An Irrepressible Conflict

The commander reached for his comm. Anakin gathered himself to spring at him, then forced himself to relax. They were in full view of dozens of people and droids.

Before he could think of an unobtrusive way to dispose of him, Kenobi stepped forward. "Excuse me, sir. I'm Major Dixa, with NIA. This is my droid. I admit it's out of place here, but it's designed for undercover missions."

The commander inspected him closely, then Anakin, eyes skittering away from the scars in distaste. "Show me your ID."

"Yes, sir." Kenobi pulled out his ID cylinder and gestured to Anakin to do the same.

Anakin brushed against the officer's mind. He was alert and suspicious, but not yet alarmed.

"What is your business here, Major?"

As the man studied the credentials Dash and Artoo had forged, Anakin projected an air of all-in-a-day's work at him.

"I'm an attaché with Colonel Yularen's party. I'll be taking a little R&R, too." Kenobi's smile was confidentially charming, and he radiated trustworthiness through the Force. "My droid was just confirming my meeting location." He glanced at the screen. "I'll be on my way, if you don't mind, sir. The colonel is a stickler for promptitude."

The commander handed the cylinder back. His suspicions appeared to have eased under the twin assault of Anakin and Kenobi's Force-aided soothing. "Do you need any assistance locating your meeting?"

"No, sir. I can find it."

"Very well. Carry on." After scrutinizing them sharply again, he gave a curt nod and continued in the direction he had been going. If Anakin had a greater appreciation for irony, he might be amused by the fact that the observant commander was just the sort of officer Darth Vader would have immediately transferred to his own command.

Steps decisive and measured, Kenobi strode away from the terminal. Anakin took up position on his left with Artoo bringing up the rear. He scanned the colossal duracrete and steel hub. Every so often, he lifted his eyes to the higher level walkways. The atmosphere had a certain flavor he had come to associate with military installations—purposeful and disciplined, if perhaps a little lax at times.

He sensed no suspicion yet. Most personnel they passed showed a distinct disinclination to involve themselves in any matter beyond their assigned duties. A few officers took notice of Artoo, checked Kenobi's rank and military intelligence insignia, and hastily returned their attention to their own tasks. For once the arrogant complacency that had infuriated him as Darth Vader might serve his purposes. He allowed a hint of foreboding—a sort of keep out sign—to leak into the Force. It would intensify their natural reluctance to risk antagonizing a stranger who might be more well-connected than they were themselves.

The little group reached the rear wall of the tower without further hindrance. After a brief wait, doors slid open on an empty turbolift. The three hurried into the temporary sanctuary.

Kenobi seized the moment. "Why did you risk bringing Artoo if your goal was to be discreet? He's like a beacon."

Artoo whistled indignantly.

Anakin placed a placating hand on Artoo's dome. "He's essential to this mission. He carries an advanced AI software that can perform stealth penetration into all Republic systems."

"There are no Republic systems anymore. The Republic was destroyed."

"The Republic was transformed."

"Very well. Define it as you will. What does that bit of pedantry have to do with Artoo's indispensability to this mission?"

Anakin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you think the Empire rolled out brand new infrastructure across the galaxy? The Empire's systems all run on top of Republic infrastructure."

Kenobi stared at him. "And you just happened to have this program lying around? Then why not bring an Imperial droid from the garrison?"

"No, I don't have a copy. Artoo has it."

"I'm confused. What's the difference?"

"Besides the fact that he's very proprietary with it?" Anakin ignored Artoo as he trilled with pride. "Copies of the software are useless without the hardware component, which is hardwired into his systems. There's no way to remove it."

The conversation was interrupted by the lift doors opening to release them into a large, echoing corridor, all reflective black floors and matte gray walls with recessed light panels. The hushed atmosphere was broken only by marching feet and occasional low-voiced communications. Straight ahead, at the front of the tower, lay the central atrium and beyond it, the main shuttle landing pad.

Already planning potential escape routes, Anakin noted that the blast doors to the pad stood closed.

Artoo directed them across the corridor to another bank of turbolifts that served the command levels. The droid was drawing interest, which Anakin did his best to shunt aside.

Once the lift doors had sealed behind them, Kenobi whispered, "Couldn't you at least have repainted him?"

"When?" said Anakin over the droid's outraged squawking. "I came up with this plan yesterday."

"I suppose I should have known better than to make the suggestion." Kenobi's rueful head shake seemed to answer both questions. He patted the droid's dome gently. "Artoo, have I mentioned that you are a thorn in my side?"

Artoo rocked under his hand even as he splatted a raspberry.

Anakin turned away to hide the twitch of his lips. "No aspersions to cast on his wiring?"

He resumed his inscrutable demeanor as the doors hissed open. Yet another corridor stretched before them, indistinguishable from all the others they had seen but for its number. It was sparsely populated, mainly by officers. Oddly, Artoo attracted less interest than he had on the lower levels, possibly on the assumption that anyone who had penetrated this far into the tower must be authorized, no matter how unusual their party looked.

They strode smartly toward the front of the tower and the next set of turbolifts, since in typical Imperial fashion, more weight had been given to impressive construction than to practical use. It was a relief to step into yet a third lift and find it unoccupied.

No sooner had the doors slid shut than Kenobi said, "They don't seem very alert considering the importance of this complex. Where are the security checkpoints? We've walked right in and almost no one has batted an eyelid."

"The Citadel is considered impregnable." Anakin shrugged. "Most of the personnel assigned here are marking time until retirement. And no one wants to risk antagonizing someone more well-connected than they are."

"Imperial politics at its finest, I see."

The lift halted and they stepped into a deserted corridor. Directly ahead lay the data vault.

"Claiming I'm Yularen's aide seems risky. Are you certain he won't hear of it?" Kenobi said softly as they approached a large set of blast doors.

"Yes. He's in a black ops Level Aurek meeting for the next two hours. We'll be long gone by then. And you have to have a plausible reason for requesting access."

Kenobi heaved a sigh. "All right. Here goes nothing…"

The doors opened at their request, revealing a middle-aged captain standing behind a tripartite console. He looked up in surprise. "May I help you?"

"Yes, Captain. I am here to access a data tape," Kenobi said in his most suave Coruscanti accent.

The captain glanced down at his console. "I have no notifications of any access requests for today."

"No, I don't believe you would have," Kenobi replied. "It's an emergency request from Colonel Yularen to consult the minutes of a recent Joint Intelligence Command meeting and then compare an as-built design with the engineering specs for Project Stardust."

"Stardust? Access to that is restricted to the very highest clearance level. I'll have to check your ID."

Kenobi held out his ID cylinder.

"His, too," the captain said, not looking at Anakin.

Anakin offered his cylinder.

"I'll also need to see your copy of Form 2494, signed by Colonel Yularen."

Kenobi froze for the space it would take to blink an eye. "You don't need to see the form," he said in a soothing voice as he waved two fingers in an arc.

"I don't need to see the form," the captain parroted.

Anakin glared at Kenobi.

"You will open the vault and allow us to access the information."

"I will open the vault and allow you to access the information."

When the heavy, round vault door had released in response to the captain's palm print, Kenobi said, "You will return to your work now."

Anakin fumed in silence beside him.

"I will return to my work now."

Anakin restrained his ire until the door had closed with a thunk and they had reached the data vault annex. "I wish you wouldn't do that!"

"What?"

"The mind trick."

"You object to mind tricks? Is this some obscure Sith philosophy I never heard of?"

"No. It's simple human decency. You're—you're enslaving him when you do it." He stalked to the animatronic control arms. "Artoo, plug in and locate the tape for Project Stardust."

Behind him, Kenobi spluttered, "I am not enslaving him. I'm temporarily persuading him to do something necessary."

"It's still slavery."

"I am a Jedi," Kenobi bit out, each word sharp-edged and precise. "I preserve life. The only other option would be to kill him."

"So kill him." Anakin's tone was flat. "It's more certain and at least it leaves his will intact."

Kenobi stared in astonishment. "You'd rather kill him than violate his will? That's—that's Dark Side thinking."

"No, it's slave thinking. I have been a slave. Slavery of the mind is much worse than slavery of the body."

"And you prefer death to slavery? Even temporarily? Even if the end result would be freedom?"

"You can't guarantee the end result will be freedom. And yes. I would much rather have died on Mustafar than—than what happened." Anakin turned unseeingly to the window that overlooked the data vault. He leaned heavily on the console. "You should have killed me, Kenobi. Being forced to serve, so that not even my mind was my own...enslaved by the Dark Side as it twisted my will...Yes, death would have been a hundred times better."

"Even though you're free now?" Kenobi sounded incredulous. "You'd rather have died?"

Anakin straightened and half-turned back toward Kenobi. "Yes. Especially because if I'd been dead, he couldn't have killed Padmé, at least not in the way he did. She would have had a chance."

"I thought you didn't want to discuss Mustafar."

"I don't." It was Anakin's turn to bite off his words. "But I also don't want you to override people's wills."

"I only use it when it's necessary," Kenobi said more moderately. "When it's the only way short of killing someone to do what must be done."

"Who put you in charge of deciding what needs to be done? What ensures you aren't misusing it?"

"Have you ever known me to use it for anything unethical or immoral?" Kenobi demanded.

Artoo burbled softly.

Anakin activated the arm and sent the retrieval ring zooming up the massive scaffold that organized the data tapes. "You mean other than committing treason against the lawful government, breaking and entering a secure facility, and stealing proprietary data, all with the aim of destroying government property and personnel?"

"I thought we were at war."

"Oh, we are. Just—at least admit to yourself what you're doing. Maybe the reason the Jedi didn't think anything was wrong with the chips was because they were already doing essentially the same thing with mind tricks." The tape popped out of its slot and the retrieval ring began its return journey.

"The purpose of the chips was misrepresented to the Jedi. Our failure to recognize their violation of the clones' personhood will always be a black mark against the Order. Mind tricks, on the other hand, are not an artificial tool created by a megalomaniacal Sith Lord but a tool of the Force to save lives when someone won't cooperate voluntarily—usually including the life of the person I'm persuading."

Anakin rounded on Kenobi. "Again, who gave you the right to decide on someone else's behalf whether they deserve to make their own choices? Why should your priorities override theirs?"

"Because I'm working for the good of the galaxy!" Kenobi said hotly.

"So for the 'good of the galaxy' as you define it, you're stealing their choice. It's just the same as slavery. Maybe it's because you haven't been a slave, but—choice matters. Even if you die because of it."

"Dead men can't choose anything—dead's dead. At least now he's still alive and can carry on with his life."

"Unless he's executed for dereliction of duty when the Empire investigates."

"That's the point. We get in and out quietly, so no one ever knows. A body would certainly trigger an investigation. And death is permanent."

Anakin growled in frustration. "Merely because you can do something doesn't mean you should." The data tape slid through the access chute at that moment. He grabbed it and shoved it at Kenobi's nose. "Case in relevant point." He spun to the data reader and inserted the tape. "Copy everything, Artoo. Don't try to analyze it. We'll take a look when we get back to Tatooine."

"You're being a little hypocritical, don't you think?" Kenobi said tightly. "If it's unethical to influence someone's mind, how do you justify what you've been doing ever since we encountered that commander?"

"There's a difference between forcing someone to do what I want because I invaded his mind and encouraging him to ignore me because I'm not doing anything interesting."

"It's a difference only in degree, not in type. You're still using the Force to influence someone else's decisions."

"It was necessary."

"You know, when I said that just now, you asked who put me in charge."

Anakin twisted to glare at him.

"I'm just pointing out your inconsistency." Kenobi spread his hands. "Is this really the time to hash out our philosophical disagreements?"

They locked eyes, neither wanting to concede.

"No," Anakin grated. "I would still prefer that you don't use any more mind tricks on this mission."

"All right." Kenobi nodded amicably. "Does that mean you won't be trying to divert attention from Artoo?"

Anakin pressed his lips together. "It may be necessary."

"I'm not the one wrestling with the ethics of pragmatism." Kenobi shrugged. "Do what you have to." He caught sight of the images rushing across the screen. "That's—a lot of data. Do you have something that can handle it?"

"No. I'll use the garrison computer." He glowered anxiously at the screen. "I only hope I can find the weakness."

"You believe there's a weakness?"

"It's a government project. Of course there's a weakness. It's probably riddled with them."

"Point. How does it work exactly?"

"I never involved myself with the details, but it's hyper capable, with accommodations for over a million men. The super laser is created by running the power from the reactor through six kybers and focusing them into a single beam."

"The kybers to handle that type of energy must be…" Kenobi paled. "All that crystal. Such a waste…"

There was silence for another two minutes. Then Artoo chirped cheerfully.

"Great, Artoo. Finish covering our tracks."

The droid twirled his dome and tooted.

Anakin popped the tape out and returned it to its place.

When Artoo signaled he had finished, they opened the door, but the captain stood blocking the aperture. "The personnel files and visitor logs have no record of you. You will wait here until a security detail arrives."

Anakin dragged him inside the access tube and jammed his sidearm against the man's chest.

The shot echoed endlessly.

Kenobi stared at him. "Really?" He gestured at the blaster, eyebrow raised.

And…Anakin wasn't even going to deal with that right now. Which left the other option. "Better a blaster than a lightsaber," he grunted, lowering the captain to the floor. "If his body is found before we get away, I don't want it known we can use the Force." He glanced around. The only security camera he could see was pointed toward the annex, but it was unlikely such a vital area would not be monitored. "We need to hurry." He pulled out his comlink. "Chatter. Chatter, respond."

"Chatter here."

"Monitor the comm traffic for any alarms. We've had a situation here. And be ready to move the minute we get to the train hub."

Artoo sealed the vault door behind them, then they hurried back to the turbolift. Anakin checked in with Chatter twice more as they made their way down through the tower; each time Chatter reported that all still seemed normal. They kept their physical and other senses stretched to the limit. The Force was jittery, but it was not warning of a particular threat yet.

It was as the turbolift approached the main floor that the Force suddenly flared. A moment later the lights went red and a disembodied voice said, "Alert! Intruder breach in the data vault. Protocol Besh-Hesk-Aurek. Repeat: Intruder breach in the data vault. Protocol Besh-Hesk-Aurek."

They rushed out of the turbolift, but it was too late. Troopers were already organizing a checkpoint at the lift to the subterranean floors. They turned away from the area before they could be questioned, ducking into one of the alcoves spaced periodically along the corridor. Anakin slapped the control panel for the door to the conference room. It was locked. He stepped into a corner where he would be hidden from casual view, knowing they would only be safe until a methodical search began.

"Chatter. Come in, Chatter."