A Venomous Galaxy (Crossover) Chapter 13 (Patreon)

Chapter 13: A Mask Torn and a Shift in Politics

Anakin was back in the Jedi Temple. He knew that voice that had taunted him in his trance. It was the thing before him.

Venom's mental voice was so rude that it felt like a boom in his consciousness. “What?” In his ruminations, he let his thoughts flow freely of his past, of his loved ones. Off guard, this thing must have been able to see into his mind. The sunlight shining in through the Jedi Temple windows was a stark contrast to the darkness of the Naboo nightscape.

“That woman you love. Padme Amidala. Once a queen. Still queen over you. I offered you power and you knew it. But she means more to you than all the power in the galaxy.”

Ahsoka looked shocked. She was surprised when she realized those thoughts had to be true, the thoughts were spreading into her mind as if it was pre-dreaming sleep, just weird thoughts going haywire, but then it dawned on her that it was just more proof of her and Venom's mental connection. Relationships were forbidden to members of the Jedi, and the only thing they allowed close to that were evenings with courtesans and paramours at the temple. Even she didn't know this tidbit about her master.

Anakin knew it too. Moving up in the galaxy from the sands of Tattooine to living in the Jedi Temple was something any slave would have given everything for. He had done that too, but he had never anticipated it costing him so much. His fellow Jedi from the padawans to the knights and masters always viewed him warily and whenever he acted rashly he would get sermons on the dark side. He never felt they were talking too much about the dark side. Only about him.

And then he had found his mother. He had been with her in her final moments, butchered the slavers that treated her in ways even someone like Watto would never do. Then not too much later on Geonosis, Count Dooku took his arm. It was only Master Yoda’s intervention that saved his life.

That memory seemed all too fresh and this time he didn’t have Padme’s touch to make it go away.

But Anakin only smiled at it “If she does?”

“Love can bind as much as it can release. It can torture, it can kill, as much as it can heal and save.”

“Did you have time to think about that when you were sealed away in that stone prison for several thousand years?”

“If she betrays you, you know you will feel weak again. And when that happens, I will offer you the power you rejected once again. I know you care for your beloved apprentice that much.”

Ahsoka was blushing deeply at that point. She had seen into Anakin's mind as much as Venom had, and had to look away. Realizing that she was privy to his meditations, Anakin searched in vain to find the words to comfort her.

But as he looked at his apprentice again, all he could see was the host to this thing. Ahsoka had been looking away, deeply ashamed. Yet he couldn't see that. It using her, their similar force signature, they were so bonded that as he gazed upon his apprentice's face, all he could see was the leering smile of the Venom symbiote as it had prepared to take him.

Fortunately, their savior was the person they least expected. Mace Windu approached them. “I was already on my way to the Supreme Chancellor. But apparently he wants to see our new friend.” He looked at the symbiote.

“R-really?” Ahsoka said.

“It's a matter of public security, he said. He thinks that just because we're helping him out in his war that our temple is now a government building as much as his personal little suite!” He smiled grimly. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he said to Ahsoka.

“I...” Anakin started, but he couldn't find the words.

There was a long silence. Mace Windu knew of Anakin's close relationship with the Supreme Chancellor, knew more about how close he was with his apprentice. He had expected an outburst but now found it strange how taciturn the known problem child of the Jedi Order was being. “Well?” Mace Windu finally said.

Anakin just looked away and sat down. Windu looked at Ahsoka. “If you would...”

“Right, of course...” She looked over at Anakin again, wanting to say something. But she couldn't, she was too shocked to do anything then. She reluctantly followed Windu. Venom's dark laughter was in her ears.

There was already a loud gathering of reporters and others looking at them. “Is that it? Is that the thing that bonded with Ahsoka Tano?” said someone loud in the back.

“That’s it!” said someone else. “I saw it looking up at my car!”

“Master what is this…” she started.

“Do you need me to remind you of the free press?” he said. “A constant aspect of our Republic. And it can a blessing as much as a curse.”

“But I don’t…”

“When the Supreme Chancellor got word of it’s stroll around Coruscant and requested to see it, they must have gotten word of him sending a request for us to meet. Pay them no mind, Tano.”

They followed the two Jedi the whole way there. From the walk they took to the cabs, and there were still some vehicles tailing that one too. They were already there at the entrance of the Supreme Chancellor’s office, and they made to get in their way. Ahsoka felt a growing nausea with all these people crowding around her, she felt a most un-Jedi notion to tear them apart.

“Tano, was that really you crawling around all over the place last night?”

“Tano, why don’t you say something?”

These types never change, Venom whispered. Your master didn’t go far enough in calling them what they are. Vultures. Carrion eaters. You’re as famous to them now as Count Dooku. I wonder what sort of wretch this Supreme Chancellor is to request an audience with us? He treats us as if we were just something to gaze at.

The Supreme Chancellor isn’t perfect but… she said back in her psychic voice.

But what?

But he isn’t that sort of person.

He is a politician. And only the worst kinds get to the top. Revan knew that. 

She tried to find an answer, but couldn’t. “Come on,” Windu said, shaking her out of her reverie. “We have an audience.” They pushed past the crowd and into the building.

When they arrived at the Supreme Chancellor's office, they found Palpatine waiting for them. There were a handful of reporters inside too, taking notes. Ahsoka knew they must have been writing for the most esteemed papers. But at that moment, she only felt the same about them as she had about the others who had swarmed them outside. Vultures looking for a good scoop.

The Supreme Chancellor was already standing as if he had been waiting for them, dressed in his usual bloodred robes and he had a smile on his face. Ahsoka and Mace Windu had grown used to it, it was his public face and there was no secret about the hostility between him and the Jedi Order's existence.

But for Ahsoka it seemed very much like a mask. He was staring right at her, no matter how much she tried to avert her gaze from his. After she had been forced to witness her own master's secret against her will, she could not shake the feeling that the chancellor was viewing her as some sort of monster. She certainly felt like one.

What's more, she was already aware of Palpatine's taste in décor. The emphasis on red and black, the ancient statues of unknown origin. She had always assumed they were mere ornamentation fit for his fancy. But as she gazed upon them now, she could only feel intimidation from them, as if they were artifacts of a bloodthirsty culture that had no place in this civilized age. No place at all in this man's office for sure.

“Greetings Supreme Chancellor,” said Mace Windu. “You wished to see this thing that has accosted one of our own. Here it is.”

“Yes, I was indeed curious Master Windu. It disappoints me to see that young Skywalker is not also present.”

“As you know, Anakin was gravely injured during the last expedition.”

“Of course. I did hear the reports. What have you learned of this creature?”

Ahsoka's head suddenly started swimming. She heard words, she heard Windu tell Palpatine everything relevant about the Venom symbiote. He did not bother going into ancient Jedi and Sith history, he did not speak of the minute details that would not interest a layman, let alone this man with far too important duties to be concerned about than wars of the olden times. But he did say that this thing was alive, he did speak of it's power. Most of all, he told that it was a thing the Jedi and Sith had apparently sealed together.

All the while, she felt sick. It felt like a thing of the dark side, but so much more than that, as if it was suffocating her. She felt nauseous like she was ready to vomit, but she felt like her throat was constricted shut.

And then she was aware of it. As Palpatine and Windu were talking, the Supreme Chancellor had in one way or another kept his focus upon her. The feeling of animosity she had detected from him as soon as he had laid eyes upon her earlier was nothing compared to the hatred she felt now. She could not begin to understand.

“He is not what he seems,” Venom said.

“What...?” Ahsoka barely got out. She could still breathe, could still speak but every word and gasp of air was a monumental effort.

“I SAID THAT HE IS HIDING SOMETHING!” She looked away from Palpatine, but even then she could feel her focus upon him in her peripheral vision, and she was so intertwined with the thing that it felt as if she was gazing upon him directly. “You! You attempt to hide yourself from me. But I know what you are. I can sense you, I can feel you!”

At that point Windu looked over too. Venom's psychic voice was out of control and present to all three force wielders. Palpatine played the fool and looked between the both of them as if he were confused.

“I don't know what you are. But he is your enemy! He is not to be trusted!”

“Is something the matter my dear Jedi?” Palpatine asked innocently enough.

“It seems to be getting rather loud,” Mace Windu said. “Chancellor, perhaps it would be best if we were to escort Tano outside.”

Palpatine seemed unmoved. Indeed, he actually smiled at the suggestion. But what happened next flattened his countenance.

Ahsoka felt the symbiote squirming all over her. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling as if lots of bugs were crawling all over her skin. Her body was hot, and she felt out of control.

“No! No!” She tried prying it off, feeling violated, but her fingers already encased inside of it only sank further into it's flesh. Windu and Palpatine looked at her, saw the substance crawling up her neck. Windu ignited his lightsaber and still the creature did not stop. It's flesh continued to grow, wrapping around her head. She grabbed her head with all the strength she could muster, she felt like her head was going to explode. Venom's tendrils were coiling around her face, she felt so weak and so powerless, and yet at the same time, stronger than she ever had before.

She had shut her eyes, she was trying to breathe. And then her eyes opened up against their will and she felt as if she could breathe so easily. Everything was so clear now.

The décor of Palpatine's office seemed to offend every one of her Jedi instincts. But it was nothing compared to the revulsion she felt looking at the Supreme Chancellor himself. She was reminded of the time she looked at Count Dooku back at that nameless Sith planet several days ago. Yet while his visage had been hideous to behold, at least she understood what she was looking at.

With Palpatine, she didn't know what she was looking at. His robes were as fine as ever, and she was well acquainted with his appearance. But all of it seemed like a mask, a husk of skin to be molted. She could not be sure if he was puppet to another power like she was now, or if he was well aware of it and hiding his secret from the galaxy at large.

He only craves power. Any kind, he wears it like the finery of his robes.

That memory ran through her head. She remembered overhearing Windu talking with one of the other masters of the Jedi Council as they were adjourning a meeting, saying that exact sentence. Now it seemed ever so clear to her. The marble statues of his office seemed as bleached white to her as the bones of a krayt dragon lost in the sands of Tatooine, and that much crimson, it seemed as harsh as the bloodletting rituals of the Bando Gora cult, once a feared name in the underworld and now lost to the warring zeitgeist. She never once felt unease in Palpatine's office, but now she felt ready to vomit at how out of place everything was, as if it were the garish features of a sleazy nightclub on Nar Shaddaa.

Do you see him?

That was not a memory. And it was no thought of hers either, but it echoed her own sentiments perfectly. It was the voice of Venom, she knew it was only addressed to her. It was not a force power, she knew it was part of their connection.

Yes I do.

***

Everyone there beheld her new form. The reporters looked on in awe and shock. They stared at it’s strange features, so brimming with wanton hostility. They had no idea what would happen now.

Windu drew his lightsaber and held his weapon two handed. Palpatine was much inclined to do the same yet would not expose his Sith persona in public, certainly not with two Jedi. Ahsoka, Venom, whatever it was, it's eyes were bright and wide and wholly feral, while it's mouth was an open grin with far too many teeth.

“Stay back Chancellor!” Windu said, standing guard before Palpatine. His weapon was raised upright as if it to strike down in one clean cut. He was using the formal stance of Djem So. In that position, it could not leap over Windu, it would be dead the moment it tried, and if it tried going through or around Windu, it would be cut in twain. She, they also, both knew that when it came down to it, that should they manage to get past him, it would become a real fight. In such a contest, Windu's single stance now would become brutal and fluid in a flurry of efficient strikes, nothing formal, and yet no less vicious.

Palpatine watched it past Windu's shoulder. His face was blank with rage and yet he smiled, a dare for the creature to come at him. He enjoyed watching these Jedi struggle, and now he had one willing to put their life on the line for him. And in all his careful machinations of manipulating the Republic and the Separatists, the unique privilege of being the undiscovered Dark Lord of the Sith, this moment of uncertainty made him feel alive like a little boy playing out in the morning sun.

Windu moved first. He would not chance direct combat with this wild thing, nor would he take the chance that it would tear the force from him in the heat of combat. Instead, he held out his hand and calling upon most warlike thoughts, he made to rip the symbiote off Ahsoka with his power. A man of his prestige and training, he had mastered powers most other Jedi would consider taboo to use, but he had no such restraints. He would not fall to the dark side.

If it had been Venom alone, he would have succeeded in tearing it asunder. But it was not just Venom anymore. His flesh and mind were acting in concert with Ahsoka's, and the two other present could not sense their individual force signatures anymore.

Windu normally so proud, felt his power leave his grasp. It was as if a whip he was controlling was seized away and out of his hands. Normally so proficient with the force, he suddenly felt as if he had been unmanned. He had not been struck down and he was still standing, he was still holding his weapon. But he had never felt more powerless.

The creature was running at him on all fours like a beast. It pushed him aside and he barely avoided falling on the floor and impaling himself on his own weapon. He looked up and he saw it running for Palpatine.

His strength returned to him. He called upon the force and grabbed Venom. He felt it clutch the symbiote.

Too late. It's hand had found Palpatine's throat. It dug it's claws into his flesh, looked into his eyes. Ahsoka and Venom felt his power erupting from his being and they made to strangle it, rip it out of him.

Then his face twisted with fury. Their senses were blinded, they couldn't feel anything but sheer agony behind a veritable dark furnace that was about to explode in their faces. The next thing they knew, they were flung back into the wall, shattering one of his prized statues. Their vision was hazy.

Their ears were ringing. They could hear Windu saying something, but they couldn't make it out. Their body was overloaded with pain.

But they did not doubt what they saw next. Palpatine was standing up, his whole range of motion seemed more active and alive than it had ever been. Yet his flesh was gray and mottled, as if he had been burned alive. When they locked eyes with him, they saw that his irises were a sickly yellow, as harsh as the ravaged surface of Korriban.

They were lost in those eyes, they saw the burning hot anger of a sun going into supernova from them. Their senses were on overdrive, they were overwhelmed with the instinct to fight and survive. There was a ringing in their eyes that was growing louder.

They felt something coming at them and dodged back. They were on the floor, moving away from something. They looked up and saw it was Windu's lightsaber, pointed right at their throat.

Venom would have torn him apart too. But it was Ahsoka that won in the battle of wills. She forced the symbiotic flesh down, revealing her face again.

“I-I'm sorry master. I don't know...I don't know what...” She curled into a ball and was on the verge of tears. The reporters were watching with rapt attention.

“Enough.” A horrific voice that was low and guttural and yet reverberated throughout the whole room like a ghastly echo from the grave. Ahsoka knew it wasn't Windu's.

“Supreme Chancellor, you shouldn't be standing!” said Windu.

“Kill it where it stands,” he said, not looking away from Ahsoka. His expression was blank with rage, his features looked like they were ready to melt with the inferno of his hate. She was cowering before him. “Kill it now!”

Both Jedi looked at him. “Chancellor, Tano is one of our own.”

“That thing is no longer Tano! Kill it, or I fear your life is forfeit! Kill it now!”

“Nobody here will be killing anyone. Not you, not me.” He pointed the lightsaber at Ahsoka's chest. A threat to the thing that had encased her. “And not this thing either.”

“Do you dare to disobey me, Master Jedi?”

“We will not cast aside one of our own.”

Ahsoka was touched at Windu actually standing up for her. But even then, she felt him being embroiled in what a tense situation it was. Everyone in the temple knew of this Jedi Master's tumultuous relationship with Anakin Skywalker. Some even joked in secret that if he ever left the order, it would be because of Windu. She feared that if she said anything, that the tables could turn very quickly.

Mainly because of what she felt from Palpatine. It had only been for an instant. But it was like seeing someone that didn't fit in with a crowd, you were drawn to it, and then you would see them staring right at you, coming for you. You would be helpless to do anything but feel alarm.

She felt the dark side.

You felt it too, Venom whispered to her.

She did not answer that. She would not speak now. Things were very prone to breaking at any moment.

Mace Windu knew it as well. He was acutely attuned to the shatterpoint of any situation and knew how he handled his reaction to Ahsoka would determine everything. If he wasn't careful, then everything would fall into chaos. He had to handle the creature behind him and the temperament of the man before him.

But more importantly, he could not begin to discern how it had been flung back so hard. He had only begun to use his powers of the force to seize it’s form and then it’s mass was hit back. What’s more he did not feel the strangeness of Venom’s presence, but the unprecedented fury of the dark side.

A stray thought occurred to him that they had found their Sith Lord, this mysterious Lord Sidious. But it was only for an instant.

“I will take Ahsoka back with me to the temple. That is it.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. I am making that decision as a master, and as the next in line to be the grandmaster. That decision holds weight too. You will accept it, or the Jedi will not support you in this war.”

Palpatine looked at him like he was looking at a disobedient cur. He almost drew his own lightsaber at that moment. But it was only for an instant. He had spent some time in masking himself in so many ways. Even exposed like this he had learned self control.

He looked down at Ahsoka and smiled. She instantly felt the falsehood in that grin. Upon his misshapen features, it looked like a branding iron that had desecrated a corpse.

“It is a being of great power,” he said. “If it reacts like that again, if it swallows up dear Tano, if it comes after you, do you feel confident in your ability to kill it?”

“I will do as I must. And Tano held it back at the last minute.”

So many of his plans and preparations had gone to the wayside from this one stray incident. But Palpatine was ever resourceful. He would think of a way out of this.

“Yes she did,” Palpatine said. In spite of maintaining an air of decency, his voice still that strange guttural resonance to it. His face almost snarled but he held back. “Thank you Lady Tano.” He bowed before them. He looked up. “Well then, I hope you will excuse yourselves! I am feeling rather traumatized from this ordeal.”

“Yes, of course,” Windu said. He lit up his lightsaber again. “And if this thing tries another stunt like that, I'll be more than happy to repay it in kind.”

Despite Palpatine claiming to be traumatized, he had not stopped smiling. “If you will keep it as your own, then perhaps you can use it as a weapon on the battlefield.”

“A weapon? Supreme Chancellor, this thing is...”

“Wild? And so is the Confederacy too, yes? Or are you telling me you would kill Tano? She seems quite remorseful.”

“It wasn’t Tano that did this! It was this thing! Venom!”

“And yet she held back at the last minute, didn’t she? That is what you said. We must have all the weapons we can afford. Dooku still lives, the Separatists still plot as they must. You and your many Jedi have proven to be woefully inadequate at finishing off one Sith and his little band of...what did he call them, Dark Acolytes? Perhaps this will be the thing we need to tip the scales in our favor.”

Mace Windu sighed in irritation and looked away. Finally he looked back at him and said, “I will consider it.”

Windu got her up and did not turn off his lightsaber for a second. As they left, Ahsoka looked back at him one last time, intending to voice her regret. But when she looked at his face, his yellow eyes were bulging wide open from their sockets.

***

As soon as they were gone, the Dark Lord of the Sith was left alone with nobody else the wiser. He had shut the doors behind him and taken out his black robes and worn them around his form. He was used enough to wearing them when he had nothing to hide as Darth Sidious. But now he would wear them to hide his disfigurement.

He opened up a holo video on a private server to meet with his apprentice. Dooku was there to answer in short order. By now his features were almost totally healed of the enhanced dark side taint from what little contact he had with Venom. He almost jumped at the presence of his master.

“Master! Are you alright?”

“I don't know Lord Tyranus. Am I?” Dooku did not respond and then he continued. “You told me the symbiote had been taken care of. It attached itself to Tano. It ran freely in the streets of Coruscant. And then it attacked me.”

“Then master, perhaps we should commence Order 66. Use the excuse that the Jedi attacked you. The public will back you.”

Palpatine tilted his head so strongly that his hood moved along with him. For the first time since being with Sidious after making his own vow to join the Sith, Dooku felt as if he was in the presence of a ghost, something terrifying he couldn't understand. “Kill the Jedi,” he said, repeating his apprentice's suggestion as if he were struggling to comprehend it. His tone was tranquil but there was a quiet rage in his throat. “Most of the Jedi are still present here on Coruscant. Skywalker is still alive. The temple would not be the slaughterhouse that so many of my predecessors envisioned for their kind. Instead, it is now like a fortress. And there were reporters here to bear witness to Windu willing to fight for my life. What kind of reasonable man would I seem to be?” He scowled at Dooku from the shadows of his hood. “And it dwells at their temple now too.” He bared his teeth at his apprentice. “That thing knows what I am.”

Dooku was going to say something, and then he felt the full power of the dark side seize him. He had felt pain before, this Count of Serenno was abandoned by his father and left to die, and still he found the inner strength to rise to become one of the premier Jedi of his time. He was no stranger to pain. But now he felt all of his traumas rise in his mind, he felt every injury from fighting as a Jedi to his current days as a Sith magnified as if his body was being bled all over, and he found his mind being ripped to shreds.

Then it stopped. Dooku fell forward, wheezing. The pain left just as fast as it had come. But he felt like a ghost, like he could not breathe enough for him to catch his breath. He felt his hands, and the sensation was so alien to him, it was like he was relearning what his sensations were. He craved them as much as they scared them. He didn't want them to take leave of his person again.

Then he looked up at Sidious. He instantly recoiled from fear and fell upon the floor onto his back. Even with his elderly appearance, Dooku felt like a child before an angry father about to punish him. His regal clothes around his body felt like they didn’t fit him anymore, as if they were too big. He was shaking all over, his body didn't feel like his own anymore. Every sensation he was familiar with from his sight to his power in the force seemed like it didn't belong to him, they could be taken away and they terrified him.

“Your failure has cost us much, Lord Tyranus.” His booming voice terrified Dooku and yet he was rapt with every word as if he was learning every word of Basic again for the first time. “I planned for the Jedi attacking me in such a scenario much like this one. I would hold the weapons of their dead warriors in triumph, and they would be branded as assassins. Were the public to glimpse this visage in that context, they would rally behind me executing every single one of them as traitors to the public good. It would have been the perfect excuse to end everything and ensure my rule. But now the Grand Plan has been set back years. Decades maybe. The only thing to plausibly end them now is the victory of the Confederacy and even then...” His eyes were smoldering craters of murder in their sockets and he stared at Dooku as if were nothing but prey that needed to be eviscerated. “Do not fail me again. Or the only thing left of your pride and accomplishments will be a bloody mark where you stand.”

“Yes master!”

Palpatine had enough of his apprentice’s groveling. He shut off the channel. He paused to himself, reflecting on what had happened. Dooku even giving himself over fully to the dark side had been unable to kill Skywalker. And from the field reports from the Republic and the Separatists, the Chosen One himself had almost killed Tyranus in the battle several times. For that reason and many more, he would only ever be a placeholder. The idea of formally appointing Ventress in his place still left him wary. Too loyal to her own master, and living for battle with no regard for planning. He could not imagine her as a successor to the Grand Plan or properly leading any great empire of her own.

He studied the broken statue. A treasure of the very first Sith Lords, of the time of Naga Sadow and Marka Ragnos. Another thing he had lost. But as much as he hated to see the thing broken, he was lucky another priceless statue he had hanging around was not shattered. That one held one of his Sith lightsabers, concealed beneath it’s stone surface. He could not begin to explain to anyone why he would have such a thing. Could very well see the thing and Windu banding together to put an end to him on the spot. He was not confident it was a battle he could win.

He walked to his mirror and looked at himself. It had been too long since he had seen this face, he long gave up any shame in making the sacrifice of his physical features to attain great power. But as he studied his warped features he smiled.  To his own eyes he looked evil too. For a most wonderful idea bloomed in his head. Darth Bane had made the Rule of Two to prevent infighting from destroying the Sith. And yet when he had taken Maul as an apprentice beyond what Plagueis had intended, he had already broken several Banist traditions himself.

It tried to kill me, he thought to himself. It is dangerous. A threat to my order. I will do everything in my power to destroy it and make it wish it was still sealed in that temple.

“And if it still lives, then I will break it myself. I will pry it from Tano's corpse and wear it as my own flesh. A new Rule of Two. The ultimate weapon bound to the will of the only one ever fit to rule this galaxy in the present and in the future.”

He suddenly roared into a fit of loud laughter, too happy and wild for what he had just gone through. And if any officials were to pass by, they would hear the malice shining through it like a flame.

***

Windu escorted Ahsoka through the streets of Coruscant with his lightsaber lit up the whole time. The press was watching them. On HoloNet, they couldn't stop speculating about what was going on. None of it mattered to the both of them.

You know what he is, Venom said to her.

What?

He is a being of the dark side. I have seen many of those burned in it's inferno. He is one of them!

That's absurd. But she didn't believe that. She just wanted to silence this infernal creature.

Your Jedi Order, the master walking beside you, they are all his puppets. The Jedi once used Darth Revan as a weapon of their own against Malak’s Sith Empire. Now one of theirs uses you to further his ends. Forget everything you once knew. We are bound up together now.

I can't...

Forget your master. You know he is that man's puppet more than any other.

She looked at Windu. The Jedi Master did not look back at her. He was still holding his weapon, the purple blade cast out. He was known for his stoic nature as well as his wisdom. But right now, she felt like she might as well have been one of the Confederacy's battle droids. If she said anything, she feared she would be cut down.

And remaining silent was not enough for her either. The skies were blue and the streets were abuzz with activity. But for all the beauty present, her heart was mired in gloom. For all her efforts with Windu, her time training under him and fighting by his side, she felt like a prisoner being hauled to an execution and these same people would cheer. She could not be sure that wasn’t the case.

But he took her to the Jedi Temple. When they got back, Anakin was already waiting for her. But Windu pushed past him like he didn’t matter. Ahsoka looked up at Anakin, trying to say something, and then her guilt stopped that. She read so many emotions of disgust on her master’s face, and while in any other circumstances her rational mind would have gave her some consolation that it might have been her imagination, she couldn’t do that now. She looked down and continued walking.

Anakin also wanted to say something. To say something to make it better. But he couldn't. If he had known about Palpatine's recent decision, that would have changed entirely.

She was back in the high council chambers. The masters were gathered there again. The Temple Guards’ golden sabers were already ignited. Windu explained the situation. Of Venom’s ferocity and Palpatine’s grisly suggestion.

Not that he needed to. The news of what had happened in the chancellor’s office was already public knowledge. There was a short silence too long for Ahsoka and then Windu said, “So, what have we decided to do with her?”

Yoda regarded her with a stern eye. “Wish to see Tano hurt, I do not. But a most dangerous precedent this decision would set.”

“Yes, the Supreme Chancellor has no business interfering in our affairs,” Windu said. “We have already agreed to fight his war. He should not be making our decisions.”

“Even as the thing almost killed him to boot,” Shaak Ti said.

“He was angry at first. At first. And then he seemed unbothered by that. I said it once and I’ll say it again. The Chancellor has only ever cared about power.”

Obi-Wan saw the wisdom in those words. But he didn’t like the alternative either. He liked Ahsoka enough on his own. Knowing it would devastate Anakin also bothered him. And for whatever this Venom was, it had still saved Anakin’s life.

“I watched Anakin die once. Whatever intentions this Venom has, I will not cast aside the cold reality that he only stands with us because of it. And to speak of precedents masters...these halls should never be regarded as execution chambers for one of our own.”

Eeth Koth looked at him and nodded. “And we should not be so casual about the possibility of doing such.” Ahsoka smiled. She started to feel like she was going to live after all.

“Nor have I hurt one of you, have I?” Venom chirped up. Ahsoka’s heart dropped. She hoped it wouldn’t jeopardize her fate.

“You mean to say you’re on our side?” said Eeth Koth.

“I have not hurt one of you. I saved one of your own. I thought the Jedi were better than this. Perhaps you have not changed since the deceit of Revan’s time. You say you trained Dooku? No wonder! He has learned so much from you. The dark side lives and breathes in your kind.”

“Take that back right now!” said Ki Adi Mundi.

“I second Master Kenobi’s suggestion,” said Pong Krell. They all looked at him.

“You are not a member of the high council, Master Krell,” said Agen Kolar.

“But I am a master. And what you know of politics and negotiation, of contemplation, in these safe halls, I know of war, far more than most of you could begin to imagine.”

“We all serve on the frontlines of the Clone Wars Master Krell,” said Stass Allie.

“But we are not all the same, are we? Just as you may be a master or the council, you are not the same as Master Yoda, and so many of you are not the same as me. I have lived and breathed on the battlefield more than most of you know. What I see daily you would think the phantasms of your nightmares that would wake you up in a cold sweat.” He bared his teeth in his grin. “I am a warrior! We are fighting for our lives. I for one, would be proud to fight with Venom at my side.” That statement was bold, it was bragging, and it was directed at his peers more than it was meant for him to show off. It was intended as an insult, and even a stranger to him would see how smug he was being.

“On the condition that we always accompany it, I agree,” said Kit Fisto. His smile was far more lighthearted than Krell’s open smugness. “I’m not as eager as this guy,” he said looking at Krell, “but this might be exactly what we need. I’ve seen too many die by my side. If this Venom can crush those battle droids and put Dooku in his place, it might be exactly what we need.”

Mace Windu and Yoda looked at each other. Everyone there knew what decision was going to be made when the purple lightsaber shut off.

“Very well. The public is already well aware of this Venom. It will be the Chancellor’s weapon to fight this war. But know this. If you hurt one of our own, I will make it my mission to personally reacquaint you the ghosts of Zakuul.”

It did not respond. But it whispered to Ahsoka. These words are for you and you alone. We are bound as one. And we will fight as one. That, and nothing more.

Ahsoka didn’t know what to make of those words. But she was glad to be alive. She already felt alone enough. She did not need to fear her allies.

***

The next day, Ahsoka left the temple to meet with the 501st. It was accompanied by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Pong Krell. They found Anakin waiting for them, alongside Captain Rex.

“Commander Kenobi, Commander Krell,” said Rex, saluting them. “And...Miss Tano.” It was his first time seeing the long rumored thing in person. It didn’t seem that intimidating, and yet he could not doubt so many reports reaching him at once.

Anakin was confused at Krell’s presence. He looked at Obi-Wan. “Master, what is the meaning of this?”

“In light of your recent injuries, I am taking over command of the 501stfor field duties,” said Pong Krell.

Anakin's brow furrowed. “Who decided this?”

“It was a decision made by the high council. Surely you're not complaining?”

“I can take over administrative duties.”

“And if the enemy were to breach our front lines, in that state you would be an easy target. This decision is the best one.”

“Look on the bright side Anakin!” Obi-Wan said. “I have always felt you put too much emphasis on studying the lightsaber. Perhaps now you can brush up on the more arcane talents of the force.”

“And I have a feeling this thing will not be going away anytime soon. Worry not, Skywalker. I will keep a close eye on your apprentice. And this Venom too.”

“It seems that Venom will be quite close to us indeed,” Obi-Wan said. “For a good long time.”

Ahsoka hated those words. She remembered what it said to her. She hated that she would continue to be bonded to this thing.

I just wish thing were back to normal, she thought to herself.

Normal? it said right back to her. What about your life was normal before this? Was fighting in a war normal? Is being a soldier normal for you? No, nothing has changed.

But I had a family. And now I feel that's all slipping away.

The creature did not have a remark ready for that one.

But even as it did not speak, it's silence did nothing to ease the burn she would feel. Anakin and Ahsoka looked at each other one final time. She thought to say something, she wished Anakin was still by her side. But then again, she couldn’t begin to explain what she had gone through at the Supreme Chancellor’s office. She didn’t want to imagine what he must have thought about her now. She had never felt such heartwrenching agony, like she was leaving behind everything she was.

Then she walked past him and boarded the shuttle. She watched him get smaller and smaller in her line of vision as it took flight, and then she could see him no longer.