It was in the entrancing blue of hyperspace that Obi-Wan began to come to his senses. Ten or eleven standard hours prior, he had been purposefully striding away from the Jedi temple, with only a singular thought in mind: I must find Anakin. It had been a very long time since Obi-Wan had only a single thought occupy his mind, probably since he was a padawan. With the war, his increasing connection with the Force, and even just having Anakin Skywalker as an apprentice, he was accustomed to always having many concerns and scenarios fleshed out in his head at once. It had made him into the Jedi he was, had honed his skills as a servant to the Force and given the human part of him a sense of purpose and pride.

However, it was now as a grown Jedi Master that he found himself in utter wonder at his own impulsiveness. At his core, he knew that his instinct had provided him the only choice which he was now pursuing. But to have plunged into it with such abandon, he wondered if Anakin was rubbing off on him too much. Quick action and improvisation were Anakin's forte, but Obi-Wan tended to not act without careful (though quick) consideration of what the consequences were. He was always playing chess, where his apprentice was always playing Sabbac. Yet he found himself cramped into his fighter, fidgeting at the flight stick, unsure of where he was going. The great blues and halogen whites of Coruscant had faded long behind him, and Obi-Wan found himself making for any relatively empty parcel of Space. His next move was only beginning to formulate in his mind.

Where could Anakin even have gone? He was banished from Republic space. That left a measly couple of thousand of planets for him to end up on...

Some worlds could be ruled out. The Separatists still controlled a great swathe of the Outer Rim, though he believed that would be the last place Anakin would have gone. He also had Padme with him, and though she must have connections with other neutral planets, it still didn't provide a good guess of where to search first, though it did rule out some Force forsaken planets like Mustafar or even the Hoth system.

This thought process, or maybe a nudge from the Force itself, had compelled him to simply instruct his astrodroid, R4, to simply pick the first random jump coordinate it came up with. It was foolish and completely unfounded, not to mention completely out of character if he could say so himself, but maybe abandoning logical thought would help put him in Anakin's mindset. It was funny, how predictable his former padawan's impulsiveness could be until suddenly it wasn't.

A sigh escaped Obi-Wan's lips. Anakin was always a prevailing subject of his active thought ever since he began training him. He couldn't help but feel shackled to him, for better or worse. Even for Anakin, this current situation was completely uncharted territory. In the twilight of this long war, on the brink of the galaxy's total upheaval, Obi-Wan yet again found himself chasing after his errant ward.

The fool, or the one leading him?

A chirp in his headset alerted the Jedi to his droid's coordinate result. Looking at the screen for translation, Obi-Wan didn't bother to be confused. Instead of a planet name, it merely displayed coordinates, and not ones he'd ever come even with a parsec of. Wherever it was, it wasn't too far from Coruscant, in the Deep Core. At least as his working knowledge of the Galaxy informed him. It meant he would already be making a back track less than a day into his search.

Could this place really have anything valuable in finding Anakin? He was banished from the whole of the Core, after all. But then again, the man never did follow rules very well.

Obi-Wan merely sat in silence, a pensive furrow in his brow. The Force worked in mysterious ways, after all. Perhaps this could provide a clue. His personal intuition wouldn't bring him to search somewhere so close to the Core, but Obi-Wan was committed to following this nudge of the Force. Or was it chance? This was square one, so he had to start somewhere.

He folded his arms across his chest. There really was no other course to follow; no lead to pursue.

"Very well, then," Obi-Wan sighed. He instructed R-4 to disengage the hyperdrive and re-plot the course for the mysterious coordinates...

Coruscant- Bail Organa's residence, hours prior:

"It would be easier to find a needle in a haystack," Bail sighed to himself in resignation. Padme and her banished husband were preparing to strike out on their own; Anakin was elsewhere in the ship with pre-checks to take care of, and the woman herself had charged Bail with a task: to find the real culprit behind the bombing. It had been quite and interesting conversation, as they all tended to be with that woman.

"You expect me to solve a mystery the authorities are no doubt looking into right now?"

"No, Bail, I'm not asking you to suddenly become a detective. All I'm asking is that you keep your ear to the ground. We won't exactly have much exposure to the holonet while we're gone..." a rueful frown crossed her face.

"You have friends in law enforcement, Bail. And you are one of the very few in the Senate I really trust. It can't be a coincidence that Anakin was the only one implicated in the news report. You saw how obviously tampered with that footage was... I suspect something is wrong."

"You don't seriously think the Jedi set him up, do you? I'm afraid exposing space wizards is way beyond my ken, Padme."

She let out an exasperated sigh.

"No, Bail! I have no love for them after what happened, but this just seems too aggressive for them. Too sudden..."

"i don't know, they seemed really quick to attack your husband," Bail replied. "And is it true that Master Yoda just stepped down? A lot of fishy stuff is happening all at once," he mused. He now began pacing around the Nubian cruiser's hold. What did this woman really expect of him?

"Look, I have no idea. Okay? But you are the only person I can turn to for these matters. The only other people I trust don't have the means that you do, and we need to know how carefully we should watch our backs."

Now she looked over her shoulder to make sure Anakin wasn't in ear shot:

"You saw what they said about him. We both know it isn't true." she pleaded. "Who knows what else they could say about him? He's not exactly able to defend himself from the Outer Rim. Please, just do what you can to try and figure out what's going on. I'm not asking you to break down doors or anything crazy, just... If you learn anything, contact me, okay?"

With a sigh, Bail nodded. It was a solemn hour. The Republic was in total upheaval, and now its greatest general and one of its most dedicated senators were going to be in the wind. He honestly didn't know if he believed the Jedi now, which could be a poisonous sentiment in the midst of the war. This was truly a terrible time for the two of them to be leaving the Republic.

"You can count on me." was all he replied. The two exchanged forced half smiles as Padme escorted him to the ship's exit ramp. As he trudged away, a thought gave him pause. Turning around, he gave voice to something that had been nagging him.

"Everything that has happened, it all seems so..."

"Scripted?" Padme supplied. "I know, it seems exactly like something only Palpatine could have contrived..." a shiver ran up her spine at the thought.

"I'll start asking some sources what they can find out," Bail called out. He gave a wave to his friend before disembarking.

"Bail? One last thing." Padme called out.

"Hmm?"

"There's going to be a power vacuum. Senate should be in session soon to elect a temporary executive. It should be you, Bail."

Now the man laughed.

"Are there any krayt dragons you'd like me to slay while I'm at it?"

"I'm serious, Bail. Force forbid someone of Palpatine's entourage scoops this up. For all we know, this could turn positive... in the grand scheme, at least. We could end this war soon with just diplomacy now. I believe you are the only one who could accomplish that."

Bail seemed to contemplate the idea.

"You'd have my vote." Padme added with an attempted smile.

Bail took the natural pause that ensued as an end to their conversation. He hoped it wouldn't be their last. He made his way down the cruiser's entrance ramp, and turned around the say:

"I'll do everything I can for the Republic."

"I know." Padme replied somberly. As she palmed the control to raise the ship's ramp, she added, "May the Force be with you, Bail."

Bail now stood in front of his living room window, looking out onto the waning light over the city. He had so many more responsibilities than he already had before. It had been almost been forty eight hours since Palpatine's demise, and there were more fires than could be put out right now. Of those, only a few were in his purview as a senator. By law, a standing succesor must be named within seventy two hours of a Chancellor dying, or resigning. The Senate as a whole would deal with any pressing matters, but could make no executive actions. Any immediate legislation, hypothetically, would have to be voted upon by the entire Senate.

Doubtlessly now, there wouldn't be much of a consensus on anything right now. Even as he was thinking of this, he received a beep from his commlink. It was from Senator Mothma. With a resigned breath, he picked the small device up and took pause before answering the call.

"Yes?"

"Bail," she greeted with an obvious absence of formality. "We need to speak. Now."

In private, he inferred.

"Meet me at my office." he replied. He turned one last time to wave to the tiny speck of the sleek Nubian ship as it ascended away from his home, into the atmosphere, and then to Force knows where.

A knock sounded at his door.

"Im afraid it must be more immediate."

Mothma's voice sounded over his commlink and from behind his front door. Bail trudged over, concern ever growing in his heart, and opened his door.

He was greeted by an equally grave Mon Mothma. She, like him, was alone.

"Hello, Mon," he said with a hint of suspicion. "Come in."

Bail waved his arm in curious welcome, and the woman strode in.

"Im sorry to impose like this, but it is emergent." a pause ensued. "Mas Amedda has cast his name into the running for Chancellor." A beat skipped while Bail processed this.

"But isn't he under investigation?"

"It doesn't seem to matter," Mon replied while unceremoniously plopping doen onto his couch.

"Enough of the Senate believes his proximity to Palpatine is a boon, and not a blight." she said venoumously.

I have entered your name onto the shortlist of candidates." Mon added with a sort of flippance that caught her counterpart off guard.

"What do you mean?" Bail choked.

"Well, not just I. Upon the Chancellor's death, it seems many of our fellow Senators also suggested you."

"But why me?"

Mon sighed, he face wrinkling to a froen as she rose from her seat.

"Your efforts throughout this conflict have gained much notice, Bail. Not so many people as tou think were completely in sync with Palpatine's aggressive tendencies, even though his popularity ratings were so high. Funny, isn't it? The allies we have accumulated, the ones who were seen as complacent and weak for not wanting to rush into a war, are now beginning to hear many different tunes from our adversaries. I believe many more people were afraid of Palpatine than they were supportive."

"I can't help but notice that many of these - efforts - were championed by Amidala, not me." Bail folded his arms.

"Yes, well," Mon gestured in thebair sardonically, "she isnt here. Word is already out of her marriage to General Skywalker. It was always your name signed right below hers."

Bail scratched his beard thoughtfully.

"You'd have my vote"

"Aren't you worried that people would associate me with Skywalker's..." he trailed off, trying to find the word. "alleged misdeeds? Even I dont know what really happened with that."

"I suppose we are going to find out. As you know, the vote is to take place within 72 hours, which is looming closer. The Senate will decide; i would assume they will call the emergency session before sunrise."

A heavy pause weighed on the two senators. Mon's shoulders slumped in resignation.

"It's not enough time to campaign or whip up fancy. We are uncomfortably close to appointing a man who is under a disturbingly mysterious investigation - a man who has been by Palpatine's side for his whole tenure. What secrets does he know? Why is he even on the ballot? Something is horribly wrong, Bail."

He turned back towards his balcony, staring off into the empty sky where his colleague had just disappeared.

"Something had been horribly wrong. And now the only man who had the answers is dead."