Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with commercial aim. I make no money from it.

Phase 10: Thy brother's blood

=RK=

Phase 8

=RK=

Senate Building

Coruscant

Black smoke billowed through the corridors in the damaged part of the building. Emergency lights and blaster fire burned through it casting everything in a sinister twilight. Even explosions were of little reprieve, because what little smoke got cleared by their blast-waves was soon replaced by more of the stuff coming from the burning part of the Senate.

In the middle of that slice of hell, Obi-Wan figured the hard way that his preferred Soresu was somewhat less effective against men with shielded armour. While his blade-work was back up to excellence now that he was fully recovered from his injuries, the shots he reflected against the various groups of rebels he encountered merely splashed harmlessly over their deflectors. That simple fact forced him to either go in and deal with them close and personal or rely on the Force more than he was accustomed to. Their armour – identical to his own, while very nice was still vulnerable to good old fashioned blunt impact. Telekinetically slamming Clones into the walls and even ceiling accounted for more neutralized rebels than he dispatched using his lightsaber – the shields were marginally effective there too, making it at least theoretically possible to survive a fast slash, which meant he had to deliver stronger, if somewhat slower strikes that kept his lightsaber blade in contact with his target for a bit longer than usual. If he didn't have shielded armour too, doing so could have proved fatal.

Despite that, the blasters weren't the real threat. Heavy repeaters or even assault cannons carried by heavy troopers and the occasional grenade launcher were more of a threat, though he could handle them with the aid of his telekinesis and uncanny perception granted by the Force. Without the gifts of his power, Obi-Wan knew he would have fallen already. Even with it, he was shaken from the after-effects of whatever hit the building. He found it harder and harder to keep his mind focused thanks to a pounding headache and that meant his fine control of the Force soon began to suffer. There was a delay between noticing a threat and being able to do something about it.

It was almost unnoticeable in the start. A shot slipped through his guard when it shouldn't have while he was busy dispatching another fire-team. Nevertheless, his shield tanked the hit and he cut the Clones to pieces barely slowing down.

The next group proved more troublesome. There was a heavy trooper handling an assault cannon as if it was toy in the hands of his heavy exoskeleton augmented armour. Obi-Wan hadn't seen that particular modification of the armour before, nor did he had time or the desire to examine it when the man levelled that awfully big weapon at him. Kenobi grabbed that Clone in a telekinetic grip and slammed him in the ceiling, once, twice, then for a good measure a third time. Meanwhile, he was deflecting everything the rest of the squad could throw at him and his concentration broke. A shot slipped through, then another. His deflector flared with reflected and absorbed energy, until a third and fourth blaster bolt slammed through his guard and the defensive field fizzled into a cool-down cycle.

At least by then the heavy trooper was knocked out and Obi-Wan used him to sweep through half the squad before he had to drop him and concentrate all his remaining attention on deflecting the raining shots. Two more slipped through anyway, however they fortunately slammed into the thick chest-plate of his armour, which had its upper layers ablate, the lower ones spread the heat preventing a nasty burn and thankfully that was it – all he really experience was two impacts enough to stagger him and increase of heat. Now that Obi-Wan could concentrate all his attention on blocking, he was able to push through the distracting headache and didn't let anything more slip before his deflector came back online. At that point he slammed a telekinetic push into the Clones, including those who were just getting up and jumped in the middle of them. A flurry of blows and another telekinetic push saw that engagement over and it was just in time – he really had to take a moment to catch up his breath.

Now there was a spell of dizziness coming along with the headache. A concussion then? That sounded legit considering what happened to the people with him when the Senate was hit. It was really a miracle that he was as well as he was.

"General?!" A Clone shouted from behind.

What? He didn't sense anyone approach! Obi-Wan's eyes widened and he whirled around as fast as Force-enhanced reflexes could make him. That sudden motion was one push too many and he found himself stumbling to his knees. Fortunately, those Clones were friendly.

"Sir, are you all right?" A sergeant asked.

"I'll live." Obi-Wan groaned. "Status report? My comms are out."

"We're to reinforce the Chancellor's positions as a priority, then secure the Senators and sweep the building for hostiles. The battle outside is wrapping up. We've got reinforcements on the ground and complete air-dominance. It's just those who got inside when they blasted through the perimeter we have to worry about."

"Good enough, I guess. You're with me. We're passing through the Senate Chamber to check on what's happening there and then linking with the Chancellor's security detail. Take point." Obi-Wan fought through the dizziness to speak clearly. Perhaps he hadn't recovered as well as he thought or the shock-wave of the explosion got him worse than he was aware.

"Perhaps a medic should check up on you, sir?"

"That..." Obi-Wan winced, "Might be for the best, Sergeant."

"Get me a perimeter. Doc, check up the General."

=RK=

Senate Chamber

Senate Building

Coruscant

A few minutes later, Obi-Wan entered the Chamber accompanied by a platoon's worth of soldiers he had linked up on the way there. The medic confirmed he had a nasty concussion and it was clear to him that it was only because of the Force he could operate as well as he was so far, but he needed a bit of down-time. A shot of stimulant cleared his mind a bit but that was only a very short term solution.

Inside, a scene of pure madness greeted him. All over the place groups of Clones were shooting at each other while Senators were either running for the exits or hugging whatever cover they could find. In places there were soldiers trying to keep them inside and in others he could clearly see where groups of the elected officials were gunned down when they attempted to flee... and all that was on top of the whole Chamber becoming a complete mess with at least couple of hundred pods fallen from their cradles with predictable results.

"Orders?" Sergeant Young asked after signing to the soldiers to take defensive positions.

Kenobi's party had emerged near the top of the Chamber, which not only gave them a great vantage point to the unfolding chaos but ensured that no one immediately noticed their entrance.

"Figure out who is friendly and support them, then find a way to stop this madness!" Dangerous anger sparkled at the sight of the unfolding mayhem. When he gathered the Senators here, to keep them better safe until the unpleasantries were over and as a bait – he was ready to admit that much, this certainly hadn't been what he intended! If he was crazy enough to want most of them dead and actually act upon it, he hoped that at least he would have the guts to do the act himself instead of arranging something like this... this... words failed him...

Obi-Wan took a step forward, then another and another until he stood in a pod that was still firmly held in its cradle. He opened himself fully to the Force and let her enhance his voice.

"This is General Kenobi! Stand down! There has been enough killing today!" His voice carried through the chamber like a distant thunder that swept away the deafening sounds of combat.

Everyone froze and looked up in his direction.

"Enough, I say!" Obi-Wan repeated even louder, then got shot for his trouble.

Below the fighting resumed with a renewed ferocity – the loyalists were enraged at the sneak attack, and the rebels infuriated by what they saw as an attempt to influence their minds.

"Sergeant, take out the rebels. This ends now. And call all the medics we can spare!" Obi-Wan ordered in a frustrated voice. He raised a hand, using it to more easily focus his mind on what he was doing and telekinetically picked up a nearby pod. He took a moment to make sure his concentration won't fail him, then another to aim and hurled it at a group of rebels who didn't have any Senators around or below them. The attack blind-sided them and crushed a whole fire-team. The rest of that squad scattered and fell easy prey to a loyalist unit that was engaging them. He was able to repeat that feat twice more before running out of safe targets and only then did he jump down toward the closest group of enemies that Sergeant Young's soldiers weren't busy engaging.

One way or another, he was going to end this insanity!

=RK=

Part 9

=RK=

Senate Chamber

Senate Building

Coruscant

The madness actually got worse before an ever increasing stream of reinforcements could arrive and help put an end to it. With both sides gone berserk, casualties mounted at an insane rate, proving that advanced armour and shielding weren't of much help when those who wore them charged at the enemy heedless of the incoming fire. Later, Obi-Wan would think that he should have taken a better care at what he said to the Clones. His people too him at his word and threw themselves at the enemy to end the threat ASAP, no matter the casualties they were going to suffer. The Rebels weren't much better – they were furious at how he handled the situation and needed to eke out a win in the Chamber before enough reinforcements made it inside so they could rescue as many Senators as possible. Using a shock, high risk high rewards tactics was what most of them decided to do.

The results were predictably bloody.

Ironically, the people who paid the highest price were those who both sides wanted to keep safe, for some degree of safety at least. The Senators were caught in the middle, often with little to no useful cover and none of them was armed or armoured. Even a 'close' miss could injure or be even fatal. Blown chunks of walls or pods turned into so much deadly shrapnel, grenades of all types did even better work and the blasters used by everyone were powerful enough to blow off an appendage from an unarmoured being... To make things even worse, certain groups of loyalist Clones took their orders to keep the Senators in the Chamber very literally and they didn't feel like being nice about it in the middle of a fire-fight. At no less than ten occasions, Senators trying to rush an exit were mowed down by blaster fire.

It was in the middle of that utter chaos, that Obi-Wan figured out that his concussion had to be much worse than the believed or at least that he didn't handle the stimulant well. After cutting the head off the last Clone from a rebel fire-team, he found himself helmet-to-face with a dead man. Former Chancellor Palpatine stood upon a still intact pod and simply looked at the carnage with an atypical manic smile. There was no mistaking the man, even if he looked like a weird hologram – all glowing and transparent, yet as far as the Force was concerned, there was a man standing on that platform.

Obi-Wan shook his head, which made his headache spike and vowed to go get that downtime the moment the Senate Building was secure and he knew Satine was safe. That would be for the best; hallucinations were never good.

"Obi-Wan!" Palpatine's apparition turned his way and his expression softened to something that might have been a genuine smile – if it wasn't for the manic look in the man's eyes... did they flash yellow for a moment there?

Kenobi blinked and the ghost's eyes were back their familiar colour. He grumbled, ignored the hallucination and looked for another group of the rebels. He saw it a few levels below – they were in a nice elevated position suppressing a platoon's worth of his people. Obi-Wan paused to centre himself and regain his concentration after the shock of seeing a hallucination, surrounded himself in a telekinetic sheath and jumped down. He landed behind a Clone and slammed his lightsaber in the back of the man's neck, then it took him precious moments to focus enough to release the energy surrounding him in a useful manner. The rebels were already turning to cut him down when he released a mighty telekinetic wave that sent them all flying out of their position and the loyalists proceeded to make a short work of those who survived their landings.

The General looked for more enemies, however he was pleasantry surprised to see that the fighting was dying off. There were just three remaining rebel positions and they were suppressed and under fire from multiple directions. One after another the rogue Clones were shot up until the last few demonstrated a previously lacking amount of common sense and surrendered.

The shooting was suddenly over, the chaos on the other hand... Obi-Wan scanned the surrounding area through the Force and sensed no more imminent danger. He removed his helmet and tiredly rubbed his forehead. The cool metallic fingers of his gauntlet soothed a bit his pounding headache, but that was soon remedied when the smell hit him. Melted metal, both from the Chamber itself and blasted armour, burning flesh, which thankfully wasn't something you could really get accustomed to... The stench made his stomach turn and it took all his willpower and a Force related trick not to empty its contents then and there.

"Where are those medics!?" Obi-Wan's voice carried on over the finally quiet Chamber. Well, quieter. While there was no more shooting and explosions, the screams and moans of the wounded almost made up for it.

"On their way, sir!" Sergeant Young shouted from an upper row.

Kenobi looked up and was relieved to see that most of the people who followed him in this mess made it out unscratched. Having the elevated ground and decent cover sure helped their case. The Sergeant apparently sensibly kept his people in place and didn't let them charge the enemy as all too many other Clone NCOs and officers did... That was another thing he would have to deal sooner than later... What did those fools think doing something that suicidal? Sure, it ended the fight faster but the sheer carnage...

"That's a nasty spot of trouble, Obi-Wan... I can call you Obi-Wan now that I'm no longer the Chancellor and we don't have to stand up on formalities, can't I?" Palpatine's ghost asked.

Obi-Wan most definitely didn't jump and turn around with his lightsaber raised. He would deny it despite being caught on multiple cameras from Clone's helmets, especially as far as those recordings were concerned, he then spoke to a patch of empty space...

"You're dead and I have concussion." Obi-Wan nodded to himself.

"I think you're right on both counts. I'm pretty sure I'm dead at least and you should know better than me if you have a concussion or not." The apparition spoke reasonably. The voice was a match for Palpatine.

"Really bad concussion..." Kenobi trailed off and looked over the Chamber. The place was a wreck. Clones were moving through the debris and bodies and began triaging the wounded. "Someone with a working comm, find the status of the Chancellor for me!"

"I hope that wife of yours is all right." Palpatine offered.

"I'm not talking with a hallucination." Obi-Wan mumbled. Terrified and sometimes angry senators looked at him from their hiding places. Their eyes were haunted, but those coherent enough laid accusing gazes upon his form. They were right at least in part too – this trap had been approved by him even if the initial half-backed plane came from a few members of his staff. He finalized it and made it into something that should have worked... not this...

"General, about the Chancellor..." A Clone Commander approached.

"Don't look at me. Now it's your wife who should have all the 'fun' the position entail. I'm actually pitying the poor woman..." Palpatine shrugged with a weird smile.

=RK=

Private wing

Manaan's Blessing hospital complex

Coruscant

"For the third time, your daughter is going to be all right, ma'am Chancellor." A Bith doctor droned in an exasperated voice. He used a fluent basic, which was a big achievement for someone of his species – their mouths weren't built for most sounds associated with the language. "I'll recommend that you cut down on the excitement, stress and don't get shot at or blown up again until you give birth." His huge eyes narrowed at Satine who was resting in a large comfortable bed.

"I'll make sure that she don't get blown up again." Obi-Wan vowed in a relieved voice.

"In that case I'll leave you for now. Do try to behave." The Doctor gently chided and left the room.

"I'll help!" Palpatine's ghost added, earning himself a glare.

He kinda followed Obi-Wan once he figured out no one else could see or hear him and that almost got him hospitalized. He was still unsure if he was hallucinating due to the concussion, the medication or if the former Chancellor was really haunting him. On that topic he found it hard to believe the Force that indicated that Palpatine was really there. Everything he knew about it pointed at such a thing being impossible, yet it wasn't like he knew everything. There were whole vaults in the Jedi Temple full with records of forbidden knowledge. Or at least there were. During their flights, the Jedi salvaged as many of the extensive libraries and archives as they could and Obi-Wan left strong guard watching over what was left and the building in general to discourage thieves. The Jedi deserved that much if not more, despite the Order's betrayal.

"Obi-Wan, you're acting weirdly." Satine concluded after thanking the doctor. "Do you want to tell me something?"

"Can I get back to you later on that?" He hedged. First he had to figure out if it was the concussion, if he went insane or if he was really haunted by a ghost...

"So be it." His wife sighed. "What a mess... Do you have preliminary number of casualties? What about the Clones still holding out all over the Coruscant? Not everyone came to attack the Senate, far from it."

"About half of the remaining rebels already boarded the rogue elements of the fleet. We're still got a decent army worth of Clones dug in at a lot of places, however they aren't going nowhere without our say so. I'm not really sure how to handle them. Force, I'm not sure they really know what they intend to do either!"

"There has been enough bloodshed, don't you think?" Satine asked. "We have to end this peacefully if at all possible."

"I wholeheartedly agree, dear. However, convincing them might be a spot of trouble."

Satine giggled. "I didn't know you were for such grand understatements! Have you asked them what they want, besides us shot for treason?"

"Well... that's pretty much it, which is the problem in the first place."

"Have Ahsoka ask again. She's in contract with one of their commanders, isn't she?" Satine frowned. "She should point out that they still have an open way out, which won't last for much longer. When is the rebel portion of the fleet leaving?"

"Less than twenty-four hours now. Faster if Yularen has anything to say about it. None of our admirals are thrilled at having those ships hanging above Coruscant. It would take just one of those crews snapping further to make today's bloodshed a footnote in history..."

"After what Grievous do at Mandalore, I can see where they're coming from. I'm not comfortable having potentially hostile force in orbit either."

"Can't be helped. An actual battle will cause significant collateral damage. That said, our fleet is in position to take them out as fast as possible if the worst happens. What are your orders in case the rebel hold-outs don't take a ride on the rogue fleet or surrender, madam Chancellor?" Obi-Wan asked formally.

"Simply cutting most of them out of supply and waiting for hunger to change their mind isn't an option, is it?"

"Well, that might work, if you don't care about all the civilians lying low in those sectors." Palpatine pipped up. "However, as Mandalorians, you have to step even lighter than most or your political enemies would spin this whole mess in even nastier light."

Obi-Wan groaned and glanced at the ghost, who looked unrepentant. In fact, the former Chancellor appeared to be enjoying himself.

"Obi-Wan, are you all right?"

"After today? Not at all." Kenobi admitted. "Too many people died because I kriffed up, love. Satine... I almost lost you and the baby..." He whispered.

"You didn't. It's going to be all right, Obi-Wan. It's not like I plan to get into another fire-fight. We'll leave them to Bo from now on." Satine smiled mischievously. "She'll be pissed off she missed all the excitement stuck in the embassy still recovering."

"I'm just afraid that she would go out to make up for lost time once she's up and about."

"Either that or head for the Rim looking for her husband..."

"After today, you two are going to get painted with the same brush, you know." Palpatine sounded all too pleased at himself at that declaration. So much in fact that Obi-Wan's head snapped up to stare at his ghostly visage.

"I think I'll have that explanation right now, husband." Satine declared crossly. "You aren't all right."

How was he supposed to explain this!?

=RK=

Part 10

=RK=

Zone B-60

Garesh Sector

Coruscant

For hours now, Ahsoka gnarled on her bottom lip in a behaviour unbecoming a Jedi, much less an officer in the GAR. Ever since she learned about the Plan TM from Obi-Wan, she had been second-guessing herself more and more as the time for that trap to spring got near. When the battle at the Senate Building erupted, she was already fit to be tied. Her friends and family were there, she should be there instead stuck glaring daggers at the dug in positions of a bunch of rogue Clones! As progress of the battle trickled down the chain of command, her anxiety grew to never previously seen levels, as did her second-guessing.

Could acting earlier have made a difference, besides getting a lot of people killed? If she had ordered an attack and removed the dug in rebels, she might have been able to be at the Senate... or not. Ahsoka might have been ordered to look after another group of the rogues or too busy consolidating her unit and policing the area after securing it...

This wasn't the kind of what-ifs a life as a Padawan prepared her for. Before things were simple – talking about it and waiting was the obvious good and only reasonable choice she could have made. Talking was always preferable to shooting and fighting after all, if you were a Jedi that is. As a regimental commander on the other hand, things weren't so simple and clear cut. Her actions decided if thousands of people would live or die and she knew that there would be times when even if she did everything right, there would be a lot of dying...

That wasn't what a Jedi should think, much less believe. Yet, as an officer who already had an experience with this war, she knew it to be a painful, inevitable truth.

When Ahsoka heard about someone blowing up a significant part of the Senate, her command staff looked ready to bodily check her if she tried to bolt to check up what the hell was happening in person. It was a close thing too, because she was damn tempted to do so anyway. Her frustration grew along and even the simple fact that the rogues they were keeping an eye on were uncommonly quiet while the drama at the Senate unfolded was enough to worsen her fraying temper.

What was wrong with those Clones?! Why couldn't they make up their minds?! Their brothers were either evacuating or too busy killing and dying at the Senate, but not the ones she was stuck with. They were apparently content with just digging in as if there was no tomorrow and waiting!

"Give me another perimeter sweep, sensors, drones and patrols. Make sure we aren't being fooled and our friends haven't just left a screening force while somehow evading us." Ahsoka ordered.

"I'll handle it, sir." Her XO, once again was his efficient self. It probably came from his years as a manager of a delivery chain handling logistics back home on Anaxes.

While green, her regiment did work as a well oiled machine ans Ahsoka didn't see that changing until they got their fist taste of combat. Until then that left her in the unfamiliar position of having too much free time on her hands to decide what she and her people should do next, while her subordinates handled the lower level stuff – as it was meant to be. Unfortunately, lately that merely meant she had more time to worry about everything and everyone. When time for actual combat came, Ahsoka believed she might actually face it with relief.

Soon enough report came that the Senate's perimeter was secure and the rebels there were either dead or surrendering, mostly dead though. In the building itself – more and more reinforcements were getting in and sweeping it.

It was only two endless hours later, with nothing of real note that news from Obi-Wan came in the form of a comm-call. The perimeter sweeps revealed nothing new and as far as she and her people could figure out, their rogue counterparts were indeed locked in their little sector, just lying low.

"Ahsoka, you're a sight for sore eyes." Obi-Wan looked haggard. His bloodshot eyes had a thousand yard stare and he appeared exhausted but at least physically in one piece.

"Obi-Wan! Are you all right? What about Satine or Skyguy?!" The moment she saw him, Ahsoka threw away all the military protocol hammered in her head at Anaxes, which said a lot considering that her instructors did a great job of it.

"We'll all fine, don't worry." Kenobi sighed. "Unfortunately, this isn't a social call, Ahsoka."

His bearing shifted and his persona suddenly screamed superior officer. That was enough to make Ahsoka straighten up and salute. "Me and my men are at your disposal, general!"

"Colonel Tano, your orders are as follows: You're to make contact with the rebels you're bottling in and impress on them that their continued presence on Coruscant is unacceptable. The rogue elements of the fleet are leaving in fifteen hours and any rebel not on them when they do will be dealt with in a short order."

"I'll deliver the ultimatum, sir. What are my orders if they don't leave or surrender?"

"Prepare to contain a break-out attempt, otherwise hold your positions. We'll hash out the details but if it comes down to it we'll have to take them out by force. If it comes to that you'll have further reinforcements at your disposal – we'll be dropping an Acclamator above their heads to make the point if we have to."

"Understood, General Kenobi."

"Good. Do try to persuade them that there is no reason for any-more people to die today. Kenobi, out."

Relief flooded her and she slumped over the table where a map of the area was projected. They were all right, yay!

Now how in the name of the Force was she supposed to convince that hard-headed Clone Commander to see reason?! She's been trying to do precisely that for days now!

"Any new ideas on how to make that idiot finally see sense?" She asked.

Her staff looked uneasy at each other. At the start they did have ideas and none of them panned out, which was a bit disheartening.

=RK=

An hour later Ahsoka was at the same platform where she met her counterpart everyday ever since she arrived at this place. The place hadn't changed and she was pretty sure both sides had the same people covering their commanders in a case of treachery.

"Commander Ophis." Ahsoka greeted cordially.

"Colonel." The Clone grumbled.

"Your friends' bid to take the Senate and kill the Chancellor failed. All they managed to achieve was to kill a lot of good people, including a lot of Senators they were trying to rescue." She succinctly explained the situation.

"What of it?" The man continued to be obstinate. By now she was pretty sure he was trolling her.

"The elements of the fleet friendly to your cause will leave no latter than fourteen hours from now. I would recommend you take their offer for a ride off-world." She continued calmly.

"We're feeling all right in here, Colonel."

"That wasn't a suggestion, Commander. Your position is untenable. I've received orders from General Kenobi to offer you an ultimatum – when the fleet breaks orbit you will either be on board or surrender. When your friends assaulted the Senate, killing his wife was their primary objective." Here Ahsoka let her simmering anger show in her voice. "Both the General and myself are done playing games and tolerating your little temper tantrum, Commander Ophis. However, General Kenobi is a benevolent man. He is giving you one last chance to leave peacefully and this spare the lives of your men. If you don't take up his offer, we will reduce your position and we won't play nice."

"Big words, Colonel. Your men are greener than mine, have much less training and we had long enough to turn this whole area in one giant death trap." Ophis boasted.

"I did mention we wouldn't be playing nice, didn't I? How would your strong points fare under orbital fire? If we have to we can peel off this whole area level by level until we hid bedrock. It would take a bit of time, but we won't have to actually assault the place on foot you know."

"There are a lot of civilians in the perimeter." Ophis pointed out.

"Are you going to hide behind them? You claim to fight for the Republic, don't you? Then how can you use Republic citizens as living shields?" Ahsoka asked reasonably.

"I can ask the same of you. How can you stand over there and so calmly discuss dismantling this whole sector with orbital fire?" There was an edge of uncertainty in Ophis' voice.

"One of my mentors is General Veil. Besides, a ground attack on your sector would kill most of those civilians anyway when they're caught in the crossfire. Need I say more?" Ahsoka bluffed.

"Bloody Jedi!" Ophis spat.

"We're done playing nice. I shouldn't have to repeat myself for a third time. What would it be, Commander? The clock is ticking. Less than fourteen hours now and counting."

"If you relent on the jamming we'll contact the fleet for extraction, damn you!"