AN: Can't believe I have to write this, but here we go. First of all, thank you so much to all of you who keep reading this thing. I'm having a blast writing it, and you guys as a whole have been both constructive and encouraging. It's been very helpful to me as a writer, and while I just don't have the time to answer all of you guys, I have really enjoyed talking and discussing things with you.
Now, that last chapter there? I found it completely hilarious as to how a few people lost their shit over it. I had a few anonymous guest reviewers leave some really unhelpful, negative comments to the effect of "You ruined every thing!" I'm not really bothered by stuff like that, especially not when they give me no way to respond to them. I've been building up to that moment and have been hinting at it since the beginning of the story, and I'm a huge fan of following through with things that have been slowly building. What I don't get is this: at the heart of this story, it's about the Dark Side, which is a nasty place to be. This story has dealt with sexual slavery, murder, mind manipulation and rape, among other things, and nobody's complained until it was directed at Padme, a character I actually like a great deal.
And I find that absolutely freaking hilarious. So the point of this, is the beginning of this chapter underwent some rewrites for my amusement, and it turns out to have made it an improvement over what I had. My direction won't be changed, and if you think you know where this beast is going, well, you might, but I don't think so. I haven't led you guys astray yet, I hope, so trust me to bring this shit to a satisfying conclusion. Don't forget, I try to provide reasons for everything, even if it isn't revealed right away. In the meantime, folks, Happy New Year, and enjoy my attempt at semi-graphic sexing some people away from this thing! For those of you still around, I love you guys! Peace out!
Chapter 90: Gaining Ground
There was nothingness. For the first time in what seemed like forever, there were no dreams, no nightmares, no visions, no pain and fury of the Dark Side, no anguished cries of the Force. Not even the blaze of insanity could reach him. There was just darkness and nothingness, and save for the persistent throb of grief in his chest, Obi-Wan lay in the void, calm and peaceful and silent, and the pain he did feel, the burning, lingering touches of his Mand'alor that he could feel even now upon his skin so long after she had died, were a dull ache instead of the searing agony he usually felt. He hadn't realized how weary he was, how strained his feverish mind had been, how exhausted his body was, how great the toll of insanity had been upon him until he lay there in peace and quiet that he hadn't felt in...ever, probably. He couldn't remember the last time sleep had been restful.
He was only stirred awake when he felt light touches of long, gentle fingers caress his face, his neck, his chest, his hips, his legs, all over him in touches that exuded want and love, and for a moment, in his sleep hazed mind, he thought he had Satine back in his arms, the past months of pain and fire and insanity simply a dream, a vivid, cruel trick of the Force. The thin body was pressed flush against him, movements slow and languid, though the intent of the woman was clear when he felt her knowing, practiced hands stroke him to arousal, the Dark Side rolling slow and thick within him to meet the woman's desires, not in a violent, crushing wave, but with a satisfied, sated groan of approval.
His alertness slowly returned to him as his blood moved to respond to the woman against him, though his mind stayed hazy and unfocused, still half asleep as he opened his eyes, the golden gaze slowly roving around a room he did not recognize, and he struggled to remember where he was. The woman's light touches became more insistent, her movements more fluid, the relaxed and flexible body in his grasp melting against him and memories of the night before slowly returned to him through his haze. It was all passion and maddening lust and loud, desperate moans and cries of pleasure. They were out of step, each used to the touch of another, and it had made them reach completion at different times, leaving the other still wanting and craving, which quickly whipped the sated partner back into the rushing frenzy of lust, and the process would begin again.
It had taken most of the night for them to finally fall in sync, the hours of mindless lust that proceeded dulling as they stirred again and again, leaving them hazy, yet more focused in the needs of the other instead of in their own needs. As they slowly figured each other out, their final joining, slow and languid through their tired, satisfied daze, left them focused not on the lovers they missed, but on the lover they were currently with. They had shuddered their peak together, their names on each others lips, and with their passion spent, they pressed close and let sleep take them instantly.
He was in Coruscant, in the luxurious room in 500 Republica, the daylight glinting off the buildings of the city outside, but the brightness of it was dulled by the tint of the security shield. He could hear the distant sounds of wailing sirens, but little else, and Kenobi assumed that the lock down was still in effect, the city no doubt still rushing in a panic to secure their prison and locate the ones that escaped. He wondered if Cad Bane had succeeded, but the deep satisfaction he felt within himself told him that he had no cause to doubt the bounty hunter. He had succeeded. There was no question.
The woman in his arms was not Satine, but Padmé Amidala, her dark hair mused and curled out behind her as she kissed and sucked on the pale flesh of his neck, her hands pulling a soft groan of desire out of him as they worked, and he held her closer, his long fingers running over the soft, smooth skin of her back, her thin waist, her rounded hip. He hadn't realized how desperate, how needy he had been for contact and comfort, how badly he had craved a soft, gentle touch. Since Satine, he had been met with nothing but the torture of his Master and the rough, dominating claws of the Dark Side because comfort through the Force had been painful. He welcomed the pain, of course, accepted the agony and suffering the Force and Sidious had inflicted upon him, but he was Sith, a creature of passion, and passion wasn't only pain and hate and anger.
With a soft, tired whimper, Padmé rolled on top of her lover, her hands planted on his strong, defined stomach, and sighed in satisfaction as he slid inside her. They were both well past sated, their eyelids heavy, their minds hazy from the rush of the night before, so the pace was slow, relaxed, and nearly too intimate for Obi-Wan, but he kept a lazy, stroking hand on her thigh as she moved over him. With a deep, shuddering breath, Kenobi relaxed into the soft mattress and the large, fluffy pillows, observing the woman with interest as she took her pleasure from him. Her neck and shoulders were covered in red marks that he had left upon her the night before, her hips bore the clear, dark shadows of his hard grip upon them. They were dark already, and would be for days to come, and the origin of such bruises were unmistakable. Were Skywalker to come back, it wouldn't be difficult to discern what had happened. After all, when Kenobi came to her, her skin was pale and clear, and now the gentle curves of her body were stained with his touch. It was a masterpiece, not just in the look of his passions upon her, but in what they would bring to pass.
Padmé ran her hands up to his chest as she leaned forward, gasping softly as her hips increased the pace, and she ran her fingers over the thin red lines left by his Master's Force lightning the day before. They were no longer raised, angry welts, the rest giving his body a chance to recover from the injuries, the Force healing him as he slept. All in all, this affair had been good for him, and he wondered if tangling with Shaak Ti or any of the number of Twi'leks he kept would have the same effect, but he somehow doubted it. Padmé was...unique, and the Force itself had given her to him. There must have been a reason for it, and whatever the reason was, he was certain that the healing of his broken mind was a part of it.
Their climax hit them together, not as a crashing wave, but as a soft, gentle caress of a slow moving river, the two lovers softly groaning their satisfaction as the dull throb of release flooded them with pleasure and warmth. When Kenobi felt the woman's body sag in relaxation, he brought her down to his chest, pulled the covers up over them, and rolled onto his side, clutching her tightly against him. A slight smile came to his lips when the woman's body shook with soft laughter, and he brushed back her hair and kissed her flushed cheek.
"Good morning..." Kenobi drawled, and Padmé looked over her shoulder to the table beside the bed and frowned when she saw the chronometer.
"Or afternoon, as it were. I was awake earlier, but you wouldn't wake up. I've never seen anyone sleep so heavily." She smiled softly as she lay a hand on the Sith's cheek, her thumb dragging just under his eyes. "You look so much healthier for it. You must have needed the sleep."
"I must have needed something," he said, covering his mouth as he yawned, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple when a dull throb began pounding in his head. His muscles were sore, his head hurt terribly, and there was a sharp pain in his stomach. He was hungry, a sensation he hadn't felt for quite a long time. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through her long, curly dark hair, so different from the silken blond he was used to, but that difference made it easier. "Thank you..."
"You don't need to thank me," she muttered into his shoulder, and for the briefest moment, Kenobi felt...something. A sharp pull within her that screamed out for the man she loved, the Jedi she had just been unfaithful to, and then there was silence, calm and quiet contentment in the arms of the Sith, but Obi-Wan knew he felt something. He hadn't been influencing her, not intentionally, though he knew that Dark Side must have had a hand in what happened here since last night. He may not have had to use any sort of compulsion to achieve this end, but she had been primed, made ready for this, and it wasn't entirely by him. Something, or someone, had a hand in Padmé Amidala. Slowly, carefully, with a hand in her hair, he quietly slipped into her mind, looking for any sign of tampering, but he found very little. Just old memories dragged to the surface by his presence, which accounted for her blistering need.
But there was something, unidentifiable, but certainly present like a long, faint shadow cast by her hazy mind. It felt like the touch of the Dark Side, and it wasn't his own. Only one other could have done this, been so subtle that even he couldn't detect it, but Obi-Wan didn't know what use Sidious had for Padmé. She was a nuisance to him, yes, and perhaps the feverish lust for the Sith Master's apprentice distracted her, but it wasn't enough. It had never been enough, which was why Sidious had attempted to have her executed, an event that eventually led to the start of the Clone Wars, and it was part of the reason the Kenobi was here now. He was here to ruin Anakin Skywalker, but Sidious had made it clear that they could kill two birds with one stone if they were careful, and the Master's investment in this was to ruin Senator Amidala.
That may have been it, but Kenobi knew that his Master was too smart, too manipulative, to leave it at that. Killing her would have been easiest, and if he simply needed her out of the way, he would have commanded Kenobi to execute the woman, which he would have carried out without a moment's hesitation. But that wasn't what had happened. He had stated his intentions to take the woman from Anakin Skywalker, and Sidious had allowed him to carry it out. Perhaps the Master was seeking to make another apprentice, as he had sought to use Satine to make one. Perhaps the child in the dream was, in fact, born from Padmé, and Sidious now sent his apprentice to bring that about. Obi-Wan had to believe this was the case, had to believe that the child was Padmé's, because if it wasn't, if it was Satine's, and the vision was simply a cruel reminder of the son he had lost, his mind would have truly broken, and he'd be cast into a state of insanity from which he could not return. Even now, at the thought of this being the case, he could feel his vision blur as flames licked at the edges of his sight.
"Being with you isn't like being with Anakin," she said softly, and the Sith Lord groaned as his sore muscles tensed. "Being with you isn't like being with anybody."
Kenobi scoffed. "Have you been with many?"
"Well, not many," she said softly. "Two before Anakin. And Anakin is..." The Senator sighed wistfully, and Kenobi could feel the longing in her voice, and it made his own chest burn for the one he loved. "Anakin is careful and gentle and loving. He's not supposed to have what we do..." She closed her eyes, her hands running over her lover's visible ribs. "Did you have other lovers?" she asked, quickly changing the subject. Making herself think about Anakin was making her feel suddenly guilty. She knew this was wrong, she knew, and she felt awful for this betrayal, but...
But she found she didn't regret it, and she couldn't imagine why she didn't. It was like all her moral values had been repressed, like she had been driven mad with desire like she had been before by thoughts of Kenobi. After all, she had loved him once, and for a very long time. But that was before Anakin, and even then, she had thought about her first protector from time to time. Having him available and just within her reach was what she had fantasied about for years, and the temptation had proven to be too much for her. This couldn't happen again...
"There was only Satine," Kenobi said softly, his voice distant and almost nostalgic. "Except for once on an extended mission, but I don't remember it, so it doesn't count. And after..." He hissed, let go of the woman and sat up, looking out the window at Coruscant. He could see no ships flying through the tint of the security shield. The lock down was still in place. "After she died, I had another, but she meant nothing to me."
"Do I?" Padmé asked swiftly, and she winced, mentally kicking herself for being so foolish. She didn't love Obi-Wan. She wouldn't love him. She loved Anakin, and Obi-Wan clearly loved Satine, so...what were they even doing here?
"You've always meant something to me..." Kenobi said absently, and Padmé knew he meant it. He looked back at her, gold eyes pained, and gently laid a hand over hers. "I know you love Skywalker, and I will always love Satine. There would never be a future for us beyond just this, but...I should like to see you again."
She tried to answer, but found she could not. So much of her screamed against this. She loved a Jedi Knight, was going to marry him, would have his children, if it was possible. But the first plunge had been the hardest one, and on reflection, she had so easily fallen into bed with Obi-Wan, like she had once so easily fallen into bed with Anakin, and then, like now, they had all suspected it to be the influence of the Sith. And Obi-Wan was a known mind manipulator. Though, she suspected that even without his prodigious powers, he would have been able to seduce her. And despite her denial, Obi-Wan had filled a need within her that she didn't know was being left unsatisfied. She didn't love him. But she was having difficulty turning away.
"You're controlling me..." she whispered, her hands gripping the sheets to hide how badly they were shaking.
"...no," Kenobi said softly. "I don't have to control you. You already want me."
"But why," she hissed, her chest tightening in sudden panic. "I have everything I want with Anakin!"
"Everything?" Kenobi laughed harshly. "What does a Jedi know of passion? They are taught to put their feelings away, and while Skywalker may be something of a failure in that respect, he is still a Jedi, and an unfortunately effective one. I was trained to embrace my passions," he drawled, tapping the back of her hand with his fingers as he carefully appraised her confusion, the torrent of emotions within her, her love for Skywalker and her old lust for Kenobi clashing almost violently within her. It was a mess, chaos at its finest, and it was perfection. "But what I want doesn't matter," he said quickly, brushing off the matter. "What matters is what you want, and I'm not sure you've figured that out yet."
"I want Anakin," she said swiftly. "I won't leave him. I-" A long finger pressed itself against her lips and she fell silent.
"It won't be safe for me to leave during the lock down," Kenobi said slowly. "So we have lots of time to discuss it." Despite her better judgement and her internal protests, she found herself nodding in agreement with the Sith Lord, and Obi-Wan smirked when he felt the Dark Side move, slow, subtle, with great purpose, commanded by a hand that was not his own.
The only members of the Council physically present were Yoda, Mace Windu Qui-Gon Jinn, and Luminara Unduli. Saesee Tiin also sat in attendance, his head bowed, his eyes focused at the floor and sitting very close to the Grandmaster. He had been under careful observation since he had returned from the Sith's grasp, and while he had passed every test given to him, the Iktotchi personally requested to be kept under observation. All the other Masters sat in from their places in the war via hologram, including Anakin Skywalker, who stood quiet and pensive in the middle of the room next to a frantic Ahsoka Tano. The Padawan was fidgeting and nervous, her eyes constantly darting to Asajj Ventress, who stood almost glued to the wall closest to the door.
Everything was coming undone, and it was happening all at once. While the Republic continued to win conflicts in the war, reclaim planets and systems that had once defected to Mandalore, the concentrated Jedi effort against the Sith was proving disastrous. A system had burned, the Jedi Master sent to kill Dooku had been captured, and the most secure prison in the Republic had been broken into, and the two Separatist leaders being held there had escaped, despite all efforts to contain them. But even that wasn't the worst of it. The highly explosive rescue of Wat Tambor and Poggle the Lesser had been revealed to simply be a diversion, for while all Republic efforts had been concentrated on keeping the Separatists contained, others had managed to quietly slip deep inside the prison's block for inmates awaiting execution and extracted Barriss Offee.
The Sith involvement was clear, and while Luminara did a fine job of keeping it together, the Mirialan Master was clearly disturbed that another potential Sith had been released into the galaxy, and it was one that she had trained herself. Qui-Gon sat with her hand grasped tightly in his own, his thumb almost lovingly stroking her smooth, green skin. He had known the pain of what it was to lose a Padawan to the Dark Side, and while Luminara had let Barriss go, had resigned herself to the young murderer's execution, she was not prepared for the girl's escape, the Sith threat looming dark overhead with the promise of another agent of the Dark Side added to Dooku and Kenobi's strength. That wasn't the worst of it, though. Barriss was simply a Padawan. A skilled one, yes, but any Master could easily handle the girl, even with the Dark Side fueling her strength.
The problem was that Ahsoka had frantically reported seeing Pong Krell on Serenno, very, very much alive and serving as the new apprentice to Dooku. Krell was a Master, and a shockingly dangerous one at that. Four arms expertly wielded two double sided lightsabers at once, and for even the best of Jedi, that made for a formidable opponent, but coupling that strength with the might of the Dark Side was doing nothing for the shattered Jedi confidence. Tano had seemed almost nonchalant when discussing him, though, and insisted that Krell, while intimidating, wasn't the major problem. After all, she and her Master had left him defeated, though the fight had not been easy, and Ahsoka had disabled the Besalisk herself. The problem, though...
Qui-Gon's eyes drifted to the empty seat on his right. Quinlan Vos, Master, tracker, unconventional rogue, had been captured. Not killed, captured, and by Kenobi no less. To say the least, it didn't bode well. Vos had always drifted close to the dark, and he and Obi-Wan had been very good friends. Qui-Gon knew why Kenobi hadn't tried to kill his old Jedi Master, despite the rift, despite the betrayals. He couldn't be killed, not exactly, and the Sith Lord didn't understand, couldn't understand, and so recoiled from the prospect. But Kenobi hadn't killed Vos either, though for entirely different reasons, and Qui-Gon suspected he knew exactly what those reasons were. A rescue attempt like the one Ahsoka and Ventress had proposed wasn't just madness, it seemed like an impossibility, especially since Qui-Gon suspected that by the time they got there, Quinlan wouldn't want to be rescued.
"You want to abandon him?!" Ahsoka gasped, her mouth agape and staring in disbelief when Qui-Gon voiced his opinion. The members of the Council did the same. No surprise there.
"Master Vos is a valuable asset!" Mace said firmly, and Qui-Gon rolled his eyes and regretted saying anything. "And he isn't a Padawan that needs to be supervised, he is a Jedi Master. We do him a disservice in thinking him so weak-willed that he'd abandon his course. He walks close to the Dark Side, yes, but he hates the Sith."
"Yes, but he loves Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said tiredly. He wasn't in the mood to argue with Mace Windu. Again. "They were like brothers before. We cannot assume they will not become so again."
"Could Master Vos pull Kenobi back to the light?" Plo Koon asked, and Saesee Tiin laughed harshly.
"There is no return to the light for Kenobi," the Iktotchi snarled. "If you've seen what I have seen, you'd know that. I agree with Master Jinn. Vos is finished. Let him go."
Ahsoka reeled on the Master, her face dark and her blue eyes furious. "You didn't break!" she shouted at Tiin. "Everyone agrees that you're fine, and Master Quinlan is fine too! I know he is, I can feel it!"
"I didn't say we should let him go," Qui-Go said quickly when he felt Saesee's own considerable anger rising. "The point of this all is that we don't know what has happened to him, and we should. For all we know, he could be dead, but I think it's unwise to speculate until we know something for certain."
"Well, how's this for certain," Ahsoka growled. "The Sith have him, and we have to go after him! He isn't dead, and if he's fallen, we can bring him back! I can bring him back!" She pointed a shaking finger at Ventress. "She can bring him back!" The Masters slowly looked over to Ventress, the woman standing with her head bowed, her body tense as if she were straining to keep herself from bolting out of the room. Realization struck the Jedi hard, but Anakin looked at her with sympathy and understanding. All the pieces fit. There was only one explanation.
"You were lovers," the Knight said, and Ventress closed her cold blue eyes.
"...yes." The Masters didn't exactly appear shocked by the revelation.
"Did you teach him the ways of the Dark Side?" Windu asked, and Ventress scoffed, looking up at the Masters. She felt that they sat in judgement of her. It was foolish to come here. She shouldn't have capitulated to the whims of the Padawan. The Jedi would be no help here, even if they dedicated their numbers to Vos' rescue.
"Not exactly," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "He had dabbled in the Dark Side before I got to him. He had...previous instruction."
Luminara sucked in a sharp breath, her hand tightening in Qui-Gon's. "Kenobi."
"Yes." Ventress slowly walked to stand beside Ahsoka. "I taught him control. I taught him how to keep himself from being consumed. We both knew what Kenobi wanted from him, and Vos wanted that power so he could kill Dooku and end the war." She glared pointedly at Windu. "But he also didn't want to fall. He wanted to learn control, because he could feel it eating away at him. I taught him what I know."
"You thought you could control the Dark Side?!" Windu shouted, but Ventress just glared at him.
"Kenobi says you learned how to harness it, Windu," Ventress growled. "Don't you dare lecture me. The Dark Side doesn't belong to the Sith. Someone strong and clever can learn to harness that power and use it to accomplish something good, like Quinlan was doing! And let's not forget that the Jedi gave him the mission to assassinate Dooku! I was only teaching him how best to succeed in the only way I knew how!"
"My Master is strong," Tano said softly. "And the Sith have nothing he wants. He won't fall. We need to save him."
Windu steepled his fingers together and observed the Padawan, the former Sith assassin, the angry Saesee Tiin, the quiet Qui-Gon, the sympathetic Anakin. The situation was difficult, especially in consideration of how many Masters had been killed by the Sith Lord that held Vos. Sending more Jedi, this time right into the heart of the Sith's home, especially when they did not know his strength or the status of the missing Master, would only result in the capture or death of more Jedi. They needed something else. They needed...
"Ventress," Windu said. "You said you have a plan, is that correct?"
"I do," she nodded. "I have a team of the best bounty hunters I know ready and assembled for immediate departure."
"Would a Jedi presence help?"
Ventress shrugged. "As a distraction, perhaps. But I think you'll just get in the way." When the Jedi Master arched his eyebrow at her, Ventress rolled her eyes. "The plan was to get in and out as quickly as possible. There is no quick involved if the Sith are drawn out to deal with the problem, and Jedi will draw the Sith out."
"Long enough for you to rescue Master Vos?" Mace asked, and Ventress snorted in repressed laughter.
"Long enough to get your Jedi killed and prompt a sweep of the palace." She shrugged. "But sure, if you throw enough Jedi at Kenobi, I'm certain he will be occupied long enough to get Vos out. He does like playing with his food."
"Ventress," Ahsoka pleaded. "A Jedi Master on our side could really help."
"Two leaders of the Separatists and a fallen Jedi awaiting execution have just been removed from custody, and all the Jedi on Coruscant could do nothing to stop it. I'm not exactly brimming with confidence in the Order." Ventress shrugged. "Besides, the team I have assembled is very good, and the Sith are cocky. I don't think they'll deploy anything more than droids to deal with bounty hunters, but if there are Jedi with us, it changes things."
"Won't the Sith be able to sense you and Ahsoka?" Plo Koon asked, and the Nightsister frowned.
"Perhaps...but the more Force sensitive beings there are with us, the easier we will be to sense."
"Do you even know where to look?" Anakin asked, and Ahsoka smiled up at him.
"We think so. Ventress says he's likely on Serenno." Anakin was silent for a moment, biting his lip as if he were debating on what he should or should not say, and finally nodded.
"Tarkin thinks Kenobi has a base on Mustafar." There was a sudden look of shock on Ventress' face that said everything Anakin needed to know. "So it is there." He frowned. "Ventress, it's time to come clean. You have information we need, and that Sith bastard has now taken your lover from you. If I were you, I'd be out looking for all the revenge I could get."
"Anakin..." Mace warned, but the knight would have none of it.
"No, I mean it. Kenobi is a man on his last leg. He's got nothing left to lose, and he's taking as much of the galaxy as he can down with him. He's already burned one system. How many more need to die before we do what must be done? Sometimes, Masters, the Code gets in the way of the mission. Our rules are hurting us because we're playing with a man that adheres to no rules."
"If we abandon the Code, Skywalker, we're no better than the Sith," Luminara said, her voice stern and hard, and Anakin bowed his head to the woman.
"With all due respect, Master Unduli, but if we lose, there will be nothing but Sith. The Code isn't wrong, but it has no place in this war." He smiled softly at Ahsoka. "Snips, I'd go with you, but if I leave now, everyone on Oba Diah will die. It isn't a battle down here, it's a rout. The Mandalorians are executing everyone in sight."
"But they aren't burning the planet?" Qui-Gon asked, and Anakin shook his head.
"No, but they started to. We are managing to stop the fires, but the Chancellor said we aren't to engage the Mandalorians, so there's nothing we can do. Tarkin and I have been hunting Kenobi down here, but so far, we've had no luck. We're on the trail, though."
"You know he's down there?" Mace asked, leaning forward and staring intently at Skywalker.
"The Mandalorians have been rallying behind the Shadow King and Bo-Katan, and Tarkin and I have found hundreds of bodies that have clearly met a lightsaber. I sense a strong disturbance in the Force. He's here."
Qui-Gon slowly sat up straight in his seat, his breath caught in his chest and he gripped Luminara's hand tighter. "Anakin," he said softly. "We haven't been able to sense him before. Are you sure you're sensing him?"
"I..." The Knight stuttered and looked down at the ground, his mind racing. "I-I think so, Master. This isn't the work of his clone commander. We know he wields a lightsaber, but the bodies we found were heavily armed. The blade would have had to be in the hands of a Force sensitive." He looked at his former Master. "You don't think its him."
"I think," Qui-Gon began quietly, "that an ostentatious rescue of Wat Tambor and Poggle the Lesser was staged in order to quietly bring Barriss Offee to the Sith. We know Kenobi is a fan of diversions, and there is nothing that draws more attention than the burning of billions of people. Burning planets may simply be a means to cover his actual objective."
The words rang true to Anakin. Kenobi wasn't there. He didn't know where the elusive Sith Lord may be, but a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told Anakin that something was very, very wrong. Kenobi was the Shadow King of Mandalore, and the Mandalorians were absolutely working with him to complete his revenge, but exactly who was the mad Sith Lord seeking revenge against? He didn't know, an that was the trouble.
"If we're going to catch him, we need to flush him out," Anakin said softly. "Unfortunately, he's got an entire galaxy to run around in. We know his ships, but we don't know his home." He looked pointedly at Ventress. "We need to know about Mustafar. Tarkin thinks it's too dangerous to attack him there, but it looks like we're running out of options."
Ventress was quiet for a moment, looked at the holographic Masters that had assembled, at the hopeful face of Ahsoka, and she closed her eyes and thought of Vos, thought of how coldly Kenobi had ordered her execution. "Getting into Mustafar isn't a problem," she said softly. "But once you are in, you will never get out. Kenobi built his palace to be a trap, a prison to house the Jedi he captures."
"I was held there," Saesee softly droned, his voice far away, his eyes shut tight against the memories of his capture and his torture. "I never saw his palace, but his dungeons..."
"So we destroy it from the air," Anakin insisted. If we fly low enough-"
"You won't get close enough to do it," Ventress said, her voice tight with irritation. "It used to be a Black Sun fortress, the palace is heavily defended. And..." She breathed deeply, she lungs shuddering as she did so. "There are civilians in there. Hundreds of them. Twi'leks from Ryloth and Korun from Haruun Kal, and others from a dozen different worlds." Anakin and Mace Windu stared at the woman, their jaws slack, their hearts pounding in their chests. Across the course of the war, there have been many towns and villages that they have found abandoned, with no sign of the people, living or dead, and no indication that they had been evacuated. The people had never been found, and now they knew why. Kenobi had them. What's more, the Korun were Master Windu's people. The fight was personal before, but now it was dangerously close to the Master.
"Well," Anakin whispered, "shit."
"And you won't get close enough to Serenno with a fleet big enough to destroy it," Ventress said. "Dooku spared no expense on the defense of the palace, which is why a small strike team is our only option. We come in with the ships that are scheduled for the palace's deliveries. It should conceal us enough to give this a fair shot." Her fists tightened under the gaze of the Masters. She didn't like being here. "Both palaces are opulent and extravagant, but Serenno is more livable based on location alone, and since it is easier to defend, that's where Vos will be."
"Masters," Anakin said after an uncomfortable silence, "I have an idea. We need to flush Kenobi out, and we need to do it now. Tarkin has outlined a list of planets that the Mandalorians are sure to attack in their quest for revenge, and he will be with them at some point, even if he isn't with them now. My fleet and the Masters you gave me to carry my mission out have those all covered. Soon enough, he will have to return home, and now we know where that is." He took a deep breath and looked at Yoda. "The noose is tightening. If we remain aggressive and relentless, if we don't fall for anymore of his attempts to tear us apart, than we'll have him, and soon. Tarkin is a hunter, and I'm ready to face him."
Yoda stared at Anakin, his brow furrowing in his focus, and he nodded. "Continue your mission, you will, Skywalker. Do what you must. Padawan Tano." The Togruta looked up, her heart beating fast in her chest. "Permission, you have, to find your Master. With Ventress, you will go. Find the truth, you will, and return to the Council with it."
Ahsoka felt her heart sink, and sudden doubt in the Council began to worm its way into her. "Without any Jedi?" she asked, and Yoda frowned deeply, clearly conflicted about the decision.
"Correct, Ventress is," he finally said. "If Jedi we send, lose them, we will. A trap, this may be, and dead, Master Vos may be, or worse." His three-fingered hands gripped the knobby end of his stick as he emitted a groan of frustration. "Barriss Offee. Pong Krell. Count Dooku. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sith are they, and with them, Quinlan Vos may stand. All on Serenno, they may be. Dangerous, this rescue is."
"Then send a Master!" Ahsoka shouted, gesturing wildly to the seated members of the Council. "Send all of them! Let this be their last stand, if they are all in one place, we can kill them all!"
"This is likely a trap, Padawan," Mace said softly. "What's more, we don't know anything about the situation. We don't know of Vos is even there, we don't know if he's being tortured, if he's given in to the Dark Side, if he's even alive. And we should know these things. We need to know these things before we rush in."
"So...you're sending me into a trap?" Ahsoka said bitterly, and the Masters looked at her sadly.
"That isn't it, Snips," Anakin said kindly. "You would be going anyway, right?" The Togruta nodded slowly. "And you know as well as I do that this sort of mission is exactly what you're best at. Sneaking around and collecting information is sort of what you and Quinlan do."
"Do you not trust your companion in this?" Mace asked softly, and Ahsoka looked over her shoulder at Ventress, a cold, hard look in the Nightsister's eyes. With a deep breath, she turned and looked at Master Windu.
"I trust her with my life. We won't fail, Masters."
Yoda closed his eyes, his brow wrinkling with something unseen, something deeply felt by only him. "May the Force be with you, Padawan Tano," he quietly rasped, and the Togruta bounded out the door, the solemn, silent Nightsister on her heels.