Ahsoka felt honored that her escort included half a dozen clones pointing their rifles at her and the same amount of clones assassins. Getting away with her sabers would be easy, but that was only if she acted now. Anakin was strong, and Sidious knew that the only way that the only way of keeping him controlled was to control the lives of the people he cared about. So if he was going to act without anything holding him back, she had to get away.

"Hold troopers," a commanding voice said, and it sounded familiar to her. Even if every clone had an almost identical voice.

Looking up from the ground, she saw two clones standing were standing in front her escorting clones. Without a doubt, those two were Rex and Fives.

"This interruption better be good, trooper. We're escorting a high priority prisoner under orders from the Emperor himself," one of the Assassins said, his tone cool and curt.

"Is that so? Well, you won't be able to go anywhere. All our starships have been sabotaged," Fives said.

"By who?" the Assassin asked.

"I'm unsure of their identity, but there are scorch marks lining the engine. Doesn't look like a result of any sort of blaster fire. And if it was, we would've heard it," Rex said.

"You suspect some Jedi may be loose around the building?" the Assassin asked.

"Possibly. But it's..." Rex and Fives suddenly dived away, and each clone suddenly looked up as Ahsoka smiled.

Master Yoda, who appeared as nothing more than a green blur for a moment, dived into the middle of the group and pushed his hands outward. Ahsoka leaped away, and the Assassins had the agility to do so as well, but the regular clones were not so fortunate and ended up being blasted back by the powerful wave of Force energy.

Ahsoka pulled her sabers back off the belt of the Clone Assassin and ignited them, cutting free of her bindings in an instant. Three of the Assassins went for her, and the other half went after Yoda. Though the ones that went after Ahsoka didn't expect several blaster bolts in the back.

The Togruta in question grabbed the remaining Assassin by the throat and crushed his neck by tightening her hand.

"Anakin was completely right. To use this technique, you didn't have to feel a thing for your enemy," Ahsoka thought as she continued forward.

Yoda easily evaded the swipes of the Assassins that focused on him while decapitating one in the middle of his leap. The second one didn't even get a chance for a second attack before he Ahsoka pulled him towards her. The Assassin stared down at the white saber that pierced his chest before falling over. The third was quickly outmatched by the small Jedi, and he went down with a lightsaber in his chest.

"Thanks," Ahsoka said as she deactivated her sabers.

"So much for being undercover," Rex said wryly as he twirled and holstered his blasters.

"Attacked from far off, we did. Attract attention, we should not have," Yoda said, his hands hidden in the sleeves of his robes.

"So what's the plan now? I doubt announcing that Ahsoka's free will do any good for Anakin," Fives said.

"We can't just sit around do nothing. There's no doubt the slimy bastard is trying to sink his claws into Anakin's head..." Ahsoka growled.

"Focus, young Tano. Do us no good, losing your head will," Yoda warned her.

"I'm not losing my head. The anger is what keeps me focused," Ahsoka corrected, and it was the absolute truth. She and Anakin both could think clearly through anger. It was one of the main things Anakin drilled into her head while they were away.

Embrace your anger. Let it strengthen you. Denying your emotions made you no better than a Jedi.

But never give in and commit yourself to it. It made you no better than a Sith. Balance was important.

"Charging in won't do any good. The two of you can sneak in while me and Fives get these bodies out of sight," Rex said to Ahsoka and Yoda.

"If you're caught, just try not to get overwhelmed. Run if you have to," Ahsoka warned.

"We'll see. Now go," Rex said as he and Fives turned towards the bodies.

"I'm coming Anakin," Ahsoka thought as she and Yoda turned back towards the Senate building.


Narrowly ducking a straight stab that came from Dooku, Anakin raised his second saber to block the furious onslaught coming from Sidious, whose face was formed into a sadistic grin. The kinda of grin that always meant the Sith was enjoying himself. Because he and Anakin both knew he couldn't outduel the Sith with access to only one hand.

Flipping backwards to give himself space, Anakin lifted the desk and tossed it at Dooku. With an easy turn of the saber, Dooku cut the desk in half and it split into two different pieces that flew to both sides of him. But he was unprepared for the Force Lightning that barreled into his gut less than a second after the desk.

Meeting in midair, Anakin's two black sabers met Sidious' two red ones as they both went for a double kick that sent them flying on the opposite sides of the room. Both combatants cushioned the blow before it did any serious damage and fired a bolt of Lightning as soon they landed.

White and purple lightning met in midair; the force of the two opposing energies fighting for dominance. The room resonated with a harsh crackling sound, smaller lightning bolts breaking from the main bolts and impacting off the walls.

Concentrating on maintaining his Lightning while reaching out with the Force, the walls around him started to bend until parts of the wall broke off. Each broken piece was about the size of a Jawa, and Anakin wasted no time in launching them at Sidious with all the force of a bullet.

Forcing to stop his lightning in favor of dodging the projectiles Sidious quickly evaded to the side while his sabers diced the debris coming his way. Then he lifted the two halves of his old desk and imbued them with Lightning. As Anakin ran across the room towards Sidious, he immediately halted in his tracks and raised his hands when he zeroed in on the two halves of the desk that were imbued with lightning.

Dooku had started to rise as Anakin wrested control of one of the halves Sidious was carrying. And, instead of impacting both into each other for a stalemate, Anakin opted to dodge the half Sidious launched towards him and sent his half at Dooku. The Sith barely got out of the way of the impact, diving himself towards Anakin who quickly raised his sabers in time to avoid getting stabbed in the back.

"You're in over your head Skywalker," Dooku said before breaking away. And it was a mistake.

Knowing that Dooku used the Force or spun away when being pressured, he caught his knee with a stab and the second one was quick enough to take Dooku's right hand off.

"In over your head, huh?" Anakin sarcastically retorted before kicking him in the face to knock him down. And immediately had to dodge the bolt of lightning Sidious sent at him while his back was turned.

"Your hate gives you focus. Makes you stronger," Sidious said before closing the distance. Anakin parried the attack before Sidious caught him with a kick that made him take a step back from the force of it.

Their sabers clashed with a speed so ferocious, even trained users of the Force would have a hard time keeping track. Anakin was fighting with a hard resolve; Sidious with the taint of the Dark Side that resided deep within his soul. But even considering the severity of the fight, the Sith Lord couldn't stop smiling.

"You can't lose this battle Anakin. You have so much to lose," Sidious said, a small amount of amusement in his tone. "Including the one you love."

"I don't plan on losing," Anakin said, parrying a saber to the side while landing a kick to Sidious' midsection that would've sent him flying had the Sith not recovered in midair.

Leaping past the Chancellor, Anakin kept his footing on the pod Palpatine used to address the entire Senate. The Sith joined Anakin on the pod, the both of them barely having any room to move on such a small platform. But both their stances were firm, and wouldn't give any ground.

"Know this Skywalker. No one stands against me, and does not pay the consequence," Sidious said as they locked sabers. Suddenly the Sith Lord's amusement was replaced with an almost casual glee. "Your family, I will find them. And you will watch them die."

"That's the issue. You have to find them first," Anakin said, an edge in his voice.

"Then it's a good thing there is someone I do have in my possession. How long do you think it would take before she breaks?" Sidious questioned casually. "You will live long enough to her suffer in front of you."

The change was immediate. Anakin was the one to break away from the saber lock, but got nicked in his shoulder with a casual angling of Sidious' lightsaber. If he noticed the pain, it only showed through his anger. Anger that threatening to boil over the surface. Something Sidious reveled in.

With a sudden rise of the knee, the Sith Lord hit Anakin in the stomach and got a kick in the face in retaliation that forced him to take a step back. Then, with a loud roar of rage, Anakin slammed his hand down on the machine, forcing Sidious to jump to one of the many Senate pods in order to avoid the shockwave.

Jumping to a different pod of his own, and ripping the Chancellor's pod from its place, Anakin tossed the pod with enough force to smash it and the pod Sidious was standing on.

The Sith Lord quickly jumped out of the way of the incoming projectile, his cackles reaching Anakin even from his position.

Raising both his hands and setting his sabers on his belt, Anakin wrenched six of the Senate pods from their place and tossed them at Sidious. The Sith Lord dodged to the side in a way that was reminiscent of Darth Maul before picking up two different pods of his own and launching them at Anakin, who leaped to a different pod in order to avoid them.

With his limited options, Sidious was forced to drop from the position he was standing as six more pods were being launched in his direction. Only this time, Anakin was using each one as a stepping stone in order to get close to Sidious. The rage was clear in his eyes, and that was probably why his actions were like instinct rather than skill.

As Anakin came down while igniting one of his lightsabers, Sidious held a hand out and caught the last Skywalker by the throat. His grip on him didn't last long when Anakin let out a Force Push that knocked the Sith flat on his back while letting go of Anakin's throat. He raised his two sabers up to block Anakin's attack came down, and dived out of the way to avoid Anakin's attack that sliced the seat in half.

Anakin then went for a wide arced swing that made his left side vulnerable. Something Sidious had seen and was going to take advantage of. But almost as soon as he saw it, Anakin's free hand had a lightsaber in it and was rising up towards his arm.

Just barely pulling his arm back in time, he lost his second lightsaber due to the quick slash. If he was any lesser of a duelist, he would've lost his hand.

Sidious ignored the loss of his saber and fired a volley of Lightning from the same hand, knocking Anakin right lightsaber out of his hand. But he was just as easily able to absorb the Lightning with it. While his left hand was still moving, locking Sidious' lightsaber in place.

The Sith Lord's Lightning was far harder to hold than Dooku's, and Anakin found his empty hand wavering trying to keep it contained. Something the Sith Lord noticed, and was smiling viciously; as if he had already won.

"He is winning. But not the duel," Anakin thought, a thought of clarity making its way through the anger and hatred. The focus of negative emotions that made him weaker. Because Ahsoka's life was in the balance.

And there's no way she would want him to lose because of her. He knew exactly what she would say to him in this situation.

"Don't let him get to you Anakin. You're better than he is, and he knows it. That's why he wants to turn you to his side. You taught me that embracing your emotions, never letting them control you was the true path. Well, prove it!"

She could die. It was a risk they all took whenever they fought. And they all fought with a purpose. The purpose to end the war. All of the death. A purpose that would never see light if they lost.

Anakin closed his eyes and his face relaxed from the expression of hatred that made Sidious drop his grin. When the last Skywalker opened them, his eyes were full of anger. But not the hatred from before. One eye was blue, and the other yellow. Balance. Balance was the true way of the Force.

"The Force is all things. And I am the Force."

Tightening his metal hand into a fist, Sidious' eyes widened in shock when electricity started to spark between them. In Anakin's metal hand. A feat that should've been impossible. Looking to Skywalker's face, he saw his lips shape into a smirk before his lightning reacted with the compressed ball of energy in his hand. Then...

Boom.


Ahsoka lifted the clone in front of her with the Force and decapitated him in the middle of her jump while leaping over another. He wasn't even quick enough to blink more than once before Ahsoka's blades cut him in half. Her expression was so stone faced, no one could've detected what she was thinking.

Yoda was similarly cutting his way through a group of clones, taking the clones down with efficiency and detachment.

It was obvious that all the ruckus going on in the Galactic Senate Chamber alerted the clones to the fact that they had intruders. But it was fortunate that they ran into the clones first, and not Anakin in the midst of his fight. He was good, but Dooku was no pushover. And Palpatine was liable to be even more powerful.

Fighting their way to the Chancellor's office, the first thing Ahsoka noticed when she stepped in the office was Dooku lying in a corner while cradling his stump of an arm. She wasted no time in forcing him against the wall, her saber raised as she advanced towards the Sith.

"Stop!" Yoda exclaimed, his eyes alert as he looked at Ahsoka. "Kill him unarmed, you should not."

"That all depends on him," Ahsoka growled, not even sparing the Jedi Master a glance as focused on Dooku. "I'm only going to ask you once, old man. Where is Anakin?"

"Ascended to the top," Dooku said, gesturing towards the raised platform. Ahsoka looked towards it, and set Dooku down.

Glaring at him as if she was decided on whether or not to spare him, Ahsoka stood there for a moment to make the decision. But her priority was Anakin. And that's who she was going to go to. So she immediately started running to the main chambers.

But Yoda did not follow. He neared the fallen Dooku, who was obviously in a lot of pain. But that wasn't the reason he wasn't trying to fight. Not only would he not win, but he had no desire to even try to. Something about being defeated so casually... almost easily drained the fight out of him.

"Win, your master may not," Yoda said, his hands behind his back.

"I know," Dooku said, looking back at the elevated platform. The loud crashing that could be heard even from here let both old men know that the fight was still ongoing. Skywalker's power and speed... it was unlike he had ever seen of any other Jedi before. That was why his master wanted him as his servant. Why he would've cast Dooku off if he succeeded.

"Your goal, this was?" Yoda questioned, gesturing to the destroyed room.

"No. The Jedi were not good for this galaxy," Dooku said.

"And good for the galaxy, this is?" Yoda asked.

He didn't sound angry. In the years of learning from him, the Jedi never sounded angry. He hardly even raised his voice. But he could tell that Yoda had lost his patience. If only a little.

"You don't understand. You never understood. You were all fools subjecting yourself to serving people that would rather serve themselves," Dooku spat.

"Keepers of the peace, we were meant to be. Meant to rule others, we were not," Yoda told him.

"And serving a very selfish and rotten government is one of the main reasons why there will never be peace. Your philosophies are weak. Flawed. I understood that. Sidious understood it. I even think Skywalker and Tano get it. But the Jedi never have. And because of that, your weakness cost you everything," Dooku said, his tone low and dangerous.

"Not everything. Still standing, I am. While I stand, survive the Jedi will," Yoda said, staring at his old apprentice with pity. Dooku turned away, his expression disgusted. He had nothing more to say to the old fool.


"Not my best idea," Anakin said with a groan as he picked himself up off the ground, which was all the way at the bottom. Section of his robes were burned away and showing skin, but other than that, he didn't suffer any physical damage.

His Lightning reacted badly with the buildup in his hand, and it let off a detonation that had potential to kill a regular person. That is, before the fall finished them off. But he managed to cushion both blows, so he was hardly any worse for wear.

Not giving himself the time to brood on it, Anakin jumped in the air and climbed up to a pod. And continued to climb until he reached the spot where Sidious was at. He knew if he spent much time thinking about how deadly the explosion was, he was giving the Sith time to get away. And that couldn't be allowed to happen.

Though by the looks of things, Sidious wasn't getting away any time soon.

However bad the explosion should've messed up Anakin, it showed itself on the Sith.

Like Anakin, sections of his robes were burnt away to where skin was revealed. But that the worst part was his arm. It looked mangled and burnt - like it was shoved into a meat grinder and then nearly burnt away with a flamethrower. When Anakin reached him, his wheezing quickly turned into a laugh.

"Hardly a scratch on you. And yet, I find myself in this condition, Sidious said, his good arm gesturing towards his mangled one.

"Because I had the foresight to try and mitigate the damage. But that doesn't matter now," Anakin said, pointing his saber towards Sidious' throat. "It's over."

"Indeed it is. I am weak. Unarmed. And completely at your mercy," Sidious said as Anakin's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Do it. Strike me down. Take your revenge. You are more than fit to rule; the galaxy yours for the taking."

Ahsoka watched from a distance, seeing Anakin hold his saber over Sidious. Her loyalty wasn't to the Jedi or the Senate. It was to the man up there, who she loved to death. And she wanted him to make a decision that was better for him and the galaxy. Whether he killed Sidious or spared him, it wasn't a wrong decision. He just had to make a good one.

Anakin's lip curled as he stared into Sidious' eyes, his saber at the man's throat. One push forward with a flick, and Sidious would be headless. Dead. Never to hurt anyone ever again. Not the innocent. Not the Jedi. Not his family. Not Ahsoka. And he loathed the man with all of his being. It would be so easy to give in.

But the Jedi didn't deserve the fate they were given. They may have been fools, but they didn't deserve to be slaughtered. The Jedi deserved the right to decide what to do with him. And what they wanted to do was to keep Sidious alive so they could change things.

Anakin raised his lightsaber high in the air, as if coming down for a killing blow. But he only turned it off, his anger relaxing into a more mellow distaste.

Sidious' smile disappeared immediately as Anakin closed his eyes. Then he immediately opened them, staring at the fallen Sith with an expression that matched his mood.

"I despise you with every fiber of my being, and I don't think you deserve to live. But you don't deserve to die as a martyr. When you die, you will die with all the dignity of a common criminal. There will be no one to mourn your death. And you will have no one to blame but yourself," Anakin said before knocking Sidious out with a right hook.

Unbeknownst to each other, Anakin and Ahsoka both let out a sigh at the same time. Though Ahsoka's was one of relief, and Anakin's one a mix of exasperation and relief. Sidious was taken down, but there was still much work to do.

After all, trying to bring balance to the Force wasn't something you could do in time for dinner.


A/N: I wanted to stretch this out longer, but I don't feel as if it would fit. So I'll just pick up next chapter.