Chapter One-
"This time, we take him together." Obi-Wan Kenobi said to me as the thick doors of the elevator retracted open with a mechanic hiss.
"My thoughts exact-" I began, before seeing the mechanized chair on the far side of the hangar turn around to reveal the chancellor.
Part, of the chancellor.
"What in the…" Obi-Wan began, as we shambled forward, only to hear a thick, wheezing cough come from besides us.
"Aww, Kenobi!" I turned to see the metal, mechanic abomination General Grievous, holding the severed head of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. "Looking for this?" He mocked. Blinded by rage, I grabbed my lightsaber, igniting it as I charged the General.
"No, Anakin! Wait!" Obi-Wan said, before racing after me, the sound of his brilliant blue saber igniting filling the air. Grievous laughed as he dropped the head of the man who'd been my only friend after coming to the Order to the ground with a thunderous thud. His arms split into two, as he ignited all four of his blades, taken from the bodies of Jedi he'd killed. Jedi I would avenge.
I swung my lightsaber at him, before he quickly blocked, swinging wildly at me as I dodged each of his sporadic blows. Obi-Wan force-jumped over the General, landing on the other side of the metal-clad beast. he swung his blade at him, only to also be blocked by another of his artificial limbs. My former master and I sparred with the murderer for several exhausting moments, as I focused all my strength on the fight. I swung my blade at the lower half of Grievous' torso, as the General blocked with two of his blades, before he hit his metal head against mine, causing me to stumble back against the metal fence along the walkway of the small hangar. Trying to regain my posture, Grievous spun his four blades against Obi-Wan, causing him to duck back before Grievous kicked me in the chest, sending me flying over the metal fence, down to the floor below. I landed on my feet with a loud clanging, and as I was about to jump up and join my former master, six Magnaguard stepped out from under the staircases and ignited their twin energy staffs. Exhaling audibly, I stepped back and got into a defensive formation.
Several minutes later, having defeated the Magnaguards and the battle droids that had joined them, I finally joined Kenobi, whose duel with the General had led him to the adjacent chamber besides the hangar where the chancellor had been murdered. I found Obi-Wan being pinned under the General besides the glass separating space from the corridor, who was missing two of his hands and three of his blades, but nonetheless overpowering Obi-Wan. Jumping down, suing the force to lengthen my stride, I landed behind Grievous, slicing off both of his metallic legs and the arm that held his one remaining blade, causing him to drop with a pained snarl. Summoning his fallen blade to my hand with the force, I crossed my blades over the General's 'throat', as Obi-Wan stood up, catching his breath as he stood besides me, his blade pointed at the General to ensure he didn't attempt anything.
"It is over Grievous." I snarled out. "You're under arrest for treason, war-crimes, and the murder of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine." Grievous laughed, a disgusting, unsettling noise.
"You'll have to kill me, Skywalker!" He wheezed before continuing his demented laughter.
"I would very much like to." I spat out. 'I could do it. I could do it right now. Kill this monster.' My grip on the lightsabers in my hands tightened.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan placed a hand on my shoulder. "It is not the Jedi way." He said quietly, paternally. I relaxed my grip slightly, exhaling softly.
"I know." I said, pulling the sabers away from the throat of the fallen General. Suddenly, a lurching, loud collision thundered against the hull as the ship shook wildly, causing me and Obi-Wan to fall back as the sounds of more collisions, undoubtedly from the massive battle raging over Coruscant outside the hull of the Separatist flagship we had boarded to save the chancellor. Only too late.
As Obi-Wan and I tried to recover our footing and stand, Grievous slammed his one last fist against the glass above him, breaking it as the vacuum of space began pulling everything in the corridor out, Grievous included. Flying out into the vacuum, he picked up and fired the grappling hook attached to his wrist into the hull of the flagship. Flinging myself forwards towards the opening in the glass, I grabbed the ledge just before the glass, and locked eyes with the dangling droid general. As fear tore through his eyes, I swung my blade down, slicing off the corde.
The terrified look in his eyes was the last thing I saw before he flew into the open void of space.
Obi-Wan and I landed at the senate building a few hours later, having managed to crash-land the downed flagship, which had been essentially destroyed during the battle over Coruscant. Even I could barely land it without killing me and Obi-Wan, and I'm the best pilot in this star system. Dooku had managed to escape the Republic Fleet's grasp, along with several kidnapped senators, but the Separatist star fleet had been almost entirely wiped out by the fierce battle that raged on. And Grievous wouldn't be a problem anymore, I mused to myself. Walking down the ramp of the escort that me and my former master and brother in arms had traveled on, Obi-Wan spoke quietly to me.
"You did good Anakin." He rested a hand on my shoulder.
"Not good enough." I said, exhaling slowly. I slipped past the group of politicians that gathered when I saw Padme` standing a short distance away, almost cowering behind a tall, quartz pillar. I walked up to her and we ducked behind the pillar out of view of the crowd as I went to hold her tightly, but she pushed against my chest and shook her head.
"Ani- Anakin… I, we…" She trailed off.
"Padme`? What is it?" I asked.
"Anakin… we, we can't. We can't do this." She said suddenly, coldly.
"What?" I breathed out.
"Anakin… I-I'm sorry. But we can't. We can't. This, us… we can't be together. It's dangerous. It's… it is wrong." She said. Before I could say anything, she pushed away from me, turning around quickly and walking away.