Chapter 28: The Chancellor
Time flew quickly for Obi-Wan as he threw himself into his studies, his days filled with Luminara and Pong Krell in intensive lightsaber training, or with the Masters of the Council in deeper studies of the Force and practice in building his mental defenses. His nights were restless, still plagued with nightmares and visions of war and death, and of his battle with the Sith Lord that killed him. It was becoming so clear, so vivid, that Obi-Wan was beginning to believe it wasn't a nightmare at all, but a vision given to him by the Force. The meaning was clear; he needed power. Lots of it, more than the Sith had, or he would die. The road to power was laid out before him, he just needed the strength to take it.
Fortunately, his translations of the Sith archive wasn't a complete waste. Much of it was simply data on the planets in the galaxy and their histories, and much of it was very similar to the information the Jedi kept on file. But some of it was interesting. As expected, there wasn't much in terms of Dark Side teachings, but there was a great deal of philosophies, great tomes and small pamphlets that detailed various views of the Way of the Sith and its interpretation, and those held great interest to the inquisitive Jedi.
Which led him to the hear and now, several months into his great undertaking, pouring over a datapad as he sat in the upper chambers of the Galactic Senate. When the Masters were busy, Obi-Wan would come here to sit and watch the proceedings. At first, he listened with great interest and intent, certain that he would see something, feel something that would lead him to the Sith Lord, but there was nothing. Nothing but dull proceedings and internal squabbling and underhanded politics and talking in circles around matters for weeks while nothing got solved.
It reminded him of the Jedi Council. Six months later and they still haven't acted on Kenobi's mission report.
He sighed, his blue eyes drifting up as another Senator took the floor, and he sneered, looking back down at his research, the Sith words coming to him as easily as Galactic Basic, as if it was his first language. He recognized the Senator. He recognized all of them now, but he didn't know where they were all from, nor did he care. It was all the same thing with all of them, and they were all equally useless, equally corrupt. The Jedi Order served this, a mess of a system that addressed no issues, came to no decisions, existed in a state of constant frustration for everyone involved. Things needed to change here. There was no peace here, no harmony, only emotion and chaos, but no drive to change it. It was...pathetic. Insulting.
His eyes drifted over the datapad. Kenobi had been picking through an analysis of the Code of the Sith by the ancient Sith teacher, Yuthura Ban, and the more he read about it, the more the Sith Code made sense, and the more he found he agreed with it. The Sith were about change, about adapting to situations, about evolving and betterment in the face of conflict, about using emotion and strife to drive the improvement of oneself. Ban taught that the peace the Jedi spoke of was an agent of stagnation, and Kenobi couldn't agree more. The Sith were changing, evolving in the shadows, and one thousand years of peace had left the Jedi completely unable to sense their ancient foe. They couldn't sense Sidious. They couldn't sense Tyranus. And they couldn't sense him.
Not that he was Sith. Kenobi wasn't Sith. He was just using the Dark Side to fuel his powers, to give him an edge when he faced his enemy. That he happened to agree with the Sith Code was incidental, and it didn't make him a Sith.
Right?
Right?!
The Senators began rising, leaving their positions as they took a break, all proceedings halting as they left, though why they bothered, Kenobi would never know. They would just go around in circles until they were back where they started anyway. He didn't move, he just put his black boots up on the rail, leaning back in his chair and sighing, datapad in hand.
"Na-hah ur su ka-haat. Su ka haru aat."
Lead the Sith to me if there are any here.
"Master Jedi!"
His blue eyes shot up to the entrance of his box, landing on the meek form of the Chancellor. With a groan, Kenobi stood, nodding his head in recognition. "Chancellor Palpatine."
"I see you here often, Obi-Wan," he said, smiling and taking the Jedi's hand. "Does the Council know you are here?"
He nodded. "They know, yes..."
"I didn't hear anything from your Masters about being observed."
Obi-Wan tried to be patient, he did, but he couldn't suppress a groan. As the Chancellor of the Republic, Senator Palpatine worked closely with the Jedi Masters of the High Council, and the older man was very interested in involving the Jedi as much as he could. As servants of the Republic, he insisted that they meet often to ensure the continued peace, and Obi-Wan wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"You aren't being observed, Senator..."
"Have you not been observing the proceedings as of late?" The Chancellor smiled gently, and Kenobi wanted to punch him in his smug face.
"The Council did not send me. I came here on my own." He held up the datapad. "To read."
Palpatine chuckled. "Is the Jedi Temple not to your liking? I have always found it very peaceful."
"Yes, it is, I just..." He growled, snapping the datapad shut and tucking it into the folds of his black robes. "If you're going to serve the Republic, you should know how it works." He growled. "And how it doesn't..."
"Are you displeased with the proceedings?" Kenobi looked the man over carefully, reached out with the Force to gauge his intentions, but there was nothing malicious, backstabbing, greedy or corrupt, like there was on so many of the other politicians in the Senate. It was so oppressive, so jarring, so...chaotic, that Kenobi suspected that their collective selfishness was making him much more irritable than usual. But when he looked at Palpatine, he felt good intentions, calm, peace, and it was...soothing. He felt his entire body relax around him.
"It's...not what I expected."
Palpatine smiled. "Come with me to my office. We can discuss the matter without having to worry about..." He gestured broadly with his hand to the massive Senate chamber and the Senators and delegates that occupied it, talking heatedly with each other, whispering quietly to their political allies, plotting and scheming and Kenobi could feel the tension rise in him.
"Yes, I'd be happy to." The Chancellor smiled warmly, and with slow, measured steps, walked down the long, curved hallway, the Jedi keeping pace just behind him. The Chancellor's office was large, but extremely sparse, nothing boasting or ostentatious about the office or the man it belonged to. The older man sat at the seat behind his desk, gesturing to a chair for the Jedi to sit in, but Kenobi stood behind it for a moment, observing the kind, patient face of the Chancellor before he slid into the seat.
"I apologize for the state of the Senate," the Chancellor said softly. "I inherited a bit of a mess from my predecessor, and it has yet to sort itself out."
"Well that would be your problem, things don't just sort themselves out, you need to do something about it."
The Senator smiled softly. "That is true, but I fear the Republic isn't what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy and squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good."
"How can you just sit there and take it?"
"How do you? You choose to sit with us. I am just one man, Master Jedi. I don't have the power to change hearts or minds." The Senator smiled softly, almost sadly, and Obi-Wan felt himself flush with embarrassment. He had not meant to accuse the Senator.
"...I apologize, I just-"
Palpatine held a hand up. "There is no need for apology. I understand your frustration. I would change things if I could. I am trying, but the others are resistant to change. My position makes me more a mediator than someone with actual power." Palpatine leaned forward, lowering his voice like he was telling a secret. "I hear you have caused some commotion in the Jedi Council."
"I feel like I do that often, yes..." The Senator said nothing, and Obi-Wan looked him over, the older man leaning forward, mouth slightly parted. He was waiting to listen, and Kenobi felt like he wanted to talk. He couldn't trust this man, but...well, he wasn't the Jedi High Council. He wouldn't dismiss him as an uppity Knight because he didn't know. A Jedi was a Jedi to most people, from Padawan to Master, and there was little room for distinction. And Palpatine felt...understanding, and with his connections to the Council...
Confiding in him might not be the worst idea.
"It really isn't anything big. The Council and I have a difference of opinion on the matter of the Sith."
"The Sith." The Chancellor laughed. "Yes, your Jedi Masters are very divided about it. If it is at all a comfort to you, the Senate doesn't believe they exist."
Obi-Wan huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I don't care what the Senate thinks, but no, that doesn't make things better." He paused, letting the notion sit for a moment. "Why is the Senate even discussing the Sith!"
"The Jedi have requested some investigations regarding them. I believe you were on the mission, Master Jedi."
"...I didn't know it had to go through the Senate."
"It does not, but the Jedi report to the Republic. We are aware of their activities." He folded his hands in front of him. "As the peacekeepers of the Republic, it's important that we are aware of what our Jedi allies are doing."
"So, do I have you to thank for my most boring year ever?" Obi-Wan leaned back, crossing his ankle over his knee. "Routine visits to planets that are unhappy with the Republic is not what I imagined Sith hunting would be like."
The Senator chuckled. "I imagine not. But yes, the Senate approved your mission to search for unrest. It was one of the few things we agreed on in the past year. Nobody wants another situation like what happened on Naboo."
"You didn't happen to approve my mission to Cato Neimoidia, did you?"
"Ah." Palpatine leaned back, his fingers pressed together and his face contemplative. "That matter, yes. The Senate did not approve that, no. I went to your Council about it."
"...you?"
The older man looked away, a modest smile on his lips. "The Viceroy's trial was gravely mishandled. Four trials, and the Senate could not agree on a course of action. He was let go on a technicality." He looked back to the Jedi, and Obi-Wan could see the determined spark in the Senator's dark blue eyes. "I am from Naboo, as you know, and I took the matter very personally. I asked the Jedi Council to send you to Cato Neimoidia and at least talk to the man, as the Senate prevented that as well."
Obi-Wan smirked. "Chancellor, I think the Senate might be unhappy to know you went behind their backs like that."
"They might be, yes, but it was the right thing to do. When I get the Jedi's report on the matter, I will know if I made the right choice."
The confusion on the Jedi's face made the Senator stop, leaning forward and ready to listen again. "I gave my report when I returned over six months ago. What have the Jedi told you?"
"That your report was under contention. They promised to deliver the report to the Senate when they have made sense of everything."
"That isn't going to happen." The Jedi could feel his anger rising. Everything around him was stagnation. Nothing was getting done, nothing was changing. The Senate was constantly engaged in pointless bickering, the Jedi Council seemed to treat the Sith threat as an intellectual exercise, and people that were trying to change things were being mired down in procedure and being assigned translation duty. It would be better to do away with the whole thing.
"Listen," Kenobi hissed, leaning in, and his apparent show of anger seemed to startle the Chancellor. "Here's what the debate is. I talked to the Viceroy, and he told me two important things. First, he was visited while he was in prison. By a Jedi, Master Dooku, but it wasn't known by the Council that this happened."
"We should be able to check the prison records and see if that's true."
"And I would very much appreciate that. Secondly, the Viceroy insisted that the Sith Lord, the Master, not the apprentice, has power here in the Senate."
The Chancellor looked alarmed, then confused, then skeptical. "Do you believe that's true?"
"I...I don't know. I've been coming here frequently to see if I could sense anything, the Dark Side, or a disturbance in the Force, or...or something that could indicate the Sith are here, but I've sensed nothing beyond the usual frustration of dealing with this nonsense."
"Are you certain they exist? They could-"
"They exist. I know it. I can feel it. Every moment of every day I feel it inside me They're...just out of reach, I can't..." He clenched his jaw, his frustration mounting. "I can't see it, not yet, but I will."
"Your Masters don't sense anything?"
"A far-off disturbance, yes, but not more than that."
"What makes you think you can see this...Sith Lord when your Masters cannot?"
His bright blue eyes narrowed. "I'm trying. I'm not sitting on my hands and waiting for something to happen. The Council wants to wait and see what comes. I want to force their hand and deal with them on my terms."
Palpatine smiled. "You are a man of action. I like that."
"Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan. Without strife, one does not advance, there is only stagnation. I will not stagnate. I will solve this before it becomes a major problem."
The Chancellor nodded. "I find that admirable, Master Jedi. I hope your Council allows you to take action soon."
"...I do as well."
"What is it that is keeping the Jedi from telling me of this meeting you had?"
"Oh." Kenobi leaned back, carefully running over all his information, thinking of the right way to word it. "The Council," he said slowly, measuring his words carefully, "believes that the Viceroy was lying to me because he was afraid. I believe he was telling the truth because he was afraid. It has given us two very different stories, and..." He groaned, closing his eyes and bringing a hand to his forehead. "Both are plausible. Both are equally likely, even, and it has left us divided."
"What are the stories?"
"I don't want to bother you with speculation like this."
"Please, I insist."
Kenobi felt his mental walls relax slightly. The Naboo Senator was warm and inviting and so very easy to talk to. It...seemed like a good idea. After all, he was the Chancellor, he worked closely with the Council, so he needed to know...
Obi-Wan nodded. "I believe the Viceroy is telling the truth. The Sith Lord is here, on Coruscant or very, very close, and he's controlling things in the Senate. And Dooku, the Jedi that visited Gunray, is his new Apprentice."
Palpatine leaned in, his face marred by concern and fear. "Do you really think this? Could a Jedi Master turn on the Order like that?"
"Yes, I think so. However, the Council believes the Viceroy is lying. They think the Sith are out there, but very far away. They don't believe a Jedi could fall and become a Sith Lord right under their noses without being able to sense it. They don't believe a Sith Master could exist so close to them without attracting their attention."
The Chancellor was silent for a long while, fingers pressed to his mouth as he processed the information. Finally, slowly, he said, "I would like to believe your Council is right. However, we cannot discount you, Obi-Wan. If you are correct, we may all be in danger."
"Yes! Yes, I agree."
"I will look at the prison records. If this Dooku did see the Viceroy, something may be amiss." He smiled gently. "Master Jedi, I have been in the Senate for a long time. Now, I don't know the Force, but I think I would know if something was wrong in the Senate. A great deal is, but if there was some...sinister force, I think I would notice a change."
"With all due respect, Chancellor, no you wouldn't."
"Do you honestly believe there is a Sith Lord here?"
"I..." Did he? Obi-Wan looked the Chancellor over, and he suddenly wasn't sure. His story made sense, it did, but talking with Palpatine had given him perspective he didn't have before. Just saying things out loud to a person that wasn't a Jedi was putting things into place and it left him confused and uncertain. "I don't know. I thought...I think...it could be. Things are so bad here, they must be."
The Chancellor shook his head. "Unfortunately, this is just business as usual in the Republic. It has been this way for a long time, long before I was elected, long before you were born."
"Maybe so..."
"Perhaps," he said softly, leaning back, "the Jedi are right. Nute Gunray may have been lying to you."
No. He wasn't. The cold blue eyes shot up, glaring at the Senator. "He wasn't lying. Dooku saw him, he is Sith. At the very least, I know that to be true. I need to get permission to see him. If I am with him, I'll sense his intentions, I'll know for sure what he is."
"I am reluctant to do this. This may cause undue strain between myself and the Council. If they feel I don't trust them..."
He didn't finish. He didn't need to. Kenobi understood the implication. The Chancellor's hands were tied, and he was too meek, too placating, too good-natured to do what must be done. The Jedi brought his hand up, leaned forward, and with the weight of the Force behind him, calmly drawled, "You will investigate the prison records and deliver your findings to the Council."
For a moment, so quick he was certain he was mistaken, Obi-Wan felt an iron resistance, mental walls so high and so strong they could not br breeched, a flash of amusement and sinister glee in the Senator's dark blue eyes. And then it was gone, brushed away like cobwebs and Palpatine chuckled softly, submissive and placating.
"Of course, I'll investigate the prison records and deliver my findings to the Council. If there is something there, you and I will find it, my friend."
Obi-Wan nodded, blue eyes looking at the Chancellor curiously as if he was looking for something, reaching out with the Force and carefully inspecting the man opposite him. There was nothing. No malice, no hatred, no Force sensitivity. Nothing but patience and an older man weary and slightly frustrated at his inability to help the Republic. The Jedi rubbed his eyes. He must have been more tired than he realized. The nightmares were taking their toll.
"Thank you, Chancellor," Obi-Wan said softly, rising from his seat. "I appreciate your aid, but I must be going. I have other things to attend to."
"The life of a Jedi," he drawled softly, chuckling. "It must be very difficult."
"Yes..."
"Together, we will discover the truth of this," Palpatine said smoothly, laying his hand on the Jedi's cloaked shoulder. "I promise you. We can change the Republic. We can bring order to this mess, I can feel it."
"I fear it won't be that easy. Unmasking Dooku won't change things for the Senate."
"No," the Chancellor mused softly, leading Kenobi toward the door. "But it will change things for you. The Council may be more willing to believe you. If your insight is respected, then you may have a place on the Council." Palpatine smiled. "Change must come from within."
"...I agree."
Smiling, the elderly Chancellor patted the Jedi's back. "I believe we agree on many things. We can work together to create a better world, Obi-Wan, and if we are to do that, I think we should get to know each other better."
"...yes, I'd like that." Obi-Wan straightened up, standing a full head taller than the Chancellor. "Thank you, Senator. I was...conflicted before. Things are much clearer now."
Palpatine smiled. "The pleasure is all mine, my boy, I assure you. I trust you will be around in the near future."
"You can count on that, yes."
Palpatine took the Jedi's hand, clasping it tightly in both of his. "Goodbye, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I shall be seeing you very soon."
