Star Wars: The Dark Lord Trilogy by James Luceno & Matthew Woodring Stover

Author:James Luceno & Matthew Woodring Stover [Luceno, James & Stover, Matthew Woodring]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Media Tie-In, General, Space Opera, Star Wars, Science Fiction, Fiction
ISBN: 9780345485380
Google: B3ECIfohebwC
Amazon: 0345428846
Publisher: LucasBooks
Published: 2008-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

POLITICS

Orbital mirrors rotated, resolving the faint light of Coruscant’s sun to erase the stars; fireships crosshatched the sky with contrails of chemical air scrubber, bleaching away the last reminders of the fires of days past; chill remnants of night slid down the High Council Tower of the Jedi Temple; and within the cloistered chamber itself, Obi-Wan was still trying to talk them out of it.

“Yes, of course I trust him,” he said patiently. “We can always trust Anakin to do what he thinks is right. But we can’t trust him to do what he’s told. He can’t be made to simply obey. Believe me: I’ve been trying for many years.”

Conflicting currents of energy swirled and clashed in the Council Chamber. Traditionally, decisions of the Council were reached by quiet, mutual contemplation of the flow of the Force, until all the Council was of a single mind on the matter. But Obi-Wan knew of this tradition only by reputation, from tales in the archives and stories told by Masters whose tenure on the Council predated the return of the Sith. In the all-too-short years since Obi-Wan’s own elevation, argument in this Chamber was more the rule than the exception.

“An unintentional opportunity, the Chancellor has given us,” Yoda said gravely. “A window he has opened into the operations of his office. Fools we would be, to close our eyes.”

“Then we should use someone else’s eyes,” Obi-Wan said. “Forgive me, Master Yoda, but you just don’t know him the way I do. None of you does. He is fiercely loyal, and there is not a gram of deception in him. You’ve all seen it; it’s one of the arguments that some of you, here in this room, have used against elevating him to Master: he lacks true Jedi reserve, that’s what you’ve said. And by that we all mean that he wears his emotions like a HoloNet banner. How can you ask him to lie to a friend—to spy upon him?”

“That is why we must call upon a friend to ask him,” said Agen Kolar in his gentle Zabrak baritone.

“You don’t understand. Don’t make him choose between me and Palpatine—”

“Why not?” asked the holopresence of Plo Koon from the bridge of Courageous, where he directed the Republic Navy strike force against the Separatist choke point in the Ywllandr system. “Do you fear you would lose such a contest?”

“You don’t know how much Palpatine’s friendship has meant to him over the years. You’re asking him to use that friendship as a weapon! To stab his friend in the back. Don’t you understand what this will cost him, even if Palpatine is entirely innocent? Especially if he’s innocent. Their relationship will never be the same—”

“And that,” Mace Windu said, “may be the best argument in favor of this plan. I have told you all what I have seen of the energy between Skywalker and the Supreme Chancellor. Anything that might distance young Skywalker from Palpatine’s influence is worth the attempt.”

Obi-Wan didn’t need to reach into the Force to know that he would lose this argument.

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