One Path Chapter 31--Plans Gone Awry
Title: Plans Gone Awry
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: Palpatine could feel the boy's anger building, feel him struggling to rely not on it but on the Force. Anakin Skywalker wanted to be a Jedi. He wanted to release his desires, his hunger for revenge against the man who had severed his hand, and allow the Force to direct him. He wanted Kenobi's approval. He had failed to understand though, that the war of conflicting drives within him could also be used to the advantage of the Sith--and Kenobi wasn't watching now. Kenobi was unconscious, half buried under rubble. The time had come to teach Anakin how to make the Force serve him.
Rating: PG
Length: Around 2500 words
Category:Adventure? *facepalm* Battle scenes AGAIN...
Pairings/Charaters: Obidala mentioned, chapter is from Palpy's POV.
A/N: One Path Chapter 31. Set during an alternate RotS.
Plans Gone Awry
Palpatine sensed the Jedi before they stepped off the turbolift. He carefully schooled his expression, radiating fear for the benefit of the pair as they entered the General's Quarters. Kenobi stepped toward him first and bowed.
"Chancellor," he said with impeccable courtesy.
"Are you all right?" Anakin asked.
Palpatine stared over the young man's shoulder, putting a fearful quake in his voice as he said, "Count Dooku."
The two men turned to face Tyranus, who had just entered the room and was now standing on the balcony above them with two Super Battle Droids. Anakin turned back toward Palpatine reassuringly. "This is not a problem," he said.
No, thought Palpatine. It's not a problem at all, is it?
Kenobi spoke quietly and without fear. "This time, we will do it together."
"I was about to say that," responded Anakin.
Leaving the Jedi Order had changed nothing in Obi Wan Kenobi. The man had become tranquility itself--a pure and unhampered fount of Light Side energy. He moved in an intractable peace, effused unshakable calm, power under perfect control. Anakin had taken on a measure of that calm under Windu's hand, but Palpatine knew that beneath the surface lay a volcano which could still be tapped. First, though, Kenobi would have to be dealt with. Anakin still followed his lead too closely. He was still trying too hard to be what this man expected of him. That was the real purpose behind this little kidnapping ruse. Windu was not of such consequence. The boy respected him, but he had less influence now that Anakin had been Knighted. It was Kenobi he still looked to--Kenobi who still held Anakin in check.
"General Kenobi. Anakin Skywalker. Gentlemen--a term I use in its loosest possible sense-you are my prisoners," announced Tyranus, vaulting over the balcony rail.
Get help!" urged Palpatine hoarsely. "You must get help. Neither of you is any match for him. He's a Sith Lord!"
"Chancellor Palpatine," Kenobi smiled. "Sith Lords are our specialty."
We shall see, Palpatine restrained a laugh as the two of them turned and threw their cloaks over their shoulders. Blue blades lit with deadly grace and they stepped toward Tyranus.
"Your swords, please, gentlemen. We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor," Tyranus said mockingly.
"You won't get away this time, Dooku," Kenobi promised.
"Please," Tyranus responded with a sneer. "Do you think I orchestrated this entire operation with the intent to escape? I could have taken the Chancellor outsystem hours ago. But I have better things to do with my life than to babysit him while I wait for the pair of you to attempt a rescue."
"This is a little more than an attempt," Anakin said as his lightsaber came upward.
"And a little less than a rescue," Tyranus replied, swishing his cloak off his shoulder with a flourish. He gestured lazily toward the Battle Droids above. "Now please, gentlemen. Must I order the droids to open fire? That becomes so untidy, what with blaster bolts bouncing about at random. Little danger to the three of us, of course, but I should certainly hate for any harm to come to the Chancellor."
"Why do I find that difficult to believe?" asked Kenobi, moving gracefully toward him.
"You weren't so particular about bloodshed on Geonosis," Anakin reminded Tyranus, his movements perfectly mirroring Kenobi's as they flanked their opponent.
"Ah," Palpatine's apprentice let his smile widen. "And how is Senator Kenobi?"
"Don't! Don't even speak her name!" It was Anakin who barked the warning, Anakin whose jaw clenched. Anakin's emotions crackled at the implied threat.
"My wife is safely beyond your reach," Kenobi stepped in mildly. There was not a flicker of anger; if anything, the man's control tightened. He knew. He understood well what Tyranus was doing, and he wasn't about to allow it.
The statement was enough, though. Kenobi had meant no reprimand to Anakin, no subtle reminder of exactly which of them had won that particular contest--but Anakin felt it anyway. The seeds of jealousy that Palaptine had so carefully planted years ago were coming to fruit now. Love could soon be turned into obsession. Darth Sidious was well used to laying his plans so that they could be easily modified to suit events beyond his immediate control.
"I bear Chancellor Palpatine no ill will," Tyranus said, casually turning the discussion back to matters at hand. "He is neither soldier nor spy, whereas you and your friend here are both. It is only an unfortunate accident of history that he has chosen to defend a corrupt Republic against my endeavor to reform it."
"You mean destroy it!" snapped Anakin.
Tyranus regarded him with an air of weariness. "The Chancellor is a civilian. You and General Kenobi, on the other hand, are legitimate military targets. It is up to you whether you will accompany me as captives--or as corpses,'' as he finished the statement, his lightsaber rose from his belt and slid into his hand.
He ignited the red blade calmly and held it down at his side, but Kenobi showed no hesitation. He and Anakin were now squarely on either side of Tyranus, and he remarked dryly, "Now, there's a coincidence. You face the identical choice."
"Just because there are two of you, do not presume you have the advantage," warned Tyranus, moving his blade in salute.
"Oh, we know," Anakin shot, almost sneering. "Because there are two of you."
Tyranus showed no reaction, but Palpatine felt his apprentice's surprise nonetheless. Palpatine had seen no reason to tell him that Obi Wan and Anakin's latest mission had, in fact, confirmed Windu and Yoda's growing suspicion that Darth Sidious was more than a figure Dooku had conjured to sow dissension between the Jedi and the Senate. He also had not expected Anakin to reveal that fact. The boy's arrogance could be as troublesome as it was useful.
"Or maybe I should say, were two of you," the young Jedi went on. "We're on to your partner Sidious; we tracked him all over the galaxy. He's probably in Jedi custody right now."
"Is he?" Dooku replied with mild disinterest. "How fortunate for you."
"Surrender," Kenobi's voice cracked through the banter. "You will be given no further chance."
Dooku raised an eyebrow. "Unless one of you happens to be carrying Yoda in his pocket, I hardly think I shall need one."
Palpatine's well-meaning rescuers rushed forward. Tyranus fended them off effortlessly, remarking, "I've been looking forward to this!"
"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count," Anakin said with a sweeping slash toward his enemy.
"Good. Twice the pride, double the fall," came the rejoinder from Tyranus as he neatly sidestepped and countered. He cut at Anakin's leg, and the boy's blade flashed down to block, then swept upward again to push aside the slash that Tyranus made at his neck.
Palpatine waited patiently, watching with evident fear, but the Dark Lord of the Sith kept his inner awareness trained on Anakin Skywalker. The battle raged. Kenobi began to tire, as did Tyranus, but Anakin's energy only increased. Tyranus managed to hurl Kenobi back as they neared the stairs, but Anakin pressed on, driving him up onto the upper landing. Kenobi regained his composure and rushed up to join them as Anakin leapt over Tyranus. An arc of Kenobi's blade destroyed the two droids, but Tyranus reached out, seizing the former Jedi and lifting him into the air with the Force. At the same time he turned, directing a powerful kick at Anakin which sent him crashing into the archway.
Kill him, thought Palapatine as Kenobi began to choke.
Tyranus hurled the man down to the lower level, where his body smacked against the wall and crumpled onto the floor. Spinning again, Tyranus sent a console crashing down on top of him, but in his moment of distraction, Anakin directed a powerful kick at him and he flew off of the landing himself.
Anakin pursued him, leaping down as well, and the fight resumed. Palpatine could feel the boy's anger building, feel him struggling to rely not on it but on the Force. Anakin Skywalker wanted to be a Jedi. He wanted to release his desires, his hunger for revenge against the man who had severed his hand, and allow the Force to direct him. He wanted Kenobi's approval. He had failed to understand though, that the war of conflicting drives within him could also be used to the advantage of the Sith--and Kenobi wasn't watching now. Kenobi was unconscious, half buried under rubble. The time had come to teach Anakin how to make the Force serve him.
"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate, you have anger, but you don’t use them!" Tyranus told the boy.
Anakin made no response. At least, he made none that Tyranus could hear. Palpatine, however, sensed the ice that entered the boy's heart at the words. Because the truth was that Anakin Skywalker was afraid. He was afraid that Count Dooku had seen through all he tried to be to what lay underneath--that Dooku now understood the rage that boiled within him.
"Don't fear what you're feeling, Anakin, use it!" Palpatine told him. "Call upon your fury. Focus it, and he cannot stand against you. Rage is your weapon. Strike! Strike now!"
The moment of decision came. In a final, rushing attack, Anakin exacted his revenge--not one hand but two. The red lightsaber clattered to the floor along with the hand that held it. The boy reached out, calling it into his free hand. Anakin's feelings clashed and crackled much as the blades that crossed in his hands. Count Dooku, the man who had murdered so many of his fellow Jedi on Geonosis--who had torn the galaxy apart in the name of his own political agenda, now knelt helplessly before him. He had threatened all those that Anakin loved most. Palpatine. Obi Wan. He had threatened Padme. Anakin laid the blades at his throat.
"Good, Anakin! Good! I knew you could do it!" Palpatine grinned. "Kill him! Kill him now."
"I shouldn't…" Anakin trailed off, shaking his head.
"Do it!" Palpatine pushed.
"No," the Knight's voice was shaky, breathless.
"He is too dangerous to be kept alive," insisted Palpatine. Lord Tyranus' eyes shot toward him, and he smiled again at the panic he read in them.
"He is an unarmed prisoner. It is not the Jedi Way," Anakin's tone was firm now. He took a step back, warily keeping both blades trained on Tyranus as he ordered. "Get up."
Windu, thought Palpatine. The word was a curse. It was Windu's control he sensed in the boy now--something greater than even Kenobi could have taught him. Windu walked the edge of the Dark Side with Vapaad and yet never fell. He would not dare teach the boy such a dangerous form of combat, but its principles wound its way through the Master's teaching. They were part of who he was. Palpatine clenched his teeth.
Suddenly, the ship rocked with the force of an explosion somewhere deep in its bowels. The distraction was all that Tyranus needed. With a rage born of panic and desperation, he reached within, burning the last of his own energy reserves to hurl Anakin backward. Caught of guard, the boy sailed through the air, but instinct was enough to send the red lightsaber spinning from his hand in a deadly arc. As he slammed into the wall, the head of Darth Tyranus rolled to the ground despite his insistence upon mercy.
Anakin got up slowly, made his way back to the decapitated corpse and stared. Palpatine could feel his revulsion--but not revulsion at Count Dooku's severed head, or the hands that lay nearby. Anakin Skywalker's gut was twisting in knots because he was glad that his adversary was dead, glad that he had been the one to do the killing.
"I didn't mean to do that," he said, almost pleading.
"You did well, Anakin," Palpatine told him warmly. "I told you he should have been killed. Disarming him was nothing; he had powers beyond your imagination."
"That doesn't matter," Anakin shook his head.
The ship shuddered and the lights flickered, then went out. Hidden in the shadows of the General's chair, Palpatine said in a conspiratorial tone, "Have you never noticed that the Jedi way is not always the right way?"
"You don't understand. You're not a Jedi. You can't understand," grated Anakin, struggling for control.
"Listen to me. How many lives have you just saved with this stroke of a lightsaber? Can you count them?" Palpatine pointed out. "It's perfectly natural for you to be glad about it. Perfectly natural for you to want revenge after he took your hand the way he did. And your revenge was justice."
"Revenge is never just. It can't be--"
"Don't be childish, Anakin. Revenge is the foundation of justice. Justice began with revenge, and revenge is still the only justice some beings can ever hope for. After all, this is hardly your first time, is it? Did Dooku deserve mercy more than did the Sand People who tortured your mother to death?"
"That was different," insisted Anakin. "You promised we would never talk about that again."
"And we won't. Just as we need never speak of what has happened here today," Palpatine promised. "I have always kept your secrets, have I not?"
"Yes--yes, of course, Chancellor, but--" he broke off as the ship rocked again.
"Anakin, my restraints, please," the shadow said. "I'm afraid this ship is breaking up. I don't think we should be aboard when it does."
The magnetic locks on his wrist restraints popped open, and Palpatine rose smoothly from the chair. Making for the stairs, he said briskly, "Come along, Anakin, we haven't much time."
Anakin, however, was already moving toward where Kenobi lay. With a wave of his hand, he lifted the console off of his former mentor and knelt to check for a pulse. Palpatine resisted the urge to grit his teeth.
"Anakin, there is no time. We must get off the ship before it's too late," he urged.
"He seems to be all right. No broken bones, breathing's all right," said the boy, ignoring his instructions.
"Leave him, or we'll never make it," Palpatine insisted.
Anakin's head snapped up. His voice was cold, as close to contemptuous as Palpatine had ever heard it. "His fate will be the same as ours."
The Sith Lord softly backpedaled. Things would not be as simple as he had hoped. So be it. The boy had more conviction than he had anticipated, but that conviction could still be broken. He held the silence, allowing Anakin to sling his former teacher over his shoulder.
His fate will be far different from ours, my young friend, he smiled to himself. That much I promise you.
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: Palpatine could feel the boy's anger building, feel him struggling to rely not on it but on the Force. Anakin Skywalker wanted to be a Jedi. He wanted to release his desires, his hunger for revenge against the man who had severed his hand, and allow the Force to direct him. He wanted Kenobi's approval. He had failed to understand though, that the war of conflicting drives within him could also be used to the advantage of the Sith--and Kenobi wasn't watching now. Kenobi was unconscious, half buried under rubble. The time had come to teach Anakin how to make the Force serve him.
Rating: PG
Length: Around 2500 words
Category:Adventure? *facepalm* Battle scenes AGAIN...
Pairings/Charaters: Obidala mentioned, chapter is from Palpy's POV.
A/N: One Path Chapter 31. Set during an alternate RotS.
Plans Gone Awry
Palpatine sensed the Jedi before they stepped off the turbolift. He carefully schooled his expression, radiating fear for the benefit of the pair as they entered the General's Quarters. Kenobi stepped toward him first and bowed.
"Chancellor," he said with impeccable courtesy.
"Are you all right?" Anakin asked.
Palpatine stared over the young man's shoulder, putting a fearful quake in his voice as he said, "Count Dooku."
The two men turned to face Tyranus, who had just entered the room and was now standing on the balcony above them with two Super Battle Droids. Anakin turned back toward Palpatine reassuringly. "This is not a problem," he said.
No, thought Palpatine. It's not a problem at all, is it?
Kenobi spoke quietly and without fear. "This time, we will do it together."
"I was about to say that," responded Anakin.
Leaving the Jedi Order had changed nothing in Obi Wan Kenobi. The man had become tranquility itself--a pure and unhampered fount of Light Side energy. He moved in an intractable peace, effused unshakable calm, power under perfect control. Anakin had taken on a measure of that calm under Windu's hand, but Palpatine knew that beneath the surface lay a volcano which could still be tapped. First, though, Kenobi would have to be dealt with. Anakin still followed his lead too closely. He was still trying too hard to be what this man expected of him. That was the real purpose behind this little kidnapping ruse. Windu was not of such consequence. The boy respected him, but he had less influence now that Anakin had been Knighted. It was Kenobi he still looked to--Kenobi who still held Anakin in check.
"General Kenobi. Anakin Skywalker. Gentlemen--a term I use in its loosest possible sense-you are my prisoners," announced Tyranus, vaulting over the balcony rail.
Get help!" urged Palpatine hoarsely. "You must get help. Neither of you is any match for him. He's a Sith Lord!"
"Chancellor Palpatine," Kenobi smiled. "Sith Lords are our specialty."
We shall see, Palpatine restrained a laugh as the two of them turned and threw their cloaks over their shoulders. Blue blades lit with deadly grace and they stepped toward Tyranus.
"Your swords, please, gentlemen. We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor," Tyranus said mockingly.
"You won't get away this time, Dooku," Kenobi promised.
"Please," Tyranus responded with a sneer. "Do you think I orchestrated this entire operation with the intent to escape? I could have taken the Chancellor outsystem hours ago. But I have better things to do with my life than to babysit him while I wait for the pair of you to attempt a rescue."
"This is a little more than an attempt," Anakin said as his lightsaber came upward.
"And a little less than a rescue," Tyranus replied, swishing his cloak off his shoulder with a flourish. He gestured lazily toward the Battle Droids above. "Now please, gentlemen. Must I order the droids to open fire? That becomes so untidy, what with blaster bolts bouncing about at random. Little danger to the three of us, of course, but I should certainly hate for any harm to come to the Chancellor."
"Why do I find that difficult to believe?" asked Kenobi, moving gracefully toward him.
"You weren't so particular about bloodshed on Geonosis," Anakin reminded Tyranus, his movements perfectly mirroring Kenobi's as they flanked their opponent.
"Ah," Palpatine's apprentice let his smile widen. "And how is Senator Kenobi?"
"Don't! Don't even speak her name!" It was Anakin who barked the warning, Anakin whose jaw clenched. Anakin's emotions crackled at the implied threat.
"My wife is safely beyond your reach," Kenobi stepped in mildly. There was not a flicker of anger; if anything, the man's control tightened. He knew. He understood well what Tyranus was doing, and he wasn't about to allow it.
The statement was enough, though. Kenobi had meant no reprimand to Anakin, no subtle reminder of exactly which of them had won that particular contest--but Anakin felt it anyway. The seeds of jealousy that Palaptine had so carefully planted years ago were coming to fruit now. Love could soon be turned into obsession. Darth Sidious was well used to laying his plans so that they could be easily modified to suit events beyond his immediate control.
"I bear Chancellor Palpatine no ill will," Tyranus said, casually turning the discussion back to matters at hand. "He is neither soldier nor spy, whereas you and your friend here are both. It is only an unfortunate accident of history that he has chosen to defend a corrupt Republic against my endeavor to reform it."
"You mean destroy it!" snapped Anakin.
Tyranus regarded him with an air of weariness. "The Chancellor is a civilian. You and General Kenobi, on the other hand, are legitimate military targets. It is up to you whether you will accompany me as captives--or as corpses,'' as he finished the statement, his lightsaber rose from his belt and slid into his hand.
He ignited the red blade calmly and held it down at his side, but Kenobi showed no hesitation. He and Anakin were now squarely on either side of Tyranus, and he remarked dryly, "Now, there's a coincidence. You face the identical choice."
"Just because there are two of you, do not presume you have the advantage," warned Tyranus, moving his blade in salute.
"Oh, we know," Anakin shot, almost sneering. "Because there are two of you."
Tyranus showed no reaction, but Palpatine felt his apprentice's surprise nonetheless. Palpatine had seen no reason to tell him that Obi Wan and Anakin's latest mission had, in fact, confirmed Windu and Yoda's growing suspicion that Darth Sidious was more than a figure Dooku had conjured to sow dissension between the Jedi and the Senate. He also had not expected Anakin to reveal that fact. The boy's arrogance could be as troublesome as it was useful.
"Or maybe I should say, were two of you," the young Jedi went on. "We're on to your partner Sidious; we tracked him all over the galaxy. He's probably in Jedi custody right now."
"Is he?" Dooku replied with mild disinterest. "How fortunate for you."
"Surrender," Kenobi's voice cracked through the banter. "You will be given no further chance."
Dooku raised an eyebrow. "Unless one of you happens to be carrying Yoda in his pocket, I hardly think I shall need one."
Palpatine's well-meaning rescuers rushed forward. Tyranus fended them off effortlessly, remarking, "I've been looking forward to this!"
"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count," Anakin said with a sweeping slash toward his enemy.
"Good. Twice the pride, double the fall," came the rejoinder from Tyranus as he neatly sidestepped and countered. He cut at Anakin's leg, and the boy's blade flashed down to block, then swept upward again to push aside the slash that Tyranus made at his neck.
Palpatine waited patiently, watching with evident fear, but the Dark Lord of the Sith kept his inner awareness trained on Anakin Skywalker. The battle raged. Kenobi began to tire, as did Tyranus, but Anakin's energy only increased. Tyranus managed to hurl Kenobi back as they neared the stairs, but Anakin pressed on, driving him up onto the upper landing. Kenobi regained his composure and rushed up to join them as Anakin leapt over Tyranus. An arc of Kenobi's blade destroyed the two droids, but Tyranus reached out, seizing the former Jedi and lifting him into the air with the Force. At the same time he turned, directing a powerful kick at Anakin which sent him crashing into the archway.
Kill him, thought Palapatine as Kenobi began to choke.
Tyranus hurled the man down to the lower level, where his body smacked against the wall and crumpled onto the floor. Spinning again, Tyranus sent a console crashing down on top of him, but in his moment of distraction, Anakin directed a powerful kick at him and he flew off of the landing himself.
Anakin pursued him, leaping down as well, and the fight resumed. Palpatine could feel the boy's anger building, feel him struggling to rely not on it but on the Force. Anakin Skywalker wanted to be a Jedi. He wanted to release his desires, his hunger for revenge against the man who had severed his hand, and allow the Force to direct him. He wanted Kenobi's approval. He had failed to understand though, that the war of conflicting drives within him could also be used to the advantage of the Sith--and Kenobi wasn't watching now. Kenobi was unconscious, half buried under rubble. The time had come to teach Anakin how to make the Force serve him.
"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate, you have anger, but you don’t use them!" Tyranus told the boy.
Anakin made no response. At least, he made none that Tyranus could hear. Palpatine, however, sensed the ice that entered the boy's heart at the words. Because the truth was that Anakin Skywalker was afraid. He was afraid that Count Dooku had seen through all he tried to be to what lay underneath--that Dooku now understood the rage that boiled within him.
"Don't fear what you're feeling, Anakin, use it!" Palpatine told him. "Call upon your fury. Focus it, and he cannot stand against you. Rage is your weapon. Strike! Strike now!"
The moment of decision came. In a final, rushing attack, Anakin exacted his revenge--not one hand but two. The red lightsaber clattered to the floor along with the hand that held it. The boy reached out, calling it into his free hand. Anakin's feelings clashed and crackled much as the blades that crossed in his hands. Count Dooku, the man who had murdered so many of his fellow Jedi on Geonosis--who had torn the galaxy apart in the name of his own political agenda, now knelt helplessly before him. He had threatened all those that Anakin loved most. Palpatine. Obi Wan. He had threatened Padme. Anakin laid the blades at his throat.
"Good, Anakin! Good! I knew you could do it!" Palpatine grinned. "Kill him! Kill him now."
"I shouldn't…" Anakin trailed off, shaking his head.
"Do it!" Palpatine pushed.
"No," the Knight's voice was shaky, breathless.
"He is too dangerous to be kept alive," insisted Palpatine. Lord Tyranus' eyes shot toward him, and he smiled again at the panic he read in them.
"He is an unarmed prisoner. It is not the Jedi Way," Anakin's tone was firm now. He took a step back, warily keeping both blades trained on Tyranus as he ordered. "Get up."
Windu, thought Palpatine. The word was a curse. It was Windu's control he sensed in the boy now--something greater than even Kenobi could have taught him. Windu walked the edge of the Dark Side with Vapaad and yet never fell. He would not dare teach the boy such a dangerous form of combat, but its principles wound its way through the Master's teaching. They were part of who he was. Palpatine clenched his teeth.
Suddenly, the ship rocked with the force of an explosion somewhere deep in its bowels. The distraction was all that Tyranus needed. With a rage born of panic and desperation, he reached within, burning the last of his own energy reserves to hurl Anakin backward. Caught of guard, the boy sailed through the air, but instinct was enough to send the red lightsaber spinning from his hand in a deadly arc. As he slammed into the wall, the head of Darth Tyranus rolled to the ground despite his insistence upon mercy.
Anakin got up slowly, made his way back to the decapitated corpse and stared. Palpatine could feel his revulsion--but not revulsion at Count Dooku's severed head, or the hands that lay nearby. Anakin Skywalker's gut was twisting in knots because he was glad that his adversary was dead, glad that he had been the one to do the killing.
"I didn't mean to do that," he said, almost pleading.
"You did well, Anakin," Palpatine told him warmly. "I told you he should have been killed. Disarming him was nothing; he had powers beyond your imagination."
"That doesn't matter," Anakin shook his head.
The ship shuddered and the lights flickered, then went out. Hidden in the shadows of the General's chair, Palpatine said in a conspiratorial tone, "Have you never noticed that the Jedi way is not always the right way?"
"You don't understand. You're not a Jedi. You can't understand," grated Anakin, struggling for control.
"Listen to me. How many lives have you just saved with this stroke of a lightsaber? Can you count them?" Palpatine pointed out. "It's perfectly natural for you to be glad about it. Perfectly natural for you to want revenge after he took your hand the way he did. And your revenge was justice."
"Revenge is never just. It can't be--"
"Don't be childish, Anakin. Revenge is the foundation of justice. Justice began with revenge, and revenge is still the only justice some beings can ever hope for. After all, this is hardly your first time, is it? Did Dooku deserve mercy more than did the Sand People who tortured your mother to death?"
"That was different," insisted Anakin. "You promised we would never talk about that again."
"And we won't. Just as we need never speak of what has happened here today," Palpatine promised. "I have always kept your secrets, have I not?"
"Yes--yes, of course, Chancellor, but--" he broke off as the ship rocked again.
"Anakin, my restraints, please," the shadow said. "I'm afraid this ship is breaking up. I don't think we should be aboard when it does."
The magnetic locks on his wrist restraints popped open, and Palpatine rose smoothly from the chair. Making for the stairs, he said briskly, "Come along, Anakin, we haven't much time."
Anakin, however, was already moving toward where Kenobi lay. With a wave of his hand, he lifted the console off of his former mentor and knelt to check for a pulse. Palpatine resisted the urge to grit his teeth.
"Anakin, there is no time. We must get off the ship before it's too late," he urged.
"He seems to be all right. No broken bones, breathing's all right," said the boy, ignoring his instructions.
"Leave him, or we'll never make it," Palpatine insisted.
Anakin's head snapped up. His voice was cold, as close to contemptuous as Palpatine had ever heard it. "His fate will be the same as ours."
The Sith Lord softly backpedaled. Things would not be as simple as he had hoped. So be it. The boy had more conviction than he had anticipated, but that conviction could still be broken. He held the silence, allowing Anakin to sling his former teacher over his shoulder.
His fate will be far different from ours, my young friend, he smiled to himself. That much I promise you.