Disclaimer: I wish I could take credit for creating Star Wars, but alas, I am not George Lucas, and I have no intention of getting sued.

Summary: As Qui-Gon, Anakin, and Bant protect the Republic from Darth Sidious, another Sith Lord emerges – Qui-Gon's presumably dead, former apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi. Can the Jedi save the Republic, or is it already too late? The third story in the Jedi Trials series.

Author's Notes: And here is chapter two for all my lovely reviewers. Hopefully this chapter will be interesting as the plot is starting to pick up. Enjoy!

Revenge and Regret

By Kekelina

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Chapter Two: A Sith Exposed

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Anakin raced through the Temple halls the next morning, his Jedi robes flowing behind him. Wind whistled past his ears; the carpet muffled his quick steps. He rushed past other Jedi mingling about in the hallways, not giving them a second glance. Several called out to him to stop, but he paid them no mind.

"Padawan Skywalker, slow down!"

Anakin couldn't slow down, for he was carrying urgent news to his Master. The Temple had just been contacted by the Prime Minister of the planet Latan, who had reported the deaths of two of the Order's finest Jedi – Siri Tachi and her Padawan, Ferus Olin.

At first, Anakin had thought perhaps he had heard wrong. He had just talked to Ferus a week ago! But it was true; Ferus was dead, along with Master Tachi. No one seemed to know how it happened. They had just been on a negotiation mission, trying to keep the peace between two opposing factions on Latan. It was a routine mission; Anakin himself had gone on hundreds of negotiations throughout his years as a Padawan Learner. Yet they were dead, and no one at the Temple knew how.

Already the news had begun to spread like wildfire. He had heard many Jedi discussing the mysterious deaths of the two as he raced back to the quarters he shared with Bant. He wouldn't be surprised if she already knew; his Master was very good on keeping up with the news in the Temple. But even if she already knew about the death of her friend, he wanted to be there for her. She had already lost so many of her close friends the last few months… He wasn't sure his Master could handle another loss.

He ran through the housing level of the Temple until he finally reached their apartment and anxiously palmed open the door. A blast of salty, moist air greeted him like every other day, and he quietly walked into their quarters to find Bant sitting on the couch, tears streaming from her large silver eyes.

Anakin hung his head sadly.

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"A Sith Lord?"

The words echoed around the silent chamber, their implications hanging over the heads of each person in the room. The idea was too preposterous to even think about. They would have to be crazy to consider that their beloved galaxy was in the hands of a Sith. Impossible!

But impossible as the idea sounded, the implications of stating that Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith Lord were too heavy to joke around. Could it be true? Was Palpatine truly a Sith Lord?

The lone figure in the middle of the Council chambers sighed and nodded. "Yes."

Mace Windu looked sharply at his friend. For someone who was dealing them such heavy news, he seemed quite calm about the whole thing. Could it be possible that he was feeding them false information? After all, he had just recently left the Separatists to come back to the Order. He had confessed to leading the March on Coruscant. What made them so sure they could trust him?

"I believe he was responsible for the death of Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said quietly, " and of Master Tachi and Padawan Olin."

Beside him, Mace heard Yoda sigh. He glanced over at the esteemed Jedi Master and saw that his ears had drooped at that thought. The deaths of those three were mysterious, he would admit. They had all been well trained Jedi and had gotten out of more sticky situations than Mace could remember. They were not easy to kill, as so many of their enemies knew. But the Sith were powerful. It would not be hard to imagine a Sith overpowering a Jedi – Qui-Gon had almost died at the hands of a Sith ten years ago. Was it really such a long stretch to think that it had been a Sith that had killed the three Jedi?

No, it wasn't.

But to say that the Sith Lord happened to be the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic was a little bit harder…

"Disturbing is this thought," Yoda said softly, shaking his head.

"How can you be sure that Palpatine is the Sith Lord?" Mace asked his friend. Qui-Gon was known for following his instincts without any hard proof. He was strong in the Living Force, and based many of his unorthodox actions off its will. This made him known as a rebel, for he often claimed that the Living Force told him to do the opposite of what the Council had told him. Needless to say, Qui-Gon was not the Council's favorite Jedi. But even if he was, they could not convict Palpatine of any crime without some sort of proof.

Qui-Gon reached into the pocket of his tunic and produced a small holopad for the Council. Mace eyed it evenly as Qui-Gon turned it on and a holorecording appeared. Two miniature blue figures appeared, locked in a lightsaber duel. Qui-Gon walked over to Yoda and Mace and held the projector in front of the Masters as the two figures fought viciously, until one overcame the other and the recording ended.

Sighing, Mace and Yoda shared a glance that told each other all they needed to know. Mace had recognized both of those dueling figures. The first had undoubtedly been Count Dooku, Qui-Gon's former Master and Yoda's former apprentice, and the other figure…the other figure had been the Sith Lord, Chancellor Palpatine.

"Our worst fears have been realized," Mace mumbled aloud. The Republic was in the hands of a Sith Lord, and the Jedi had been blind to that fact. If they didn't move quickly, then the Republic could be lost forever.

"What will you do?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Hmmm…" Yoda replied, his face pensive. "Discuss the best course of action, we will. Keep the Republic safe, we must."

Mace nodded in agreement and then looked at his friend. "May the Force be with you," he said, dismissing Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon bowed respectfully to the Masters and walked out, his boots tapping on the hard floor. The doors closed with a hiss behind him, and all the Masters looked towards Yoda.

"We did not feel this," Ki-Adi-Mundi said regretfully on the other side of Yoda.

"Move quickly and carefully, we should," Master Yaddle suggested, echoing Mace's own thoughts.

Mace sighed. "But how?" he asked no one in particular, leaving the question open for debate. "How can we remove the Chancellor without disrupting the Senate?" If the Chancellor was the Sith Lord, then Mace doubted he would give up his position so easily.

"He is well loved by the Senate," Kit Fisto added. "We don't know how much of the Senate is already under his control."

"And we don't know what he is planning," Mace continued from Kit's train of thought. "For all we know, he could be heading here right now to destroy the Jedi Order."

Yoda gave a little "humph" at Mace and shook one of his green fingers at him. "Allow him to do that, we will not. Removed from office, he should be, and be removed he will."

Mace nodded thoughtfully at Yoda's words. Forcefully removing the Chancellor from office was an absurd idea, but so was everything else today. This was obviously the will of the Force, and he thanked it for warning them before something devastating happened.

"We should send a team to the Chancellor's office immediately; we cannot allow him to continue to manipulate the Senate."

"I agree," Yoda said. "Lead this team, I will."

"I will go with you," Mace replied after a moment. He would not leave Master Yoda to face the Sith alone. "The Chancellor is obviously more powerful than we know. We should not underestimate his strength."

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The Other Author's Notes: Finally the Jedi realize what's going on right under their noses. Will they be successful in removing Palpatine from office, or will he slaughter them all? Stay tuned to find out, and as always, don't forget to review!