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Chapter 29
"We're going to split into two teams, one as a diversion force and one to destroy the weapon," Anakin said, his voice booming to the crowd gathered on Tatooine.
They'd used the communication system from the ship and an assortment of comlinks to create a loudspeaker to reach everyone present. Troopers, senators, and civilians shuffled closer, and the audience grew. The general unease of the group grew, too—Anakin felt ripples of concern through the Force.
"The Sith cave where Darth Sidious has his weapon is on the Gahenn Plains. An entire civilization used to be built there, but it was buried under the plains when disaster struck Mustafar." Anakin swallowed hard and maintained a confident voice even as the growing unease of the group made his stomach turn over. "Ancient waterways and sewers used to run through the plains. Two such tunnels still exist and have fairly accessible openings that can get us close to the cave without notice. One is about two klicks south. The other is about eight klicks north."
Several of the troopers exchanged glances, and murmurs spread throughout the audience. Anakin felt the wave of concern through the Force. Not fear, necessarily, but not confidence, either. Obi-Wan set his hand on Anakin's arm, and Anakin blocked out the wary feelings of the people. They were deserved.
"Er… um… How did you… happen across this information?" asked a helmeted trooper. He shuffled in place after a nearby trooper elbowed him. "Sir," he added.
Anakin focused on Obi-Wan's hand still gripping his arm, centering him. Anakin had the information because Darth Vader had the information. Vader had built his castle on the plains because the cave housed a locus of the dark side. In that lifetime, Vader had searched every nook and cranny of the surrounding plains to ensure no liability existed—to ensure no one had a way to harm him.
Anakin's lack of an answer stirred more muttering.
"The information is good," Obi-Wan said, taking the comlink from Anakin that would spread his voice to the masses. "Anakin will lead a team into the tunnels to reach the cave—we assume that is where Sidious will keep his weapon. I will lead the surface force. Our goal is to distract Sidious and the Jedi until the weapon can be dealt with and to save as many lives as possible."
More muttering and anxious shuffling. Anakin wasn't a Jedi anymore, and he wasn't a general anymore, either. He was a wanted fugitive. Still, the lack of faith in him stung. It ached in a sad, childish sort of way. He did not belong.
Rex and several men from the 501st gathered near the front of the heap of crates Anakin used as a makeshift stage. Rex glanced at the audience, folded his arms at his chest, and frowned. Most of the men with him did the same, and Anakin wasn't sure what to make of the expressions.
Bail Organa and Padmé stood near them and exchanged frustrated glances. Queen Breha was with them and had Leia and Luke in her arms. Both babies cried, no doubt suffering the effects of the holocrons. Anakin hurt for them—they would suffer a horrible future if he failed. Breha bounced the twins and turned to leave, and two civilians moved with her—Owen and Beru?
"Well, sir, it's just…" said another trooper, and he hastily put on his helmet as he spoke. "He's not a general anymore, sir. And he was… you know…"
"A criminal. We were hunting him," another trooper added. He didn't bother to hide behind his helmet.
"The situation has changed," Obi-Wan said, tersely, but that only resulted in more muttering.
The audience stirred. Many of the senators engaged in heated dialogue with the troopers until their anxious conversations grew to a dull roar. Anakin deserved the distrust, but for once, all he truly wanted to do was help. He wanted to stop Sidious and make things right again.
"Enough!" Bail said from the crowd, and his voice commanded silence even without a loudspeaker.
He stormed to the pile of crates and climbed to join Anakin and Obi-Wan. Bail flapped his hand at Obi-Wan for the comlink, and Obi-Wan handed it over with a genuinely perplexed expression. The tightness of Bail's jaw and the fire in his eyes intensified the knot churning in Anakin's gut.
"Enough," Bail muttered to himself, and he spun to face the people. "Fellow senators, servants of the Republic, and citizens of Tatooine… Are we not better than this?" His tone sharpened and stabbed through everyone listening.
Obi-Wan's eyes went wide, and Anakin swallowed hard.
"Our Republic is falling apart, and a megalomaniac has taken control of the Senate and the Jedi Order, and we are here worrying about a boy who stole from pirates and set slaves free?" Bail's voice rose with emotion, and his frown deepened. "A boy who served the Republic as a Jedi for over a decade and who fought in the war for three very long years. A boy, I might add, who did only what the Republic should have done in the first place."
"Senator," Anakin said, not willing for Bail to sacrifice his good standing with the Senate by speaking on his behalf. Bail waved him away. "Senator Organa, please—"
"Quiet," Bail said, firmly, and shook a commanding finger at him. Anakin took a step back and stood straight, arms rigid at his sides, suitably chastened. Bail returned his attention to the people, who stared at him in befuddled silence—also suitably chastened. "We do not have time to question loyalties and place blame on each other. We have done that for long enough, and this is where it got us. A mastermind, a Sith Lord, turned the people of the galaxy on each other, and the end result was our own destruction. Enough. We clear the air now, and then we move forward. We must move forward."
Silence answered Bail. He looked over the crowd—really looked at them, as though trying to meet as many pairs of eyes as possible. He took Anakin's arm and hauled him to the front of the makeshift stage, presenting him to the people.
"Do you see this boy—this young man?" Bail asked. Anakin would have slithered backwards if not for Bail's hand on his back. "I have no doubt you know his face, or you wouldn't be muttering like school children right now. Most of you know Anakin Skywalker as the Hero With No Fear. Many of you now know him as the masked man who freed slaves." Bail let his hand fall, offered Anakin a quick and indiscernible look, and returned his attention to the crowd. "I think many of you now also know him as Darth Vader."
Anakin's heart leaped into his throat and died. He wavered, the world spinning. He shot a glance at Obi-Wan, who stood stricken, wide-eyed and stark white in the face. Anakin's eyes slipped to Padmé, who offered a slight shake of her head. This wasn't planned. The muttering resumed. More people gathered and exchanged looks with each other.
"Enough," Bail said, once again taking a stern and commanding voice, and immediate silence followed. His brow furrowed. "So you've heard the rumors and followed the HoloNet. I suppose you think that makes you informed. But how many of you can personally say you know this young man?" Bail's eyes swept the crowd, and no one answered. "How many of you were aware that before he was Darth Vader, a vigilante, a war hero, or even a Jedi… he was a slave?"
Tears stung Anakin's eyes. He stared at Bail, stricken. Of course Bail knew—he spoke often with Padmé and Obi-Wan. Bail seemed to have come to terms with Anakin's future as Darth Vader, and someone may have told him of Anakin's past to make him more sympathetic. But nothing good could be gained from announcing it to the galaxy. Nothing. Anakin trembled, blaming the nuisance of a fever.
"Before you go about wagging your tongues, take the time to listen." Bail set a hand on Anakin's shoulder, and it had a strangely calming effect. "For nine years of his life, this young man knew what it meant to be forgotten by the Republic. He knew what it was to be hungry, tired, and abused… to be someone else's property."
Bail scanned the crowd, and his grip on Anakin tightened.
"There is no excuse for Darth Vader, I assure you. I'm not advocating for ignorance. However, given a lifetime of tragedy, I know many others in our galaxy would make the same choices as Darth Vader. One need only look at the number of pirates and brigands to see that our galaxy has a way of turning people cruel. Desperate people take desperate actions." Bail took a deep breath and spoke with some semblance of calm. Fierce, but confident. "I had a glimpse of that desperation. Palpatine threatened Alderaan. I swear to you, I would have taken the law into my hands and executed Palpatine on the spot if it meant saving what mattered to me. That desperation exists in all of us, and when it is fed and manipulated for too long, it will consume us."
Terrifying silence answered him. Anakin quivered with frustration. Words could paint things so pretty. Even if Sidious had manipulated Anakin, even if Anakin's life as a slave had negatively impacted him, Anakin had still made the choices. He was without excuse, and beautiful words shouldn't be allowed to detract from that truth.
"Darth Vader existed because of tragedy and many wrong choices." Bail firmly gripped Anakin's shoulder. "But in this lifetime, Anakin Skywalker made a different choice. He recognized the errors that led him to that path and chose a different future. Darth Vader does not and will not exist."
Something in Anakin snapped. He had made a different choice, but that didn't negate the things he'd already done. It didn't change the fact that a little bit of Vader would always exist in him. He stepped forward, and the crowd's collective gaze swung to him instead of Bail. Words slipped out before Anakin thought them through.
"Darth Vader does exist. You can't pretend he doesn't."
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said from behind with a sharp bite. "Get back here."
"Skywalker—" Bail's eyes went wide, equally surprised.
Anakin choked, stunned he'd spoken and even more stunned at the wide eyes of Bail and Obi-Wan. But lies had brought them here, and lies had brought them to a cruel, dark future. Deceit could not and should not exist if they were to truly move forward. No more lies, no more manipulations, no more masks. Everyone needed the truth.
"I wish I could tell you I chose a different path. But the truth is that I've been on a path of darkness for a long time." Anakin swallowed hard and struggled to force the words out. He was close enough to Bail that his words reached the comlink—he heard the echo through the loudspeaker. "When my mother was tortured and murdered by Tusken Raiders, I…" He had to say it. They deserved to know what was already inside of him. "Enraged, I slaughtered their entire village, even women and children who could not protect themselves."
None of the senators or troopers moved, but the civilians muttered and nodded. Tuskens were not highly favored on Tatooine, but that did not make his actions right.
"During the war," Anakin said, "I used violent tactics to interrogate enemies, and I killed when it wasn't necessary—just because it was easier. And even now, very recently, when I had to choose between saving Alderaan or my daughter…" Anakin met Bail's eyes. Bail had seen Alderaan saved but hadn't seen Anakin's indecision. "For a moment, I almost sacrificed an entire planet to save Leia."
Bail didn't react and held Anakin's gaze. Anakin turned his attention back to the crowd.
"You can't forget Darth Vader. He still lives and breathes inside of me. He just doesn't wear a mask anymore." Anakin hung his head and took a deep breath to steady his voice. He lifted his head. "And if I'm being honest, while I don't agree with an Empire, I don't really agree with the Republic anymore, either."
Another wave of murmurs erupted, but Anakin spoke over them.
"I don't agree with a law that isn't enforced. I don't think it's okay to turn a blind eye on people who are hurting because it would cost you something to help them." The words poured out, and so, too, did emotions Anakin didn't realize he'd pent up for years. "As a slave, I asked a Jedi if he'd come to set us free. He said no. The Jedi Order didn't care I had been a slave, didn't care that anyone on Tatooine was a slave. Neither did the Republic. No one cared that we existed, because it was too impractical, too difficult, and too costly to save us. I don't agree with the Republic or the Order anymore." Anakin turned to the side so he could meet Obi-Wan eye-to-eye. "Because even when I was a slave, I mattered."
Obi-Wan's expression softened and his shoulders sank. His lips quirked up in a weary smile. Familiar warmth shone through his eyes.
"I don't mind if you hold Vader against me," Anakin said, facing the audience. "I don't mind if you hold me accountable for pirating and setting slaves free. I did it. I'll accept whatever fate you intend for me. Put me in prison if you must." Anakin swallowed hard, straightened his back, and stood tall, without fear. "Because if you don't, when this war is won, I'm going to do it again. I'll look for the people who are forgotten and help them. And yes, it will be at the expense of others. I'll do it until the people in power do it themselves."
The civilians whooped and clapped, and several troopers scurried over to silence them with frantic waves of their hands. Anakin recalled yet another one of his failures as Vader that he would rectify.
"I'll do the same for the clone troopers. I will see to it that they don't fight unless they want to fight. If they want to abandon your army because the Republic isn't worth fighting for anymore, I will personally help them escape. I don't care how they were born, where they were born, or what status they had after their birth. They are alive, and they matter."
Stunned silence answered him, and no one moved. Not Anakin, not Bail, and not a single person in the crowd. As though time itself had stopped.
"The Republic has always made great claims. I only wish it would follow through with them. If you do not stand for something, without wavering, without compromising, you will not stand at all." Anakin hesitated. "I should know. I'm living proof of what happens when you fall."
Anakin returned to his former position, but he stared at his feet. The silence grated on his nerves. He'd disrespected Bail by interrupting him and trampled on his efforts to aid him, but the truth mattered. Anakin dared to look up, and Bail considered him before eyeing the crowd.
"Fellow senators of the Republic," Bail said, his voice booming and strong, full of confidence, "I think we have much to learn from Anakin Skywalker."
Anakin frowned and blinked several times. Bewildered. He wavered on his feet. Bail's hand found his shoulder again and steadied him.
"Without a doubt, even in this lifetime, he has erred. He has made mistakes. He is not perfect, as we presume of Jedi. He is not the perfect general or the perfect man. He is flawed—he is human. And it is because of those things that I implore you, do not fail to listen to him."
Bail met eyes with Anakin, patted his shoulder, and dropped his hand to his side. He swept his eyes over the audience, his focus intense. He had such presence and yet made it feel as though he noticed everyone in the crowd, as individual people and not nameless faces.
"Here is a man who has stood in the space between—between us and the Jedi, between us and the Sith, between us and the forgotten—listen to him. Let us not turn a deaf ear or a blind eye any longer. We have done so for long enough," Bail said. "We as a people, as a Senate, as a Republic, have grown complacent in our comfort. We feel secure on our home planets while people in the Outer Rim and other far-off places are dying because we don't hear them. Palpatine found and exploited a very real weakness." He waved his hand towards Anakin. "Do you hear him?"
Unnerving silence answered.
"How many children grow up as slaves on Tatooine because it would inconvenience us to help them?" Bail took a deep breath and had to collect his own emotions. Pain rippled through his eyes. "What if they were your children? To what lengths would you go to see them freed? Why is it we cannot do that for someone else's children? Even when it is right? When it is the law?" Bail shook his head and exhaled a long breath. "Anakin Skywalker should never have had to free slaves. He simply did what we should have done long ago. Where is our sense of justice, and when did we go so far astray?"
Senators in their dazzling clothes shifted and averted their eyes. Several heads dropped. These were the senators who still believed in the Republic—who hadn't completely fallen for Palpatine's manipulations. These were the ones who might still stand up and fight for justice.
"Time is short, my friends," Bail said, his tone dropping, calm and neutral. "Palpatine—Darth Sidious—is very near to overthrowing us. We are all that remains of the Republic-favored Senate. We don't have time to fight amongst ourselves, and we don't have time to condemn a young man for a future that hasn't happened. Not when he intends to prevent that future." Bail faced Anakin. "Skywalker, would you fight for us? Would you accept the rank of General and serve again in what remains of the Grand Army of the Republic and fight to rid us once and for all of Palpatine?"
Mind blank, Anakin stared at Bail.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan whispered. "Say something."
"Ah." Anakin shook away his bewildered stupor and hastily shifted to nodding his head. "Yes, of course. Of course I would. I want to defeat Sidious more than anything else."
"Good." Bail turned to the people. "Does anyone have legitimate cause to reject this?" He folded his hands in front of him, straightened his back, and squared his shoulders. The perfect presence of power and grace. A few heads shook in response to his question. "Good. Then as is the case in any true democracy, I propose we vote. If someone would be so kind as to count raised hands, we'll do this the old-fashioned way and deal with the formalities later. I motion for Anakin Skywalker to be absolved of guilt for his crimes as Darth Vader, as the masked vigilante, as a soldier at war, and as a man. Furthermore, I motion for him to be reinstated as General of the Grand Army of the Republic, effective immediately. All in favor, raise your hand and say 'yea.'"
Silence permeated the air and smothered them. Anakin's stomach dropped, and a sense of dread gnawed at his insides. No one spoke in his favor. He hadn't expected otherwise, but if the troopers wouldn't listen to him and Obi-Wan was forced to go after Sidious alone-
"Yea," said a woman towards the front of the crowd, her green eyes blazing with fiery determination. Senator Mon Mothma, a close ally of Padmé and Bail. She raised her hand.
"Yea." Padmé stepped forward alongside Mothma.
And then it happened in a slow wave. The senators around Padmé and Mothma spoke in favor of the motion and raised their hands. Then the next row of senators, then the next, until a vast majority of the crowd spoke their agreement and raised their hands. The troopers had started shuffling through to count, but they stopped and looked at each other and Bail in confusion. Not sure if they needed to count or if it was obvious enough.
It was obvious enough.
Many of the civilians raised their hands and threw in their shouts of "yea," and they cheered. Jesse and Coric raised their hands and shouted in agreement until Rex elbowed them in the sides. Even so, Rex met eyes with Anakin, a slight smile on his face.
Anakin's eyes stung as he scanned the countless hands in the air. As he heard their declarations. To be absolved of his crimes, both present and future. As Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. To be free.
"Majority of the Senate rules," Bail said, and his voice boomed with relief and conviction. "Effective immediately, Anakin Skywalker is absolved of his crimes and restored to his place within the Grand Army of the Republic."
More cheers erupted. Those civilians certainly made a lot of noise. Some of the troopers joined in. Bail smiled at the crowd and then faced Anakin. The smile did not diminish.
"Welcome back, General Skywalker," Bail said. "Now go do what you are best at doing." Slightly, his tone softened, and he wore warmth on his face and bore conviction in his words that stirred Anakin's resolve. "Set us free."