Master: a sw ff || Book I

Chapter Nine

I knock on the thick wooden door of the councils meeting room. No reply. Panic begins to set in.  Are they thinking about not letting me in? Have I already been expelled and I don't know? What's going on?

"Come in, young Skywalker." I can hear Yoda's voice calling me in.

I lower my head and open the door.

"So, you have finally come along to one of our meetings that you weren't even invited to?" the annoyance escalates in Mace Windu's voice.

"Patience, you must learn, Mace," Yoda says.

"Take a seat, young Skywalker." I notice that Obi-Wan's chair has been taken away, and the circle has been made smaller in its absence. I walk over to my remaining seat and listen to them talk.

When the conversation turns to the hidden Sith Lord, I lift my head up.

"With thorough searches through the Outer Rim and the planets surrounding Geonosis, no such trace of the Sith Lord has been found." Plo-Koon explains.

"Excuse me, may I say something?" I say slowly once he has finished.

Master Yoda looks at me. "Say something you may,"

"Thank you Master Yoda. I think may have found the whereabouts of the Sith Lord."

"What? And you didn't contact the Council?" Mace Windu says.

I try to keep calm. "In a way, this is me contacting the council, because I only found out a few hours ago. By name of Chancellor Palpatine." I state.

The whole council falls silent.
Then it explodes with words.
"Chancellor Palpatine?"
"The Chancellor? A sith lord?"
"What?!"
"That's absurd!"
"How dare you pass that accusation on him!"

"Quiet this Council must be!" Yoda says loudly. The assembled Jedi stop talking. "Elaborate on this statement you must."

"I went to his chambers this morning because I was trying to see if I could find out who murdered Master Kenobi. He revealed his lightsaber to me, and as we fought, he was using an ancient technique that old sith lords use. I asked him how he knew of Master Kenobi's death, and he said that he was the 'hidden sith lord'." I say quietly.

The words 'murder' and 'death' seem to have an effect on the Jedi that I didn't know they could pull off. Surprise.

"What was the name of this technique he was using as his fighting style?"

"It looked like it was a mixture of Juyo and Dun Moch." I reply.

Plo-Koon and Mace exchange sceptical looks. "That is not enough evidence to say that he... was involved in the death of Master Kenobi."

"What? But what about—" I try to defend my point.

"Or to say that he is a sith lord."

"I... I have his lightsaber here." I say, standing to ignite the crimson blade.

There are looks of horror and surprise on their faces.

"Don't you see?" I say, frowning and moving the lightsaber in front of me.

"We see, Skywalker. We see." Master Windu says, edging slightly backward in his seat. Is he scared of a blade used by the sith? Or is it just the colour that unnerves him? Or is it that he knows I am the Chosen One, destined to bring balance to the force, holding a crimson red lightsaber?

"Please put that away, and hand it to Master Yoda." he says. I nod and close the blade. Without the humming of the lightsaber, it seems oddly quiet in the councils room. Yep, it's definitely because I am holding it.

I cross the room and hand it to Master Yoda. "Master Windu and Plo-Koon are right. This evidence is not enough."

I sigh slightly and dip my head.

~~~

I was given the 'mission' of going to find the footage of Obi-Wan's death that evening. I decide to start with the Jedi Archives in the bottom of the Tower, on the lower levels. The library emits a slightly blue hue, and I go to the middle of the main corridor. The screens allow you to search the date, time to the second, and the place, anywhere in the galaxy.

I sit down in one of the chairs and start by searching the date, then the time. I ponder on where it could've been, so I start with Obi-Wan's apartment and work my way through the places where I can see his hologram walking through. The footage of one specific place catches my eye.

Darker than usual, slightly fuzzy round the edges, a narrow side street. I force myself to breath slowly, as I hit play, and watch the hologram come to life in front of me.

Obi-Wan walks down the side street, almost to the edge, almost to the open street. The lights flicker on and off, and he stops, turning around to see what is happening. The lights continue to flicker, and suddenly, blue-white lines of electricity come out of nowhere, hitting Obi-Wan everywhere. He tries to get his lightsaber out, but he falls to the floor, and I can see his mouth open in a blood-curdling scream. The smoke from his clothes swirls around the camera, darkening it even further. A red beam of light appears from just below the cameras feild of view, and a hooded figure advances slowly on Obi-Wan.

The cloak blocks most of the view, but I can't miss the red lightsaber come down on his broken, scorched body.