to him, and the last time Kenobi had connected with a creature that had done this, he was nearly killed. That was over a year ago, and he was stronger now. The Dark Side was a vital part of him, and it would not happen again.

He grabbed hold of a memory of the Viceroy and his fellows sitting around a long table, a hologram projected over the shining surface, the blue figure hooded, his voice smooth and sinister, easily commanding the room, and Obi-Wan felt himself waiver. He heard the voice, he did, and he recognized it, but the more he listened, the more the soft, calm voice left him feeling hazy, his recognition of the speaker leaving him completely as the Sith's voice, smooth and coaxing, flooded his mind. In the memory, he couldn't see Sidious' eyes, but he felt his penetrating stare, as if the Lord was there in the room, right there, not looking at the Neimoidians in the vision, but gazing directly into Obi-Wan.

He played the memory over and over again, the Viceroy writhing and screaming in his grasp, but Kenobi could hear none of it. All he could hear was the voice of Sidious stroking his mind and calming the Dark Side, controlling it, and all the Jedi could think of doing was submitting to the Sith Lord, kneeling before him and calling him Master.

Just as soon as he had the thought, everything inside him rose against it, his defenses snapping into place and even the Dark Side was howling in fury. The voice was gone, as was the image of the Sith Lord as the Force itself dragged Kenobi out of Nute Gunray's mind, the Viceroy dropping to the ground and thrashing violently, grabbing his head and screaming in pain, the hands of the Jedi in his mind still keenly felt. Obi-Wan's breath was ragged and panting, his legs shaking from all that had happened. In one day, he had learned more than he had learned in his year away from Coruscant. The Sith Lord Sidious was close, his, and Kenobi wasn't letting go.

He closed his eyes and looked for Quinlan, finding him and urgently sending him a message through the Force: We're leaving.

The Kiffar responded quickly: On the way.

The Jedi threw open the window, not sparing a glance toward the tortured Neimoidian as he jumped to the ground below.


Obi-Wan got to the ship before Quinlan, and he sat in the cockpit, hood pulled back and deep in thought, absently stroking his bead as he coaxed the Dark Side to calm. Everything had fallen into place. He understood nearly everything.

The crisis on Naboo was started by the Trade Federation at the behest of the Sith Lord, a man called Sidious. For what reason, Obi-Wan had no idea, but from what the Viceroy had said, the Sith Lord had power in the Senate, and that lead to an extremely disturbing thought: the Sith were exerting control within the Republic. That actually explained Nute Gunray's easy release and the Jedi inability to question him. It could also explain why there was a Jedi that questioned him, apparently without the Council's knowledge or approval, but the notion was distressing.

Obi-Wan never knew Qui-Gon's Master, but he spoke of him often. Dooku was held in very high regard, so when Kenobi returned from Dathomir the first time to learn that the old Master had left the Order, it was shocking, but it all made sense if Sidious was involved. The more Kenobi looked at what he learned, the more it seemed likely that Dooku had fallen, joined the Dark Side and the Sith Lord under the guise of Darth Tyranus. Nothing else explained how the Jedi spoke to Nute Gunray when Mace Windu was refused. It seemed very likely that by the time Obi-Wan fought Maul, Dooku had already turned to the Dark Side, and Maul's death gave him the reason he needed to leave and join Sidious as his new apprentice. All the pieces made sense. This had to be the truth, he felt it was, but all this left him with a single, pressing question.

What would he tell the Jedi Council?

There was a possibility that the Masters wouldn't believe him, but his evidence was pretty sound. The bigger issue was how much he would say about Sidious. He knew he should, but he also knew that a name like that was nothing to go on. It also wasn't helping that the voice that had been silently buzzing in the back of his mind for the better part of a year had suddenly erupted, not louder, but smoother, more comforting, coaxing his strained mind into submission, easing him away from revealing the name of the Sith. The information was his to keep, to hold on to. He didn't need to tell the Jedi. It wouldn't help anyway.

Kenobi shook his head, growling as he tried to clear the smooth voice stroking his mind. Before, it whispered The Force shall set me free over and over and over again until the young Jedi learned to tune it out. He found, though, that he believed it despite himself, and he learned that he didn't have to ignore it; when the Dark Side was in his mind, it drowned the little voice out. But now it was more insistent, more persistent, and Kenobi couldn't let the Dark Side in to drown it, not now...

Now all he could think of was how Dooku did it. How he stayed in the Jedi Temple, fallen to the Dark Side, slaved to Sidious, and the Jedi Masters didn't know.

He heard the door hiss open and close, the metallic twang of Quinlan's boots resounding off the floor as he quickly strode to the cockpit, throwing himself dramatically into the copilot's seat, grinning excitedly at his friend.

"Obi-Wan, I felt it!"

"Felt what..."

"The Dark Side! The Sith, I felt it right there, in the palace!"

"Did you get a read on something, was he physically there?"

Quinlan waived the idea away. "No, no, this planet has nothing going on. I mean, something was there."

Kenobi felt something seize in his chest, and he realized that he was holding his breath. "Are you sure it was Sith?"

"Well, uh..." Quinlan shook his head. "I don't know, but I felt the Dark Side, and it was strong. Like, very strong, and when we have felt that before, it was usually on Sith Worlds. I think it's a safe bet." He paused, looking his friend over. "Didn't you feel it?"

"...I did." He took a deep breath, mulling over all the information and questions he had in his mind. He could tell Quinlan. At least some of it. "The Trade Federation is being manipulated by the Sith."

"Oh, shit. Did the Viceroy tell you that?"

"Yes. He wasn't lying, he's being manipulated."

"We have to tell the Council!" Quinlan reached for the com, but Obi-Wan shot out a hand and grabbed the Kiffar's arm. "...Obi-Wan, they have to know. This changes everything."

"I'm not saying they don't need to know. I'm saying we need to return to Coruscant and tell them in person." Kenobi took a deep, shaking breath. "With this, we found what we set out to find. This mission is over."

Quinlan's face dropped, and Kenobi saw real sadness there. "I'm going to miss being out here with you, you know. It'll be so much more difficult to irritate you when you're not two steps down the hall."

Obi-Wan scoffed, finally powering up the ship and sending the departure request to flight control. "You're talking like we won't see each other again. We will. We have been gone a long time, the Council will want to keep us in the Temple for a little bit, if for nothing else, to get us integrated back into Jedi life."

"I always hated that," Quinlan sighed, leaning back in the seat as Kenobi lifted the ship off the ground. Obi-Wan looked at the Jedi out of the corner of his eye, and he understood how he felt. The Temple was always home to Obi-Wan, but Quinlan was a much more free, much wilder spirit, and being confined to Temple life left him restless, and Kenobi couldn't help bet feel that he might feel the same.

"You're going to have a lot to do." He smiled, kicking the Kiffar's seat. "You need to get rebound to Aayla, right?" The Master's eyes lit up.

"Oh, yeah! I made her promise to manipulate the Council for me. I bet she's done it by now. I bet she's great."

"She already was."

Quinlan smiled, his chest swelling in pride. "She really is. Hey, maybe you'll take a Padawan!"

He considered it, and his thoughts drifted to Qui-Gon and his new student, and Obi-Wan felt the familiar twinge of jealousy. Had his old Master forgotten about him yet? Was Anakin Skywalker truly the Padawan that Qui-Gon always wanted? He would be a year into his training, did young Skywalker show the promise and potential that Qui-Gon saw? Even though young, could Skywalker hold his own against him? The thoughts felt like poison, and he tried to push them away, but they wouldn't leave, running through his mind again and again until the Jedi was left feeling like nothing. The thought of his old Master repulsed him.

"No, I don't think so," he said softly. "I still need to find the Sith. That mission is no place for a Padawan."

"Fair enough." Quinlan watched quietly as they hit hyperspace, the stars fading to white blurs. He punched the Jedi's arm.

"Ow! What are you doing?!"

"When you leave Coruscant on your next mission, if I'm not off-world, don't forget your buddy Quinlan."

Kenobi smiled. "Quinlan Vos. Nobody could ever forget you."