#the one where anakin trolls people by showing up shirtless to a meeting

[fialleril]

Snippet anon: tysm! I'm good with pretty much any verse, but I do have a bit of a preference for something angry and cathartic, although I'd be happy with anything really.

Well it just so happens that angry and (hopefully) cathartic is my specialty, so!

This is a snippet of Anabasis that’s pretty far along in the story (the bit I’m currently working on, actually), and it’s not in final form so some things may change when I (finally) post the full fic. But hopefully you will still enjoy it.

If anybody is for some reason scrupulously avoiding spoilers, probably don’t read this one?

The bit where Anakin interrupts a meeting of Senators concerning the “Outer Rim Development” bill in a...rather creative way.

Warnings for discussion of slavery, implied abuse, serious injury, scarring, and limb loss.

Orn Free Taa and his entourage arrived half an hour early,but Obi-Wan and Yan were there to meet them. Padmé saw the scowl the Twi’leksenator tried to hide and wondered. Had he been hoping to find her alone? Andif so, why? Or did he think that their presence meant she had the support ofthe Jedi in her cause?

Did she have thesupport of the Jedi? That was a startling and uncomfortable question to have,particularly so close to a vote. The Order had no legislative voice in theSenate, of course, but as the Senate-Jedi liaison, Yan would be given theopportunity to speak on any proposed bill. And there were still enough senatorswho remembered the days of the old Republic, and for whom the Jedi would stillspeak with the voice of moral authority.

But Padmé and her supporters, the majority of themwell-known as leaders of the Rebellion, had a moral authority of their own. Andthis was, ultimately, a moral issue. She just had to make the full Senate seethat.

Taa had brought nine other senators with him, none of whomPadmé could say were unexpected. He’d probably expected her own choices, too.This was an act for the sake of appearances. There would be few surprises here.For just a moment, Padmé allowed herself to resent the necessity of a meetingin which everyone already knew the foregone conclusion.

But her annoyance was pushed aside as the last of Taa’scontingent filed in followed by Taa himself, and with him two of his aides:young Twi’lek women, demure and silent, goosebumps standing out on theirexposed skin. They followed in Taa’s wake and made eye contact with no one.

Padmé’s stomach twisted. He’sa slaver, the memory of Anakin snarled in her mind.

But Anakin himself wasn’t there. He’d packed away all of histools after their…discussion, and the last she’d seen him, he’d been headed tothe shower. But that was almost an hour ago now.

She caught Sabé’s eye and nodded minutely. The handmaidenslipped soundlessly out of the room, noticed only by the Jedi, whose expressionsremained perfectly neutral, and Padmé returned her attention to welcoming herguests.

Bana, Fang, Yarua, and Giddean all arrived together, in ashow of strength that certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Taa and his cronies.Riyo Chuchi came ten minutes later, uncertainty all too obvious in herexpression. But she was there, which counted for something. Padmé hadn’t beencertain she wouldn’t back out at the last minute. Pantora had held interests inthe Outer Rim in the past.

Mon Mothma was the last to arrive. She was in mid conversationwith an audio-only comlink as she stepped off the lift. Her hair and her simplewhite robes were pristine as always, but she still gave the impression ofsomeone with far too much to do and not nearly enough time in which to do it.

“Yes of course, Chancellor,” she said, quietly but not soquietly that it could be missed by anyone else in the now silent room. “I willsee to it momentarily. Yes. Yes, Senator Amidala’s meeting. Not more than twohours, I think. Yes, that’s right.” She slipped the comlink into a pocket andnodded briskly at the assembled senators. “I’m terribly sorry to have kept youall. I hope you haven’t been waiting long?”

“Not at all, Senator Mothma,” said Orn Free Taa. He soundedperfectly cordial, but he looked as though he’d swallowed something rancid.

Padmé caught Fang’s eye and saw that he, too, was trying notto laugh. Mon’s entrance had been masterful.

And now it was simply a matter of getting everyone settledcomfortably, exchanging all the necessary pleasantries, and seeing that herguests were provided with refreshments.

That was when things got…complicated.

“Can I get you anything?” Dormé asked the two Twi’lek aides(whose names, Padmé now realized, she didn’t know; Taa had never bothered tomention them).

The women glanced at each other nervously, darted their eyesin Senator Taa’s direction, and then looked at the floor.  They said nothing.

“Perhaps a glass of water? Or a cup of Naboo floral tea?”Dormé pressed.

“Please, don’t trouble yourself,” Senator Taa said, waving acareless hand. “Just you hurry with the other drinks, and then we can begin.”

Padmé bristled. Who was he, to order Dormé about as thoughshe were a servant and not an experienced political attaché in her own right? Totreat his own aides like –

Dormé caught her eye and shook her head sharply. Padmé bither tongue. She wondered where Anakin was. He would not have stayed silent.

But Dormé knew well how to speak without words. She slippedsilently out of the room and returned a few moments later with Sabé and Artoobearing a tray of drinks. Sabé met Padmé’s eyes and nodded once, then turnedback to the guests with a polite smile that could only mean trouble. She andArtoo began passing out the drinks, but Dormé took two steaming mugs of floraltea from the tray and approached Orn Free Taa’s aides. She didn’t once look atthe Twi’lek senator.

“I took the liberty of making some floral tea,” she told thetwo women with a smile. “It’s a specialty of Naboo, offered to guests.”

Padmé was watching the two intently, and she saw the exactmoment when one of them reached a decision. Her eyes sparked and she lookedDormé in the face as she reached forward to take the cup. “Thank you,” shesaid. Her voice was soft but there was durasteel beneath it.

Padmé should have called the meeting to order. She shouldn’thave allowed Taa or anyone else a chance to react to Dormé’s hospitality. But shewas too stunned by what she’d seen. The look on the Twi’lek woman’s face wasintimately familiar to her.

It was the way Anakin had looked, just before he turned hislightsaber on his master.

“Senator Amidala,” Taa snapped. “If you’re quite finishedwasting our time, perhaps we can discuss the matter we’ve come here todiscuss.”

Her mind still occupied by the defiance in the woman’s face,Padmé answered, “I think we already are.”

An explosive silence followed.

“I beg your pardon,” Senator Taa said, low and dangerous.Ask Aak and most of his other supporters were openly glaring at her.

Padmé felt a hot, sharp spike of fury low in her gut. It wasn’ta new feeling, but something ferocious in her that had been burning since that worldshattering moment in the Emperor’s throne room. It was frozen in her memory, anunspeakable place of terror, desperation, and sudden clarity, where politicsand appearance were meaningless and the acknowledgement of humanity became aweapon.

And Orn Free Taa was no Palpatine. Padmé remembered Anakinand his talk of surviving the storm, and thought she understood it more fully now.After such a fierce storm, what was a little wind?

She wasn’t afraid. There was nothing Taa could threaten herwith. There might be political fallout, but she could deal with that. Therewould certainly be consequences to her senatorial relationship with Taa and hisallies, and they might be far-reaching. But she could face all of that. Shecould fight it.

Perhaps some of Anakin’s uncompromising anger had taken rootin her. Certainly what she was about to do was far from a proper, measuredpolitical response.

Padmé couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she held OrnFree Taa’s gaze steadily. It was strangely liberating.

“I believe you understand me perfectly, Senator,” she said.“We’ve gathered here to discuss the existence of slavery within this Republic.Both in the Outer Rim Territories, and here in the Core as well.”

Even Mon Mothma was staring at her in surprise. Riyo Chuchi lookedalmost frightened. But Padmé was untouchable now.

Taa drew himself up in sneering affront. “The Republiccannot be held responsible for the activities of gangsters in the Territories,”he snapped. “And your allegations – ”

“Are perfectly accurate. As you know very well, Senator Taa.”

Padmé looked up sharply. Anakin was standing in the doorway.Someone – she thought it might be Senator Chuchi – gasped audibly, but shedidn’t turn to check. She couldn’t look away from Anakin. No one could. He stoodthere like a black hole in space, their eyes inescapably drawn to him.

He must really have come from the shower. His hair was stilldamp and curling at the ends, softening his face. And he wasn’t wearing ashirt.

The diffuse light of Coruscant midday filled the room, andin it Anakin’s scars stood out with livid violence. They crisscrossed his arms,shoulders, and upper torso, ending abruptly in a discolored, unnaturally smoothstretch of skin covering most of his stomach where the bomb wasn’t. The controlpanel set into his chest neatly bisected a long red burn scar. Light glinted offof the durasteel of his left arm and the warmer metal of the panel.

Padmé was uncomfortably aware of the fact that she knewexactly what each of those controls did. That she knew the code that wouldallow her to adjust his life support – or to shut it all down.

“I’m very sorry to interrupt, Senators,” Anakin was saying.That was an obvious falsehood in spite of his almost perfectly sincereexpression, but it hardly mattered. Padmé didn’t think anyone was reallylistening. His mere presence spoke loudly enough.

“But I thought, perhaps, that your conversation mightbenefit from an Outer Rim perspective,” he continued. “And as Tatooine has norepresentation in the Senate…”

That was true, Padmé realized with a start. Shame followedquickly: this was a truth she’d never given any real thought to before. And shedoubted her fellow senators were giving it any consideration now. Not withAnakin standing there, dressed in his scars and seemingly the only comfortableperson in the room.

Dooku broke the heavy silence with a soft chuckle. “I dobelieve you’re underdressed for a meeting, Anakin,” he said. The nervouslaughter of several others followed.

Anakin blinked, making a show of looking down at himself insurprise and then embarrassment. He even flushed slightly, something Padmé hadnever seen him do before.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, shooting them all an abashed smile.Padmé bit her lip to hold back a laugh. Not a politician, indeed.

“I’ll just, uh,” Anakin said with exactly the right touch ofawkwardness. And he turned to leave.

This time there were several gasps. Even Padmé sucked in abreath. She’d seen the scars on his back before, but never in the unforgiving lightof day.

Anakin walked out of the room with his head held high,shoulders squared. He didn’t wait to be sure they were watching. He knew he hada captive audience, and he made his exit look perfectly natural, evenunthinking. It was all the more effective for that.

Padmé wished she could see his face. In part because, nomatter how she tried to deny it, the scars on his back still left her deeplyunsettled. But mostly because she was almost certain he was laughingsoundlessly to himself, and she wanted to share the joke.

But the moment Anakin was gone Orn Free Taa stood in a huff.“It’s clear to me that this meeting was not planned in good faith,” he sneered.“I will not stay here and be insulted. Good day, Senators.”

“That’s a great shame,” Mon Mothma said gravely. “I’m sureAnakin didn’t mean any offense. He’s still recovering, no doubt.” Even Mon, whohad mastered the art of appearance, still looked deeply unsettled, and shedidn’t quite manage to hide a grimace. Anakin’s message hadn’t only been intendedfor Taa, after all.

“That’s hardly any excuse,” Taa sneered.

“I understand your dismay, Senator Taa,” Padmé said, shapingher own fury into an overly sweet smile. “But surely the issues your billaddresses are important enough to warrant discussion, and we can hardly holdthat without you. I’m sure we would all like to see a Republic that upholds thefreedom of all people as a central value. Don’t you agree?”

She’d all but said he didn’t earlier, and no one in the roomwas likely to have forgotten it, least of all Taa himself. That would onlyserve to make his position more untenable.

“No doubt,” Taa said sourly. His gaze shifted briefly to Monbefore turning once again on Padmé. “But we will find no solutions here, whenyou are so clearly uninterested in engaging in an honest dialogue, SenatorAmidala.”

Padmé bristled. He’d written a bill titled “Economic andSocial Development of the Outer Rim Territories” as a pretext for the continuedtacit acceptance of slavery, and he was accusing her of being unwilling to engage in dialogue?

But, perhaps fortunately, Senator Yarua who spoke before shecould. His interpreter, a small, chromed droid hovering on repulsors, translated.“My people know only too well the pain of slavery. I will not disguise thatfact, and I will not condone any ‘dialogue’ that considers the issue in any wayopen to debate. But I would like to believe that we are all gathered here witha similar purpose. And I would hope that you share that view, Senator Taa.”

Taa’s eyes flashed to his gaggle of supporters. Ask Aaklooked ready to leave himself, but the others seemed more uncertain, and IsterPadie looked openly nervous. Padmé could easily see why. Yarua’s words had definitivelybacked his contingent into a difficult political corner. And with the Jedithere observing, silently withholding any input in a pointed display ofimpartiality, a false move on Taa’s part had the potential for much greaterconsequences.

Of course Anakin chose that moment to return. He had an excellentsense of dramatic timing, she’d give him that.

“Oh, Senator Taa, are you leaving?” he asked from thedoorway. “I do hope I didn’t scare you off. I was so looking forward to talkingwith you again.”

Everyone else turned once more to stare at Anakin, but Padmékept her eyes on Taa. He had a decent sabacc face, but it always took a momentto settle, and in that brief, unguarded period his expression was anunencrypted data stream.

She saw disgust, fury, and a distinctly hunted look. He wastrapped now and he knew it. There would be no way to leave with any dignityafter a statement like that.

“Of course not, Lord Vader,” Taa said with a barelydisguised sneer.

Now Padmé did look at Anakin. He’d dressed once more all inblack (and for the first time she wondered if he actually owned clothes in anyother color) and, strangely, he made absolutely no effort to hide his flinch atthe name.

“I’m sorry, Senator,” he said, stepping fully into the room.“I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced. I’m Anakin Skywalker.” And heoffered his left hand in the traditional Twi’lek form of greeting.

There was a subtle stir of surprise from Orn Free Taa’s twoaides, something Padmé, who was intimately familiar with the small gestures ofher own handmaidens, noticed immediately. The women’s eyes were fixed onAnakin’s extended hand. Padmé followed their gaze and saw something new there:a symbol carved into the metal, a circle broken into seven pieces. The markswere too deep and too deliberate to have been accidental scratches, and thoughthe design meant nothing to Padmé, it was clearly something the Twi’lek womenrecognized.

Grudgingly, Taa accepted Anakin’s hand. Whatever his aideshad seen in the sign carved there, it was apparently lost on him.

Anakin flashed his unnerving society smile again, releasedTaa’s hand, and stepped back to stand beside Padmé’s chair.

Padmé frowned. There was something wrong about that: Anakinlooming silently beside her, the only person in the room without a seat. She’dseen that same tableau played out far too often with another politician fromNaboo.

“Sit down, Anakin,” she said, moving closer to Bana andpatting the newly open space beside her on the sofa.

Anakin turned to look at her with surprise that was all tooobvious. Padmé offered her best attempt at a reassuring smile and patted theseat again. He hesitated a moment longer, then sat gingerly beside her,straight backed and stiff limbed. In other circumstances, she might havelaughed: she’d rarely seen him look so painfully awkward.

“Now that we’re all settled, I hope we can have a productivemeeting.” Fang’s words might have sounded biting, but he said them socheerfully that no one, not even Orn Free, found it prudent to object. “This billrepresents a matter of particular import to the people of Sern Prime, as we liealong many of the Outer Rim trading routes. I think we are all familiar withthe policies of the Empire with regard to the, ah, use of sentient resources.”All eyes turned to Anakin, and he met them with a blank face and a raisedeyebrow. Fang allowed the pointed pause to drag on just past the edge ofcomfort before continuing. “And I am concerned, Senator Taa, at the similarityof some of the language in your proposal.”

“I am as well,” said Mon. “Perhaps you could explain yourintent?”

Orn Free Taa huffed and blustered a bit before launchinginto a canned policy speech that was both generic and littered with statementsthat took a strikingly creative approach to the truth.

Anakin let him get all the way through it before saying,“Yes, my Master used to say something very similar. Prosperity requires order,and that requires a strong hand. People given too much freedom and control oftheir own lives will inevitably fall into decadence and lawlessness. As theRepublic did.”

He said it with all the earnest surety of the man she’dfirst met over a year ago, the man who took his Master’s word as absolute truthand offered those words up by rote to any question she’d asked. She hadn’theard him speak that way in months now. There was an unthinking subservience inhis tone that made her wish Palpatine were still alive, if only so she couldempty another blaster cartridge into his face. Even that might not be enough.

“And I suppose a willingness to accept a certain amount ofcollateral damage is a requirement for a stable society?” Padmé bit out. She’dmeant it to be dry and mocking, but the words emerged soaked in a bitter fury.“In the name of furthering prosperity, of course.”

Even Anakin looked startled by her vehemence. But he kepthis voice light and gave her just a hint of a smile as he replied, “Of course.”