Chapter 5
Ahsoka hated her new assignment. She hated following Anakin around. She hated lying to him. She hated that the Council had asked her to. She hated that understood why they'd done it. And most of all, she hated that she agreed with them.
She was currently tailing Anakin's speeder as he headed off to meet with the Chancellor. Ahsoka found it ironic that the only reason he hadn't spotted her was that he was the one who had taught her how to tail someone without them realizing it. She had never imagined that she would be using those skills on him.
It had been a few days since Ahsoka had been given her assignment. To be honest, she was surprised that Anakin hadn't realized she was spying on him yet. He seemed distracted. As she thought about it, she realized that ever since they got back from rescuing the Chancellor, Anakin had been distracted.
What if it was about how he had killed Dooku? The Jedi Order never killed if avoidable. Dooku was an unarmed prisoner—literally. He was beaten. There was no reason to kill Dooku. Chancellor Palpatine had unusual knowledge of the Jedi Code, there was no way that he didn't know that killing is not the Jedi way. Ahsoka had never completely trusted the Chancellor, but this? Something didn't add up.
And what about what Palpatine had said about Anakin's mother and the Sand People? Ahsoka knew that Anakin's induction to the Jedi Order was untraditional—he was nearly ten years old when he began his training. The defining traits of a Jedi could not take root in him, they had already been overruled by the values and beliefs his mother had taught him. A Jedi learns to control their emotions in order to stay focused and on task. Anakin grew up as a kid in terrible conditions, undergoing many emotions: happiness, fear, sadness, desperation, hopelessness, exhilaration, and anger. Every Jedi since the beginning of the Order had been trained almost from birth. They were never given the chance to experience any other way of life.
Anakin was known for his anger. Ahsoka had heard the stories from Obi-Wan about how he had changed after visiting his family on Tatooine when he had been protecting Senator Amidala right before the Clone War began. Throughout the course of the war, she had seen his anger first hand. His actions on the Invisible Hand worried her.
Ahsoka was shaken from her thoughts as a particularly angry Dug growled at her in his native language as her speeder nearly crashed into his.
"Sorry!" She yelled as she flew by, although she doubted he heard her.
Ahsoka had a bigger problem. She had lost Anakin.
She knew that he was meeting the Chancellor, but she didn't know where. They had passed the Senate building a while ago, so obviously it wasn't there. She centered herself and reached into the Force, searching for her Master. Within a few moments, she had located him just as his speeder parked outside of the Galaxies Opera House. Ahsoka lowered her own speeder to the ground across the line of traffic so he wouldn't see her, and then trusted the Force to guide her as she leaped the hundred or so feet to reach the Opera House, landing on floating advertisements twice to ensure that she would make it.
Ahsoka ran into the Opera House and followed Anakin's Force signature. She soon found him heading into the Chancellor's box. Ahsoka backtracked a bit and went into the box above them—which was luckily empty. She stood near the edge of the box, close enough to look down at Anakin and the Chancellor, but not too close that they would see her if they looked up. She delved deep into the Force in order to block her presence from Anakin, and she sensed that there was another Force user in the Opera House. She didn't think too much about it, guessing it was an off-duty Jedi.
"You wanted to see me, Chancellor?" Anakin said, drawing Ahsoka's attention to their conversation.
"Yes, Anakin! Come closer. I have good news. Our Clone Intelligence Units have discovered the location of General Grievous. He is hiding in the Utapau system," Palpatine informed Anakin.
Ahsoka's brow furrowed. Why did the Chancellor know Grievous's location before the Jedi Council? Then she remembered—now the Chancellor was directly in charge of the Jedi Council, and the Clone army. They reported information like that to him, before to the Jedi.
"At last, we'll be able to capture that monster and end this war." Anakin's grin was evident in his voice.
"I would worry about the collective wisdom of the Council if they didn't select you for this assignment. You are the best choice by far . . . but, they can't always be trusted to do the right thing."
"They try."
"Sit down," Palpatine said, and then turned to his aides around him. "Leave us."
The Chancellor leaned closer to Anakin. "Anakin, you know I'm not able to rely on the Jedi Council. If they haven't included you in their plot yet, they soon will."
"I'm not sure I understand."
Neither was Ahsoka. What plot could the Chancellor possibly be talking about? This was the first time Ahsoka had seen Palpatine and Anakin interact privately. She didn't like how the Chancellor spoke with him. The way he twisted his words into exactly what Anakin shouldn't hear, poisoning his mind . . . it unnerved her.
"You must sense what I have come to suspect. The Jedi Council . . . they're planning to betray me."
Ahsoka nearly gasped, but caught herself. The Jedi Council, betray the Chancellor? She knew how tense things were between the Chancellor and the Council, but treason? Yes, technically they already were committing treason by ordering Anakin to spy on the Chancellor, but they had their reasons. And it wasn't just the Jedi who were starting to doubt Palpatine's true goals.
"I don't think . . ." Anakin couldn't seem to be able to finish his thought.
"Anakin, search your feelings. You know, don't you?"
"I know they don't trust you," he admitted.
"Or the Senate, or the Republic, or democracy for that matter."
That was a lie. Ahsoka knew that above all, the Jedi Council trusted the Republic and democracy. It was the Chancellor they didn't trust, and yes, at times, they didn't trust the Senate either. But Ahsoka knew for a fact that some of the Jedi Masters were fiercely loyal to the Republic, almost to the point of emotionally attached. The Jedi existed to preserve the peace. Before the blockade on Naboo by the Trade Federation thirteen years ago that seemed to have started everything they were dealing with now, the Republic had kept the peace.
Anakin sighed, "I have to admit, my trust in them has been shaken."
"Why? They asked you to do something that made you feel dishonest, didn't they?" Anakin said nothing. "They asked you to spy on me, didn't they?"
"I don't know . . . I don't know what to say."
"Remember back to your early teachings, Anakin. 'All those who gain power are afraid to lose it.' Even the Jedi."
"The Jedi use their power for good."
"Good is a point of view, Anakin. And the Jedi point of view is not the only valid one. The Dark Lords of the Sith believe in security and justice also, yet they are considered by the Jedi to be . . ."
" . . . evil." Anakin finished.
"From a Jedi's point of view. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power. The difference between the two is the Sith are not afraid of the Dark Side of the Force. That is why they are more powerful."
"The Sith rely on their passion for their strength. They think inward, only about themselves."
"And the Jedi don't?"
"The Jedi are selfless . . . they only care about others."
"Or so you've been trained to believe. Why is it, then, that they've asked you to do something you feel is wrong?"
"I'm not sure it's wrong."
"Have they asked you to betray the Jedi Code? The Constitution? A friendship? Your own values? Think. Consider their motives. Keep your mind clear of assumptions. The fear of losing power is a weakness of both the Jedi and the Sith."
For a moment there was silence, as Anakin and Ahsoka both considered what the Chancellor had said.
Palpatine continued, "did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis 'the wise?'"
Immediately Ahsoka's suspicions were raised. The Chancellor of the Republic knowing a Sith legend? And one that she knew for a fact the Jedi did not teach. Ahsoka had only heard of it when she was in the the Archives and researching Sith legends. Darth Plagueis the Wise was the one story not told to trainees, not without being asked. How would the Chancellor know it, and why would he be telling Anakin?
Anakin answered, "no."
"I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life . . . He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."
It was clear from Anakin's tone that he was intrigued. "He could actually save people from death?"
"The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural."
"What happened to him?"
"He became so powerful . . . the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Plagueis never saw it coming. It's ironic he could save others from death, but not himself."
There was another moment of silence, before Anakin said, "is it possible to learn this power?"
Brutally blunt, Palpatine gave his answer. "Not from a Jedi."
Ahsoka bit her lip. This was bad. She knew one of Anakin's weaknesses was attachment, and fear of losing those things precious to him. Padme had told her about how Anakin had changed after his mother died in his arms on Tatooine, right before the Clone War started. The Chancellor had always seemed to know what was bothering Anakin, and offered advice directly applicable to his problems. This story . . . Ahsoka began to fear that Anakin was a lot closer to someone than he would care to admit.
And Ahsoka suspected that that someone was a senator by the name of Padme Amidala.
Read, comment, vote!
music+literature