Chapter Text
"Let me go! I'll beat his karking Shebs in!" Ponds strains against Mace's force grip to lunge at the two intruders. He's clearly determined, as even as Mace tries to keep them apart, Ponds still is almost gaining ground. Mace can feel the hatred radiating off his commander.
"See! Even now, they control your actions and take away your free will! The Jedi see you only as puppets to be controlled, flesh droids. They care about nothing an no one, their emotions as false as any of their lies-" The redheaded admiral continues again, and Ponds stops in his fight to instead just stare in shock.
"What in the sith hells?" Is what Ponds spits out in response to that, and Mace knows that he's not the only one in the room who can't believe what these intruders are sprouting. "Where do you think you have the right?" Ponds yells again, and his rage crashes again like a wave over the room. Mace rides it out - it's nothing he hadn't heard before, but it's... refreshing to have someone come to his defense like this.
“Yes! Channel that rage, use it to slaughter the ones who would hold you back! Embrace your anger!” The whiny darksider calls out to Ponds. It is perhaps the most obvious darkersider comment Mace has heard in a long time. He wishes the Sith Lord would be this obvious about being a Sith. Mace does not appreciate these attempts to do… whatever these attempts are trying to do to Ponds.
“Would you kriffing shut your karking mouth?” Ponds screeches in response, Force fluctuating with his sheer rage, and then he flawlessly executes the three sharp movements that Mace has been teaching his men to break free of a darksider’s force hold. Mace feels the impressed surprise from his fellow council members, but he is a little busy attempting to grab Ponds again as the man crosses the room towards the redheaded fascist admiral.
Help? Mace sends at Depa, who’s seated closer to Ponds now, and she manages to hook him into her own force hold, pulling him closer to her, even as Ponds takes a swing at the admiral. He isn’t close enough to land the hit, but it has the benefit of sending a look of surprise across the redhead’s face, and he steps back away from Ponds, fear spiking in the force. His darksider partner sends the admiral a look in response to his fear. The look is punctuated by equal parts distaste and pure sexual hunger, and Mace can’t stop his gut reaction of disgust to that particular situation from bleeding into the force. Given the way the force twists with discomfort from the whole council, he’s not the only one.
“That’s right, I am far more powerful than you ever will be because I allow myself to love, unlike you twisted, unfeeling, repressed Jedi!” The darksider hisses at him, and at this point, Mace is impressed that the dark-haired man can even string those words together, although Mace isn’t sure he knows what they mean. They kind of all contradict each other. Mace doesn’t respond, he just folds his hands into a platform in front of his chest and leans forward to rest his chin on his hands. He never takes his eyes off the darksider.
Never let it be said though, that Obi-Wan and his commander were not every bit the trolls that the rest of their lineage is, Mace, thinks, as Commander Cody’s response to that is to whip his helmet off, lean over, and plant a kiss straight onto Obi-Wan. Mace works very hard to keep a straight face in response to that. Obi-Wan snakes a hand around his commander’s head, pulling them closer together in a move that Mace is sure is not comfortable, but certainly looks like it’s very… involved. In total contrast to the revolting hunger of the previous interaction between the admiral and the darksider, there is a gentle underscore of respect and care in the kiss between Obi-Wan and Commander Cody, despite the obvious joke the two are making. Clearly, the darksider has different feelings, as he makes a noise of disgust and protests.
“You know that he can’t really love you. The Jedi are so blinded by their light that they can’t love. It’s become just as poisonous as the dark.” What the kark? Mace has questions. That’s just… not how the force works. The light is selfless acts, and the dark is selfishness. One is a constant battle to do the right thing and the other a blinding spiral of mistakes. Unfortunately, before Mace can do more than clear his throat to interrupt, the darksider continues. “They don’t know how to love. They hate love. They believe that love is corrosive, evil, and they will never allow themselves to feel it properly. They will never love you.”
There is a spike of pure rage, and then a crack of metal and flesh, and the whole council realizes their mistake. With Depa holding Ponds back, no one has a grip on her commander anymore. To be fair, Mace had naively assumed he could be trusted to be the responsible one. The darksider falls to the ground with one hit, and there’s a scramble by the Jedi present to grab Grey, many of them even getting out of their seats to do it by hand.
“Ren!” The admiral cries but doesn’t actually make any more to help the darksider – Ren, apparently. There’s just a burst of muffled petty satisfaction. “We’re here to help you and the galaxy be free from the Jedi’s tyranny!” He continues, and Mace will admit that at this point, it feels a little like he’s being trolled.
“Do you know what this is?” Grey responds, holding up a datapad displaying what was familiar to Mace even at this distance as a senate certified from. It was too far for Mace to make out details, but he's pretty sure he recognizes the blood-red seal that was on all of the orders that sent his men, Vode and Jedi alike, back out to another deployment. The admiral makes a decisive noise. The spike of violent intent from Grey has Shaak Ti physically lunging to catch him, but she isn’t fast enough. Grey slams the datapad across the admiral’s face, and the redhead crumples to the floor with an angry groan. “These, are the approved adoption papers that my son and I signed. My son, the Jedi Padawan.” Grey grinds out, and Mace feels a swell of love for his grandpadawan. It’s strong enough that it probably came from at least him, Depa and Grey. Mace also knows the papers are a joke. There is no legal adoption that has taken place. But the point is non the less effective.
Shaak Ti collides with Grey at what is clearly a well-calculated angle, sending them both toppling on top of the two intruders while still looking almost accidental.
“Well then. Now that we have this settled, I propose we find our guests somewhere to sleep off their… education and move onto the next item on the agenda.” Obi-Wan proposes from where he is lounging in his chair in the only way a member of his lineage could. Dramatically. Mace feels a headache building.