OBI-WAN KENOBI
Why was this happening?
He has asked himself this very question numerous times since his meeting with Darth Imperius on Coruscant's landing site. He wasn't sure if the man had some sort of twisted vendetta against him or if the force itself had some problem with him, but every move made by the sith lord seemed like it was specifically intended to mess with him.
Let's take his master's killer, a zabrak apparently named Maul, for example. Obi-wan couldn't even describe the shock he felt after seeing him. It shouldn't be possible for him to be alive. He cut the man in half and let him fall into the darkness. He shouldn't be alive!
And yet, he was. Despite his initial disbelief, everything indicated that he really was a sith lord Obi-Wan fought before. His cybernetic legs (oddly familiar ones), his distinct appearance and especially Sith's reaction after seeing him. Pure, undiluted wrath directed at Obi-Wan was an obvious sign that he really was the one who killed his master. Did the fact that this man killed a Jedi master and openly landed on the Republic's capital word mattered? Of course not!
Apparently Imperius made a deal with his ally, Darth Sidious, to give Maul a pardon! To the person who actively worked against Naboo during the crisis ten years ago. To the one who killed master Qui-gon in cold blood, almost killing Obi-wan as well! And he was allowed to go free! Just like that!
To make it even more absurd, he became the apprentice to Darth Imperius. The only thing that brought Obi-Wan any consolation was the fact that Maul wasn't happy to be in this position himself, judging by the reaction to the public humiliation received by the zabrak.
Still, it was a bitter pill to swallow.
It didn't help that Darth Imperius also decided to bring Satine with him for some reason! Why was his...friend accompanying an open sith lord?! He tried to ask her, so that he would be able to understand why she was following this monster, but whatever happened, she didn't want to say the reason.
He could only guess, but he was sure something horrible had happened. Satine was a leader of mandalorians. She wouldn't leave them alone without a really good reason. Which was why he doubted she was following the sith lord by her own volition. He would have to investigate it. If she was there against her will, if Darth Imperius had ever hurt her, he would...
What would he do? He had no right to be in her life, not anymore. He closed these doors years ago. So was it alright for him to be so angry? And was there even something he would be able to do? He had no evidence about any misgivings and Satine didn't tell him anything as well. In the current political situation going against Imperius would be almost impossible. The Order's situation was still shaky, so any action on their part against him could lead to terrible consequences.
He needed advice from someone more experienced in the subject. He would have to contact Padme, as maybe she would tell him what to do. He couldn't do that at the moment though, as he was in the middle of the most absurd event in his life.
"Here's a picture of the Sith Holocron. Take note of its triangular shape, so different from the Jedi Holocron. It may not look like much, but it's actually a sign of the difference of values between two groups. Sharp edges and vibrant colours of the sith Holocron indicate the sith's embracement of Passion and emotions. It's certainly different from Jedi holocrons' plain, cube-like shape, devoid of any noticeable features" said Darth Imperius, pointing a stick at the picture of the Sith Holocron displayed by the projector, acting as if what he was doing was completely normal.
Obi-wan was currently taking part in the lecture led by"Adas Kallig, a leading expert in the sith culture and history". It was conducted in the lecture hall of one of the most renowned universities on Coruscant, which for some reason really wanted Darth Imperius to show up. Even weirder was the fact that the lecture hall was overcrowded, with countless people wanting to listen to these blatantly false "lessons". The Man didn't even try to hide his obvious anti-jedi tendencies! And yet there were so many people that they had to stream this lecture in Holonet, so that everyone would be able to see it!
Why was everyone listening to him intently?! And why was he even able to spot several republic admirals among the crowd, looking at Kallig in admiration?!
Darth Imperius was standing on a platform, speaking to the crowd before him. He was also showing them various pictures, mostly containing sith artifacts and architecture. Behind him was his group, sitting in silence. The group consisted of a weird mutant, an unknown twi'lek and of course Maul and Satine.
Maul was constantly looking at him with eyes full of hatred. It was extremely uncomfortable for Obi-Wan, though he quickly learned that it was still better than guilty looks that Satine would send him once a while, unable to hold his gaze. He really needed to talk with her alone, without any sith lord interfering. He needed to know what happened.
Obi-Wan was of course sitting in the front row of the lecture hall, because apparently his humiliation just couldn't stop.
"And here you can see a classic Korriban temple, courtesy of my ancestor, Aloysius Kallig, who sent them to me '' There was a man in the picture, with a mask exactly like Darth Imperius, for some reason showing a V sign with his fingers. Obi-Wan decided to not dwell on that. Behind him was an unknown ominous looking temple. It certainly had a certain brutal beauty to it, but Obi-Wan knew what it was representing, which made it impossible for him to appreciate it. "You can probably already recognize elements common with various sith artifacts I have already shown you. It's another sign of the core value of the sith: passion and imagination" How could he say these things with a straight face?! Sith weren't passionate, they were evil and cruel! These things were not the same! And everyone was nodding along! It was madness!
"And it was actually this drive and vibrant personality of the sith that led to the numerous wars between sith and the jedi" No, it was the fact that the sith were trying to corrupt the force with their every action! How could everyone believe even a word coming from this man's mouth?! "I will not pretend that the sith were completely innocent. The fact that we are so full of passion meant that we could sometimes go a little overboard. That's true, I won't deny it. But let's look at the facts. It was the Jedi who commited the most grievous crime in these conflicts" What? There was no way! It was an obvious anti-Jedi propaganda!
"Let's retrace our steps for a moment. Look at the picture of the temple again. It depicts Korriban, the homeworld of the sith. And I don't mean the group. I mean the race of the pureblood sith" Lecture hall became silent, intently waiting for Imperius to continue, fascinated by the new information. Obi-Wan didn't like where it was going. He considered standing up, protecting the good name of his order, but he knew it wouldn't be wise. He would just be considered an "jedi apologist" or whatever was the term used by the public at the moment.
His only consolation was that he knew that Darth Imperius wouldn't be able to tell any real example, just blatant lies.
"But where are the sith now? That's a good question. The last information about the sith species I was able to find regarded the invasion conducted by jedi order and the republic on the sith space under orders of supreme chancellor Pultimo, right after the sith lost the great hyperspace war. He ordered the complete annihilation of the sith civilization, which isn't a good sign about their fate. There wasn't a lot of material to be found, most likely because of the shame Jedi felt for their involvement, but there were even mentions of Jedi master Urr cutting Sith off from the force completely. Can you imagine how horrifying it had to be for them? To have their entire religion, culture and even sense of being taken away from them?" Okay, that was used completely out of context! Yes, master Urr could sever someone from the force, but only if someone was completely corrupted by the dark side! At that point cutting them off from the force was an improvement for the galaxy!
…He probably shouldn't mention that. He had a feeling it would end very badly.
"there was almost no mention of the sith species after this period" Imperius sighed, as if he just said something sad instead of something that should be celebrated." The most likely explanation is that they were genocided by the bloodthirsty jedi, hungry for revenge after the losses from the Great Hyperspace War. I don't want to accuse anyone, I am sure current jedi, like my friend Obi-Wan Kenobi there, are different" Imperius pointed at Obi-Wan, making him receive a lot of accusatory looks. Great. That had to be done on purpose "I just think it's important to talk about our history, even the horrible one. And it wasn't the only time something like that happened"
Really? What was he going to lie about now? DIdn't he lie enough?
"Brotherhood of darkness, sith organisation created around thousands of years before '' Oh. Oh, no. He was about to bring up Russan, wasn't he? That obviously wasn't the order's fault! These sith were mad!
"It was a powerful empire and yet there is almost no trace left now. Why? Because of the systematic purge conducted by the Jedi order. It was so bad that the last remnants of the brotherhood had to flee to Russan. They were so desperate to survive that they tried to conduct a powerful but dangerous ritual that was supposed to protect them from the jedi. Unfortunately they weren't able to control the spell, which led to the death of both the jedi and the sith" Said Imperius with a sad tone of voice. Silence fell in the hall.
Obi-Wan had enough. This one was blatantly untrue. That was going against all known facts!
"Such was the price of the Jedi's unwillingness to accept the sith" Continued Imperius "But it changed. Now the Jedi and the sith are finally working together, which I believe is what the force always intended" He looked at the clock placed on the wall of the hall "I think I should end this lecture on this optimistic note" Said Imperius, before looking at the crowd "Now, does anyone have any questions?"
Finally, it was over. He could only hope that everyone finally realized how foolish it was to believe sith's words. It was obvious that there was nothing valuable to be learnt from this monster.
The hall was filled with raised hands. Obi-Wan felt like crying.