(AN: Actually, Anakin does resist the Master, but it takes a long time for that to happen, say...twenty-four years [-hint hint-]. But that, while in the future, has already happened in The Doctor's Star Wars. Isn't that the fun thing about time travel, where we can talk about future events in the past tense and past events in a future tense?)

Knightfall

Months passed since the Doctor and his counterparts and companions arrived on Coruscant, and they had kept an eye on things. While Ten kept Anakin more or less in his sight, Eight remained at the Jedi Temple and relayed information to them. Ten usually inquired about Obi-wan, who had left Coruscant for the Outer Rim. Apparently, in the power vacuum that existed, Darth Maul had taken command of the Separatists forces and had called for a meeting on Utapau. Obi-wan volunteered and, despite a long-standing hatred between the Jedi Master and the Sith assassin, the Council believed that Obi-wan would not be governed by his emotions and fulfill his task. It would go a long way to ending the war, they knew, for without a strong leader, the factions of the Separatists had not the guts to keep up a war with a fully unified Republic.

If Republic was what it still could be called. New amendments to the Constitution were being made, either secret or publicly, on a daily basis. Near the end of three months after the Siege of Coruscant, a new proviso placed governors in charge of the regions still loyal to the Republic. While they were toted to be there only to ensure loyalty for the people, there were some within the Senate who knew otherwise. They answered only to the Chancellor and, for all intents and purposes, could curtail the powers of the Senate. Some of the more cynical realized that the Senate no longer existed in power, only in name.

One afternoon, after a meeting with the Committee of Two Thousand, a rather large group of senators including Amidala, Bail Organa and Mon Mothma who had ought against the changes being made to the Constitution and the centralization of the Chancellor's power, Ten walked throughout Padme's apartment complex in search of Rose. He had not often been to visit her since their arrival, and though Captain Typho told her that she was safe and well, Ten knew that humans enjoyed companionship. So it was that he made his way to the living room in Padme's suite. Here he and Obi-wan had talked the night of the failed assassination attempt three years ago. As he sat down on one of the sofas, he heard footsteps and turned to see Rose walking into the room, dressed in a drab blue jacket with long sleeves and gray pants.

"Hello, Rose," Ten said.

"Hello, Doctor," she replied.

"Been shopping, have you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she returned. "Well, I mean, I can't wear my old clothes here. My God, haven't they invented denim? Still, this is the best I could do."

"What about raiding the Senator's wardrobe?"

"Are you taking the mickey out o' me?" Rose asked with a snorted giggle. "She's tiny! I couldn't fit into one of her dresses, even if I squeezed. Of course, her maternity dresses are too big for me. Have you seen her, how big she's gotten?"

"Yeah," Ten nodded. "It's almost time."

"It was so strange," Rose said, sitting down across from the Doctor.

"What was strange?"

"Touching her belly," Rose began. "I asked to, you know, out of curiosity or whatever. I don't know. And then I realized that the life inside her was the same one that I met back on Tatooine. 'Cuz there's two of them, right?"

"Yeah, twins." Ten said in an absent-minded tone. "Jedi twins."

"It was so strange," Rose continued. "They were about my age, or close to it at least, when I last saw them on Home One. And then, just a few moments later, they're so small, I bet I could fit one in each hand!" She laughed.

"That's what time travel does," Ten explained. "Puts everything in perspective. A moment can be twenty-four years, or seven years can be a moment."

"It's mind-boggling!" Rose exclaimed.

"Not for a Timelord," Ten replied. He then looked at her clothes. "So, what exactly is this?"

"It's the best I could find," Rose began. "You should see the shopping centers here! Almost everything is in the same drab design."

"You know why?"

"The war," Rose replied. "That's what the sales...uh...Rodian told me."

"They're right," Ten began. "The excuses given were that many of the designers came from worlds who were sympathizers for the Separatists. But it's more than that, Rose. It's the anthropocentrism of the Republic. It's dying, Rose Tyler, the Republic is dying. Equality is one of the first things to go out the window, all in the name of security and the greater good of the Republic, but the Republic exists in name only now."

Suddenly, Ten halted. The sun was going down and all the skyscrapers of Coruscant glowed with a golden-orange glow. Ten was now looking out the window, at something in the distance.

"What's wrong, Doctor?" Rose asked, walking over to his side.

"It's started," he said grimly. "The last sunset of the Republic. Tonight is when it all ends."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a Timelord, I can feel the Force," he replied. "The shadow of the dark side has fallen across Coruscant." He sighed. "Anakin failed. He failed to stop the Master from controlling him." He turned to Rose, a serious look in his big brown eyes. When she saw that look, she knew that he was the Doctor indeed. She had seen 'her' Doctor give her that look before, and while he had a new face, it was the same look.

"We have to get out of here, now. Before the sun goes down."

"Yeah, alright. I'll get my things together."

Rose ran off to her room and gathered her few supplies, mostly just clothes and such. Ten, meanwhile, was activating his holo-projector. The image of the Eighth Doctor appeared.

"There you are!" Eight commented. "I've been wondering when you'd contact me. Master Windu has left for the Chancellor's Office alone. Is it time?"

"Yes," Ten nodded. "It's time."

"Should I leave the Temple?"

"Negative," Ten continued.

"But you know what's about to happen in just a few hours!"

"Yes, I know, and I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. Stay alive, that's what you need to know. Whatever happens, stay alive!"

"But, Docto..."

Ten ended the transmission, then stowed his holo-projector back into the pockets of his trench coat. Rose appeared moments later, with her things stowed in a back-pack.

"Are we going back?" she asked. "Like, for real, back to our own time?"

"Yes!" Ten exclaimed. "Sorry it took so long, but yes, we're going back and you, Rose Tyler, you will be rewarded for your patience."

"Well, it's about time!" she replied.

"We need the others, though," Ten said. "But it's not going to be pretty. He knows we're here, the Chancellor. He'll want to capture or kill us and find out our secrets. Fortunately, I've kept the location and identity of the TARDIS secret from him."

"The Chancellor?" Rose asked.

"His name is Palpatine," Ten stated. "In the darker regions of the Outer Rim, he's known as Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith. You thought Vader was bad, he's worse. Even Timelords refused to dabble in his time-stream, he actually killed one who tried. Burned him to death with Force lightning, killed all of his regenerations pretty much simultaneously. Thankfully, he never found out about the Timelords from him: if he did, it would be disastrous. One thing he wants is immortality, and he did that on Byss, with all those clones. It's as far as he can get with his powers, but if he knew about Gallifrey and the Timelords, he could become a Sith god, immortal and omnipotent. I can't let that happen."

"So then stop him," Rose replied.

"Haven't you been listening? I can't do that!" Ten interjected, genuine fear in his voice. "He's too powerful. I could feel him trying to read my thoughts when we're in the same room, even if he's not talking or looking at me. He's got powers even I've never heard about. But he's using Anakin for his own end, going to make him his new apprentice. If he happens to detect the Master's consciousness, he could learn about Gallifrey and the Timelords and who knows what will happen."

"But you said they were destroyed, all wiped out," Rose replied.

"Yes, I did," Ten stated. "And I also know the Master, and he could create a paradox machine that would allow him to go back on his own time-stream, even alter fixed points."

"So what do we do?"

"We're getting off Coruscant," Ten said. "Before all hell breaks lose."

(AN: Seriously, that again? It's like saying "use the Eagles" in Lord of the Rings. Hell, Tolkien even said that all powers failed at Orodruin [aka. Mount Doom]. But that's off-topic, he can't do that, as we shall soon see.)