"I propose the ordering of five million more clone troopers," the Senator from Kamino suggested to the rest of the Senate. It had been two days since the attack, and still the members of the Senate were demanding escalation. When Padme suggested that this was merely a fringe group of Separatists, similar to the Death Watch of Mandalore, she was met with people calling her a traitor (even the Banking Clan and Trade Federation, which (Y/N) would find deliciously ironic if it were anyone else getting called traitor).
"Members of the Senate, please, please!" Palpatine yelled, trying to get everyone to think rationally. However, before he could get to what he was trying to say, the Vice Chair turned to him, relaying some sort of message. Palpatine placed his hand on his chin, as if debating something in his mind.
Ultimately, he decided to announce, "We have just received a message from our opponent, Count Dooku." He motioned to his Vice Chair to play the message.
"This morning, your clone forces carried out a barbaric attack against our people! And among the deaths was the very sponsor of these peace accords, Senator Mina Bonteri," the hologram of Dooku said, shocking both (Y/N) and Padme. Padme seemed to think it was simply horrendous luck, but (Y/N) had a feeling there was something amiss. These thoughts would have to wait, however, as the hologram continued its message, "As a result, I am left with little choice but to retract the offer for peace proposed by our Senate."
With that, the hologram faded, and the Senate once again erupted into calls for an escalation in the war. Padme looked to the floor of her repulsorpod dejected, but with (Y/N), he had all of his suspicions proven correct, as he was just barely able to spot the faintest hint of a smirk across the Supreme Chancellor's face...
It was quickly washed away, however, as the Vice Chair turned towards Palpatine with apparently more news. Palpatine raised his voice, attempting to establish order on the floor. Once all of the Senators quieted down enough for him to speak, Palpatine announced that Gume Saam, Senator of the Techno Union had been discovered dead in his office with a recording attached to his chest and the words 'Thus Always To Traitors' carved into his office floor. The death was attributed to the Jedi Order, as he had been found with multiple lightsaber wounds, though what had actually killed him remained unknown.
"As a result of this senseless murder," Palpatine prompted, "I will personally be proposing a new piece of legislation to place sanctions on the Jedi Order. After all, if they can do this, then who knows what they can do if they persuade an entire battalion against us."
As expected, the Banking Clan and Trade Federation put their immediate support behind this, neither one being great fans of the Jedi. And while (Y/N) did agree that it was always a mistake to give the Order too much power, he couldn't help but feel Palpatine had an ulterior motive to this. But, for now, he'd have to put those thoughts aside, as he had a certain Senator to lecture about caution and not overplaying her hand.
"The first thing we can do is defeat this bill," (Y/N) heard a male voice saying from inside Padme's office.
"Can we really win this war with the troops we have, Bail?" Padme responded, dejected.
"Let's hope we don't have to," sighed Bail Organa, defeatedly.
(Y/N) entered the door of the office, seeing Senators Organa, Amidala, and Farr speaking at the desk. Padme's aide, Teckla Minnau, stood off to the side holding a datapad.
"I am already working on a speech to help, but I need ammunition," Organa pointed out.
Farr responded, "But we can't afford ammunition, remember?" This was met with looks of disappointment from the two other Senators, as now wasn't really the time for such jokes.
"You two go to the Banking Clan. See how much interest they would charge us on this loan," Organa requested, with the other two agreeing. However, before they could leave the office, (Y/N) interrupted them.
"What did I say about overplaying your hand, Padme?" (Y/N) prompted, trying to check if Padme had learned her lesson.
"What do you mean? Summanous, Republic spies are reporting that it was Dooku's thugs who carried out the attack that killed Mina!" Padme explained, not believing the words coming from (Y/N)'s mouth.
"And what of Palpatine's grin when he heard the news that the Senator who was leading the peace movement was dead? Was that the work of Dooku's thugs as well?" (Y/N) asked, trying to get Padme to see the potential link. See it, however, she did not.
"Summanous, what you're suggesting is treason," Padme yelled. "I've known Chancellor Palpatine all my life, there is simply no way he could have anything to do with this. Seeing him smile was simply a trick of your mind." The two stared at each other for a while, with (Y/N) becoming exponentially angrier the longer it went on. If you looked extra closely at his hands, you could even see lightning begin to spark between his fingers. This continued for a minute before (Y/N) walked off, not saying another word, other than informing Padme that he was going to assist with the relief efforts. On his way, he ran into Ahsoka, who decided to join him.
"Hey, it's better than just sitting in the Temple all day," she said.
"And you're certain Skywalker is alright with this?" (Y/N) asked in response. "I know you're already on thin ice after your little excursion."
"Eh, what Skyguy doesn't know can't hurt him," she answered. This simply prompted (Y/N) to pinch his nose in frustration.
"Fine," he sighed, "but first I need to make a stop at my ship. I need a soundproof room for something, and that's the only place I know where to find one. While I'm busy just, I don't know, watch a holo on the holoprojector."
And so the two arrived at (Y/N)'s ship, with Ahsoka taking a seat on one of the couches near the holoprojector and (Y/N) retreating into his room. Once he was inside, he locked the door and activated the soundproofing. This was it, he was about to bleed his crystal. After this, there was no going back.
"You know," Nox interrupted (Y/N) from inside his head, "Lana and I had to make use of this feature a lot." It was clear to (Y/N) what he was insinuating, and (Y/N) was disgusted.
"Nox, I did NOT need to know that," (Y/N) said.
"Right, of course not," Nox muttered, facepalming himself. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to distract you from this, to get you to not do this, not yet at least. Once you do this, there's no going back."
"I know that already," (Y/N) responded.
"No, you don't. Not to the full extent," Nox interrupted. "Currently, your crystal is attuned to the Light Side of the Force. Sure, you've slowly introduced the Dark Side to it, but the crystal itself is still trying to keep you in the Light. You bleed it, it flips. If you bleed that thing, instead of trying to keep your use in check, it will start trying to pull you into free fall. It will try to tempt you into allowing your emotions to control you, not the other way around."
"So then what do you suggest, Nox?" (Y/N) asked, annoyed. "I can feel myself slipping whenever I turn this on. The purple, it just... it reminds me too much. I can feel it pulling, even harder than ever. I... I tortured that Senator before I killed him. I felt the NEED to cause him as much pain as possible before his death. So how? How else can I get it away from this color that I hate so much?!"
"I think I have an idea," Nox stated. "You might be able to completely bleed it at a later date, but for now, I recommend a pseudo-bleed."
"A pseudo-bleed?" (Y/N) asked, unsure of what Nox was talking about.
"A normal bleed is when you pour all of your negative emotions into the crystal, and only your negative emotions," Nox explained. "A pseudo-bleed is when you pour all of your thoughts, emotions and intents, into the crystal. However, what color a pseudo-bleed will get you is unpredictable. A true bleed will always result in a red blade. A pseudo-bleed? That can get you blue, green, orange, yellow, hell it could even stay purple. There's simply no way to know until it's complete."
(Y/N) knelt on the ground, placing his lightsaber in front of him. He focused on it through the Force, disassembling it carefully. When it was fully disassembled, he held the now purple crystal in his hands. Unsure of what to do, (Y/N) looked inward. It took some internal debate, but ultimately, he decided to...
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And scene. Yep, cliffhanger time. Partially. I actually want your guys' input.
Should the lightsaber at this time, be:
Yellow, like the Jedi Sentinels
Orange, like Jedi Diplomats (though for (Y/N) it would more represent a combination of the exploratory nature of the Sentinels crossed with the Dark Side)
Purple, as it currently is (warning, will result in a very angsty boi)
Red, like the Sith of the Rule of Two (warning, will result in catching the attention of the Jedi and Rule of Twos alike, and also an extra angsty boi)