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MIKO PALMARAN STRODE through the hallway, forcing the Chancellor and the Vice Chair to walk closely behind him as the chains of their shackles weren't much longer than a few feet.

The meeting hall of the Galactic Senate was at the end of the hall, and so far, everything went as planned.

Miko tried to relax his tense shoulders but the ice cold presence of Palpatine behind him, kept reminding him of the danger that lurked over his head.

He knew he couldn't show any sign of weakness but even when he had been a Sith, he hadn't been very good at hiding his thoughts as his posture always revealed what he was thinking. He might as well write it down on his forehead.

Taking an inaudible, deep breath, Miko opened the door leading to the repulsorpod of the Chancellor, and with a sharp movement of his chin, he ordered Palpatine and Mas Amedda to step inside.

The dark grey carpet muted their footsteps as they walked the small distance to the pod.

The Galactic Chamber was gigantic; the round walls holding room for one thousand and twenty-four repulsorpods, and at the moment, most of them were occupied. Not all senators and representatives of the many worlds of the galaxy had been inside when the lock down happened, but Miko decided it was more than enough.

'Sit,' he said to Palpatine and his Vice Chair when they got into the pod, and the two men sat themselves down on the seats.

Before Miko pressed the button to detach the pod from its position, he glanced upwards and spotted the bounty hunters he had hired to aid him during this self-proclaimed mission.

The Chancellor followed his gaze and chuckled in a low, amusing tone. 'Reinforcements?'

Miko shook his head and pressed the button, causing the repulsorpod to float to the middle of the meeting hall. 'More like insurance. If you move as much as a finger to me, you will have five headshots decorating your face.'

Miko didn't wait for an answer but in stead opened the microphone and raised his voice to address the senators and representatives in the hall. He could sense their confusion as they observed him and their chained Chancellor.

'Thank you all for coming when your Supreme Chancellor called. Your loyalty to the Republic is touching,' Miko started, and his strong voice echoed throughout the monumental room.

'However, it is my deepest regret to inform you that your precious Senate has been infiltrated by the enemy. Your Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine is a Sith Lord, and not just any Sith Lord; he is Darth Sidious, the leader of the Sith.'

In an instance, the Galactic Chamber filled itself with frantic murmurs and every second they grew louder and louder, eventually turning into shouting arguments. The tumult was deafening, and resonated between Miko's ears.

'Outrageous!' Mas Amedda shouted, his blue skin turning a shade darker in anger, and the Senate silenced their conversations immediately. They all respected the Speaker of the Senate -- and Miko feared his decision to bring the Chagrian politician might have been a bad one. He had to tune him down, quickly.

'You do not get to speak,' Miko said curtly as he turned sideways to face the Vice Chair behind him.

'You know the truth about Palpatine and you have aided him. You do not get to speak,' he repeated to emphasize his words.

'And how about the accused, does he get to speak?' Palpatine asked, a dangerous twinkle shimmering in his eyes as his mouth curled into a smirk.

Miko wanted to answer negatively, but he couldn't. Not when he heard most senators shouting they wanted to hear what the Chancellor had to say.

This was not going as planned. He hadn't even given the Senate his argument yet.

'Fine,' Miko grumbled when the shouting resurfaced. He had no choice. He gestured for the bounty hunters not to shot Palpatine as he got up from his seat and let his malicious eyes wander over the crowd.

Palpatine held up his shackled wrists with a dramatic movement. 'He has chained me like an animal, like I have no rights at all. He burst into my office like a wild man, he destroyed several personal belongings and threatened to skin me if I didn't cooperate. And yet he claims I am the enemy.'

Miko could almost feel the angry stares burning his skin and he bit his lip to prevent himself from cursing out loud. He started to regret his decision to expose Palpatine in front of the Senate. Perhaps it would have been better if he had just killed him, but he cast those thoughts away. That was what the old Miko would have done, but he was no longer a Sith; he was a Jedi Knight.

A tight knot formed in his chest when the senators cheered for their Chancellor and demanded for Miko to take back his false accusations. Miko's already light skin visibly paled even more, he had no idea how to keep the order.

'Please,' he tried to say over the clamour. 'Hear me out.' But no one was listening.

However, order returned in the Galactic Chamber when one of the repulsorpods detached from its position and floated towards the middle of the room as well.

It was Senator Amidala. Her kind, amber coloured eyes caught Miko's as she spoke up.

'What prove do you have to back up your accusation against the Chancellor?' she asked and her soothing presence somehow calmed Miko's mind. Perhaps not all was lost yet. She gave him a chance.

'I have a hologram of Darth Sidious. A facial recognition program showed that it is Sheev Palpatine's face.' He held up the frozen hologram and the data of the program, but there were no gasps of surprise at all, and from the corner of his eyes, Miko saw Palpatine's mouth twitching as he tried to hide his grin.

Padmé Amidala shifted her attention from Miko to the Chancellor. 'How do you respond, Chancellor?'

Palpatine shrugged and a light jingle traveled through the air when the movement shook the chain of his shackles. 'There could be tempered with the data. Did you let the program run by a third party? Can you prove you didn't temper with it? We all know who you are, master Jedi, and your past does not speak in your advantage. Nor does the fact that you have a hologram of Darth Sidious in your possession.'

Miko's face dropped and he quickly tried to hide his shock but he knew everyone had seen it, as murmurs rose up again. And Miko could tell by their tone, that they weren't in his favour.

'I am no longer a Sith!' Miko exclaimed before the tumult became too loud again. 'It is an old hologram! I am a Jedi Knight, I serve the Republic.'

'And yet,' Mas Amedda interrupted him while jumping up from his seat as well, 'in your little speech before you have never called it "my Republic Senate" which has been infiltrated by the enemy, or "my Supreme Chancellor" who is actually Darth Sidious.'

Miko realized his mistake. He indeed had never said that. How did he miss that when he practiced his speech last few weeks?

'Prove you are not still a Sith Lord,' Palpatine thundered before Miko could come up with an excuse. 'Show us your lightsaber.'

The dangerous shimmer returned into the Chancellor's eyes, and Miko slowly reached for his saber. He had a bad feeling about this, but his Jedi lightsaber was purple not red.

His fingers curled around the hilt and he frowned when something felt off. This was his lightsaber, but at the same time it wasn't?

'Ignite it,' Palpatine ordered, and a shiver ran down Miko's spine. He wished he could refuse because something was amiss. But declining was out of the question.

He took a deep breath and pressed the button, the red energy reflecting in his stunned eyes. . .

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A/N:

there has been a small error in my planning. . . I thought I had already written these events several chapters back, oops. I almost feel bad for keeping you all that long in tension. . . almost. ;)

in other news, though, I just received word that I'm the first in line for an apartment nearby! I've wanted to move out my mother's house for quite some time now, so I'm pretty excited to go sightseeing it tomorrow. let's hope it is what I've been looking for! (sorry in advance for this rant, I just needed to share it with someone.)

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