The Clone Wars have begun. Battle lines are being drawn throughout the galaxy. With every world that joins the Separatists, the peace guarded by the Jedi Order is slipping through their fingers. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker must stem the tide of the raging Clone Wars and forge a new bond as Jedi Knights in Star Wars: Brotherhood, the upcoming Obi-Wan and Anakin novel from Mike Chen!
Today, to celebrate International Star Wars Day, you can read an exclusive extract from Star Wars: Brotherhood. Read on (and may The Force be with you!) …
CHAPTER 2
ANAKIN SKYWALKER
Anakin Skywalker stood as he always did, feet planted slightly wider than his hips into a balanced stance, arms behind him with his hands clasped at the small of his back.
Hand, actually. One of his limbs remained his organic arm, part of the flesh and blood born of Shmi Skywalker and raised under the unflinching desert suns of Tatooine.
The other hand was metal and wire and sensors, a synthetic extension that moved nearly-but-not-quite the way he intended. Not perfect yet, but he was getting better at it. And though the textures of the mechanical replacement were so unnatural that he covered it with a glove, his wife never treated its touch as anything but his own, at least in the short time they were able to be together following his duel with Count Dooku.
His wife. Where was she right now? Senator Padmé Amidala, always meeting with people or talking with people or talking about people. She’d returned to Coruscant and was likely around the Senate District, a single beacon of hope dashing somewhere through this massive structure of a planet.
Anakin closed his eyes while Jedi Master Mace Windu continued to talk to the assembled, the latest group of recently promoted Jedi Knights. For a thousand generations, the Jedi had their traditions of trials and ceremony, of ascending rank and recognizing achievement.
But that was before Geonosis. Before the Clone Wars started, before an oath to be peacekeepers somehow evolved overnight into roles as soldiers and commanders—an overlap the clones themselves couldn’t quite comprehend, leading to the informal title of “general” on the battlefield. Anakin had always imagined his Knighting to be a significant life milestone, a sea change in his heart and mind. Enough time had passed since the official transition that his once-short hair had started to grow out, and now this ceremony felt more like a procedural step, a footnote to go along with the bigger issues facing the galaxy. This gathering, filled with ceremony in the shadow of the Jedi Temple training courtyard, seemed so unimportant, so much so that an urge tugged at Anakin to get up and go, to fast-forward the cadence of the galaxy itself so he could finally reunite with his wife tonight.
He had, after all, a keepsake to deliver within the small pouch buckled to his belt.
Master Windu walked the perimeter of the courtyard under the shadow of the Great Tree, Anakin standing with the rest of the new Jedi Knights while behind them, current Padawans observed. To his left, D’urban Wen-Hurd, the Tholothian notable throughout training for her twin shoto lightsabers. To his right, Keer Stenwyt, Olana Chion, and several others. Across the courtyard stood their mentors, at least the ones available: Moragg Bomo, a Kel Dor with black tunic and blue- tinted goggles, Siri Tachi, Ma-Dok Risto, and more.
And of course, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the newest member of the Jedi Council. Sort of. After the loss of Coleman Trebor at Geonosis, various Jedi rotated into his Council position. No one would say if this method was permanent or if the rotations were simply temporary assignments, something born out of necessity given the push and pull of the war. Either way, the Council had recently picked Obi-Wan for a rotation. In turn, Obi-Wan approached every task with his usual seriousness, even treating this glorified speech like a war decision. Anakin didn’t need the Force to feel the weight of his former Master’s stare. Behind his back, Anakin’s fingers balled into fists, the synth-net neural interface of the mechno-arm reacting the same way as his real hand did. And yet, it didn’t. Just as with his organic hand, the mechanical fingers pressed in frustration, but no emotion came from the gesture on that side, no tiny ripple through the Force to yet again give away his feelings to Obi-Wan.
It was merely a limb. Functional, even stronger than flesh and bone, but not a true part of him.
“You are Jedi Knights.” Master Windu’s voice boomed out as he paced back and forth, as if to call any waning attention back to his intimidating form. “Responsibility. Peace. Discipline. You are the examples the galaxy looks to. Your successes will carry through the Republic and beyond. As will your mistakes. Your choices will matter, helping the Jedi maintain order during a time of discord.” The Master paused, his lips pursed in thought. Anakin figured Mace had given a form of this speech several times now since Geonosis, but perhaps this time he tried his hand at improvisation. “The younglings look up to you. Your choices matter to them. And some of you will receive Padawans of your own. Your choices”—Mace enunciated each word with heightened diction— “will matter to them as well.”
The thought caused Anakin’s lip to curl up ever so slightly. A Padawan? For him? That sounded like the worst thing in the galaxy. And as if on cue, his eyes caught Obi-Wan looking directly at him.
Of course Obi-Wan saw his smirk.
Anakin forced his expression back to neutral, then adjusted his posture, pushing his chest out and chin up to uphold Jedi formality; if he had been speaking, his voice would have reverted to the formal monotone he always used around elder Jedi.
“We are at war. This is unprecedented within our lifetimes,” Mace continued. “And you are among the first to reach Knighthood during this time of war. Remember that war is like a fire across the galaxy. It spreads and it consumes. We must never waver in the face of that fire. We are keepers of the peace. We are Jedi. The Republic needs us more than ever, which means our faith in the Force, our connection to the Force must never waver.” Though Mace’s face remained stoic and cold, Anakin detected the most unexpected shift coming from him, a single drop in the ocean of the Force. But it rippled outward, and while most probably didn’t notice it, Anakin had always found his senses tuned in to emotions at a far deeper level than others.
Maybe because he actually let himself feel emotions. He reached into the Force for a further understanding of this strange deviation.
Was that . . . concern? From Mace Windu?
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—Star Wars: Brotherhood by Mike Chen (Penguin Books Australia) is out on the 17th of May.
Brotherhood
Star Wars
The Clone Wars have begun. Battle lines are being drawn throughout the galaxy. With every world that joins the Separatists, the peace guarded by the Jedi Order is slipping through their fingers.
After an explosion devastates Cato Neimoidia, the jewel of the Trade Federation, the Republic is blamed and the fragile neutrality of the planet is threatened. The Jedi dispatch Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the Order's most gifted diplomatic minds, to investigate the crime and maintain the balance that has begun to dangerously shift. As Obi-Wan investigates with the help of a heroic Neimoidian guard...
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