Chapter 12 Truth and Reconciliation

A month later, Anakin was reviewing the war files after a sweeping victory on a swampy planet. He had been searching for his target for days, as the Force told him it was somewhere nearby. However, Anakin was having trouble locating it because Dooku was supposed to be with his target, but Dooku was hiding, making it difficult for Anakin to find him, and he had to resort to investigation.

Anakin couldn't let this go because his current target could give the Republic an advantage, which only survived this conflict because Palpatine didn't want it to end until his power was large enough, the Jedi's reputation was ruined, and the Republic was weary.

As for the separatists, Palpatine never planned for them to win the war and took care to tarnish their reputation from the beginning, even though theoretically their postulates were correct, as they demanded security on the outer rim and denounced the corruption of the Senate. This didn't mean they were entirely right, as they were an important part of the corruption, but they weren't entirely the villains either.

Anakin smiled as he found what he was looking for and set course for Coruscant in the ship he had stolen from Ventress and which, thanks to Palpatine's funds, he had adapted to his standards. Palpatine must have been cursing his ancestors, but he couldn't deny him anything because with him, he was an accommodating grandfather, and doing otherwise would arouse his suspicions.

On the other hand, his current target appeared after a day of searching on the battlefields, as three Venator cruisers were destroyed, and it was still unknown what had happened, as there were no survivors or data on the attack. With this information and the Force to guide him, it didn't matter if Dooku didn't show up; his target was already located.

...

"Master, why are we infiltrating our own home?" Ahsoka asked as they snuck through the temple's sewers.

"It's a security inspection," Anakin said with a smile. Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

"Master, I'm not falling for it this time," Ahsoka said.

"Then it must be that you've matured and learned to be patient," Anakin said evenly and continued walking.

...

"Master..." Anakin smiled wickedly; this girl wasn't learning the lesson.

...

When they emerged from the sewers, Ahsoka was grumpy because she hadn't managed to get anything out of him.

The council was equally surprised to see them enter and then close the door behind them.

"Master Skywalker, what brings you here?" Windu asked, frowning.

"I come for my appointment with the council that Master Fisto has kindly arranged for me," Anakin said. The council members blinked.

"What's with the secrecy?" Windu asked.

"Well, this is a diplomatic visit," Anakin said honestly because he could have done as he always did, execute his plan and then be accountable, but this time, the paperwork afterwards could be too much.

Anakin pulled up a hologram with the information he had reviewed earlier and his own additions from Xion's memories, showing his target.

"This is the Malevolence, the new flagship of the rebel army, commanded by General Grievous himself and Dooku. It has enough armament to take on a fleet on its own, and two ion cannons that would literally tear through any defensive line, disabling their shields," Anakin explained. The entire council looked alarmed.

The council saw this ship as a threat, but he didn't. He saw it as a service from Palpatine to him, and for years, he had been preparing everything for when it was built, every detail, including a complete upgrade for weapon control and an addition that would make the Jedi council want to execute anyone who dared to ask how the technology he would add to this ship worked. Palpatine couldn't even come close without having the entire council breathing down his neck and looking at him with suspicion.

"We must warn our fleet…" the council began making plans to retreat and then attempt to destroy the new ship.

Anakin sighed. He wondered why these old ones always sought ways to hang themselves, and despite being Jedi, they only thought about destroying everything in their path. Anakin cleared his throat with annoyance. The council looked at him, and Ahsoka shrank back.

"As I said before, this is a diplomatic mission. Which means any plan is unnecessary. And please refrain from making plans to destroy my new flagship," Anakin scolded grumpily; these guys seemed like Sith. The entire council frowned.

"Your new ship?" Windu asked, frowning. Anakin nodded.

"Just like the ship I stole from Ventress, as a general, I have the right to keep the spoils of war and decide their future use, and I have determined that the Malevolence will be my new flagship. Although I don't like its name, when I capture it, it will be renamed the Truth and Reconciliation," Anakin explained.

"Explain your plan," Windu said, and for the first time since they had known each other, he truly seemed to be contemplating.

"It's simple, General Grievous has full confidence in his new ship and thinks he can catch our fleets by surprise and cause us serious losses, so he's marching alone. My plan is to take advantage of this, use my own assault ship, land on his flagship, infiltrate the bridge, dismember General Grievous, shut down the droids, and claim the ship as mine," Anakin explained. "It's a flawless plan," he added confidently.

"That's a plan…"

"Too risky," Windu declared. "Even if you somehow manage to land, you'll never reach the bridge; Grievous should have that entire ship filled with droids," he added.

"My master is capable of passing through an army of droids without them even looking at him," Ahsoka said, barely able to contain her excitement.

"We'll share the bridge," Anakin bribed. Ahsoka nodded.

"Risky Skywalker's plan is," Yoda pronounced, and the council hurriedly agreed. "Like all his previous plans it is," Yoda added with frustration. The council didn't know what to say.

…

Anakin left Coruscant in secret, as this was a plan only the Jedi Council should know, otherwise, the enemy would find out, as Palpatine wouldn't allow a battleship that had cost him a fortune to build to scare the Republic, destroy its ships, and kill many troops, only for the Republic to steal it and join its ranks, giving them an advantage.

…

"Master, I think they can see us," Ahsoka said apprehensively, looking at the colossal battleship in front of them.

The Malevolence was five kilometers long, five times the size of a standard CIS battleship, with five times its number of cannons and droids, along with the addition of two ion cannons, port and starboard.

Anakin approached from its tail, using Twilight, which is what he had named the ship captured in the mission to free the hut slug. Anakin thought it was a good name because it was a very old ship.

"Relax, what they see is just a small rock approaching; the sensors will simply discard us. They are looking for a fleet," Anakin said.

"Master, there are three cruisers with them; you said Grievous was alone," Ahsoka said.

"Ahsoka, this ship needs at least five cruisers to keep its guard up, and light ships to watch its surroundings at all times, three cruisers are nothing."

"After dealing with Grievous, we'll test our firepower with them, although it's a pity we can't use clones; the droids simply don't have the necessary intelligence to unleash the full potential of this ship," Anakin said regretfully. R2, who was by his side, beeped, or at least that's what his chirp meant.

"Fortunately, we have R2 with us to make up for some of its deficiencies," Anakin said.

Some things had changed, and it wasn't in his plans to have three cruisers, because in Xion's memories, the Malevolence was alone, but that was a Malevolence that had already entered the war; this one had only made its first attack, and they must be testing its capabilities.

Still, Anakin wasn't afraid of being seen because whether it was the sensors of the Malevolence or those of the separatist cruisers, they couldn't locate him without looking for a very specific anomaly in their data. Anakin had already tested it hundreds of times on his own cruisers. This development of technologies was made thinking of a stealth fighter from Xion's world.

Anakin could create an invisible ship, like the one they used to infiltrate Christophsis, but that was complicated technology that required a dramatic change in the structure and components of the ship; his artificial cells were less cumbersome because they absorbed the waves used by enemy sensors and returned them emitting just the presence of a small rock.

On the other hand, acquiring stealth technology would undoubtedly attract Palpatine's attention, and his plan would be ruined because Palpatine was as good as him in the Force and only needed a small clue to connect all his plans.

All this didn't mean that he didn't intend to get his claws on stealth technology because since he came across it, it had been tied to his plans; he just didn't want to give Palpatine any clues about his plans and movements right now.

…

Some minutes later, this due to the slowness with which they moved to avoid drawing attention and appear as too abnormal a rock, the Twilight aligned parallel to the hull of the Malevolence, and Anakin, Ahsoka, and R2 jumped so that the Twilight could move away.

Anakin entered through the waste ducts, which being a ship of robots were unused, and used the Force to create a magnetic field around them that made them invisible to any artificial life form that used sensors and cameras to see because it nullified them, creating interferences that their brains took as visual errors and simply corrected their vision or sensors to nullify their presence, filtering the image by taking it as an error, something that a living being would never do, which in the face of any distortion of reality, would sound an alarm.

Thus, Anakin infiltrated the Malevolence and ran through its corridors with Ahsoka, carrying R2 on a floating platform and using the automatic cargo elevators to reach the level of the bridge; when these were not available, they simply flew to the place.

Anakin was surprised because he still couldn't sense Dooku. He was a sensor Jedi, and there was no way the old man could hide from him being on the same ship. Therefore, he began to consider the possibility that Dooku wasn't there and that the previous encounter had left him more disturbed than it seemed at first, which meant that he had caused more damage than he foresaw.

Anakin flew up about three floors, carrying R2 and Ahsoka with him. Other Jedi couldn't fly because they were a mess maintaining concentration while using the Force, but Anakin wasn't one of them.

Since Anakin arrived at the temple, he had disregarded his master's advice and began practicing to make the most of his Force abilities, practicing 24/7 until accessing it was as easy as breathing. This had also allowed him to perfect his ability to rearrange matter, which at this moment reached microscopic levels, although it didn't reach atoms, it was close to the genetic level.

The control over the Force that this ability gave him allowed him to manipulate the energy control ability that the Jedi used and that Anakin already used for his shields.

The energy control ability could also be used to stop Sith lightning, as Master Yoda used it in Xion's memories and even managed to deflect it. This ability manipulated all kinds of energy, including kinetic energy, so stopping bullets with hands was not ruled out; even a lightsaber would be countered by this ability.

The problem was that this ability required too much concentration, and a simple push was always more effective than engaging in overly complicated tricks, which could end with the Jedi in question lowering their guard and getting shot in the back.

Anakin used this ability to create his shields and nothing more, until he realized that his control had led him to interfere with the electromagnetic radiation around him, and from that day on, the droids were doomed to fight blindly against him. Still, he limited this ability to conceal himself and never told anyone about it, using it only in emergencies so that it wouldn't reach Palpatine's ears and he could create countermeasures. After this mission, the miserable old man would be aware of it, but it didn't matter because his goal for this ability would already be in his hands.

A few minutes of jumping and infiltrating the elevator brought Anakin and his group to the bridge, entering through the main door as if they owned the place.

Anakin smiled wickedly when he confirmed that, indeed, Dooku was nowhere to be found, and it was Grievous who acted as captain of the Malevolence. That meant this ship was already his.

His entry into the bridge gave General Grievous a near-death scare, who seemed to be reviewing some war files.

"Guards!" Grievous shrieked, blinking and shaking his head to identify the visual anomaly in front of him, which to his organic eyes was somewhat clearer, as they were not electronic sensors. Still, it must have seemed like reality had some small patches, as the eyes also depended on capturing electromagnetic radiation to see. What was happening was that the droids were less effective and easier to deceive.

"Yes, General," the troops around him responded, showing no alarm.

The guards remained at their posts, and the operators were at the consoles.

"Intruders!" Grievous shouted, pointing at them; apparently, he couldn't believe his droids weren't already shooting at them.

While Grievous was shouting, Anakin had already arrived in front of him in a blink, as he wouldn't give him the chance to continue giving orders. He was already upon Grievous when he spoke for the second time, while Ahsoka cut down the armed guards in the area, and R2 went straight to the main control to take over the ship and the droids, although this would take a few minutes.

When Anakin charged, Grievous jumped and deployed four arms and four sabers, along with five robots using staffs to assist him in defense. But this wasn't a fight against a common Jedi, and once they were face to face, Grievous was simply lost by the fact of not being a Sith.

Anakin raised his hand, and Grievous' guards fell disarmed into pieces as soon as they moved. Grievous himself was left paralyzed, and his hands fell to the ground as they were dismantled into pieces along with the lightsabers he wielded. He was then pulled towards Anakin and fell onto his back without arms and legs, only his frame remaining intact.

There were no more movements, as Grievous remained paralyzed by the Force, and Anakin hadn't finished with him yet, because he pulled out an injection of a black substance and plunged it into one eye, causing Grievous to try to scream, but his entire body was under his control, and he couldn't move a muscle of his biological part nor trigger a circuit in his mechanical body.

After dismantling Grievous into parts, Anakin sat in his captain's chair and closed his eyes.

"Master, how are we going to operate the ship now?" Ahsoka asked, because while she was cutting down the guards, he disarmed all those in charge of the bridge so that they wouldn't have time to raise the alarm, as reprogramming the droids would take a few minutes.

"R2, take control of the communication system first and declare a ten-minute radio silence, and have a thorough scan of the surroundings by the cruisers that are in line. Then instruct them to take inverted positions to their current positions," ordered Anakin, and R2 sent the command.

R2 would take days to reprogram the droids without the access codes. Anakin nodded without opening his eyes. This plan would have been very violent if Dooku had been there, but since only Grievous was present, it was a piece of cake.

…

Five minutes later, Anakin had obtained Grievous' brain codes, which he had wired using artificial cells to literally give him electric shocks to his brain when he tried to resist his mental control. If the council found out about this, they would spend an entire week scolding him, but Anakin had no intention of telling them.

…

Seven minutes after their entry into the bridge, he had all of Grievous' access codes. A new crew entered the command bridge.

"Greetings, General Grievous, droid commander," greeted the B1 droids as they entered and took their positions.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, but it was that easy to steal these droids if you had their command codes, and if they believed you were their commander, they would follow you to the death. There was no need to change their programming, only their identification program.

"Captain, send someone to clean up the mess in this place. I want my command room spotless and prepare for battle, because rebel elements have taken the escort cruisers, and we are preparing to destroy them," ordered Anakin.

"At your command, General," said the droid captain without hesitation, and another group of droids removed the remains.

"This is a rebel element that tried to steal my collection of lightsabers. Secure it with a shield in a maximum-security detention room," ordered Anakin, while disarming the dozen sabers Grievous carried with him, to keep their crystals, as he had plans for them.

He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds because he had felt the death of every Jedi Grievous had killed in this war, so he didn't hesitate to be brutal with him when he captured him. Other than that, Grievous was an enemy commander, and this was a war, so he wouldn't kill him.

"At your command, General," said the droid captain, and shortly after, Grievous was taken away.

…

"General, we are receiving communication from the escort cruisers. They are sending allied codes and asking why we are loading weapons," the droid reported.

The cruisers were already complying with their last given order, changing places in front of the Malevolence and forming a column that was starting to disintegrate.

"Fire at will. Inform the vulture droids and other allied units that their cruisers have been taken by rebel elements, and they must escape to the Malevolence by any means necessary and report for routine inspection, as it is believed that rebel elements have infiltrated their sensors to impersonate their commanders," ordered Anakin.

"Order sent, awaiting your confirmation code," said the droid. R2 sent Grievous' codes.

The thunderous firepower of the Malevolence left the enemy cruisers disabled and turned into scrap within minutes. Their shields lasted seconds, and they couldn't even adopt a battle formation.

Anakin didn't use the ion cannons to port and starboard because it wasn't necessary, and he also had plans to use the captured droids as raw materials, especially the vulture droids and droidekas or destroyers. This was now his ship, and he had to ensure it was secure.

Ahsoka watched stunned as the enemy cruisers fell to the Malevolence's cannons, which was a gunship turned into a ship. This was a true battleship, pure firepower based on speed and overwhelming force.

"This ship and I are soulmates, I've never been given a gift like this, it's as if they built it for me," said Anakin with a smile. Ahsoka sighed but continued working to familiarize herself with the systems while taking inventory of everything they had on the massive battleship.

…

The surviving droids from the escort cruisers sought refuge on the Malevolence, and their recognition programs and data were changed.

…

"Master, R2 reports that the droids have been reprogrammed, and the 501 is waiting for us alongside Master Plo Koon's fleet," Ahsoka reported from the bridge, three days after the takeover of the battleship.

"Good, I'm still busy here. Let me know when we arrive," said her master, who was looting the droids from the ship. Ahsoka had no idea of his purpose with this.

Her master was a genius in any technology. He had created a program to reprogram separatist droids in just a few seconds, steal the command codes of their ship, and create a shield that made his ship invisible to the sensors of four separatist cruisers that used cutting-edge technology.

…

Two hours later, Ahsoka called again, and her master came to the bridge.

"Master Plo Koon, I'm awaiting my new crew and my medals," said Anakin.

"Knight Anakin, we are Jedi, we do not receive medals," said Plo Koon in his holographic transmission.

"Master Plo Koon, common Jedi like you don't receive medals, I do. Now let's not waste time and set course for the separatist defense line; there we'll see if this ship's cannons are truly useful," said her master. Master Plo Koon frowned.

Her master Ignored him and immediately began coordinating the arrival of the 501 and assigning them their positions, mostly in firing batteries and assault craft, but at least a quarter of them as defense units. It seemed like her master was anticipating a boarding attempt.

"Master Plo Koon, take command of the ship, and as soon as the fleet is ready, jump to the recorded coordinates," ordered her master and left the bridge again; he seemed to be in a hurry.

Master Plo Koon looked at her, but Ahsoka knew nothing and was also busy organizing an inventory of the ship's equipment and resources, and now also those brought by Master Plo Koon. She didn't have time to follow her master and see what he was up to.

Master Plo Koon had brought three cruisers, five frigates, support and maintenance ships, along with two cruisers and support ships that were with the 501, which were also under his command. This was one of the largest fleets ever assembled for an attack, but Ahsoka had seen the coordinates given by her master, and there was no doubt they would need them because they were about to launch an assault against one of the biggest blockades in this war, one that the Republic couldn't overcome, forcing them to seek alternative routes to deliver resources to that planet.

Thanks to the reports her master had, Ahsoka knew that after several attempts to breach the blockade, the Republic had lost a fleet, the life of one of its admirals, and a battalion of clones, so they gave up on using force and turned to the Toydarians, who, upon seeing the atrocities committed by the separatists in the war, met with Master Yoda, and he convinced them to support the Republic.

…

After two hours, her master finished his work, and the fleet was also beginning the final preparations to jump to the coordinates specified by her master.

Ahsoka wanted to rest, but she was curious about what her master was doing, so she searched for his location to head towards where he was. She pinpointed his position and made her way to the ship's engines.

Once there, Ahsoka blinked because there was an army of droids in the area, working everywhere. They were B1 droids, or something similar to them, because they had human-like hands and black patches on their structure.

"Nanotechnology, although not as advanced as I would like, artificial cells require materials that are too scarce, so this will have to do. I can use the droids as raw materials, and since Dooku disappeared, I can sense that more treasures await us at our destination," said her master, who was working on the plasma engine of the Truth and Reconciliation, as his master had renamed the Malevolence.

Ahsoka looked at the enormous plasma engines that occupied several decks and, like the droids, seemed to suffer from some illness because they were covered in black spots everywhere, even the small command unit used by the astromech droids, which was now being used by her master, had spots of black material on it. Her master simply had his hands placed on it.

"Master, what are you doing?" asked Ahsoka with some fear because if there was one thing not to play with, it was the plasma engines of a spacecraft, and this was not just any spacecraft; it was one that had the largest engines Ahsoka had ever seen.

"I'm modifying our energy systems to make this ship faster and increase its maneuverability. We'll also have extra power for the weapons and a better shield system. Lastly, I'm diverting some energy to adapt a kyber crystal cannon; this ship has too few offensive capabilities for my liking," said her master.

Ahsoka could only blink. This ship had at least five times more weapons than any cruiser, and coupled with its ion cannons that left any ship shieldless, it was practically a weapons platform with hyperdrive engines, but her master said it lacked weapons...

Ahsoka pushed her thoughts away from that topic because there was something more urgent than that.

"Master, are you modifying the engine of this ship while it's operational?" asked Ahsoka with concern.

"Don't worry, I've made some bridges; no one will notice anything until I add the secondary systems." Ahsoka turned around and left. It was better not to know anything. The more she asked, the more she would worry.

…

Half an hour later, Ahsoka, Rex, and Master Plo Koon watched with concern as hangars were filled with an army of B1 battle droids modifying assault ships and fighters brought by the 501. And it wasn't just in this location; in the cannon batteries and all weapon platforms, there were droids opening systems and installing black patches of various sizes.

"I'm worried," said Master Plo Koon. Ahsoka said nothing.

"Master Plo Koon, the bridge informs me that the fleet has been in formation for fifteen minutes," said her master, but they were addressed by a droid that approached and now stood in front of them.

The droids were now extra hands and bodies for her master, another thing Ahsoka preferred not to think about, as well as the cargo hold, where there was now a mass of black substance devouring materials and droids to grow larger. Ahsoka could only try to erase from her mind all those horror stories that began just like that.

"I think you should finish making modifications before we enter any hyperspace route," said Master Plo Koon.

"That won't be necessary; I can work while we advance. We can't give the separatists time to make contingency plans against us," replied her master.

"Are you sure?" asked Master Plo Koon, who, like Ahsoka, thought that making modifications to a ship while it was operational was a terrible idea.

"Don't worry; I'll finish before we reach our destination," said her master. Ahsoka sighed.

"I'll go back to the bridge," said Master Plo Koon helplessly. Along the way, he muttered something about how it was very difficult to trust the chosen one.

Ahsoka went to her room, lay down, and placed the pillow over her head. If the ship exploded, she wanted to die without knowing anything.

…

Six hours later, they were an hour away from their destination, and the ship hadn't exploded, which was a relief for the entire crew.

Now Ahsoka was on the bridge, in front of the main consoles of the ship's energy system, alongside Master Plo Koon and Rex. Her master was ten meters away from them, seated in the captain's chair, which once belonged to General Grievous. Next to him, on the chair's armrest, her master had placed a modified pilot helmet, similar to a holographic simulation visor used by clones for their training on the way. Ahsoka didn't know its purpose.

"I'm cutting the bridges; the energy system should show the changes in a few seconds," said her master.

Ahsoka and Master Plo Koon looked at the screens, and indeed, a couple of seconds later, they began to update, showing a massive increase in energy…

"We're going to explode!" exclaimed Master Plo Koon, Rex, and her at the same time, but her master laughed, and they didn't explode.

Ahsoka looked at the screen, which showed an obvious overload of the engines because the amount of energy was about ten times higher than what the ship's engines produced. It was a terrifying amount of energy.

"I've also upgraded our shield system; we should hold out a bit longer and hit harder," said Anakin.

Ahsoka was in shock. She couldn't understand how a motor could be patched to generate ten times more energy than its original power; that was absurd and too crazy.

"Is that power normal?" asked Master Plo Koon, snapping out of his daze before Ahsoka did.

"No, the materials I have are a bit poor. But there's nothing to be done; in this world, there's no element that allows me to do what I want, and even making nanites is a problem, so artificial cells, and these nanomachines that I'm using now with them as the central axis, will have to suffice for now. The war won't wait for my research to finish," said her master. Ahsoka swallowed hard.

NA 1: Hello, everyone. Of course, the weapon Anakin wanted to use against Palpatine was the Malevolence, a super-dreadnought capable of destroying entire fleets on its own by using its ion cannons to render them inoperative and defenseless. The Malevolence's weak point is its colossal size, which makes it more or less vulnerable to an attack from a fleet of small bombers, but Anakin already knows this.

NA 2: In the next chapter, we will see Palpatine's measures against this move by Anakin. There is no way he will allow a ship that can break any blockade and destroy entire fleets to be in Anakin's hands.

NA 3: Lastly, remember the scale. At this point in the war, a fleet of fifteen cruisers is already considered massive, as the fleets commanded by the Jedi consist of three to four cruisers, at most. Separatist blockades are already impenetrable if they have ten cruisers defending them. Then, Palpatine obtained permission from the Senate to build more clones and more dreadnoughts, leading the separatists to do the same, and in the invasion of Coruscant, as shown in the movie "Revenge of the Sith," there were over a thousand Republic cruisers and an even larger number of separatist cruisers.