Coruscant
Dimly Ahsoka could make out two voices. She attempted to open her eyes, but they were so dry that it felt like they were stuck shut. A sharp pain flared up, causing her to cease her efforts and focus more on the voices.
She quickly realized that one was the voice of the Miraluka, Jazal, and the other was the human Rael Averross.
"I still can't believe we won," Jazal murmured quietly. "The Separatists made it all the way to Coruscant. They had the Chancellor."
"I know," Rael replied, his voice even more gravelly and wheezy than usual. It sounded like he was on death's doorstep. "Don't it just feel good to be alive and victorious? Sound like cause for celebratin', right? Happy end of the Clone Wars day."
Ahsoka couldn't remember anything about the previous night, but suddenly she had an alarming thought. Am I in the detention block? No, that doesn't make any sense. She inhaled a sharp breath and shot straight up into a seated position. Everything hurt. With a groan, she struggled again to open her eyes, ignoring the pain.
"Counselor Tano is awake!" Jazal yelled.
Footsteps echoed in the distance, then drew nearer, accompanied by the electronic hum of medical equipment being pushed on a repulsorlift.
"Relax. Just relax… Can you hear me?" asked the even more familiar voice of Rig Nema.
"My eyes," Ahsoka said. She had wanted to scream the words, or at least yell in proportion to the pain she felt, but her voice came out so weakly it startled her.
"Lay back down," Nema instructed, gently pushing on the Togruta's shoulder. "I am applying drops… Now, there. Open them slowly."
The droplets seeping between her eyelids felt like heaven. Slowly, she opened her eyes in a long, deliberate blink.
"You've lost a lot of body fluids. We've run a—"
"Water," Ahsoka croaked, sticking out her hand and sitting back up.
Nema nodded to the medical droid, who returned with a small plastoid cup that Ahsoka grabbed greedily.
Downing it in one gulp, Ahsoka gasped. "More." Her voice still sounded raspy, like something had burned the inside of her throat.
Nema turned to the sink right next to her and filled a second cup herself. "Do you remember anything about what happened to you last night?" she asked, placing the cup in Ahsoka's hand.
This time, Ahsoka downed the water in two gulps. "More, please."
"Do you remember anything?" Rig Nema repeated more cautiously, handing her a third cup.
One sip later, Ahsoka swallowed hard and then stared across the medbay into space. Jazal and Rael Averross were no longer in the detention block but were in what Ahsoka recognized as part of the Halls of Healing. There was a third being, too, not human, closer to Bothan. When she finished rubbing her eyes, she recognized the species as Shistavanen—If Bothans looked a bit like dogs, then Shistavanens were wolves.
All three of them had nasal cannulas plugged into their nostrils. Jazal and Averross seemed free of their imprisonment, but Ahsoka suddenly noticed that this Shistavanen was handcuffed to the bed. He was just staring off into space at the ceiling. There was one Shistavanen Jedi Ahsoka knew of, but this wasn't him.
Focusing on their nasal cannulas, Ahsoka reasoned this meant they were not in critical condition but had suffered something breathing-related. Both Jazal and Averross's hair looked singed, and the Shistavanen had bald patches here and there, with his right hand completely coated in bandages and burn salve. Ahsoka guessed they had been in a fire.
She looked down at her own hands, which were darker orange than usual, with fat lines of dark purple around her veins. Looking at her palms, she saw dozens of blisters.
"A fire? Were we in a fire?" Ahsoka asked, looking eagerly to Master Nema for an answer.
"They were," Nema sighed, "You were at 79's, an establishment that serves alcohol."
Rael Averross guffawed mirthfully at that for a moment, then coughed violently and straightened his face. "A cantina? Seventeen years old… Now I know why you wanted to send us to Centax and get us out of the way."
"Rael!" Jazal hissed, slapping him on the shoulder with a pillow in a move that nearly jerked the cannula from her nose. "You absolutely—UGH!"
Ahsoka was too confused even to take offense at Rael's comment. Nor did Jazal's anger really register, only the contents of their statements: Individual words Ahsoka recognized which primed other memories.
Battle injuries? Centax. Mace Windu. Jazal and Rael Averross were deployed to Centax I. That's the moon where all of the Separatist POWs captured over the course of the whole war are being housed. This Shistavanen… He's not a Jedi…
Rael. Jazal. I approved their deployment, or rather Mace Windu forced me to. The fact they were deployed means—
"The Battle of Coruscant…" Ahsoka gasped, a terrifying realization crossing her mind. "How could I—There must have been a fire. Did I get wounded in the battle?"
Nema put a hand on the Togruta's shoulder.
"No, young one. Jazal and Averross were burned and suffered from smoke inhalation after Centax I had a moon-wide fire. The atmospheric processors were overwhelmed... There is a jurisdictional dispute with the Supreme Chancellor right now, which is why we have taken Separatist General Shiptar Tovrak into protective custody," she gestured to the Shistavanen. "You were found in a clone bar, 79's. Do you remember anything about what you were doing in 79's or who may have tampered with your drink?"
Once again, the mention of 79's went over Ahsoka's head, and she instead fixated on other elements of the explanation. Jurisdictional dispute?
"Hey! I helped save everyone too," snarled the Shistavanen, jangling his handcuffed hand. "Jazal—You said you'd tell them! I am cooperating here."
"I did," Jazal said serenely, "And I already have. I also promise I will testify that you saved lives at your trial—"
"My trial?" Shiptar yelped, head darting as he looked from one Jedi to another. "MY TRIAL? FOR WHAT?!"
"Enough noise!" Nema yelled back. "Enough commentary from all three of you—I am trying to calm Ahsoka down, and you won't stop screaming." She turned back to Ahsoka, lowering her voice. "We found you in 79's hours before the Separatists attacked. Someone spiked your drink with an unknown toxin. We barely managed to save your life—"
"My drink?" Ashoka asked, her voice still raspy. "No! That's impossible! What could I have been doing at 79's when I was there…" She trailed off into silence, tears welling up in her eyes.
Order 66. I was at 79's to stop—Holy shit. Palpatine must have spiked my drink to stop me. He could have used ANY of the Clones… She looked again at her blistered hands, then at her arms which looked in as bad of shape.
It must be some sort of blistering agent… Well, that doesn't matter, she reassured herself. Russo and I deployed the device. All of those Clones' chips were disabled. We disabled them once. We can do it again. All we need—SHIT.
"Russo. Did they find Russo?" she stammered urgently.
"Russo?"
"The crime scene analysis droid?" Ahsoka asked back, her croaky voice rising in anger and disbelief. "He was there with me… I had a device. You found it right. You must have—Oh no."
"The Coruscant Security Force didn't return any device to us," Nema said consolingly. "I can send a request, though, for more information. What did this device look like?"
"It was mostly durasteel, but—but," Ahsoka stammered, "it also had aluminum components and an interface… It was in a duffel bag. I can draw it if—"
"Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord," boomed a grave voice from somewhere down the hall.
Gasping, Ahsoka turned to the hall, wondering if perhaps another time traveler was here. Something about the voice was vaguely familiar, but in her current state, the Togruta failed to recognize it.
"Supreme Chancellor Palpatine—the elected leader of your Galactic Republic—has placed an inhibitor chip in practically every Clone. When he activates Protocol Sixty-six, they will slaughter all of us. We are doomed if you do not listen to me!"
Taking another sharp inhalation of breath, the Togruta fixed her gaze toward the door. Her eyes widened in horror. Ahsoka had always thought that exposing Order 66 before disabling inhibitor chips, or at least developing a way to combat them, was suicide.
Checkmate. Palpatine knows we know. It's over.
Mace Windu and four Temple Guards entered the chambers of the medbay, firmly gripping a bearded elderly human male by the forearms. Where he once had hands, he now had bandaged stumps.
"Have you gone deaf, Master Windu?" the elderly man hissed with venom. "I have just given you vital information for the security of—I must speak with the High Council immediately!"
Mace Windu twisted him, spinning the bearded stranger and looking him directly in the eye. "You are a traitor to the Galactic Republic, responsible for the deaths of trillions—"
"Trillions, Master Windu? There is really no need to be melodramatic. The most liberal estimates I am aware of posit a figure of three hundred billion."
"You will be treated for your injuries and held here in the Temple until such time as you can be put on trial," Mace Windu continued in a near scream. A vein was visible in the center of his forehead. "And—"
This time it was Shiptar's turn to interrupt the Jedi Master. "On trial. On trial," he snarled. "We're all getting put on trial, Dooku! It'll be a fair trial, I am sure. A fair and just—"
"We can decide upon my guilt or innocence at a later stage," the stranger interrupted Shiptar dismissively. "It is vital that you destroy the communications array at the Executive Building. It is from there that Protocol Sixty-Six will be initiated." He suddenly reared his head back, amplifying his voice with the Force. "DESTROY THE COMMUNICATIONS ARRAY!"
"Can you please get some sedatives and shut him up?!" Windu roared over the commotion, pointing angrily at Rig Nema as he maintained his firm grip on the man's shoulders.
Dooku.
One word the Shistavanen had snarled clicked for Ahsoka suddenly. The Togruta's eyes focused on the mysterious elderly man's face, now with the word Dooku in mind. The next second, she stopped seeing or hearing anything.
Ahsoka Tano had fainted.
o.o.o.o.o
Sheev Palpatine
Sidious grimaced while a Rodian nurse dabbed his hairline with disinfectant.
The Jedi had wanted to take him to the Temple hospital, where Sidious suspected they would subject him to a blood scan for midichlorians—secretly and without his consent. Another option, which Sidious would have preferred under normal circumstances, would have been to utilize the Grand Republic Medical Facility. In Ahsoka's timeline, it was from the Chancellor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction unit atop this structure that Anakin Skywalker was transformed into Darth Vader after his fateful showdown on Mustafar. That medical facility was state of the art, but unfortunately, it was also not so inconspicuously designed along the lines of Sith architecture.
It also just so happened to contain a hidden stock of Sith artifacts and lore that would raise alarms among the Jedi Order.
Thus, Sidious surmised that taking two Jedi there at this time would be most unwise. Dooku was, no doubt, asserting that Palpatine and Sidious were one and the same, and the Jedi could no longer be relied upon to be completely clueless. Unwilling to bring two Jedi into such a building at this crucial juncture, Sidious had instead allowed Anakin to lead him to the busy military hospital in the Judicial Arcology. With how many casualties Coruscant had taken during the recent Separatist attack, the hospital was so crowded that not even Supreme Chancellors had any privacy.
The brain scans had come back, and he had suffered no permanent injuries. It was fortunate that neither Anakin nor Voolvif Monn had been present when Grievous struck him with a hard backhand; otherwise, they would have been very suspicious at how unscathed he was.
"I recommend an easy day with bed rest," the surgical droid said, holding up a datapad. "I am prescribing you sedatives, which you can pick up from the pharmadroid on the way out."
"Thank you," Sidious replied with fake relief. He had no intention of taking those sedatives and resting—not while Dooku was in Jedi hands.
"On behalf of the High Council, I apologize for how Master Windu has been treating you," Anakin said solemnly.
Voolvif scowled in disbelief, glaring at Anakin as the medical droid and Rodian nurse turned away, moving toward another patient three beds away.
Sidious's lip twisted. "You do not have to apologize for him, my boy. Mace Windu and I have always had a tenuous relationship. Now he has convinced the High Council to defy the will of the Senate… It is just another new normal in politics."
"A new normal?" Anakin asked. Sidious could sense genuine dread rising in him.
"Well, I certainly hope this does not represent a new normal, but alas…" the Sith Lord's gaze turned to the Shistavanen Jedi, whose face was now contorted in a silent snarl.
A buzz from Anakin's wristcomm suddenly interrupted the conversation. Sidious tensed, reaching one hand just above his belt where his lightsaber was holstered and another to the hypospray filled with a potent sedative that would knock Anakin out in seconds (presuming he caught taken off-guard).
"Skywalker here," Anakin reported, holding the miniature holodisplay up to his face just as Mace Windu's holopresence appeared. "The Chancellor was roughed up pretty bad by Grievous, but the medical staff says he should be fine."
Mace Windu's presence nodded curtly in the direction of the Chancellor, then turned back to Anakin. "With Dooku in custody, we believe the threat to the Chancellor is low. The High Council is going into session in a few minutes, and we would appreciate your input."
The tension building in Sidious relaxed slightly. The Jedi weren't taking Dooku's claims seriously, at the very least.
"Very well, Master, I will be on my way."
"I—I beg to disagree," Sidious stammered in a voice feigning fear. "I need Anakin right here to protect me! There is no telling what contingencies Dooku's capture might initiate!"
"I will note that you were not concerned at all for your own safety, even as a Separatist fleet appeared in our skies. I will also…" Windu trailed off, then interrupted himself with a quick apology. "My apologies, Chancellor. You are welcome to accompany Skywalker and Monn back to the Temple. We have thousands of Jedi there who can protect you. You can also formally request a protection detail if you currently believe your Executive Guard to be insufficient, and I would be more than happy to provide four Jedi, so long as you did not take unwarranted risks while they were protecting you."
"To the Temple?" Sidious spat, causing Anakin to recoil and Voolvif Monn's snarl to harden further. "How convenient, I must say, that you are so insistent now to get me into the Jedi Temple, just as my mandate for my current term comes to an end."
"Suit yourself," Mace Windu said stiffly. "Skywalker, Monn, report back to the Temple as soon as transport arrives."
"Yes, Master," Anakin and Voolvif said in unison.
This entire situation was both alarming and vexing beyond anything Sidious had experienced in years. He wanted very much to make his move—kill Voolvif and knock Anakin out to prevent him from interfering, then initiate Order 66. The Sith Lord was certain he still had time to act…
But he was in the middle of the COMPOR Arcology Hospital, in view of dozens of patients, doctors, and security cameras, with his supporters all in the Executive Building a kilometer or so away on the other side of the plaza, and they were the closest to his location. In this building, there was no conceivable way to initiate Order 66 and also prevent the general population from discovering he was a Sith Lord. They may not know exactly what that entailed, but enough old stories and the unprovoked murder of a Jedi Master would be more than enough to turn them against him.
"You shouldn't have spoken to Mace Windu like that," Anakin said, drawing Sidious out of his thoughts. "Respectfully, I know he's harsh and extremely blunt, but he's just trying to protect the Republic. You spoke of a 'new normal' a second ago. I say that it takes two to tango."
Sidious frowned, considering how best to respond for a moment. He sighed, conceding the point. "Right, you are. You are becoming quite wise, Anakin."
"Thanks—"
"Skywalker," Voolvif hissed, tugging on Anakin's sleeve, "we really have to go."
"I—uh—yeah. Sorry, Chancellor. It was a pleasure speaking with you again. We should do this sometime soon." He moved towards the door, waving goodbye as the Shistavanen led the way.
"How about later this afternoon?" Sidious asked, smirking wryly in the corner of his mouth. "With the war coming to a close, both of our schedules should be free."
A furrow of concern crossed Anakin's brow. "Excellency, shouldn't you rest? The doctors are—"
Sidious glanced around and reached out with his senses to ensure the medical droid was out of earshot. "Nonsense," he said, standing up and patting Anakin's shoulder in a fatherly gesture. "It will take more than a blow from Grievous to take me out of commission."
"I… Alright," Anakin said hesitantly.
"Good," Sidious sighed, relief washing over him. "Meet me at the Galaxies Opera House at four o'clock sharp. And Anakin?"
Anakin stopped in the doorway, leaving Voolvif's side as the Shistavanen departed alone. "Yes?"
"Don't be late."
"Of course, excellency," Anakin said, nodding before the automatic doors hissed shut.
Not even thirty seconds after Anakin left, the doors opened again, and a female human nurse carrying a datapad stepped in.
"Supreme Chancellor, there is a speeder waiting for you on pad seven when you are ready."
"Oh?" Sidious remarked questioningly. He hadn't summoned transportation yet.
With some hesitation, he followed the nurse through the halls and into the reception area. It wasn't so much that Sidious wanted to remain in the hospital but rather that so much had already gone wrong today. Not wanting to elevate the already-heightened suspicions of his opponents by even a micrometer, the Sith Lord did as the doctor had instructed, making certain he was visible on security cameras. He waited in line for five minutes in front of the pharmadroid, picking up his prescription.
Before he even made it to pad seven, the Sith Lord sensed the extremely concerned presence of Sly Moore. The sensation of dread only served to inflame his headache as he drew nearer to the exit.
Sly Moore looked so tense that the muscles at the base of the Umbaran's neck flexed visibly near her shoulders. Even more worrying, Sidious's protocol droid, 11-4D, was there too. This meant whatever else had now gone wrong was so complex that she needed a droid to explain it.
"It's been exposed," Sly Moore said in a hushed whisper, gesturing to the open door of the speeder.
With a sigh, Sidious stepped in and sat down in the rearmost row of seats, which was facing forward. The Umbaran and the protocol droid each took seats in the rear-facing row across from the Sith Lord.
"Exposed by whom?!" Sidious spat. "Do the Jedi know?"
"The taskforce commanded by Commodore Los'ean intercepted the Obrexta III carrying—"
"CT-6116," Sidious sighed, somewhat relieved that Order 66 had only been exposed to a Republic fleet in a remote section of the Galaxy. "Yes, I know that."
"As you commanded, a portion of the Separatist fleet that was to attack Coruscant was diverted for this purpose," 11-4D said in a droid monotone. "Based on statistical analysis, it appears highly probable that the diversion in question played a significant role in the premature defeat of the Separatist attack on Coruscant. Our data indicate that the reinforcements from Kuat and Rendili were successful in overpowering the interception flotillas stationed at the jump points. This success may be attributed to the fact that the flotillas' strength had been considerably depleted, owing to the reassignment of more than one hundred capital ships to sweep a wide net across twelve sectors in search of just under twenty vessels."
Sidious considered this theory for a moment, but then his train of thought went back to the Kestrel and its fleet. "Has Commodore Los'ean been intercepted yet?"
"By my calculations, the fleet will be intercepted momentarily—"
"That's not the immediate problem, though," Sly Moore interrupted. "We cracked the codes for Tano's datapad about an hour ago." She passed him the plastic blue and gray device with a large screen. "We found this message unread from more than a day ago."
Before the Umbaran had finished the word "message," Sidious had already pressed the play button. The holopresence of an ashy-furred Bothan appeared on the screen wearing a gray-green navy uniform with the rank of an Ensign. Her demeanor looked shifty—constantly looking over her shoulder as if afraid someone might be eavesdropping.
"So, Ahsoka Tano," the Bothan growled, caging her bright blue eyes forward and straightening her posture. "I know all about it. You've been up to some shady shit, trying to fix the timeline. I know you're from the future. I know we know each other in the future. I can't say more than that, and no one wants me to tell you anything… Hell, Morai or Halfdan might smite me if they find out… But I think everyone's being total dumbasses, and Veryk told me to tell you. Bottom line: You're gonna get us all killed if you go ahead with exposing it. Do something else… Or better yet, do nothing."
From the future.
Sidious shuddered at the thought. It explained so much, though. How the Togruta always seemed to be one step ahead of him. How she was able to suddenly learn new roles within the Jedi Order, seemingly with just a few months of training. He also recognized the name Morai from Jedi mythology, though Veryk and Halfdan were mysteries.
"Could it be?" he muttered aloud, deep in thought.
From this alone, he knew three things.
First, he had succeeded in forming his Empire, and his rule apparently ironclad enough for Tano to supposedly come back in time in a last-ditch attempt to prevent that from happening.
Second, the World Between Worlds, the ancient place of myth that was said to predate even the empire of the Celestials, might perhaps be real. A place where he could enact his truest ambition, to reshape the Galaxy as he saw fit.
Third, Order 66 and the Purge failed to kill Tano in that timeline, an error that he had now rectified.
"My Lord, this situation is dire. We need to act," Sly Moore said firmly, drawing him back out of his thoughts.
Sidious shrugged. "I do not see how. We have the datapad right here."
"Master, the datapad is merely where Tano's messages are forwarded to," 11-4D explained, "This means—"
"Are you telling me that there is a holopad somewhere in the Jedi Temple that also has this message?!" Sidious asked, anger rising in him.
The droid paused, considering its next words as it always had when delivering dire news for Sidious and Plagueis before him. "The transmission was sent on a Jedi emergency frequency. It is probable that it was recorded on the main computers at the Temple and from there sent to any of her datapads that are linked to it."
Sidious's palms trickled blood as his nails dug into them.
Sly Moore gulped. "There's another problem too."
"And what is that?!" He rasped, turning to Moore.
"Ahsoka Tano is alive."
His earlier conclusion that he had rectified Ahsoka's survival evaporated. The interior of the speeder grew so silent that Sidious could hear the mechanical whirr of 11-4D's internal fans and his own heartbeat.
But in the midst of the silence, the driver of the speeder cleared his throat. "My Lord, is there somewhere I should take us?"
Sidious looked out the window and realized that the speeder was still parked at the COMPOR hospital. It had not moved since he boarded it. More embarrassingly, their escort of four BARC speeders and two red-painted LAAT/i gunships sat uselessly on the pad to either side of the limo, the true believer Coruscant Guard clones either piloting the craft or waiting in the troop bays glanced about while waiting for Sidious's speeder to depart.
He exhaled, stewing in his rage and letting it fuel him. "Take us to the Senate Office Complex. I need to make sure nothing else has gone wrong today."
o.o.o.o.o
Mace Windu
"The front lines seem to have stabilized, for the moment," Plo-Koon's holopresence announced, changing the topic of the conversation between the members of the High Council completely.
"It will probably take a few hours, at least, for the Separatists to decide on a new government leader. Perhaps we should press our advantage," Ki-Adi Mundi's own holopresence suggested. "Admiral Yularen is suggesting—"
A chime from Saesee Tinn's communicator interrupted the Cerean Jedi mid-sentence. "Mas Amedda is calling me now," muttered the Iktochi Jedi Master. With an annoyed sigh, he pressed the button to ignore the call.
"I daresay we have our own leadership concerns to worry about before doing anything," Shaak-Ti said darkly.
Everyone became silent at those words.
Dooku's capture was quickly devolving into a debacle even he could not have anticipated. Windu half-wished Anakin had killed Dooku right then and there, leaving no unresolved questions about jurisdiction and authority. On the other hand, however, Windu secretly relished being able to really stick it to the Supreme Chancellor after that stunt he pulled.
The Grandmaster eyed Mace Windu, his green ears perking up slightly. "Disregard the wishes of the Supreme Chancellor for much longer, we cannot. Have a plan, do you? Hmmm?"
"We only need to wait a day or so," Windu explained. "The Supreme Chancellor's mandate is effectively at an end. This deadlock between Palpatine and the Jedi Order will end once someone from the delegation of 4,000 succeeds him."
"This sounds like a political matter," Ki-Adi-Mundi's holopresence said sternly. "The Jedi are not supposed to—"
"The Supreme Chancellor has completely lost his grip on reality," Mace Windu said, raising his voice as he sat up straighter.
"But it is not our place to favor one political party over another."
Windu shook his head. "No, but it is our role to protect and ensure the peaceful transition of power. It is something the Order has been forced to do in the past."
Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully. "For once, I am in total agreement with you. Under normal circumstances, I would urge caution, but these are far from normal circumstances."
A few moments of silence that followed served to punctuate Obi-Wan's claims. Indeed the events of the morning had been far from normal. The silence was broken only when Shaak-Ti took a sharp inhalation of breath, then let it out, unwinding slightly.
"Contacted me, one of the potential candidates for Chancellor has," Yoda muttered distantly. "They shall hold a vote, tomorrow, for a replacement Chancellor."
Agen Kolar tilted his horned head slightly to the left and raised an eyebrow. "Who contacted you?"
"Senator Organa."
For a moment, murmuring spread through the High Council over that revelation, but then the doors to the council chamber opened. Anakin Skywalker and Voolvif Monn strode in, occupying positions in the center of the room.
Windu raised an eyebrow as he faced the newcomers. "Master Skywalker, Master Monn, what took you so long?"
Voolvif Monn assumed a stiff pose next to Anakin. "Mostly discussions between Anakin Skywalker and the Chancellor."
Anakin gave the Shistavanen an annoyed glance, then turned to face the Council. "The Chancellor is doing alright, as I said. He's a bit banged up, but he's pulling through. In fact—"
"What of his state of mind?" Ki-Adi-Mundi interrupted. "Does he sound like he intends to subvert the will of the Senate?"
Anakin's face screwed up in confusion and incredulity. "Subvert the will of the Senate? What are you talking about?! He's very upset that we have unilaterally taken Dooku into custody, but I think the whole Senate probably is."
Yoda hmm'd at that. "Probably right, you are, Skywalker."
"I still think the Jedi Order should put him on trial," Mace Windu said firmly. "If we turn him over to the Senate, he will just escape again, as many of his underlings have in the past."
Ki-Adi-Mundi nodded idly. "I have been pondering that myself. Would it not be possible to sever Dooku's connection to the Force?"
"Is such a thing possible?!" Obi-Wan gasped.
"It is. But such drastic action, not for many centuries has it been done," Yoda sighed.
"Dooku is not merely a Jedi who acted criminally like those who were subjected to severance in the past," Windu said bluntly. "He is a Sith Lord responsible for billions of deaths and the genocides of entire cultures and species. If anyone deserves to have their connection to the Force permanently severed, it is him. It would be the first time since the days of Qel-Droma that a Jedi turned Sith has been punished as such."
"Down a dark path will this lead us," Yoda protested, shaking his head. "Neutralizing anyone's connection to the Force, even Dooku—"
"So you would rather we just kill him?" Obi-Wan asked sarcastically.
"If the Senate puts him on trial, I have no doubt they will sentence him to death either way for his crimes," Anakin interjected. "And, respectfully, I say Dooku deserves to face both fates. If such a thing is possible, we should sever his connection with the Force."
Mace Windu just stared at Anakin and scowled. While the Master of the Order had occasionally agreed with Anakin on an issue or two, he had never agreed with Anakin on a stance that was so controversial.
Does this mean my own instincts on this decision are wrong?
"Into a recess we should go," Yoda said after a long pause. "Meditate on this, we must.
"I disagree," Obi-Wan said suddenly, drawing shocked glances from everyone, even Anakin.
"You disagree that we should take a recess?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, not on that—I disagree that we should make this decision without any input from the Senate."
"Well, we already know the Supreme Chancellor's stance," Windu grumbled, genuinely confused as to where exactly Obi-Wan was going with this.
"Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is not the Senate," Shaak-Ti interjected.
"I see," Plo-Koon nodded. "Master Kenobi, do you think this can really wait until after the Senate has chosen a new Chancellor?"
Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully, then sighed. "No, I do not."
"Then we are right back to where we were a second ago," Voolvif growled impatiently.
"Another option, there is. Summon the heads of the delegation of 4,000, we can."
Windu looked with concern to Yoda, a serious problem with this proposal immediately coming to mind. "Wouldn't that make the Jedi Order look overly political?"
The entire Jedi Council looked to Yoda expectantly, but the Grandmaster merely shrugged nonchalantly. "Uncharted territory, we are all in… Not since the end of the Dark Age have the Jedi been so directly involved in politics."
Obi-Wan furrowed his brow and exchanged a glance with Anakin. "Perhaps we should ask for the presence of individuals on the other side of the aisle from the delegation, to at least give the entire affair some impartiality."
There was a chorus of agreement from the rest of the council.
Windu nodded and reclined in his seat. "Then it is settled. We'll summon the delegates, then discuss what to do from there."