"You know, computer, the thing I love about you is that you don't talk to me, argue with me, give me orders, or waste my time. What you do is have all sorts of wonderful settings and information gathering reports that can help me attain my goals.
I have my dashboard, workspace, income, store, privileges, stats, ranking, so many pages with so much information, and the ability to filter it all. I can find any information I want.
What is it that I want to do now? Let's try this report that tracks the influence of the dark side over time, expressed visually as a chart, so that I can drill down and determine what inclines Anakin more toward the dark side and what decreases his attachment.
Look at this line, it's like a wild rollercoaster, so many peaks and valleys!"
Cyrus studied the cart for a few hours, rubbing his eyes, "I see. Anakin needs more than bad things not happening to him; he needs good things in his life. Saving his mother was a good thing; it brought him down from 89% to 63%. It means almost none of the other things I did helped. In fact, when I shunned Padme, it went from a percent likely to go to the dark side from 54% all the way up to 77%. I've been driving him towards the dark side, not away from it.
I've learned I can't rely on my couch potato analysis to make decisions unless I don't care what happens. At least Padme is still interested. I need to develop the relationship between Padme and Anakin more. They need to get married, have children, and he must confront Palpatine!
To avoid making any more mistakes, I need to connect with Anakin and understand what he needs."
Cyrus dismissed his screen and adjusted his breathing, entering meditation.
Late the next day, Cyrus exited meditation after taking a shower. He heard laughing coming from the small dining area. There, his mother, Cliegg, Own, Beru, and Padme sat. They looked like a family. Cyrus felt Anakin's desire.
"Good evening," Cyrus greeted the family.
"Ani!" Shmi brightened, "Anakin!" Padme's face lit up, generating kindness, warmth, and maybe love?
Cyrus held her eyes in his own, "Hello." The pair stared at one another for a while.
"Ani." His mother called to him, it snapped him out of a dream. He looked over to his mother.
"Will you and Padme stay much longer? I hope you will. Padme feels like a daughter to me."
"Uhr...," Cyrus was caught off guard and blushed, unsure of how to answer his mother.
"I told you, my dear, he is quite taken with you." Shmi gave Padme a squeeze on her shoulder and brought her into a hug. Padme happily accepted it.
Confused, Cyrus thought about the situation before realizing his mother had put in some effort for him. Whatever unspoken something was between Padme and him was drawn out of Padme. It was deeper and more honest. It was just at the surface.
"I am quite taken with Padme, Mom. I don't know how she feels," Cyrus boldly exclaimed.
Cliegg laughed, "That's a man, you see, Owen, that's what I was trying to tell you with Beru. If you want a girl, you've gotta be bold!"
Shmi also laughed, "Cliegg, you mustn't be hard on Own. Didn't he eventually bring Beru home? No one can be as bold as you."
Padme blushed but smiled, she laughed and Cyrus soon joined.
Anakin sat at the dinner table and ate some of the cooled food. After finishing, "Mother. Everyone. I have enjoyed the evening, but Padme and I must return to our ship and make contact with certain concerned parties."
He looked at Padme, "They probably think we're dead or worse." Padme became serious and agreed it was time to go.
The pair donned their bounty hunter outfits once more and left on their speeder bikes.
Owen watched them leave and spoke loud enough for the others to hear, "The first time I met him, I thought he was here to kill us. First thing I did when he left to find you, Shmi, was change my shorts. I never thought it was just an act. I wish I knew back then, it would have saved Beru some trouble."
"That's why you lost control? I would still like to know what you ate that day so that we never let you eat it again."
Owen and Beru's back and forth killed the tension. Both Shmi and Cliegg did their best not to laugh at Owen, who had, for some reason, decided to share such incriminating information with them. The usually taciturn young man turned red as he looked off into the distance.
"It's just, when he came out of the darkness to get on his bike, I couldn't tell what he was at first, and I need to go clean up again. But I'm afraid if I move, it will all drip down my legs and...Hey! Beru? Dad? Shmi? Where are you going?"
"You can clean it up this time," Beru yelled back.
As they walked down stairs into the main living room, they were surprised to see eight droids, all identical to one another.
The lead droid stepped forward with a holoprojector in his hand and clicked it. Anakin appeared before everyone.
The hologram disappeared, and the droid leader stepped back into the formation.
"So this is what he's been working on," Cliegg said.
It took Padme, Cyrus, and R2 a long time to return, but they docked their speeders inside the Bounty's Burden. Closing the hatch, Anakin prepared for takeoff. Padme found several messages from both her people and the Jedi.
"What do you want to say?" Padme looked to Anakin as the ship lifted into the air.
"Tell them we're fine and we'll explain everything soon, and then turn off the communicators."
Padme sent the message and turned to Anakin, who was still operating the flight controls.
"You seem like you want to say something," Padme began.
"Are the Jedi or is it me?" Cyrus laughed.
Not saying anything, she waited for Anakin to begin.
He looked over at her, "Look, there are a lot of things that I want to say. I planned to tell you when we entered hyperspace, but I can see you lack the patience for that."
"I thought you said we can't be together since you're a Jedi and I'm a Senator," she began.
"So long as I am a Jedi and you are a Senator, we cannot be together," Cyrus entered hyperspace and stood up, guiding Padme to the common room where they sat together.
She pondered his words, but as they sat together, she looked into his eyes, "I don't understand."
"I can either be with you or be a Jedi, and I suspect that you can either be a Senator or be with me; we can't do both," Cyrus smiled. He felt Anakin's reluctance, but he also felt his anticipation.
"You can't give up being a Jedi, the galaxy needs you!" Padme stood up.
"The galaxy doesn't need either of us. I don't know much, but I know that. I also know that I don't need the Jedi, but I need you. What do you need, Padme?"
Flustered and confused, Padme shook her head, "I don't know...I--"
"Padme," He said, getting her attention. She looked at him, "Think about it, when you understand what you need, we can talk. Until then, let's focus on figuring out what we're going to say when we get to Coruscant."
Padme froze.
On Geonosis, the Separatists were caught off guard completely by the sudden appearance of the clone army. The primary targets were the large ships on the planet; they wiped out everything. Some ships attempted to leave the planet but were sent crashing back to the surface.
Archduke Poggle the Lesser handed Count Dooku plans for the Death Star, warning him to get them to his master and not let them fall into enemy hands. Dooku left the chaotic battle, attempting to flee.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master Yoda, and Mace Windu pursued Count Dooku and confronted him in the hangar.
"Masters, Dooku smiled gently. I'm afraid that I cannot entertain you," he seemed regretful and tried to move forward, but Mace Windu lit up his lightsaber, blocking his path."
"My dear Master Windu, I understand that we are on opposite sides of this conflict, but we are still colleagues who served together for many years. There's no need for such violence between us," Dooku smiled, but stepped back.
"If I weren't dealing with a Sith, I might agree," Mace Windu aggressively moved forward.
"A Sith? Do you mean me?"
"Know, we do, about your relationship with Darth Sidious. Revealed your plan is," Yoda lit his lightsaber.
"My Master, Qui-Gon, would be so disappointed if he knew you took this path. Why did you betray the Jedi and the Republic?" Obi-Wan's lightsaber lit up.
Dooku looked at the three Jedi and their blades, "How did you find out?" He looked exhausted.
"Bounty Hunters sold us some information. When we investigated, we were surprised to learn that you were a Sith and served someone named Darth Sidious," Obi-Wan explained as he carefully watched Dooku.
"I'll make sure to kill them later," Dooku's demeanor completely changed. Droidekas rolled into the hangar and opened fire on the Jedi. Obi-Wan pursued Dooku while Master Yoda and Windu fought the droidekas.
Dooku activated his lightsaber and attacked Obi-Wan, "You cannot stop me, boy!"
"I don't have to stop you, just delay you," Obi-Wan grinned.
Knowing he couldn't defeat Dooku, Obi-Wan became a piece of glue and stuck to the former Jedi. He parried but hardly attacked. His attacks were annoying Dooku.
"Your skill with a lightsaber is mediocre, but there's more to the force than our skills with our sabers," Dooku deactivated his blade and unleashed force lightning on Obi-Wan.
Passing through Obi-Wan's defenses, the lightning struck and flung him away into a wall. He passed out immediately. Dooku scoffed and boarded his ship, which slipped away as Yoda and Windu finished their battle against the droidekas.
"Get Obi-Wan, follow Dooku we will, and expose his master, we must."
"I hope letting him go won't backfire on us," Mace said as he picked up Obi-Wan. A Jedi shuttle appeared, taking them to one of their new ships.
"Obi-Wan managed to get the tracker on Dooku's shuttle."
Yoda agreed, "But last it will now. Track him, we must."
"He's heading for Coruscant," Mace commented off-handedly.
"Know this, you do, because of Anakin. Told us, he did."
Mace strapped Obi-Wan into a chair, "And his bounty hunters confirmed it with their evidence, but we need more than bounty hunters and Anakin's force vision, if we're going to dethrone the Supreme Chancellor."
"Agree, I do, but Darth Sidious, like a shadow, he is. Difficult to capture, he is. Powerful in the Dark Side, underestimate him, we must not."
"Pilot, set a course for Coruscant," Mace commanded the clone pilot.
"Aye, sir, setting a course for Coruscant.