Chapter 5 Five Hundred Republica

Anakin tried to calm his mind, but so much confusion was swirling around him that he found it almost impossible. What he could not comprehend was how the traitorous Senators and the Jedi managed to conspire so completely against the Chancellor and his loyal followers. The why, he could perfectly understand, Palpatine himself had warned him of the Jedi's craving for power and it was not a long jump to assume that they gained control of some of the weaker politicians to help them. But some things still did not make sense, he knew that most of the Jedi were dead, either by his hand, or Palpatine's orders; who, then, had managed to erase Palpatine's psychic trail? Or had Palpatine himself done it to cover his escape? But who would he have to hide from if most of the Jedi were dead? Of course, he would have to hide from the ones who wanted to take his place, Senator Organa, for example, but still, it would not have been necessary to obliterate his psychic trail; Organa and his followers weren't Force sensitive. No, that couldn't be it, but then he was back to wondering who could be powerful enough to do it? Only Palpatine could tell him for sure, if only he knew where he should look for him next. Then he began to wonder about Padme; wasn't she a friend of Organa's? Could she have gone with Obi-Wan willingly then? No, she was certainly more loyal to him than she was to Organa or the Jedi, Obi-Wan had forced her to come with him against her will; he was quite certain of that. Maybe Palpatine had gone to the Separatists as Darth Sidious; it was common knowledge that the Sith were behind the Separatist movement, it seemed very logical that Palpatine would have felt safe with them in his persona of the Sith Master. Now, where did Palpatine tell him they were hiding?

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"I'm sorry, Master Kenobi; that happens sometimes." Ferri said, apologetically.

"Are you sure you're alright, Ferri?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes, it was just so abrupt; Master Skywalker was hit by a speeder. He actually landed over there somewhere." Ferri answered as he started to get up.

"Where?" Obi-Wan asked.

Ferri stood up, a little shakily, and moved to the edge of the walkway, "Here, and he landed pretty hard; I hurt all over." He told them.

Obi-Wan shook his head, "Then it should have been reported." He said.

"Maybe it was, Master; but Master Anakin might have left before they knew who he was." Zak speculated, "That's what you must have felt when you collapsed this morning."

"Yes, it appears so." Obi-Wan concurred.

"He did get up and leave; he was very angry. In fact, he was so angry that he threw someone trying to help him against a speeder that was parked here." Ferri said from where he was standing.

"And then where did he go?" Obi-Wan asked.

"This way." Ferri said, leading the way toward one of the alleyways.

"Ferri, did he hit his head when he landed?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yeah, real hard; it knocked him out, I think, because I felt blackness for a few seconds. And, I can't explain it, but he felt…he felt different after that." Ferri answered.

"Well, I think I understand; he was different, he became what he would have been if he hadn't killed Chancellor Palpatine." Obi-Wan explained.

Ferri nodded, "Yes, that's it; his Light is overshadowed." He replied as he staggered.

"Ferri?"

"It's alright, he was really dizzy." Ferri told him as he continued on, murmuring what must have been Anakin's conversation with himself.

Several times, Ferri stopped and then continued on, "Hey, there, son; looks like ya might be needin' some help." He said suddenly when he stopped once more, "No I'm fine."

"Master, look." Zak said, pointing to a hand visible behind a pile of abandoned crates.

Ferri moved, trancelike, toward the crates, "I warned you to leave me alone." He said.

Obi-Wan moved several crates to reveal the headless alien corpse, "Oh, Anakin; what have you done?" He exclaimed sadly.

"I think he might have been defending himself, Master Kenobi." Ferri surmised.

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, "He still should not have taken his head; and he would not have if he had been himself." He replied, "This will have to be reported."

"No, Master; they'll treat him like a criminal. They might hurt him or…or worse." Zak pointed out.

"He has killed someone, Zak; we cannot just forget about it; however….." Obi-Wan countered.

"I know, but it was self-defense." Zak interrupted.

"Let me finish," Obi-Wan admonished. "However, he is dead and there is nothing more we can do for him; Anakin needs help now more than ever and we do not have time to deal with the authorities about this. I will wait until we have found him to report it. But he will still have to answer for what he has done here; self defense or not."

"Yes, Master." Zak replied with a nod.

Ferri stared at the dead alien for a few moments and then continued on.

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"Are you saying that we should have trusted Ferri to find Anakin?" Adi Gallia asked.

"Trusted my counsel you should have; and this you did not." Yoda corrected, "Know this boy's mind well, I do, and his heart; and yet disregarded my opinion was."

"And you would have told us that Ferri is trustworthy?" Plo Koon asked.

"Told you I did that given a chance he should be; and overlooked my advice was." Yoda answered.

"Then you do not know if he can be trusted." Luminara Unduli surmised.

Yoda sighed, "Know for certain, you would wish, hmm? Nothing for certain is; always unknowns there are." He said, "But given a chance to prove himself he should have had."

"Well, it seems he is getting that chance now, thanks to Master Kenobi's defiance." Eeth Koth pointed out.

Yoda banged his gimmer stick on the floor, "Defiant he would not have had to be if so blinded by mistrust you had not been. Now, alone he is in his search when help we should have given him."

"He should have presented his views to us so that we could discuss it further; perhaps then we would have decided differently." Stass Ali said.

"Did he not do that? And say, did you not, that trust you could not give to Ferri Cortis?" Yoda asked, "What more was there for him to say?"

"I must agree with Master Yoda on this; we were not open-minded in our view of young Cortis." Ki-Adi admitted.

"And what if he betrays them again?" Saesee Tiin asked.

"Then gone he will be; but given the chance by the Council to prove himself he should have been. Denied that he was until one was given by Master Kenobi." Yoda answered.

There was silence among them as each Council Master pondered Yoda's last words, "Then we have made a terrible mistake." Eeth Koth finally said, voicing the thoughts of all those present.

"Yes, and what is worse, Master Kenobi will not make contact with us because he has gone against the Council vote; we do not know where he is and we cannot help him." Plo Koon added.

"We will just have to wait until he finds Anakin; I do not believe he will contact us, or acknowledge any contact we try to make until that happens. We were wrong not to have given further thought to engaging Ferri Cortis' gift, and now we can only hope that our mistake is not a costly one." Mace replied.

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"Get out of my head, Obi-Wan." Ferri said, "I don't need your help."

Obi-Wan's eyes blurred as he listened to Ferri repeat Anakin's response to his attempt to help; it hurt to listen, "No one is left….I killed them, I killed all the ones in the Temple and the Chancellor has taken care of the rest; there is no one left…..You're lying!" Ferri finished and then headed back toward the Senate Complex.

Obi-Wan and Zak followed Ferri back to the Senate Complex and from there, to Padme's former Senate suite where Ferri sat with his back against the lift door with his legs drawn up against his chest and his head on his knees, "Padme, where are you?" He sobbed.

Obi-Wan put a hand under Ferri's arm and gently pulled him to his feet, "That's enough for now, Ferri; you should rest." He said.

"No, we're close; I want to keep going." Ferri insisted as he triggered the lift, "We're almost there; I know it."

"Ferri, you are emotionally drained, I can sense it; rest for the night and we will continue in the morning." Obi-Wan replied.

"No, he'll be gone again, and we'll have to start all over; just a little while longer, Master Kenobi, please." Ferri persisted.

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, "Alright, but this is against my better judgment and if we are no closer in an hour, then you will quit for the night." He conceded.

"An hour; alright." Ferri agreed.

And so Anakin's trail led them to Five Hundred Republica; Ferri headed, without hesitation to the private lift near the back of the lobby and started entering a code into the security pad.

"Well, that certainly is a popular place today. Can I help you?" A Mon Calamari asked as he appeared from an adjoining office.

"Yes, we believe a friend of ours might have come here earlier." Obi-Wan answered politely.

"Could be; a young man came in insisting that the Chancellor lived here. I told him the last Chancellor to live here was Chancellor Palpatine and he was dead, but he insisted that the Jedi told me to lie about it and then he rambled on about them trying to make him crazy and having his wife." The alien attendant told them.

"He's right, Master Kenobi; and he's very confused." Ferri confirmed, "But you took him up there, didn't you."

"Yes, son, I did; in fact, I left him up there, he said he had to think." The Mon Calamari replied.

"He's still up there?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I haven't seen him come down." The Mon Calamari told them.

"Could you let me in?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Of course; here, I'll just enter the code and you can go right on up." The Mon Calamari answered amicably as he pushed a series of buttons, "There, all set; I hope your friend is alright, he looked a bit of a mess."

"Thank you, we hope so too." Obi-Wan said as he entered the lift, "I want the two of you to stay down here; I have no idea what he would do if he saw two Jedi Padawans when he thinks he killed all of them."

"Yes, Master." Zak said, although he was openly unhappy about it.

Ferri nodded in agreement; however, he was not very happy either.

"Alright, I know neither of you are happy about this, but under the circumstances, I think it would be better if he did not see either of you until I can jog his memory back to where it should be." Obi-Wan explained.

"I know, I understand, but I still don't have to like it; just be careful, Master." Zak replied, "And may the Force be with you."

"It will be alright, Zak." Obi-Wan assured him as the lift door closed.

Zak sighed, "I hope so." He said.

"Do you think Master Skywalker will be alright?" Ferri asked.

"I think so….eventually." Zak answered, "You like him, don't you."

"He's helping me." Ferri replied, "He won't hurt Master Kenobi, will he?"

"Maybe; something doesn't feel right." Zak told him.

"Then we should go up there." Ferri suggested.

Zak shook his head, "That would make it worse."

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Anakin could feel his former friend before the lift door even opened; he should have known he would be clever enough to track him down. Well, it didn't matter; he'd be dead in a few minutes, anyway. He stood up and moved to one of the inner rooms to wait.

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As the lift stopped, Obi-Wan took a deep breath; he had no idea what Anakin might do when he saw him. He knew his brother was living out his nightmare as Darth Vader and was full of anger and hate; but he was also confused because things were not the way they should be in his altered world. Whatever happened, Obi-Wan was determined not to fight him; Anakin was injured and not himself, and Obi-Wan did not want to hurt him any more than he already was. The lift door slid open and Obi-Wan took a cautious step into Palpatine's former residence; he had never been here himself, although he found out later, after Palpatine had been destroyed, that Anakin had visited him here on many occasions. He reached out through the Force and felt Anakin's presence nearby.

He moved forward, "Anakin? I'm here to help you, please come out so we can talk." Obi-Wan called out as he moved further into the main room, "Please, Anakin; you need help."

When there was still no response, Obi-Wan moved into the sitting area, doorways led off into other, more private rooms, "Anakin, you are not yourself; Padme is worried about you, please let me help you." He said.

In a blur, Anakin was on him, "What have you done with her?" He demanded and he threw Obi-Wan to the ground.

"Nothing, Anakin; she's at the Temple with your children." Obi-Wan answered.

"I don't have any children, you liar!" He screamed and slammed his fist into Obi-Wan mid-section, "Where is she?"

"I…told you…at the…Temple." Obi-Wan gasped, "You…have…three babies, my brother."

Anakin hit him again, "Stop lying to me or I'll kill you right here." He threatened.

"She's…at the…Temple." Obi-Wan repeated.

"LIAR, LIAR, LIAR!" Anakin screamed as he stood up pulling Obi-Wan with him.

"No, Anakin, I am not." Obi-Wan replied, "You've been hurt and you're not…"

Obi-Wan never had the chance to finish as Anakin gathered the Force around him and threw him against the far wall. Obi-Wan slammed hard into it and crumpled to the floor. In a flash, Anakin was standing over his unconscious friend, lightsaber drawn.

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Zak turned as he heard the lift start to move and then reached out to sense who was in it, "Oh no." He whispered.

"Master Anakin is alone." Ferri gasped.

The lift door opened and Anakin stalked out, took one look at both boys standing near in the lobby, "NOOO!" He screamed as he raised both hands and Force pushed them in opposite directions away from him and was out the door before either boy could recover.