Star Wars
The Supreme Commander
Chapter 10
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"This is Supreme Commander Anakin Skywalker with an urgent message." The citizens of Coruscant looked up from their dinner, interested to hear what the famous war hero had to say. While the common citizen was weary and distrustful of the Jedi, they had always respected General Skywalker. He had served as a beacon of light in the war, and his heroism and persona had served to humanize the Jedi Order.
After a brief pause, he continued, "For three years, the Clone Wars have raged on in the galaxy. Millions of innocents have been caught in the crossfire, and thousands of worlds have been devastated. Many of you might go hungry for days because of the poor state of the economy. As the leader of the Grand Army of the Republic, working closely with my Clone Commanders and the Jedi, we have searched relentlessly for the Sith Lord pulling the strings and at last, I have found him. The man that is behind the suffering and death. The man that brought the galaxy to its knees and caused suffering for many of you."
From his office, Chancellor Palpatine could see the broadcasts playing out, and he grew nervous. "Amedda, censor the broadcast. I don't like where this is going."
"That's what I came here for. We've been locked out," the Vice-Chancellor exclaimed as he rushed over to the viewport as he saw hundreds of holograms of the Supreme Commander laid out across the city.
Palpatine's eyes widened in horror, "cut the power across the planet!"
"We can't do that either sir. Maintenance isn't responding." Palpatine's eyes widened in horror. His plans were unraveling right in front of him.
The citizens watched as it cut to footage with a hooded man, "Lord Tyrannus, you and General Grievous will launch an attack on the city and kidnap me. This will draw out Skywalker and we can turn him. With Skywalker on our side, the Jedi will be helpless to resist us."
The citizens were horrified as they recognized the face of Palpatine under the hood. Their Chancellor, the man that had always acted in their interest, was really the one behind the war?
"As you can see, Chancellor Palpatine has been pulling the strings from the beginning. He has deceived you, me, and everyone else in the galaxy. Now I ask you to please clear the way. Look to the skies, that is where you'll find me." People began to panic and the Senate district was quickly being deserted.
Palpatine looked out of the window of his office and sure enough, Skywalker's fleet had just emerged from hyperspace. Palpatine could count thirty from where he was, and surely more were out there but invisible to the naked eye.
"Foolish boy," Palpatine said as he contacted Commander Rex. The image of the former Captain Rex appeared and Palpatine smiled.
"Commander Rex, execute order sixty-six," Palpatine said with satisfaction. Skywalker wouldn't be able to launch an attack if all his Clones had turned on him.
"My apologies Lord Sidious, I don't recognize your authority," responded the leader of the 501st as he cut the communication.
Palpatine stood frozen. How could this have happened? His programming was fine? Had the Jedi figured it out? Who could have possibly screwed him here? He punched the number for the Coruscant Guard, "Commander Fox?" Palpatine asked, praying Fox wouldn't turn on him.
"Yes sir?"
"Mobilize your forces. Supreme Commander Skywalker is leading a coup. Scramble the Coruscant Police and order the defense fleet to open fire. Send a detachment to my office. I will lead an attack on the Jedi Temple."
"Yes sir, right away sir," Commander Fox responded before Palpatine ended the call. Palpatine was relieved that he at least could rely on Commander Fox. He entered in the codes to relay to all clone commanders. "Execute order sixty-six." Within moments, Palpatine could feel the deaths of many Jedi around the galaxy. It wasn't as effective as he anticipated, but he at least had a portion of the Clone Army on his side.
He felt a tingle in the force and he looked out the window and more and more ships were coming out of hyperspace and opening fire on the Coruscant defense fleet. Palpatine entered in the codes to recall the loyal Clone forces to Coruscant.
"The Jedi will learn that this move was a mistake," he said as he raised his hood over his head. The doors opened and Commander Fox walked in followed by a detachment of soldiers and the Red Guard. "We will go to the Jedi Temple and wipe out the Jedi Order for their actions against the Republic."
"Yes sir," answered Commander Fox as he turned and led the detachment out of the building. When they had reached the hangar, fifty gunships awaited the troopers and Palpatine boarded one. They took flight and the whole detachment raced towards the Jedi Temple.
"Commander Fox, get us as close as you can to the Jedi Temple," Palpatine ordered. As the gunships rose, he looked back towards his office and noticed that a couple Jedi Masters had infiltrated his office. He cackled when he realized that the Jedi Temple would most likely be without its greatest defenders. Master Yoda and Master Windu had tried to corner him in his office during the attack. They were too late.
As they landed in front of the Jedi Temple, troopers started pouring out of the gunships and lining up in attack formation. Palpatine walked to the front of the formation and ignited his two lightsabers. "Operation Nightfall has begun," he said as he started leading the troopers up the stairs.
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"Master Tapal, you have three ships on your tail," Anakin warned as they raced down to the surface of Coruscant.
"I see them," the Lasat said as he dipped and weaved to shake the fighters. He turned sharply and fired on the Clones, destroying two of the ships. The third ship began firing, grazing his fighter. "Karabast!"
Anakin swung around and just before the fighter could land the finishing shot, Anakin lit up the fighter, destroying it. He then weaved up and down, attracting more fighters to his tail. "I'm picking up multiple fighters. I'll keep them focused on me so you guys can swing in behind and destroy them."
"No Anakin that's too risky," Obi-Wan said as he destroyed another ARC-170.
"Maybe for you Master, but not for me," shouted Anakin as he took evasive action, avoiding the lasers being sent his way.
The voice of Maul came over the comms. "Once we eliminate a good portion of the fighters, my team will stay up here and hold off any attacks. We need to get our capital ships within range so that we can destroy the defense fleet before more ships arrive."
"Agreed," said Master Secura. "I say we follow what Skywalker says. The ships will be vulnerable and they will be gunning for Skywalker since they know he's the most talented pilot here."
As Anakin attracted more and more enemy ships, the rest of the Jedi and their Clone wingmates fell in behind and started shredding the enemy fighters. At least forty ships had been destroyed in Skywalker's maneuver.
"That's the last of that batch," said Master Tapal as he gunned down the last ship.
"This is Admiral Yularen with an urgent message from General Windu."
"What is it Admiral?" Anakin asked as he made his way towards the enemy capital ships that had just started firing on them.
"The Jedi Temple is under attack by Palpatine and the Coruscant Guard. Master Yoda requests that you make your way down to the Temple as soon as you can."
"Master Tapal and Master Secura, can you handle the battle up here?" asked Anakin as he raced towards the surface, weaving in between fire from the capital ships.
"Don't worry about us Skywalker, we have it handled," Aayla answered as another wave of fighters converged on them.
"Maul can you spare some Mandalorians to come down and help us with the battle at the Temple?" Anakin asked.
"I will leave Saxon in charge of two squads and accompany you to the surface with a squad," Maul answered as he raced to catch up with Skywalker and Kenobi.
"Admiral, once we break the blockade, begin firing on the defense fleet," Anakin ordered as they made their way in between the enemy Venators. The fighters had by now noticed that the blockade was being broken and moved in.
"We have fighters on our tail," Obi-Wan said as they started the enemy fighters started to fire on them.
"I count twenty at most, it seems they are mainly focused on eliminating our capital ships," Anakin said.
"What is coming towards us," Obi-Wan asked. Anakin turned back around and spotted ten or so fighters coming from the planet surface.
"Jedi Generals, this is Senate Commando Captain Jonas, we are here to assist in your descent to the planet surface. We saw your transmission and communicated with Master Yoda at the Senate building. We'll deal with the enemy fighters, just get down to the Jedi Temple. The rest of our troops are deployed across the Senate District and are engaging the Coruscant Guard."
"Thank you Captain Jonas, when you eliminate the fighters, make your way back down to the surface and help your team out."
"Copy that."
As they breached the atmosphere, they could see the carnage that was engulfing the capital district. From up above, they could see the troops pouring into the Jedi Temple, and the Temple Guard engaging the Coruscant Guard.
"Oh my," Obi-Wan exclaimed as they took in the carnage on the surface.
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As the battle raged, Ahsoka sat meditating in Padme's apartment. She desperately wanted to aid her former master in the battle, but her mission to protect Senator Amidala as well as Senators Mothma, Organa, and Bonteri was more important. The fact that Anakin trusted her to protect his wife and soon to come child was an honor in and of itself. It showed how much he trusted his former Padawan's abilities.
She could feel the chaos and carnage going on around them. Luckily, Padme's apartment was far enough from the battle to not be caught up in it, but close enough where she could see distant blaster fire and lightsabers from the Jedi Temple.
She opened her eyes and across the sky she could see Jedi starfighters and Mandalorian fighters racing towards the Temple. Above them, she could make out the blaster fire of Venators tearing each other to pieces.
Despite all of this, she felt a certain calmness emanating from the building. She could feel the air conditioning unit running and the power grid moving energy into the building. Suddenly, she felt something. Footsteps. Hands gesturing to go quietly. A door being broken into. Her eyes shot open once again. She ignited her sabers and raced out of the room right as the door opened.
"Open f-," came the lead clone's voice but he was silenced as Ahsoka's blades separated his head from his body. Behind her, the various Senators she was protecting dropped to the ground and took cover. Ahsoka made her way through the Coruscant Guard forces that had tried to infiltrate the apartment.
As soon as they returned fire, she sent a massive push that flung the rest of the Clones tumbling down the stairs of the hallway. She turned to the opposite side of the hallway and noticed three men in red cloaks approaching her. "Kriff."
Wielding force pikes, the Red Guard were the new and improved Senate Commandos. They were highly trained warriors and though Ahsoka had never seen them in action, she knew that these people were handpicked by Palpatine to protect him and carry out other on-planet missions.
The first two Red Guards attacked Ahsoka and she quickly countered their attacks. The third one went to strike Ahsoka and she ducked the pike and sent a kick into the guards stomach and caused him to stumble back. She pressed the attack on the disoriented one and as they locked saber and pike, she felt a warning in the force and quickly backflipped over a guard, slashing his right leg. As the one guard fell, the disoriented one rejoined the fight and she was fighting two of them. The one to her left ran at her and she locked her saber with his pike. As the other one rushed her, she grabbed him with the force and started choking him. The first guard noticed this and he unlocked, jumping away from the momentum of her swing. Ahsoka stumbled and had to quickly jump over a pike aimed at her knee.
She quickly launched into a flurry of acrobatics and precise strikes. Tapping into her dark side, she unleashed a series of blows that the Red Guard couldn't keep up with. As she used both of her sabers to push his pike out of the way, she plunged her shoto blade into his chest. As she was withdrawing the blade, the final guardsman raced towards her and she barely had enough time to react. The pike slammed into her wrist causing her main blade to the ground. With just her shoto, she jumped and ducked the pike. She locked sabers again and could feel herself weakening.
A blaster shot was fired. The final Red Guard fell to the ground and Ahsoka looked up to see Captain Typho lowering his blaster. "You looked like you needed help," he said.
"Thanks," said Ahsoka as she walked into the apartment and locked the door. "What's troubling is those Clones were ordered to shoot to kill."
"Palpatine was probably gunning for me after Anakin's betrayal of him," said Padme as she came out of her hiding spot behind the couch.
"That or he wanted to eliminate the Delegation of 2000," added Ahsoka as she reached out into the force to search for more intruders.
Padme gasped, "there are two thousand people in this delegation. If he targeted everyone here, then does that mean he is attacking everyone else?"
Ahsoka knew the truth, and she could tell Padme knew too. "There's nothing we can do Senator. My job is to protect you all and I can't risk your security."
"I can stay and protect them," offered Captain Typho, stepping forward with a stern look on his face. Ahsoka could sense his determination, but sheer determination would not be enough.
Before today, Ahsoka may have allowed that and left to protect the other senators, but not right now. Not after everything she had been through these past couple weeks. "I'm sorry," Ahsoka said, "that is not my mission."
Tears fell down Padme's face and she turned and stared out the window. Ahsoka saw her reach down to her stomach, "I can feel the baby kicking. The baby can sense the turmoil and death around it."
"Your babies are strong with the force," Ahsoka said with a frown, "for better or worse they are hyper aware of their surroundings."
"Did you say babies?" asked Padme, turning to look at the Togurtan Jedi. A look of wonder was etched on her face.
"You are carrying twins," Ahsoka said, "I couldn't feel it until now. They have opened up to the force, and I can sense both of their signatures."
Padme looked down at her stomach in amazement. She had never imagined that she was carrying twins. Her motherly instincts told her she was carrying a boy, and she had no idea what gender her other baby was. "Can you sense if my second baby is a boy or a girl?"
"Unfortunately the signature is not that strong," Ahsoka said as she rested her hand on Padme's stomach, "all I can sense is two shining lights in the force emanating from your womb. This is why I must stay with you. I must protect the future of the Jedi Order."
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The scene of the Jedi Temple was grim to say the least. Palpatine and the Coruscant Guard had worked their way into the Jedi Temple, and the Temple Guards were outmatched against the sheer will of the Coruscant Guard. Many Jedi had been cut down, and Cin Drallig was having a hard time keeping the enemy at bay.
"We must engage the enemy at close range," Master Drallig yelled to Master Koon and Master Tinn.
"We can't get up close to them with a significant portion of us being gunned down," Master Koon yelled back as he deflected a flurry of blaster bolts being sent his way.
Master Tinn looked around and spotted a bridge that was above where the Clones were streaming into the building. "Cover me!" He yelled as he stepped out and reached out towards the bridge. Blaster bolts flew all around and Master Drallig and Master Koon stepped in front of him, desperately trying to deflect the bolts being sent their way.
A bolt struck Master Koon in the arm and he faltered, "hurry!" He yelled through his mask.
The bridge began to crumple and bits and pieces fell to the ground. A barricade was created and the Clones began to climb over the rubble.
Master Drallig saw the opportunity they needed, "charge!" He yelled and the hundreds of Masters, Knights, and Temple Guards tasked with being the front line charged forward to protect their sacred home.
As they approached the rubble, the Clones started to stream over the top and the Jedi attempted to hold the line and cut down the Clones that poured over. As more and more Clones poured over, they began to feel overwhelmed.
"We have to push forward and get over the rubble to get in close," Master Drallig yelled as he deflected a blaster bolt sent towards his head.
"I agree, if we can get in closer we can minimize casualties and stray shots. They will be forced to watch their aim," Master Koon yelled back.
"Jedi Knights, on me!" Master Drallig yelled as he hopped over the rubble and began slicing through the attacking Clones. Hundreds of Knights poured over the rubble and began slicing through the advancing Coruscant Guard.
Master Koon, Master Tinn, and Master Drallig had cut a line through the Guard and had gotten farther than most Jedi. A cold sensation came over Master Drallig's body and he looked up and saw a hooded figure approaching him. Around the three Masters, a circle of Red Guards had seemed to form, but they stood unmoving.
"Master Drallig is it?" said an icy voice, "the great battlemaster of the Jedi Temple."
"Chancellor Palpatine. I have to give you props for deceiving us for all these years," Master Drallig said as the three Jedi Masters raised their lightsabers.
"The Jedi have grown weak and short sighted," Palpatine spat. He looked like a spectre against the bright moonlight of Coruscant. His icy cold presence sent a chill down all three Jedi's spines.
Drallig moved first, raising his saber and jumping towards the Sith Lord. Faster than Drallig could bring his saber down, a burst of lightning hit him square in the chest and knocked him towards the surrounding Guards who caught him and threw him back into the circle.
Master Koon looked at Master Tinn, keeping their sabers up. Palpatine sent a flurry of lightning towards the Jedi Masters who struggled to catch it with their sabers. As they got closer to Palpatine, Master Koon sent a force push towards the Dark Lord of the Sith, forcing him to cease his attack and block the attack. Master Tinn quickly rushed towards the Chancellor who drew his two lightsabers and blocked the attack.
As quick as his lightning volley, Palpatine began a series of attacks aimed at the two Jedi Masters. By this time, Master Drallig had rejoined the fight. Despite outnumbering the Sith Lord three to one. The Jedi Masters were outmatched and forced on the defensive. Palpatine was exploiting the weaknesses in each Jedi Masters' defenses, and the sheer speed of his strikes were hard to match. Each Jedi Master was forced to cover each other's holes and they were barely able to muster a counterattack. Master Tinn was the first to fall, taking a lightsaber through the abdomen and falling to the ground. Master Drallig and Master Koon could feel his life force draining out of him.
Palpatine cackled as he launched another flurry of attacks. He countered a strike from Master Koon and used the force to push Master Koon back so he could focus on the Battlemaster of the Jedi Order. Despite being Temple bound, the Battlemaster was swift and putting up a good fight. By this point, the Kel Dor Master had stood back up and launched a flurry of Electric Judgement towards the Sith Lord and Palpatine was forced to block the lightning with one saber. The other saber blocked an attack from Master Drallig who began launching a flurry of attacks of his own. Despite this, Palpatine was able to keep the Kel Dor's lightning at bay.
Palpatine looked towards Master Koon and cackled. To the Kel Dor Jedi's amazement, he started to send the Electric Judgement back towards the Jedi Master and Master Koon was forced to halt his attack. He focused on Master Drallig and began to launch an offensive that the Human Jedi was unable to keep up with. Palpatine swung low with both sabers, locking the Masters lightsaber down and then used his second blade to swing up, slicing through the torso of the Jedi Master.
As the body of Master Drallig fell to the ground, Master Koon raised his saber, ready to fight to the death. Suddenly, the sound of three fighters flying overhead distracted the Sith Lord. Four figures fell from the sky, dropping into the circle. The Red Guards moved to attack but were cut down by the figures.
"Master Tapal and Master Kenobi, rush back to the Temple and aid in the defense," came the familiar voice of Anakin Skywalker. His long brown hair swayed in the wind and he raised his saber. Beside him, his former apprentice, the Zabrak Maul had his lightsaber emitted with a look of pure hatred on his face.
"Guards stay back, I want to finish this myself," Palpatine ordered as he raised his sabers and readied himself for a harder battle. The chosen one and a battle hardened Sith pretender were a much greater challenge than two Jedi and a rusty Battlemaster. Palpatine could feel the force pulsing through his veins and he was excited for this fight. Cutting down Jedi was fun, but the opportunity to kill his former apprentice and the supposed chosen one was too great a prospect to pass up.
"Master Koon, head back to the Temple, we'll finish this," Anakin ordered and the Kel Dor wasted no time heading back towards the Jedi Temple.
"Lord Maul I imagine you remember the last time we dueled. When I gutted your brother and locked you up in the Stygeon Spire," taunted Palpatine. An enraged Maul would throw off his balance making him an easier opponent.
"This will not have the same ending," growled Maul as he tightened his grip on his dual bladed saber. A look of pure rage was painted on Maul's face and Sidious smiled with glee. He had considered trying to recruit Maul given he was in need of an apprentice, but he knew that he had killed that possibility by striking down his former apprentice's brother on Mandalore.
Blaster fire came behind them and the 501st and 212th came streaming down in jetpacks and began to dispatch the Coruscant Guard. The 104th battalion, or the Wolf Pack, had begun to push the Coruscant Guard streaming into the Jedi Temple back, and had taken up a position on the pillar that the Temple Defense Force had collapsed as cover earlier in the battle.
Maul made the first move, lunging towards Sidious and launching a flurry of aggressive attacks that sent Sidious backpedalling. Anakin jumped in, forcing Sidious to play the defensive game. Maul and Anakin swung at the Sith Lord and he blocked their sabers inches from his face. He pushed their sabers off and began his own offensive, rotating between attacking Anakin and Maul.
For a couple minutes, the battle seemed evenly matched. Maul lunged at Sidious in a desperate attempt to finish the fight. He launched a quick series of moves, aiming for Sidious mid section, and then his head. Sidious blocked these moves, and sent a kick towards Maul's stomach which sent him stumbling. The Dark Lord of the Sith quickly went on the offensive and before Anakin could even jump in to help the Zabrak, a lightsaber was through his abdomen.
As Maul fell to the ground, he looked towards Anakin and reached out a hand, "avenge me."
Sidious stabbed his other lightsaber into his back, putting his former apprentice out of his misery. "You have lost boy. You should have joined me."
Anakin looked over the Sith Lord's shoulder and smiled, "I wouldn't be so sure."
Sidious turned around and behind him, Master Yoda and Master Windu had ignited their lightsabers and begun circling the former Chancellor. Anakin saw Sidious click a button on his wrist and in the distance, he heard a ship roar.
"Quick, stop him!"
The ship came flying overhead and before anyone could make a move, Sidious had hopped into the air and boarded a starship. The Coruscant Guard began firing on their position and even Anakin was having a hard time repelling their blaster fire.
Rex came in behind him with his men and began returning fire. Suddenly, a ship stopped a couple meters above Anakin and Senate Commandos began to jump down and fire heavy repeating blasters at the Coruscant Guard forcing them to retreat.
"Sir," said the captain of the Senate Commandos as he dropped down to the ground. "Shall we pursue them?"
"No," Anakin said as he disengaged his lightsaber. He turned to Rex, "Rex, you will oversee the suppression of the Coruscant Guard with Wolffe and Cody. Draw them out and snuff them out. Minimize the risk to our own men if you can."
"Yes sir," replied Rex as he gestured to Cody and Wolffe to follow him.
Anakin turned back to the captain of the Senate Commandos, "Captain Jonas, you and your men will report with me to the Senate to secure it. Order your forces across the planet to report to the Senate building when they've disengaged.
"Yes sir," said Captain Jonas as the transport landed behind them.
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A/N: Sorry about the late arrival of this chapter. It was actually very different when I first wrote it but I decided to change some things last minute. I actually had a further use for Maul but I decided this was a fitting end for him. He helped get the characters to where they needed to be but after that he wasn't needed. The repercussions of his death and the impact he has on the Jedi Order will be much more important. I'm not sure how much longer this story will be, but I'm excited for some of my initial ideas I had when I first wrote this story to pan out. Thanks for reading and as always reviews are greatly appreciated.