WARNING: The following chapter has material that may or may not be suitable to younger readers. Viewer discretion is advised. Here it is, the last chapter of A Matter of Time, starring everyone's favorite bad guy. I've been planning this one for a while now and I hope it lives up to my expectations. Thank you everyone for reading and thanks to the reviewers for the much needed feedback. It's been a blast writing this. As an aside for this story I have decided that the Republic Military Base seen in this Arc is the Ministry of Defense. Just so you know where we are. Please leave a review!
Isn't it remarkable the way events manage to occur? What has transpired over the last week has not exactly gone according to plan in the short term, but this outcome is not completely undesirable. Yes, this will work just fine I think.
The original plan was to have Tano convicted and executed (preferably while Anakin watched helplessly) only for the evidence of her innocence to be revealed just after any hope of reviving her was dashed. Such an event would drive a permanent wedge between the Jedi and Anakin, fueling his hatred and pushing him further into my service. Alas, it was not to be. Not yet anyways.
Anakin Skywalker, ever the determined fighter had to constantly fight for his beloved apprentice, even with the odds stacked so high against him. And so at the last second he had managed to uncover the real culprit and the charges against his apprentice were dropped.
But it would seem that the girl has unwittingly played right into my hand. By leaving the Jedi Order behind she has made his distrust and anger at the Jedi Council permanent. Simultaneously, she has unknowingly planted the seeds of doubt into his subconscious. If she can leave the Order so easily, then so can he. He doubts the Council now. His trust in the Jedi has been shaken even further. His faith in the justness of the Jedi cause has been broken beyond repair. But he still clings to the light, dangling by a few frayed strands over the yawning chasm that is the Darkside. All he needs now is just a few more subtle pushes and he will be mine.
But this is still a short term setback. Anakin's fall is inevitable, but Offee's ineptitude has pushed it back by several months at the least. She should have been more careful. I suppose there is a lesson to this: when manipulating underlings with no knowledge of your designs never rely on them for such crucial missions.
Lesson learned.
I suppose though that I am going to have to wrap up a few loose ends.
Traffic from the Executive Office Building to the Ministry of Defense is usually light at this time of day, and so my escort and I manage to make it there fairly quickly. I'm able to visit the Ministry under the pretense that I have a strategy session to attend to on fighting in the Mid Rim. I like the design of this building; large, imposing, an ominous monolith that conveys the power and strength of the military. The Republic banners flying from every flag pole and the gun turrets offer a nice touch as well. A fitting symbol for the coming New Order.
I stride through the halls of the Ministry like I own the place (because I do) sure of my destination. The troopers on guard in the detention wing do not even bother asking me to stop or check my credentials. Unlike the Jedi the clones know their place.
I find myself standing outside the cell of Barriss Offee, former member of the Jedi Order. Once again she is wearing her traditional blue cloak and hood. It seems that her old master was here to visit her recently. I would know, seeing as Tarkin spent ten minutes complaining about the possible security breech. He never did trust the Jedi. I knew there was something I liked about him. I have to remember to give him a promotion for the part he has played in making my Empire a reality. Maybe I'll make him a Governor.
She lifts her head and glares at me. The hate in her is growing. Good, good.
"Leave us."
With a swish of their cloaks my guards turn and leave. The clones also take heed and leave as well. We are completely alone now, with nothing separating us but a forcefield. There is absolutely no one left in this entire cell block but her and I. The best part is that the security cameras in this wing are conveniently offline for repairs.
Now that I think of it that is only the second best thing. The best thing about this situation is that the walls are soundproof.
The forcefield flickers and dies and I walk into the room. She's still glaring at me, and I sense a thought leap to her mind. For a second she wonders if she could overpower me, take me hostage and use me as a bargaining chip in order to make an escape. But her curiosity as to my rather unusual actions temporarily overrides any aspirations of escape. She wants to know why I am here.
Well, no sense in keeping the poor girl in the dark anymore.
"What do you want Chancellor? I…"
She stops midsentence as she hears something rattling. She looks up and sees that a panel on the ceiling is vibrating rapidly. The panel breaks from the ceiling and falls to the floor in a clattering heap, exposing wiring and pipe work.
Suddenly her blue cloak unfastens itself and levitates off of her body. It floats in the air like a leaf in the wind, rising up to where the panel fell. The cloak then wraps itself around one of the exposed pipes, tying itself into a firm knot. The bottom of the cloak then begins to fold and twist in on itself, tying a second knot.
When it is done the cloak finds itself hanging from the pipe in the form of a hangman's noose.
I take a moment to admire my handiwork, lovingly caressing the fabric. "Soon" I silently promise the noose.
Barriss simply stands there, mouth agape, eyes staring at the cloak. She didn't do that. Only a Force user could do that. But she didn't do that. Which means that, that…
Her eyes begin to dart back and forth from the cloak to me and back again.
She has the honor of being the first Jedi to understand.
"You"
It's all she manages to say. Lightning leaps from the tips of my fingers hungrily seeking their target. The girl is enveloped in the power of the Darkside and screams in agony. She howls and wails, but to no avail. No one can hear her. No one can help her.
As quickly as the lightning comes it vanishes. I allow her a moment or two to recover, and then I speak.
"It is an unspoken truth child that the innocent crave corruption. They may not admit it, they might even struggle against it, but deep down everyone secretly desires the touch of darkness. You are no exception to this rule. You were once a model Jedi apprentice. I picked you out from the beginning to play a small yet essential part in my plans. And so I have sent you directly and indirectly into some of the worst battles of this war.
Why, you ask? Why to break you of course. My intent was to shatter your spirit and destroy your convictions. And I succeeded. I destroyed your faith in the Jedi completely.
Why? Because I knew that if I pushed you to the brink that you would be left destitute and helpless, clinging desperately to your precious Jedi values while looking frantically for a way out."
She stares at me blankly.
She's panicking.
Even better.
I continue on, speaking in a tone of voice more suitable to discussing the weather than acts of life or death.
"Where did you think the nano-droids came from my dear? How did you manage to get in and out of the Defense Ministry without being detected? Did you honestly think a bunch of ignorant lower class ruffians could organize themselves in such a succinct way and form the connections necessary to acquire such technology and access? Through my agents organizations such as the one Ms. Turmond was a part of were formed and given the necessary weapons and ammunition to cause as much damage to the Jedi as possible."
"I don't understand." She whispers.
I lean in closer, our faces now only inches from each other. I drop my façade. Eyes that were once blue and kind are replaced with harsh and piercing yellow ones. Gone is the illusion of the grandfatherly old chancellor. Now only Sidious remains. She tries to back away, but there is no way out. She has her back to the wall. She's cornered and she knows it. Tremors of terror ripple through her body.
"I intend to annihilate the Jedi Order. In order to do so the support of the people must be destroyed. And so I have rumors spread, rumors that grow and build with every retelling. The Jedi are warmongers. The Jedi are corrupt. The Jedi prolong the war. The Jedi steal children. The Jedi murder civilians. The Jedi seek power. The Jedi started the war. These are the things I whisper in the galaxy's ear, and the word is spread and repeated until it becomes accepted truth in the minds of the people. It was I who gave the Anti-Jedi organization the nano-droids and the access codes necessary to enter this facility undetected, access codes that they gave to you."
"Of, of a-all the J-jedi, why m-m-me?" she's stammering now. Oh this is such fun.
"I could have chosen any Jedi to push to the brink, but why did I choose you, you ask? Well the honest answer is that, well, it amused me. Tell me my dear, how does it feel to have killed so many for nothing? Less than nothing really. You thought you were fighting against an Order that had becoming unwitting servants of darkness, but in reality it was you my dear Barriss who were the unwitting puppet. Because of you that Tano girl is gone and Anakin is even closer to embracing the Darkside."
"Master Skywalker?" she asks.
I don't enjoy being interrupted mid-monologue, and so I unleash another torrent of Force Lightning. This little bout of torture lasts a little longer than last time, but inevitably comes to an end. I don't have all day after all.
"Anakin is the pivotal point upon which this whole affair rests child." My tone of voice changes from harsh to lecturing, as if I was a teacher presiding over a youngling at school. "He is the most powerful living Jedi, and he dances so close to the Darkness. Surely even you can see that. I deserve the best of the best after all, and Skywalker will make for an excellent apprentice. He shall be my willing enforcer, my right hand in the New Order I shall create. It will be glorious."
Now it is time to drive the point home.
"How does it feel Barriss to have unknowingly aided the dark? How does it feel to have played a pivotal role in the eradication of the Jedi Order? How does it feel to have pushed another Jedi to the brink of darkness? And how does it feel to know that I used your morals against you? How does it feel to have tried to oppose the Darkside only to aid its ultimate plan? How does it feel to have violated every moral you claim to hold dear? How does it feel to be a complete and utter failure?"
The tears flow freely now down her cheek. It's almost time.
"Why are you telling me all of this?" she asks.
I throw my head back and laugh. She shudders at the sound. "Because now you know; you know that for over a decade the Jedi Order has been under the authority of a Sith Lord. You know that I plan the destruction of the Jedi and the Republic they love so much. You know that I have used you without your knowledge, and the absolute best part is that no one would ever believe you if you told them. Besides, it's not as if you will have enough time to tell anyone anyways. I just felt the need to gloat about it to someone."
She has collapsed on the floor now, her head in hands, her body shaking with repressed sobs.
"You are a hypocrite Barriss Offee. You have betrayed everything and everyone you ever loved or believed in. And in the end it doesn't matter. In the final analysis your life has been nothing more than a bad joke. And now it is just a matter of delivering the punchline."
For a few moments she sits on the floor shielding her face from me. And then, lowly, almost inaudibly, she starts making a noise that begins to grow louder and louder.
"hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahaha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
She's hysterical now. The tears flow from her eyes down her cheeks and her body wretches in absolute sorrow. And yet the laughter, the bitter, mirthless laughter continues. It would seem that she finally gets the joke.
With a wave of my hand she is lifted off the floor.
She rises up higher and higher.
The noose slips around her neck and tightens.
By now the mad laughter has died and has been replaced with uncontrolled sobbing. She hangs there in midair, her head barely scraping the ceiling, supported only by my will while the noose hangs around her neck, waiting eagerly for the drop. I turn around and proceed to exit the cell. Just as I am about to exit the cell Barriss Offee, former Padawan of the Jedi Order speaks for the last time.
"You're pure evil."
I turn around to face her. I give her one last smile and say, "I am beyond such infantile notions of morality child. The rules that bind this galaxy and its civilizations together do not apply to me. Farewell Barriss. Though you were a traitor I am sure that many a Jedi will be saddened by your sudden suicide. Especially your poor master."
I turn around, exit the cell and allow the Force holding Barriss to vanish. I leave the rest to gravity.
CRACK!
I don't even bother to look back.
As I am about to leave the Ministry I look over to one of the clones and ask innocently when the cameras in this wing will be back online. I'm told in about an hour. Good, she'll be long gone by then.
As we fly back to the Executive Office Building I look over to Mas Amedda, who had accompanied me for the trip.
"Mr. Speaker, take a note, when the Jedi get word of former Padawan Offee's sudden death please make sure that they are denied access to the body. We wouldn't want them finding anything incriminating during an autopsy, such as, say, electrical burns. Furthermore have Tarkin's investigation rule it as suicide by hanging. As for the subject of the Nano-droids have Tarkin's report conclude that they were manufactured and distributed by Separatist operatives. There is no need however to investigate too thoroughly though."
"As you wish Supreme Chancellor." Amedda responds. "Is there anything else you would like me to do?"
"That will be all for now."
My thoughts turn to the future. Anakin's fall is inevitable. But now that his apprentice is out of the way should I kill her or should I let her live? She is no real threat to my plans. And yet, if she lives she could be a potential nuisance. I decide to put the decision off until later. There really is no need to make a decision now.
For now I allow myself a rare opportunity to relax and enjoy the ride back to my office.
This war will be over soon.
Skywalker shall be my servant.
The Jedi will die.
And I will be Emperor.
Everything will be mine.
There are no other alternatives.
It is only a matter of time.