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Chapter 24

Mace watched in shock as it happened. He could feel Anakin's struggle with the Light and the Dark, all the while wishing that he could help the boy, and yet knowing that this was a battle he had to fight completely on his own. He was happy, relieved, and, honestly, surprised when Anakin chose Light, turned and began to walk away.

Finally, Mace thought, it will all be over.

But it was not to be. Another presence in the room sent him a warning in the Force so loud, he nearly let down his careful guard on the Chancellor. And when he looked up briefly, to see what had caused such a powerful Force assault, he simply could not believe his eyes.

Since when were there two Anakins?

But, though a Master Jedi's eyes may lie to him sometimes, his senses in the Force, never do.

Nevertheless, there was something different about the second Anakin. Something in the way he stared at his doppelganger, something deep within the depths of those deep, blue eyes. Something fierce. Something evil.

Something Dark.

Too late, Mace turned and looked at the Chancellor. He had planned for this, for everything. Mace never had defeated him, not even when he was sure he had the upperhand.

"Anakin! Watch out!" he screamed, even knowing that he would not be in time to save the boy.

Just as he yelled, the second Anakin picked the young Jedi up in a Force choke and threw him up against the wall; Mace winced when he saw the boy slam into it and slump to the floor. He did not arise.

The Master Jedi turned painfully away from the sight and tried to return to his task. But the distraction had been enough.

The other Anakin was now in front of him and the glint in his eyes told Mace that he would not get let off so easy as his first opponent had. He put his lightsaber up to defend himself, but it was already too late. Mace felt the burn of the other's weapon as it slashed through his hand; he could feel every, single nerve ending screeching as the severed appendage fell to the floor. His own voice screamed in agony, but the sound was lost in the tornado of pain.

He had never imagined anything worse than this.

And then it did get worst. First, was the slight sensation of cold metal against his tunic, and then the flashing light he had felt on his hand sliced through his middle. That was when the tornado swirled around him, enveloping every fiber of his being, until it carried him away, leaving nothing but a sort of numbness accompanying the affliction. Mace was vaguely aware of being encased in a ball of lightning, of being thrown out of the Chancellor's window, of falling, falling, falling.

But none of that mattered. Not the fact that the pain was overtaking him, nor the fact that he was soon to die. But the fact that he, Jedi Master Mace Windu, Knight of the Republic, had failed. He had not done what was necessary. He had hesitated, waited for just a fraction of a second too long. And in doing so he had sealed the fate of the entire Galaxy.

Not only did he have no idea of the dastardly plans that Sidious and his new apprentice planned to execute, but he had also allowed the death of the one who was supposed to be the Chosen One. In the case that Mace himself had been defeated, Anakin was to carry on. To kill the Sith. It was why he had told him to stay at the temple. He had grudgingly come to realize over the years that the boy had great potential and he had wanted to save it.

But now, the Galaxy would never have the chance to see it utilized. He knew that the boy, if he wasn't dead already, could not possibly survive being alone in the room with two Sith.

He, Mace Windu, had failed and now the whole of the Galaxy would pay for his mistakes.

Convulsing agony ravaged what remained of the Jedi as his body slammed into something hard. He had thought that it would be much longer to the ground, but what difference did it make? However long it had taken, it was over now. He could now become one with the Force.

So, Mace let go, allowing his consciousness to fade into the world of blackness and death.

As Anakin sat there against the wall, slowly forcing open his eyes and blinking away the agony, he saw it. He watched as the man who looked identical to him sliced through the Master Jedi's hand, without so much as a flash of resistance. He watched as the lightsaber lit up, cutting straight through Windu's heart. He saw the man he had once thought of as honorable, as a role model of all things, grin and cackle with glee as he picked Mace up with the burning lightning and tossed him out the window.

No! His mind screamed.

Finding strength that he'd had no idea he had, Anakin arose and threw himself between the two Sith Lords, trying to stop them before they murdered the other Jedi. He gritted his teeth against the pain as his body was engulfed in the lightning along with Master Windu's, but he would not let go; he had to save him.

The evil laughter rang in his ears as they sailed out the window. Anakin ignored it, calling on every bit of his strength in the Force, trying to stop, or at least slow their descent, so that he could have time to grab onto something.

But as he fell lower, his body smacked into a durasteel awning and the breath was knocked out of him; he didn't even realize that he'd let go of Mace until it was far too late.

Even as he pulled at the senior Jedi's body, he knew that there was nothing he could do. He could only watch as the body fell, knowing that in the end, he had been the one to kill the Master.

What have I done? The question burned in his mind as he watched the Jedi Master's body plunge to the Coruscant Floor. Oh, what have I done?

R2 was worried about master Anakin. He had been so distracted lately and this was the second time today, that Anakin had forgotten to unhook him from the droid seat! Even though R2 was not a human intelligence droid, like his friend C-3PO, who said that therefore he knew absolutely nothing about the human brain, he felt that had been around enough human beings to be able to tell when they were upset. And master Anakin was most definitely very, very upset.

So, feeling as if his master might require a quick getaway as he so often did, the little astromech started up the engines of the yellow starfighter and circled around the building. There was nothing. He circled again. Still nothing.

A third circle proved the same results: a whole lot of nothing.

R2 whined, beeping in boredom and wondering if perhaps he had been wrong about Anakin needing him. Perhaps his master needed him back at the landing dock right then, and was wondering where he had gotten off to now.

With a droning whistle that was something of the viersion of an astromech's sigh, R2 turned the ship around and was just about to head back for the landing platform, when he saw something flying out the window of the Chancellor's office.

The little droid was shocked, but he had been in the battlefield often enough not to let surprise stop him from acting. He flew directly under the falling figure, balancing the ship out carefully and catching the descending being with ease. Once he was sure that the unknown being was secure, he turned his head around and whistled in shock when he realized who it was.

He looked again in the direction the body had fallen from. What went on up there? he wondered. And what in the world is going on with the Galaxy?

Little did he know, that very, very soon, many others would mourningly echo his last inquiry.

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