Free 159474808X by Ian Doescher Page A

did also change—once Palpatine,
Yet presently the master of my fate.
His perfect will I wholly must obey,
That he shall teach the dark side’s mysteries
To me, and thus my Padmé I may save.
The dark side of the Force I do embrace—
’Tis flawless, mighty, made for rule complete,
And I shall unto it my life devote.
Darth Vader, I: a Sith in name and deed.
Unto the Jedi temple I repair,
And shall my final destiny meet there.
[Exit Darth Vader.



SCENE 1.
    On the planet Coruscant.
    Enter J EDI 1 and J EDI 2.
    JEDI 1
Just as I did begin to search for thee—
As I did wonder where thou mayst be found—
So on the instant, friend, thou hast appear’d.
O, comrade, how I long to talk with thee:
Now may we two in confidence converse?
    JEDI 2
Relax, my friend, for thou with fever’d brow
Into my presence come—what ails thee, eh?
Can I some succor give thee? Speak it plain:
Know that I stand prepar’d to lend mine ear.
    JEDI 1
Ne’er hath mine humble mind been so perplex’d:
I was a’reading o’er the codes for our
Clone army, with its many policies.
One thing I did find passing strange therein,
Long did I ponder what this thing could mean
E’en till I went and search’d to tell it thee.
    JEDI 2
Evade thou not my curiosity;
Respond e’en now and tell me what thou found’st.
If I can help thee make some sense of it,
Concluded, mayhap, shall thy worry be.
    JEDI 1
So shall I: as I read their orders through,
Unnaturally was one number skipp’d.
Zounds! thought I, could this be a mere mistake?
A hole ’twixt sixty-five and sixty-seven—
Now, whither hath gone order sixty-six?
No answer to my riddle could I find,
Ere I discover’d it, I sought thee out.
    JEDI 2
But what, my friend, did give thee such a fright?
Rare ’tis, I grant thee that, yet not unheard of,
E’en those Kaminoans may have their faults,
Their programming may not perfected be.
To err is human, as the saying goes.
    JEDI 1
Methinks it passing strange one order sole—
One order midst the hundreds they did write,
Ne’er making any other odd mistakes
In th’codebook that is flawless otherwise—
Could disappear sans being realized.
Aye, verily, ’tis wondrous strange to me.
    JEDI 2
Jeer not if I interrogate thy qualms:
Although this blunder’s strange, what is thy fear?
Need’st thou some reason wherefore th’order’s gone?
Emergeth in thy mind conspiracy?
    JEDI 1
My spirit knoweth not what it could be,
And verily there may be naught to fear.
Repulsion, though, doth spring forth from my gut—
Yea, deep concern doth shake me to my core.
Ears, hearken: this clone army was commission’d
Long time ago, yet knew we Jedi naught.
Lo, what if order sixty-six were meant
Eventually to destroy the Jedi:
Not help us, but undo us by some plot?
    JEDI 2
Jest not with me, thou canst not think it so!
O, friend, of late thou hast work’d far too hard.
How could these helpful clones turn enemies?
Nay, nay, I’d not believe it possible.
    JEDI 1
Methinks I would prefer to have thy mind
And be not troubl’d by pernicious thoughts.
Need I not fear this order sixty-six?
Dost thou assure me all is well, good friend?
Yea, say I’ve naught to fear once more, I pray.
    JEDI 2
Thy fears are senseless, comrade, be at ease:
Instead, here is thine order sixty-six:
March quickly hence and do some respite find!
    JEDI 1
Thou art a worthy and kindhearted mate.
Herein I see the error of my ways:
An order to destroy the Jedi—pish!
Now, I’ll take sixty-six calm moments of
Keen meditation in the Jedi temple.
    JEDI 2
Yea, thither I shall haply walk with thee:
Observing all the younglings brings me cheer,
Undoing all my worries by their smiles.
    JEDI 1
As one we walk, two joyful Jedi Knights—
Long ages hence, we two shall verily
Laugh when we think of order sixty-six.
[Exeunt Jedi 1 and Jedi 2.
    Enter D ARTH S IDIOUS above, on balcony.
    SIDIOUS
O, perfect, dark, and evil strategy,
Come to fruition, in a trice. Forsooth,
Behold the power of the mighty Sith
As we release our order