Hey all! Thanks so much for the reviews!

Crazy: Only a few people. It's not necessarily a secret, but it's also not something he broadcasts, because Canis Orphus don't have a particularly good rep.

And to LongLoreLover: I'm honestly not sure how much I'm going to get to Vader in this story, but I might end up writing a mini-story on him sometime.

Chapter 34

Cody turned away from the sandy battlefield. At long last, all of the droids were dead, even the great General Grievous. This war had finally come to an end.

He opened up his commlink and contacted Chancellor Palpatine, just as he'd been commanded to do earlier. No greetings exchanged, the Chancellor curtly asked, "Is it done?"

Cody knew he wasn't speaking only of the battle. The clone looked up into the sky, glancing in the direction the ship had disappeared in hours before. Irrationally, he hoped for some glimpse of the deed he had done, a positive result of the decision he'd made.

In the end, he simply turned back to his former master and spoke four words, "Yes. They're all dead."

Palpatine grinned and nodded. "Good."

The battle was over. In many ways, it would seem that the Republic had won. But Yoda knew that, in the only way that mattered, they had actually lost. And not just the war, no, the Republic, the Galaxy at large, they'd lost everything.

In his mind, the Grand Master could see the fields of dead Wookiees. He saw the holes from the blaster bolts and knew they had not all come from Separatist guns. When the clones turned on him, Yoda had hoped that it was only Jedi they'd be after. But no, the Republic army had unmercifully shot countless Wookiees as well, murdering them before they'd had a chance to realize they'd been betrayed.

Though the Republic would claim the victory, the droids had not been the only ones defeated today. The Jedi and the Wookiees were annihilated as well.

In spite of the wrenching pain in his soul, Yoda walked on, following his Wookiee friends through the dense forest. He still the felt agony of the numerous deaths across the Galaxy, and fighting through the pain was far beyond difficult. But the Jedi Master drew deep within himself, took a long, careful breath. He knew he could not concentrate on the losses; that would only slow him down. He needed to focus on getting off of Kashyyyk, and then finding help for whatever remained of the Jedi Order.

Tarfful and Chewbacca stopped in front of a small capsule in the middle of the woods. The former gestured toward it, and, in Shyriiwook, explained that this was all they could offer Master Yoda in the way of escape.

The little green man smiled. "My friends, thank you."

They nodded, then Chewbacca asked him where he was headed.

"Know, I do not. But guide me, the Force will."

The two Wookiees nodded. They did not understand the Force in the way their friend spoke of it, but they were confident in his ability to take care of himself. They only hoped that one day they would see him again, alive and well.

Yoda walked past the two of them, hopping into the escape pod. "Thank you, Tarfful, Chewbacca. Goodbye and may the Force be with you."

The two Wookiees roared their own farewells to Master Yoda. Then the doors closed, and he was off, shooting into space.

"Wow."

"Yeah," Acacia agreed. "Sorta what I thought when Cody explained it all to me."

"So, all this time, the Chancellor has been against us?" Obi-Wan asked. "Just waiting for the right moment to order our deaths?"

Acacia nodded, clenching the controls of the ship a little harder and gritting her teeth, fighting against the anger that tried to escape. "Looks that way."

Silence resounded in the cockpit for a few moments. Obi-Wan wished he had the time to think about and process the information that had just been dumped on his head, but he knew that, assuming it was all true, he could not afford an extra second to dwell on it right then. If there was one thing he knew for sure he could believe in, it was that the Chancellor was a persistent man. If everything Acacia had told him was true, and the Chancellor found out the two of them were alive, he would want them dead, and he would do everything in his power to ensure that their deaths came to pass. And, as it happened, the Chancellor had quite a bit of power.

Finally, Obi-Wan said, " We need to try to contact someone for help. This plane won't get us far enough."

Acacia nodded. "But how will we know whether or not we can trust them?"

"We won't. We'll simply have to hope for the best."

Acacia was surprised she had the energy to smirk. "You know you sound like Anakin?"

Obi-Wan gave her a wry smile. "Desperate times."

Acacia laughed a little as she finished. "Desperate measures."

Obi-Wan nodded at her, then leaned forward, pressing the comm button and speaking into the microphone to send out the distress call. "Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there? This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padawan Acacia Lars. Our clones turned on us. We need help."

Several moments of silence elapsed before he sent out the message again. And again. And again. When Obi-Wan sent out his call for the 5th time, Acacia banged her head on the dashboard, not bothering to voice the fact that it seemed like they were going to be stuck out there for a very long time.

She was just about to tell her Master to give it up when a voice came crackling over the line. "Master Kenobi? Are you still there?"

"Yes!" Obi-Wan winked at his padawan; he'd known exactly what she was thinking.

"Oh, it's a good thing I found you! Senator Bail Organa, at your service. You're not the only one whose clones turned on you. I've been in contact with Master Yoda and the same thing happened to him. Plus, there was an attack at the Temple."

They gasped. "Is he alright?" Obi-Wan asked. "And they attacked the Temple?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes, and yes," Bail replied. "I was there."

"Were the Jedi able to get out?"

"I saw Mace leading several away. He said they had a place to escape, but didn't give many details. I'll explain all I know to you soon, since my ship is coming for yours. We're only about a parsec away."

"Alright," Obi-Wan said. "Over and out."

"Do you think Anakin's OK?" Acacia asked, after the communication was cut off.

Obi-Wan nodded, though he himself was not convinced. "You know Anakin, Acacia."

"Yes, I do." And that's exactly why I'm worried.

Padme stared out her window, watching the Temple as it burned. She was supposed to be preparing for her departure to Naboo in a few days, but this new development kept her glued to the windows.

Was Anakin there? Was he still alive? When would he come home to her?

She heard approaching footsteps behind, and turned to see her gold protocol droid, C-3PO, coming towards her. "We haven't been able to get any communication through to the Temple, but we will keep trying," he said. "Is there anything else I can get for you, Milady?

Padme turned back to the window and put her hand over her mouth, swallowing and blinking, trying to hold back her tears. "No thank you, 3PO." The droid Anakin had given her was wonderful, but the only thing that could help her right now was her husband home and in her arms.

She continued to stare out at the once-great Temple, now engulfed in flames, as if she could somehow will home. She looked and looked until she could see it no more. Until it was blurred by her river of tears.

Oh, Anakin, please be all right. Please come home to me.

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