Savage-Time Chapter 29 (Patreon)

[Coruscant, Padme’s Apartment]

Anakin Skywalker

Actions have consequences, Anakin knew it well. The lessons he learned on Tatooine were not easily forgotten but he could’ve hardly expected the sheer disgust the people of Coruscant were showing towards him for the actions of other Jedi, it was unfair! Anakin had arrived at the end of it and barely managed to save the strongest members of the Jedi Order, but the public saw it differently.

The news could talk about nothing else, economists, politicians, radicals, hell! Even musicians were talking about it, where before Anakin had been the darling of the media and one of the few Jedi with good publicity now he was nothing more than an accomplice, there had been riots and protests all over Coruscant demanding the Senate do something about the Jedi but the Senate couldn’t punish the Jedi for it.

Windu had saved Coruscant from a greater disaster and they all knew it and the only one who seemed inclined to do something was Palpatine, but it was no secret that he wasn’t fond of Windu and that might’ve been Anakin’s fault as he had never spoken well of him to Palpatine, every day it looked more likely that even those who owe their lives to Master Windu would end up betraying him for their political careers.

Padme’s faction in the Senate was under assault from everyone else because of their continued support of the Jedi, some had been attacked by civilians that didn’t understand or didn’t care to understand why things had gone that way and the true culprit of the entire affair had been mostly forgotten.

Grievous or what he had been told was Grievous was now trapped inside the temple waiting for interrogation, Anakin would’ve killed him for his actions but Obi-Wan was able to point out that it would be better to give him to the Republic for trial but not before he was interrogated by them. Padme was not very approving of that.

If there was something good to be said about this whole thing is that the title of Hero With No Fear was put to rest and the pressure he felt from the title went with it.

From the corner of his eye, Anakin saw one of the shadows move unnaturally, like a worm or a serpent before it disappeared, if the other Jedi weren’t also seeing stuff he would think he was crazy but from what the Council had told them instances of mass death caused weird things to happen, Anakin in particular had been constantly hearing his mother which had made him come to the only place where he felt safe. Padme knew what he had done and she wasn’t scared of him, she wouldn’t push him away as the whispers said, and just like he expected his wife had been all too happy to comfort him.

Now he was beside her in their bed arms wrapped around one another and the only thing that could make it better was if Anakin could just close his eyes and sleep. As he tried again, dark whispers came to him from the deepest parts of his mind showing him a world covered in fire, the image changed and now he was in a jungle watching from the distance as two red blurs fought against a blue one, the scene changed again this time to the Temple Ashoka was being held up by the throat.

Anakin opened his eyes before he heard the sound of snapping bone that followed, something was going to happen and he was going to need help if he was going to see his future.

Anakin would change fate or die trying.

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[Coruscant, Senate]

Bail Organa

Bail had never noticed just how sinister the Senate was at night, the empty halls that were barely illuminated left some parts looking like the gaping maw of some beast ready to swallow him whole, he shuddered as he passed another point of darkness in his way to Mon’s office.

A pang of sadness almost overwhelmed him as he thought about his fallen friend, she was an inspiration to him, unyielding and strong. Mon had done her best for the Republic and she was murdered without mercy, but Bail could still do one last thing for her.

After her death had been confirmed, a message arrived for him a simple note pad but when he opened it Mon sprang out from it as a hologram. She was wearing an outfit he recognized, it had been for a Chandrilan festivity that passed barely a week ago.

“Bail if you’re watching this then that means I’m dead.” Mon paused in her talking to laugh, bringing her hand to her mouth to cover it as she did “I’m sorry for laughing but I never thought that I would be doing something like this, it suits your style more than mine”

Bail smiled as he thought of her words even in the darkest moments you could count on Mon to see the light.

“I-I’ve been busy,” Mon hesitated as she looked down “while we’ve all been busy trying to stop the war, I’ve been preparing for the next one. Truth be told I don’t believe we can win if things continue as they are, not because of the Separatists but because we’ve lost our way” Mon took a deep breath and when her head rose Bail saw that burning determination in her eyes that he always admired.

“Our Republic is falling as I speak, corporations, conglomerates, trade families, and politicians are making it so. At first glance, one might think it a coincidence but the more you look the more the pattern emerges and when you know enough you can recognize that certain events in the past weren’t as unimportant as one might think”

Bail wanted to dismiss her words but he wasn’t blind he could see that many were simply following the flow or receiving payment to take certain stances, he had gotten many offers to change sides in political discussions before.

“But I don’t think it’s hopeless and I think that the Republic is something worth fighting for. The dead like me cannot fight anymore but I was never one to throw the first punch, I left to you and Padme equal parts of my fortune so you can continue the fight. One last thing my investigation and several sensitive documents are in a safe in my office you should be able to open it the password is my birthday backwards…Bail I hope…I hope you don’t judge me too harshly for what I’ve don’t”

Finally, Bail arrived at Mon’s office and quickly opened the door. The inside looked the same as ever and Bail quickly made his way to the place the safe was hidden. Mon had bought an old piece of a now destroyed Jedi Temple, Bail had thought it a little disrespectful but his friends in the order hadn’t said anything about it.

Bail pushed aside the pillar revealing the safe.

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[Coruscant, Senate]

Pong Krell

Krell had never been a spiritual Jedi preferring to be pragmatic, some had decried him as heartless but he saw more like a way to ensure that the best outcome came to fruition.

That had changed with the surge in the power of the Dark Side, a shadow spread across Coruscant temping young and old alike inside the Temple, but only he had heard the message. Now Krell was making his way to the industrial zone hoping to find the one who had called him, the simple memory of the darkness he felt was enough to make him shiver.

It was like the Dark Side had taken a humanoid form. The shadow had shown Krell the future of the galaxy, a future in which order had finally been achieved, where people lived inside the carefully laid lines of the government and where Force users were revered and feared. Krell hadn’t been able to recognize what he saw until after the vision was over, the people there had respected them, respected him.

It was an opportunity that only came once in a lifetime and Pong Krell wouldn’t let it pass him by.

Krell opened himself to the Force and as he did the whispers that had brought him here intensified, a cackling laugh reached his ears and he followed it to an old factory, he knew it was the place because it was the only building with an open hangar.

Krell climbed down from the speeder he was using and entered as soon as he did the darkness and shadows inside the building came alive, the sound of metal clanking against metal was heard all around.

“I’m glad at least one of you can follow instructions” the voice was wrong, it sounded almost like a human’s would but there was something inherently wrong with it. Krell shuddered as he felt something move past the barriers of his mind and rebuff any attempt he made at protecting it “I see you’re one who cares only for the end result”

“Results are all that matter, the galaxy won’t be saved with good intentions” many Jedi would agree with him and many more would shun him for his thoughts.

A cloaked thing came out from the darkness, it looked pitiful to his senses and Krell was about to voice his disappointment but then the mask of frailness disappeared along with the darkness covering the being. Krell saw it, a power so great it looked like a black hole that could swallow anything and when the face was revealed Krell had no more doubt in him.

“Master” kneeling was the correct option, the only option. The Jedi didn’t doubt that if he tried anything he would be dead in less than a second, their disparity in power was as great as the disparity between those living in the upper levels of Coruscant and those who lived on the lower levels.

“I have uses for a new servant, but don’t think that you’re the only one. There are those weaker than you but who have more potential, isn’t that right?”

A Zabrak woman jumped down from the ceiling, Krell hadn’t been able to recognize her and he should have as she had a very unique set of lightsabers. As she got closer Krell noticed that she want a woman but a teen, perhaps one of the many padawans that traveled with their master. It made sense that he didn’t recognize her.

“I-I don’t want to feel ashamed for my connection to the darker side of the Force, I dint choose this! It’s not my fault!” she cried out, to Krell or the shadow, perhaps to both of them, but the cloaked man was the one to answer her unasked plea for help.

“Pledge yourself to me, follow me, and obey. The shame you feel will be a thing of the past, there will be no judgment coming for you” the man crossed the distance between them so fast that Krell had to rub his eyes just to confirm what he saw.

“Pledge yourself to me and I promise you a life without shame” the girl hesitated but in the end, she knelt just as Krell had done “Rise Maris, we have much to speak about, tell me about your master and what he’s told you about when you will leave again”

Krell would make sure to remember her name and discretely ask for information on her.

“He and the other Jedi who travel constantly in the Outer Rim are preparing to leave again as soon as the war restarts and the Jedi Council can’t stop them anymore but they fear that if they wait too much the Council will force them to stay and fight”

Krell instantly recognized what she was talking about a subset of the Jedi who were true pacifists had refused to fight and continued with their usual duties on the Outer Rim worlds, the Jedi Council had allowed this as they provided intelligence and hyperspace routes that others didn’t have. He was unaware that they were back in the Temple much less that it was all of them.

“This could be very useful, perhaps we should encourage them to leave. Of course, their ships are in disrepair and accidents happen so if the majority of them died they would only have themselves to blame”

“I understand master” she bowed again and quickly left.

“I have a special mission for you master Krell, tell me what do you know about Felucia?”

The smile on his master’s face wasn’t very reassuring.