A/N: I decided to give up my Mace fic after it got bad reviews, so here's something I hope is better. It will still be a companion piece to "Rise of a Dark Lord" and will serve as an alternate ending to not only Revenge of the Sith, but the prequel trilogy.
Anakin's heart was racing as his mind moved between the different possibilities of the outcome of what he was about to do, if he came out of it alive. He had no solid plan, as usual, but all he knew was that he could not allow the one man who may have been able to save Padme to die.
He ran from the rainy landing platform into the columns that served as the entrance to the Senate. He could feel the heat of battle several stories above him inside the Chancellor's domed office.
He was still somewhat in shock at what Palpatine, his old friend and mentor, his steadfast confidant when he felt even Obi Wan couldn't understand him, was the worst enemy of the very Republic he governed. The most hated enemy of the Jedi, the dark lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, was none other than the gentle, grandfatherly Chancellor Palpatine who had led the galaxy through the Clone Wars and provided Anakin with valuable guidance for most of his life beyond the Jedi Order.
Yet nothing mattered more than his wife Padme, saving her from his nightmares. Nothing mattered more than stopping the death of the one man who had the knowledge to save her.
He ignored the patrolling shocktroopers and sentry clones as he ran up the flights of stairs, where the all-too-familiar sounds of clashing lightsabers was growing louder.
He heard the glass shattering and a thud as he reached the penthouse of the domed Senate building. Feeling the lightsaber in his hand, Anakin took a deep breath and burst into the Chancellor's office.
Jedi Master Mace Windu had Palpatine backed up into a corner against the open window. As the breeze rushed in from the metropolitan air outside, Anakin approached as Mace said, "You are under arrest my lord!"
At the moment, Anakin sensed nothing but fear, fear of being struck dead, in Palpatine, and sheer malice in Mace Windu, the man who had belittled and held Anakin back as long as he could remember. No. He will not be trained. Take a seat young Skywalker.
Anakin!" Palpatine turned desperately to the young Jedi entering his office, "I told you it would come to this. I was right, the Jedi are taking over!"
Mace did not look at Anakin, but kept his violet blade pointed at Palpatine. "The oppression of the Sith will never return! You have lost."
He spoke the last three words with slow emphasis, reveling in his triumph over the dark side.
Palpatine's aura suddenly turned from one of fright to one of rage. "No, no, you will die!"
He raised his hands and webs of dark energy spewed at Mace Windu, catching both him and Anakin by surprise.
Mace shouted out in pain as he struggled to remain standing, unprepared for the strength of Palpatine's lightning attack.
"He's a traitor!" Palpatine yelled to Anakin weakly as the blue, crackling lightning was deflected off of Mace's saber onto his face. Anakin cringed as he saw the chancellor's face being deeply scarred, his eyes turning from blue to malevolent yellow.
"He... is... the traitor!" Mace grunted as he strained to defend himself from Palpatine's onslaught.
Anakin was totally lost now, looking back and forth between the two foes. He thought of a woman alone in her apartment, her fate in the balance. Then he thought of his master and best friend Obi Wan, who would have died for Anakin.
"I have the power..." rasped Palpatine, his body ravaged by the dark energy deflected back to him, "to save... the one you love..."
Mace held strong with all the aggression of Vapaad until Palpatine relented his attack, leaning back against the windowsill and sighing in defeat.
"Skywalker, what is he talking about?" Mace kept his blade on Palpatine as he looked to Anakin.
Now my very relationship to Padme is in danger, Anakin realized, furious with the chancellor for giving it away
"What does he mean, the one you love? Does he know something about you the Jedi doesn't?"
Anakin did not speak, but trembled as he stood before them, his knees about to give out. This was the end, no matter who won, he would lose Padme forever, or be cast out from the Jedi Order.
Then he remembered what was really important and said, "Master Windu...I... I have been..." it was harder to say than to think it in his mind, but there was nothing to lose and so much to salvage... "married... for three years... to Senator Amidala. She's pregnant and I've had nightmares she will die."
Mace lifted his blade off of Palpatine slightly as he took this in. His face scrunched as he thought about it, and finally, after leaving Anakin in deadly suspense, replied, "Did he promise you he could save her."
Knowing there was no turning back, Anakin nodded yes.
"Skywalker, the Jedi have healers to make sure she is physically healthy. We will attend to her as soon as we bring this monster to justice. I promise you, he is lying to you. Reach out in the Force, and you will sense it. The Jedi will not let anything happen to Senator Amidala."
Anakin reached out and focused on Palpatine's mind as Mace held the Sith Lord at saberpoint. Behind the old man's promises, there was a malignant sadism, waiting to spring forth as soon as Anakin let his guard down.
Anakin hesitated. Windu was being far more lenient than he'd expected, maybe because he had exposed the most evil man in the universe, but he knew that things would never be the same again.
"Thank you Master Windu," Anakin bowed his head humbly as Mace backed away from Palpatine.
At that moment, Palpatine faced a renewal of strength, hurling deadly lightning at Mace a thousand times more excruciating than before.
This time, Master Windu was caught unprepared and screamed as the energy tore through his body.
"No!" Anakin screamed as he ignited his blade and rushed to help his comrade.
"Power!" Palpatine shouted as his energy bounced over Anakin's blade to hit Mace Windu, "UNLIMITED POWER!"
As Mace stopped screaming, Anakin felt him die in the Force. Darth Sidious then sent his body flying out the broken window disappearing into the city below.
Anakin panted in disbelief and exhaustion as he stumbled, watching Mace fall. He'd never liked the old Jedi Master, and the feeling had been mutual, but he felt a shocking sadness at Mace's death.
On the distant Wookiee world of Kashyyk, Master Yoda dropped his cane and put his little wrinkled hand over his heart, sensing what had happened.
On Utapah, riding away from the scene of Grievous' defeat, Obi Wan Kenobi likewise sensed the death of the most powerful master in the Order, and the peril Anakin was in. He quickly decided that he would leave the rest of the siege to Commander Cody and return to Coruscant immediately.
Turning on Darth Sidious, Anakin held up his saber in an aggressive stance, ready for battle as the old Sith Lord got up to his feet, his eyes burning red and yellow.
"You're a traitor and a murderer!" Anakin yelled, "I trusted you! The galaxy trusted you! I am going to finish this here and now!"
"I admit I am disappointed, Anakin," Palpatine replied, glaring hatefully at the Jedi knight and
chosen one, "I spent thirteen years grooming you from afar to be the perfect Sith apprentice. You had such potential to be a powerful dark lord. Now I fear that potential is wasted."
Anakin stepped forward bravely, not fearing this evil entity before him. If he had to give his life stopping this master manipulator, he would do so gladly.
"I am a Jedi, and I will never turn to the dark side," he replied, staring down his enemy in the eye, "You have failed, chancellor."
"So be it, Jedi," Sidious replied, his long years of patience down the drain, "If you will not turn, you will be destroyed."
He raised his hands and Anakin braced himself for the torrent of lightning that struck against his blue saber. He backed away as Sidious increased the intensity of his dark side energy, causing Anakin's lightsaber to tip dangerously close to his cringing face.
Sidious relented his attack and glowered at Anakin. "You will die today, and then I shall kill your wife, and children, and every last Jedi."
Anakin took the bait quickly, shouting "NEVER!"
He ran at Palpatine, his blade twirling wildly.
Palpatine was forced to retreat backwards from the suddenness of Anakin's wrath. He hurled more lightning at Anakin, but the young man remained firm and strong as he stood his ground.
Screaming, Darth Sidious was forced backwards by his own power, tumbling out the window into the city.
Switching off his blade, Anakin watched the old man fall. He wondered, Why isn't he landing?
Then he realized, he's using the Force to stop his fall.
Anakin knew he had to get back to the Jedi Temple. Then he remembered, Padme! I can't leave her alone with a Sith Lord on the loose.
He ran out of the chancellor's office quickly towards the stairs, determined not to let any harm to come to his wife and children.
As the Chosen one raced back to his speeder and got in, a deformed, cloaked man activated his comlink hidden inside the main hangar of the Senate, saying, "Execute Order 66."
