Chapter Ten: Grievous' End and Plans

Harry's eyes had widened slightly upon hearing that General Grievous had been found. The alien/droid hybrid had been responsible for the deaths of four Jedi Knights and he kept their lightsabers as trophies, which sickened the Jedi Order to no end. The news that he had been found was heartening, but what to do about it.

"Have you heard who's being sent after him?" Harry asked as he walked beside Anakin up to the Council chamber. Damien had gone to the dining hall for dinner but not before making Harry promise that he would eat sometime that evening. The Padawan knew that when his master got involved with something it was far too easy for him to forget to eat while doing it. The combined force of Ginny and Lily had managed to somewhat cure him of this but he still slipped occasionally.

Anakin shook his head in response to the question before saying, "No I haven't. The Council will decide who to send I suppose, although the Chancellor was busy stroking my ego by saying I was the best choice and he doubted the wisdom of the Council if they didn't send me, and other stuff."

Harry looked at him with raised eyebrows. "How are you holding up with all those meetings?" he queried. He trusted Anakin but even the best of Jedi were tempted at times and he knew that Palpatine could be very persuasive when he wanted to be.

Anakin shook his head again. "He's a manipulative old sod" he growled. "First he attacks Padme's character, and then he tries to turn me into an egotistical prat. Now he's trying to set us against each other, or at least me against the rest of the Order. What next I wonder?"

Harry chuckled shortly. "I take it from that mini rant that he's not succeeding." Anakin laughed equally shortly before saying "He's succeeding alright, in getting me to do the exact opposite of what he wants."

The two Jedi smirked in unison before they arrived at the doors to the Council Chamber. Looking at each other, they calmed themselves and then opened the doors and went inside. Once inside they sat down on two of the chairs, as Harry had been elevated to the Council upon the death of one of the members earlier that year over all his protests, while Anakin was taking advantage of a comfortable seat for the meeting.

They were the last two to arrive and once they were seated, the meeting began. The news that Grievous was on Utapau was met with skepticism until Anakin mentioned the information came from a partial message inside a diplomatic package from the Utapau chairman. After a bit of discussion, the question of who to send came up.

Anakin swallowed before saying, "The Chancellor has requested that I lead the mission." The other Council members frowned before Mace responded with, "The Council will make up its own mind on who to send, not the Chancellor."

Anakin nodded. "I understand that Master Windu and I wasn't saying that I agree with him. I was merely making the Council aware of the Chancellor's wishes." He looked round to see the reaction of the rest of the Council. Most had no visible reaction and Anakin slowly allowed himself to relax.

Eeth Koth then leaned forward and said, "If you don't agree with the Chancellor, Knight Skywalker, then who would you suggest we send?"

Anakin frowned. "Master Koth, with all due respect, I'm not a member of the Council so I shouldn't have any say in your decision. If you're asking for my opinion though, I'd recommend either Master Kenobi or Master Potter."

The Council looked towards the two aforementioned Jedi, for their reactions. Harry was deep in thought while Obi-Wan merely looked interested that Anakin would have suggested him. Finally Harry spoke. "I would respectfully decline the mission, Masters; I feel that the Force wants me here, on Coruscant for some reason. Obi-Wan is perfectly capable of capturing, or possibly killing Grievous if it comes to that."

The rest of the Council nodded before Mace said, "All in favor of sending Master Kenobi to deal with Grievous?" A chorus of "Aye" met him and Obi-Wan nodded in acceptance of the assignment.

"Any other business?" Mace asked. Ki Adi Mundi was the one to bring up the next issue, this being the Separatist droid attacks on the Wookies. This issue was solved neatly as well, with Yoda being sent to Kashyyk due to him having good relations with the Wookies. It took all of Anakin's considerable self control to keep from breaking down in laughter when he received a mental comment from Harry that amounted to "I wonder what Master Yoda means by "good relations" exactly."

A couple of days later Harry, Anakin and Mace were in the war room of the Temple, a room that was part of the Intelligence division and used for keeping an eye on how the war was going. They were busy discussing the possible outcomes of Grievous' destruction as they all knew that the leader of the droid army would not allow himself to be captured.

"If Grievous is destroyed then the Separatists won't have a leader any more. Without their leader they will be relatively easy to round up and the Senate will be able to take back those emergency powers they gave Palpatine" Anakin was saying.

Harry made an affirmative noise before replying, "Yes but Anakin, he's a Sith. He won't give up those powers on his own, and if he is arrested, then the Senate will fall into chaos."

"The Jedi Council would have to take control of the Senate in order to ensure a peaceful transition during the election for a new Chancellor" Mace said, heading off the brewing argument between Harry and Anakin. Both younger Jedi looked at him and then Harry frowned.

"What is it Harry?" Anakin asked. Harry shook his head. "Have you considered that this might be what he wants us to think? If our arrest of him fails then he could very well say that we were committing treason. That would turn the whole Republic against us."

"What about that petition that Senators Organa and Amidala were organizing?" Mace asked. Harry looked towards Anakin, who had been with Palpatine when the petition was presented. The Knight shook his head.

"No go I'm afraid. He didn't listen in the slightest, just told them that they should trust his judgement and everything would turn out OK."

Both Anakin and Mace turned to look at Harry as he chuckled and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Dumbledore" under his breath. Upon seeing his companions' raised eyebrows he shrugged. "Whenever I disagreed with something that Dumbledore said or did, he would twinkle at me with that damned twinkling gaze of his and then say that I shouldn't worry about whatever I was worried about, because he would take care of it. What Palpatine said to the Senators sounded like a variation of that theme."

Mace nodded in agreement and Anakin huffed in annoyance before growling, "Well what the hell are we going to do about it then?"

"We are going to continue to prepare our emergency plans. Are the Portkeys in place?" Harry asked, reaching out with the Force and attempting to soothe Anakin. It partially worked; as soon as Anakin realized what Harry was trying to do he reined in his frustration and calmed himself.

"Yes they are. They just need the activation word and they'll take whoever's touching them to the hiding place. I tested them myself yesterday" Mace replied promptly before asking, "What about the door?"

Harry smirked. "That will be finished by the end of today Mace. It will have spells on it so the clones won't notice it if they come in here but to any Jedi it will be as clear as day."

"Where is it?" Anakin asked. Harry looked at him and then sighed. "I can't tell you Anakin." Seeing the hurt and outraged look on Anakin's face he said, "It's not that I don't trust you, but I'm wary of Palpatine finding the location through you. Besides, this is an escape route for the Initiates, Padawans and other Knights and Masters in the Temple should it be attacked. You know that most Knights and Masters, as well as most Padawans are out in the field at the moment. The Initiates and their instructors are the ones in most danger if an attack is launched here."

"What happens if the clones are ordered to turn on the Jedi out in the field?" Anakin asked. Harry smiled mirthlessly. "That has been taken care of too Anakin. You've seen the rings that the Knights, Masters and Padawans that go on field missions are given?"

"Yes, what are they?" Anakin asked. Harry smirked. "They are miniature Portkeys, designed to take them to the hiding place when they're triggered. I thought of everything possible Anakin."

Sighing, Anakin nodded, accepting the fact that he couldn't know any more about the emergency plans that Harry had implemented with the help of the Council. He knew that Harry trusted him but had good reason to be wary of Palpatine. Finally he looked up and asked, "So what do we do now?"

Mace, who had been silent while Harry explained the emergency plans, said "Now we wait to hear from Obi-Wan. If he manages to kill Grievous then you will go to the Chancellor and tell him. Find out if he's a Sith Lord. If he is then we will arrest him."

"I could go now Master. Then we won't have to wait to arrest him when Grievous is destroyed" Anakin said. Mace and Harry exchanged looks before Mace agreed. Anakin headed off to the Senate while the two Jedi Masters were left with worried looks on their faces.

Obi-Wan had been having a bad time on Utapau. Fighting a four limbed opponent was bad enough, fighting one that could use a lightsaber in all four of said limbs was pure hell. He managed to get the lightsabers away from the droid as his clone troops showed up before having to pursue the Separatist army leader astride a large lizard.

He followed Grievous to a medium sized landing platform. He and Grievous fought and Obi-Wan winced when he forgot that in a fight between metal and human flesh, metal will win.

'Oh SHIT that hurt' he thought, as he attempted to kick Grievous in the knee joint of one of his legs and forgot that the leg was metal.

'I'm sure I just cracked my shin' the Jedi Master thought as he was thrown through the air to land painfully by a ship that was on the platform. When Grievous hauled him upright Obi-Wan scowled and dodged the punch, noticing that the metal of the ship's hull was now dented.

'Definitely didn't want that hitting me' he thought as he grabbed hold of the armor protecting Grievous' internal organs and pulled, bending the metal away to expose the heart and lungs.

Grievous was understandably annoyed at this and threw Obi-Wan over the ledge of the landing platform. Obi-Wan caught hold of the edge and hung there, determined to finish the monster once and for all.

'Where's Harry when you need him' Obi-Wan thought, thinking that he could have done with his brother's help right now. A little magic might have distracted Grievous long enough for Obi-Wan to pull himself back up.

'Oh well, no use wishing for things that aren't going to happen' he thought as he pulled himself up and rested his elbows and forearms on the platform, grimly amused at the thought that when he was a Padawan he used to hate exercises that involved him pulling his body weight up and resting it on his arms, in order to build strength. Now those hated exercises had saved his life, and in truth had saved his life on more than one occasion in the past.

Spying the abandoned blaster, Obi-Wan summoned it to him with the Force and then aimed it carefully at the approaching alien/droid. His first shot caught Grievous right where he wanted, in the open space in his armor. Grievous looked at the Jedi in shock, his innards already smoking. Obi-Wan aimed and then fired again, and again, and again, until Grievous collapsed to the ground, smoke rising from his burnt remains. Hauling himself up over the ledge and back onto firm footing, Obi-Wan looked at the blaster and then threw it down in disgust.

"How uncivilized" he muttered. It was time to retrieve his lightsaber, and inform the Jedi Temple that his mission was successful, before heading back to Coruscant.

Anakin was meeting with the Chancellor and was getting more and more suspicious. Palpatine was spouting all sorts of things about him learning the power of the Dark Side and saving his family. Finally he'd had enough. Drawing his lightsaber he activated it, it's humming and brilliant blue light strangely reassuring.

"You're the Sith Lord" he said, raising his lightsaber slightly. Palpatine paused. "Yes I am. Listen to me Anakin. If you continue the way you are, you'll be nothing more than a pawn of the Jedi Council for the rest of your life. Don't do that. Let me help you, let me show you the way to achieving power beyond your wildest dreams."

Anakin growled. "Better a pawn of the Light than a slave to the Dark" he growled. "I'm going to turn you over to the Jedi Council. I'm a lot surer of their intentions than I am of yours." Seeing the look in Palpatine's eyes he hissed out, "Don't even think of messing with my family to get me to join you, I won't stand for it and neither will Harry."

Palpatine smirked. "Oh I will have you Skywalker. You won't be able to avoid your destiny forever you know. Potter should have taught you that at the very least. You won't be able to resist, you'll give yourself to the Dark Side and then, and then you'll be mine."

Anakin shivered and all but fled the Senate, flying back to the Jedi Temple with no regard for the road rules. Flying into the hangar he saw Harry, Mace, Eeth Koth and Kit Fisto walking towards a transport. He leapt out of the ship and ran to them.

"Palpatine is a Sith Lord, he just told me. He's very powerful, he won't give up his power that easily. Let me help you arrest him."

Harry shook his head even as Mace turned and said, "No Anakin, you will stay here. The Chancellor wants you, if you come with us we'd be giving him access to what he wants most. Stay here."

Anakin shook his head and looked pleadingly at Harry. Harry looked back at him and then walked forward, putting his hands on Anakin's shoulders.

"Anakin. I know it's difficult to stay behind, but I have an important task for you here. I have told Damien what's going on, he knows what I'm going out to help with, and he knows that there is a possibility that I might not come back. I want you to promise me that you will stay with him now, and that, should something happen and I don't come back, that you will look after him."

Anakin rocked backwards as the enormity of what Harry was saying sank in. He searched the familiar green eyes in front of his and saw absolute seriousness in them. "You, you want me to train him if you die" he said faintly. Harry nodded. "Yes Anakin, that is exactly what I want. But to do that, you need to stay here, with him. He'll want to help me, he'll want to do exactly what you do now, but you both have to stay here."

Anakin nodded, stepping back and looking Harry in the eye. "I will Harry. You'd better not die though; I'd do a terrible job of training him."

Harry smirked and then replied, "I thought we'd fixed that self esteem problem a long time ago Anakin." Mace snorted before replying, "You did, a bit too well I think."

All the Jedi in the area snorted in brief amusement before Mace became serious again. Fixing Anakin with a stern look he said, "You and Damien will wait in the Council Chamber until we return."

"Yes Master" Anakin replied, watching as the transport took off, headed towards the Senate. He shivered as a feeling of foreboding swept over him as he went to collect his "little brother" and carry out his instructions. All the while he tried not to think that he might have had the last conversation he would ever have with Harry.

As he and Damien settled down in the Council chamber, Harry, followed by Mace, Eeth Koth and Kit Fisto was walking towards his second confrontation with a Dark Lord, only this time he wasn't at all sure of the outcome.