Dawn of Darkness -EP III AU A/A and SO (Updated 6/8 9:29 PM)

Dally: Thank you very much!! As you can probably tell, there hasn't been much lately, but it won't stay that way for long. I promise !

J_J, Kris, and AG...thanks a ton for sticking around! I worship you guys (and gals)!

_PSK_

 

Post!!
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A small synthetic breeze flowed around the landing platform where one of the few super-class destroyer ships was located. The black cloak surrounding the tall figure at the magnificent ship's base swirled in the early morning light. About five paces behind that figure another shorter being stood watching its surroundings carefully. To the sides of both figures blood red guards stood ready for any apparent attack. A medium sized male exited the entrance ramp of the destroyer and gave a cordial nod to the tall figure in black, but continued on to the next.

"Chancellor, the ship is ready for your command," the officer saluted and bowed.

Palpatine gave an easy smile, "Good, good. Come Skywalker."

Anakin glanced back at the figure and nodded. The officer seemed lost, having not been told where to put himself. Anakin turned to him, "Prepare the ship for the Chancellor's arrival."

"Yes, Sir?uh?I mean Master Jedi," the man scurried off towards the ship.

The blonde young man heard Palaptine laughing behind him, "The poor soul doesn't know what to do with himself."

"Humm?he doesn't," Anakin agreed and started making his way towards the ship as the Chancellor followed.

Palpatine studied the ship intently, "What is this we're being given?"

"It's a cross between a Corellian fighter and the new Kaminoan destroyers. The shielding is upgraded from both of those, however," the tall, dark figure continued his explanation, "The turbo-laser abilities are ten times better than the Corellian fighter thanks to the Kaminoan technology. She does a good speed, very good hyperdrive."

"Ah," the old man murmured to himself, "Who is the crew?"

"They're mainly Republic officers, but most of the gunmen are clones," Anakin admitted.

For some reason, this seemed to greatly please Palpatine, "Good, good. What's her call sign?"

"Devout Infinity, Sir," the blonde replied.

This didn't please Palpatine half as much, but he didn't let it show. He turned to his young companion and studied him. A small smirk appeared on his face as he considered the boy's potential. Anakin shifted uncomfortably under the other man's gaze, but tried not to give any sign that he knew what the Chancellor was thinking about. Finally, the elder man broke the awkward silence, "I suppose you want to know the details of our trip."

"I had wondered about some parts of our plan," the boy replied cautiously.

"As well you should have," the old man stated as they reached the boarding ramp, "You already know that we will be staying in the Organa palace, but aside from enjoying the great beauty of Alderaan we will have much work to do. We need to discern the most likely systems to rebel and put an end to their rebellions before they start. I can only hope that Senator Raja will do the same in her sector."

Anakin nodded in agreement, although that was hardly what he felt. How exactly was the Chancellor going to determine the "most likely" systems? Anakin had a feeling this was going to be very fishy business, "How often are we going to be interacting with Senator Organa?"

"Probably almost daily," Palaptine noted and then smiled, "But I don't think I will bring him in with us to work out our policies for possibly rebelling systems. He has far too many weaknesses towards pathetic systems to be of much help to us."

The blonde was taken aback by the other man's snobbish tone and nasty sneer, but then again, the man was a Sith. Careful to reveal a single thought he was thinking, Anakin nodded at the Chancellor, "Of course."

By this time they had wound their way through the stark gray corridors of the battle ship and had arrived on the equally gray deck. The captain of the vessel came forward to meet them, "Captain Jared Rei, I'm very pleased to be at your service Chancellor, Jedi."

<< At least he has his bearings about him. >> The dark tendril of Palpatine's mind stung Anakin's as he received the mental comment. He shuddered to himself and tried to forget the em

 

Yay... PS is back. With a post too! Welcome back. Darn that Palpy, he's just too evil.

J_J

 

yay! PS, you're back!! and so many things have happened

good post! I like the way Ani's thinkin'

ooh... lots of evil please!


UPPITY!

 

SNOW DAY!!!

J_J: I am indeed back! Glad to see you're still around ! And thank you, btw.

Jedi_Mastre_Kris: One: Congrats on the handmaiden society ... so much goes on when I'm away for a month!! Thanks for sticking it out!!!

_PSK_

 

Try as hard as they might... I don't think they'll ever get rid of me.

J_J

EDIT: You got a snow day! I'm so jealous. Its in the mid-70s down here.

 

J_J: They aren't trying to get rid of you too much, are they?

ANOTHER SNOW DAY
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Padme Amidala stood serenely in the center of the palace gardens. There was a warm breeze that softly licked at her long blue dress and auburn hair, but little else stirred. She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the warm Alderaanian sun. The heat flowed over her face and through her eyelids she could see a bright orange. It was spring here, late spring. All the flowers in the garden were in bloom; their delicate petals soaking up the warm rays of sun that filtered through the taller trees. It reminded her of Naboo in every way possible.

She felt tears come to her eyes as she remembered her youth, well what had been left of her youth. She remembered running through the warm city streets with Sola and visiting the lake country with her family. Padme smiled as she thought of the time she and Sola had made chains of flowers in the open field with wild roses and then worn them home. They had continued to wear the crowns and necklaces until the flowers had wilted and dried up. She frowned, the memory of making the pieces with the fresh flowers was much more agreeable.

"Padme," a gentle voice spoke behind her and she was forced to turn her attention to reality.

"Yes?" she questioned as she turned to face Senator Organa.

He looked at her sadly and motioned to a bench at the side of the vast garden, "It might be best if you sat. I have much to tell you."

She gave him an intensely worried look as she carefully seated herself, "What's the matter? Has something happened?"

"You could say that," he admitted, "There has been disagreement in the republic, but the time for action has come. The Supreme Chancellor has ordered the clone army be mobilized in different sectors around the galaxy."

Padme frowned, "Why? Has the Republic been attacked?"

Bail shook his head, "No. They have not. The Chancellor simply feels that it is in the best interests of the republic to crush rebelling systems before they even start their rebellion. He also thinks that Republic garrisons in all sectors will also help dissuade any rebellious mindsets."

"So the Republic's actions are simply because the Chancellor feels a certain way about this?" she questioned.

"Yes," the man stated and frowned at her, "I was on the committee for these actions, but only Senator Raja, she's relatively new, and I agreed. The rest of the Senators wanted action immediately, no diplomacy at all."

Padme studied her folded hands in her lap, "You're sure there isn't another way the Senate can go about this? I feel that there's something fishy going on with anything the Chancellor wants done."

Bail sighed, "I?m sure there's another way, but ever since the Chancellor was voted emergency powers almost ten years ago, there has been little we can do to influence the true direction of the Republic. You know that, Amidala."

The young woman bit her lip, but nodded, "Yes. I simply feel there's something not right in all of this. Why would systems be rebelling? The Republic has been relatively stable for the last ten years. The resistance groups seemed to have given up their hopes of power. It seems odd that some groups would strike up again after so much time."

"I whole heartedly agree," the Alderaanian stated, "But what can we do about it? The Chancellor has complete control of the Senate body, whether we like it or not."

"I doubt even my strong influence in the Senate would make much difference these days," she sighed ruefully.

"I don't know," he admitted, "But I have more to tell you. Alderaan is to be a major station for the clone army."

Padme's eyes widened, "They're coming here? But this is a peaceful planet. What could they possibly want here?"

Bail shrugged, "In Palpatine's words, he just wanted to visit a nice beautiful place."

"The Chancellor is coming here?" her eyes suddenly took on a glossy finish and she looked like a small frightened child.

 

*irk* Tristan is such a jerk. A pompous, perverse, cocky in the annoying way, stupid, inconceivable... ahem.

lovely post! why do I have that feeling someone might teeeeel?

lucky you! it was 60-something yesterday!!


UP!!!

 

Jedi_Mastre_Kris: Hehe... guess what? We have another snow day today!!! We only had one day of school this week 'cause we have tomorrow off anyways! Thank you, yes Tristan is a rather big jerk, isn't he? Humm... we'll see about that telling thing!

_PSK_
__________________

Ari stood quietly at the door of his master's quarters. They had left just over two hours ago. His master had sadly said goodbye to Sabe and then they had been on their way. The officers had assured them the trip would only be a short five to eight hours. Ari had been completely and thoroughly shocked. To him any amount of time over thirty minutes seemed like an eternity. Now, he stood at the door debating whether or not to knock. Certain issues had been disturbing him over the past few weeks and Ari had decided he truly needed to talk to his master, no matter how involved Obi-Wan might be in Ari's disturbances.

He took a deep breath and keyed the door chime. Barely an instant later, the metal door slid open to expose his master, "Ari! What can I do for you, Padawan?"

Ari bit his lip and motioned to the interior of the room, "May I come in?"

"Of course," Obi-Wan responded, eyeing him carefully.

Nodding to himself, the youth entered the room and stood awkwardly in the entryway, "Master?"

The Jedi Knight held up a hand, "Please take a seat, Ari."

Reluctantly the youth nodded, "Master Kenobi, I have few things I want to discuss with you."

Obi-Wan flinched at his Padawan's use of his formal title. Something must really be bothering the boy, "Go ahead, Padawan."

Ari wrung his hands nervously in his lap before starting to speak hesitantly, "I fee, Master, that you haven't been sharing everything with me lately."

"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan's head snapped up and he studied the figure in front of him carefully.

"I was hoping you'd just admit it to me and I wouldn't have to do this," Ari spoke softly, looking away from the comforting blue-green eyes.

The Jedi shook his head, "I'm afraid I still don't understand. Ari, what's wrong?"

"I know," the brunette spoke in a hushed whisper, "I'm not blind, Master. Anakin knows too, he just hasn't confronted you yet."

Obi-Wan shifted uneasily in his chair, across from Ari, "What are you talking about, Padawan?"

Ari lifted his guilty gaze to meet Obi-Wan's serene stare, "You and Sabe. I know, Master."

The Jedi Knight swallowed convulsively, "Of course, I should have suspected. For how long?"

"Awhile," he shrugged, "But that doesn't really matter. Why didn't you tell me? No, not why didn't you tell me, why didn't you tell Anakin? You can trust him."

His master looked at him sharply, "If there is one thing that is for certain in this universe, Padawan, it is that I cannot trust Anakin Skywalker."

"What?" Ari hissed in disbelief.

"There's a lot you don't know about Anakin," Obi-Wan spoke quietly, "A lot of bad things."

It was the boy's turn to look away and shift in his seat, "That's not true."

The Jedi Knight stared penetratingly at his apprentice, "What? Ari, what do you know?"

"More than you do, Master," Ari spoke fiercely, but respectively.

"How? How do you know that?" the other man questioned, shocked.

Ari met his confused gaze, "Anakin and I have talked more than you probably have figured. I can't tell you more. He swore me into his confidence."

"So you know about?" Obi-Wan trailed off suddenly and paused, "About everything."

The brunette nodded, "Yes, but this isn't the point of the discussion, Master."

"I know," the elder man sighed, "I had just hoped that perhaps you had
forgotten."

"Master, I stood outside your door for half an hour trying to get the courage to come in here; I could not forget," Ari admitted.

Obi-Wan gazed at him carefully, "I take it from your attitude that you don't approve."

"It's against the Jedi Code," the boy stated simply.

At this the Jedi rubbed his temple, "Yes, it is."

Ari shifted in his seat, "The rules are put in p

 

awww, poor Obi..
stressed times, stressed times...

I vaguely feel somewhat jealous that Ari is in Anakin's place now... really I do....

oh dear, Anakin's such a bad example now he's got Obi-Wan into breaking the Code!




well, UP!!!!

 

Jedi_Mastre_Kris Lol, yes I sometimes miss Ani too. He's just so lovable... I suppose you're right, a rather good example, but still ! Obi-Wan had it coming though, I mean nobody in my stories can get out without large amounts of emotional damage! (sorry characters)

_PSK_

 

Anouncement: I'm leaving for California at some awful hour tomorrow morning, so I wanted to let all of you know that I'll be gone until next thursday!! When I get back I'll have a new post for both this and Memoirs. Hope everyone has a wonderful spring break (or has had or will have, if your breaks aren't now, and if you don't get a break, I'm truly sorry!).

*happiness and bliss to all my readers*

_PSK_

EDIT: J_J and I have the the same icon!!! Kewl!!!

 

I'm guessing you're back now... How was California? I had to switch back to my normal icon for a while... I couldn't recognize my own posts.

J_J

 

J_J Lol, yeah... I had that problem at first. I was looking through the posts at the top of this page and I was like, why am I responding to my own writing?? Then the truth dawned on me.

California was really nice, I wish I could live there!!! Now I definitely want to go to school there!! I thought up a new story in the car on the costal highway, it's in my bio at the top if you want to check it out. I'll still continue with DoD as much as I can though!! *will finish, will finish*

_PSK_

 

If you hadn't guessed, I'm taking a little break from this fic. That doesn't mean I won't finish it, but I need a little fresh air. I started a new fic in the Before the Saga boards if anyone wants to go check it out. It's in my bio... *sigh*

_PSK_

 

Sort of upping this... still thinking of a way to get back into it...

_PSK_

 

Don't worry, I know to feeling PS.

J_J

 

The problem is that I've fotgotten most of what i wrote... I go back and I'm like... kewl!... but how did I write this??

_PSK_

 

Uh-oh... that doesn't sound good

PSK You can't leave this now! *throttles*
*lets go* But I know the feeling of that too, so I don't blame you

any which way or other, UP!

 

I love this story. I actually read through the first few posts of this back before I registered a user name here, when I was looking at people's ideas of Ep 3. Recently I've remembered this story and managed to read through the rest of it, and it's wonderful! I hope you're able to get inspiration to continue with it.

 

I've been upped!! My story is loved!! Okay, so my loyal readers... here's the real scoop. I already know where I'm going with this, so don't worry, it does have an ending... but now I've started two other major works and I got a little confuddled in it all. I shall try to complete this before the year 2007... in other words, before I'm 20. Now... I love you all and this is not as dead as those burried!

_PSK_

 

2007?!?!

[face_shocked]

*dies*

 

Hehe.... Ummmmmmmmmmm

that's only umm... four years....

_PSK_

 

three and a half years!

 

Wow, I'm actually updating this. Granted it's not nearly that exciting since it's now an AU of ROTS, but I might actually finish! *Squee*

PSK
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The planet of Alderaan lay peaceful as the Devout Infinity approached. Anakin stood silently staring at the blue ball. So much was there. His heart ached and his mind did summersaults as he considered what he would be facing. He shifted his gaze to his twisting hands. The Chancellor could not know of his tumultuous feelings. That was his first priority. No matter what happened, Padmé had to be safe. Even so, Anakin worried the confusion that was beginning to encroach upon him mind would continue to grow until there was no way Palpatine could overlook the disturbance. Shaking his head to clear it, he turned back to the interior of the ship.

Captain Rei approached. "We have entered the Alderaan system, Master Skywalker. The palace is located on the far side of the planet. The estimated time to arrival is thirty minutes."

"Alert the Chancellor," Anakin replied. The captain nodded and hurried off to fulfill the order.

Anakin turned back to the outside view. Closing his eyes tightly, he tried to calm his mind. This was simply another mission. The dangers involved were not any greater than if he and the Chancellor had decided to go to the Outer Rim. Anyway, Master Kenobi would be joining him. His peace of mind reassured, he let his eyes slide open.

"You are uneasy." The crisp voice of Palpatine cut into his awareness.

Anakin nodded. "I am worried about the possible rebellions. I only hope the Republic's army will stop the separatists before we reach a full fledged war."

"Do not trouble yourself with the affairs of the rest of the Republic, Young Skywalker. We only need to assure peace on Alderaan. The other generals are more than competent at keeping the Republic in order elsewhere." A private smile twisted Palpatine's lips and Anakin shuddered.

"I hope that you are right."

This time a small cackle erupted from the Chancellor. "I am aware of everything going on in this galaxy. You have nothing to fear. Everything is taken care of."

Anakin had to suppress the urge to ask what exactly taken care of implied. He tried to gather his most convincing smile. "I trust you, Sir."

"Good," cooed Palpatine. "Very Good. Now go prepare yourself to disembark. I look forward to seeing Senator Organa again."

Anakin bowed slightly and took his leave. Palpatine smirked after him. The boy was confused, unsure. Now was the time to strike. While young Skywalker suspected, but did not know. He had already lost his darling wife, now it was time for him to lose himself. Palpatine rubbed his clammy hands together. Yes, everything was being taken care of.

~*^*~

The soft Alderaanian sun was falling below the horizon as Bail Organa squinted to seeing the ship dropping towards the landing pad. He watched, expressionless, as the craft settled softly upon its landing gear. The hiss of the ramp being lowered signaled him to move forward. Flanked by four security guards, Bail let out a quick sigh as he approached the lowering ramp. As he stopped directly in front of the Devout Infinity, he could see the boots of both the Chancellor and Jedi Knight Skywalker emerging.

Dropping into a bow before the Chancellor, Bail offered his greetings. "We're glad you have arrived without hindrance, Lord Chancellor."

"As am I," Palpatine replied.

The party began moving towards the palace gates. "I have a banquet prepared in your honor that shall begin in a few hours. I assume you would like to have the chance to familiarize yourself with the facilities offered here before that time."

"Of course. I shall need to first visit the military control center I requested." The Chancellor smiled briefly at this, causing Bail to frown.

"I'll show you there immediately."

Anakin glanced between the two men. Senator Organa was radiating distrust. Perhaps he knew of the Chancellor's true nature. Nev