Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan make their way through the castle and surprise Sidious
Anakin POV
"This is a stupid plan," I complain to Obi-Wan.
"Just think of how you will capture Palpatine, again. You will be the hero, Padme and your mother will be proud, and your children will fight over who gets to play in their imaginations."
"Stroking my ego is not going to fix this."
We were all in disguises, me in the disguise I sent to Padme, Obi-Wan in Mandalorian armor, and Ahsoka in a pale blue slave outfit similar to what she wore on Zygerria all those years ago with a black clock over it. My astromech droid R4, posing as Obi-Wan's astromech droid, was rolling up beside of us and held all of our lightsabers.
As we approached the guarded gate, I whispered to Snips, "Remember, you think that if you step a toe out of line, at best, they will whip you, and at worse, they will kill you. Keep your head bowed, don't look anyone in the eye, everyone is master or mistress, and you're invisible, you're nothing."
Her eyes widened as I talked. "Geez, Skyguy. Ya know, if we pull this off, you need to talk to Depa about your childhood."
I grimaced at the thought of hashing out the first nine years of my life under Depa's sharp eyes. No doubt, Depa would put me on every entire pill in the galaxy if we went into all the dirty details. "It's in the past," I shrugged.
When we came upon the guards, they cross their cortosis staffs in front of Obi-Wan. We stopped in our tracks. I immediately put my head down, and snuck a sideways glance and Ahsoka did the same.
"Evening, my name is Benjamin Carhil. I have caught some slaves, and they might be a service to the Empire. Maybe we could do some business."
The guard eyed Ahsoka and me with a trained eye. "Alright," he said. "I am sure Arysta is willing to hear what you want for them." With that, he turned on his heal and lead us into the palace.
He lead us through the structure, and our plans were exactly like what it was like. It was narrow, dark, frankly creepy hallways that lead to different dungeons and rooms where the slaves stayed while they worked for Sidious. My chest constricted as I saw a small girl, who looked like ten behind the steel bars scrubbing something off the floor of her cell. For once in my life, I considered the fact that I was lucky to be a slave to a thug and not a slave to a Sith. The notion crossed my mind that someone could do that to Ashla or Leia, when they were young. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of someone touching my children.
We passed several other cells, before we saw another occupied on the left. I saw an older woman with white hair, shivering in her bed. Through the Force, I could sense her pain. She had what felt like a fever, and her heart was doing something strange. She could not die in the Force, and I knew that they were just going to leave her there. No medical attention, no caregiver, just lay there dying a thousand deaths. What was it to Sidious?
As we continued walking, I heard hurried footsteps following us, and I turned to notice a young man dressed like me, but without the clock almost running towards us. As he came upon us, I grabbed Ahsoka and moved out of his way, but he ran into our guide and fell to his knees.
"You wretched imbecile!" said our guide, and he drew an electro whip and started whipping him with furry.
The slave started shaking and vomiting, and it was clear that he was running so he could be sick in his quarters. By the fourth thrash of the whip, I was ready to reveal that I was formally Darth Vader, and I could bring forth hell with a whip. I took a step towards the man, cover be damned, but Obi-Wan put a cautious hand on my chest.
"Enough!" said Obi-Wan. "I don't have all day!"
Our guide stopped what he was doing, and looked up to Obi-Wan.
"Leave the slave alone, and take me to Sidious so I can receive my money now, or I will beat you myself!" threatened Obi-Wan.
The man's eyes widened by the threat, and he immediately walked away from the man and continued leading us towards Sidious. We left the man lying there, but I felt in the force quickly to check if they had permanently damaged him from the beating. Thankfully, the had not.
"Take heart, friend," I silently wished him, "Your master will die soon, and by my hand. I swear it." I figured after I killed Sidious, I could kill this prick.
Our guide lead us down a corridor and entered a small room that had refreshments, water, ardes, and wine. Since when did the empire have wine?
"Please, make yourself comfortable," our guide said to Obi-Wan. "I will announce your arrival to His Excellency, and he will see you at his convenience."
"I hope it does not take too long," said Obi-Wan. "I have work to do."
The man nodded, and walked out of the room.
A sob escaped Ahsoka.
"Hey," I said. "Come here," and held my arms out to her.
She came to me and started to sob.
"Shh," I said, holding her tight. "That is why we are here. When we take him out, we can stop all of this."
"Did that ever happen to you?" she asked through her sobs.
"No, but it happened to my mother," I whispered.
"Why? Who does that to people?" she asked.
"People do it because they can, Snips," I said. "Because they can."