The darkness was thick and heavy around the detention center. Anakin had no doubt that Palpatine was there. He had stolen a Republic troop shuttle that had ferried clones to the Senate. It wasn't Anakin's preferred ship, but it had blasters and decent speed along with clearance to land at the detention center where clone troopers were stationed on the landing pad. Far too many of them. The center was on lockdown.

Anakin targeted the guns that were at the edge and unleashed a volley of bolts. Most of the clones ducked for cover, while a few started firing back. Anakin pushed on the steering yoke. The shuttle took a nosedive. Clones ran and jumped out of the way. Before the shuttle crashed, Anakin dashed out of the cockpit and leapt out of the side door.

He felt the explosion above him as he freefell. The long tower whirled by him to his right. He kept his eyes focused on the metal roofs that were fast approaching. He put his arms in front of him and used the Force to push against the roofs to slow himself down. He gently landed and glanced up at the burning and smoking landing pad far above him. No one seemed to have noticed Anakin. No one was coming after him.

He ran to the end of the roof and jumped down to a narrow alley. Again, he used the Force to slow his fall. The Dark Side was thicker down here. Anakin followed its pull as it led him deeper into the belly of Coruscant. Eventually, it tugged him back toward the detention center. Did it extend down this far? Possibly. He wasn't too far below the surface. He ignited Vader's red saber and cut a hole into a wall. He entered into a thin dark hallway lined with thick wires and tubes. It must be a service hallway.

The darkness was so thick it felt like he was wading in it. It clung to his skin. He breathed it into his lungs. It was disgusting. He had never felt anything this vile before. It left his tongue sour and made him think of something rotting. His skin was crawling and his hair was standing on end. His throat was tight and he was growing nauseated. He swallowed hard and pushed on.

He turned a corner and saw two figures down the hall. Palpatine stood over Luke, who was on the ground. He was trembling and sweaty. Fear and pain radiated out of him, and Palpatine was soaking it up. There was a twisted smile on his lips. Anger flared inside of Anakin, and a raging hot darkness flooded through him. He grit his teeth and let out a soft growl. His hand gripped his saber tighter.

He was going to kill Palpatine. He was tired of this man's games. He was right here. Anakin started to walk towards them. Suddenly a wave of pain and hatred slammed into him. He staggered on his feet for a moment. What was that? Where had that come from? It felt so sharp. But it wasn't putrid, which was how everything from Palpatine felt. Was it . . . was it coming from Luke? Was he reaching for the Dark Side?

Palpatine laughed.

Of course, he was somehow behind this. He was behind everything. Anakin just needed to kill him. End it all. He could. He would. Right here. Right now. He . . .

Hadn't he already made this decision before? Back on the Invisible Hand, he had chosen to fight instead of saving Padmé. He raised his hand holding the lightsaber, pulled it back, and threw the saber. It spun as it hurled down the hallway directly at Palpatine, but of course, the old man sensed it coming. However, he had been too focused on Luke. He had noticed it a bit too late. The saber hissed as it sliced through Palpatine's hand, and he let out an angry scream.

Anakin ran down the hall to Luke. He summoned his blade back to him and swung it down at the injured Sith. A red beam instantly snapped to life in Palpatine's free hand.

"Anakin," Palpatine hissed at him. Anakin couldn't decide if he was pleased to see him or angry. It didn't matter.

"Chancellor," Anakin grunted back as he pulled back his blade and stabbed it forward.

"I was hoping you would come," Palpatine purred.

The hairs on the back of Anakin's neck stood on end again. He didn't like this. It was a trap. He snapped up his left hand and unleashed a volley of lightning. The red bolts zapped through the air, but Palpatine had somehow managed to free his good hand and now blue lightning was streaking out of his fingers. Anakin grunted as he pushed his own lightning on.

"Luke!" he called over his shoulder. "Luke! Are you ok?"

Luke was pushing himself up to his feet. His movement was stiff and painful. His body moved with shuddering breaths. When Luke looked up at him, his face was pale and sweaty. The kid nodded. Anakin pushed one strong wave of lightning, enough to push Palpatine off balance but not enough to overpower him. It allowed just enough time to grab Luke by the arm and drag him down the hallway.

Behind them, Palpatine laughed, but he didn't pursue them. No lightning chased them either.

"That was too easy," Luke muttered under his breath as he glanced back.

Anakin agreed, "This is a trap."

The two continued on, but they weren't moving as fast as Anakin would have liked. Luke was injured, tired and moved slowly. Anakin debated on picking the kid up and throwing him over his shoulder. But would he actually move faster? And he wouldn't be free to defend or attack if it came to that.

The Force flared a warning. Anakin yanked Luke to the left side of the hall as the right side suddenly exploded. White smoke filled the air. As the ringing in his ears died down, he heard the sound of boots and plastoid armor. He tightened his grip on Luke's arm and flung him ahead. The stun bolt just barely missed them. Anakin pushed Luke's back as the half ran half stumbled down the hall. Clones were crawling out of the hole and firing stun bolts at them. Anakin summoned the Force and yanked on some tubes to fall to block the path behind him.

Was this the trap? There was another explosion. This time ahead of them and to the left. Clone troopers poured out. Their blasters raised. Anakin pushed Luke down to the ground and jumped over him. His red lightsaber was out and deflecting the bolts. Yes, this was the trap. It was simple. Overwhelm them with clones and stun bolts in a confined space. They had to find a way out of it.

Anakin used the Force to rip a metal sheet off the wall. They were now caged in by the metal sheet on one end and the fallen tubes behind them. Anakin fell to his knees and dug his saber into the floor. He carved a circle and then Force pushed it.

"We go lower," Anakin said.

Luke was breathing heavily next to him. Anakin didn't even wait for Luke to say anything or even nod. Anakin grabbed Luke's arm, threw him down the hole and jumped after him. They were again on another service level. Anakin didn't even bother going down the hall. Instead, he carved another hole. They jumped down to another hall.

"How far are we going to go?" Luke asked as he glanced up at the hole now two stories deep.

"Until we get out of this trap," Anakin grunted. "Look for a sewer line or some ventilation shafts."

They walked cautiously down the hallway. Both of them were on edge waiting for troopers to come blasting through the wall again. There were sounds behind them coming from the hole. Shouts. Echos of boots.

"Here," Luke said. His voice wavered. He pointed at the side of a large pipe, which was large enough for them to fit in, though it would be a tight fit.

Anakin carved a hole into it. It appeared to be a sewer line. Anakin and Luke were hunched over as they made their way through the ankle-high murky water.

"Think. We're. Free?" Luke asked. After each word, he had to take a breath. He was fading.

"No," Anakin said. He had been trying to reach out into the Force. But it felt cloudy and thick by the Dark Side. He had no doubt this was Palpatine's doing. Anakin couldn't sense if they were being followed. "He had a fake Palpatine at the Senate. Did he somehow predict our attack? Was it a mere coincidence? But he was already here. For you. With a trap. And I don't think we're out of it yet." He gave Luke a reassuring nod. "But we will get out of it."


Luke awoke to a ceiling only inches away from his face. He was disoriented for a moment before he recalled where he was. He rolled over to look at the small dormitory room in the warehouse they had taken over for their hideout. His body was sore as he rolled out of the bunk. He glanced at the dirty pile of clothes he had worn to the detention center. His lightsaber laid on top. He ignored it for now and padded out into the hallway on bare feet. He wore light grey sweats they had found left in the dorms. They were about two sizes too big and smelled, but it was better than his other clothes.

He shuffled down the hallway. The old lights made a buzzing sound. The air was moist and humid. Already he felt wet and sticky. He half recalled being shown a sonic shower when he first arrived here with Anakin after they had finally escaped the detention center. Anakin had been right. The Emperor had planted a trap for them. He had set up a ray shield and that was why there hadn't been more troopers chasing after them. There was nowhere to go.

"Except down," Anakin had said.

"What?" Luke asked.

"No matter what, ray shields have limits. Either we go and find the shield generator, but most likely it's back that way and well guarded. Or we go down. Coruscant extends for hundreds of levels down until you reach the actual land of the planet. The shield can't reach that far."

"So we . . . go down?"

Anakin stabbed his lightsaber into the floor. It had taken them hours of carving out floors and walls and tubes and wires and fighting off the occasional clone trooper. But eventually, they freed themselves. Luke was barely conscious at that point. Anakin had found a speeder and had flown them here to this hiding spot Vader had found. Luke had barely been awake for the short tour before he slipped into these old sweats and passed out on a bunk.

He entered a small cafeteria. The place was empty, but there was a pile of packaged food on a table. He looked over the pile. It was mostly ration bars as well as a few snacks that looked to have been raided from a snack machine. He took a bag of salty crisps. He knew the ration bar would have been the better choice, but at the moment he wanted something with taste. He glanced around to see if there was a caf machine.

Caf in hand and licking the salt off his fingers, he headed back into the hall. Now that he was waking up he recalled that this place was far from the Senate building and the Jedi Temple in some warehouse and factory sector. Like the rest of this odd planet, even factories had been built on top of factories, and this place was one of those places that had just been abandoned and forgotten.

Except it hadn't. Not completely. In Luke's timeline, some rebels had used it as a hideout. He had to admit it made a good one. It was an old bacta processing and shipping plant. There was even a small bit of bacta left in some barrels. There was a small dormitory for the factory workers. With it being on Imperial Center, it was a good base to use against the Empire. That was until Darth Vader was tasked with finding and destroying it.

It was odd that Vader's experience with routing out rebels and their hiding places provided the knowledge they were now using to hide from the galaxy. It felt like he was back in his own time. They were fugitives wanted by the galaxy. But this felt lonelier. At least back in his time there were always other rebels. But here . . . there was just them.

"You could have ended this by now."

Luke shook his head. He did not need to be hearing that voice. He went down a set of stairs and soon found himself in a large, mostly empty hangar. The Light Keeper was in one corner along with the speeder Anakin and Luke had used to get here. But there was still a lot of unused space. Clearly, this hangar had been made for large cargo ships. Off to the far side was Vader practicing with his red lightsaber.

Luke cautiously approached. He watched as his father moved through a seamless set of katas. Suddenly, Vader stopped. He let out a growl of frustration as he gripped the lightsaber with both hands and glared at it. He deactivated it, clipped it on to his belt, and brought out a second lightsaber. Anakin's lightsaber. At once the blue blade hissed to life. Once again, Vader started to go through his moves.

Vader was moving better this time. Luke thought Vader was really good before, but now he was in awe. The blue blade was constantly moving, a never-ending ribbon that danced around Vader. There was something soothing about watching it. Vader ended the move set and looked down at the lightsaber. He rotated it this way and that way as if examining it closely. He sighed as he deactivated it.

It was then he looked up and noticed Luke. His blue eyes widened in surprise a small fraction, but it was short-lived. His face soon fell back into his neutral scowl amongst the pale scarred skin.

"You're awake," Vader said as he walked over to Luke. "Are you rested, now? Do you feel fine?"

Vader's stern tone and grumpy face did not quite match the words of concern he was trying to express. It was amusing in a way, and a small smile grew on Luke's lips.

"I'm still tired," Luke said. "Like I could sleep a week. But I'm more hungry. Anything to eat besides those ration bars?"

Vader folded his arms across his chest. "We've been trying to limit how much we go out, but next time we might look into better food. But you are sure you are feeling fine? You slept for quite a while."

"How long?"

"It's been a day since you got here."

"Sounds about right," Luke muttered.

Vader unfolded his arms. His right arm reached out towards Luke, but then suddenly stopped. His hand flinched. Was he trying to be comforting? Put a hand on Luke's shoulder perhaps? Vader must have realized how awkward he looked and snapped his arm down. There was a slight pinkness to his cheeks. Luke put his cup to his lips to hide his growing smile even though he had already finished all of his caf.

Vader updated Luke on their situation as they walked back across the hangar towards the warehouse. Nuvo Vindi was working on his virus-cure for the clones' chips. He was constantly under watch, to which Nuvo hated and complained about loudly. Ahsoka was resting in a scraped-together bacta tank with whatever small bit of bacta they had found. They weren't completely sure what to do with her. None of them had the medical expertise to deal with her injuries. Padmé was still unconscious, but they were hopeful she would awaken soon.

If the clones weren't watching Nuvo, then they mostly were sticking to themselves. A few did patrols of the factory. Mostly they watched the holonet on an old holo table. They especially watched the news about the attack on the Senate. It claimed that Grievous had gotten away, but that was questionable.

"Sidious still needs his war," Vader grumbled. "He still needs the Jedi spread thin. He needs the fear to get the vote to name him Emperor. He needs the Jedi to try and attack him. It makes a better narrative for the Republic to think their enemy is still lurking out there."

"Surely he must be trying to wrap this all up soon," Luke said. "He now knows that we're trying to work against him."

"Yes, and everything has gone to nine Corellian hells. This time is clearly off the path of the previous one."

"Do you still believe that it's destined to copy our time? That no matter what we do here, it's all in vain? The Empire will still rise? I mean . . . Look at Anakin. You were right . . . he's falling to the Dark Side."

Vader unhooked his red lightsaber hilt from his belt. He looked down at it. Neither one said anything. They walked quietly, each in their own thoughts. They had gone back upstairs into the dormitory kitchen. Luke was cleaning his cup when Ben walked in. Luke was at first surprised to see him, but then remembering he had helped Vader rescue Padmé and Ahsoka.

"Luke, good to see you're up," Ben said pleasantly.

Vader's mood instantly soured. He clipped the lightsaber to his belt and narrowed his eyes at the Jedi. Apparently going on a rescue mission together had not soothed over their relationship.

"I hope you're feeling better," Ben said ignoring the chill coming off Vader.

"I am," Luke replied. "Though I feel like I could eat a whole bantha and then sleep some more."

Ben nodded. "I came here to tell you two that Padmé is awake. She would like to see you. Both of you."

Vader instantly straightened up. "How long has she been awake?" he asked.

"Several hours now," Ben said.

"Why wasn't I informed sooner?"

"Why should you have been?" Ben asked, raising a single eyebrow. "Anakin has been at her side this whole time."

Vader let out a soft growl and marched past Ben, who shook his head then followed Vader out. Luke was the last out and followed the other two to a different part of the factory. It seemed nicer. Perhaps this had been some sort of laboratory where they tested the quality of the bacta as he saw lots of holding tanks and tables with flasks and beakers.

They entered one of these rooms that had been transformed into a medical room. A bed had been dragged in, which is where Padmé sat. Anakin sat in a chair directly next to her. The two were holding hands. Kix, the medic clone, stood nearby as well as Rex and Jesse. With the addition of Ben, Vader, and Luke, the room was crowded. They made a ring around Padmé's bed. Luke stood at the foot with the clones to his right.

"Thank you for coming," Padmé said.

Luke wondered if she should be up. Her face was pale and thin. There were dark bags under her eyes. Vader stood next to Luke's left. He had gone stiff and tense. Padmé was staring directly at him.

"Anakin has caught me up with all that has happened," she said.

Ben nodded. Had he also been caught up on all that had happened? It would be good if everyone was on the same page.

"I called you all here because we need to strategize," Padmé said.

"No," Vader said at once.

All eyes were on him.

"No?" Padmé asked.

"You're not well," Vader growled. "We will not risk your health. Strategies can wait."

"No, they cannot," Padmé said. It looked like she was about to push herself out of bed, but Anakin put a hand on her arm.

"Please," he murmured softly.

Padmé took in a sharp breath then glared back at Vader.

"You don't get to decide what's best for my health. I thought we already established this. And my health and the health of my babies have already been put at risk. I will not sit here and allow Sheev Palpatine to plot against me or my family or the Republic. This has to end now."