Chapter 26

"Ma'am," one of the clones said as Lorana Jinzler approached the interrogation room.

The woman nodded to him as she held up her identification to be scanned. Less than a second later it was authenticated and the door slid open.

Inside sat Raymus Antilles of the Alderaan Royal Defense Force, in full uniform. The man was at ease, and she could feel the confidence that radiated from him. There was a bit of uncertainty, but no fear. That was good, she thought. He wasn't a suspect after all.

"Captain Antilles," Jinzler said as she sat down across from him. "My name is Lorana Jinzler, special Agent of Alliance Intelligence."

"And former Jedi," he noted. She nodded slightly. "I met a togruta on Alderaan who left the Order at the same time you did," he continued. "I quite liked her, though she apparently declined to work with us."

"All must choose their path," Jinzler said with a slight smile. "Which brings us to the reason I have called you in."

Antilles shifted in his chair, rapidly replacing his exterior appearance with the calm born of his experience in command. "Of course," he answered.

"I want to talk to you about your former Senator," she began…

Anakin ducked inside the duracrete bunker as the V-wings overhead strafed the trench for the third time that day. "Where's our fighter cover?" he demanded.

"Engaged twenty miles south of here," Colonel Linett answered. Linett was a young man, fresh out of one of the minor military Academies, Anakin wasn't sure which one, just a few months ago. Now he was as battle-hardened as the rest. The trench warfare that criss-crossed Alderaan did that to people.

There was a roar outside that signaled one of the V-wings being shot down by droid controlled flak guns, but the Alliance fighters kept coming. "Get on the comm," Anakin ordered. "see if the ships in orbit can get more down here."

He didn't stay to find out what would happen. There would either be more fighters or there wouldn't, and Anakin couldn't do anything about it. He let the impatience flow out of him, and consciously brought the Force in to calm himself. There was no use becoming angry, he told himself. Getting angry led to mistakes, it led to impatience, it led to death. The feeling he'd had when Qui-Gon had been killed came back, and he consciously fought it down.

That had been the Will of the Force, it wasn't his fault.

But deep down he didn't believe that. It had been his fault. He hadn't been good enough. Not that he hadn't been powerful enough, power had never been his problem. He simply wasn't GOOD enough. The war had made it worse. He looked out now, over the burning no man's land that separated the Republic's lines from those of the Alliance and he saw something else. The burning land was replaced by lava, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was there, mocking him. Somehow, on that imaginary battlefield he had been killed he knew. He saw the fight now, every time he closed his eyes he saw that fight. And every time it ended the same way. He made the leap, and he burned. Every time he had the vision he tried something different, and every time it ended the same way.

He would never win, never overcome that foe. And if he couldn't even win that imaginary fight, how could he really make a difference here.

He saw a glint of white across the trenches and out of habit whipped up his blaster rifle and fired. There was a slight feeling in the Force as the person across from him died. An Alderaan volunteer he guessed. The clones were never sloppy enough to show themselves until the attacks started. He sighed and put the blaster rifle into one of the nearby racks and glanced out of the bunker's entrance. The V-Wings were still unopposed.

Composing himself he went to check on the comm officer who informed him, "Alliance fleet's making a move in orbit, all fighters are engaged." Anakin nodded. Neither side could win control of Alderaan's space, and as he looked up into the sky he could see the flashes as ships engaged just past Alderaan's moon. There was a sudden miniature nova that he recognized as a Lucrehulk's reactor going critical, and felt the death of the crew onboard.

So much death he though, studiously ignoring the topography map that showed the extent of the fighting on this planet. And he had the feeling that it was all for nothing.

"I want to sign up," Ahsoka said from the front of the recruiting line.

"And I'm telling you no one signs up without valid Alderaanian citizenship," the recruitment officer told her, but in the Force she could feel her irritation growing.

"I'm a former Jedi," she said stubbornly.

"All the more reason to turn you away," the woman answered. "And you aren't the only person to claim Jedi status today…"

"Its okay," said a voice from behind them. Ahsoka started at the familiar voice, and found Lorana Jinzler, in full Alliance uniform. "I'll take care of her," Jinzler said, flashing an identity badge.

The recruiter nodded, "Of course ma'am," and returned her attention to her work.

As soon as the woman was out of earshot Ahsoka started, "I can't believe her she's…"

"Doing her job," Jinzler said evenly. "A full fifteen percent of rejected applicants claim to be former Jedi. You were the seventeenth she's spoken to today."

Ahsoka stopped complaining and said, "That many?"

"Indeed," Lorana said, "average each recruiter turns away slightly over twice as many volunteers as they accept due to Alderaan's high physical and mental standards for military service." She steered them off the main road and into a small, out of the way building which had no obvious markings. Inside was a perfectly functional office, which Ahsoka was disappointed to learn did not have a secret area for intelligence work. This simply was one of many offices run covertly by Alliance Intelligence.

"What made you change your mind?" Lorana asked as she settled into a chair.

Ahsoka told her everything, arriving on Alderaan, finding her new purpose, and then how it had all been stripped away.

Lorana nodded in understanding, "And so you wanted vengeance. Understandable. But as a Jedi there is a special role for you. No one is better at uncovering secrets than we. So welcome Ahsoka, to Alliance intelligence.

"It is over Anakin, I have the high ground," That other Kenobi said, brandishing his lightsaber as he did so.

"You underestimate my power," Anakin heard himself say.

"Don't try it," Kenobi told him.

Anakin lept. There was no other choice of course. He put more power into it than he had before, aiming to seem to overshoot Kenobi, and then come down behind him when the other Jedi went to attack him. At the precise moment he needed to Anakin drove himself down, pushing his lightsaber to where he knew Kenobi was. It hit empty air. Then the pain started. His left arm, his legs, all gone. His right arm numb. And he hit the ground, the burning ash that caked it finding its way into his lungs, and he slid down toward the lava. And he burned.

Anakin Skywalker awoke with a start. It had been the same dream he'd had for months now. The Force was trying to tell him something, of that he was sure. But what? He'd thought it trying to tell him how his choices didn't matter, because no matter what he did things ended the same way. Kenobi always won. But…something had started whispering to him that that wasn't the message at all.

He was missing…something. Something important. Knowing more sleep was out of the question he consciously cleared his mind and began to meditate, ignoring the sound of artillery in the background. He fell into the Force, letting it strengthen and soothe him. And as he did so he sought wisdom. Nothing came. Instead there came another vision. The other vision as he called it. Never a dream, but it sometimes came as he meditated. A faceless figure in black strode through the Jedi Temple, blue lightsaber ignited. It cut down Padawans, Knights, and Masters alike. With no hesitation or mercy.

Cin Drallig stood against the figure, and was cut down rapidly, meaning whoever this figure was had to be extremely good, good enough to be on the Council. As the instructor fell the figure stepped aside, allowing clones to gun down the children who he had been shielding. Anakin's anger flared at this, but still the figure did not turn to face him, its face never revealed. Then came the part Anakin always pulled himself away at. The figure arrived in the Council room, and a boy he recognized came out of the shadows. Anakin wrenched himself out of meditation with a massive effort. He couldn't watch what he knew would happen next.

He was sweating. He had told no one of the visions, which he had suspected were of the future. But he knew that by attempting to change the future he saw it could easily be brought about. He breathed deeply then frowned. Something about that idea was wrong. But…then it struck him like a star cruiser. The boy was Sors Bandeam, who was not a child. He was a Padawan, kept well away from the war somewhere in the Outer Rim, and he was a teenager.

Then…not the future, but if not, then what. What? He could think of no answer, and the Force offered none. He glanced at the chronometer and winced. Only two hours of rest, one of those really bad days. The Force would sustain him, for a time, but even Anakin Skywalker had to rest at some point. He checked in at the nearest command point and found that the Republic fleet had barely held the Alliance at bay, and had been in no condition to pursue when the Star Destroyers began to withdraw. Casualties had been heavy. Dozens of Lucrehulks lost, and with them thousands of droid fighters, which would be sorely missed when the Alliance fighters appeared in the skies again. The Alliance had lost far fewer ships, but then the Republic could afford heavier losses.

Looking out over the battlefield Anakin sighed, all of this, he was certain, was pointless.

"What's happening?" Aayla Secura asked as the fire in the background suddenly faded.

The Nemoidian tech said something she didn't quite catch, largely due to the man's panicked tone. With the Force she reached out and calmed him, and after a moment he repeated, "The droids. They've stopped working."

"What?" Secura demanded. "How is that possible?"

"The Alliance has figured out some way to block the signal," the man said.

"What do you mean?" one of the Republic officers nearby asked.

"The signal that keeps the battle droid functioning." The Nemoidian said, panic creeping back into his voice. "They need a constant stream of information to function. It was a secur…" he suddenly stopped speaking and began gasping for air. A few feet away the officer was doing the same. Moments later everyone around them apart from Secura herself was grabbing at their throats as the air was cut off.

The Twi-lek Jedi reached out with the Force and froze as she realized each was in the grip of the Dark Side. One by one each person in the command center fell, dead. Secura had already drawn her lightsabers, and thumbed one on. Now that she was looking for it she could feel the shadow moving toward her. It had been blocked out by the shadow of war that had hung over Carida these long, long months. But now it was unmasked. She barely had time to throw up a defensive barrier as a wave of Dark power smashed down on her. Then the shadow was inside the room with her, a red blade in its hand.

She barely looked at it as she fell deeper into the Force, her twin blades moving independently of each other as they tried to catch the shadow.

Then one blade winked out as the red blade bisected the handle, taking half of Secura's hand as well. She gasped in pain and immediately drew on the Force to suppress it, but it was too late. The red blade came down from her defenseless side, and the Twi'lek's head fell. Moments later her body followed.

Luke Skywalker casually shut down his blade and sent the signal for the clones to advance inside the building. There were no survivors of course. That wouldn't do at all. The Republic wasn't to know that their precious droids had such a massive vulnerability. But now that the first test had been so successful it was time for the Alliance to put an end to the Republic's offensives across the galaxy.