DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
Anakin Skywalker sat with his mother, clutching her hand a little more strongly than he had intended to. He wouldn't lie, he was frightened. He had somehow known Callisto was in danger, but just not how badly. He had only just been told recently of how she had been attacked by the Sith Lord in her quarters and had been missing for nearly a day now. The Jedi did not want to tell him for fear he would become angry or afraid, but Amidala wouldn't have it. She knew that Callisto was his friend and had the right to know.
That he could have dealt with. He knew that Callisto was a survivor, but after Obi-Wan's news, he wasn't so sure.
He saw Qui-Gon tense as Obi-wan told him of what he had found.
"She had been there, Master. I felt her all the way, but then she vanished. I'm not sure if that meant she's..." His voice trailed off.
Qui-Gon walked over to his former apprentice and placed both hands on his shoulder. "She is not dead, Obi-Wan. We both would have felt it and I have felt nothing."
"But she is hurt. There was a rather substantial amount of blood on the floor and the room had been smashed up terribly."
Anakin heard Obi-Wan's voice fade for a moment at the word "blood."
Always the calm one, Qui-Gon stepped in as the voice of reason. "Did you get the chance to look around? Were there any clues as to what she might have been looking at that made the Sith come for her?"
Obi-Wan thought to himself. "I don't know. Everything that looked like it might have contained some value looked destroyed. There was definitely something there that they did not want anyone to discover."
The Jedi Master nodded. "Then we must find out whatever that is. It may be the key that will lead us to Callisto."
*And the Sith,* Obi-Wan thought.
The two men headed for the door. Qui-Gon looked behind him once to Shmi, who was biting her lip. She was worried, not only for Callisto, but for Qui-Gon. He smiled warmly as if to say, "Don't worry, I'm coming back to you." But as he walked through the door with Obi-Wan he vaguely wondered if that would be true.
He hoped so.
They exited to the outside. It was about midday now, given the position of the sun in the sky. To the planet itself, time didn't really matter, neither did personal situation. Businesses went on, the ships, traveled, they were nothing to them.
"Master," Obi-Wan said, "just where are we going, anyway?"
Qui-Gon pressed his lips together. "I'm not completely sure. You said she had been in the building when you were there?"
"Yes, I could feel her, but after I happened upon the room..."
"Your concentration shattered. It is understandable, but we must get beyond that now. There is more at stake here."
Obi-Wan managed a small smile. "Does the council agree with you on that?"
Qui-Gon laughed shortly. "Believe it or not, yes. They see this as important enough to hold a meeting later tonight. We are supposed to be there to discuss what we have seen of the Sith so far." He paused. "Callisto is supposed to be there, too."
"All the more reason to find her," Obi-Wan said, no expression on his face.
Qui-Gon placed one hand on his shoulder. "We will find her. She can't be that far away."
The world no longer seemed to exist to her.
And Callisto wanted it to stay that way. If she acknowledged that there was a universe, then that would mean she was a part of it, meaning the pain would return. So she lay there, not knowing what she was laying on, and tried to keep everything out of her mind.
Unfortunately, as consciousness returned more and more with each passing moment, it grew harder and harder to maintain.
She opened her eyes to a blurred picture. It was dark and seemed ever more vague given her foggy vision. She tried to lift her head, but changed her mind when a wave of intense dizziness came with it. Moving other part of herself, she found almost everything ached, especially her right arm, which was still recovering from the old injury. But hadn't she had that treated? Why was it still hurting?
Then she remembered. She had been attacked again in her quarters, but had escaped for a short period of time. The Sith Lord had made her angry and she had been so determined to get to the bottom of it all that she had broken into a building to raid records. The good thing had been that she had succeeded. The bad thing had been that in doing so, she had set off alarms with the Sith and they BOTH had come for her. At least that's what her memory was telling her. Before she had passed out, she had made out two figures standing above her. She had known both. It had been the man with the bad tattoo... What had his name been again? Maul. Darth Maul. She remembered it now from the Neimodian records. Then there had been another...the one with that voice... Sidious had it been? No, that wasn't right... There was something she was forgetting...
Palpatine. Yes, the chancellor, that was who it was.
A grim realization set it as all of it came together. They were the same person, Sidious and Palpatine. She had figured it out then, but before she could even move, he had come in and struck her down, dealing her a blow that result in a large blood loss. She could feel the injury even when she was completely still. Amazing the speed of that man had been. Amazing still was all that had happened. Such manipulation, such...
There was a low chuckling in the room with her.
"Yes, it is amazing, isn't it? Sometimes I can't quite believe it myself, but I don't allow it to result in overconfidence. If I had then you would be with the Jedi right now, wouldn't you?"
Callisto pulled herself off the ground, ignoring every pain receptor in her body.
"I suppose I would be," she said softly.
Sidious laughed again and stepped closer. He peered at her closely, then shook his head and laughed again. "You are quite interesting, you know that, don't you? Impressive how you escaped my apprentice on two occasions. Of course the first time had been pure luck. If the Jedi hadn't appeared you would be dead right now."
Callisto lowered her eye lids at him. "That would be a waste, wouldn't it?" she seethed.
He smiled again, that politician's fake grin that probably won him hearts in the Senate. "Yes, it would be. I must say, I am quite impressed with your work...such anger, such determination... a pity it failed you in the end."
"Not necessarily," she said.
"Oh?"
"They know I'm missing. They'll look for me."
He circled her, stopping directly behind her. "Yes, I know this...but they won't find you and if they do, it will be because I have allowed it...and you have allowed it."
Callisto arched an eyebrow. She also decided to try and change the subject, not liking the turn the conversation was taking. "So which is it, Sidious or Palpatine?"
Again he laughed. "Both, my dear. Interesting trick, isn't it? When I was the apprentice, it had been cultured...planned that I would take this role so that I might control all of this. As you see, it is working. Now I am the master," he said proudly.
"Well, congratulations," she said with sarcasm.
"Thank you. Can I leave now?"
"I'm afraid not. I had expected you would seek us out eventually, just not quite this soon, but it is of no consequence. You can be of service now as you would be later."
"You assume a lot."
"Do I? You know very well that you do not belong with them. You have no place among the Jedi or with their friends. You have no place with the boy or his mother. They know how angry you are..how full of hate you are. In time they would push you away."
Callisto bit her lip. That had been pretty much the story of her entire life. Every place she had ever gone she had been asked to leave.
"Not this time."
"Really? You are strong and I can see you remaining in place, but if you did not leave, then they would leave you. I would welcome you and so would my apprentice. We appreciate rage, the hate. You don't know the power it holds, but you will."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid, I must respectively decline."
Sidious was still behind her. "You say that now. In time, you will change your mind. I can wait. The Sith have waited hundreds of years for revenge. I can wait for you to break down, especially when you will be going no where. And if you, through some miracle managed escape, you will have no where to go. The Jedi that you hold so dear will be dead. "
"We'll see."
"You think I am kidding? No, I'm afraid this has been in the works for some time and I have been given the perfect opportunity to go forth. That meeting of the council will be their last."
"They'll catch it."
"Will they? If they do realize it, it will be too late to do anything about it. They are soon to fall."
"It will be stopped," she said, but this time, she couldn't keep the inkling of fear out of her voice."
He laughed, and pulled back a lock of hair off her shoulders. "You're determined, I'll give you that, but there is no escape. The only way you leave, is if you die. It is your choice."
"If I die, I'm taking you with me."
"We'll see."
And with that, he left the room. The darkness returned as Callisto still stood in the darkened room, clutching her slashed arm, alone with her thoughts.
Darth Maul stood in the shadows beside the Jedi Temple. He watched as people entered and exited with a dark smile. Soon many of them would die. Good riddance.
No one had seen him enter the building. So one had seen him set up the explosives with the help of the droids. And no one had seen him leave.
He felt a fire rise within his chest. He would wait here and watch as the building erupted into the flames, wiping out the heads of his enemies. He would listen to the screams of agony of that great blow. There would be no stopping it once it started and they would have won a great victory. Soon, his master would control the galaxy once the Jedi were all taken care of. Then, after Sidious had passed on, it would be his turn. He could wait, there was still much to learn. Power would come.
Soon.