87 Chapter 84: A Galaxy In Turmoil
A/N: Ok readers time for a short time skip. Which will lead to a lot of new developments.
Hope you enjoy it.
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[Chancellor's Suite, Ceremonial Office, Republic Executive Building, Coruscant, Galactic City, 31 BBY]
(3rd Person: POV)
Reading the information on a datapad in his hands, one of many littering his desk, Sidious resisted the urge to growl or unleash his dark-side powers.
For the information he was reading on the datapad was basically the same thing he had been seeing for the better part of a year.
An official request for a planet to withdraw their membership from the Galactic Republic.
One of many he had been receiving lately.
Just thinking about the withdrawal requests he had been getting made Palpatine growl in anger. Namely because the official withdrawal requests were not a part of his own plans, and were slowly ruining them.
Among other things.
First, there was the fact that a few months after he took office the crimes of some of his greatest supporters, and their allies, within the Senate had been exposed bare to the entire galaxy.
The excessive spending and under the table dealings of Orn Free Taa from Ryloth and Toonbuck Toora of Sy Myrthian.
The slaving ring senator Tikkes from Dac, and senator's Bufus Ritsomas, Danry Ledwellow, and Wuja Wojaine were apart of in the Outer Rim Territories.
To name a few.
Naturally the senators in question, with some assistance from Palpatine and his people, tried to avoid any trouble and keep their positions.
But none of them did.
Due in part to the fact the people of the Republic were constantly being reminded of the crimes of these select senator's through various means. Which outraged them.
So seeing the writing on the wall Palpatine threw a lot of his supporters to the wolves.
Losing much support, and pawns he could manipulate, within the Galactic Senate.
Second, the existence of the Clone Army being prepared for the Republic on Kamino had been leaked to the entire galaxy.
Which in turned generated massive anger towards the Republic government from their Judicial Forces and other military personnel. To say nothing of the activist groups who were now taking an interest in the clones and their legal rights.
Third, and finally was the thing that grated on Palpatine's nerves the most.
He had no idea how, or who, but someone started publishing the history of the galaxy that included the involvement of the Sith and their numerous empires. Along with a few other moments that had been redacted from general history of the galaxy over the past 1,000 years.
They had been doing so by publishing a series of novella which all together is known as 'The Galactic Truth'. The author of the novella series being known simply as Illusive Man.
A person Palpatine wanted to make beg for death more than he had anyone else in his entire life.
For those novella were slowly causing the people in the galaxy at large to ask questions about the true history of the galaxy. Questions Palpatine did not want asked.
But no matter how much control he exerted over the media, the novella series would not disappear. It just kept popping up again and again.
Making Palpatine hate its author more and more each and every time.
The Sith lord knowing in his bones that the individual who called themselves Illusive Man was the same one who exposed the crimes of his allies within the Galactic Senate, and also revealed the existence fo the Clone Army of Kaminno to the galacy at large.
Palpatine knew this person was his enemy.
Yet no matter how hard he looked for them he couldn't locate the person that was out to destroy him.
It was so infuriating Palpatine wanted to rage.
But he didn't.
No, he restrained himself.
For although several disruptions had been thrown into his master plan, the general direction of it was still on track.
Despite all the interests from activist groups and the anger of the Judicial Forces personnel the Clone Army project was still on track, and production had not been halted.
Then there was Palpatine's current apprentice Sora Bulq, or as he is known by his Sith name Darth Rorn.
His training was progressing smoothly, and the Jedi were still none the wiser one of the greatest and most well-respected master's of the current generation was now Sith.
Speaking of the Jedi Palpatine had wondered if they might be the mysterious enemy who had been disrupting his plans.
But he quickly dismissed that idea.
For Palpatine knew the Jedi well enough to know they would never act in such a covert manner.
At least not the current era of Jedi.
Besides, the Jedi Order has had its hands full recently.
Deciding to stop thinking about his troubles over the past year, lest he murder the next person who spoke to him, Palpatine returned to his work.
Reviewing the official request for a planet to leave the Republic.
A trend that had been happening lately given all the corruption and secrets that had been perpetrated by the Republic government and the people who ran it being exposed in the light of day.
It showed people how far the Republic had truly fallen.
Which was exactly the plan of the unknown Illusive Man when they began exposing the secrets and the corruption in the first place.
Yes, everything was going according to their plans.
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[Jedi Temple, Coruscant, Galactic City]
Opening his eyes, Yoda ceased his meditation.
The act doing little to settle the unrest happening within the age old Jedi Grand Master.
For in this past year the schism within the Jedi Order had gone from bad to worse.
Especially given the exposure of the corrupt practices of several senators, the existence of the Clone Army of Kamino being revealed to the galaxy at large, but worst of all was the fact the true history of the galaxy, which included the Sith and their various empires, was being exposed and that fact the Jedi had a hand in removing said history from the general historical records of the galaxy over the past few hundred years.
This caused the general populace to start inquiring into the Jedi more and more and demanding answers for their actions pertaining to their manipulation of the galactic historic records.
The same demands even came from some members of the Jedi order itself.
Putting the high council even more at odds with each other than it already was.
For the Jedi high council itself was now divided.
One group, which were the traditionalists, were led by master Ki-Adi-Mundi.
While the other group, those open to change, were led by master Plo Kloon.
Yoda tried his best to keep things from getting any worse, but he sometimes worried his efforts were futile.
Especially since several more Jedi had resigned from the order in the past year.
Jedi master's Tholme and T'ra Saa.
Who revealed before leaving the order they had been in an intimate relationship in secret for years.
Tholme's former apprentice and Jedi knight Quinlan Vos, and his apprentice Aayla Secura.
Master Rannik Solusar and his apprentice Kento Marek.
Jedi master Clee Rhara and Jedi knight Garen Muln.
Padawan Sia-Lan Wezz.
All those Jedi had left the order, and Yoda felt through the Force that in the near future more would follow.
Walking over to the window of his room Yoda looked out it toward the sunset.
Wondering exactly what the future held in store for the path of the Jedi and the Jedi Order.
