A/N — I think this is the new longest chapter, but since it's the climax I can forgive that. And yes, it is the climax. After so long, here we are. There are two chapters remaining after this, but they're sort of epilogue chapters.

Also, warning for near the end. There's a creepy and somewhat graphic death.

Chapter XIV: End of the War, Part 2

•

Anakin had gone to inform the Chancellor that Masters Fisto and Ti had engaged General Grievous on Utapau as well as other developments in the war, which still raged fiercely throughout the Outer Rim despite the general chaos of Confederate leadership. Nominally this was because the Council no longer trusted the security of anything but an in-person messenger; in reality it was so Anakin could be a better spy. The deceptiveness of it all turned his stomach.

Of course, it didn't help that Palpatine had turned a conversation about the War into a personal one, and an infuriatingly inviting one at that. He tried not to, but Palpatine's words were silky and irresistible to listen to. It was as if they wormed directly into his brain. Palpatine knew just how to pluck at his insecurities, his desires, and his innermost thoughts, most especially anything to do with the Jedi.

Indeed, it seemed Palpatine had decided it was time to make his pitch when Anakin had confessed his suspicions that the Council was withholding knowledge about the Force until he proved himself.

They had stopped in front of one of Palpatine's many pieces of artwork, this an abstract piece that to Anakin's untrained eye depicted a particularly gory and brutal scene. Palpatine was admiring it silently, seemingly having paused in sharing his thoughts with the other man.

"This was always one of my favorites, you know," the Chancellor commented. "Most people look at it and see only a pleasant abstract, a blend of blacks and whites and reds and golds. They don't see the true piece, the true artwork, even when it is right in front of them." He smiled, private and far-away as though thinking of a secret joke, and there was no joy in it. "It is much like this great mystery we call life. It takes great wisdom to see it as it is, instead of what others want us to see, even for Jedi. If we don't…" Palpatine trailed off, gently running a pale and skeletal hand up the border of the painting, almost caressing it, before seizing a fold with sudden violence and tearing it savagely off. Anakin cried out in shock and moved to save the artwork, but the damage was done. Palpatine turned back to look at him. "We will be destroyed." His blue eyes were evaluating, and he said nothing for a moment. "You must clear the fog of lies the Jedi have created," he finally began again. "Let me help you to know the subtleties of the Force."

Anakin jerked, still looking at the ruined painting and wondering how to fix it. "How do you know the ways of the Force?" he demanded, silently wondering why Palpatine was choosing now to confess.

Palpatine smiled, and there was something knowing about it. "My mentor taught me everything about the Force," he said. "Even the nature of the dark side."

"Your mentor?" Anakin questioned darkly. "Or your master?"

Palpatine's smile grew. "Don't be coy, my boy, asking questions you know the answer to."

"I don't know it," Anakin denied. "I didn't. Not really. Not until now."

"And what do you know now?"

"You know what you are," Anakin spat.

Palpatine had the temerity to have his lips tug in a self-satisfied, sardonic grin — the same he had had telling Anakin the tale of Darth Plagueis the Wise. "But do you, Anakin? Do you know the truth? Don't be shy. Say what you are thinking!"

Anakin's blue 'saber leapt to life in front of him, pointing squarely at Palpatine's chin. "You're the Sith Lord."

"Very good."

"And now I finally have the confession to take to the Council," Anakin declared triumphantly.

"You do," Palpatine agreed genially. "But you're not sure of their intentions. Who can you trust, Anakin, to save the Republic? To save Padmé? Even as we talk now they plot to take control of the Republic."

Anakin grimaced, wishing the words didn't strike true.

"You could strike me down!" Palpatine declared, and suddenly his voice had taken on a dark, gravelly quality. Where before it had seemed wise and comforting, now it seemed sinister and powerful. Almost he seemed to loom above Anakin, an immense and towering shadow. "Be a hero to the Jedi! End the Sith forever!" he cried. "But you don't. Deep down you know the truth, Anakin."

Anakin was breathing hard, as though he was undergoing a great trial. "The truth?"

Palpatine had never stopped smiling, even as the room seemed to fill with shadow. It was as though he was cloaked in it, only the crooked smile remaining. "The truth that the world is not as black and white as you once thought it. The truth that I, and I alone, can preserve the Republic you have devoted your life to and the woman you have wedded. The truth, Anakin, that I am your destiny and no other." He had been walking, pacing around Anakin, as though he was the one pointing the lightsaber at Anakin and not the reverse. He stopped with his back turned to Anakin, as if inviting Anakin to run him through from behind, the way of a coward. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked.

Anakin trembled. "I would certainly like to," he cried.

"I know you would," Palpatine murmured, almost purring. "I can feel your anger, your hatred. It gives you focus! Makes you stronger!"

The Chancellor turned back around, and Anakin realized the moment was gone. Suddenly Palpatine was shrunk from an enormous and shadowy figure to the slight and delicate older man Anakin had always known him to be. The spell was broken, and yet it was almost as if he had no more choice in the matter, as though he was now playing a part set for him by greater powers long before, because there was only one choice left to him.

"I am going to turn you over to the Council," Anakin declared, as much for himself as Palpatine. Never had he felt so adrift, for even Qui-Gon was no longer on-planet, finally rotated back to the front. There was no one for him to turn to about these matters, no one at all.

"You must do what you think is best," Palpatine agreed. "But you must be prepared for the consequences of your choices, my boy. Good day."

•

Mace could hardly believe it. Obi-Wan was right. Obi-Wan was right. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was a Sith Lord. The Sith Lord. The sheer magnitude of the revelation bewildered him and at the same time he couldn't deny it filled him with great fear, because he knew it was true. He had for some time sensed there was a plot afoot to destroy the Jedi and the revelation about Palpatine seemed to be the final piece of the puzzle.

They had suspected the War was a lie.

They had known that the Sith had commissioned the clone army through the mysterious Darth Tyranus — presumably Palpatine.

He himself had sensed the darkness at the heart of the Republic.

He had sensed that darkness choked the Senate, surrounding even the Chancellor.

The Council had been concerned for years about the increasing powers of the Chancellor.

Master Yoda had left Coruscant for the first time in years in the hopes of prompting the Sith Master to act.

The Jedi had even discussed the hunt for the Sith with Palpatine.

They had searched Coruscant in vain for the Sith; Qui-Gon had almost been assassinated by one of them here!

They had been trying to remove Palpatine from office for months!

For Force's sake, even Dooku had warned them, in his cryptic bid to sway Qui-Gon to his side.

"Master Windu."

Force, he couldn't even begin to grasp the enormity of all the implications.

"Master Windu."

All the lies.

"Master Windu."

How had they all been so blind for so long?

"Master Windu."

Most importantly… was it already too late?

"Master Windu!"

Mace blinked and turned to look at the young knight that he had been conversing with before Skywalker had delivered his devastating news. The young woman was standing in front of him, eyes wide with uncertain fear, and it occurred to Mace that he had stopped mid-conversation in the middle of the hangar. Skywalker himself was standing a pace behind him, almost hovering over his shoulder.

And Mace realized that the entire Order… the entire galaxy was waiting for his decision.

But he needed to make it now.

Now.

Now!

NOW!

I need time to think! Mace wanted to scream, but he didn't.

"Master Windu," the knight repeated. "What are your commands? Shall I inform the Senate of your intended announcement?"

I need time!

"Master Windu," she said again, her nerves and youth betrayed in her repetition.

"No," Mace said vacantly. "Don't inform the Senate."

"Master?"

"Alert Masters Kolar, Kcaj, and Tinn that I will require their assistance immediately," Mace finally declared. "This is to be kept absolutely secret. Tell no one of this." The knight nodded her head rapidly. "Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord. We will attempt an arrest. The Order is in grave peril — the Republic is in grave peril. Put the entire Temple on highest alert. The entire — entire, am I clear? — Temple Guard is to be put on alert — immediately."

"M-Master, I don't u-understand–––"

"I'm not asking you to understand," Mace said more harshly than he meant to. "I'm ordering you to do as I have said!"

"Yes, master," the knight replied, looking terrified.

"And triple the guard on Senator Kenobi," he added as an afterthought.

"At once, master."

"You are dismissed," Mace said, and the knight sped away. Mace changed direction, going towards a gunship instead of the shuttle-speeder he had intended to take to the Senate House to announce the death of Grievous, the end of the War, and the requirement that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine give up his powers and resign his office. Skywalker jogged to come in stride of him again.

"Master, do you really mean to arrest the Chancellor?" Skywalker asked.

"At once," Mace answered. "We are at a moment of crisis, Skywalker. The fate of the Order — of the galaxy — is being decided even as we speak. We must save the Republic."

"Master, the Chancellor is powerful beyond your imagination. I've faced him, though I didn't know it was him. You'll need my help to bring him to justice."

Mace hesitated, but he no longer had the luxury of hesitation. "No, Skywalker," he finally declared. "You are too conflicted. I sense it within you. If you go it will be a trial too great for you."

"Master Windu, please!" Skywalker cried. "This is a trial I must face. The trial I was made for. Even the Council has recognized that for a long time. Haven't you said I am the Chosen One, that I'm supposed to destroy the Sith?"

"Prophecies can be misread," Mace stated flatly, not betraying the quiet fear that had bubbled up in his heart since Skywalker had delivered the news: that he would join with the Chancellor. For an instant he regretted the words for the look of despair that appeared on Skywalker's face, but he knew he was making the correct decision. He spoke aloud his next thoughts: "If you have guessed correctly and uncovered the Sith to be destroyed forever, you will have fulfilled the prophecy, I deem. And you will have earned my unwavering trust. You must be patient, Skywalker; you have long harbored doubts, but if you pass this trial you will have proved yourself a true Jedi."

"Master Windu," Skywalker began his final plea, seeing Master Tinn, Master Kolar, and Master Kcaj sprinting into the hangar. "If you go without me you will be destroyed. I know this. You must reconsider!"

Mace had long accepted his death as a possible price for ridding the galaxy of the Sith forever. He placed a hand on Skywalker's shoulder.

"If that is all it takes, it will be a small price." The other masters were aboard the gunship, and had directed the clone pilot to the Chancellory. The engines roared. Grim faces mirrored his own. Mace stepped aboard, knowing he was going to his destiny at long last. "May the Force be with you, Skywalker," he said as the door to the gunship closed, cutting off any reply but Skywalker's despairing face.

•

The galaxy was changing. As war raged throughout the Outer Rim, Jedi and clones fought and died in the name of the Republic. Others like the Mandalorians, led by sisters Satine and Bo-Katan Kryze, prepared themselves for an hour long awaited to strike against that same Republic. At its heart, on Coruscant, still others battled it out for the fate of the galaxy. Some served a master in his grand purpose, like Siri Tachi, her wayward apprentice Asajj Ventress, and her unexpected wards Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee. Some, like clones Cody, Fox, Appo, Jesse, Wolfe, Bly, Thire, Thorn, Stone, and numerous others, readied themselves for a battle few were anticipating. And some, like Senators Bail Organa or Padmé Amidala, were in deep discussions for how the system could possibly go forward, if there was any way to preserve the Republic at all — most especially from the depredations of its own Chancellor, a man who had stayed in office far too long.

Not far away, that same man was sitting at his desk. He had been deep in the Force, manipulating its dark currents as he arranged an entire galaxy according to his purposes. He was an emperor in all but name, but the name would come… soon, for the time had finally come for the conclusion to a plan a millennium in the making. In a mere moment, his door would open to reveal four Jedi Masters, lightsabers readied, intent on destroying their ancient foe and taking command of a corrupted Senate and Republic to reorder it to be as it once had been, but for the moment the Chancellor savored the taste of potentialities in the Force alone in his office. A little beyond that massive building, another man sat in similar silence in a large, empty room atop a tower, but where the Chancellor's silence was triumphant this man's was tortured. He stood on the precipice of destiny, and yet he was blindfolded, not knowing which direction he could step in to avoid the plunge into the abyss.

And deep, deep below him, through numerous levels, plunging far below the surface of the planet, locked in ancient dungeons half-forgotten, still another man was held prisoner, bound and paralyzed and cut-off from the Force.

The galaxy turned.

The hour approached.

The silence reigned.

Obi-Wan!

The man quivered, disturbed in his trance.

Obi-Wan! the voice cried again. Obi-Wan!

The Force shifted, like a distant clap of thunder. Something had happened. The die had been cast, the crisis point tipping. A staggering death in the Force, and then another.

Obi-Wan!

Master? Obi-Wan asked, unsure of himself. He had not heard the voice of Ben Cortess, the Sith Lord Darth Renova, in almost fifteen years, and he found he had forgotten it. Is that you?

The time has come! he thought he heard in his master's voice.

Another shift in the Force, another death. It felt as if it was a string being finally drawn taut. The moment approached inexorably.

Darth Consilus… the voice hissed away into nothingness.

Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. His heart beat wildly in his chest, but this was no time for hesitation. He was no longer in the Force, a man rendered incomplete by his dissociation with his physical form, but once again the prisoner of the Jedi. He felt the shackles they had bound him with, the blockers and the needles that now deadened his limbs. Rendered immobile, utterly inert, utterly helpless.

Or at least the Jedi thought so, but they had underestimated him, had forgotten the true power of the Force.

And in this latest measure, this tripling of his guards, they had provided the means of their own undoing. Indeed the moment was ripe, for even as Obi-Wan opened his eyes a Knight-Guard was entering his cell. To ensure the security of his restraints, Obi-Wan guessed. Evidently his security had just been increased. If he had not been paralyzed he would have smiled.

He let the Knight-Guard approach, and as soon as he had moved to the proper position, kneeling to check his bindings, the Knight-Guard cried out in surprise as one end of his 'saber staff sprung to life. Obi-Wan felt the heat of it singing his beard, smelled the burning hair, but felt the life returning to his limbs as the blade pierced and destroyed the controls of the shackles and the needles were withdrawn from his body. The cry of the Knight-Guard was silenced as the other end of the 'saber pierced through his head, jaw to crown, an instant later. The Knight-Guard fell to the ground dead, his 'saber rolling now extinguished on the ground.

Obi-Wan breathed deeply.

Outside the Force-suppressing cell, he could see the Knight-Guards reacting, thundering to block his exit. He could feel their disbelief and incomprehension as they stared at their dead comrade. He knew they did not believe he could have caused it. He was, after all, paralyzed, shackled, utterly cut-off from the Force. They also didn't believe that he could escape.

He tested the restraints, and if he had been a young man still he would have grinned.

There were a series of bangs! as the chains holding him to the floor split their links. There were cries of dismay and amazement amongst the Knight-Guards as Obi-Wan stood but one was heard above all the others.

"Kenobi is free!"

The Knight-Guards recovered admirably, most already turning to seal the exits with themselves and Obi-Wan inside. Obi-Wan strode to the ray-shielding of the cell, tutting to himself at the silly decision to have no solid bars. With not even a gesture of the hand, the ray-shield parted like a curtain and Obi-Wan stepped through, head held tall. Some of the Knight-Guards fell back in fear.

"Halt!" the braver ones cried, igniting their 'sabers, only to drop them in shock when the blades extinguished seemingly of their own accord and would not reignite. Instantly, four of them rushed at Obi-Wan, intent on physical combat where lightsabers had failed. Yet as soon as they reached him, their arms fell useless by their sides, as if they could not will themselves to attack him. Seeing this, some of the other Knight-Guards fell to the ground prostrate, crying things in a cacophony Obi-Wan ignored as he stepped over them.

At the same time, their comrades were attempting to collapse the exits to the basement dungeons of the Temple now in their desperation, but it was as though some will was set against them. No matter how they tried, they could not seem to be fast enough to beat Obi-Wan arriving. One by one the security gates were passed, the prisoner simply walking through; the turbolift flashed green before Obi-Wan even arrived; and then he was striding through the Temple, Guards coming at him and collapsing without so much as a glance from him.

And…

Freedom!

He was out and free, walking down the steps of the Temple, without having so much as gestured.

He was immediately beset by an assault of noise, the regular Coruscant nightlife throughout the streets disturbed by the same thing filling every holoscreen, blaring from every speaker. All the regular pedestrians had stopped in fear, a hush and silence that was palpable as an entire planet cringed in anxious uncertainty, dismayed by the enigmatic cries of their screens.

The tone screeched through the air, a repeating pattern that compelled attention, followed by the announcement.

"We interrupt this viewing. This is an emergency Republican broadcast," a booming and monotonous voice echoed through the streets and between the buildings. "Please remain calm. This is an emergency action message. Please standby for a message of the Office of the Supreme Chancellor." Obi-Wan stared at the holoscreens for a moment uncomprehendingly. "Attention all citizens, this is an official emergency Republican broadcast. Please remain calm. Anti-Republican forces have attempted a coup. An effort is being made to disband the legitimate government. Please remain calm. Standby for official information." Fearful murmurs and cries broke out at the words. "This is an emergency Republican broadcast," the message began again. "Please remain calm…"

Obi-Wan tuned it out, instead looking towards the speeder that had alighted not far from him. He jogged up to it.

"Is this finally it, sir?" Fox asked from his place in the pilot's seat.

"Yes, commander, I believe it is," Obi-Wan replied as they took off. "You must get me to the Supreme Chancellor's office immediately. The doom of everything we've worked for hangs in the balance. Hurry!"

The speeder roared through the eerily deserted Coruscanti airspace at a terrifying pace, but the thrill of it was no comparison to the events unfolding. Indeed, the speeder could not seem more slow. Scarcely had they reached the Chancellory before Obi-Wan was leaping out of the speeder and running full tilt to the Supreme Chancellor's office.

"Stay where you are, commander!" he called to Fox. "Remember the plan! You are no good dead!"

If Fox replied he didn't hear it.

Then the Force buckled, and the ripple turned into a mighty wave that had on its heels a dark roar of triumph. Obi-Wan knew that his former friend, Mace Windu, had been defeated at last. Darth Sidious was almost triumphant. Almost. Obi-Wan sped down the corridors, finally coming at last to the Chancellor's general reception office, where he could feel the powerful turbulence of the Force within.

The office was utterly destroyed, smoke still rising from glowing gashes and electrically burned furnishings. A dead Jedi lay in the entrance way — Master Kcaj, Obi-Wan recognized even without his head. And in the center of it all, Anakin and Palpatine. Like a tiny planet trapped in the immense pull of Palpatine's black hole, Anakin was on his knees, unable to move, staring at the Chancellor.

Palpatine, for his part, was seated at his desk, looking for all the world as though he was hosting an ordinary meeting. His smoking, disfigured face; the dead Jedi leaking a large pool of blood; the shattered window; the destroyed office — none of these things seemed to concern him, sitting behind his desk and smiling genially.

"What have I done?" Anakin asked, seemingly to no one.

Obi-Wan decided to make his entrance, striding regally into the room and clapping slowly.

"Well done," he said to Palpatine. "Well done indeed, Darth Sidious."

If Palpatine was surprised to see him there, he didn't show it. Instead the Chancellor said: "Ah, Senator Kenobi. I wondered if we would be graced with your august presence. I am overjoyed that the Jedi have finally seen fit to release you."

Anakin whirled, staring at Obi-Wan disbelievingly.

"Obi-Wan?"

"In the flesh, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied. He turned to Palpatine, who was regarding him with an enigmatic smile. "And I thank you for your kind words."

Palpatine's lips curled. "I offered you a choice once, and you see now that my kindness continues, because I am offering it to you again," he said. Obi-Wan was stoic, but evidently there was a flicker on his face because Palpatine's grin grew. "Oh, don't feign disappointment. You didn't seriously expect to deceive me." Obi-Wan remained silent, and Palpatine hummed contemplatively. "I see," he said. "How disappointing. We could have ruled the galaxy."

"We both know that isn't true," Obi-Wan replied.

"Foolish apprentice," Palpatine reprimanded, grin fading. "You know nothing. Together we could have achieved wonders, yet now all you have done is force your friend to make an impossible choice." The smile returned, wistful. "Yet still, it was hardly unforeseen. Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. All that is left is the final moment of uncertainty." He bent his gaze upon Anakin, and a light seemed to shine from his golden eyes, like two pinpricks of remote light in an immense shadow. Anakin was still kneeling numbly on the floor, but feeling the weight of the Chancellor's gaze upon him he looked up at him in despair. "You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin. Become my apprentice. Take up the mantle of the Sith, and together… Together we will achieve greatness this galaxy has never dared to imagine. A fitting destiny… such as you have always dreamed of…" He closed his eyes, seeming to savor the moment.

Obi-Wan's heart was pounding, but he seemed to be rooted in place, like Anakin.

Palpatine's eyes opened again. "I see you are not convinced, so perhaps a demonstration of the merest fraction of the power I offer." But he did not call on the Force, nor do anything except push a button on the desk. Immediately, the hologram of a clone commander appeared. Obi-Wan felt he knew what was coming, and yet he didn't seem to be able to stop it. Did he want to stop it? Long had he agonized, and yet… Yet he couldn't bring himself to move in time. "Commander, the time has come," Palpatine hissed almost reverently, as if he could taste the words. "Execute Order 66."

"It will be done, my lord," the clone replied. The hologram winked out.

"What have you done?" Obi-Wan said, voice low.

Palpatine merely smiled.

A heartbeat.

Two.

And then the Force tore.

Obi-Wan had never experienced anything like it. For a second it took his breath away. It started deceptively as a sort of confusion, like the pressure of an anticipated headache, before, just as he was about to believe it passing, it suddenly roared and crested. Like the shock of icy water or freezing air, for a second it held Obi-Wan in its grip, stunning him with an assault upon his preternatural senses. The Force roiled and bucked and fought, as though it were a dying animal dripping lifeblood through the steel jaws of an enormous predator.

Suddenly he knew. The Jedi were dying.

All of them.

Obi-Wan hadn't quite been prepared for it, but he had been more prepared than Palpatine.

The Chancellor's triumphant grin was replaced by a snarl of fury as he hastily drew up his lightsaber to deflect Obi-Wan's own red blade, but for just the briefest instant his triumph had distracted him. The sleeve of his heavy robes fell down his arm as Obi-Wan's blade sliced a long but unfortunately shallow gash down across his shoulder and torso.

Palpatine didn't even respond with words so much as howl in rage, like an animal, and an instant too late Obi-Wan realized it was a Force power. Still reeling from the psychic shock, the attack dulled him. Desperately he whirled and spun his blade to leap from blow to blow, the Master of Soresu given his most extreme test. With that the fight began.

It was more than a clash of blade on blade, technique against technique, form against form. The mastery was beyond that, an unrelenting contest of the Force, shadow against shadow as each skirted on an endless stream of possible futures flicking by, a dance on the edge of annihilation. A dance that went beyond conscious thought, transcended conscious thought. There was no consideration, no time for a mind bent to each blow and counterblow, only the supreme and sublime mastery of the blade where there existed no gap between thought and action. There wasn't — there couldn't be. The pause, the hesitation, was death.

Break his concentration, end his conduit to the Force, annihilate the transcendence, get inside his defenses, inside his head. Each Sith Lord strived against his opponent this way, looking to outdo the other. Not a contest of the Force nor one of the blade alone but both together, a melding and yet a creation of something greater, the ancient arts and traditions of the Jedi and Sith brought to a final, climactic moment.

Palpatine was the more experienced of the two, the Master of the dark side, the true culmination of Bane's line. The dark side fled to him, weakening Obi-Wan even as he bent his will upon it to keep it. But Obi-Wan was the wiser of the two; his knowledge ran deep and subtle, and if Palpatine was the Master of the dark side then Obi-Wan was the Master of the Force. Not as the Jedi understood it, nor even as the Sith did, but synthesizing, transcendent; the fullness of the Force. It made him equal to Palpatine's challenge, but just barely, and he needed to be better.

Or die.

•

To Anakin, lying in shock on the floor still, it was if two enormous shadows filled the room, tongues of fire lashing out, lightning exploding from one cloud to the other and back again. Like a pair of black holes, the room, even the planet, even the galaxy seemed caught in their enormous and invisible grip and wake. Dragged along, held and moved as each willed and contested the will of the other. The glass cracked and shattered and flew; statues were hurled; crushing forces crumpled furniture and demolished ceilings in an instant and held him down, only to be suddenly lifted. For flashing instants it even seemed, glancing through the vast open hole where once there had been a window, that lightning and rain flew from the clouds above to strike one shadow or another. And Anakin thought he saw, through the now pouring rain, buildings quake.

For the first time, Anakin was seeing the power of the Sith Lords unleashed.

Suddenly the contest was stalled, and it was though a fog had been lifted from his eyes. The shadows were reduced, clouds of smoke reducing to the wisps rising from singed and burned opponents, until they were once again only two men. Obi-Wan on top of Palpatine, their lightsabers crossed between them so that if either moved they would be destroyed, Obi-Wan's powerful arm holding Palpatine down with sheer physical might, both bruised and bloody.

Suddenly Anakin was aware he was standing behind them, his own blue lightsaber in his hand. He thought he had lost it after disarming Windu, but there it was, sitting in his palm. And just as Windu, he now stood above the two Sith Lords, blazing blue 'saber raised and poised to strike the final blow. There was nothing either one would be able to do about it. Somehow Anakin knew that. With one stroke, he could destroy the Sith — fulfill his destiny!

His arm raised, preparing the strike.

It would be so easy.

It was the right thing to do, the Jedi in him said.

He could be the hero of the Jedi.

Save the galaxy.

Be everything he was supposed to be!

And all for the price of only the lives of two men.

The blade wavered in the air, the hand quivering, then it firmed. The muscles tensed; the blow was readied. And then Obi-Wan turned his head. Just enough; just for Anakin to see his eyes. But what Anakin saw in them he didn't recognize. Enigmatic, calculating, but then, like a cloud parting from the Sun, Anakin saw acceptance. In that brief instant, he felt sure that Obi-Wan would be able to stop the strike if he made it, somehow, and yet did not.

Obi-Wan trusted him.

Obi-Wan trusted him.

Despite all of this. Despite all Anakin's struggles, all his failures, all his evils and misdeeds. Obi-Wan knew it all, and yet still he had faith — had hope.

For just a second, Anakin saw the future open up before him, clearer than it ever had before. Through the shadows of the Force, the potentialities suddenly cleared and aligned. The veil between present and future was lifted. If he landed the blow… If he destroyed Obi-Wan and Palpatine… He saw it all clearly.

Everything he had ever wanted.

Palpatine looked up at him, expression rapidly shifting between helpless and pleading and savage and demanding. The veil between Palpatine and Darth Sidious was tearing, the Sith Lord pushed to his limit. The true face was being revealed. Yet still Anakin hesitated. Not more than a second passed, yet it felt as though he had aged years. Pity welled in his heart, and his blade wavered.

"Anakin," Palpatine croaked, suddenly feeble and weak-seeming. "Anakin, you must help. You know the Republic dies with me. Padmé dies with me. Without me they cannot survive."

"Save your words," Obi-Wan hissed. "Your deceptions and manipulations are finally at an end."

"You know what I say is no deception," Palpatine cried. "I am the Republic. It dies with me! Destroy me and you destroy the Republic. All this has been foreseen, and all is according to my design, even that part which you play now. There is only the inevitable, Anakin!"

Desperately, Anakin looked to Obi-Wan for a denial, for a refutation, but found none.

Suddenly Anakin realized he had lost the contest. The blue lightsaber shook, and then lowered, and Palpatine's yellow eyes glowed with triumph.

With hidden power, Obi-Wan was thrown off and backward, hitting the wall and crumpling to the ground, and Palpatine sprang to his feet.

"It is over," Palpatine declared. "You foolishly thought to challenge me. But you could never win." He stood in front of the window-hole, a greater shadow before the night of Coruscant, the lightning illuminating him from behind just as it threw his face into eery relief when it shot from his hands. Obi-Wan writhed in pain, the agony contorting him without mercy under Palpatine's painful lightning. "Now, my friend…" Palpatine whispered silkily. "Your tired charade of Sith Mastery is at an end. Your–––"

But Palpatine was cut off when several things happened.

The first was the blue streak of a blaster bolt lancing through the window like lightning and piercing Palpatine through the chest.

The second was the rush of air that escaped his lungs.

The third was the cackle that bubbled from his throat.

And the fourth was Anakin's blue 'saber passing cleanly through his neck, the head not even wobbling from the blow, triumphant smile still upon the lips. Then, suddenly, the moment passed, and Anakin watched in horror as the golden eyes in the head moved to him, still full of delighted malice, and the mouth moved in words rendered soundless from their disconnect from the throat. Palpatine's final message — delivered while the brain yet lived a moment more in a dying head — was silent, and yet Anakin felt an ominous weight press upon him regardless.

The lips slowly stilled, and finally the expression was frozen, and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was dead.

Then Anakin's eyes widened and he ran full tilt at Obi-Wan away from the corpse. A heartbeat, and suddenly the room exploded, the dark energies of the late Sith Lord releasing in a physical wall of dark side power that destroyed what was left of the Chancellory.

•

Anakin came to consciousness groggily, and found he was being lifted out of rubble. With consciousness returned strength, and Anakin hauled himself out the rest of the way. The air was filled with dust and smoke, and the only illumination was from the fires that were now raging and the powerful lamps on the suit of his rescuer, yet Anakin would have recognized the face in front of him anywhere, and it froze him in shock.

"Rex?" he asked disbelievingly. "Is it really you?"

The expression on Rex's face was one he had never seen before. A mix of relief, apology, guilt, determination, satisfaction, and a dozen other things Anakin couldn't name.

"Yeah, General," Rex replied. "It's really me."

But Anakin was coming back to himself, and suddenly he was looking around the destroyed office, or what was left of it. There seemed to be a crater now adorning the face of the building, and he and Rex were on a small ledge that had once been the entryway. Anakin looked around wildly, but found himself both relieved and bewildered when he saw who was unmistakably Fives helping a very abused but otherwise intact and healthy Obi-Wan out from another pile of rubble behind him.

Anakin looked back at Rex.

"I thought you were dead."

Rex looked uncomfortable. "Not quite," he said. "Sorry for the deception, General."

"I take it this was your doing?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan as he came near. Obi-Wan nodded tiredly. "So how did you do it? Not even…" Anakin choked. "Not even Master Windu could defeat Pal… the Chancellor. He said everything had been foreseen and you looked like you believed him."

"Because I did," Obi-Wan replied. "Palpatine was my superior in the Force just by virtue of his age and experience. Everything that could be foreseen in the Force he had foreseen. But as with the Jedi his arrogance was his downfall. To the Force, Rex and Fives here are but insignificant beings, deaf to it and almost blind. Yet that in turn blinded the Force to them. Palpatine always underestimated the clones, his tools — for he always sees the big and not the small, and even the lowliest can make the minuscule difference that changes the course of history. That was to my advantage." He smiled. "Yet the principle holds true that all warfare is based on deception. The ruse of the deaths of Rex and Fives was necessary for the plan to succeed, and Palpatine needed to believe that he had beaten me, that even I could not deny his total mastery of the Force."

"I see," Anakin said, shaking his head. He turned. "Hello, Fives," Anakin greeted as the last man came up.

"General," Fives saluted, looking more awkward and guilty than Rex. "I'm, uh, sorry about the lie."

Anakin waved it away. Instead, all four turned to look out the smoking hole in the side of the Chancellory out into the raining night of Coruscant.

"So, what now?" Anakin asked.

"Now?" Obi-Wan replied. "Now it is time for the culmination of my life's work. Now–––"

But he cut himself off, instead distracted by the blue hologram that had sprung up on the remains of Palpatine's desk, half-hanging out of the building.

Hooded and cloaked, Palpatine was still a figure of menace and power, and his voice reflected it as he spoke the words "Commanders of the Republic. The time has come. My final orders to you are thus: execute Operation Ember-Star."

The hologram winked out, leaving them in silence except for the fires.

Then Anakin's attention was drawn out the window, and he was aware there was a glow illuminating the distance that didn't come from the Chancellory fires or Coruscant lighting. The Jedi Temple was aflame, and Anakin watched in shock as, in silence, a burst of white and blasts of fire leapt away from the building, massive chunks of the Temple's stonework flying silently through the air as they watched. Too close for the sound to travel so quickly, Anakin watched in horror as another explosion collapsed one of the Temple's towers. Some seconds later the shockwave of the first explosion finally hit, and the enormous clap of thunder finally arrived to complement the silent blast of fire.

"Sir," Rex said, handing Anakin a pair of macrobinoculars. "You should see this."

Anakin took them and directed them where Rex was pointing.

He gasped, but Rex took the words out of his mouth before he could speak them.

"They're marching on the Temple."

Last edited: 2021/6

A/N — Yes, I did do that. I'm sorry to all who praised me for taking the bold step of killing Rex, but in my defense this was planned for a long time before I even wrote his death. I hope it's not too upsetting that I'm not as bold a risk taker as some thought. I like Rex too much to kill him off for real.

Sorry. :/