OK, this was really tough to write and I'm still not happy with it, so reviews would be greatly appreciated on how I can improve this one and I'll probably edit it and re-submit once I'm happy with it.
I had intended to get through a whole bunch of chapters, but this one had me stumped for ages, so sincere apologies for not posting sooner!
pacificuser: I know this review was for the first chapter, but thanks for that! I just hope you still think that's the case after 46 of them!
The chaos of the senate floor was intoxicating. At least it was to Palpatine who sat basking in the gloriousness of the raging emotions flying around the senate. The war had fueled old feuds and conflicts long thought resolved as the senators made their desperate attempts to either remove their home worlds from the conflict, whether to avoid Separatist invasion or Clone warrior occupation, or gain as much power as they could squeeze from their neighboring systems and within the senate itself.
What were they even arguing about this time, anyway? Palpatine was only partially aware of the words flying around. At that moment he was more concerned with the dark energy flowing around them, through them, a dark energy that fed his shadowed system.
It hadn't worked out exactly to his plan, everything had escalated a little more quickly than he would have liked, but Maul had been right about Jango and his reaction to the former Jedi. The cascade of circumstances leading to the confrontation on Geonosis had been perfect.
The Jedi order was in complete turmoil. Their "Chosen one" had chosen love over obligation and taken the traumatized Padme as his wife and they had sequestered themselves on Naboo. He'd take care of them soon, they were too dangerous together to keep around. That type of clean up was what Maul was for, although he was still smarting from Kenobi's escape. Maul had had the former Jedi in his grasp four times recently and although he couldn't help feeling triumphant over the man's involvement in setting up Amidala to take the fall for the war's official start, he still wanted Kenobi either dead or secured where he could pry into that force sensitive soul and read the changes that were happening there, for he had felt those changes for himself.
Anakin had been the one to overwhelmingly escape the dark side influence Sideous had been laying on the Jedi since his rise to the rank of Sith Master. He had felt the boys awakening two days ago, an inevitable and unwelcome occurrence once he left the order, him being the fabled chosen one. But chosen one did not mean invincible and his vulnerability was dangling from his sleeve in the form of the dear Padme. They were no longer within his grasp, and it would have taken too long of a game to pull them in to him, the pair strengthening each other it would seem, so better to get rid of them now before they realized their full potential together. And something told him that the whole story over their seclusion was not the complete truth. Let them have their moment, then. But his contacts on Naboo were beginning to dig further into the situation.
He found the prospect of pursuing Kenobi far more interesting. He had missed the opportunity to bring Dooku into his fold, how fitting it would be to tear down the hope the old man had found in his surrogate grandson. The problem was getting hold of Obi-Wan to influence and getting him to come back for more. From what he remembered about their brief encounters, this was not a man who could be swayed by simple flattery. His actions spoke of a selfless quality that Maul had wanted to keep from Palpatine, to use as his own tool against Obi-Wan. But the fool had no idea what Palpatine truly knew, how could he?
He quite understood his apprentice's desire for this man. Ventress was all chaos, Kenobi was all control. What a stunning contrast, and how elegantly Obi-Wan had shielded his presence, a fellow secluded soul Palpatine was almost eager to compare notes with. He had not revealed his true identity to anyone, not even Maul, and for a brief moment of indulgent thought he saw himself revealing all to Obi-Wan. Realizing the implications of such thought, he quickly suppressed his desire for this release and came back to the senate floor where Amedda was calling for order once again.
"We will have order in this assembly, delegates, calm heads will prevail," came the Vice-Chancellor's strong voice over the slowly quieting senators. Palpatine rose and nodded in agreement.
"Yes, let us not forget that we are at war and our continued bickering only strengthens our enemies." He curled his fingers together in a lattice and brought them up to his chin, a gesture that always brought his audience to complete silence, his calmness and contemplation bringing them some comfort. His darker self chuckled at the obvious manipulation they were all too blind to see.
"Now," he said, looking up at the floating bays around him, "it is late and we are getting nowhere with this dispute. Perhaps an evening of rest and pleasant company will cool our heated minds."
Several of the senators threw up their hands in protest, knowing this would only further delay the outcome of this proposed legislation, but the Chancellor's word, as always, was final in this matter and the bays drifted away, most other senators not directly involved in the conversation at hand already leaving.
"This doesn't look good for us, Chancellor," whispered Amedda to Palpatine as they waited for the senate to clear, "these shipping lane route relocations need to be concluded quickly, or the Separatist lines may be able to take up the slack."
"And tomorrow we will have the plans; that of our design; prepared and ready for presentation and signing. I assure you it will not take long for this bill to be passed once our proposal is given. And the Republic will have that much more control over the systems in the region. We can begin charging our low toll rates and as the conflict escalates we will begin our hike, using the continued war effort as our excuse. It is simple, pay or be forced to use unsecured routes. And with a tighter control of manifests we will be able to keep track of shipments between worlds, all to keep tabs on our more rebellious delegates."
Amedda smiled and nodded. "I'll have the proposal ready for the opening session, my lord."
"Good, good," cooed Palpatine as the central station retracted beneath the senate floor. An incessant beeping rose in volume once they were out of the room and Amedda quickly excused himself to allow Palpatine the privacy to answer his comm.
"There have been developments," came the low hiss of his apprentice.
"Very well," came Palpatine's crisp reply. Instantly snapping off the communicator, he headed to his office.
Without breaking his stride through the ante-chamber he commanded: "I am working late and not to be disturbed, under any circumstances unless I contact you." His guard and secretary's conditioned minds threw up no resistance to his manipulation and his influence lay heavily in the air. It would blanket all potential visitors with a sense that this was not the time to speak with their Chancellor and subconsciously direct them to leave as soon as possible, whether spoken to by his staff or not.
Once inside his office, he locked the room down and slipped on his concealing cloak, his physical movements quickly slipping from Chancellor to Sith as he moved to his inner chamber.
The small droid controlled craft slid from the building roof, Sideous in the back. It skirted low over the dense city to the industrial district, Maul's presence a dark raging beacon easy to find for Sideous and yet so easily hidden from the Jedi at this point. Sideous wondered if they would notice his apprentice if the twin blades were cutting off council members' heads within their precious temple.
The war and the heightened tension was flooding the force flow with an overstimulation of negative energy which fueled Sideous and his kind, but diminished the Jedi at every turn and their continued arrogance and fear of appearing weak prevented them from even willing to believe they had a serious problem on their hands. Perhaps one or two would concede something was wrong, but they were few voices in a maelstrom of darkness and could be picked off as the war continued.
The craft swooped into the hangar, Maul already waiting for his master. As he descended the craft ramp, Maul chucked him the plans he had been waiting for. He flipped on the holo-projector to display the Geonisian super weapon.
"Excellent, my apprentice," he flipped it back off and glared at Maul who was now in a kneeling position in front of him, "although you still have failed to produce the head of that troublesome Kenobi."
He struck out with his blue lightening into the submissive body before him. Maul collapsed onto all fours, grimacing at the sustained force lightening streaming through his body. Turning the pain to hate was simple enough and with Sideous and Kenobi to split the hate between, it allowed him to resist the Dark Lord's punishment more easily. He was past bringing Kenobi to his fold, the man would die the next time they met. But first he would strip away that protection he had managed to gather from nowhere and destroy the mind behind that unexpected force manipulation. He had the former Jedi's sabre concealed within his robes and relished the opportunity to dangle it in front of a decimated Kenobi only to wield it through his broken body.
"Well," came Sideous' cold voice after the punishment was dealt, "explain your continued failure to me, my apprentice.
"Not failure, my Lord," Maul hissed through clenched teeth as the pain subsided," merely a delay in the inevitable. "
"You were foolish to under-estimate the power of the Jedi, a mistake I trust you will not make again?" Another surge of force lightening was channeled through him, just to drive the point home.
"As my lord wishes," said Maul as he overcame the energy flow, the hint of sarcasm not lost on Sideous. Perhaps once, a long time ago in their early relationship, Maul had feared Sideous enough to hide such feelings of disrespect. However that time had long past and the only reason Maul continued to allow Sideous to hold him back was because he knew he was still not powerful enough to take down the Sith Lord alone. And Sideous knew it, which was why he kept the Zabrak around for the time being. Both Sith knew that their final confrontation was looming, but for the moment each one would play the other's games.
"Now, what were these developments you wished to speak of?" Palpatine circled the still submissive Maul, who looked up into Sideous cloaked face.
"Dooku plans to run for Chancellor of the Separatist senate. He has strong support from the banking clan and the techno-guild."
"This is not news to me, I have my own people within the Separatist Alliance. Tell me something I don't know or leave!"
"I have it on good authority that he will recommend General Grievous is removed from the head of the Separatist Army and more clear headed leadership should take command. He's keeping that very much to himself, but his rhetoric to his close supporters is quite clear. I believe he intends to re-open talks, especially with the Jedi once he's elected."
Sideous mulled over his apprentice's words. It was no surprise Dooku wanted to bring about a peaceful settlement to the conflict, especially if it foiled Sideous' carefully laid plans, but to remove Grievous would be catastrophic to the Separatist army, forcing them to rethink the overly aggressive strategy that Grievous had instated. Sideous needed him in control to keep tensions high and the war raging for a good few years before the Separatist army could crumble. This would call for immediate action.
"Then we must make the good General indispensible. I trust I can leave that in your capable hands. You won't get distracted by another wayward former Jedi along the way?"
"All in good time, my Master," said Maul as he rose and bowed low to Sideous. He looked up into the man's red rimmed yellow eyes, seeing the contempt Sideous now held for him and the two of them glared at each other for a moment, the battle of wills determining who would break away first. Maul knew that if it was Sideous, it would be over between them and cursing the fact that this was not the time for their end game, he lowered his eyes, taking the role of submissive again. He didn't see it, but he felt the smile of distain as it pulled itself across Sideous' face and the Zabrak rose and left for his ship.
"Oh, and Lord Maul," called Sideous as Maul ascended into his ship, "loosing Kenobi was one thing, loosing Ventress, now that was just careless." Sideous chuckled as Maul disappeared into his ship.
/Where was that charmingly chaotic child, anyway?/ he thought to himself as he made his way back to his own transport.