Chapter Text
“Master, this was not part of the plan.”
“The plan?” Sidious scoffed. Despite the blue holo glow of his skin, Dooku could still see the condescension almost ooze out of his wrinkled skin.
“The plan I created years before I even enlisted you? The plan I spent decades of my life perfecting, cultivating? Please, Dooku, if you have any opinions of my plan, do tell.” Like a parent scolding their child Dooku knew better than to challenge his master. Sometimes, there are questions that are just left better unanswered.
Was it humiliating? Absolutely, not even Yoda had spoken down to him when he was just a Padawan. But for now, he would keep his knee bent and his head bowed. This was for the good of the Galaxy, the Jedi and Republic represented the injustice and corruption of the Galaxy. If that meant dealing with Palpatine and submitting himself, then so be it. He was a hero, and if it demanded he would also become a martyr.
“Plans are only worth using when the situation remains unchanged. The plan changed the second Amidala revealed the clone operation, something you assured me would be under control. How is it possible out of all the Senators she of all people found out. Ninety-nine percent of the Republic can be threatened or bought yet the one Senator who couldn’t found out.”
“Have you found who the leak is?”
“No,” Palpatine narrowed his eyes at him, no doubt wondering if he himself was the rat. Preposterous really, out of all the Republic Senators, pilots and crew who were in contact with the Kaminoians, Palpatine still suspected him. He didn’t know whether to admire his Master’s paranoia or be insulted by the lack of faith.
Then again, how Amidala of all people had found out was beyond him. There was always a risk of the clone army getting leaked, but Amidala being the one to discover it was just too perfect.
The girl was becoming more difficult than Dooku suspected. Sure she had been quite active against the MCA but that didn’t really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. She was annoying to be sure but the approval rating approached the requirement every time it was brought up, it was just a matter of time. Worst comes to worst Dooku would just assassinate her.
But this? This was a real issue, ideally, Dooku would have her dead already but the Republic knew she was heading to Kamino along with the Jedi council because of Obi-Wan. Killing her would only guarantee that the clone army had alternative motives.
Not that they even could. Anikin was too young to be a threat, but Obi-Wan... The Sith killer would be a problem. Not today, but she would need to be killed soon. Give it a month or two after Kamino, once they have figured out about this leak.
“And what of ou- your, plans?” Dooku corrected, even though it had been him who had done almost an equal share of the work. Creating an Empire, killing and supplanting governing heads. It hadn’t been easy. He still needed Grievous to fully join his armies. The Kaleesh man had a dislike for the Jedi much like his own but his hadn’t yet been sharpened, not yet tempered in the flames of pure hate.
Dooku would need to fix that and give the General a reason to despise the Jedi. To become the leader of his Droid army, though, that was something for the near future, Dooku supposed. He couldn’t half-arse approach Grevious. If he was going to permanently disfigure the General, then he would have to do it properly leaving not even the tiniest trail which could be traced back to him.
“Amidala has certainly damaged our plans, she seemed to inherit her Father’s idiocy. Yet, nothing I cannot adapt to. The original plan will continue, it’ll just need a few adjustments.”
Adjustments? The Clone Army wasn’t something that was adjustable. The original plan had a few key goals:
- Engage in a Galaxy-wide war to widdle down the Jedi numbers
- Have a mass extermination event of the Jedi.
- Have Palpatine gain full political control win the war
- Dooku would surrender
- Dooku would later be freed and act as a shadow governor to the new Sith Empire.
Reduce then exterminate. The Jedi, flawed as they were, are a bunch of trained warriors all with the most powerful weapon built into them.
The clone army was perfect in that regard. Sure, the Republic probably could muster up an army to fight the CIS but it would be suboptimal. The war would be too close! Lots of Jedi would die, the incompetence of the Republic would see to that even more than the clone army, but this new army wouldn’t be capable of exterminating the Jedi.
They needed the best warriors, the Jedi spread across the Galaxy, and a sudden ambush attack to wipe the Jedi in one fell swoop. Even then, there would be some survivors, even with so much against the Jedi it was just impossible to fully destroy them. But the Clone betrayal would destroy the order and allow Palpatine full control of the Galaxy to usher in a new era of justice and peace. That would be enough for him.
“Continue with preparing the CIS, I will deal with the Jedi. All you have to do is keep the CIS running, after all I can’t wage a war against an Empire that will collapse due to its own failures.” So exactly what had he been doing this whole time?
“But the Jedi-“
“The Jedi will not be a problem. Amidala may have may ruined the clone army, but the clones were merely a means to an end. The Jedi will still be wiped out and the Republic will be the one to put those Jedi on a silver platter. I do believe the Jedi and the Republic has been allies for too long.”
“I like you am in shock. There has been a great injustice done by the very people who we put in charge to protect us from harm. I want to assure all people of the Republic that the Senate has no knowledge nor involvement of this reckless and downright evil betrayal of trust. We are currently undergoing an internal investigation to find all personnel who was involved. But I assure you that this transgression will not go without consequence. You all know me, I was one of the main fighters pushing for a Republic Military, but not like this. Not spending your money behind your back, the lies, the illegal deals and broken promises. To you the Jedi I will not stand for this corruption, not in my Republic.”
Anakin ignored Palpatine’s voice echo through the speakers as walked through the streets of Coruscant his hood obscuring his face as he walked. In the busy and overpopulated streets of Coruscant Anakin alone was actually able to move through the crowds. Walking like almost all things was a skill, a skill he had perfected. Whether it was trailing someone or escaping, Anakin had perfected the art of weaving through people.
He finally made his way to his destination. An old taken down store that looked like it was on it’s last legs. Despite the broken-down look, Anakin walked through the door that squeaked loudly, the sound of old rotten wood against old rotten wood was never pleasant.
The alien who worked the front desk looked nicer than he should be for a run-down place like this and didn’t bother to greet Anakin as he walked past the dusty shelves that hadn’t been touched for days.
“I’m looking for 50% ABV Rum.”
“50? Sir you should know that the Republic limit to spirits is 40%.” The alien recited as if he was reading a script. The dull monotone laziness that constant repetition bred.
“Do we really have to do this every time?”
“Have we done this before?”
“No, not really. But when I start like that, this usually goes faster.”
“Are you a cop?”
“Do I look like a cop?”
“They’re getting better, not afraid to use the younger sort for undercover.”
“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out then.”
Anakin rolled his eyes, but as predicted, the man shrugged before reaching down to a cabinet Anakin knew was locked with a safe more expensive than most things in this dingy store.
“Crazy stuff with the Jedi. I always knew you couldn’t trust them.” The man said, trying his best to do small talk whilst he fiddled with the lock.
“I don’t deal with politics, ever.”
“Come on kiddo,” Anakin was many things, but he was never a ‘kiddo’. “You kids are always on the web, you must have heard the news.”
“The Jedi clone army? I’m familiar.”
“I hear rumors they are trying to defund the Jedi. I swear that Palpatine guy is the only good soul in that shit show, he’s standing up against the Jedi for once. Those arrogant bastards think they can get away with anything, putting themselves before the people.” Those were Palpatine’s words, this man seemed to have no original thoughts. “War mongers, I swear.”
“Can we just hurry this up.”
“Whatever, Proof of ID?”
“Seriously?”
“Just busting your balls kiddo. Have a good one.” Hilarious, Anakin rolled his eyes dropping a generous amount of credits on the counter. Ironically, the illegal stuff was cheaper than the real stuff, then again he wasn’t exactly paying tax so he could afford to lower the prices.
“You too.” The words had no meaning, but had Anakin been truthful, he would have had to spend the next hour being lectured about politics by a man who thought whoever was the most popular had to be the best.
Anakin left the rundown alcohol store that despite it’s awful appearance, thrived on illegal alcohol. Yet he couldn’t shake the bitter taste in his mouth. Despite his best attempts to stay out of things, he still was affecting the timeline too strongly.
It hasn’t been the first time Palpatine had turned the Republic against the Jedi but it had been the first time ever Anakin hadn’t been responsible. He was no longer the catalyst.
This was all… unfamiliar. A feeling he hadn’t felt in eons. Instead of himself being the force of change, Padme had become the one affecting the narrative. Idiotic girl, she was going to get herself killed. As always.
“This is all my fault.”
“Yup.”
“I wish you wouldn’t agree with me on this.”
“It is technically your fault. I warned you that your actions have consequences.”
“Yeah but I thought the consequences would be good! This? This isn’t what I wanted.”
This being the newspaper she was holding. Anakin peeked over her shoulder to read the article.
‘Jedi uses Republic funds to make a personal army. Amidala uncovers Jedi betrayal.’
Padme had released her own article exposing the clone army to the public and in doing so Palpatine did what he did best. Win. Almost instantly the narrative from the media went from ‘Republic and Jedi build secret army’ to ‘Jedi betray Republic’. Palpatine controlled the media and it when you control everything people hear it was extremely easy to make people believe a narrative. Every hour it seemed more and more mistakes of the Jedi came out, there was so much that not even Anakin could tell which ones were true and how many were lies. The Jedi weren’t without flaw but this was just plain lies being fed to a populace needing someone to blame.
It certainly didn’t help that the Jedi didn’t have a publicity division. They could block all the blaster bolts they wanted but getting cancelled on the internet wasn’t their expertise. They were simply just too old to be able to fight against a media attack.
“You think Obi-Wan is mad at me?”
“It would take you killing children to be mad at you. This? This is nothing.”
“This isn’t what I wanted!” She cried, of course Anakin believed her. She probably thought that Senate would be the one to share the blame, accept that they had made a mistake and move on. Not that the Senate would throw the Jedi under the bus and pretend to be a victim.
“Really? From a senator point of view this is perfect. The both the people and against the MCA are now unified.” Just because some people wanted a military that doesn’t mean they liked the idea of the military being built without their knowledge or consent. Especially considering one of the main arguments for the MCA was creating jobs. Many people were looking forwards to serving strangely enough, people who had only seen war in movies or born into military families.
“The Republic is more unified and it won’t be hard to run a smear campaign against the Jedi who have no PR team. Approval ratings will probably go up for the Senators who openly go against the Jedi. It truly is incredible what having a common enemy can achieve.” Anakin continued.
“It’s not the Jedi’s fault! The Republic also had a part in this.”
“Yes but that’s not what the news is saying. Turns out ‘we are kind of bad people’ isn’t as popular as ‘the Jedi suck and we are totally awesome for standing up against them’.”
“We have to stop this.”
“You.” He was sure to stress his own lack of involvement. “Have done enough.”
“But-“
“No buts! Besides, this isn’t your fault.” He could tell he her sideways glance she clearly thought it was. “You didn’t say one lie in your article. You can’t be blamed for the way idiots react.
“I could have worded it better though, maybe make the Jedi involvement less obvious. Don’t you see they are using my own words. I’m getting praised by Senators that hate me just because it’s the popular thing to do right now!”
“And music fans literally abuse someone who says something negative the singer they like. People will use any excuse they have to do something awful so long as the excuse isn’t ’I’m a bad person’. It’s just a fact of life. People are awful.”
“But they shouldn’t be!” He merely shrugged. What were they going to do.
At least it was over.
Out of all her plans so far, this wouldn’t be the worst… which was a sobering reality for Anakin. Her worst idea so far this loop was either turning off the life support or trying to stop a riot and while this wasn’t at that level just yet Anakin could tell it was approaching that level of idiocy very very quickly.
The two struggled to make it through the crowd as per usual Coruscant was overcrowded. This time was particularly bad at is felt like the whole capital city was stationed outside the Jedi Order.
It was painfully familiar. The signs, the screaming the feeling that something was going to go wrong. Except this time they were in the rioting crowd instead of facing it. And this time the crowd seemed endless. At this level of strength, Anakin doubted he would be able to stop it, when waves and waves of bodies crashed against you there wasn’t much a lightsaber could do. If he wasn’t trampled to death he would suffocate under the hundred of bodies. Thousands in this case.
“Padme, can’t we just holo them? Do we really need to speak to them in person? No offense but I don’t think they want to talk to the person who caused all of this.” Anakin tried to yell but it only came out as a murmur over the loud, obnoxious sounds of the city. It was enough to make him want to empty his stomach.
“I thought you said this wasn’t my fault!”
“I lied!”
She rolled her eyes at him but continued to lead the two of them through the sea of elbows and jabs. Had he been leading, they probably could have got through effortlessly, but he then again he had made it apparently clear he didn’t want her here.
It took a long time, a long, long time. It felt they had walked through several hundred of meters of bodies, but eventually they did push through to the front where the worst of the worst had congregated.
The loud chanting, the smell of sweat mixed in with alcohol, the thoughts of every riot had been in. Gods, he felt like throwing up, this was the worst. He couldn’t abandon Padme just yet. The death-prone Senator would definitely get killed without him.
“Senator Amidala?” A voice called out of the crowd. Oh gods, why was he here?! Now he really did want to throw up.
The old wrinkled hand of Palpatine reached out to Padme. He of course, was the only person who didn’t seem to drown in the masses as he had several blue senator guards around him making his own little space around him. A space that Anakin wished Padme wouldn’t accept. They should sink into the crowd, run, hide, anything but talk to this man.
“I must say it’s wonderful to see you here.” Palpatine almost purred. His eyes didn’t betray his real intentions and the Sith Lord had perfected lying. Not that Anakin did think he was lying, Palpatine told the truth just as much as he lied, he wouldn’t be a very good lying if he always lied. Why was he thrilled to see Padme, what was he planning?
“Thank you Chancellor, it’s nice to be outside the crowd. There is only so much body odur I can take.” Padme joked and it hurt to see her smile when he laughed. Why was she so blind?
“There is more truth to that than I would like to admit. Here, celebrating the fruits of your labour? I can’t imagine the MCA winning at all now or at least this year. You’ve really beaten me this time.”
“My intention was never to win, this certainly doesn’t feel like winning.”
“Amidala my dear you’ve done what few are capable of. Your name is written on ever news broadcaster's lips, people who’ve never heard of you are praising you. You have made history my dear, you’ve exposed the Jedi and their misuse of Republic trust. Congrats Padme, this is all because of you.”
“You are too modest Palpatine.” Anakin noticed the way she cringed when Palpatine pointed out this was all her fault. “You’ve certainly changed your tune in regards to the military. From war mongers to peacekeepers must be quite the change.”
“I have always been for the people. It's true I did push for the MCA but not like this. Betrayal and deceit have no place in the Senate.”
“That would be a first.” Anakin scowled.
“Anakin? Right? How are you?” The Sith Lord asked as if he hadn’t slaughtered millions. The causal tone in his voice made the Chosen One sick.
“A man of few words I suppose.” Palpatine laughed when Anakin didn’t respond, not that he could. If Anakin opened his mouth any sound that would come out would be a confused whimper.
“Anakin, don’t be rude.”
Still Anakin didn’t speak,, it was remarkably difficult to get the words out of his throat, considering it felt like his heart was in his throat.
“It’s okay Padme, after all this place can be quite overwhelming.”
“Thank you Chancellor.” Despite that she sent a dagger-like glare towards him. He wasn’t in the fuckintg mood to deal with her, not with him here. Especially when she was protecting that fucking monster.
“Although Anakin, there is always a shortage of good guards. If you ever want to expand your horizons, I would be happy to take you.”
“I’m fine.” He managed to spit out, the venom in his voice apparent to the two Senators.
“No he isn’t, he should know that’s not how you talk to people.” She hissed at him. “And don’t try poaching my staff!”
“Haha, you’ll have to forgive me, the Jedi aren’t too fond of the Senate right now, and I could use all the protection I could get. Please, Anakin, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Thankfully, Palpatine could continue a small group of Jedi temple guard along side a Jedi Master Anakin recognised as Coleman Trebor. He didn’t so much as recognise him as cringe as he never really spent much time with him. As far as combat ability went, Trebor was sorely lacking often dying quickly. Usually by Jango on Geonosis, but he would never survive the Clone Wars if Anakin ever did save the Master. Jango was good but without prep time no Jedi Master who sits on the council should lose to the Mandalorian so easily.
“Citizens, you have the right to protest however, you are preventing a Republic emergency service from providing assistance. We ask that you vacate the premises immediately in order for Jedi work to continue.”
“Oh that’s not a good idea.” Palaptine laughed to himself. It was rare Anakin would agree with his old master, but he couldn’t help but agree.
This wouldn’t end well. Not with this many people, if a mob is only as smart as its most stupid member, then a group of this size would surely push the threshold of what humanity could truly be stupid enough to accomplish.
As expected the plea of the Jedi sounded more like a declaration of self-righteousness. Screams and yells erupted from the crowd, cursed and insults hurled. The Jedi were treated as a commodity this close to the core, no one on Coruscant had ever seen a Jedi fight nor wipe out whole bandit groups alone. They just weren’t special in the eyes of the people that never needed them and as such thought remarkably little of them.
The Jedi still thought the people respected them, but these people? There was a reason Coruscant could afford to protest the Jedi and that was because they weren’t the people on the outer rims dealing with pirate raids and dangerous creatures in their wilds.
“People, please calm down.” Anakin couldn’t hear the Jedi but by reading his lips Anakin could piece together what he was trying to say. Not everyone in the very large crowd could though which only meant Trebor’s words fell on deaf ears.
It was like being in a jet turbine as words blended together in the horrific sounds of hundreds of people yelling.
Through the crowd Anakin felt it before he heard the high pitched squeal of a blaster. Trebor had never been the best Jedi. A sudden blaster bolt from the front of the crowd didn’t give him to much time to get his lightsaber up to protect himself. Now that Anakin thought of it he never really had seen many Jedi capable of deflecting a blaster bolt up. There just was no real point to being taught like that. Either you deflected the blaster bolt at the opponent or to the sides so as not to injure them. Yet with the very large crowd and Trebor having to relied on instinct Anakin supposed he couldn’t put the whole blame on the Jedi as the bolt collided off the lightsaber back into the crowd.
The people went silent, then a woman screamed in pain and the crowd roared to life with a volume Anakin doubted was possible.
“Oh dear.” Palpatine smirked, not even a small bit of genuine surprise on his face. So while everyone looked forward Anakin was the only one who saw the look of prideful look of joy on Palpatine’s face, like a chess player who just made a game-winning move. Of course, he would be behind even this.