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Chapter 25
All five Jedi Masters lunged at Anakin, lightsabers swinging.
Anakin fell back from their blades, and his heart raced. He would never defeat them. Not all of them together.
He dove to the side and engaged Fisto and Allie, separating them from the others with a barrage of quick but powerful swings. As he parried their blows, Yoda, Windu, and Obi-Wan swung from behind. Anakin ducked to avoid a strike, kicked at Windu's leg to no effect, and pushed outwards with the Force to shove them all away from him.
The Masters slid about a meter before all of them stuck out their hands and resisted his Force push with their own. Agonizing pain ran through Anakin's head as he gathered his strength and pushed harder. He would never overpower them, at least not without killing himself in the process. His heart thundered in his chest from the minor exertion.
Anakin gave a fierce shove against Yoda, Windu, and Obi-Wan but loosed his hold on Fisto and Allie. They closed in on him from separate directions, Fisto with a thrust and Allie with a slash that carried her full weight. Anakin flicked Fisto's blade away with his lightsaber and spun around. He used the Force to shove Allie several meters across the floor, and he ripped the nearest pillar down on top of her head. She swung her lightsaber to cut the stones, shielding herself, but it buried her anyway.
Fisto swung again, and the other three Masters broke free from Anakin's grip, flipped through the air, and slashed at Anakin. Not quite their usual fighting styles, but not without their usual speed and strength. Anakin Force pushed again, giving himself only space to catch one breath, and then Master Yoda appeared out of nowhere, hammering him with rapid stabs. While Anakin deflected Yoda's blows, Fisto swung, and his lightsaber clipped Anakin's back before Anakin could defend.
Anakin shoved them away, and another wave of pain and chills radiated through every muscle and bone. He ripped a statue off the floor and hurled it across the room, catching Fisto and Yoda off guard and slamming them to the other side of the room. The statue flew right back at Anakin and forced him to roll to avoid it.
Allie blasted out of her pile of crumpled stone and marched to rejoin the fight.
Anakin would never win. He had to get out of there. Figure out a different tactic.
He grappled four of the structural pillars and ripped them apart, dragging down the entire floor above them. He flung the upper level over the Masters. The Masters caught the falling stones and pushed them away, but the whole room collapsed around them.
Master Yoda and Obi-Wan managed to skirt the falling debris and assaulted him before Anakin could make it to the door. He pushed at them with the Force, but Yoda pushed back and halted Anakin.
Obi-Wan sprang at him with a quick thrust of his lightsaber, and Anakin managed to twist out of the reach of his blade despite Yoda's hold on him. Obi-Wan swung several more times. Each time, Anakin had to push with the Force to rid himself of Yoda's furious grip only enough to parry Obi-Wan's strikes. His body felt like stone and his muscles resisted every motion. In desperation, Anakin ripped down another layer above them, bringing more of the room down on their heads. Yoda's grip on him faltered.
Anakin lunged backwards to avoid a downward slash from Obi-Wan, but he staggered over debris. Everything swam around him, and he could barely see Obi-Wan in the haze of twisting light and shadows. Anakin rolled backwards, parrying another oncoming strike.
Anakin tried to push Obi-Wan back with the Force, but Obi-Wan answered with a push of his own before rushing him. Their blades met in brilliant flashes, blue against green. Master Yoda burst out of his stone prison, and the other Masters did the same. Anakin stumbled towards the exit, hoping to make a break for it. Fisto ripped a pillar down over him.
Anakin pushed the falling stone away while he deflected a few of Obi-Wan's furious swings, but a few chunks of stone slammed into him. He collapsed in the pile, bruised but not severely injured, and shoved the debris off. In the chaos, he'd dropped his lightsaber.
Obi-Wan dove through the cloud of smoke and swung his lightsaber straight down at Anakin. Anakin threw up his hand to deflect it with a push, but his energy faltered along with his focus, and the Force betrayed him. Obi-Wan's blade stopped anyway, centimeters from Anakin's palm. Every muscle in Obi-Wan tightened.
A spark of life ignited in Obi-Wan's eyes.
"Master…?"
Anakin gasped for air and crawled backwards over the debris to put distance between them, but Obi-Wan didn't cease his straining. Didn't cease pulling back the blade with which he would have harmed Anakin. None of the other Masters resisted like Obi-Wan—they marched towards them.
"Master!" Anakin tried to stand but staggered to one knee. Sweat poured off him, and his heart raged and blared in his ears. Sickening and dizzying. "Obi-Wan, can you hear me?"
Obi-Wan's foot slid forward as though against his will. As though two sides of him waged war against each other, and the side that didn't want to kill Anakin slowly lost ground. Anakin's stomach turned over at the sight of him and at the touch of the dark side that permeated the air.
Obi-Wan had learned to resist the dark side on Zigoola, but now the darkness swarmed him and tried to reclaim him. Anakin couldn't let that happen. He dropped his mental shields for the first time in over half a year, and he rammed so hard and fast against Obi-Wan's shields to leave no room for resistance.
He met none. The dark side did not hinder him, nor did Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan had never built walls against Anakin. Yet Anakin only found darkness on the other side. He felt the twisted nature of the dark side ripping through Obi-Wan's mind—and he understood that feeling. Felt the raw power. Felt tempted and disgusted at the same time. In this life, the disgust won.
"Listen to me, Master! Obi-Wan!"
Anakin rose on shaky legs and was forced to backpedal as the other Jedi Masters swung at him. He staggered over a fallen guard's body and kicked their lightsaber pike into the air, throwing it with the Force at Master Yoda to halt his forward progress. He slammed Windu, Allie, and Fisto away with another Force push.
Obi-Wan's resistance failed, and he dove at Anakin. Anakin reverse lunged and drew a fallen Knight's ignited lightsaber into his hand. He took Obi-Wan's blows and allowed his former Master to pummel him backwards out the door. Once he and Obi-Wan had passed through the entrance onto Processional Way, Anakin grabbed the walls of the Temple and dragged them down to block the doors, to halt the other Masters—at least for a while.
"Master, listen to me, please!" Anakin called out, and he pushed again with the Force to touch Obi-Wan's clouded and chaotic mind.
The mere touch drew up his own horrific memories of all he had done wrong in the past and all he would do. The dark side did not discriminate, and it clawed across their crippled bond and tore into Anakin's carefully maintained mind.
"Master!"
Obi-Wan slashed downward. Anakin caught the blade with his own but sank under the force of its weight. His arms and legs trembled. Obi-Wan hammered at Anakin, quick and furious. Anakin tripped over a body as he stepped backwards. He teetered over the edge of the stairs, but Obi-Wan's hand snatched the front of his tunic and held him. Didn't pull him back, but simply hung him in the air.
Another glint of light flickered through Obi-Wan's eyes.
"Master, snap out of it!"
Anakin used Obi-Wan's grip to haul himself away from the steps and grabbed Obi-Wan's shoulders, giving him a shake. As he did, he pushed through their fractured connection with every ounce of understanding he had about the dark side, his familiarity with it, and how it had nearly consumed him for the past six months. He shared how to differentiate, how to find clarity.
A familiar touch through the Force reached them, same as it had the day the vision first passed. Qui-Gon, silent but present, wrestled through Anakin to Obi-Wan and to the darkness that consumed his mind.
Obi-Wan blinked several times. His lightsaber fell from his hand.
"An…akin…?" he said, barely audible and without breath.
Obi-Wan's legs gave way, and he collapsed into Anakin's arms. Anakin dropped his borrowed lightsaber and fell to his knees to take his Master's weight. He'd scarcely landed when the stones at the collapsed entrance of the Temple shifted, the Masters working their way out.
Anakin didn't have the strength to fight them, nor did he think he could reach anyone like he had Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan's resistance and their connection helped—no one else would have both those things. Sidious wouldn't kill them, or so Anakin hoped. In the meantime, he had to get Obi-Wan out of there and figure out what had happened.
He slung Obi-Wan across his shoulders and tucked his Master's lightsaber into his belt. The Temple entrance exploded, and Yoda, Windu, Allie, and Fisto stormed through the resulting cloud of smoke and dust. Lightsabers shining.
"I'm sorry," he said to them in a puff of air. "I'll be back for you. I promise."
Anakin Force jumped down the steps and landed hard due to Obi-Wan's extra weight and his own failing strength. He jumped again into civilian traffic, then again into the nearest moving air taxi. He flung Obi-Wan into the back while he hoisted the driver out of his seat into the passenger's seat.
"H-hey!"
"I'm just borrowing it. Charge the Temple or the GAR."
"You can't—"
"You want to let me use this," Anakin said with a wave of his hand and a suggestion from the Force.
"I want to let you use this." The driver sat in his seat and frowned forward but said nothing more on the matter.
"Sorry."
Anakin raced the lumpy speeder to the Senate District. Several GAR vessels clustered around the Senate Building, and smaller ships shuttled between the various buildings to nearby transport carriers. Troopers covered the grounds. Anakin landed the speeder, dragged Obi-Wan out of the backseat, and ran for the nearest carrier.
"Commander Rex," he said to no one in particular, but he caught the attention of several nearby troopers. He choked for air. "Is Commander Rex here?" He had to be. Why else would the GAR be swarming the Senate District if not from Rex's warning?
"That way," one of the troopers said and pointed two carriers down, but he and several others raised their blasters at Anakin.
"Rex!" Anakin shouted.
He didn't know what was going on, but it couldn't be good. More troopers gathered with weapons aimed at him.
"General!" Jesse broke through the ring of troopers and waved them away. He took one look at Obi-Wan and then Anakin, his face twisting. "Are you all right?"
"Fine—the Jedi are coming. Sidious did something to them," Anakin said in haste. "We need to move now!"
"We know, sir." Jesse grabbed Anakin's arm and dragged him away from the wary troopers and towards Rex's ship. "Several Jedi attacked the Senate and then attacked us, too. Commander Rex arrived and told us to evacuate who we could. We managed to subdue the Jedi and have gotten everyone we could out alive."
"There's more coming," Anakin said between puffs for air. "Master Yoda and Master Windu—and other Masters." He staggered to the ship, where several of the 501st hurried senators and their entourages onto the carrier. He threw Obi-Wan to the floor inside the ship and leaned forward with his hands on his knees. A heavy fog dulled his mind. "Sidious is setting up his Empire, and the Jedi will enforce it. We need to get people friendly to the Republic out now. He won't spare them this time, not when he knows what the Rebellion can do to him."
A few troopers heard him and ran to another ship, shouting commands that Anakin didn't hear. He grabbed the wall for support and heaved in air, but he couldn't catch his breath. He shot a quick glance at Jesse, who crouched and checked on Obi-Wan.
"Padmé and the twins…?"
"Safe, sir," Jesse said. "We were with her, heard Rex's warning, and got them out before everything went down. They're around here somewhere."
Anakin sighed, and his legs wobbled and gave beneath him. He stared out the ship entrance at the troopers and senators running between ships. A streak of silver in the sky caught his eye. He barely had time to register it was a starfighter before it opened fire on the transport carriers and the people. Anakin lunged off the carrier and used the Force to rip a few bewildered senators off the ground and throw them into the ship, out of the line of fire.
Four starfighters circled above and then landed, one on each side of the grounds. Surrounding them. Master Yoda stepped out of the one nearest Anakin.
"Go! Go!" Anakin screamed at the people scurrying to ships.
He grabbed Obi-Wan's lightsaber and jumped off the ship, locking eyes with Master Yoda. Jesse shouted a command into his comlink, and several of the troopers shouted in haste, but all of the words faded into a dismal buzz in Anakin's ears. Two of the transport carriers took off while a few more ships carted more senators to safety. Master Yoda used the Force to pluck a small ship out of the air and hurled it towards the ground. Anakin caught it with the Force and set it down, allowing the people inside to escape. He closed his eyes and focused on the Force and the darkness consuming it.
Masters Yoda, Windu, Fisto, and Allie—he could feel them all, feel the darkness suffocating them. Anakin grabbed at them but could not stop their forward marches. Windu destroyed several speeders in his path. Allie sliced through an army of troopers that opened fire on her. Anakin had practiced this enough to give it one last, desperate attempt: he created barriers not around the ships, the senators, or the troopers but around the Jedi Masters. He caught them in a prison built by the Force.
Each of the Masters swung their blades against the walls he'd created, and Anakin felt each blow like an electric whip tearing through his flesh. He crumpled to his knee. Again and again they attacked the barriers, and then they lashed out with the Force. His barriers twisted and cracked.
"Let's go, sir!"
Anakin barely registered Rex's words. Rex grabbed Anakin's arm and hauled him towards the ship. Vaguely, Anakin noticed most of the other ships had lifted off the ground. Rex and Anakin boarded, but the ramp remained lowered as all the troopers crouched at the opening with blasters leveled on the Jedi Masters.
Master Yoda broke through his barrier and held out a hand. The ship lurched and drifted backwards towards the ground. Anakin crawled forward and stuck out his flesh hand. Through the Force, he caught Yoda's invisible grip on their vessel and twisted it, pushing it back, freeing them from the steely grip. Yet three others joined it and overpowered Anakin.
Anakin ripped several of the statues surrounding the Senate Building out of the ground and hurled them at the Jedi Masters. He tore off the spires around the Senate Building's dome and threw them, too. The Masters easily evaded, but their grip on the ship relented. The vessel pulled away from the sprawling city and towards the freedom of open space.