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| - “A Sith Lord?” Obi-Wan asked incredulously. “In the Chancellor’s inner circle?” Mace nodded. “We have to be prepared to accept that what Dooku told you on Geonosis is actually true,” he said, staring directly at Obi-Wan. “I have yet to question it fully with him, but it is possible, entirely possible, that the Senate has been under the control of Darth Sidious and has been for a number of years.” They were seated in Yoda’s chambers, Yoda was seated beside Obi-Wan and between Mace and Obi-Wan there was an empty seat as Renust Nju had yet to arrive from the Senate. Obi-Wan paused at this news, trying to contemplate it. “What made you think this?” he asked finally. “That information you and Anakin discovered on Cato Neimoidia,” Mace replied. “We were able to trace the Sith Lord to an abandoned factory of The Works. When the attack began, we were tracking him through the underground tunnels.” Mace paused for a moment, his gaze hardening. “The trail led to the sub-basement of Five Hundred Republica.” Five Hundred Republica, the most exclusive address on Coruscant. Its inhabitants were either incredibly wealthy, immensely powerful or both. People like Raith Seinar, Sate Pestage, and Mas Amedda…and Palpatine. “Do you have any suspects?” Obi-Wan asked. “Suspects we have in abundance,” Yoda replied. “Know all we do of Sidious is that bipedal he is and roughly human in form.” “Sate Pestage I thought of,” Mace added. “Perhaps even Mas Amedda, but the Sith Lord could be hiding in the Red Guards for all we know.” “Who’s handling the questioning?” Obi-Wan asked. “Questioning?” Yoda asked in surprise. “Never allow that, young Palpatine would. And no proof we have, only suspicions.” “And relations with the Chancellor’s office are strained to say the least,” Mace explained. “I have certainly lost my trust in him.” “I recall, Mace, that not long ago you were one of his supporters,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “Things change,” said Mace in a tight voice. “You haven’t been here, Obi-Wan. The Senate has already surrendered so much power, it’s hard to say where Palpatine’s authority stops.” “Is that bad?” Obi-Wan asked. Mace stared at him. “The only reason that Palpatine’s not a suspect is that he already rules the galaxy.” Obi-Wan considered this for a moment, yet this silence was broken by Renust Nju entering the room. He deposited a holoprojector on the middle pod and sat down. “It’s the latest amendment to the Security Act,” Nju explained. “I believe it will be presented to the Senate this afternoon.” “This report—from where did it come?” asked Yoda Before Nju could reply Mace answered for him. “The Jedi have friends in the Senate,” he explained, “for now.” He turned back to Nju. “Anything else?” “My source expects passage by acclamation,” he replied. “‘Overwhelming passage’ are their words, and as early as this afternoon.” Obi-Wan stared at him then went back to reading the report. It didn’t bode well for the Jedi at all: it gave the Chancellor authority over the Jedi Order. Such an amendment at such a time and in light of what they had been discussing earlier seemed far too calculated and planned than to be anything but the work of the Sith themselves. “The Chancellor’s goal in this, unclear it is to me,” Yoda murmured. “Though nominally in control of the Council the Senate may place him, the Jedi he cannot control. Moral, our authority, lies in; not merely legal. Simply follow orders the Jedi do not.” “Apparently this is something that has been plaguing the Chancellor for quite some time,” Nju said thoughtfully, he looked at Mace. “Remember when we intercepted that transmission from Grievous and you went ahead with the attack on Belderone without first going through the Chancellor?” Mace nodded, he remembered but he did not agree. His suspicions lay much darker. “I don’t think he intends to control the Jedi,” he said. “Placing the Jedi Council under the Office of the Supreme Chancellor gives him more prerogative than we realise.” Mace took a deep breath then spoke the words that had been eating away at his heart since the war began. “I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi.” “Disband us?” Obi-Wan asked. “Surely you cannot believe this is his intention?” “His intention?” Mace shook his head. “Perhaps not, but the Chancellor’s intentions are irrelevant. All that matters are the intentions of the Sith Lord who holds the government in his grasp. The Jedi Order are all that stands between him and galactic domination, what do you think he will do?” “Authority to disband the Jedi the Senate would never grant,” Yoda said firmly. “The Senate will vote to grant exactly that, Master Yoda,” said Renust Nju. “They will pass it this afternoon, my source was very clear on that.” “The implications of this comprehend they must not!” Yoda declared. “That doesn’t matter,” Nju told him. “They know where the power is, and they have been taught to fear it.” “But even disbanded the Jedi Order will remain,” insisted Yoda. “Even without legal authority Jedi we would still be. Jedi Knights have served long before this Republic, continue to serve it they will when it is but dust.” “Master Yoda, that day may have come sooner than any of us could have anticipated,” Mace argued. “That day may even be today.” “Convinced I am not,” grunted Yoda. Mace looked depreciatingly at Obi-Wan. “We don’t yet know what the Sith Lord’s plans may be,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “The only thing we can be certain of is that Palpatine cannot be trusted. This draft resolution is not the work of an over-zealous Senator. Palpatine probably wrote it himself and passed it on to someone he controls so it looks like the Senate is ‘forcing him to act in the name of security’.” “And he will continue to do this,” Mace went on, “until one day he will have to ‘reluctantly accept’ the post of dictator for life. This is a step aimed at the heart of the Jedi, a move towards our destruction. The dark side of the Force surrounds the Chancellor.” “As it has surrounded and cloaked the Separatists since the war began,” Obi-Wan agreed. “If the Chancellor is being influenced by the dark side, then this whole war may have been, from the very beginning, a Sith plot to destroy the Republic and the Jedi Order.” “Yet we have no proof for this,” Renust Nju pointed out and Yoda nodded grimly. “Speculation!” he grunted, thumping his gimer stick next to him. “On theories like this we cannot rely!” “Proof may be a luxury we cannot afford,” Mace stated. “We must be ready to act, without proof if need be.” “Act?” Obi-Wan asked. He wasn't sure if he liked the sounds of this. “He cannot be allowed to move against the Order,” Mace explained. “He cannot be allowed to prolong this war needlessly. Too many Jedi have died already. Palpatine may be about to do what the Separatists cannot: bring down the Republic. If he tries, he must be removed from office.” “Removed?” Obi-Wan stared at him. “You mean…arrested?” “To a dark place this line of thought goes,” Yoda murmured. “Great care we must take.” “The Republic is civilisation, the only one we have,” said Mace. “We must be prepared for radical action, it is our duty.” “But you mean…” Obi-Wan could hardly believe where this conversation was going. “You’re talking about…treason...” “I am not afraid of words, Obi-Wan!” Mace barked. “If it is treason, then so be it. The real treason would be a failure to act.” “This would reflect very badly on us, Mace,” Nju said precariously. “How would it look to Palpatine’s supporters if he were removed from office? He’s already been made a hero after his capture and rescue, they are not going to see this in the same light as we do.” “ Lost the trust of the public we have already,” Yoda pointed out. “No disrespect meant,” Mace interjected, “but that’s a politician’s argument. We cannot let public opinion stop us from doing what is right.” “Convinced this is right I am not,” Yoda asserted. “Working behind the scenes we must be to uncover Sidious. If move against Palpatine while the Sith do exist, not only disbanded we will be but outlawed.” Mace was almost on his feet. “But waiting give the Sith the advantage—” “Have the advantage they already do!” argued Yoda, waving his gimer stick for Mace to sit back down. “Increase their advantage we will if in haste we act!” “What do you think?” Obi-Wan suddenly asked Renust Nju. Both Mace and Yoda fell silent to listen to this. “It has been my firm belief for quite some time that eventually the Sith will overstep and reveal himself,” Nju answered. “But that doesn’t mean we should do nothing.” “I agree,” Obi-Wan said, “perhaps there is a middle way.” “Ah yes, Kenobi the negotiator,” Mace said dryly, settling back down on his pod. “So sure of your skills, you are?” teased Yoda. “Not easy to negotiate this matter is.” “It seems to me that Palpatine himself has given us an opening,” Obi-Wan began carefully. “He has said so himself that General Grievous is the obstacle to peace. If we work on locating Grievous, it will force the hand of the Sith Lord for he knows that Grievous cannot elude us for very long. This will draw Sidious out if he wants the war to continue.” “If?” Mace asked blankly. “This war has been a Sith operation from the very beginning, with Dooku at one side and Sidious on the other. And it has always been aimed at the Jedi, to bleed us dry of our youngest and our best and make us into something we were never meant to be.” “But we understand now the goals of the Sith Lord,” Obi-Wan added. “We know his tactics, and we know where to look for him. His actions will reveal him, he will not escape us.” Yoda and Mace looked at Obi-Wan, obviously impressed. “Seen to the heart of the matter, young Kenobi has,” Yoda murmured. “Yoda, Renust and I need to remain on Coruscant,” Mace said after a pause. “We need to continue Dooku’s interrogation and monitor Palpatine’s lackeys and advisers.” “How is that going?” Obi Wan asked. “The interrogation, I mean.” “Very slow,” Nju told him. “You’re welcome to sit in for the next session, if you like.” ”I will,” Obi-Wan said with a nod. “But who will capture Grievous?” Renust Nju asked. “He is more than a match for anyone, or so I am told.” “We’ll worry about that when we find him,” Obi-Wan replied. “Qui-Gon once told me that until the possible becomes the actual it is just a distraction.” Utapau. A planet of deserts, yet unlike Tatooine its surface was pockmarked with round crevasses known as sinkholes. These sinkholes were the primary source of water and where life was concentrated. It was formerly a neutral world near the mid-section of the Rimma Trade Route, but neutrality was laughable during the Clone Wars. A planet only remained neutral if neither the Republic nor the Separatists were interested in it. In Utapau’s case, it was the latter. The planet had been occupied by Separatist forces for quite some time. Yet not noticeably, there lay the trickery of it. From space Utapau looked as neutral as it was depicted in the Republic starcharts, its secret only known to those who resided there. General Grievous thought of none of this when his shuttle landed on the planet’s surface. Utapau to him was a staging post, and a temporary one at that. Several of his magna guards met him on the landing platform. “Sir, the planet is secure,” one of the droids told him. “Excellent,” Grievous murmured. “And where is the Separatist council?” “They will shortly be leaving, General,” the droid said, showing him to a waiting liftcar. Fortunately for Grievous the Separatist council would not be on Utapau for much longer. As per Sidious’s orders the bunch of snivellers and wheedlers were being shipped off to Mustafar. Where it was did not concern Grievous, as long as they were not here and in his way. Yet now the most contemptible of all stood right in front of him: Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation. “Gunray, why are you not with the others?” Grievous growled. “Some things should be said in private, General,” Gunray replied. “I am disturbed by this new move. You told us that Utapau would be safe for us. Why is the Leadership Council being moved to Mustafar?” Grievous sighed, cursing all Neimoidians and their works. He did not have time to set things out in black and white as needed to be done for the petulant Viceroy as he was expecting a call from Darth Sidious. The Sith Lord did not like to be kept waiting. One day he would kill them all, Gunray and all his mob and pay no heed to what Sidious said. But not now, today was not that day. “I explained to you, Viceroy,” Grievous said with laboured patience, “Utapau is a hostile world under occupation and was never intended to be more than a stopgap while the defences on Mustafar were being completed. Now that they are, Mustafar is the most secure place in the galaxy, it could withstand an attack from the entire Republic Navy.” “It better,” muttered Gunray. “The construction of it nearly bankrupted the Trade Federation.” “Don’t whine to me about money, Viceroy. I have no interest in it.” “You better start having an interest in it, General,” Gunray challenged. “It’s my money that finances this entire war! It’s my money that pays for that disgusting body you have and those insanely expensive magna guards of yours! It’s my money—” By this time Gunray was nose to nose with the droid general. He held his durasteel hand out for the Viceroy to stare at. “How much good is your money against this?” Gunray paled and backed away to a safe distance. “I…I…forgive me, General,” he stammered. “I was only… I was merely telling you of my concerns in your ability to keep us safe. I…we…the Trade Federation cannot work in a climate of fear. What about the Jedi?” “Forget the Jedi,” Grievous thundered. “They do not enter into this equation.” “They will enter that base soon enough.” “Impossible!” Grievous declared. “That base can stand a thousand Jedi! Ten thousand.” “Do you hear yourself? Are you mad?” “What I am,” Grievous replied, stepping dangerously close to the Viceroy again, “is unaccustomed to having my order challenged.” “We are the Leadership Council!” Gunray bellowed. “We give the orders here, not you!” “Are you certain of that?” Grievous leaned closer to Gunray so the Viceroy was forced to back away again. “You say we’ll be safer on Mustafar,” the Neimoidian ventured, “but you also told us that you would deliver Palpatine to us as a hostage and he managed to escape your grip.” “Be thankful, Viceroy,” said the droid general in a low growl, “that you have not yet found yourself in my grip.” He turned his back on the Neimoidian, and when he did not move Grievous turned back. “Your ship is waiting,” he purred. “And if you are on it within ten seconds I’ll boot you out of here so high you’ll burn up on re-entry.” This was language that Gunray understood well and accordingly left. As if on cue, the hologram of Sidious appeared once Grievous was alone. Grievous knelt, bowing his head so he could only see the hem of the Sith Lord’s robes. “Yes, Lord Sidious?” “Have you moved the Separatist Council to Mustafar?” The Sith Lord was not known for his cordiality. “Yes, Master. Their ship is lifting off as we speak.” It better be true, he added in thought, if not I’ll be follow through that threat. “Well done, my general,” Sidious said, and Grievous imagined he saw the Sith Lord smile. “Now you must turn your hand to preparing our trap on Utapau. The Jedi will hunt your personally at last, I have seen to it and you must be ready for the attack.” “Yes, Master.” “I am arranging matters to give you a second chance to do my bidding, Grievous,” Sidious continued. “Expect that the Jedi who will be sent after you will be Obi-Wan Kenobi.” “Kenobi?” Grievous’ fists closed at the recollection. “And what of Skywalker?” “I believe Skywalker will be…otherwise engaged,” the Sith Lord said. “I will not fail you again, my Master,” Grievous assented. “Kenobi will die.” “Deal with him,” Sidious ordered, “or you will be forced to deal with me.” It occurred to Grievous to question something he had not dared before, despite the consequences. “Master? If I may trouble you with boldness, why did you not allow me to kill Chancellor Palpatine? We may never get another chance.” “The time was not yet ripe, General. You must have patience,” the Sith replied. “The end of the war is near, and victory is certain.” “But the capture of Count Dooku—” “A necessary loss,” Sidious interrupted. “The Jedi assume that having him will win them the war, but it will be of no consequence. Soon I will have a new apprentice…one far younger and more powerful.” Grievous bowed his head lower and the hologram disappeared.
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