Jedi Insurgency 231

Departing from Organa's senatorial suite, Corvus made his way towards the interior of the senate rotunda. Imperial red was everywhere he looked, and banners hung everywhere. 

Perhaps in an effort to make stealth impossible, the hallway ahead was chock full of people. Literally every inch of ground had an Imperial army soldier standing packed together in a tight formation. It was clear that the Imperial forces had become savvy to Corvus's operating procedure, and had acted accordingly. There were even drones flying overhead. 

When he had first arrived inside the building hitching a ride alongside Bail, he had noted that there was a constant patrol of guards, and many, many people were walking around with long metal sticks doing the job of mine sweepers. The mines that Corvus planted came with a camouflage ability, and initially he had wanted to set some explosives in the surroundings for an emergency getaway, but who knew that there would be so many kriffing guards?! However, all that meant was that he had to get creative, and plant those mines where no one would look…right on top of the building! Whilst invisible, and in ‘plain sight’ of everyone, he had rigged the ceiling, and edges with several different types of mines. Although he had faith in the boys’ & their mission, one could never have too many backup plans. 

Thinking like this, he regarded the tightly packed group of soldiers, and scoffed. He could have infiltrated via some air vents, or maintenance ducts, but today was one where he would make a grand entrance. 

Working his magic, he closed his eyes, and held up both of his hands in focus. A second later, a mass [Mind Trick] enveloped the contingent of soldiers in front of him. 

‘Form ranks, open up a path. The Emperor needs to enter the senate chambers.’ 

Corvus sent an impulse to their minds, and made them attach the same awe, reverence or respect they felt for Palpatine to be switched, and applied to himself. 

Dropping from invisibility, the masked form of ‘Revan’ calmly and cooly walked down the red carpeted hallway. Row upon row of Imperial army soldiers faced him in salute as he made his way deeper inside. Drawing near, he could hear the chittering of the senators, and the sonorous voice of Palpatine. Taking a deep breath, he found himself an unused pod, and floated it outward. 

From his vantage, the Senate unfolded in tiers of polished durasteel and flickering holo-lights. Thousands of eyes turned towards him. Senators. Bureaucrats. Officers. And above them all, in his elevated box, sat Emperor Palpatine.

“We pronounce you guilty. The sentence is dea-” 

“I OBJECT!” Corvus declared, his voice resonating across the chamber. 

Floating the pod upward, he came face to face with the man bound under a heavy gravitational pull: Mace Windu.

Corvus’s gaze lingered on the fallen Jedi Master only briefly. Windu’s head was bowed, white dreadlocks covered his face like a funeral shroud, but the Force around him was coiled like a spring, waiting for an opportunity to break out. 

He nodded slightly in appreciation. Windu was tougher than most. It would be disheartening to arrive, only to see that the man had a broken spirit. Although one eye was milky white, was missing an arm, covered in scars, and appeared a decade older, Windu still held some fight in him. 

During this brief analysis of the man he was here to rescue, the sound of panicked shouting came from some senators. Moments later, the roar of thousands of boots echoed in the hall. Men with commanding voices were ordering everyone to get down, and eventually thousands of white armored stormtroopers took up positions all around him. Although there was a fair distance between himself and the troopers, the rotunda was a circle, and they had every angle of attack covered. 

Raising their rifles, they awaited an order. Vader rose from his seat next to Palpatine, seemingly ready to jump down at Corvus, yet the old man raised a hand, motioning for him to take his seat. 

Corvus, meanwhile, did not move. He simply stood, calm as still water, hands at his sides. To act now would be the height of folly. The time to escape would be once the Darkside Nexus was sealed. For now, he was banking on Palpatine’s personality to kick in. The withered old man oh so loved his theatrics. Why else would he host this grand court case smearing Windu, when he could simply execute the Jedi, and be done with it? No. This was the man who toyed with Vader for 20 years trying to find some amusement in his bored life. At this point, the Dark Lord was in it for the love of the game! 

“Protect the Emperor!” Someone screamed.

A cluster of red-robed guards rushed toward the podium, while panicked aides tugged at Palpatine’s sleeves.

“Your Majesty, we must evacuate!”

“I did not retreat from Grievous when he debased this, our beautiful capital, nor shall I flee in the face of Coruscant’s latest aggressor. I have no fear with the men and women of the Imperial army standing by my side.” Palpatine declared, looking at the soldiers with the love and confidence a grandfather might have in his capable grandson. 

Palpatine raised a single, wrinkled hand, and his guards-feeling their spirits soar-reluctantly obeyed. 

The stormtroopers present maintained their aim, waiting, hoping that their beloved Emperor would give the command. They were to be disappointed, as the dark robed figure rose from his seat, and looked down upon Revan from his box. 

He looked like a man who had undergone several restorative surgeries. Although the pallor of his skin had become healthy once again, he very much still appeared frail, as if a stiff breeze might knock him over. 

But Corvus saw the truth for what it was. This was nothing but a falsehood the man wanted the world to see. Beneath that weak exterior was a coiled power rivaling the darkness of an abyss. Although he wore the mantle of Emperor, he would always be Darth Sidious! 

Palpatine’s yellow eyes met his, and a brief probing wave of mental force surrounded him. Corvus, however, had been looking at Palpatine’s shadow, and had foreseen this a second before he had ‘made his move.’ Phasing in and out of reality with a micro [Shadow Hop] just a centimeter to the left, Corvus completely dodged this probing mental attack. All this took place in a fraction of a second, and Palpatine continued speaking as if nothing had happened. 

“Ah.” The Emperor said softly, his voice carrying effortlessly across the chamber. “The prodigal warlord has arrived.”

Corvus said nothing, content to buy time, he was curious to see how this would play out. Just how would Palpatine spin the galaxy against him? 

Palpatine descended a single step from his throne, hands folded neatly within his sleeves, he appeared like a kindly elder greeting his guest at the door. 

“Tell me, have you come to kill me?” Palpatine asked in a conversational tone, like a man asking about the time, or a change in the weather. 

The question hung in the air, seemingly spread by a sinister Darkside whisper that would affect the mind of any lesser being. 

“Or, was the destruction of my Palace insufficient?” Palpatine whispered, shaking his head at Corvus as if he were some grand villain. 

“The freighters…those tragic vessels that collided in the heart of the capital. So many lives lost. So much, suffering. One wonders how the Jedi could bring such woe to the very world they once swore to protect?” 

He clasped his hands together, lowering his head as if in mourning.

“In aiming to take my life, millions of innocents lost theirs.” Palpatine sighed, clearly troubled by what had transpired. 

“Tell me, Master Jedi, oh how you love that title, don't you? Did you even consider their lives when you aimed to take mine? Did their deaths weigh upon your soul?” Palpatine finished his statement by wiping a tear out of the corner of his eye, and then after a visible sigh, he stood up ramrod straight, and adopted a position of strength. 

“Well here I am, sir! You may have struck at the innocents of Coruscant, but you really wanted me. If anyone must carry the burden of the citizens, let it be me. I shall be the one to face you, not them. Here. I. Am.” Palpatine bared his chest forward, as if asking for Corvus to pierce it with his lightsaber. 

Those loyal to Palpatine-and even a few who were against him-were swayed by his magnetic performance, and a roar of applause shook the auditorium. 

Corvus couldn't help but smirk. ‘Palpatine, you wily old bastard, you're truly something else.’ 

Taking a step forward within his pod, the Stormtroopers subconsciously stiffened, they were all a hairtrigger away from unloading across the entire senate floor. Corvus idly wondered how many senators would die due to the crossfire. He supposed it was a good thing he had instructed Bail to wear his personal shield today. 

Once the applause had died down, Corvus began to slow clap, and nodded appreciatively at Palpatine. His action was met with an awkward cough, from some random senator, and Mas Amedda stepped forward. 

“You dare mock his Imperial Majesty?!” 

Palpatine's lizard-like eyes glanced at the blue horned alien, and the man-one who was clearly eager for some credit-was quick to step back. 

“Kill you?” Corvus asked, his voice resonating throughout the room. “No, Chancellor, I would only ever hold you to the same lofty standards as you hold Master Windu. In the name of the Galactic Senate, I am placing you under arrest.” 

There was a pin drop silence, and then some pro-Imperial senators broke out in laughter, clearly treating his words as a joke. Even Windu-who had been silent up to this point-groaned as if replaying a bad memory. 

Palpatine smiled faintly.

“Ah. Always the philosopher. The in depth holo programs at GNN have uncovered your past, Revan, and We know much of your doings. You see corruption everywhere. Decay. Rot. And yet…Here we stand. A new order has brought clarity to this body. We are no longer shackled by indecision and petty squabbling. No longer bound by an elusive religion that preaches precepts that it does not follow. Arrest me then. Let the Senate determine my fate.” Palpatine calmly stated, and held his hands up as if he were prepared to be cuffed. 

Corvus’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Ah, but Chancellor, how could it be a fair trial when you are presiding over yourself?” Corvus asked, then uploaded a video from a console in his floating senatorial hover disc. 

A short scene of Windu's initial encounter with Palpatine played out for everyone to see. 

Mas Amedda was frantically trying to get someone to cut the feed, but just as the wires for the screen were about to be forcefully cut in a maintenance shaft, an HK unit appeared behind the tech responsible for the operation, and gutted him from behind. The video then played in full. 

“...I am the Senate!” 

Past Palpatine's voice cut through the chamber like a lightsaber through butter. Then the entire scene of the fight with Windu, and Anakin's betrayal played out for the entirety of the senate. Not just them, but this entire event was being broadcast live across hundreds of networks. Between the help of the HK's, and his own slicing efforts, no one could halt this transmission, the entire galaxy was free to witness this. 

“A fair trial, such as my colleague’s, is an impossibility, Chancellor. Clearly, you can see that? However, if you are willing to discard those thrones you are so fond of, and willing to subject yourself to a gravitational imprisonment such as this, and have the same concoction of chemicals pumped into your system. Then perhaps you might prove yourself to be innocent afterall.” Corvus said in a smug tone, and held his hands out to his side, passing the ball back into his court. 

“Another fabrication, I see.” Palpatine replied smoothly. “Previously, you had retorted to crass name calling, labeling me as ‘Darth Siphilis.’ Now that your previous so-called evidence has fallen flat, you return with more of the same. Be done with these Jedi workarounds, and say what you mean.” Palpatine remained tall, continuing to present his chest as a target for all to see. 

Corvus's chuckle resonated within the chamber, he felt as if their ‘duel’ had truly just begun. He almost wanted to turn to Vader, and say something ridiculous like ‘now this is pod racing.’ Instead, he settled for the next best thing. 

“Take a seat, Your Majesty. So eager to fall upon my lightsaber, yet you do not put Skywalker in your eyes at all. Afterall, a man who does this-” Corvus said, playing the temple security footage of the Youngling Slayer 9,000-”is worthy of being your heir? 

“You claim that I am here for your life, that I wish to do harm to the innocents of this galaxy. Yet I have not drawn a single weapon.” 

The various cameras recording the scene then zoomed in on the thousands of stormtroopers pointing their weapons at him. 

“One wonders how many senators will perish in the crossfire once their tethers have been unleashed. How your silver tongue will spin their deaths into my designs.” Corvus said in an amused tone, clasping his hands behind his back. “I did not come here to slay you, Palpatine. I came here to see justice be done. This is a trial afterall, no?” 

This time, Palpatine regarded him with a hooded look, his eyes covered by shadow. A slow, amused laugh left the old man's cracked lips. 

“You wish to defend Master Windu, do you?” Palpatine asked in a rich tone. 

“Why else would I subject myself to the grace of the Empire?” Corvus replied with a bemused gesture towards the boys in plastic white. 

“...very well, let it not be said that the Empire is an unfair society. You may begin your defense, Revan. But know this, you fight not only for Windu, but for the Jedi Order as a whole. Upon your shoulders rests the weight of those monks. Have you prepared yourself?” 

Corvus stared at the man, and for the briefest of seconds, felt as if he had found a kindred spirit. Speaking in front of the Senate, being listened to by hundreds of billions, possibly trillions…it was quite the intoxicating feeling. He now understood the allure of power. To work with the Force was one thing, but to influence the world with words. Now that was something else. 

Debating the Dark Lord of the Sith in the heart of the galaxy, heh, a Jedi could not fathom such a concept. They would likely lunge at the Sith, lightsabers drawn with no further thoughts. 

But he was a Jed'aii! 

The mask of Revan gleamed under the spotlight, and the fight for the soul of the Republic began anew.