To Lose a Gamble

Chapter 4 - Unravelling the Web

None of the Senators were happy to have Anakin or Obi-Wan there, but Padme had insisted, claiming that they could offer invaluable insights and information which had recently come to their attention. Reluctantly, they'd permitted the pair to remain present.

"We cannot let this turn to another war," Padme declares firmly, nodding to Threepio as the protocol droid passes drinks to all the assembled.

"Absolutely, that is the last thing we want," Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan agrees.

"We are hoping to form an alliance in the Senate to stop the Chancellor from further subverting the constitution, that's all," Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila adds, sipping from her glass.

Padme gives Obi-Wan a look, and Anakin shifts uncertainly in his seat. After a pause, Obi-Wan leans forward. "I'm not sure that you will succeed," he tells her kindly but firmly. "Though I do not yet have evidence, I have begun to suspect that either the Chancellor or one of his close associates is the Sith Lord who orchestrated the entire war."

Anakin can feel the rising shock, disbelief, and horror of the assembled. "Are you certain?" demands Bail.

"I'm afraid so," Obi-Wan answers. Anakin notices that he's wearing the façade he always puts on when he's in a Council meeting. "I have not spoken to the rest of the Council about my suspicions, but as a whole, we are displeased with how much power the Chancellor has, not only over the Jedi, but over the Republic as a whole."

"If Palpatine is a Sith, then what can we do?" wonders one of the other Senators – Anakin isn't sure of his name.

"He won't relinquish his power," Anakin speaks up, surprising even himself. He desperately hopes that Obi-Wan is wrong, but he trusts Obi-Wan, and if his former master – and Padme – see something, he can rely on their instincts, at least to a point. It hurts knowing that he could have been being deceived and manipulated for so long. "I believe the only option we will have is to send in the Jedi to forcibly remove him from office."

"That could easily lead to the war we are trying to avoid," Mothma murmurs, sounding distressed. "Surely there is another way?"

"If you can move fast enough politically," Obi-Wan answers. "The Sith are seeking to form an Empire, and with so many Senators under his control, Darth Sidious will be able to achieve his goals even with your open opposition."

"Sidious..." repeats Padme. "Is that his Sith name?"

"It is the name of the Sith Lord, yes," Obi-Wan confirms, "But the Council has yet to confirm who it is. All we know is what Count Dooku told me on Geonosis at the beginning of the war."

"What did he say?" another Senator queries.

"He said that the Sith Lord – Darth Sidious – behind the war has hundreds of Senators under his control, and implied that he was the one who orchestrated the Blockade of Naboo. Of course, we had no evidence to back up his allegations," Obi-Wan adds, "And we were never able to find anything noteworthy until now."

Bail opens his mouth to say something, when Padme gasps, a look of unmitigated horror on her face. "Palpatine became Chancellor after that," she whispers. "He's the one who insisted that we had no choice but to call for a vote of no-confidence in Valorum which I did. If Obi-Wan is right, then he's been manipulating everyone from the very beginning."

Anakin can hear her unspoken words of he was using me, and it makes him feel sick. He doesn't want to believe that Palpatine would be capable of such treachery, but everything is pointing to it. It would all make sense, how he always knew what to say to Anakin when he was upset, and how he knew why Anakin was troubled at the opera. If he's the Sith Lord, he has, no doubt, been subtly manipulating everything around him. And Anakin knows that had he not spoken to Padme, he could easily have lost himself in the quest to find the power to save his wife, who is perfectly healthy according to Obi-Wan.