Snark was wanting a leverage style omake with Thrawn leading the group.
May The Invisible Hand Be With You - (Star Wars CK2-Style Quest)
- Thread starter Dr. Snark
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
-
- Tags
- star wars canon what canon tsundere dice ck2 quest actions have consequences all the credits all work and no play makes ciaran a dull girl best sister capitalism ho! despairing qm teetotaller society member gotta catch 'em all insanity looting off the rails sage dice approaching spicy sheev tsundere asajj
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
i second those and anything not high level military or politics in general
also isard (father or daughter) are interesting ppl
also isard (father or daughter) are interesting ppl
Fun fact, Director Armand Isard used to take his daughter to work and had no qualms letting into high security areas or near dangerous individuals. Surprisingly as a child Ysanne Isard didn't seem to grasp what her father's work was, only that he was very important and had the ear of the Supreme Chancellor. She idolised him and at parties she would boast about his power to anyone that would listen.
Killerflood
Corporal Cannonfodder
- Location
- Saṃsāra
You've got to share this.
Temple Bombing - Confusion
Dr. Snark
Exactly As Planned...Probably
- Location
- Right where I want to be
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Coruscant
Ciaran thought about her options, then sighed deeply. "All things considered I think it's best if the two of us focus on our strongest areas. I'll start setting up plans to draw out the bomber, and you should get your case for Ahsoka and your plan to destroy Tarkin's career going." She leaned back slightly in her chair, staring slightly at the ceiling as Thrawn looked at her curiously. "Hm. Feels like ages since I was in here and actually doing something important," she said after a moment of silence.
"You never have brought up the time when the Watchers were little more than a particularly influential gang," Thrawn commented. "Is this nostalgia I'm seeing?"
in response to that question Ciaran frowned. "Not really. I can't say I miss those days in the slightest. I had barely anything to stand on and I was dancing on the strings of a Sith Lord. I won't pretend that my experiences then didn't matter, but I'd rather focus on the now."
"I understand. Speaking of the present, should we let Tano have some rest? Today has been rather taxing for her."
Ciaran glanced down the hallway leading to her room. "It'll take a little while for either of us to come up with anything concrete, so...I don't see why not. I'll send a message to the Sentinels telling them about the people Team A saw and that they should focus on the people closest to Ahsoka in a few hours once she's up and around."
-----------
Anakin Skywalker was not a happy man right now. Everything that had happened to Ahsoka so far had been bad enough, but then Tarkin had insisted on directly calling the Jedi Council and going on a tirade about Ahsoka's "treasonous activities" or whatever he could throw at her. To his misfortune he happened to be in the room at the time while delivering a debriefing on Ahsoka's escape, meaning he got roped into Tarkin's posturing.
He honestly was wondering how he ever respected the man in the slightest before. Sure Anakin had agreed with him in the past that the Jedi Code did limit the Order's ability to act as military leaders, but it was becoming increasingly clear to him as Tarkin went on and on that his opinions were grounded in petty grudges and ambition rather than legitimate concerns about the military.
"Padawan Tano's activities are nothing short of treason, and it is appalling that the Council was unable to find out about them before the bombing occurred. Instead-"
Anakin's eyes narrowed as he glared at Tarkin's hologram, though he didn't seem to notice as he continued-
"You may fire when ready," Tarkin coldly said, announcing the death of Alderaan and all of its people with no remorse as he stood by, silently watching and gripping |||| ||||||'s shoulder. ||| could only helplessly protest and watch as ||| world was obliterated by the Death Star-
"And as for you, Master Skywalker-" Tarkin said to him as he came out of his sudden vision-
"Are you done gloating or is there a point to this call?" Anakin snapped almost reflexively as the rest of the Council looked at him with various levels of shock and surprise on their faces. "If you don't have any more relevant information, then perhaps you should focus your efforts on more important matters instead of wasting our time."
"Hmph. I would suggest you watch your tongue in this matter, 'General,'" Tarkin said haughtily before the transmission ended. As it did Anakin glanced around the Council Chamber. "...You all wanted to say that, didn't you?" he said casually.
"We cannot afford any more tension between the military and the Jedi in this matter," Mace said as he glared at Anakin. "That was entirely uncalled for."
"Given that Tarkin seems bound and determined to inflame those tensions no matter what we do, I'd say it was very much called for," Anakin calmly responded.
"Anakin, you must admit that was out of line," Obi-Wan said with one of his 'I know you've done something wrong' expressions on his face that Anakin was all too familiar with. In response he sighed resignedly before replying "Yes, yes it was. I apologize for not voicing my issues with Tarkin in a more private environment."
Obi-Wan visibly frowned at that though Mace was far less conciliatory about the matter if the look on his face was any indication. "Nevertheless, it's clear that you're not acting with a clear mind in this matter. As such you will have be confined to the Temple for the duration of this matter as a disciplinary measure."
"Master Windu, this is my Padawan we're talking about!" Anakin shot back, though internally he was glad he was getting an ironclad excuse to not try and hunt down Ahsoka. "If anything I should be-"
"Clouded, your mind is," Yoda said as he interrupted Anakin's response. "Too close to your Padawan, you have become."
Anakin started to open his mouth but held his tongue, realizing that now would definitely not be the right time to debate Yoda himself on the nature of attachment in relation to the Jedi.
And more importantly...
Without a word Anakin stormed out of the room, doing his best to look angry for at least a few moments then letting his mind focus back in on the vision of Tarkin and - and -
Who else was there? Anakin thought to himself as he walked through the Temple halls, not paying any attention to anyone as he headed towards his quarters. Most of the time his visions of his potential future as Darth Vader were horrifyingly clear and usually depicted death and despair caused by him. But whenever he tried to focus more directly on ||||
Anakin leaned against a wall, clutching his head as pain seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, gasping for breath as he felt his concentration shatter from whatever that was-
"Anakin!"
He turned to see a very concerned Obi-Wan running towards him, not even bothering to hide it. "Are you all right? What happened?"
Anakin winced slightly as he reasserted himself. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I think it was some kind of vision or something like that, but it was so incoherent..." He shook his head, realizing the implications of Obi-Wan being in front of him. "Come to think of it, shouldn't I be asking you why you're here? I'm on the Council's bad side right now."
"You can't fault me for wanting to make sure you weren't going to do anything rash," Obi-Wan said with a slight smirk, causing Anakin to shake his head. "I'll never understand how you can be like that at times like this..."
"It's an acquired skill," Obi-Wan replied. "One that perhaps you should look into mastering."
Anakin couldn't help but chuckle mirthlessly in response. "I'll try, I guess."
"I understand that Ahsoka being accused of being behind the Temple bombing-"
"So you don't believe that's true?" Anakin asked, causing Obi-Wan's face to visibly fall before he replied.
"No, I do not. The facts do not add up, Ahsoka has no motive to do this, and there's very little being done to prove otherwise."
"Do you think the rest of the Council believes that?"
"Anakin, that's not the point-"
"Yes it is," he interrupted before calming himself down. "Right now more than ever Ahsoka needs people to believe in her, but I don't know if the Council is willing to give her that trust. If they're not willing to let me go after her-"
"That was because you let your emotions get the better of you Anakin," Obi-Wan said in his lecturing tone. "Attachment is not the Jedi way."
"Would you say the same thing if this was about Siri or Satine?"
The words left Anakin's mouth before his brain caught up with them, and he saw Obi-Wan visibly freeze up at that question. "I - that's a different matter entirely, Anakin-"
"No it's not, and we both know that," Anakin quietly replied. "The fact that I care about Ahsoka's safety...the fact that I'm worried about her because she's alone in the most dangerous place on the planet...it's being treated like it's wrong. As though I shouldn't care about my Padawan." He looked at Obi-Wan with a sad though resolute expression. "What's so wrong about that?" he asked no one in particular.
"The feelings that attachments bring can lead one to the Dark Side," Obi-Wan said, though Anakin honestly couldn't tell if he was trying to convince him or reassure himself. "That fear for others can lead to hatred. You yourself clearly felt that when Tarkin was talking."
"That..." Anakin frowned. "I won't deny that, but I...I think Ahsoka knowing that I care about her will keep her strong right now, when she needs that strength more than ever. And I find it hard to believe that could ever be a bad thing." He shook his head. "Anyway, much as I don't want to admit it I do need some time to myself to calm down. I'll be fine after I get some rest," he said, not bothering to wait for a response from Obi-Wan as he turned away and continued on his trek back to his quarters, thankfully making it there without any more interruptions. Sealing the door behind him he breathed out, letting the tension go out of his body before he settled into a meditative position.
That...person that the vision omitted was...Anakin didn't know who they were but the omission was telling. Given that they ultimately were caused by the Son, maybe it was something he didn't want him to see...?
Steadying his breathing Anakin began to do something he never thought he'd be doing: intentionally trying to trigger a vision of his time as Vader. Focusing in on what he saw before, he tried to draw out more details...
"In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that will be destroyed first," Tarkin said to ||||. "Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan."
"No," |||| said, realizing the gravity of Tarkin's threat. "Alderaan is peaceful, we have no weapons, you can't possibly-"
"You would prefer another target, a military target, then name the system," Tarkin said to |||. "I grow tired of asking this, so it will be the last time. Where is the Rebel base?"
|||| was quiet for a moment before responding with "Dantooine. They're on Dantooine."
"There, you see Lord Vader? She can be reasonable," Tarkin said to him wryly, barely even acknowledging her now that he had what he wanted. "Continue the operation," he said to a nearby officer, "you may fire when ready."
Suddenly Anakin was able to see the girl perfectly clearly, as though a veil had been moved away. She was a young human, on the shorter side in comparison to him and Tarkin, with brown hair tied up into buns on both sides of her head and with matching brown eyes.
Before he could figure out anything else though Anakin was forced out of his trance, panting and sweating as his head pounded with pain. Even trying to figure out that girl's gender and species was incredibly painful, as though his visions were punishing him for trying to learn more about her for lack of a better way to put it. But why...? What was so important about her?
----------
Ciaran winced as she felt a headache come on, presumably from the stress of trying to organize a sting operation against a target she knew nothing about with enemies that she also knew nothing about. The only thing she knew for sure was that all the people involved would be Force-users, meaning that she'd have to be particularly cautious about the placement of her men.
---------
After a moment of letting the pain pass, Anakin tried to refocus on the girl. Maybe he could get something from a different 'memory-'
Images rush by, barely coherent-
|||| flippantly telling him that her ship was on a diplomatic mission even though he'd personally seen it depart from Scarif barely an hour before-
Him surprising |||| alongside a human man and Wookiee he didn't recognize as they entered the room he was in, troopers moving in behind them to keep them from escaping-
|||| watching alongside the Wookiee with C-3PO attached to his back as the man was lowered into a carbonite freezing chamber-
They weren't helping, he needed something more coherent, a name-
This time the visions seemed to repeat a title over and over again: "Princess" whenever the girl was brought up-
Princess, Alderaan, maybe she was related to the Organas-
|||| Organa stood before Tarkin, taunting him even as he loomed behind her-
Closer, but he needed a name, he needed to know why-
Her name-
What was her name!?
Leia
Anakin suddenly jolted forward, gasping for breath as he tried to reassert himself, the world around him seeming to swim for a few moments before he came back to his senses. Anakin flopped backwards and stared at the ceiling, now more confused than ever. Why was it that this "Leia Organa" was someone that his visions didn't want him to see? They seemed content to show him perfectly clear images of him killing everyone he cared about and causing the deaths of hundreds by his own hand and billions by proxy but...what was so special about her?
He frowned as something came to him. While he'd never been able to confirm it, he was almost certain that these visions were because of the Son trying to break his mind so...maybe it meant that this "Leia" represented something positive about his potential future as Vader. But that didn't make any sense, even as the images blurred by they all seemed to consistently involve him threatening her or even plotting to kill her. There had to be something more...
Anakin sat back up, trying to refocus again. Maybe there was something about the people she was with? He did see Threepio in one of the visions...albeit possibly in multiple pieces and strapped to a Wookiee's back for some reason...
Breathing in deeply, he refocused and dived back in-
His blade connected with Obi-Wan's as the two stood off against each other, the two of them glancing over to see Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, the man, the Wookiee, and |\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|-
---------
Ciaran let out a strangled cry of pain as she felt a massive migraine hit her from out of nowhere, her head pounding in agony as she doubled over and clutched her head, trying desperately to make whatever was doing this to her go away. After what seemed like the longest moment of her life, the pain subsided, letting Ciaran catch her breath and reassert herself.
The headache earlier? That might have been normal...but Ciaran instinctively knew that whatever happened just now wasn't because of any natural causes. And so she reached out with the Force to try and figure what caused it, searching for whatever caused it. It wasn't something related to her as far as she could tell...
And then after a moment she felt the tiniest of tugs, drawing her vision towards the Jedi Temple. She couldn't tell exactly where it had came from but given past evidence it was likely to be connected to Anakin. Though that meant that...
She shook her head. That was something she would need to address soon but now she needed to focus on the present. Anakin would be fine...probably...
Though she did decide to send her message to the Sentinels at that very moment just to be on the safe side...
---------
"A--k--!"
"An-k-n!"
"Anakin!"
Anakin groaned in pain as he slowly sat back up, only processing Darra's presence after a moment of getting his bearings. "Darra?" he said woozily. "W-what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to ask about what happened to Ahsoka, then I found you unconscious on the ground and...uh..."
As she trailed off Anakin looked around and realized it was though a storm had gone through his quarters; everything around him was either broken or in complete disarray, randomly slammed against walls or torn up by...was it him that did all of that?
"I...don't know what happened," Anakin said slowly. "I guess...whatever knocked me out must have caused me to...explode?"
"You're sure you're alright?" Darra said, visibly worried. "This isn't exactly normal or anything like that."
"I think so," Anakin said uncertainly as he stood up, Darra following suit though much more slowly as she had to force her bad leg to straighten out. "I don't feel any different than normal, so I think I'll be fine," he sounded out, reassuring himself of that fact more than anything else before he focused back on Darra. "Anyway. You wanted to talk to me about Ahsoka?"
"Y-yes," Darra said nervously, still glancing around at Anakin's now ruined quarters. "Did she really - you know-"
"No, she was not responsible for setting up the Temple bombing, or killing Letta and the clones at the base she was being held at," Anakin said with conviction. "She's being framed, but right now there's really not much I can do to help her."
"That is where you are wrong, Skywalker."
Anakin and Darra both turned to see a figure in the doorway that Anakin recognized as his Sentinel contact. Glancing between them and Darra and thinking about who his information was coming from he asked "Is now really a good time for this?"
"Yes. Darra has been verified as a trusted individual," they commented, not seeming to care about the other implication of his words.
"Uh...should I know your friend here?" Darra asked, trying to get a read on whoever it was.
"Actually, no. From what I understand it's better if no names are used here. This person is a Sentinel, and that's all that matters." After explaining that to Darra Anakin visibly straightened himself out. "Any word on Ahsoka?"
"Our sources have been unable to locate her, but they have encountered Dark Jedi in the Undercity," they said neutrally. "While we cannot be certain of their motives it would seem that the person behind this is not working alone."
"You say that like it's not Ahsoka," Darra cautiously pointed out.
"That is because all the information we have on her strongly suggests that she is in fact innocent in this matter. However we cannot officially take her side for obvious reasons. What we can do is continue our investigation internally and unofficially to confirm that. For now we should focus on those people closest to Tano in our investigation."
"Wait, does that mean-"
"Excluding you Skywalker, and for that matter any others affiliated with her on the Council. Neither they or you have reasonable motive or resources to do this, so you are being omitted by default." The figure brought out a datapad. "For now our investigation will focus on four people: Bariss Offee, Kalifa Lelm, Jinx Tarra, and O-Mer."
"...Those people...are you sure-"
"Offee has enough familiarity with nanodroids due to her Healer training to make her a suspect, and the other three are known to have considerable skills as guerilla fighters and saboteurs due to their experiences on Wasskah," the figure said flatly. "None of them can be exonerated until we question them."
"It's just...those suspects are all so young," Anakin said sadly, Darra's face visibly falling once she realized what Anakin was getting at. "To even suspect them of such a thing..."
"Hopefully they will be proven innocent," the figure agreed, "but for now we cannot afford to let sympathies cloud our judgement."
----------
"Lady Ciaran?"
"Go ahead, Zheen."
"I have a lead on the nanodroids. There appears to be a cache close to the Abyss that some of our contacts have confirmed is not connected to us or any known associates of us."
"Interesting...any names attached to it?"
"No real one. Word has been sent to Gulan to dig deeper but it will take him some time to come back with coherent results."
"Right...thank you, I'll keep that in mind."
-----------
"Right then," Ciaran said to Ahsoka as the two of them stood around the table they were at before with Thrawn noticeably absent. "Thrawn's going to be busy putting together his case for your legal defense, but for now we're going with the 'use you to draw out the bomber' plan. So," she said, pressing a button under the table that caused its center to open up for a holoprojector that displayed an image of the Undercity, "here's how this is going to work. My people are already spreading the word that you're asking questions about explosive nanodroids that just so happen to correspond to the Temple bombing." The image zoomed in on a warehouse that lit up. "Said droids apparently came from this warehouse - and before you ask, the owner is anonymous, and we don't have time to check more thoroughly as to who actually owns it. Now then, you're going to conspicuously make your way over to the warehouse, hopefully draw out either the culprit or their associates, and they will be ambushed by my men and taken in. Any questions?"
"The plan seems straightforward enough," Ahsoka mused, "but what if whoever's behind this doesn't take the bait?"
"In that case-"
A light on Ciaran's comlink came on, causing her to check the call before answering it. "We're going with a two-pronged attack," she explained. "If you'll leave for a moment? Technically you're still supposed to be missing right now."
Ahsoka tilted her head confused, but nodded and moved back into the hallway, only to duck behind the doorway so she could listen in on Ciaran's call.
"The questioning will be beginning shortly. I will be giving you a live feed, and if you have any suggestions for questions or something along those lines I will be wearing an earpiece that will keep our conversation private."
"You're going ahead with those now!? Didn't I tell you that I had a plan that you should wait for before you went ahead with that?"
"It seemed prudent to move quickly and ensure that we could catch the culprit before they even tried anything. The longer we wait the more likely relevant evidence will be destroyed and the easier it will be for the culprit to simply lie about their alibis and so on. I would recommend that you continue with your plan in the event that we gain nothing from our side of the investigations."
"...Fine."
As the conversation ended Ahsoka-
"You can come out now. Force vision, remember?"
Ahsoka blinked a few times, then groaned loudly and slowly came back into the room to see a bemused Ciaran. "Honestly, how could you forget that?"
"It...it was the eyes," Ahsoka admitted after she sat down, visibly sulking.
"Is that what your story is?"
"So who exactly were you talking to?" Ahsoka said, trying to change the subject.
"A Sentinel contact of mine, though they're throwing things a bit off of my original plans," Ciaran said as she folded her arms. "So I'm going to improvise a bit."
"...Define 'improvise,'" Ahsoka said nervously.
"That Sentinel, along with Anakin and Darra, are going to be questioning the four suspects you gave us in a few moments," Ciaran explained. "Problem is that for my plan to work you're going to need to be out on the streets while the interrogations are happening. Now...I know...people who can at least serve as a decent body double for you, but since you're being hunted by Force-users..."
"They could figure out it's not me if they're particularly observant," Ahsoka realized. "And ideally you'd want me around to see if I could recognize any tells from the others..."
Ciaran smiled lightly. "Exactly. So now the question is...what are you going to do?"
[] Ahsoka will stay and observe the questioning, giving advice on any tells that the suspects give. A Gurlanin will be used as a body double for Ahsoka as part of the trap, but there's a decent chance that her pursuers could see through the disguise.
[] Ahsoka will go and act as bait for the trap. While it's almost guaranteed that with your preparations will ensure someone will be drawn out, there's a serious concern that you might miss out on subtle cues during the questioning that Ahsoka could recognize.
AN: Honestly trying to figure out what happened this chapter after the fun with visions from the...possibly-not-future (or something) was a bitch. But ah, things worked out. For me that is. There is a reason that what's happening is happening, don't worry.
Anyway, looking forward to see how you folks are going to deal with this little curveball...
Ciaran thought about her options, then sighed deeply. "All things considered I think it's best if the two of us focus on our strongest areas. I'll start setting up plans to draw out the bomber, and you should get your case for Ahsoka and your plan to destroy Tarkin's career going." She leaned back slightly in her chair, staring slightly at the ceiling as Thrawn looked at her curiously. "Hm. Feels like ages since I was in here and actually doing something important," she said after a moment of silence.
"You never have brought up the time when the Watchers were little more than a particularly influential gang," Thrawn commented. "Is this nostalgia I'm seeing?"
in response to that question Ciaran frowned. "Not really. I can't say I miss those days in the slightest. I had barely anything to stand on and I was dancing on the strings of a Sith Lord. I won't pretend that my experiences then didn't matter, but I'd rather focus on the now."
"I understand. Speaking of the present, should we let Tano have some rest? Today has been rather taxing for her."
Ciaran glanced down the hallway leading to her room. "It'll take a little while for either of us to come up with anything concrete, so...I don't see why not. I'll send a message to the Sentinels telling them about the people Team A saw and that they should focus on the people closest to Ahsoka in a few hours once she's up and around."
-----------
Anakin Skywalker was not a happy man right now. Everything that had happened to Ahsoka so far had been bad enough, but then Tarkin had insisted on directly calling the Jedi Council and going on a tirade about Ahsoka's "treasonous activities" or whatever he could throw at her. To his misfortune he happened to be in the room at the time while delivering a debriefing on Ahsoka's escape, meaning he got roped into Tarkin's posturing.
He honestly was wondering how he ever respected the man in the slightest before. Sure Anakin had agreed with him in the past that the Jedi Code did limit the Order's ability to act as military leaders, but it was becoming increasingly clear to him as Tarkin went on and on that his opinions were grounded in petty grudges and ambition rather than legitimate concerns about the military.
"Padawan Tano's activities are nothing short of treason, and it is appalling that the Council was unable to find out about them before the bombing occurred. Instead-"
Anakin's eyes narrowed as he glared at Tarkin's hologram, though he didn't seem to notice as he continued-
"You may fire when ready," Tarkin coldly said, announcing the death of Alderaan and all of its people with no remorse as he stood by, silently watching and gripping |||| ||||||'s shoulder. ||| could only helplessly protest and watch as ||| world was obliterated by the Death Star-
"And as for you, Master Skywalker-" Tarkin said to him as he came out of his sudden vision-
"Are you done gloating or is there a point to this call?" Anakin snapped almost reflexively as the rest of the Council looked at him with various levels of shock and surprise on their faces. "If you don't have any more relevant information, then perhaps you should focus your efforts on more important matters instead of wasting our time."
"Hmph. I would suggest you watch your tongue in this matter, 'General,'" Tarkin said haughtily before the transmission ended. As it did Anakin glanced around the Council Chamber. "...You all wanted to say that, didn't you?" he said casually.
"We cannot afford any more tension between the military and the Jedi in this matter," Mace said as he glared at Anakin. "That was entirely uncalled for."
"Given that Tarkin seems bound and determined to inflame those tensions no matter what we do, I'd say it was very much called for," Anakin calmly responded.
"Anakin, you must admit that was out of line," Obi-Wan said with one of his 'I know you've done something wrong' expressions on his face that Anakin was all too familiar with. In response he sighed resignedly before replying "Yes, yes it was. I apologize for not voicing my issues with Tarkin in a more private environment."
Obi-Wan visibly frowned at that though Mace was far less conciliatory about the matter if the look on his face was any indication. "Nevertheless, it's clear that you're not acting with a clear mind in this matter. As such you will have be confined to the Temple for the duration of this matter as a disciplinary measure."
"Master Windu, this is my Padawan we're talking about!" Anakin shot back, though internally he was glad he was getting an ironclad excuse to not try and hunt down Ahsoka. "If anything I should be-"
"Clouded, your mind is," Yoda said as he interrupted Anakin's response. "Too close to your Padawan, you have become."
Anakin started to open his mouth but held his tongue, realizing that now would definitely not be the right time to debate Yoda himself on the nature of attachment in relation to the Jedi.
And more importantly...
Without a word Anakin stormed out of the room, doing his best to look angry for at least a few moments then letting his mind focus back in on the vision of Tarkin and - and -
Who else was there? Anakin thought to himself as he walked through the Temple halls, not paying any attention to anyone as he headed towards his quarters. Most of the time his visions of his potential future as Darth Vader were horrifyingly clear and usually depicted death and despair caused by him. But whenever he tried to focus more directly on ||||
Anakin leaned against a wall, clutching his head as pain seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, gasping for breath as he felt his concentration shatter from whatever that was-
"Anakin!"
He turned to see a very concerned Obi-Wan running towards him, not even bothering to hide it. "Are you all right? What happened?"
Anakin winced slightly as he reasserted himself. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I think it was some kind of vision or something like that, but it was so incoherent..." He shook his head, realizing the implications of Obi-Wan being in front of him. "Come to think of it, shouldn't I be asking you why you're here? I'm on the Council's bad side right now."
"You can't fault me for wanting to make sure you weren't going to do anything rash," Obi-Wan said with a slight smirk, causing Anakin to shake his head. "I'll never understand how you can be like that at times like this..."
"It's an acquired skill," Obi-Wan replied. "One that perhaps you should look into mastering."
Anakin couldn't help but chuckle mirthlessly in response. "I'll try, I guess."
"I understand that Ahsoka being accused of being behind the Temple bombing-"
"So you don't believe that's true?" Anakin asked, causing Obi-Wan's face to visibly fall before he replied.
"No, I do not. The facts do not add up, Ahsoka has no motive to do this, and there's very little being done to prove otherwise."
"Do you think the rest of the Council believes that?"
"Anakin, that's not the point-"
"Yes it is," he interrupted before calming himself down. "Right now more than ever Ahsoka needs people to believe in her, but I don't know if the Council is willing to give her that trust. If they're not willing to let me go after her-"
"That was because you let your emotions get the better of you Anakin," Obi-Wan said in his lecturing tone. "Attachment is not the Jedi way."
"Would you say the same thing if this was about Siri or Satine?"
The words left Anakin's mouth before his brain caught up with them, and he saw Obi-Wan visibly freeze up at that question. "I - that's a different matter entirely, Anakin-"
"No it's not, and we both know that," Anakin quietly replied. "The fact that I care about Ahsoka's safety...the fact that I'm worried about her because she's alone in the most dangerous place on the planet...it's being treated like it's wrong. As though I shouldn't care about my Padawan." He looked at Obi-Wan with a sad though resolute expression. "What's so wrong about that?" he asked no one in particular.
"The feelings that attachments bring can lead one to the Dark Side," Obi-Wan said, though Anakin honestly couldn't tell if he was trying to convince him or reassure himself. "That fear for others can lead to hatred. You yourself clearly felt that when Tarkin was talking."
"That..." Anakin frowned. "I won't deny that, but I...I think Ahsoka knowing that I care about her will keep her strong right now, when she needs that strength more than ever. And I find it hard to believe that could ever be a bad thing." He shook his head. "Anyway, much as I don't want to admit it I do need some time to myself to calm down. I'll be fine after I get some rest," he said, not bothering to wait for a response from Obi-Wan as he turned away and continued on his trek back to his quarters, thankfully making it there without any more interruptions. Sealing the door behind him he breathed out, letting the tension go out of his body before he settled into a meditative position.
That...person that the vision omitted was...Anakin didn't know who they were but the omission was telling. Given that they ultimately were caused by the Son, maybe it was something he didn't want him to see...?
Steadying his breathing Anakin began to do something he never thought he'd be doing: intentionally trying to trigger a vision of his time as Vader. Focusing in on what he saw before, he tried to draw out more details...
"In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that will be destroyed first," Tarkin said to ||||. "Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan."
"No," |||| said, realizing the gravity of Tarkin's threat. "Alderaan is peaceful, we have no weapons, you can't possibly-"
"You would prefer another target, a military target, then name the system," Tarkin said to |||. "I grow tired of asking this, so it will be the last time. Where is the Rebel base?"
|||| was quiet for a moment before responding with "Dantooine. They're on Dantooine."
"There, you see Lord Vader? She can be reasonable," Tarkin said to him wryly, barely even acknowledging her now that he had what he wanted. "Continue the operation," he said to a nearby officer, "you may fire when ready."
Suddenly Anakin was able to see the girl perfectly clearly, as though a veil had been moved away. She was a young human, on the shorter side in comparison to him and Tarkin, with brown hair tied up into buns on both sides of her head and with matching brown eyes.
Before he could figure out anything else though Anakin was forced out of his trance, panting and sweating as his head pounded with pain. Even trying to figure out that girl's gender and species was incredibly painful, as though his visions were punishing him for trying to learn more about her for lack of a better way to put it. But why...? What was so important about her?
----------
Ciaran winced as she felt a headache come on, presumably from the stress of trying to organize a sting operation against a target she knew nothing about with enemies that she also knew nothing about. The only thing she knew for sure was that all the people involved would be Force-users, meaning that she'd have to be particularly cautious about the placement of her men.
---------
After a moment of letting the pain pass, Anakin tried to refocus on the girl. Maybe he could get something from a different 'memory-'
Images rush by, barely coherent-
|||| flippantly telling him that her ship was on a diplomatic mission even though he'd personally seen it depart from Scarif barely an hour before-
Him surprising |||| alongside a human man and Wookiee he didn't recognize as they entered the room he was in, troopers moving in behind them to keep them from escaping-
|||| watching alongside the Wookiee with C-3PO attached to his back as the man was lowered into a carbonite freezing chamber-
They weren't helping, he needed something more coherent, a name-
This time the visions seemed to repeat a title over and over again: "Princess" whenever the girl was brought up-
Princess, Alderaan, maybe she was related to the Organas-
|||| Organa stood before Tarkin, taunting him even as he loomed behind her-
Closer, but he needed a name, he needed to know why-
Her name-
What was her name!?
Leia
Anakin suddenly jolted forward, gasping for breath as he tried to reassert himself, the world around him seeming to swim for a few moments before he came back to his senses. Anakin flopped backwards and stared at the ceiling, now more confused than ever. Why was it that this "Leia Organa" was someone that his visions didn't want him to see? They seemed content to show him perfectly clear images of him killing everyone he cared about and causing the deaths of hundreds by his own hand and billions by proxy but...what was so special about her?
He frowned as something came to him. While he'd never been able to confirm it, he was almost certain that these visions were because of the Son trying to break his mind so...maybe it meant that this "Leia" represented something positive about his potential future as Vader. But that didn't make any sense, even as the images blurred by they all seemed to consistently involve him threatening her or even plotting to kill her. There had to be something more...
Anakin sat back up, trying to refocus again. Maybe there was something about the people she was with? He did see Threepio in one of the visions...albeit possibly in multiple pieces and strapped to a Wookiee's back for some reason...
Breathing in deeply, he refocused and dived back in-
His blade connected with Obi-Wan's as the two stood off against each other, the two of them glancing over to see Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, the man, the Wookiee, and |\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|-
---------
Ciaran let out a strangled cry of pain as she felt a massive migraine hit her from out of nowhere, her head pounding in agony as she doubled over and clutched her head, trying desperately to make whatever was doing this to her go away. After what seemed like the longest moment of her life, the pain subsided, letting Ciaran catch her breath and reassert herself.
The headache earlier? That might have been normal...but Ciaran instinctively knew that whatever happened just now wasn't because of any natural causes. And so she reached out with the Force to try and figure what caused it, searching for whatever caused it. It wasn't something related to her as far as she could tell...
And then after a moment she felt the tiniest of tugs, drawing her vision towards the Jedi Temple. She couldn't tell exactly where it had came from but given past evidence it was likely to be connected to Anakin. Though that meant that...
She shook her head. That was something she would need to address soon but now she needed to focus on the present. Anakin would be fine...probably...
Though she did decide to send her message to the Sentinels at that very moment just to be on the safe side...
---------
"A--k--!"
"An-k-n!"
"Anakin!"
Anakin groaned in pain as he slowly sat back up, only processing Darra's presence after a moment of getting his bearings. "Darra?" he said woozily. "W-what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to ask about what happened to Ahsoka, then I found you unconscious on the ground and...uh..."
As she trailed off Anakin looked around and realized it was though a storm had gone through his quarters; everything around him was either broken or in complete disarray, randomly slammed against walls or torn up by...was it him that did all of that?
"I...don't know what happened," Anakin said slowly. "I guess...whatever knocked me out must have caused me to...explode?"
"You're sure you're alright?" Darra said, visibly worried. "This isn't exactly normal or anything like that."
"I think so," Anakin said uncertainly as he stood up, Darra following suit though much more slowly as she had to force her bad leg to straighten out. "I don't feel any different than normal, so I think I'll be fine," he sounded out, reassuring himself of that fact more than anything else before he focused back on Darra. "Anyway. You wanted to talk to me about Ahsoka?"
"Y-yes," Darra said nervously, still glancing around at Anakin's now ruined quarters. "Did she really - you know-"
"No, she was not responsible for setting up the Temple bombing, or killing Letta and the clones at the base she was being held at," Anakin said with conviction. "She's being framed, but right now there's really not much I can do to help her."
"That is where you are wrong, Skywalker."
Anakin and Darra both turned to see a figure in the doorway that Anakin recognized as his Sentinel contact. Glancing between them and Darra and thinking about who his information was coming from he asked "Is now really a good time for this?"
"Yes. Darra has been verified as a trusted individual," they commented, not seeming to care about the other implication of his words.
"Uh...should I know your friend here?" Darra asked, trying to get a read on whoever it was.
"Actually, no. From what I understand it's better if no names are used here. This person is a Sentinel, and that's all that matters." After explaining that to Darra Anakin visibly straightened himself out. "Any word on Ahsoka?"
"Our sources have been unable to locate her, but they have encountered Dark Jedi in the Undercity," they said neutrally. "While we cannot be certain of their motives it would seem that the person behind this is not working alone."
"You say that like it's not Ahsoka," Darra cautiously pointed out.
"That is because all the information we have on her strongly suggests that she is in fact innocent in this matter. However we cannot officially take her side for obvious reasons. What we can do is continue our investigation internally and unofficially to confirm that. For now we should focus on those people closest to Tano in our investigation."
"Wait, does that mean-"
"Excluding you Skywalker, and for that matter any others affiliated with her on the Council. Neither they or you have reasonable motive or resources to do this, so you are being omitted by default." The figure brought out a datapad. "For now our investigation will focus on four people: Bariss Offee, Kalifa Lelm, Jinx Tarra, and O-Mer."
"...Those people...are you sure-"
"Offee has enough familiarity with nanodroids due to her Healer training to make her a suspect, and the other three are known to have considerable skills as guerilla fighters and saboteurs due to their experiences on Wasskah," the figure said flatly. "None of them can be exonerated until we question them."
"It's just...those suspects are all so young," Anakin said sadly, Darra's face visibly falling once she realized what Anakin was getting at. "To even suspect them of such a thing..."
"Hopefully they will be proven innocent," the figure agreed, "but for now we cannot afford to let sympathies cloud our judgement."
----------
"Lady Ciaran?"
"Go ahead, Zheen."
"I have a lead on the nanodroids. There appears to be a cache close to the Abyss that some of our contacts have confirmed is not connected to us or any known associates of us."
"Interesting...any names attached to it?"
"No real one. Word has been sent to Gulan to dig deeper but it will take him some time to come back with coherent results."
"Right...thank you, I'll keep that in mind."
-----------
"Right then," Ciaran said to Ahsoka as the two of them stood around the table they were at before with Thrawn noticeably absent. "Thrawn's going to be busy putting together his case for your legal defense, but for now we're going with the 'use you to draw out the bomber' plan. So," she said, pressing a button under the table that caused its center to open up for a holoprojector that displayed an image of the Undercity, "here's how this is going to work. My people are already spreading the word that you're asking questions about explosive nanodroids that just so happen to correspond to the Temple bombing." The image zoomed in on a warehouse that lit up. "Said droids apparently came from this warehouse - and before you ask, the owner is anonymous, and we don't have time to check more thoroughly as to who actually owns it. Now then, you're going to conspicuously make your way over to the warehouse, hopefully draw out either the culprit or their associates, and they will be ambushed by my men and taken in. Any questions?"
"The plan seems straightforward enough," Ahsoka mused, "but what if whoever's behind this doesn't take the bait?"
"In that case-"
A light on Ciaran's comlink came on, causing her to check the call before answering it. "We're going with a two-pronged attack," she explained. "If you'll leave for a moment? Technically you're still supposed to be missing right now."
Ahsoka tilted her head confused, but nodded and moved back into the hallway, only to duck behind the doorway so she could listen in on Ciaran's call.
"The questioning will be beginning shortly. I will be giving you a live feed, and if you have any suggestions for questions or something along those lines I will be wearing an earpiece that will keep our conversation private."
"You're going ahead with those now!? Didn't I tell you that I had a plan that you should wait for before you went ahead with that?"
"It seemed prudent to move quickly and ensure that we could catch the culprit before they even tried anything. The longer we wait the more likely relevant evidence will be destroyed and the easier it will be for the culprit to simply lie about their alibis and so on. I would recommend that you continue with your plan in the event that we gain nothing from our side of the investigations."
"...Fine."
As the conversation ended Ahsoka-
"You can come out now. Force vision, remember?"
Ahsoka blinked a few times, then groaned loudly and slowly came back into the room to see a bemused Ciaran. "Honestly, how could you forget that?"
"It...it was the eyes," Ahsoka admitted after she sat down, visibly sulking.
"Is that what your story is?"
"So who exactly were you talking to?" Ahsoka said, trying to change the subject.
"A Sentinel contact of mine, though they're throwing things a bit off of my original plans," Ciaran said as she folded her arms. "So I'm going to improvise a bit."
"...Define 'improvise,'" Ahsoka said nervously.
"That Sentinel, along with Anakin and Darra, are going to be questioning the four suspects you gave us in a few moments," Ciaran explained. "Problem is that for my plan to work you're going to need to be out on the streets while the interrogations are happening. Now...I know...people who can at least serve as a decent body double for you, but since you're being hunted by Force-users..."
"They could figure out it's not me if they're particularly observant," Ahsoka realized. "And ideally you'd want me around to see if I could recognize any tells from the others..."
Ciaran smiled lightly. "Exactly. So now the question is...what are you going to do?"
[] Ahsoka will stay and observe the questioning, giving advice on any tells that the suspects give. A Gurlanin will be used as a body double for Ahsoka as part of the trap, but there's a decent chance that her pursuers could see through the disguise.
[] Ahsoka will go and act as bait for the trap. While it's almost guaranteed that with your preparations will ensure someone will be drawn out, there's a serious concern that you might miss out on subtle cues during the questioning that Ahsoka could recognize.
AN: Honestly trying to figure out what happened this chapter after the fun with visions from the...possibly-not-future (or something) was a bitch. But ah, things worked out. For me that is. There is a reason that what's happening is happening, don't worry.
Anyway, looking forward to see how you folks are going to deal with this little curveball...
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- Location
- The internet
Just so everyone remembers, one of the Sentinals becomes grand Inquisitor. Its entirely possible that he's been encouraged by Sora Bulq. Mind you, I don't see how we handle that without blatant metagaming.
LordVile
There's thinking and thinking with explosives.
- Location
- INDIA
[X] Ahsoka will go and act as bait for the trap. While it's almost guaranteed that with your preparations will ensure someone will be drawn out, there's a serious concern that you might miss out on subtle cues during the questioning that Ahsoka could recognize.
Stealthy
Reverently Irreverent
- Location
- Roaming
Fun Fact: I'm pretty sure this latest update makes the Temple Bombing arc longer than the Mortis one by wordcount.
- Location
- va
[X] Ahsoka will go and act as bait for the trap. While it's almost guaranteed that with your preparations will ensure someone will be drawn out, there's a serious concern that you might miss out on subtle cues during the questioning that Ahsoka could recognize.
NexysDhyArchen
Throne Breaker
We have a force bond with Ani boy.
Question is: Is Anakin able to force-vision the canon future thanks to our Shatterpoint?
Question is: Is Anakin able to force-vision the canon future thanks to our Shatterpoint?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The Force Bond, and presumably how it was brought up by their shared experiences with the Son, Daughter, and Father. Plus her thing is Shatterpoints and that's breaking possibility and future over its knees with the vision.
UbeOne
Daydreaming CPU
- Location
- Philippines
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[x] Ahsoka will stay and observe the questioning, giving advice on any tells that the suspects give. A Gurlanin will be used as a body double for Ahsoka as part of the trap, but there's a decent chance that her pursuers could see through the disguise.
Dr. Snark
Exactly As Planned...Probably
- Location
- Right where I want to be
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
...It is.
Oh dear god it totally is.
Honestly by the time everything's finished and all of the plots and subplots play out it might be twice as long.
Edit: For reference if you translated this into episodes it would probably take up close to a third of a season minimum with all of the stuff I've been adding to this.
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- Location
- United States
It wasn't. At least, I don't think it was.
But Ciaran is both sensitive to shatterpoints and has a degree of precognition, and Anakin looking at his own future would ping pretty heavily on both of those.
Garm352
Bearer of the Stars of Creation
- Location
- The Void Between Stars
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Ahsoka will stay and observe the questioning, giving advice on any tells that the suspects give. A Gurlanin will be used as a body double for Ahsoka as part of the trap, but there's a decent chance that her pursuers could see through the disguise.
Just because they see through the disguise doesn't mean they won't be baited out by it. They could try to capture the impersonator to try and find out if they know where the real Ahsoka is.
Just because they see through the disguise doesn't mean they won't be baited out by it. They could try to capture the impersonator to try and find out if they know where the real Ahsoka is.
Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
I swear, Anakin has no concept of When To Leave Well Enough Alone. I think more than anything that would be worthwhile training lightsaber with him in a couple turns.
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- Location
- USA
[X] Ahsoka will go and act as bait for the trap. While it's almost guaranteed that with your preparations will ensure someone will be drawn out, there's a serious concern that you might miss out on subtle cues during the questioning that Ahsoka could recognize.
- Location
- america
i want to see the negaverse omake of that. like, a entire third of a season set aside for a crime drame, star wars addition? sounds fun.
- Location
- Somewhere and somewhen in time and space
[x]Ahsoka will stay and observe the questioning, giving advice on any tells that the suspects give. A Gurlanin will be used as a body double for Ahsoka as part of the trap, but there's a decent chance that her pursuers could see through the disguise.
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- Location
- Lynn, MA
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[x] Ahsoka will stay and observe the questioning, giving advice on any tells that the suspects give. A Gurlanin will be used as a body double for Ahsoka as part of the trap, but there's a decent chance that her pursuers could see through the disguise.