Disclaimer: If I owned things, I would have released a version of the glorious version of the Force theme from the glorious trailer which, if I didn't mention, is glorious. I NEED ALL THE EPIC MUSICS OH FORCE I NEEDS THEM.

A/N: *Aesthetic: where the author's note is supposed to be, the readers can only hear the sound of the author cackling. But they read on, certain that this couldn't mean there's another huge plot twist in this chapter.* MWAHAHAHAHA

VIII

Mission

"We found you easily enough, though I'm sure you can imagine that you're hardly what we expected to find. The Sherriikkan Kingdom has acquired more territory under Queen Nirri, in the aftermath of the war, than we have the population to occupy – or even the labor force necessary to harvest the resources from. So we've placed discreet sensor beacons where we can at points we believe might be of interest to undesirables – fringe elements, if you will, pirate gangs and other threats to society that might try to establish bases or operations. There was one such beacon hidden among the rubble of the old Separatist experimental station there. It was intended as a trap for medium-scale criminal organizations, the kind that might have enough firepower to consider a few surviving clones little threat when faced with the promise of possible military-grade salvage or a strategic base location. Lately, though, we've been using them for a different purpose."

Minister Toriin finally paused to take a breath, allowing Anakin to put in a word of his own about a slip he'd caught in the man's description.

"You said, 'old Separatist experimental station.' Do the Sherriikkan not consider themselves Separatists, then? Wasn't this once a Separatist battleship?" Anakin gestured to their surroundings within the cramped war-room-turned-conference-room.

The thin, middle-aged civil servant scowled and twiddled his datapad stylus more violently in his right hand. Anakin was suddenly reminded of one of Watto's least favorite debt collectors, an irritable man with an intellectual superiority complex who was impatient with everyone but especially with children. That man, though, had worn spectacles – the nonexistence of health and safety standards on Tatooine meant that such delicate surgeries as an eye correction were generally not recommended – and had been in the habit of ramming them up his face whenever he was particularly angry, which was most of the time. Looking at Toriin now, Anakin was torn between a feeling of strong dislike and the urge to laugh.

"I see you're still harping on about that," the Minister snapped. "How many times will we need to reassure you that we intend to fulfill our end of the bargain before we are able to get down to the business at hand? The sooner you help us, the sooner we will be able to help you. Then you'll see that we're sincere about returning you to Republic space. And on that note, none of you," he said airily, jabbing his finger in the direction of Anakin and the few Alliance members that had joined him to discuss the terms of the deal, "have much room to negotiate anything, so I'll thank you to allow me to continue."

As Toriin scrolled through his datapad with more force than was really necessary, muttering under his breath the whole time, Anakin spared a glance over to Padmé, whom they had managed to get into the meeting with a lie about her being Captain Reddins' first officer. He almost couldn't hold back his laughter this time when he saw that her eyebrows seemed almost stuck in a raised position of definite amusement. Despite Toriin's accusation that they had no room to negotiate being true, Padmé clearly wasn't so worried about herself or her people that she couldn't find some humor in the absurdities of Queen Nirri and many of her cohorts.

Anakin was surprised, though not unpleasantly so, by how much that simple fact lightened his own spirits.

"As I was about to say, before I was so rudely interrupted, we have lately been looking for trespassers whom we can recruit, coerce, or bargain with in order to investigate a disturbing trend of rebellious acts against Queen Nirri's righteous sovereignty."

Anakin shared another glance with Padmé, and in her sober expression he saw that she was thinking the same thing he was. Toriin had just unwittingly answered Anakin's original question: the Sherriikkan might pay lip service to the Confederacy of Independent Systems, but Queen Nirri essentially considered herself an independent entity and was obsessed with establishing and expanding her own authority, to the point of taking more systems under her rule than her government could handle. It was a reassuring thought – it meant the Sherriikkan were probably less likely to betray them at the end of their mission.

Confederacy of Independent Systems, indeed.

This time, it was the captain who asked the pointed question.

"If the Sherriikkan Kingdom was truly so massive that it could not send its own men to investigate a threat, I should think I would have heard of it, even in the Republic."

Toriin's hand stilled. "We have sent our own operatives and agents – even a troop of soldiers." He was speaking much more quietly and slowly now than before.

Understanding dawned on Padmé's face, and not a little apprehension. "None of them came back," she breathed.

Toriin nodded and scrolled a bit more to the page he needed. "Iratt Shipyards. Heard of it?"

Anakin nodded. "It was the Separatists' most important and productive shipbuilding center for vessels that weren't from the Trade Federation or Banking Clan. Is it in Sherriikkan territory now?"

"Now, and always has been," Toriin said with a look of patriotic pride. "But in the last few years, there have been disappearances from Iratt. Ships and ship parts unaccounted for, deliveries that never arrived, government and shipyard employees of all levels going missing. It took us well over a year to even determine that these events were all connected, and even longer to realize where it all led back to – what the cause was, see. And when we began to send agents in there…" Toriin shook his head and muttered, "I don't know why she ever thought that was a good idea."

Anakin felt his blood run cold at that last sentence and he knew. He knew at least part of what Queen Nirri's job would entail, the general astrographical region they would be entering, especially considering how close they already were to that part of the galaxy.

He wasn't ready.

But what other choice did he have?

Aside from abandoning Padmé and her crew – as if – he supposed, if he really tried, he could overpower the entire crew of this vessel, who, really, were no longer his enemies in any sense of the word, and take the ship by force of arms.

But really, embracing Darkness in order to avoid Darkness – Anakin didn't think even Obi-Wan appreciated a good bit of irony that much.

"You're sending us into the Dark Zone. You think Si…you think Palpatine has something to do with the disapperances."

Toriin shrugged uncomfortably, having apparently not noticed Anakin's near-slip. "We have no proof of who's behind anything, though we do suspect that someone is trying to build up a military in there. Otherwise, why would they take workers, technicians, and engineers, and not just ships? Unless your precious ex-Chancellor is constructing an elaborate space elevator infrastructure on some goddess-forsaken system, and I highly doubt that.

"But yes," he continued, "we're sending you into the Dark Zone. We were able to receive a partial distress signal from one of the last field operatives dispatched in the general direction that we believe the missing ships and people were taken. As it's the most interesting thing we've received from those we've sent, we'll just ask you to pop over to her last known coordinates and investigate the general vicinity. Obviously, if you encounter an enormous enemy fleet, you need only head straight back the way you came and report as much. Otherwise, we require a full scanner report, including a short survey of the surroundings. We will loan a ship to you and your crew, of course."

Anakin let Captain Reddins begin to ask the logistical questions about ship types, shields and weapons, provisions, and et cetera. His mind was a million parsecs away.

His almost calling Palpatine by his Sith name had reminded him of something crucial: he, and now Padmé, might be the only people who knew Sidious' true identity. One of them would have to survive this in order to warn what was left of the Republic and the Jedi Order. Unless…

Anakin warily, nervously stepped back from his own thoughts. That line of thinking felt dangerous.

But it would not be silent.

Unless you meet him and defeat him, and then there will be no need for warnings. Anakin tried and failed to refocus on the conversation going on around him, unable to sort out the clutter of feelings that he hadn't really been able to deal with when he had been stuck, stranded and helpless on the third moon of Lycradel.

There was the desire, deep and resilient, to take vengeance for the murder of the Jedi at the end of the war. For the exploitation of the clones, of his own men, of whom the last of which that he knew anything about now lay cold in the ground, gunned down trying to fulfill a mission they didn't believe in.

There was the familiar ambition, the thirst to prove himself, to return to the Republic as a conquering hero and show them all.

But mostly, drowning out even those two loud voices, there was guilt.

Padmé had been close to the mark. He had been so close – but he had been blind. So much of the blame for the chaos of the last five years could be attributed to his own willful ignorance and foolish pride.

And here – here was a chance to set things right.

And it was unbearably tempting.

Anakin experimentally gripped the blaster rifle with distaste. He didn't dislike blasters on some sort of bizarre aesthetic principle like Obi-Wan did – they were good weapons for non-sensitives – but they were very tame compared to what he could do unarmed.

"Remind me why I need this again?" he asked. "It's not as though we'll likely be leaving the ship."

"Yes, but if we do get boarded or are forced to land and fight, I'd rather we didn't have to find you a weapon," Padmé said with remarkable patience.

The two of them sat in the two seats available in the cramped hall area behind the cockpit of the borrowed Sherriikkan heavy freighter. As arguably the two most important people on the mission, neither of whom were part of the official navigation crew, they had decided not to try to crowd into the cockpit until the ship exited hyperspace at the given coordinates.

It would be soon. In the back of his mind, Anakin's thoughts had started to race with adrenaline in anticipation of what they might find.

"I have a weapon," he said, trying not to sound petulant. "You saw me fight with it."

"You know as well as I do how dangerous it is for you to be here, considering what you told me about Palpatine."

Anakin decided not to mention his secret wish that they really might run into the Sith Master on this mission. He still wasn't sure how he felt about it; if nothing else, most or all of the Alliance troop might not survive such an encounter, as Sidious was likely to be accompanied by formidable military might, and Anakin would not be able to protect everyone, especially not while distracted by the Sith.

Anakin couldn't shake the feeling, though, that he would have to confront Sidious – as Sidious, rather than as Palpatine – before all was said and done. He wasn't sure how he knew. Maybe it was because he knew that Sidious was too infatuated with his power to give him up as a potential apprentice. Or maybe it was inevitable, destiny even, though he certainly still wasn't entirely sure that he believed in that so-called prophecy.

But Padmé wasn't finished. "And really, Anakin, how is a blaster rifle any more inconvenient than that giant piece of wood you insisted on bringing along?"

Jolted out of the mire of his thoughts, Anakin shot her a quick grin. "Good point. I don't suppose you've ever considered doing a comedy routine in the Jedi Temple as a possible future career option should this go wrong, have you?"

She looked confused. "No. Why?"

"Because you could do a mean impersonation of Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Padmé laughed. "I take it you've heard similar things before."

"Yeah, though it was more like," here he attempted a badly-faked Coruscanti accent, "Really, Anakin, how could studying your assigned schoolwork possibly be less intellectually stimulating than spending hours poring over engine schematics and technical manuals?"

They both laughed (mostly at the accent), but Anakin found his laughter trailing off first, hit as he was with a sudden pang of longing, longing that he didn't have to face all this alone. He didn't know what kind of advice Obi-Wan would give him in this situation – probably advice the old Anakin would not have found welcome.

But he wished Obi-Wan was here. Knowing that the one sentient being he trusted above all others had his back would make everything easier, whatever he had to face.

Padmé's laughter died away, too, when she noticed Anakin's silence. She observed him quietly for a moment, then with her typical kindly insight, gently said, "You miss him."

Anakin nodded. "I wish – "

He didn't get to say another word, though, because at that moment they exited hyperspace, and Anakin was hit with a sudden sense of intense danger from the Force. Scrambling to his feet, he slammed a fist down on the door controls to the cockpit, nearly destroying them in the process.

Ignoring Padmé's questioning voice behind him, he entered and looked through the ship's cockpit viewport for the source of the warning.

It wasn't a vast fleet of ships. It was much, much worse than that.

"Turn the ship around," he growled at the cockpit crew.

Captain Reddins looked at him sharply, clearly startled by his tone. "Forgive me, Skywalker, but there's nothing here. We ought to conduct a scan – "

There was no time to explain. Anakin was shouting now. "Turn the ship around, do it now! Now, while we still can!"

When the captain merely frowned at him, he lunged forward and dragged the pilot out of his seat, then attempted to turn the ship around so that they could return to Sherriikkan space.

The ship didn't respond.

"No," he said quietly. Then he tried again.

Again, there was no response.

This time Anakin swore loudly and punched the console before rounding on the captain with a furious cry of, "You see?!"

Padmé put a hand on the captain's shoulder, trying to defuse the situation before his obvious disapproval of Anakin's actions just made him more hysterical.

"Tell us what you see. What's wrong, Anakin?" she asked, gently but firmly.

"That's what's wrong. I don't know what it is, but it shouldn't exist," he said, shuddering as he pointed to the source of the dark danger he had felt as soon as the ship had exited hyperspace.

Padmé's eyes widened. "Do you think…do you think he could be hiding on that small moon up ahead?"

Anakin tried to calm his racing heart and make sense of all the Darkness he was feeling, though he didn't dare reach out and risk giving himself away. Finally, he shook his head. "I don't think so. He probably had a hand in it, but I don't think he's there. But Padmé…" he trailed off.

"Yes?"

"I don't know just what that is, but it's definitely not a moon."