Part XXIII

Finding a ship took longer than Anakin would have liked. With all the tech scattered around Xal 3, Anakin had hoped to find a ship and be gone in a matter of hours. Instead he spent more than a day bartering his way into possession of an outmoded BTL-B Y-Wing that would probably only just get him as far as Coruscant if he were lucky. Unfortunately, since he couldn't risk drawing attention to himself, Anakin took what he could so long as it would get him to Tarkin.

With all his time spent obtaining a ship and plotting the quickest route to Coruscant, it took him a lot longer than it should have to find Obi-Wan's tracker. Even knowing that Obi-Wan would eventually come after him, Anakin had still been surprised to find the small tracker secreted within the wiring of his lightsaber. Anakin had been checking that the weapon hadn't been damaged by Palpatine's Sith lightning and stumbled across the extra component. He should have gotten rid of it right away—stuck it on one of the outbound freighters before he left Xal 3—but he didn't.

"Kriffing Sithspawn..." Anakin growled as he closed up the casing, the tracker still hidden within the hilt.

There was a comfort in knowing someone was on his side.

Half the time Anakin wasn't sure that he even like Obi-Wan. He certainly didn't trust him, but Anakin would trust that Obi-Wan would at least make sure that Luke was safe before coming after him.

Anakin sat back in the pilot's seat, staring at the streaks of starlight that filled the view screen. He ran his right hand over his smooth scalp, fingering the raised ridge of scar tissue. A memento of Obi-Wan's betrayal... Of his own. He'd betrayed both Obi-Wan and Padmé by believing Palpatine over them. Alone with his thoughts and the lightshow of hyperspace, Anakin's mind wandered to those last few fateful days before the destruction of the Republic. Days when he had forgotten everything he knew to be true and walked willingly towards his own downfall.

"You were so easy to manipulate. Far easier than I had imagined."

The voice, once so reassuring, filled the Y-Wing's cockpit. Palpatine's voice positively dripped with malicious glee, taunting him from beyond the grave.

"It's no wonder the Jedi never trusted you completely. They knew you would bring about their doom."

Anakin growled, slamming his fist against the side of the pilot's seat. It was the only place he could strike without risking damage to the ship. This Palpatine existed only within his mind and Anakin wouldn't allow the ghost of his own fears to destroy him.

"You're dead," he ground out, squeezing his hands into fists. "Gone."

"Am I really?" Palpatine taunted, his voice slithering like oil over every part of him. "Your precious Jedi are able to return from beyond. What is to stop a Sith from doing the same? From exacting vengeance against those who've wronged us?"

"You will not touch him!"

Anakin continued to curse and rage, trying to drown out the sound of Palpatine's voice in his head. He shouted until his throat was raw and his still weak lungs ached.

Until he felt a slight tug deep within his mind. A feeling that he knew all too well.

"Obi-Wan."

The training bond they'd once shared—the thing he'd thought obliterated in the wake of his fall—still appeared to hold life.

"Of course. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ever the faithful Jedi Master."

"Shut up!" Anakin roared, every muscle in his body strained tense, creating incredibly pressure against the joints that connected his artificial limbs to the stumps Dooku and Obi-Wan had left behind. It served to ground him and allow him to remain aware of himself enough to keep from shaking the ship apart. "Get out of my head!"

"Weak. Just like all the other Jedi."

Anakin laughed, loud and hysterical, as the tension slowly eased from his muscles. "And yet I defeated you."

The silence that followed was a relief.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I just need a few weapons and someone to repaint the identification numbers on the starfighter."

For nearly an hour, Obi-Wan had been trying to dissuade Bail from providing any type of manned assistance. It hadn't surprised him overly much when the senator had revealed his role in the fledgling rebellion that Obi-Wan had started hearing whispers of a few months back. However, Obi-Wan refused to risk those men and women in such a blatant assault on the Empire. Anakin was his responsibility and Obi-Wan wouldn't see anyone else harmed because of them.

"You can't expect to stop Tarkin on your own," Bail protested, leaning back in his chair. He took a healthy swallow from the glass of wine before him. "Tarkin knows that you and Anakin are working together—at the very least he has to expected it given what happened on the Death Star—so he'll be prepared. Two Jedi against all of the Imperial forces in the capital... You're asking me to send you to your death."

"Killing Tarkin will not destroy the Empire any more than killing Palpatine did. I do not know who will follow Tarkin, but you'll need men to help remove him before he can build up his power base. That is what you and the Rebellion should be focusing on and not two wayward Jedi."

Obi-Wan knew that he would never fully convince Bail that his intended plan was best, but he hoped to at least get him to not interfere. His usual diplomatic skills were utterly wasted on Bail whose judgment would be clouded by their friendship. It was part of the same reason he'd always had such a difficult time getting Anakin to follow orders when Anakin had deemed it too dangerous. The fact that Obi-Wan was sixteen years older and more than capable of looking after himself had never seemed to matter.

"I assure you, Bail, that it's not my goal to be captured or die, but neither do I want the same for Anakin."

"After all that he has done, you would still risk your life for him," Bail marveled, shaking his head in disbelief.

Obi-Wan shrugged helplessly and reached for his own wine. "He's still Anakin whatever he's done. I could no more abandon him than I could Luke."

"Isn't that exactly what you're doing right now?"

Obi-Wan scowled at the Imperial Senator over the rim of his wine glass. He set the glass down slowly as he swallowed, choosing his words carefully. "I brought Luke here to ensure his safety before I go deal with his father's latest bout of heroic stupidity. Tarkin isn't a threat to Luke in the same way Palpatine was. He has no care for the Force or Force users."

Were it not for the worry Bail was trying hard to conceal, Obi-Wan would have been quite frustrated. In recent years, he'd become used to dealing with all manner of problems on his own. Even the potential threat Anakin had initially posed was something he'd been prepared to shoulder alone. The Imperial Army, however, was not as easy to evade as a few storm troopers, especially not in the heart of the Empire, so Obi-Wan had sought help from Bail. And even though it brought a lot of added complications to what was already a dangerous endeavor, it was necessary.

Sighing deeply, Bail slumps even further into his seat, a sure sign of defeat. Obi-Wan may not have been able to convince the senator of his argument, but he had managed to outlast him. In some cases, that was all that was needed.

"There has to be something I can do to help make your task easier."

It was likely as much of a concession as he was likely to get from Bail Organa. A concession that Obi-Wan would gladly accept. If Bail could provide some type of distraction while he tried to keep Anakin from getting himself killed, it would ease his mind greatly.

Bail was also presenting him with the opportunity to retrieve the relics he'd been forced to leave behind on Endor. Obi-Wan shook his head mentally; equal parts amused and baffled by his increasingly sentimental tendencies. As he thought about it, though, Obi-Wan realized that he truly didn't care that he was behaving in a very un-Jedi-like way. The Jedi had fallen because they'd become stagnant after failing to evolve and adapt to the changing galaxy over the past millennia. If the Jedi had any hope of returning, they could not longer follow their former tenants.

"A distraction would be most welcome. Some beaurocratic issue that would distract Tarkin from whatever Anakin is planning... And also someone to perhaps collect a pair of lightsabers hidden away on Endor."

The small bit of tension that had remained in Bail's posture faded following Obi-Wan's final request.

"It's easy to see which of those requests is most dear to you."

Obi-Wan smiled softly. "Indeed."

XXXXXXXXXX

No matter how open-minded and understanding he tried to be, Bail found it difficult to rationalize Obi-Wan's willingness to accept Vader's return from the dark side of the Force. After all, Obi-Wan had been exiled to the Outer Rim for more than four years, so he likely wasn't aware of the atrocities Vader had committed during that time. The Sith Lord had been little more than a loaded weapon Palpatine had unleashed on those who displeased or attempted to undermine him. Countless senators and other political figures had disappeared or been outright killed shortly after defying the Emperor.

Bail was also quite certain that he was far from the only one who would doubt Vader's supposed rehabilitation. It would take time for Bail to convince even the most dissentious of the Imperial elite that Lord Vader had recanted his dark ways and once again meant to take up the mantle of the Jedi. They, like nearly everyone else throughout the galaxy, would need proof that Anakin Skywalker had returned to himself.

And, as luck would have it, the person who could provide that proof was currently sitting across the table from him.

Making sure to keep his expression neutral, Bail unobtrusively activated the room's recording device with a quick press of a button before imploring Obi-Wan to repeat his version of the events on the Death Star. Bail did what he could to steer Obi-Wan away from mentioning Luke. It would make editing the recording easier before he sent copies to individuals he was certain would help the Rebellion's cause. Obi-Wan's mere presence would likely be enough to sway many.

"You have an ulterior motive," Obi-Wan said suddenly, interrupting his tale.

It was on the tip of Bail's tongue to deny Obi-Wan's accusation, but, at the last minute, he stopped himself. Obi-Wan would catch him in the lie soon enough. It was a talent that had served the younger man well during his time as the Republic's premiere negotiator.

"There are those who'll need further convincing that Anakin isn't a danger to our cause. They will believe you. Not only because you are one of the few remaining Jedi Masters left in the galaxy, but you know Anakin best. If anyone can convince them that he can be trusted again, it's you."

Obi-Wan ran a hand over his stubbled jaw in an all too familiar gesture. "I wish that I could say with absolute certainty that he could be trusted... Anakin has always been volatile, and that hasn't changed. If anything, he's even more unpredictable than he was before."

Bail downed the rest of his wine in a single long gulp. That was not what he'd wanted to hear. There were only a handful of senators committed to the Rebellion, and an unleashed Vader wouldn't instill any confidence in those who were undecided about their allegiance. The confidence Bail had felt on a few minutes before was dashed with only a few sentences from Obi-Wan.

"And you're still willing to risk your life to help him."

It was a fact that didn't surprise Bail even though it both confused and amazed him. After everything that Anakin had done and all of the destruction that he'd caused, there should have been no forgiveness. Especially not from one of the people that Anakin had hurt the most. Even if Obi-Wan would never admit to it, Bail had seen how utterly lost he'd been following Mustafar.

"He's Anakin. What else can I do?"

XXXXXXXXXX

For the third time since leaving Xal 3, Anakin removed the tracker from the hilt of his lightsaber. He held the small device in the palm of his hand, staring intently at the tiny bit of circuitry that bound him to Obi-Wan. It was a tenuous thing. All it would take was the slightest pressure between his durasteel fingertips and the tracker would be crushed. Anakin tried again and again, but he couldn't force himself to exert even the smallest amount of that pressure.

"I am weak," Anakin moaned, closing his fist around the tracker. Still, he couldn't make himself squeeze hard enough to actually destroy it. Instead he punched the bottom of the bunk above him with his free hand. The pain sensors in the limb barely registered the effect of the blow. "Kriff!"

Launching himself up off the bunk, Anakin stalked to the small shelf on the opposite side of the small sleeping quarters and snatched up his lightsaber. For the third time he slipped the tracker back into the wiring. Once he'd secured the bottom of the hilt, Anakin left the sleeping quarters and returned to the cockpit. It wouldn't be long until he reached Coruscant—a few more hours at most.

It was what would come next that still plagued him because Anakin still hadn't set on a plan. He'd listened to countless HoloNet broadcasts detailing current events in the capital, but could figure out no clear path to Tarkin. That was usually Obi-Wan's job. The older man had always excelled at crafting their more discreet and subtle attacks. Complicating things even more was the fact that Tarkin seemed to have anticipated him retaliating because he was never without an escort. In each and every broadcast, no less than seven armed guards surrounded Tarkin. Four of them were members of Palpatine's elite Red Guard, each of whom had received specialized training from Anakin himself to defend against Force users. While their presence wouldn't make an attack impossible, it would make it much more difficult.

Even without a concrete plan, Anakin still had no intention of delaying his attack on Tarkin. If Luke was ever going to be safe, the new Emperor needed to be eliminated as soon as possible.

Anakin slumped back down into the captain's chair, rubbing his hand over his bare scalp. And while the feel of it still automatically made him recall Obi-Wan's betrayal, that time it was a completely different betrayal. One that he reluctantly forgave Obi-Wan for years ago, but that could help him in his current predicament.