Book 1: Love Amidst War

Chapter XXIX

Anakin hasn't hardly stopped training since Ahsoka and Aden left... It broke his heart for Ahsoka to leave, and Aden disappearing as well... It hit Skywalker hard. That along with the news that Windu had been killed with no known suspects.. Despite Skywalker not necessarily liking Windu, he did have respect for him since he was a ( now former ) Jedi Council Member. As Anakin trained, he'd be sent a transmission from Chancellor Palpatine, asking him to meet him in his office. Anakin would reluctantly go, bringing news.

" Chancellor, we have just received a report from Master Kenobi. He has engaged General Grievous. " Anakin said once he walked in the office.

" We can only hope Master Kenobi is up to the test, hm? " Palpatine said, looking up at Anakin.

Anakin only nodded as he slowly approached Palpatines desk. The boy looked troubled, confused, and a bit sleep deprived.

" Does something trouble you, my young friend? " Palpatine asks, standing up and placing a gentle, friendly, borderline fatherly hand on Anakin's shoulder.

Anakin smiled wearily. " The war has been exhausting as of late.. And ever since the death of Master Windu, and Ahsoka and Aden seemingly just.. Left the order, I've been feeling lost. I didn't exactly CARE for Windu but I respected him as a council member. "

" Ah, yes... The loss of your Padawan and your former masters Padawan. I am sorry to hear of their departure, from what I've seen in reports they were skilled warriors. As for Master Windu, I understand your position on him. " Palpatine said, reassuring him in his usual well-acted caring tone.

" But I believe something else troubles you, no? You seem.. On edge. More so than simply losing someone, anyways. " Palpatine mentions, playing it off as merely trying to ensure Anakin is okay.

" I have been having... Visions. Of Padme, dying in childbirth. I am.. Worried these visions are true, and not a mere possibility of many as Master Yoda claims they are. " Anakin says, sighing as he rubs his forehead.

" I see... Have I ever told you a story that was passed down to me by my father, a long, long time ago? " Palpatine asks as he sits back down, crossing one leg over the other.

" A... Story? No, I don't think you have, Chancellor. " Anakin says, slightly confused but also somewhat curious.

" My father called it the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. He often used it as a story to scare me to go to sleep, but I've always wondered if it ever held truth. " Palpatine says, smiling softly, appearing caring and merely deep in thought.

" He told you a story about a.. Darth? As in a Sith Lord? " Anakin asked, slightly more confused.

" My father was a collector of old Jedi and Sith relics, and anytime I tried to touch them he'd scare me with some made up story. The story goes that this Darth Plagueis managed to cheat death in a way, or came very close to it. He was killed in his sleep by his apprentice. Ironic in a way... He could save others from death, but not himself. " Palpatine said, still smiling, seemingly as if he was just enjoying retelling a childhood story.

" You mean a Sith found a way to.. Save others from death? Could I learn this power? " Anakin asked, clearly interested now.

" Not from a Jedi. " Palpatine says...
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𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨, 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐮'𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Dooku paced back and forth in his quarters. Before him stood Aden and Ahsoka, both clad in their robes and armor. So what if Sidious had taken on a couple of decently powerful children as apprentices, they weren't replacements for him, surely, right? He couldn't let himself overthink it right now, he has a war to win against the Republic, and these two could at least be useful allies.

" So you two say you managed to kill Maul and Savage on Mandalore... Impressive work for former Padawans. But why come here? What have you to gain from merely fighting on the frontlines with Grievous and Ventress? " Dooku asks, clasping his hands behind his back as he comes to a standstill in front of them.

" Lord Sidious wants us to ensure the Republic can't gain ground. At the very least we are to ensure the Republic doesn't seize any vital points in the Outer Rim that allows them entry to the Mid Rim. " Aden said, his voice somewhat distorted behind his helmet.

" I see... And I assume you are here under our masters orders and not your own? " Dooku asks.

" Of course. We do as he commands. " Ahsoka replies.

Dooku continued his pace again, thinking it over. Sure, extra assets were nice in case Grievous were to be killed or Ventress killed, or both in a worse case, but he wasn't trusting of his master now that he had taken on two new students, even if the both of them combined weren't quite a match for Dooku's skill with a blade or his decades of experience.

" If you wish to fight, then it shall be. Ventress could use reinforcements on Balmorra. She is up against a republic army led by Kit Fisto and Saesee Tiin, two Jedi council members. You are to aid her with reinforcements and any possible encounters with the two Jedi personally. But be warned. Neither council member is a pushover. " Dooku says. This would be his own... " Test " for them in a way. They could be useful allies to him in case Sidious found reason to dispose of him...