Chapter 5 - Between the Shadows
"No putting strain on this," Kix orders, as he finishes applying the bacta to Anakin's injured arm.
"With your work, it'll be healed in a day either way," Anakin tells him cheerfully.
"Not if you damage it further."
"Don't worry, Kix," Anakin promises so he doesn't make him freak out anymore when he already has enough to worry about as it is, "I broke bones all the time even back when I was a child. This one's nothing to worry about."
"I don't find that reassuring, General," the medic replies flatly. "Repeated traumatic injuries to the same bone can have serious consequences if they do not heal precisely the previous times."
Oh fiiiine. No point in arguing with him. "I know," Anakin agrees. "But it was usually my legs that broke, not my arms so that shouldn't be a concern."
Kix doesn't look any more impressed at the comment. "Was Jedi training that... rigorous?"
Anakin distinctly mentions Rex mentioning that he got broken limbs a couple times while training on Kamino. It's no wonder that's what Kix assumes. "It was from before that. I used to race pods and that did not always end well."
"Yes, I remember you mentioned that once," he confirms, sounding mildly amused this time, "And I assume you were too stubborn to stop despite your injuries, just like you are now."
"Yes," he agrees cheerfully, patting Kix's shoulder with his good arm. "Don't worry, I am not intending to come back soon." He stands, turning for the door.
"General," the clone's voice interrupts.
He turns back. "Yes?"
"I know it isn't my role to ask but how is the... investigation going?"
Word wasn't supposed to get out to anyone but considering how invested Kix has been in this and how much he actually understands the physical details of how these chips work, Anakin can't blame him for obsessively worrying about it.
"It's worse than I initially thought," he confesses bluntly, "But we're making progress on finding out who was behind all this. It goes far deeper than the Kaminoans."
Was Fives right about how far?
Kix's expression flickers with visible concern. "How deep?" he asks, "If it was a Jedi who had us created, I don't understand why they would... put this kind of device in us."
Because it wasn't a Jedi but how is Anakin supposed to tell Kix, or any of the clones, that they were created by Dooku to be nothing but tools in his war, to fight and die and lose their brothers for nothing?
Kix watched so many of his brothers dying, unable to save them because they were too far gone or too short on supplies. How could Anakin tell him that everything he's done is nothing but playing Dooku's game, that it never meant anything because the war never needed to happen at all? Because it wouldn't have happened if Dooku hadn't made the clones in the first place? Not that Anakin can imagine such a world, but he can't imagine what it would do to any of them to know that.
"I don't know if the Jedi's intentions were as sincere to the Order as they may have seemed," he replies finally, touching Kix's shoulder, "Don't worry about it right now."
The clone nods. "Thank you for telling me, General. But whatever you're getting into, don't forget to take care of your arm."
Anakin doesn't know if he wants to groan or laugh more. Of course Kix is still worried about that even in the face of all his brothers being potentially mind-controlled. The concern is appreciated even if he's definitely going overboard about it, though.
"I'll try," he promises.
But now... back to the case. He needs to talk to Salvo immediately.
**w**
The Council calls Anakin in as soon as he's out of the medical wing.
"Know now we do that guide the creation of the clones from the beginning, Dooku did," Yoda murmurs.
"Our enemy created an army for us," Windu agrees, "If this was known, public confidence in the war effort, the Jedi and the Republic would vanish. There would be mass chaos."
No doubt about that.
People already have a low opinion about the Jedi because of their involvement in the war. A lot of it stems from the fact that Dooku was once a Jedi, and no one understands what the fact that he's a Sith now means. Anakin finds the public opinions concerning too, sometimes.
"Cover up this discovery we must," Yoda decides, "No one, not even the Chancellor may know."
Wait.
"What about Detective Salvo?" Anakin inquires. No one was speaking to Anakin so he finds it far from comfortable to just speak up and ask them something but he needs to know. Salvo was the one who wanted them to look into this part of it in the first place. If they lie to him about the results they uncovered, how is he going to properly continue his investigation?
"Best it would be if know he did not that Dooku himself was involved,"
It doesn't feel respectful for him to argue but he's not really arguing. Just asking. "He thinks that... people high up in the Republic government may have been involved. Fives did too. I think if he knew the full extents of this, he might be able to determine this better. If someone is helping the Separatists form inside the Republic, we need to know."
The Council members exchange glances.
Anakin fights the urge to fidget, keeping his arms crossed in a failing attempt to make himself feel more comfortable after having spoken up like that in the first place. He doesn't offer his opinions like that unless someone asks. The only reason he even did now is because he's so scared about the fate of the clones and what all this means.
"Reveal Tyrannus' identity we cannot," Yoda says, "But let him know created by the enemy the clones were, we may. Valiant men, the clones have proven to be, saved my life and yours they have many times. Believe in them we must, win the war swiftly we must, before our enemy's designs reach completion whatever they may be."
At least that's something. It is true that letting anyone know about this is dangerous for everyone. It would probably make the public look down on the clones even more than they already do, actually. Anakin doesn't know what it'll mean for what he'll be allowed to tell Rex and Fives but he'll... worry about it later.
"Are you sure we are taking the right path?" Windu inquires.
That he and Anakin are both wondering the same thing at once is genuinely surprising.
Yoda sighs, ears drooping. "The right path, no. The only path, yes. Designed by the Dark Lord of the Sith, this web is. For now, play his game we must."
**w**
Anxiety is twisting inside of him as Anakin finishes explaining a rough summary of what they found out, to Salvo.
"I suspected someone else was involved in the clones' creation. It couldn't have been the action of solely one Jedi," the detective responds, "The planning that went into it was far too much. No one would go to these lengths unless they were either being persuaded too or had a guarantee that the war would start."
That's exactly what Anakin was thinking, too. He doesn't want to ask what's really on his mind but he needs to. It's something he has to know. "You said you didn't see a reason to believe Fives was lying about... Palpatine," he starts hesitantly, "What reason do you have to suspect him?"
Salvo looks thoughtful, almost as though he's analyzing something, considering whether or not he should answer. "I've watched his political movements for a long time," he replies, "If you truly want to know, I can explain it, but I don't want word of this going to anyone else right now."
"I won't tell anyone," he promises numbly.
What if the detective isn't entirely wrong?
What if –
It feels wrong to even think that. Palpatine is his best friend. He's the only one who's ever always been there for him. He's done nothing to give Anakin any reason to suspect him. Except what Fives said. And what Dooku said. And...
"When Senator Amidala was still the queen, she called for a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum. This is what led to Palpatine becoming Chancellor to begin with. It seems far from coincidental."
The instant desire to argue coils up in his chest but he keeps it to himself. He asked for an explanation. He doesn't need to defend Palpatine or Padme, in this case, for everything Salvo says even if he doesn't agree with it.
"Palpatine's power has increased exponentially since he became Chancellor, especially with the start of the war," Salvo goes on.
"The Senate demanded those powers be given to him," Anakin objects. Palpatine has always made it perfectly obvious to him that it's not something he wants but he accepts it because he doesn't have a choice and because he wants the war over as much as anyone does. And frankly, nothing gets done in the Senate otherwise.
"He's an expert at playing the moods of the politicians and he has certainly made no effort not to use the powers they're giving to him. His wealth has increased much and it also has for all the politicians around him who work to his benefit. Many Senators who have opposed him in the past have had their reputation suddenly destroyed. Even holonet outlets that have reported negative things against him have mysteriously faced... consequences. It's not something you would notice unless you're watching but I have been."
"Can I see examples?" Anakin asks faintly.
He doesn't want to believe any of this, but he can sense Salvo's genuineness.
And he can't stop thinking about what Fives said.
Even if it's making him feel dirty and like a traitor for even thinking that his mentor and friend who was always there for him would do something like this. Why would he?
"I can show you all the evidence I've collected," he agrees, "Do you want more examples first?"
No. He wants to pretend this is all a lie.
Anakin nods numbly.
"Dooku had past interactions with Palpatine – "
His blood runs cold. "He did?"
"They met on occasion from what I've heard. There are other Jedi who have mysteriously disappeared or gone rogue who are known to have had past interactions with him as well."
He didn't know Dooku knew Palpatine. That doesn't mean anything. But it also could.
"Senator Amidala was one of the greatest opponents to creating an army but she was nearly assassinated right before, forcing her to leave so her temporary replacement could vote emergency powers to Palpatine," Salvo adds.
"He's known Padme since she was a child," Anakin objects, past the pool of dread growing inside of him, "He would never – " do that.
Right?
"I'm not asking you to believe all of it. Nor am I saying he's the only one involved but the coincidences are too convenient. Especially when you consider that this bounty hunter attempting to assassinate the Senator mysteriously led the Jedi investigation to Kamino so the army was found at the most convenient point. And then this bounty hunter led Republic forces straight to Geonosis to start off the war."
That is too convenient.
But considering that Dooku created the clone army for them, it's obvious enough that all of that was setup.
"There's also how the control of the bank was given to the Chancellor's office but even now there has been little to no effort put into helping the citizens of the Republic," Salvo finishes. He pushes a datapad across the table to Anakin. "I have multiple backups of all the evidence I've collected but here's some of it."
Anakin takes the datapad from him hesitantly, almost wishing he didn't have to look at it.
"I would say all of these crimes sum up to treason against the Republic, Naboo, voter fraud, slander, murder and attempted murder, violation of Oath of Office and... a lot more."
He wants to deny all of that. He can't believe Palpatine would do something like this but he can't deny what he's seeing.
Salvo has collected details about all the points he brought up and it is too convenient to be nothing. But –
Why? Why would Palpatine do any of this?
"I've also collected information on numerous other corrupt officials and evidence of their crimes. Not all of them are directly related to Palpatine but it's still a concern. You can keep the datapad if you desire. I would prefer to have the information in multiple places regardless so other people can take action if... they want." Good to know someone's been looking into that kind of thing, at least.
Not that that's what Anakin's most concerned about right now.
"What are you intending to do?" Anakin asks numbly. He feels betrayed and gutted and like he's the traitor all at the same time and he doesn't know what to do.
"For one, I've been working on something that should be able to shut down all the clones' chips once they've been activated," Salvo begins.
"Safely? How would you do that?"
"It's a frequency that I believe will force the ships to shut down. I don't think it will damage any surrounding brain structure. It doesn't deactivate them permanently. The trigger words will still work immediately after if used again. It's a... quick solution to turn to if the chips are activated and there's no immediate way to stop it."
That does sound useful, especially if he's right about Palpatine. "Anything I can do to help?" Anakin queries.
"I have some experts working on it. But we need to be able to test it somehow to determine that it's safe and practical for wide-scale use. If you need it for any... emergency, I can give it you. And there's another detective working under me who can give it to you if I'm not available.
Anakin nods, unease twisting inside of him at the words. Why does something about this feel so important, urgent? He doesn't like it.
"Right now, there's a political party meeting with many Senators," Salvo goes on, "I plan to intend to see if I can get any of them to understand the seriousness of what the Kaminoans are doing."
His unease only grows. An inkling of danger ripples through the Force he can't make sense of even if he's too numb too feel much of anything right now.
"Be careful," Anakin requests, "Something... isn't right."
Salvo nods. "Thank you for the warning. I'll keep it in mind."
Anakin doesn't know why, as he heads out of the office, he can't shake a strange feeling of finality.
**w**
"This is clumsier than I thought," Fives huffs, swinging Anakin's lightsaber experimentally.
"You get used to it," Anakin tells him cheerfully.
Fives twirls it around again and Anakin lifts a piece of garbage from the garbage pile they're standing next to – it has yet to be gotten rid of – throwing it at Fives.
He swings the lightsaber up to block it and misses entirely. The movement is too clumsy and jerky for him to move quick enough, but Fives had been insistent that he wanted to try this out and Anakin didn't see a reason to refuse. He's presently not overwhelmed with General work and he needs the distraction right now anyway. So does Fives.
Once he would have been teaching Ahsoka in his extra time, but well...
Anakin throws a few more non-lethal pieces of garbage at Fives who swats wildly at them.
"Looks like you're getting better," he observes dryly, as the clone manages to bisect a couple of them. The others just bounce off his armor, falling to the floor.
"I know why it took you years to learn this," Fives says, swinging up to slash through the next flying piece of debris.
"When you connect with the kyber crystal in the lightsaber, it becomes easier. It moves like an extension of yourself."
"I think the only extension I'll stick with is a blaster," he snips, ducking something that nearly hits him in the face. "But I wanna learn to use this too."
"Are you certain?" he asks, amused.
"I – ow! – am positive."
Anakin picks up the next piece of debris, the weight of it catching him by surprise. It's a totally rusted water canteen – that still has water because the hole in it was blocked from how it was placed in the garbage pile. Feeling maybe a little too gleeful, Anakin throws it at Fives.
He slashes through it easily, only to be showered with water.
Fives yelps and Anakin laughs.
Fives wipes his face off on his free arm – not that the armor does much to get the water off his face or dripping off his hair. And then he starts laughing, too. "That was a good one," he says with a laugh.
"Ready to go again?" Anakin asks, still amused.
"Why not?" He raises the lightsaber and Anakin's about to fling another piece of debris at him when he sees Rex approaching.
The captain sort of freezes mid-way there and Fives obviously reads the look on Anakin's face because he immediately spins around, looking about as mischievous as he does guilty.
"I won't ask why there's garbage all over the floor, General," Rex says flatly.
"Don't," Anakin tells him cheerfully, flicking out a hand to start pulling it all back into a pile with the Force. He's the one who messed it up, after all. He's not going to make the clones clean it up.
"There's an urgent transmission from the Council," Rex explains.
Any levity fades instantly. "I'll be right there," Anakin replies, throwing the last of the garbage into the pile, collecting his lightsaber from Fives, before the three of them head for the bridge.
Obi-Wan, Yoda and Windu are all in the hologram, their expressions graver than he's ever seen. The knot of anxiety in his chest skyrockets instantly.
"Masters?" he asks uncertainly. No use predicting doom until he knows what the problem is.
"Discovered the identity of the Sith Lord, we have," Yoda begins.
"It's Palpatine," Obi-Wan adds.
The words feel like they're coming in from a million miles away. It doesn't feel real. It can't – He's gone into shock before. He vaguely thinks that that's what this is. "How do you know?" he inquires faintly.
Obi-Wan pushes a button on something, displaying a hologram in the room.
It's obviously a meeting between Palpatine and Salvo. They're sitting across from each other somewhere in what looks like a private place. But Salvo doesn't... look good.
Salvo looks like he's... dying? His face is pale and drawn but nothing is visibly wrong with him – he must've been poisoned. That's Anakin's first thought at least but he has no idea how that would've happened. When he was talking to him earlier everything was fine.
"Do you truly believe I would let myself be derailed by a single detective?" Sidious is saying. The recording isn't clear but it's distinct enough for him to make out tones. "I have played this for decades. I've handled the Republic, the Senate, the Jedi, Senator Amidala and Skywalker. Do you think the war was accidental? I saw the state of the galaxy and I used it. The Republic and the Separatists will both fall and something new will take their places. I have built this too long for it to end. You will fail and you will die."
Salvo somehow manages to smile, despite the strain in his face. "Yes, you won the battle but with this move I call checkmate. You didn't see me as a threat because I don't have the Force. But all this time your communications were being hacked and your speech has been broadcasted across the galaxy. Everyone knows who you are now."
Anakin senses the way the Dark Side whips violently around Palpatine. Non-Force sensitive might not notice it but it's the first time Anakin's seen true traces of a Sith on him. He senses it when Palpatine reaches out with the Force and Salvo starts choking. He can see the slight twitch of Palpatine's hand though a non-Force sensitive wouldn't be able to tell that it's that versus the poison.
But he can see it and he's never felt this sick in his life, especially not as he doesn't stop – not until Salvo is dead.
He's dead.
He was fine only hours ago but now he's gone, killed by the very person who Anakin's always seen as his mentor figure.
Salvo was right and Fives was right and how didn't Anakin see any of it?
He might not have been close with Salvo but he still cared about him. He was the only one willing to help. He's the only reason Anakin got as far as he did and now he's dead. It fills him with a level of emptiness he doesn't know what to do with, how to begin sorting out. He's so used to death but that doesn't mean each one of someone he knows so personally hurts any less.
Nor does it stop the sharp surge of anger inside of him over how entirely senseless this was. Salvo tried to help and this is what happened to him.
This is what Palpatine did to him.
How... how could he? How?
"We need to arrest him before he can make another move," Windu says.
Anakin nods, the world still feeling far away. He knows that's what they need to do even if it still feels like treason. But Palpatine is Sidious and he did commit treason and they have definitive proof of that now.
He can't believe this is happening.
And that's when he remembers something else. It's important and he doesn't think they should go into this without having a reassurance. "Masters," Anakin starts hesitantly, "Salvo was working on a device that would... deactivate the clones' chips. I do not know if we need this before we go to confront him."
The others exchange glances.
"Palpatine shouldn't have the chance to use them but it would be a good precaution. But how would this interference work?" Obi-Wan inquires.
"It would have to be broadcasted to the entire galaxy," Anakin says, mind whirling, "Maybe the central communications tower on Coruscant?"
The other Council members exchange glances. "Have your men deal with it," Windu orders, "We need to with us immediately."
Anakin throws a glance at Rex and Fives, who are standing off to the side listening to the conversation.
"Can you handle it?"
"Yes, sir!" they both reply adamantly.
"Make sure none of the boys answer any calls from the Chancellor's office... or maybe from anywhere right now. Unless it's mine," Anakin tells them. He just wants to be sure. "And don't broadcast the frequency unless you know something happened." They don't need to cause an unnecessary circus.
But even so, he can't shake the very bad feeling he has. Something's going to go wrong. He doesn't know what but it scares him.
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