[center][h2][i]Resurgence[/i] Briefing Room[/h2][/center]

Jason held up a hand towards Captain Tu Lee. "We're not from the galaxy's future, we're from an alternate version of it, which only adds to the mess of understanding things, but at least we know why we're here and we can plan from there. As for our approach to Anubis, I fear the things we are focusing on are going to be needed to do what we need to do." The Supreme Commander opted to ignore Eggman for now, as it was clear he wasn't listening to anything anyone else had said. Jerus stepped up next, seething ever so slightly at his profession being called 'piece meal'.

"And bounty hunting here is anything but piece meal, sister. Some of the richest beings in the galaxy were bounty hunters and I imagine that it's much the same in this version of my home. So BEFORE you go making offhand comments bout a person's job, take a few minutes and learn about it in the appropriate context."

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[center][h2]Coruscant[/h2][/center]

Sheev Palpatine sat in his office below the Senate rotunda, nursing the stump of his severed dueling hand, sparks still erupting from the gashes in the walls and floor. His opponent would never be found, a super-charged blast of lightning having sent the late Jedi Master through a wall and off into the abyss of Coruscant's structure, to join Mace Windu in the Force. When word had reached him that Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi had assaulted the Jedi Temple and sent out a warning to any surviving Jedi, he had been sure that the little green thorn in his side would be his opponent while Kenobi went to try and reason with his former Padawan. So it was easy to imagine the surprise on Palpatine's face when Kenobi had been the one to blast open the door to the rotunda office where he'd spent much time planning and preparing between Senate sessions.

Obi-Wan wasn't as easy to defeat as the Sith Lord had anticipated and Anubis had offered to send no help, which had lead to a rather extended lightsaber duel. As it had progressed, Palpatine had begun to see why his former apprentice, Count Dooku, had been unable to best Kenobi without using the Force to create openings, but numerous duels against the late Count had prepared Obi-wan for Palpatine's tricks, which had brought the fight down to a test of martial skill.

Back and forth across his office the pair had fought, black gashes adorning the walls, floor and ceiling as the pair had sought a way to beat each other, but finding no openings; until Palpatine had made a mistake. In his frustration at Obi-wan's master of Form III eventually lead him right into his hands, the Sith Lord making a sweeping strike in an effort to break his defense and lost his hand in the counter that had followed. Drawing on the pain and anger the Kenobi had caused him, he unleashed a blast of lightning with his remaining hand that had blasted the Jedi Master through the wall behind him and out into the inky blackness that was the drop to Coruscant's lower levels.

Now, only minutes after the end of the duel, as a medical droid attached a primitive prosthetic hand to him until he could get a proper one made, he waited for word from his newest apprentice, Lord Vader. If Kenobi had come to face the Sith Lord, than Yoda had gone to deal with the recently fallen Jedi. He could only hope that Mustafar's lack of enclosed spaces had given Vader the edge he needed to best the agile Jedi Master. Minutes slowly churned on and became an hour, then an hour and a half. Finally, as Darth Sidious reached for the holocommunications in his office, a signal came through from Mustafar. Answering the call, he was greeted by the face of his new apprentice, though he kept his eyes hidden from Sidious. [i]Odd, but his business.[/i] "Ah, Lord Vader. I trust that everything has been dealt with?"

"It has, my master, but I must ask something." Palpatine frowned, but nodded.

"Of course, my young apprentice. Ask anything you need to." Vader's gaze remained unseen by the Sith Lord.

"Was it your doing that I nearly killed Padme? Or was that merely a convenience that would have saved you finding an assassin to do the deed for you?" He finally met Palpatine's gaze and he was angry, but something about them lacked the majority of the dark side anger that had been there when he left for Mustafar. "I will be coming for you, Chancellor, and after I've dealt with you-" Yoda's form joined the fallen Knight's.

"Deal with your new ally, we will. At an end, your deception is." Palpatine cut the feed, reeling at the revelation he'd just witnessed. If Vader had lost, he could have accepted that he was dead, but redeemed...no, he would still struggle with his darkness, his fear of loosing everyone he cares about. Standing and shaking away the medical droid, he headed for the presidential palace. With the loss of Vader, he could no longer wait to mobilize his enforcers of the Dark Side. He could only hope that they could stand up to the Jedi in a fight.

[hr]

As Palpatine's image vanished, a scream of labor pains echoed throughout the Nabooian craft. "Oh dear, oh dear!" C-3P0 was in a panic, trying to hurry the medical droid assigned to the ship Senator Padme Amidala had used to hurry and reactivate while the two Jedi sat in silence.

"Married her after all, you did." It wasn't a question, just a simple statement.

"I did and I don't regret it. Padme...she's helped me a lot ever since Obi-Wan and I first protected her before the Clone Wars. I know what the Jedi Code says, Master, but-" Yoda held up a hand, stopping him as he sighed heavily.

"No more, the Jedi are. Too few of us and too scattered." Another pained cry and Anakin started to stand before glancing at old Jedi, who merely nods. "Go to her, you must. Need you, she will." Anakin gave an appreciative nod and rushed out of the communications room as Yoda hobbled to a seat to await the arrival of the recalled 501st Legion.