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The room was shrouded in shadows. Deep and brooding.
A maelstrom of black thoughts swirled around the figure slouched in the high-backed chair facing the tinted transparisteel. Fingers absently thrummed the armrest and the constant motion outside the window went unnoticed. Nostrils flared with impatience.
Sudden stillness overtook body and mind as the door hissed open. He sensed the two men step into the dark room. Their nervousness radiated outward, sharpening his hunger. He flicked his finger and the door swished closed, the clunk of the locking mechanism echoing through the room. Silence followed, filling and intensifying the darkness. Satisfaction brushed his mind as an audible swallow pierced the stifling quiet.
The voice was hushed. "My lord?"
The inquiry went unanswered. The labored breathing of both men filtered through his mind as their trepidation grew taut, transforming, at last, into shards of fear that cut through their composure. One shifted.
"L-lord Vader?"
He swooped across the room, a swift and silent shadow. With a thought, the lights flared to full brightness. Both men startled, the left one stumbling back a step. He let his black-cloaked image and shadowed eyes imprint upon their quaking minds. Dispassionately, he lifted his right hand, pinching finger and thumb together. The one that had stumbled now gagged, clutching at his throat as he fought for air. He sank to his knees, eyes bulging, pleading. Finally, he slumped lifeless at the dark lord's feet.
Anakin stared at the still form. Ever since his master had taught him what the mewling Council had refused to, he'd known he was capable of killing with a thought, but he'd never done it before. It should have felt more ... satisfying. A bitter taste filled his mouth. Was this the right path? He quashed the thought and wheeled away, his cloak whirling around his knees, as a vortex of anger sucked at his thoughts. He paced back and forth, barely aware of the other man, still standing, petrified by fear. Black emotion built into blinding fury. Anakin spun and struck out with the Force, slamming the man against the door. He slumped to the floor with a moan, only to be seized by an invisible hand and jerked to his feet like a marionette.
Stepping close, Anakin spoke, his voice rasping and mechanical in his own ears. "You were her bodyguards."
The man's gaze shifted down, then back up. "Y-yes, my lord."
"Yet, you let Kenobi stroll into the palace and just whisk her away."
"We, we don't know who ..."
Rage flashed red. "I know who! No one else would dare. Light years away and his smell clogs my mind. It was Kenobi!"
"Yes, sir," the guard whispered.
Inhaling a measure of calm, Anakin said, "Tell me." He turned away and massaged his temples.
A slight quiver edged the man's words. "We had taken the day shift. The queen had attended some public functions that we felt needed our presence. Captain Panaka had offered to stand the night watch."
"Is this normal?" Anakin rubbed his dry and aching eyes.
"Yes, sir. Panaka often personally guards his queen. His loyalty is unswerving."
"And yet my wife was snatched from under the man's nose."
"H-he had been drugged after being defeated in battle."
"How convenient."
"Sir?"
"Are you sure he wasn't in league with Kenobi?"
"We questioned him at length."
"He knows the Jedi. Did he identify him?" Anakin pivoted and glared at the man.
Throat convulsing, the guard shook his head. "He was ..."
"Evasive?"
The guard nodded. "He said that it was dark, that he couldn't be sure."
"He lies!" Anakin paced forward. The guard pressed himself against the door as fear flared in his eyes. Anakin glared, anger contorting his handsome features. After a moment, the red curtain lifted and he schooled his features to blandness. The guard's breath leaked out with a quiet hiss.
"What leads did you uncover?" Anakin asked.
The guard rubbed his neck. "N-no leads, sir. Just one dead sentry. It's like a phantom spirited her away. We, we suspect some Gungans may have aided ..."
Glowering, Anakin reached out and wrapped his fingers in the guard's collar, twisting and tightening it. Though the man was barely shorter than he was, Anakin lifted him off the floor, his muscles tensing as the man's eyes rounded. He whispered, "Suspect? I'm not interested in suspicions, Major. I want knowledge. Do you actually know anything?"
As he grasped Anakin's wrist with both hands, the guard shook his head, his voice barely audible. "P-please. I'll find --"
"Nothing," snarled the dark lord. His grip tightened as he reached through the Force. With a snap, the man's body went limp.
Anakin threw the body to the floor and stalked over to the wall of transparisteel. He glared into the Coruscant night, as if Kenobi were out there, just beyond his knowing, taunting him.
He whispered, "You are a coward, Obi-Wan. Skulking behind my back, stealing the only good and beautiful thing in my life." He closed his eyes, the memory of Padme's touch caressing his mind, leaving a wistful trail. In their efforts to strip him of his past and rebuild him in their image, the Council had denied him access to family and friends. Kenobi had been party to that, not even letting him to go to his mother when she needed him. But he had defied them all when he had wed Padme. And now ... now Kenobi was trying to deny him his future, just as he had the day of the wedding.
'This marriage, the timing is all wrong, Anakin. Please reconsider. Postpone it. I have a --" A bad case of jealousy is what you have, Obi-Wan. I have a chance for real happiness, for a family with the woman I love. Force! I can't believe you want me to turn my back on that. You really hate it, don't you? That I might have something you don't. 'Stop twisting my words. You're my friend. I want you to be happy. It's just that --" Yes, I know. It has to be in a way you approve. In a way the Council approves.
The Force churned in the heavy silence. Anakin groped through it, searching for peace -- that inner calm that the older Jedi had always exuded, and that Anakin had usually found to be ... elusive. Like now. But where it had once tickled his fingertips and whispered through his mind, it now echoed across a widening gap. The core of his being was shrinking further and further inwards, surrounded by a seemingly unbreachable chasm. It was there. Within sight. Within hearing. Out of touch. If only. If only ...
He shunted the vague regret aside as indignation rose to fill the void. "Did you think this utter darkness would suffocate me? Fool. It only makes me stronger. No one takes what is mine, Kenobi. No one."
Anakin struck out blindly. The chair flew across the room, crashing into a pedestal and shattering a priceless Anobian sculpture -- the only ornament gracing the stark room. He stared at the jagged pieces, chest heaving.
"I will find her, Obi-Wan. And you will pay for this."
A quiet thought intruded. His new master beckoned. Anakin stood for a long moment, hand pressed across his eyes, until his outward composure was restored.
On his way out of his quarters, Anakin paused at the comm unit and toggled it on. "Have security come clean up my reception area." After a slight hesitation, the order was acknowledged. He stepped over the two bodies and swept down the hallway, his cloak billowing around him like gathering storm clouds.
Anakin halted before the tall throne room doors, newly installed, complete with Imperial seal. A symbol that was already embedding in the galaxy's collective consciousness. Soon the rebels would be crushed and the order fully established. The Sith order. They were only two, but they had the ability to make ten thousand quake. Anakin closed his eyes and inhaled the heady aroma of power -- the deadly sweet nectar that, once tasted, could never be refused. The Jedi were all fools, adhering to their weakling Code -- 'Serve, never rule.' -- then bowing to a Council that ruled with an iron fist. They deserved their fate. And the Council would pay for their lack of vision. Anakin scowled. But first, there was the issue of Kenobi ...
The doors slid into the walls. The emperor's presence crashed over Anakin, threatening, as it always did, to overwhelm him. He shored up his mind with the Force and paced down the long approach to the throne, passing intermittent Imperial body guards in their flowing red robes. Useless creatures.
The throne sat silhouetted against a huge bay of windows that formed a semi-circle behind it. The Eye of Palpatine, or so the palace staff called it. From here, all the key nodes of power were within sight. The Senate. Military headquarters. The Temple. But it was from this room that the true source of dominion radiated outwards, bending all others to its will.
Anakin dropped to one knee before the dais and bowed his head, intoning the required greeting. "What is thy bidding, my master?"
A moment of silence followed, in which Anakin felt the Emperor probing the edges of his mind. Finally, Palpatine said, "I sensed a disturbance, Lord Vader. Tell me."
"It was nothing, Eminence. A personal matter."
The well-modulated voice took on a hard edge. "Tell me."
Head still bowed, Anakin replied, "I have been investigating my wife's disappearance. What you sensed was my hatred over what Kenobi has done."
"Do you have any proof, yet, that it was Kenobi?"
Clenching and unclenching his jaw, Anakin said, "I need no proof."
A deep chortle stabbed into Anakin's mind. The Emperor demanded, "Show me your anger."
Lifting his gaze, Anakin stared into the deeply shadowed eyes, then nodded. He brought Obi-Wan's face to mind and poured forth all the venom, all the anger, all the hurt, that was eating away at his being. Palpatine's eyes widened; he tilted his face up and an expression that Anakin could only call ecstasy, bathed his features. When Anakin cut off the flow, Palpatine sat back in his throne, looking sated, while Anakin merely felt ... empty. But perhaps that was better than feeling like he was going to explode.
The Emperor's voice was only a whisper, yet it seemed to boom through the cavernous room. "And now, I sense you wish to continue your hunt for your old master."
"Yes, my lord."
"This is a delicate time for us. We must continue to consolidate our power. We have won the Senate, the bureaucrats are well in hand, but now we must eliminate our detractors."
Anakin remained silent. He couldn't do this. Couldn't stop the search. With every day, the trail -- what little there was -- would grow colder. Already, weeks had been lost. He had to find Padme. Had to. Anakin fought to quell his anger. He hated the way it so often ruled him. But the way it swelled his strength was exhilarating -- he only had to work at controlling that anger, channeling it, using it to defeat his enemies.
"Not to worry, my young apprentice," the Emperor said with a knowing smile. "You will be given opportunity to continue your mission. I have reports from my spy network that a suspicious-looking man, in the company of a beautiful woman, was spotted on Indu San, the day after I ascended to the throne."
"The day I dealt with the Temple denizens," Anakin commented.
"Precisely. I have business in that sector that requires your personal attention. I see no reason why you cannot re-route to Indu San on your return and make some inquiries."
Anakin's head dropped. "Thank you, Master."
Invisible fingers grasped and lifted Anakin's chin. Palpatine's gaze glowed blackly. "Make very sure you focus your anger where it belongs, Lord Vader."
Nostrils flaring slightly, Anakin replied, "Of course, my lord. Rest assured, Kenobi will feel the full force of my wrath."
The unseen hold released him. Palpatine dismissed him with a wave. Anakin rose to his feet and bowed deeply. The Emperor's quiet chuckling pursued him out of the throne room.
Obroa-Skai. Anakin stared at the blue and green planet growing in the viewscreen.
Impatience skittered along his nerves. Along with the vague feeling that he was wasting more time. Why would Kenobi have come to such a populated planet? If he was ever here. All Anakin was going on was the word of one Imperial trooper from Indu San. The woman had told the trooper they were headed to Obroa-Skai to seek medical treatment at the university. Had that been Padme? If the man -- presumably Kenobi -- was incapacitated the way the soldier had described, why hadn't she tried to escape? Why hadn't she asked the soldier to return her to safety? To him? What lies had Kenobi poured into her mind?
"Lord Vader?"
Narrowing his eyes, Anakin searched through the Force for any lingering trace of his old master.
"Lord Vader?"
Anakin blinked. The newness of the title still jarred, making it sound slightly foreign. Padme's voice whispered in his mind, 'Anakin? Anakin.' He clenched his jaw as the voice demanding his attention seemed to transform into the Emperor's strident tones, drowning out Padme's gentle call. He straightened, clasped his hands behind his back, and slowly turned to face the commander of the Star Destroyer.
"Yes, Captain?"
The commander tugged at his collar. "You asked to be informed when your shuttle was ready for boarding."
Arching one eyebrow, Anakin allowed the discomfort of the captain to graze his senses. After a moment, he inclined his head. "So I did."
As he brushed past the commander, he caught the expression of visible relief from the corner of his eye, and bit back a smile. To fear someone is to give them power. The smile collapsed inward. But did fear equal respect?
He strode through the long corridors of his mind as he made his way to the shuttle. All he had wanted during his years at the Temple, was to belong, was to be ... respected. Instead, he'd mostly been shunned, whispered about, even feared. The Chosen One. Well, he had been chosen -- by Palpatine. Now they had reason to fear him.
Anakin ordered the flight crew out of the shuttle and settled into the pilot's chair. He ran his hands over the controls and inhaled the dusty scent of metal and electronics, relishing the subtle vibrations of power under his fingertips. He lifted off smoothly and shot out of the landing bay. As vacuum wrapped around his ship, something akin to happiness skimmed the edges of his awareness. By the Force, he loved flying. It was the closest he ever came to total freedom. Nothing but a precision machine keeping him from death -- that and his own reactions.
'They have pod-racing on Malastare. Very fast. Very dangerous.' I'm the only human who can do it. 'You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods.'
A scowl creased Anakin's forehead. It had been a long time since those voices had intruded upon his thoughts. The shuttle entered the atmosphere, and suddenly Anakin smiled. He jerked the ship into a sharp spiraling descent, pulling out of the corkscrew to loop-de-loop. The shuttle screamed over the university before circling to land at the spaceport.
As Anakin strode down the landing ramp, a scrawny bald man in a dark green uniform with red piping scurried toward him. The man tripped to a stop before Anakin, wheezing from the short run.
"Renald Meecy, port master, at your service. You must be Lord Vader." The man paused to gulp in some air. "Shameful. Positively shameful that your pilot would put you through such, such dangerous aerobatics. I sincerely hope that you reprimanded him quite severely."
Raising an eyebrow, Anakin glared at the little man. "I was my own pilot." He swept past the gaping Meecy, glad to let his long strides carry him away from the annoying fellow. But it was not meant to be. Barely a dozen steps later Meecy reappeared at his side, red-faced, half running to keep up.
"Your flying is quite masterful, Lord Vader. Rarely have I seen such a wondrous display of exceeding skill." His breath whistling in and out filled the silence to the terminal.
Halting, Anakin pivoted to face the port master. "Where are your landing logs to be found?"
"Of course, of course. Your ship's commander informed me of the reason for your visit, so I took the liberty of preparing a room for your comfort."
Anakin raised a hand for silence. "Just take me there."
"Yes, of course. I realize you must be quite busy ..."
Anakin narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms; Meecy startled like an eopie, suddenly spinning and hurrying away without looking to see if his dark visitor was following.
Two hours later, a headache of stellar proportions was throbbing behind Anakin's eyes. Hundreds of data chips, neatly stacked on the desk he'd been provided, mocked his efforts at uncovering anything useful. Anakin picked up another disc and started to insert it in the reader. Suddenly he swept everything to the floor, sending discs flying across the room like shrapnel.
Meecy appeared at his elbow, buzzing about like a sand gnat. "Oh, dear. This task must be quite tiring. Perhaps you would like some refreshment, Lord Vader? May I suggest ...?"
"No." Anakin stood quickly, his chair crashing to the floor to punctuate his statement. "You don't have what I'm looking for."
"But, but, I'm sure we can ..."
"Enough!" Anakin glowered at the surprised man. "Your fawning pomposity is amazing, Port Master Meecy. Really quite extraordinary, ."
Confusion passed over the man's face. His voice was subdued. "Ah. Thank you." He blinked. "I think."
A sneer tugged at one corner of Anakin's mouth. "I'll show myself out."
The day was warm and becoming overcast. Feeling the need to walk and clear his mind, Anakin headed away from the space port. The city hummed with the same self-importance reflected in the port master. Beings of every sort and shape swarmed the streets, ebbing to and from the university, the lifeblood of the planet. Imperial presence was very low-key here. The few white-clad troopers visible, stood like islands in the stream, as everyone flowed around them, looking the other way, thinking, no doubt, that political machinations had nothing to do with them. As he drifted toward the university, Anakin mused over the tendency of scholars to see knowledge as the goal, when in fact, it was merely a tool to achieve the greater goal of power. Only through attaining power could real change be affected.
Lost in his reverie, he passed a dozen streets and found himself in the heart of the campus, surrounded by conical towers interspersed with shorter mushroom-shaped buildings. Across a grassy square, a simple rectangular building caught his eye. He wove amongst clumps of students and halted, hesitating before the circular entry that protruded from the building. His gaze fastened on the carved letters above the doorway. Jedi Studies Building. Only fools would even care to study the lore and history of the Jedi, as he had once cared. He glared at his traitorous feet as they carried him up the gentle slope leading to glass doors.
Attention still focused down, Anakin floated to the middle of a starburst design in the tiled floor and stopped. He shivered. The day was pleasant; why did he suddenly feel cold?
Almost expecting Kenobi to be standing across from him, Anakin slowly lifted his gaze. No Kenobi -- in fact, the place was momentarily empty. The foyer was round, with large glass windows. Before him were bronze doors leading into the building proper. Right down to the tiles beneath his feet, the room was designed to look like the Jedi Council chambers. Coherent thought fled.
'Much fear I sense.' ... 'Clouded the boy's future is.'
'The Council is right, Padawan.' But,Master, I didn't mean ... 'No argument, Anakin. You must learn control.'
Confusion swirled in the young man, just as it had in the boy. It darkened to resentment. Why had the Council sought to control him so completely? They had accused him of being ruled by fear. Had they been the fearful ones? The resentment built as Anakin turned around, faces springing clearly to mind, the cold hammering his thoughts to numbness. And the icy memory of his own master, standing beside him, yet never once defending him, never once shielding him ...
Never? Rarely. Resentment flared into anger. Anakin pivoted on his heel, turning faster and faster as a conflagration of fury burned through his mind, each memory of the council chambers adding fuel to the fire. The first time he had ever tasted hate had been in that room. But by then, he'd learned to shield his emotions so thickly, they were never discovered. And safe within their shield they had taken root and grown. Until they could not be contained.
Anakin raised his hands, and a shout of primal rage poured forth. The windows shattered outwards. Scattered screams and cries of alarm barely impacted his awareness. He stormed out of the foyer and wheeled around. He stretched out his hand and focused intently on the entry. The stone walls began to tremble, then shake. With a rumble, the structure collapsed in on itself, a cloud of dust rising and dissipating as Anakin stared at the pile of rubble. Fearful murmuring surrounded but did not touch him. He felt stares beaming down on him from the Jedi Studies building and jerked his head up. There was at least one Jedi inside.
Flipping his comlink open, Anakin hailed the ship. The captain responded immediately, and Anakin continued, "Zero in on my link and determine the exact coordinates." He waited until the captain affirmed his location. "Good. There is a building ten meters due east. Got it?" A short pause. "Good. Destroy it."
"Sir?" The incredulous reply sounded loudly over the link.
"You heard me, Commander. The ship should be almost directly overhead, if I recall your orbit correctly. Consider this precision target practice."
"But what of any people inside?"
Anakin's gaze skimmed the windows fronting the building. "Notify the university if you want. But that building will be a slag heap in five minutes. Understood?" He cut the connection without waiting for an answer.
A window on the third floor opened and a brown-robed figure leaned out. Anakin narrowed his eyes. The unknown Jedi called out, "This is a place of peace and study, Skywalker-called-Vader. Why do you cast your pall of darkness over Obroa-Skai?"
"I seek Obi-Wan Kenobi," Anakin replied. "Tell me his whereabouts and I might spare your life."
"If I knew, I would still remain silent."
"You've made your choice, Jedi." Anakin tucked his comlink into his belt. "Have a nice day."
He turned and walked away. The sun broke through the clouds and dazzled the square, making his black-robed figure seem a shadow. The crowd that had gathered began to buzz and jostle as his words were repeated and, finally, understood. He passed through with ease, beings scattering out of his path and scrambling toward nearby buildings. He was almost a block away when the sizzle split the sky. The explosion rocked the campus. Waves of fear and horror rolled out from the point of impact with the billows of dust and showers of debris.
Anakin ignored the mounting chaos as he strolled back to his shuttle. He focused his thoughts upwards and outwards. Did you feel that, Kenobi? Your turn is coming.
