[ Probation]

- Second part of the five part Fallen Future alternate series. After six months of probation, Obi-Wan still cannot find peace with in himself, tasked with aiding Master Windu with negotiations into the Trade Federation's Board's apparent takeover of a remote republic world, he is immersed once again in a battle against the Forces of the dark side as he is confronted with the son of an old enemy. Things go from bad to worse when as part of the follow up, he is dispatched to the Planet of Sor'udeina - the planet that he was born on - to look into the possible resurfacing of an ancient Sith artefact.

Forward: I'm back! well actually I've never been far away, but I was writing a StarFox instead, but... sniff... No one seemed to like it, I only got 1 review... anyway that aside I'm back to torture Obi-Wan some more! Just kidding, I tortured him enough in the last one, now I'm here to pick up the pieces. This Story has a bit of a different mood to it so I hope that you'll all still enjoy. I must say I believe it's got more to do with me beginning to mature as a writer... at least I hope it is... Anyhoo, enough talk. You guys all know the score: go and read the previous story just because I tell you rather than because you actually need to know what's going on... (Yeah right) and read and review, If you got flames I'm big enough and ugly enough to just use them to keep my hands warm through the chilly Victorian winter weather. Any questions? Ask away and I'll answer them, even if you don't necessarily like the answer I give... I own Stuff all, that's the guy in the flannel shirt's domain... Wow, does this guy shut up? yes just let me thank everyone who read and reviewed my last story, this sequel is for you! now on with the show!

Dramatis Personae

Obi-Wan Kenobi - Human male - Jedi Knight

Darra Thel-Tanis - Human female - Jedi Initiate

Qui-Gon Jinn - Human male - Jedi Master

Anakin Skywalker - Human male - Jedi Padawan

Ohruddyn Kenobi - Human female - Senatorial Aide

Granta Omega - Human Male - Sith Conspirator

Mace Windu - Human male - High Jedi Master

Yoda - Unknown male - Grand Jedi Master

Siri Tachi - Human female - Jedi Knight

-Probation-

C H A P T E R - O N E

DARKNESS

-"Why can't things go back to the way they were... will nothing ever be the same?"—Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Higher reaches of Coruscant were a pleasant place for most people, the gleaming towers of Permacrete and Transparisteel were among the most lavish in the known Galaxy, for the well bread dignitaries and influential businessmen and women it was like a huge permanent convention, each moment another chance to meet someone with the potential to further their business' or their own interests. The grade of cliental that the planet wide city kept in its upper levels was fixed by the incredible prices of the apartments and restaurants, recreations and some less savoury pursuits, making it impossible to live there unless you where very rich, or very influential.

The man known as Darth Sidious was both.

Not that he flaunted either of those facts. Infact, as a Sith Lord the less people who actually knew about either the better as far as he was concerned. His vast wealth was kept locked up under false names or in the care of trusted wardens, and while his influence included the Chancellor's office and more than half the senate either directly or indirectly, very few people knew about the fact.

All in all it was a damn good position to be in for someone who was trying to take over the Galaxy, but therein lay his problem. It was imperative that he didn't lose that position now, and that rested entirely in the hands of a certain Jedi Knight.

Obi-Wan Kenobi had definitely been one of his biggest failures, he had gotten far too liberal in the end with how much he had told the young man in his created persona of Ken Ibonek; sure that he could deal with him if the need arose. But Kryan had gotten greedy, rather than killing him the moment that he had come to him, he had tried to get him to kill the Senator from Sor'udeina, which had worked up until the point that the brainwashed Jedi had realised that Kryan was setting him up.

Thus the entire Slave Trading empire of Kryan had faced the unquenchable rage of a dark Jedi, and Sidious had to admit, he had trained Kenobi well, the young man had single handedly taken down the entire organization, more or less walking straight through multiple guards armed to the teeth without so much as a scratch, killing Kryan and incapacitating the Jedi under cover there who was meant to do the same thing.

Then, as if to further his bad day, the Jedi hadn't even managed to kill him, instead he had been 'redeemed' by the thrice damned former master of his, Qui-Gon Jinn. Nor had subsequent attempts to eliminate him been successful, and so now Sidious' entire operation was put on hold while he waited to see whether or not the broken, pathetic excuse for a Jedi Knight could put 2 and 2 together and get 4. But it had been six months since that fateful day, and so far nothing had happened, Sidious allowed himself to believe that he had gotten away with his closest escape yet. Already he had begun re-establishing his plans with Lord Tyranus, putting events in motion that wouldn't come to fruition for years. But come to fruition they would. Plunging the galaxy into his grip for good and destroying the incredibly annoying Jedi Order, and if he played his cards right, giving him the most powerful apprentice that the galaxy had ever seen, Anakin Skywalker.

The boy was incredibly talented, more so than even the legendary Darth Bane had been, more powerful that Yoda, even more powerful—though he was loathe to admit it—than himself. He had been tempted, when he had first created Ken Ibonek, to secretly train him as an apprentice, but even lost and confused the boy was too firmly entrenched in the 'Light side of the Force' that the Jedi clung to so pathetically. Even without knowing 'better', the boy had doubted, shown hesitation and weakness, all things that were unacceptable in a Sith Lord, who needed to be strong and decisive. No, Kenobi had been a useful tool, but nothing more. He had secured the entire knowledge of the Jedi on the Sith—which Sidious was both proud and grateful to know, wasn't very much, but couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit disappointed at the same time. It would have felt so much better to crush the Jedi being worthy opposition, rather than the pathetic ditherers that they were.

Out of the entire organization, only perhaps a handful of Jedi could hope to challenge him, Mace Windu, Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn through shear talent, and maybe Cin Drallig if it came down to a pure dual, otherwise only Kenobi out of their regrettable association and thus his slim knowledge of him. Then there was Skywalker of course, but the trick was to make sure he was safely out of the way when the time came, either as his apprentice, or dead in the war that he hoped would kill off the others. But that was a matter for a closer time, a lot had to happen between now and then, and for the moment he needed to focus on the things that needed his immediate attention, if he got to far in front of himself, he would leave dreadful holes in his plan that would be just asking for a Jedi to go sticking his bib into it.

Instead he felt it was time to give Tyranus the green light, the go ahead to begin his Separatist Movement, his Confedery, which would ultimately send the Galaxy into chaos as the Republic and Tyranus' movement clashed together in war. He had to admit that it was a stroke of brilliance that had been hundreds of years in the making, his Sith had spent sometimes their entire lives plotting out their revenge against the Jedi, meticulous in every detail. Until finally it had come to him and his master, Darth Plagueis. His master had at Sidious' own encouragement began using his wisdom to cut down on the lengths of time the plan was previously using, reducing a several century long build up to one of merely a hundred or so years, still it was more than he wanted to wait, so after killing his master, Sidious had worked at cutting down the plan even further—to within his own lifetime.

And thus he had set about putting himself into a position of power, or rather more power since he was already pretty powerful as far as things went, using his former apprentice, Darth Maul to help engineer the Naboo crisis, putting himself in direct control over the senate. No one would guess that Palpatine, the likable, approachable leader of the Republic was actually just a piece in a millennia long war with the Jedi. That they all were.

And the event had also given him one more blessing in disguise. It had gotten rid of the highly unstable Maul, who while being powerful had no regard for the years of work that had gone into getting them to the position that they were. Sidious was not one to just wait out his life doing absolutely nothing like some of his predecessors had, but he had the patience of eternity next to Maul who was constantly champing at the bit, wanting to take on the whole Jedi Order in a blaze of glory. Sidious was not so fool, the Jedi may be weak, but they far out numbered the Sith, any attempt to combat them directly was doomed for failure and he knew it. Their fall had to be structured carefully so that by the time that they realised what was happening it was too late.

No, all in all he was better with Tyranus who although still had lingering ties to his past ideals, at least knew the virtues of patience. Also, his newest apprentice was far more charismatic, capable of pulling off the feat that Sidious had devised the moment he had seen him. Where's instead of centuries of slowly drawing the galaxy into darkness, Sidious planned to use Tyranus to help engineer a war from both sides, allowing him full control over how it progressed, and finally allow himself to step out into the open as the much beloved and respected Emperor of the galaxy. It was a glorious dream; made better by the fact that he knew that it was the Jedi's worst nightmare. And it was just out of his grasp; but before long he would snatch it out of the air, then he would have finally gotten the Sith's well earned revenge.

With a last sigh he pushed his thoughts away, even amidst the thoughts of ultimate success, he couldn't let his guard slip, if he did for even one second the Jedi would sense him, ruining decades of hard work, so putting on a more pleasant façade, he contacted his receptionist. "Send in my first appointment would you, my dear."

__/\__/\__

\ ....| |.... /

\/| |\/

\/

Thats supposed to be a starship... oh well...

Master Yoda watched steely as once again he found himself and the council discussing an all too common issue; Obi-Wan Kenobi. Once again the issue of whether he still needed to be on probation or not had come up, and yet again they were getting nowhere. So far the Knight had displayed no ill-effects from his time as a brainwashed Dark Jedi, except that he was more often than not depressed. He completed his missions most capably and Master Windu who had accompanied him on most his missions to oversee him had little more to do than just that, oversee.

And yet perhaps the most worrying thing was also the simplest, Obi-Wan Kenobi had not touched a lightsaber since his return to the temple, not even for practice. That was what worried Yoda the most; it suggested that he still wasn't healing on the inside. He wanted to distance himself from the destruction he had caused, and so he blamed the most obvious part of the problem, the part that had actually done the damage, the lightsaber.

And yet it was crucial that he wielded the weapon again so that he realised that the weapon could be used for good just as easily as it could be wielded for evil, otherwise he would never recover. And until he had, Yoda was reluctant to let the young Knight go out by himself lest he relieve some suppressed memory in the midst of some fight or crucial debate, the effects of such an occurrence could, at worst, affect the entire galaxy.

And some on the council still saw the distant but distinct possibility that his brush with the darkside that he had experienced as Ken Ibonek would make him more susceptible to its influence in the future.

This thought was not something that had slipped his attention, he himself had frequently espoused the view that 'Once you start down the Path Of Shadow, forever will it dominate your destiny.' This was not technically true since many Jedi had turned to the darkside and been redeemed later. But it was Yoda's opinion that the same person could not be loving and selfless one day and heartless and hateful the next—at some point the being had to decide to stop being a Jedi and cast aside their teachings, and when that happened, they stopped being the person they where before, becoming a spectre of terror. Seen in that light, if the person turned back, they were effectively reborn, becoming who they were originally, to that end, like all addictions you had to want to give up the darkside, meaning that you where no more likely, possibly less likely infact than the next fellow. But Yoda didn't explain that to the others, they interpreted the expression in their own way; as was their right. His master, after all had seen it in the far more literal term, and had been very forthright about the fact, often avoiding people who had even touched the darkside.

"Pointless this arguing is." Said Yoda as the masters in front of him began debating the pros and cons of realising Kenobi upon the galaxy as it were. The rest of the council fel silent in an instant, turning to him.

"Only one way to know, there is." He continued having gotten their attention, "Test young Obi-Wan we will."

"What kind of test did you have in mind?" Asked Mace from the seat to his left.

"The Trade Federation, the cause of his captivity they indirectly were. Anger will Obi-Wan have against them if anger he will."

"You are suggesting sending him to Carreg?" asked Adi Gallia from across the room.

"I don't like it, Master Yoda." Added Mace with a frown, "Remember Xanatos and Telos. There is no reason to go looking to provoke Kenobi…"

"Remember Telos I do!" snapped Yoda, "But 'know we must,' you all say! But know when, hmm? Sooner? Or later?"

"I agree." Said Ki-Adi-Mundi from his other side, "If there is any point finding out, we should do it now while we can still do something about it."

Yoda caught the double meaning behind the other master's words and wondered if anything was meant by them, but he was confident that young Obi-Wan would not turn, he was just too light. Then he frowned, but then he hadn't thought that Xanatos would turn either, and look what had happened there. 'Old I am getting, make more mistakes I do.' He thought unhappily.

After several seconds of waiting and realising that he wasn't going to get further comment, Mace as the chairman of the Council spoke up, "We will put it to a vote. All in favour of sending Kenobi to Carreg for a final test…?" a murmur off assent ran around the room. "Very well, then by order of the council, Kenobi will go to Carreg." Yoda took special interest in Mace's choice of words, but did not mention it. Or at least not until after the meeting had finished; Mace stayed behind as usual to write out the Jedi's assignments as they had decided them in the council meeting.

Slowly getting out of his chair Yoda began to tap across the floor towards the door, but he stopped as he passed Mace. "Order of the council, not Will of the Force?" he questioned softly.

"Ah, yes, I thought you might pick up on that." Nodded Mace looking up from his data pad, "I'm not convinced he's ready. He still blames himself for what he's done, even though we all know he had little control over his actions…"

"Beg to differ he would." Pointed out Yoda.

"Yes I know, that's part of the problem. Most of the temple has come up to him at some point or another and said that they understand his circumstances and think no less—or little less at any rate—of him… Well all minus a certain somebody of course." The certain somebody that Mace referred to was a twelve year-old initiate named Darra Thel-Tanis who seemed to have decided that it was her mission in life to heckle Obi-Wan at every opportunity, particularly the less fortunate ones, and as the squeaky door gets the oil, it was doing little for Obi-Wan's state of self assurance.

"Tried to warn her off, we have." Stated Yoda.

"I know." Said Mace, it was his humble opinion that if the council and the rest of the orders knights and masters could attempt to forgive Obi-Wan that should be good enough for a twelve year old girl, even if he did kill her prospective master. "But all its done has made sure she never does it when there's a master around and you know what Kenobi's like, Qui-Gon assured me that he said he thought half the temple was after him. Frankly the girl's lucky that he's not a tenth as dangerous as she says he is, or he would have flattened her many times over now."

"True this unfortunately is." Nodded Yoda glumly. "Curb her thoughts she must, or sent to a Service Corp. she will be."

"She turns thirteen in two weeks anyway." Commented Mace, "And Obi-Wan and I are about to depart to Carreg, If we can keep the two separate for as much of the rest of the time as possible it will cease to be an issue. As horrible as it sounds." No one liked sending the initiates off to the Service Corps; it was heart breaking to see their desolate faces as they were shipped away, but the reality was that very few Padawans where selected after they reached thirteen—for whatever reason—and at least in the Service Corps they were productive, and they did not have to watch their friends go around everyday being a constant reminder of what they had failed to achieve. And all in all it was better than just releasing them out onto the streets…

Mace mentally shook himself back onto topic "But that's not the point anyway, the point is that Obi-Wan won't even pick up a lightsaber let alone admit that maybe he had a bit less to do with the events than he thinks."

Yoda sighed reaching out into the force, as always, it answered back, though perhaps not as strongly as it had a few years ago, dimly, Yoda wondered if that had something to do with his considerable age. At last, he pulled away with his answer, thanking the force for its assistance as he did so, "Recover Obi-Wan will, just perhaps not the way we are thinking." He told the Korun Master, and then with that he strolled off, the tapping of his cane fading as he disappeared from sight.

Mace had a slight smirk; Yoda would always remain both an idol and an enigma to other Jedi as long as he was around; of that he was sure.

That nice big greeny coloured button is the review button... please press it.