Phase 1: A galaxy torn asunder pt5

=RK=

Part 5

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Detention cells

GAR HQ

Coruscant

Anakin stalked through his small cell feeling restless. He just got back from another useless interrogation, where he was asked the same damned questions for the hundredth time as if the investigators expected him to contradict himself. Those inquires were infuriating. Each of the questions was a painful reminder that the whole galaxy went to the gutter a few weeks ago.

Palpatine, the closest man Anakin had to a father was murdered. Assassinated by the Jedi. By the people he used to trust.

Skywalker snarled and the meager furniture in his cell began shacking. He cursed and forced himself to calm down before his jailors overreacted.

He felt Palpatine die. Hundreds of Jedi flaring through the Force before flickering out just here on Coruscant. Thousands across the galaxy. At least half the Order was gone. The rest were either jailed like him or on the run with the whole Republic baying for their blood.

There were friends of his who were caught in this madness. Feeling their death struck almost as hard as Palpatine's.

At least Obi-Wan still lived. His mentor was changing.

Anakin rubbed his forehead. Kenobi felt different through the Force. He wasn't exactly Dark, though the light that Skywalker associated with his former master was muted. Greyish? Did that make any sense?

A new presence entered Anakin's awareness and he smiled. Padme was approaching. To his senses she felt much sharper, more real than the usually muted Clones who guarded him.

It took his wife a few minutes to reach the cells and pass through security and they felt like eternity. Anakin barely restrained himself from jumping at her when the door opened and the force field disengaged.

Padme smiled wanly at him, making her scars stretch like living thing. She walked in and Anakin was hugging her, taking comfort from her presence before he knew he moved.

"Hey." Padme relaxed I his arms and returned his hug. "I've got some good news."

"That's a relief." Anakin muttered, too busy inhaling the scent of her hair to pay proper attention to what his wife was saying.

"You're being released into home arrest. My security detail is supposed to keep an eye on you. Anakin, please don't do anything foolish." Padme begged.

"I… That's great!" Skywalker exclaimed. He couldn't wait to get out of that cell. Being home with his wife… He smiled.

"Anakin, promise me!" Padme hissed.

"I'll behave, I promise." Anakin reluctantly pulled back to look her in the eyes. "I won't do anything to hurt you again, Padme. I won't do anything that will get us separated."

Anakin hoped he would be able to live up to that promise. While there was a part of him that craved to go after Windu and Tiin, they weren't worth it in the end. Being stuck in a cell again helped him to straighten up his priorities.

He wasn't going to go half-cocked on some crazy revenge quest or something like that. Finally he could go home with Padme and that was what mattered.

=RK=​

SIB Safe house

Coruscant

Awareness came back to Count Dooku with a sharp twist. One moment he knew nothing, then he could feel the Dark Side's heavy presence and he grasped at it with his whole being. Power flowed through his body and it chased any vestiges of lethargy he could feel.

"It's done." An older Rodian grumbled. The man wore blue hospital scrubs and was leaning over him with a scanner in hand. "Everything looks good. Now we just need to calibrate the prosthetics."

"Good." Dooku rasped. He was laying on a raised gurney locked at a forty five degree angle.

"Here, water." The doctor shoved a cup with a straw sticking out of it in the Count's face.

Dooku glared at the man who was already busy looking back at the scanner, however didn't refuse the water. The cool liquid soon splashed over his parched throat. It was one of the best things Dooku could recall tasting.

When the offensive man got the cup away from his face, the Sith looked down at his body. For the first time in months, Dooku had arms, even if they were made of dull gray metal and had a rough rugged look to them. Certainly not top of the line prosthetics. Still, it was better than being a cripple.

Dooku felt Windu's onerous presence and looked at the entrance to the man's bedroom. The Jedi was glaring at him, making the Sith put a thin smile on his face. His new hands might be rather primitive, however their existence made him anything but helpless with the Jedi around.

"How long before he's going to be useful, doctor?" Windu asked.

"He'll need a few days at least to acclimatize to the hardware. A more advanced model would have needed much less time, however that's the best I could get on short notice." The Rodian explained.

"Good. Then we can leave soon." Mace grumbled and went back into his room.

"Looking forward to hunting Veil, are we?" Dooku smiled thinly. He didn't intent to follow SIB's plan. Oh, they would prove useful allies while he pursued his vengeance. Veil simply had to die, however certainly not on the terms of his new friends. Dooku was a Sith and thus no ones tool. Windu and his handlers would learn that soon.