STAR WARS: THE PURGE
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, worlds or anything else in this story and relating to Star Wars.
CHAPTER ONE: Story of the Jedi
I was betrayed. We were betrayed. Every last man, woman and child who had devoted him or herself to the Jedi Order was double-crossed.
And I can't help feeling… it is all my fault that this event happened, that I failed myself, that I failed the Jedi, that I failed the Republic… and most of all, I failed Anakin Skywalker.
How did I fail so badly? Well, my name is Obi Wan Kenobi, and this is the story of how justice died, and it all started 13 years ago; when I was a mere Jedi apprentice, a Padawan learner, to the great Jedi Master, Qui Gon Jinn.
We were on a mission to rescue Queen Amidala of Naboo from the clutches of the Trade Federation… and we had escaped with Her Majesty to the corrupt planet of Tatooine, a land ruled by the vile Hutts. There, we were assisted by a young slave boy named Anakin Skywalker, a boy who we liberated, and Qui Gon hoped to train him… to train this Force-sensitive boy as a Jedi Knight.
But tragedy struck. The Council would not let my Master train Skywalker, and then Qui Gon was murdered by a Sith Lord, and I was left to care for this boy… for the boy who the Council said was too old, too dangerous… but I vowed to Qui Gon that I would train him, and Master Yoda gave his permission.
Anakin was a great friend and I trusted him with my life on many occasions, but Supreme Chancellor Palpatine had other plans… he manipulated Anakin into a position where he fell in love, where he made a forbidden attachment and marriage to Padme Amidala… and the death of Anakin's mother was the last straw. He married Padme in secret at the outbreak of the Clone Wars, and he murdered the evil Count Dooku in cold blood… he learned of the Chancellor's true allegiance, as a Sith Lord… and helped Palpatine murder Master Windu, aligning himself to the Sith.
Anakin betrayed us all… but I failed him, I should have been a better mentor, I should have seen it coming. And now… the Jedi are extinct, murdered by Anakin and his troops on Palpatine's orders… and of Anakin? He may as well be dead. I had to maim him on Mustafar… leave him for dead… but he came back… now, he stands at Emperor Palpatine's right hand… and he is barely human. He is Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, and it is my fault. I know it, I hate it, I cannot escape it… and now I watch over the Republic's last hope: over Luke Skywalker, the boy who must grow, and rise… and the Jedi Order must be born anew.
My name is Obi Wan Kenobi. I was betrayed. I failed. But I finally realise… there is hope. I know it, I cherish it, I shall never let it escape the right path. The path of the Force.
CHAPTER TWO: Story of the Fallen One
My name is Anakin Skywalker… NO! No. Anakin Skywalker is dead. My name… is Darth Vader, and I am the Dark Lord of the Sith, the Emperor's enforcer, the man who DESTROYED the Jedi. But now… I am barely a man. I am less than human, less than alive… I am a wreck, I am Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith… but I am barely human, and I do not know what to think, what to do.
I was betrayed. We were betrayed. Every last man, woman and child who had devoted him or herself to the Republic was double-crossed. Betrayed by the Jedi. They held me back… they manipulated everything… they wouldn't trust me… and how that mistrust came back to bite them…
"Lord Vader?"
"Yes, my Master?" My Master stands before me, the man of many guises, a chameleon… is he Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith; Palpatine, kind and gentle leader; is he the Emperor, a fascistic and evil dictator; or is he something else entirely for now? I do not care for my Master like a Jedi Padawan to his mentor; I see him as means to the ultimate end; to power… and vengeance against the treacherous Jedi.
"We have found a fugitive Jedi." There is a strange shine in my Master's eyes… but whatever he is thinking… whatever he is thinking… I DO NOT CARE! I will annihilate the Jedi, who betrayed the Republic… those weak minded fools with their God complexes.
"Where, master? Who?"
"On the planet… of…" I hear him speak, but his words are unclear to me, my mind so filled with thoughts of vengeance… of JUSTICE.
"Tatooine…?" I hiss, I gasp; thank God for my ventilation unit in my helmet.
"Lord Vader?" Palpatine stares at me with those burning, deep yellow-orange eyes, like he is boring into my mind… "I said… Dantooine."
"Ah," I breathe out in relief. For a moment I feared I would have to return to the home of Anakin Skywalker… where my… where his mother died. Where Anakin Skywalker was born… where he was taken as an accursed Jedi Knight… where that innocent, naïve boy was, before Darth Vader ever came into being; before he ever existed.
"Do you wish me to bring him to you, Master, or may he be… exterminated?" I MUST KILL THE JEDI! I MUST HAVE THAT POWER!
"Oh, I believe… yes, yes, Lord Vader, I want him delivered to me, alive. Under no circumstances may you kill the Jedi!"
"Who is he, Master?"
"He is Master Plo Koon." Sidious is smiling now… a sick, evil smile… but why?
"Plo Koon is dead."
"No. He survived, my boy… and now he must be brought back here. To me. Alive."
I pause… and then I utter the words that I wonder if I can ever be truthful here:
"I will do your bidding, my Master. I will bring him to you… alive."
He is testing me… he is testing me to see my loyalty…
And here I stand. Here I am, my lightsabre illuminating the weak, tired form of Jedi Master Plo Koon.
"Master Koon." I must spare him. My Master wants him alive. This is my trial… I must keep his trust… but the Jedi… they betrayed me, and they betrayed the Republic. I… but I am a Jedi. No! I… am… Darth VADER!
I strike. I strike in fury. I strike for vengeance against the Jedi scum! They betrayed me! NO! I pull my weapon aside and deactivate the damned blade. I must serve my Master until I have the power to rule the Empire, to return Padme to my side… and it is not this man that I hate with all my soul. That man is Obi Wan Kenobi; the traitor, the worst of the Jedi, my damned former Master.
My name is Darth Vader; I was enlightened. I was betrayed. And now I realise, only through the Dark Side is my hope for true vengeance and power… Anakin Skywalker is dead.
CHAPTER THREE: Story of the Dark Lord
"You have my full assurance. The senate will not be disbanded, and you will not be mere poster-boys for the Galactic Empire… I shall call you upon you all as my advisors…" I pause, waiting for the bombshell, and I survey the senators silently for a moment… Mon Mothma and Bail Organa, as ever, looking positively mutinous, "The only difference now is that… my word is absolutely, utterly, undeniably… final. And you, my senators, you will no longer serve your individual planets … no longer will you merely serve Devaron… Naboo… Alderaan… now, each and every one of you serves the entire Empire! What affects one constituency of our supreme Empire affects the whole Galaxy! You serve the entire Empire, and I also."
I hear the muttering and conclude my speech.
"Any questions!?"
Of course, Mothma is the first with her hand in the air.
"Yes, Senator Mothma?"
"Chancellor… Emperor, I mean… could you tell us more about the events involving the Jedi?"
"Senator, there is little to tell…" I let my hood slip back a little to reveal my disfigurement, my ultimate tool for sympathy, "…the Jedi thought they could take over! They tried to kill me for not believing their claims that the war was over… and, as you say, Master Windu left his mark. I have our Grand Army and my own Red Guard to thank for surviving this vile betrayal."
Bail Organa is regarding me with too much… insight. He knows. And I know he knows the truth… that is why he will not interfere. But who would dare interfere with Darth Sidious, the man who defeated that imbecile Master Yoda… who fooled the Jedi and then annihilated them!
It was all so gloriously simple.
"I have… suffered many hard trials recently…" I lie through my teeth, and struggle not to laugh at these IDIOTS.
I so easily set it all up.
"The Jedi set us all up, with unprecedented and unforeseen cunning and malevolence."
I manoeuvred Anakin Skywalker into every position necessary…
"They manipulated us with their lies… their manufactured war."
…I played upon his attachment to Amidala…
"They played upon our trust in them."
…manipulated Dooku to helping me, in manufacturing the war, all to take over the idiots' Republic…
"They worked with Count Dooku all along, manufactured this war, all to take over our noble Republic!"
…ensured the deaths and destructions of anyone who could stand in my way… Finis Valorum… Nute Gunray… Qui Gon Jinn…
"They ensured that so many great heroes of our Republic were out of the way; murdered and defeated! Men like Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn, a man who would not side with their treacherous plotting…"
And then, I let Skywalker summon his Jedi Masters. I allowed my seeming defeat to commence… awaiting his return… corrupting him…
"The Jedi reached and corrupted so many of our great people, with their lies! People, now I realise, like Chancellor Finis Valorum!"
My masterplan was initiated. I had my new Sith apprentice, Lord Vader, and he annihilated the Jedi. He slaughtered the Separatists. He was my ultimate tool!
"Their masterplan was initiated a month ago. Luckily, I had the assistance of the Empire's newest asset… and we managed to defeat them, thanks to Lord Vader and the 503rd clone trooper legion."
I have won. The Sith are supreme. But Lord Vader is weakened… damn that fool, Kenobi.
"We have won! The Empire has been born for the greater glory of the Galaxy! But our armies, our system, we, and I have been weakened. We must stand together, and forge anew a safe world… the Empire!"
I have won. I finally fail to resist and smile as the applause thunders around me. I have won!
THE BEGINNING