#the ongoing debate about the locus of power between the jedi and the senate

[fialleril]

It was my birthday yesterday, and I was wondering if you would be willing to part with a snippet from early in Anabasis? No pressure at all if not. (Thank you either way)

Hey anon, sorry for the delay in replying. And happy belated birthday!

Early Anabasis, huh. Okay. I can definitely do that, though I warn you: this story is so long and I’ve been writing it over such a period of time that I already know I’m going to probably end up making a lot of changes (and possibly significant changes) to the early chapters especially. But what I’m posting here hasn’t seen those edits yet. So, some Early Installment Weirdness is probably to be expected.

Then again, diving back into the early chapters reminded me just how much fun philosophical debates between Obi-Wan and Padmé are to write. Obviously I need to revisit this more in later chapters.

This snippet is from very early on in the story (the earliest bit I’ve ever posted, actually), well before Anakin’s deposition or even the discovery of what his detonator actually was. At this point, even Padméknows very little about him.

Immediately before this, Padméand Sabépaid a visit to Anakin’s cell, along with most of the Jedi Council.

“Senator, I think you do very unwisely in this,” Obi-Wansaid, his voice pitched low to avoid the ears of civilian construction workersand the few Jedi who passed them in the Temple halls. Sabé followed behindthem, a silent shadow. “A Sith Lord is hardly trustworthy, and this one is hismaster’s apprentice.”

“Maybe,” said Padmé. “And I certainly don’t trust him ineverything. But you weren’t there, Obi-Wan.” She stopped walking, halting justbefore the door that opened onto Speeder Bay 6, and turned to face him. “Youweren’t there, but you know what that explosion did to him. There was a bomb inside of him, and it was the Emperorwho detonated it. I can’t forget that.” Her eyes slipped closed momentarily andshe shuddered. “I can’t ever forget that. And neither will he, of that I’mcertain.”

“Padmé,” Obi-Wan said, and she was surprised to hear thefrustration in his voice. At another time she might almost have laughed; ittook quite a bit to shake Obi-Wan Kenobi’s calm. But now was not the time.

“I don’t want to argue about this, Obi-Wan,” she saidfirmly. “I’m not a Jedi, and I don’t fully understand the Jedi concept of theworld, but I do understand grief. And I’m not advocating for amnesty for him,you know that. I only – ”

“But you might,” said Obi-Wan, and there was no disguisingthe emotion in his voice now. “The Council knows the line of investigationyou’ve been pursuing, but I’m afraid you’re only deceiving yourself, Senator. DarthVader may be young, but he’s far from innocent, and a Sith regardless of hisage. Indeed, the Sith Master now, as well you know.”

Padmé drew herself up sharply and leveled a glare at himthat had caused many an opponent to quail, on the Senate floor and in battle.“I don’t need a lecture from you, Jedi Kenobi,” she snapped. “My investigationis conducted at the behest of the Senate. While the Jedi Order is a respectedand valued institution of this Republic, the Jedi Council cannot expect the Senate or all members of the Republic to abide byits codes and precepts. This is a Senate matter and I will thank you not toinvolve yourself unasked!”

Naked surprise shone in Obi-Wan’s eyes, and his face wastroubled now as he stepped away from her. “Forgive me, Senator,” he said. “Itwas not my intent to impose anything on the Senate. I only meant to offeradvice to a friend.”

At this Padmé softened, her glare fading to a sad ghost of asmile. “I know, Obi-Wan,” she sighed. “I know. And I do appreciate your concern.But in this I really think you’re wrong, and I wish that you would respect myneed to understand.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “I don’t understand, that’s true,” he said.“The Sith have fooled the Senate and the Jedi alike once before, and the lossto the galaxy was incalculable. I don’t understand why you would wish to openyourself to that same deception.” Padmé looked ready to protest again, andObi-Wan quickly held up a hand to stall her. “But I do respect you, Padmé. Ihope you know that.”

“Yes,” she admitted. “I do. But how can you not be curious?How can you not want to know? There are no records in Imperial files, no birthcertificate, no medical history, not even record of a speeder sale or a credithistory. Darth Vader is a ghost, and as far as any record is concerned, AnakinSkywalker never existed at all. How can that not raise questions for the Jedi?”

Obi-Wan gave a twist of his shoulders and walked past her,into the speeder bay. Padmé followed, rather annoyed still, and Sabé trailedher, alert and silent, but smirking in a way that did nothing for Padmé’s mood.

“Because he’s a Sith,” Obi-Wan said, slipping into the backseat of the Naboo senatorial speeder with Padmé as Sabé took the controls andbegan to maneuver them out of the bay. “Of course there are no records. TheSith were secret for over a thousand years. If there ever were records, Vadermost likely destroyed them himself, and that ought to tell you a great dealabout him.”

“It doesn’t!” snapped Padmé. “It doesn’t at all. I watchedhim explode from the inside out, Obi-Wan, and all because he refused to killme. Is that something that fits your perfect picture of a Sith Lord?”

Obi-Wan glanced away, but Padmé gave him enough credit toknow he wasn’t really avoiding her. His eyes flicked with minute focus overeach passing speeder and to the windows of each towering skyscraper, ever alertfor danger or anything out of place. Her Jedi protector. She felt a suddenflash of guilt for her temper. He’d seen most of his order and his whole way oflife destroyed, largely at the hands of the man she was so desperate tounderstand. It was a sobering thought, and it cooled her anger. But it didn’tchange her mind.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I really am. I appreciate all you’redoing for the Republic, and for me. But Anakin isn’t a Jedi, and the Republichas no laws concerning Sith Lords. Therefore he must be regarded as any othercitizen of the Republic under the law, and we need to know as much about hiscase as possible.”

Obi-Wan frowned, but all he said was, “Just be careful,Padmé. He’s dangerous still.”

At that Sabé laughed, twisting to look over her shoulder atthem even as she piloted the speeder to a landing on the roof of 500 Republica.“Of course he’s dangerous, Kenobi. But for once he may not be a danger to you.”

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at her, though whether in responseto her comment or to her piloting methods, Padmé wasn’t certain. But they’dlanded safely enough, and she had work to do.

Before her handmaiden could provoke the Jedi further, Padméstepped out of the speeder and turned to Obi-Wan. “I’m grateful as always foryour assistance, Jedi Kenobi,” she said formally. “But now I’m afraid I mustattend to other business.” She smiled. “I’ll see you again soon, for the nextvisit.”

“Until then,” said Obi-Wan, still casting a suspiciousglance at Sabé, then with a bow he turned and hurried away, toward the nearesttaxi terminal.

“Well, that’s that,” said Sabé, ushering Padmé into theelevator that would take them down the seven levels to her senatorialapartments. Her tone was casual, but her stance was ever alert, and thetelltale bulge of a blaster showed at her hip.

Padmé caught her eye and motioned vaguely around the squareof the elevator. Sabé’s gaze flicked rapidly over every surface, and thenagain, more slowly this time, and then her stance relaxed just slightly.

“Clean,” she said.

“Good,” said Padmé, rounding on her handmaiden. “Then youcan tell me what it was that you left for him in the fountain.”

Sabé blinked at her. For a long moment she said nothing, andPadmé had to fight the urge to laugh. For all her cunning, Sabé forgotsometimes that Padmé was no stranger to espionage herself.

“How did you know?” the handmaiden said at last.

“I’m glad you’re not denying it,” Padmé said, giving in tothe urge to laugh, just a little. “But you forget I spent six years as a Rebelspy in the Imperial Senate. I like to think I know a thing or two aboutstealth.”

“Do you think the Jedi noticed?” Sabé asked. Padmé couldn’trecall the last time she’d heard her friend sound genuinely nervous aboutsomething; her faint laughter died away.

“No,” she said slowly. “I don’t think they did. I can’timagine they would have let it go, if they had noticed. But mostly, I thinktheir suspicions of him kept them from paying much attention to either of us.We weren’t the danger in that room, for them.”

Sabé snorted indelicately. “Oh weren’t we? Sometimes, Iwonder if the Boss isn’t right about Jedi.”

“Sabé!” Padmé exclaimed in horror, but Sabé only waved heroff.

“No, no, I don’t mean like that,” she said. “Of course notthat. But they are a bit full of themselves, aren’t they?”

“I really don’t think they are,” Padmé said coldly, and asthe lift came to a stop, she strode rapidly through the doors and into herapartment, not once looking back at her handmaiden. “They’re survivors of agenocide, and I really don’t think making a mockery of that is – ”

“But you want to defend the man who enabled that genocide,”Sabé hissed, her voice so suddenly vicious that Padmé spun back to look at herin shock. “You want to understand. And if you really do, maybe you ought tostart by taking his views seriously.”

For a moment Padmé was still, caught suddenly by herhandmaiden’s words. It was not something she’d really considered before, andthere might be something to Sabé’s anger. But Sabé was in some ways likeAnakin, or more likely she’d learned the trick from him, and Padmé knew him toowell now to fall for his tricks from someone else.

“And perhaps you ought to answer my question,” she said,smiling at the faint surprise in Sabé’s eyes. “Your advice is noted, but so isyour avoidance. What did you leave in the fountain?”

The sudden venom melted from Sabé’s face, replaced by aferal grin. “All right, you caught me,” she said, though she hardly soundedconcerned. “It was a com. One-way, untraceable, encoded, easily destroyed.”

“And who does it contact?”

Sabé eyed her for a moment, the struggle more obvious on herface than she probably would have liked. At last she let out a long breath andsaid, “Another of his agents.”

Padmé blinked. “There were more of you? But I thought – he’sonly ever talked about you.”

“The Boss is good at keeping secrets,” Sabé laughed. “Youought to know that. And of course there were more of us. I’m good you know,Padmé, but I can’t be everywhere.”

But Padmé was hardly listening. She was thinking back overtheir visit, over the half-joking exchange between Anakin and Sabé and the waythey’d behaved more like old friends sharing an in-joke than like a Sith Lordand his agent. And she wanted to laugh at herself, because of course that was the joke.

“Two,” she said. “You said, ‘Two,’ and that’s the contact.”

Sabé raised an eyebrow at her, but her mouth was alreadytwisting in a grudging smile. “Very perceptive,” she said. Her eyes traced overPadmé’s face, searching. At last she said, “Are you going to tell anyone?”

Padmé was silent. She should, of course. She knew nothingabout any of Vader’s other agents, not even how many of them there might be,and she knew far less about Sabé than she wanted to admit to herself. It shouldprobably worry her, that her handmaiden seemed to owe greater loyalty to animprisoned Sith Lord than to her, that she could not be entirely certain of Sabé’smotivations – that even now, she knew Sabé had certainly not told hereverything, and would not.

But she’d known all of this when she hired the other woman.And she knew why it worried her less than it really should have. The detonatorwas still in her pocket, and Padmé thought that she and Sabé were really not sodifferent, after all.

She let out a long breath of air and turned back to Sabé,her shoulders dropping with her sigh. “No,” she said wearily. “I’m not going totell.”