Candlelight

Chapter 3 - The Jedi Council

Obi-Wan thinks he's much too exhausted for a Council meeting, but this is required. It's important and necessary. "Discovered anything, have you?" Master Yoda inquires when he enters the Council chambers again.

"No, Master. He's stable, but his faith in himself is lacking."

"Great care, we must take."

"If what he said is true," Master Windu states, "We must be cautious. He may have warned us, but if he was once a Sith, we have no insurance that his loyalty will remain with us."

Obi-Wan can't help the flare of annoyance he feels. Windu has never liked Anakin, and he doesn't know why. It never made sense to him. It was, he imagines, something of a personality clash, but now it's... exhausting. "He has given us no reason to distrust him. He told us everything he knew. That has to stand for something."

"It no doubt does," Shaak Ti agrees, "But the fact remains."

"Skywalker is not who we should be discussing," Master Plo replies. "Sidious is the Sith Master. We must eliminate him."

"We must act immediately," Mundi agrees.

"He said the Jedi were destroyed for committing treason," Piell cuts in. "Sidious is a Sith, but he is also the Chancellor. Legally, we cannot act against him without basis."

The Council members exchange glances. It's a good point, and it leaves Obi-Wan unsure of what they should do. It would help if he had the mental capacity to think about much of anything right now.

"The word of a time-traveler would never stand in the Courts," Shaak Ti points out.

"Taking immediate action without sufficient evidence would be... risky," concedes Tiin reluctantly.

It's a very complicated situation, to say the least. Obi-Wan can still hardly believe the Sith really is Palpatine, but it makes so much sense. He's playing both sides of the war, for the end goal of... a Sith Empire. And the destruction of the Jedi. (And to get Anakin to join him?!)

They have to stop him, but the question is how.

"If nothing else, we must work on collecting evidence against him," Windu decides at last, after they go circles for a while on other ways they could go about taking him out.

For now, arresting him is out of the question.

Attempting an assassination somewhere no one could track it to the Jedi might work, but they would have to plan it just right. It's something they will all have to discuss in more detail later. But whatever they do, they all can agree that it can't be traceable back to the Jedi.

"Skywalker mentioned the clones have control chips," Shaak Ti reminds.

Right. That. What does that even mean? How is that possible? "Mm, long prepared for this, the Sith have," Yoda murmurs gravely.

"We must look into this immediately," Plo agrees.

"I can speak with him again in the morning and see what else he can tell us about them," Obi-Wan suggests. Anakin has to know something else about these so-called chips. He's still struggling to wrap his mind around all the implications.

"That brings us back to what we should do about Skywalker," Rancisis speaks up, "Trusting him is... risky."

"It may be dangerous to let him walk free," Mundi warns.

The urge to defend Anakin fills him instinctively. Even if he knows... maybe that they have a point. He still can't imagine Anakin Falling. "He has given us no reason to distrust him. He had no reason to tell us all of this, but he did," Obi-Wan reminds, "And I sensed no traces of the Dark Side in him."