Chapter 3 - Chaos Unfolds
Author's Note: Basically, just what the chapter title says. xD
~ Amina Gila
Anakin was less than happy with the fact that Vader was adamant they not take him when they go to destroy Sidious. He was furious for much the same reason Vader remembers he himself was in another lifetime: because it's what he's always thought his purpose was.
As if they could have a purpose other than destruction. (They don't.)
Vader knows, now, looking back, how much control Palpatine had over him. He also knows Anakin will react very, very badly to discovering the truth about who his friend really is. Vader will not risk the possibility of Anakin betraying them for Sidious. It would be too dangerous; he remembers how much damage the boy could cause. So, they leave him at the Temple with... their children and strict orders not to set foot outside.
Somehow, Vader doesn't think they'll listen anymore this time than they ever have, but he tries not to worry about it, because they must focus on Sidious.
Especially since Anakin seems especially unhappy that Obi-Wan will be going there when he has to stay here.
"See? I knew he's your best friend," Luke whispers loudly. They do not need to have another conversation about this right now.
"He is not," Vader retorts.
"But... you keep him in your closet! If he were really so dangerous, then you would keep him in prison."
"He is dangerous, and he is in prison," the Sith insists.
"... Why do you have a prison connected to your bedroom?" Luke asks innocently.
"I keep him there because he's dangerous. Why are we having this discussion again?!" Vader has talked about this to the twins repeatedly over the years. After he got back to Coruscant and was reassembled, and made sure the Empire wasn't about to fall apart completely, he went back to Tatooine for Obi-Wan. They fought briefly and he won, and... He's kept him imprisoned near him ever since. (Maybe for more than one reason, but it matters little. Obi-Wan hates him and he always will. He probably should.) He found Luke on Tatooine, confirming that he was his child, and Leia not long later. He's been raising them ever since. Eventually, he got into contact with Ahsoka and Rex too, and they... spend much time around each other.
"See?" Luke whispers loudly to Leia. "Best friends!"
She nods cheerfully in affirmative.
Vader opts to ignore the comment entirely – and the look Anakin's giving him as though he... really wants some details – because they do have a Sith Lord to be dealing with. They leave it at that, and Vader goes to join the others.
He's there with Obi-Wan (who he is pointedly ignoring), Yoda, Windu, Mundi, Plo, and Tiin. They were all the same Jedi Masters he remembers from Ahsoka's trial, and they needed to collect as many people as possible. Vader truthfully doesn't know how good Sidious was with a lightsaber. Master Yoda fought and failed to defeat him. That's the only thing he has to go by. Sidious fought Windu, Tiin, Kolar, and Fisto, and came out on top. Vader doesn't know whether the Sith was feigning to have been defeated in the end – he probably was, the same way he feigned everything else.
Their plan is simple enough: lure Sidious to the Works where they can eliminate him undisturbed. No one will find his body until they destroy all incriminating evidence.
Vader already told them everything he knew about Sidious' fighting style which is... admittedly, almost nothing.
Their entire plan counted on Sidious coming to find them, and Vader can only be relieved he knows his master well enough to be that predictable. (He usually isn't.)
They broke into his place in the Works, and Vader knows he will sense it and hopefully come to stop them. If he doesn't, there's definitely a lot of incriminating evidence they could find here, but that likely wouldn't be enough. Even if it was, they wouldn't be able to get him out of office fast enough before he enacted a contingency plan that Vader has no knowledge of.
The tension hanging in the air among the Jedi Masters is almost palpable, but they don't have to wait long. Even through Sidious' shielding, Vader senses the far too familiar presence of this version of his former Sith master approaching. He's never fought him before because it was Sidious' own stupidity that got himself killed in Vader's reality. This will... not be easy, and he knows it.
The door finally slides open, and Sidious stalks into the room, hood pulled up over his head, looking every bit the Sith Lord he is, and very little like Palpatine.
"In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor," Windu warns, stepping forwards.
"Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" Sidious asks lightly, looking between them, gaze settling on Vader for the briefest moment. This may not be his master, but he still fears it, even if the odds are on their side. If Sidious issues Order 66, the Jedi will be doomed. His children should get to safety with Anakin, though he doubts Sidious will get that far. And Ahsoka... she is quite safe with them at the Temple. Padme – he doesn't want to think about her, about how she's still alive here – is safely out of the way, obviously, and she will remain so as long as Sidious doesn't discover his... former identity.
"The Senate will decide your fate," Windu retorts.
"It's treason then," Sidious hisses, and in a flash, two red lightsabers spring to life in his hands, as he leaps towards them, swinging for the nearest Jedi's head.
Vader's first thought is that they won't all come out of it alive – not that he cares. It doesn't matter to him. All that does is that his children are safe. And he came here to help this time's version of himself and Ahsoka, so when his children are born again here, at least they won't be ripped away from him and their mother. He can't change his own time, but maybe he can change this. (It still won't give him back what he's lost.)
**w**
Anakin is greatly irked by the entire situation. He doesn't like a single factor involved, actually. He should have been there when they destroyed Sidious, but Vader maintained that he stay away. What does this Sith version of himself know that Anakin doesn't? He doesn't like it. It's unnerving. Vader himself is... well, Anakin likes him, he admits grudgingly. He can't even say why. Anakin wants to trust him, but he knows he can't. He's a Sith, after all, and Anakin is surprised the Council agreed for him to help in the first place. What happens afterwards is anyone's guess.
Either Vader will return to his own time, or the Council will imprison him.
And he really, really doesn't understand why Vader left him here. Or why he's expected to not intervene when Obi-Wan is fighting the Sith. He could die!
"This isn't fair," grumbles Luke. "I wanna help!"
"Me too!" Leia complains.
"Sidious is more powerful than Dooku," Anakin replies, almost grudgingly. He was left here to babysit the twins, and with good reason, or they would run off to fight Sidious. "Not even I could defeat Dooku."
The twins nearly identically cross their arms and pout.
"Isn't that all the more reason you should be helping?" Leia protests.
Yes, that is, in fact, exactly what Anakin is thinking, which makes arguing against her logic difficult. "You know your father was insistent that I stay here with you," Anakin replies, finally.
"Ahsoka can do that!"
It would really help if he didn't agree with them. "They should be able to handle it. There's seven of them there. And if something goes wrong, I'll be able to protect you," he replies. He wishes he could actually believe that. Obi-Wan is there fighting Sidious, and Anakin has no delusions that everyone is going to come out alive. How can he just sit back and do nothing when his former master could die?
"But Dad always says how powerful Sidious is!" Luke protests, "We should help!"
Anakin raises an eyebrow. "We?" If the twins really think he'll take them to the Works...
"You can go, at least," Leia insists, "We'll stay out of the way! What if something happens and Sidious is able to escape?"
They're right, and that's the thing. It doesn't help that he can feel the amount of danger Obi-Wan is in, and he doesn't want to stay out of it. Vader might have told him to wait here for a reason, but he doesn't know if he should. If they fail to defeat Sidious or if something happens to his former master when he could've stopped it...
"You going wouldn't hurt anything. It would just give us a bigger chance of winning," Leia adds. How in the galaxy is he supposed to argue with unflawed logic?!
"You might be right," Anakin admits, at last, "But you two are staying here."
Both of them immediately pout.
"I will not take you to a place as dangerous as that," he replies, "And this is not up for debate. I'll call Ahsoka to stay with you and then I'll go."
"Fine," Luke huffs, in a way that very much implies the only reason they were arguing in the first place is because they wanted to go. Not happening.
"You really are just like Dad," Leia nearly-pouts. Anakin will assume that's... a compliment. Maybe.
"You wanted me?" Ahsoka asks, showing up hardly any time later. They still have a lot to sort through with each other, he knows, but now isn't the time to think about it.
"I need you to watch over them until I get back," Anakin replies, "And no, I won't need your help where I'm going, so don't let them talk you into it." He ignores Luke grumbling a protest under his breath.
"Where are you going?" Ahsoka objects.
"To help," he replies shortly. He really doesn't want to take the time to explain this to her – especially because she'll probably start arguing about his decision, and he doesn't want to change his mind about going to help the others – so he just leaves it at that, running for the hanger. Hopefully, this isn't a mistake.
He already knows where the others went, so tracking them down to the place in the Works is easy enough. His heart is pounding as he lands the speeder and runs into the building, going in search of wherever the fight is happening. Not far away he can hear the sound of clashing lightsabers, and as he races through the main room, he doesn't miss the body lying in the corner. Mundi.
He's dead. How many others are down...? Anakin doesn't let himself think about it. Hardly anywhere into the building, and he's already finding one of the Jedi dead. He should have been here from the start. Anything could be happening with the others, and –
Anakin turns another corner before he finally lays eyes on where the duel is occurring. Yoda is flying in practically a green blur around Sidious' head, who's batting him aside with one blade as he tries to fend off Vader with the other. Windu and Tiin seem unconscious or at least temporarily stunned, and Obi-Wan is lying near one of the walls, his robes smoking in a way Anakin knows well. He was just electrocuted.
"Master?" Anakin asks urgently, darting over to him.
Obi-Wan starts to push himself up, still breathing hard from the lightning. "You – weren't supposed to be here." He doesn't sound the least bit happy.
"I had to help." He turns away, igniting his own blade and approaching the others.
It isn't until that moment that he actually realizes who Sidious is.
No. No. This shouldn't be possible. It's not, but somehow...
Palpatine was his friend! He – this simply doesn't make sense. He would never do that. He's good. He was!
Now that Anakin is here, everyone stills for a moment, looking at him, clearly trying to gauge his reaction and whose side he's on.
"What?" he breathes finally faintly, in a voice that hardly belongs to him.
"I told you not to come," Vader finally breaks the silence.
Anakin doesn't respond. Can't. He doesn't know what he'd say even if he wanted to. He's rooted to the spot, every instinct screaming that he must be misinterpreting something, because this is impossible. He wonders, briefly, if this is why Vader didn't want him to come. "Why?" he whispers, faintly. "Is that why... you didn't want me here?"
It's Sidious – Palpatine himself – who responds to his question. "The Jedi are committing treason, my boy." His voice sounds... different in a way that Anakin can't place but it sends a shiver down his spine. "I know you would never join with them to betray the Republic. They didn't trust you. That's why they didn't tell you about their plans. They knew you would try to stop them."
Anakin senses Vader's rising fury, but he feels rooted to the spot. He doesn't know what to do, who to help. He's a Jedi, but – but why didn't they tell him? He doesn't want to believe they would do something of that nature, but... he didn't expect them to do most of what they've done. He remembers what Vader was telling him about what happened to Ahsoka, and not for the first time, finds himself wondering if the Jedi are truly what he wants to believe they are.
"Don't listen to him, Anakin," Obi-Wan snaps, eyes narrowed, glaring. Though who he's glaring at, Anakin's not sure. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was never supposed to happen, and he doesn't know what to do or who to turn to or who's side he's on.
"You can't trust him, Anakin," Palpatine's voice continues, breaking through the haze on his mind. "He will betray you again, as he always has."
In that moment, Anakin finds himself looking to Vader. He's the only one who would know, and he needs to know if – if that's true. The Sith doesn't deny it, either. He only looks away, which is the only confirmation of it Anakin needed to know that yes, it's true. Why is it that the Chancellor is the only person who's never lied to Anakin? Except about being Sidious. Maybe. He doesn't know that either. But he is a Sith, and –
"I will never betray you as they have."
"You lie," Vader snarls, slashing towards him again, only to be sent back on a bolt of lightning. Anakin flinches back, unable to help remember the last times he's seen it. Vader holds his lightsaber up to deflect it, but some of it hits him anyway, likely so drawn to his armor. He goes down with a cry, but what startles Anakin is that he can feel it too. It's burning through every inch of his body, even if he's only feeling it through their bond. Anakin reacts to that almost instinctively, throwing a Force-shove at Sidious. It's enough to make him lose focus, at least, as he skids backwards.
Obi-Wan is standing next to him, one hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asks, frowning.
He doesn't know about Vader, Anakin remembers. He nods. "I –"
"What was that?" he asks.
Anakin shakes his head, mutely. He doesn't want to tell Obi-Wan that. He doesn't know – or want to know – how he'd react if he knew that Anakin was going to Fall in the future. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demands, finally. They don't have time to waste.
"We knew you would be upset, and Vader felt that your... relationship would make you vulnerable."
"And what? You came here to kill him?"
"Anakin, he's the one responsible for the war," Obi-Wan retorts.
Anakin closes his eyes, breathing hard a few times. He can't... "This is treason!"
"It would be treason to leave a Sith in control of the Republic!"
"What proof do you have that he's a Sith?!" Anakin yells. "How can – do you know that the public won't find out about this? How can you expect me to go along with it if you –"
"You're a Jedi," Obi-Wan replies, an angry note in his voice now. "You have a duty. It would do you good to remember that."
His fist clenches. "I know that, Master, but he's my friend!"
"He's a Sith," Obi-Wan snaps, "And a traitor. He has been manipulating you. Nothing more." He's quiet for a moment before pulling Anakin to his feet again and continuing in a slightly softer tone. "We must stop him now, before he causes more damage. He orchestrated the Clone Wars, remember. You can do this, Anakin. I know you can."
"And how do I know," Anakin asks, evenly. He doesn't know how or where he got the courage to do this from. He's wanted to say it for so, so long, but he's always been too afraid to. Until now. "That you're not lying to me, too? Manipulating me?"
Obi-Wan's expression darkens abruptly, expectedly, and Anakin immediately regrets asking. He shouldn't have mentioned it. "We need your help, Anakin."
Across the room, Sidious had thrown Yoda aside, focusing his efforts on Vader. He no longer fights the same way Anakin used to any longer, but Anakin can still anticipate the other's moves in a way that resonates deep within him.
"He wouldn't hesitate to kill any of us; you know that," Obi-Wan urges.
"It's not so easy," Anakin whispers, shamefully. He knows his master will be upset, because it's a clear sign Anakin is incapable of controlling himself, but it's the truth.
"I understand your concerns, but we must do this."
Personally, Anakin doubts that he understands any of it, but he won't argue. He knows this is something he needs to do, just like so many other things he's done for the Jedi, but he loathes it anyway. And he loathes himself for giving in, for betraying one of his only friends.
They attack Sidious together, Anakin struggling to ignore the guilt rapidly crushing him. Yoda leaps into the fray, and for a moment it almost seems as if they have the advantage, but Sidious doesn't seem remotely tired yet.
The duel continues in a furious blur of red, green, and blue, neither side gaining ground on the other. A blast of lightning catches Yoda, sending him flying. A Force-shove slams into Anakin, throwing him across the room. Sidious throws Obi-Wan aside next, into the wall and probably unconscious.
Anakin feels sick at seeing it, and he knows Obi-Wan was right – Sidious is willing to go to whatever extent he must to live. Anakin gets up, anyway, despite how shaky he feels, how much he hates himself for doing this. Master Yoda hasn't risen earlier, and Anakin is worried the lightning he was struck by was nearly lethal. He doesn't want to think about it.
"The Jedi are plotting to take over," Sidious says, "Don't join them in this, Anakin."
Vader snarls, hurling Sidious across the room practically through a wall. The Sith is back on his feet in an instant though, lightning pouring from his fingers, striking their lightsabers.
Anakin struggles against the intensity of the blast, trying to hold it off.
Behind him, he senses Windu finally stirring.
Sidious stalks towards them, finally letting up his attack and lunging at them again. So many are already down. How can they win this? Sidious cackles, and it hits Anakin in that moment that he's feeding off their emotions, their fear. Maybe this... isn't how to defeat him.
The Sith's red blades move in a furious blur, but Vader finally manages to cut slightly higher than he can block, burning across the Sith's arm – although not deeply. Sidious lashes out with the Force again, throwing Anakin back before turning all his focus onto Vader.
The world is spinning in front of him as he tries to get back up, and – and Sidious swings around, moving far, far too fast, stabbing one of his blades through Vader.
Vader swings his own lightsaber down a moment too late to stop it, but it severs the other Sith's hand, anyway.
Anakin thinks he's going to be sick.
The pain that floods their bond again is crippling. Vader stumbles back before going down on his knees.
Windu attacks Sidious again before he can take advantage of the situation and kill Vader or something, but the damage is already done. His condition is serious, and... Anakin doesn't know if he's going to survive it. Not unless they can get him help immediately, which won't happen until they stop Sidious. Which means...
This can't be happening.
There are two sudden simultaneous shrieks of "Dad!" from the doorway.
Oh, no.
Anakin thought nothing could get worse. He was wrong. Of course, the twins decided here and now would be a good place to turn up with Ahsoka. He told her not to let them come! Why did he ever think leaving them there would be a good idea?!
Sidious unleashes a barrage of lightning at Windu, which Anakin hastily joins him in blocking. Luke and Leia sprint across the room, running to Vader's side, their panic radiating loudly into the Force. Anakin doesn't have the time to focus on it though, throwing everything he can into defending against Sidious. The lightning is lethal now, he's certain, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to deflect it away without losing his grip on his lightsaber.
Some sparks are getting past it, a few prickling up his mechanical hand, but he stubbornly fights against it, refusing to move.
The lightning is being forced back now though, enough that it starts hitting Sidious.
Anakin feels it as his bond with Palpatine – he knew he had one but he didn't realize it was this strong – abruptly wrenches free, leaving a gaping nothingness behind. He stumbles a step back from the suddenness of it, The pain that rushes through him in that moment is far from far more than just the bond breaking.
Palpatine is dead, one of his only friends. And it's because of him. Guilt gnaws at him – worse than any he thinks he's felt before. He's dead, and it's because of Anakin. He may have been a Sith, but that doesn't make Anakin feel any better about it. Only betrayed and confused.
He doesn't know how long he's been standing there frozen, staring at the body, before the other unending ache running through him – thanks to his bond with Vader – finally draws him back to the present.
"I told you not to come," Vader is saying, and somewhat manages to distinctly convey his displeasure, despite the stab wound in his side.
"But we thought you might need help!" Leia protests.
"And you are hurt," Luke says, desperately. They both look near tears now, as they hold onto one of his hands – their hands are tiny enough they can do it at the same time easily.
"It is not serious. Do not worry," he tries to reassure, and fails.
"But..." Leia objects, looking like she's trying carefully not to look at the wound on his side.
"I have had worse," Vader promises, as though that's supposed to make anyone feel better about it.
Anakin is about to make his way over to him when he senses a ripple of something in the Force, and...
Someone appears. Quite literally.
The man – who looks very much like a much older version of Obi-Wan – immediately hurries to Vader's side, kneeling next to him. "Vader?" he asks, and the obvious amount of worry in his tone... is for some reason not what Anakin expected considering the way Vader is always acting like he and Obi-Wan don't get along anymore, or something. He doesn't know what happened, and he doesn't want to, but he can only guess. Of course, Obi-Wan would be furious if Anakin Fell.
"I am fine," the Sith insists, and Anakin can sense his... suddenly turbulent emotions at the sight of his Obi-Wan.
"Indeed. You are the perfect picture of health," the other retorts.
"It's... not... that bad," Vader tries to argue.
"Save that for someone who will actually believe you," the other Obi-Wan advises, reaching down, resting a hand on Vader's arm, "We should go."
"Not yet," he argues, his helmet turning towards Anakin. He feels the cyborg nudge at their bond, an obvious request at having a private conversation. They can't very well ask anyone to leave the room, so all they can do is speak telepathically.
"What?" Anakin asks.
"Do not let your guilt consume you," he warns. "It makes you vulnerable to the Dark Side. That is what he wants."
"He's already gone," Anakin replies, unable to suppress the bitterness surging through him. Does it really matter, if Sidious is already dead and gone? Anakin killed him. He killed one of his only friends. He didn't even have time to get answers, and now – now, he never will. He won't be able to, because there's no one left to get answers from. He doesn't want to believe Palpatine wouldn't have done this without reason, or preferably at all, but – but what else is he supposed to believe? He saw the evidence right here in front of him. He can't deny that.
"You're Light," Vader continues, cutting through his spiraling thoughts. "Do not let that change because of him as I have. You did what you had to do. You may not see it now, but the galaxy will prosper without him. Bringing the war to an end will be... easier."
"I killed him," Anakin says, faintly. "Mercilessly. What does that make me?"
There is a much-too-long moment of silence before he finally answers. "He was worthy of death. You did not betray your teachings as I have. You will not."
"I don't know if I can do this," he confesses. He wants to cry, but this pain runs too deep. "How can I just move on from this?"
"If you hold on to him, to his memory, it will destroy you," Vader warns ominously, and this, Anakin knows, is the truth.
"I don't know what to do," he admits.
"He was only using you," Vader replies. "You must see this. It won't be simple – do not expect it to be. But you will always have those... there for you."
Something light – hope – sparks inside him, not for himself, but for Vader. "Then the same must be true for you. If I can move on – let it go, so can you."
"It is too late for me."
"Why?" Anakin asks. "Why is it for you and not me?" He probably shouldn't ask this, because it's a Sith, and he wouldn't have Fallen all the way without doing something that Anakin would rather not know about.
Anakin feels a flare of pain in the Force, and immediately regrets his question. "I betrayed all those I loved."
Anakin moves forwards, kneeling in front of Vader. His heart breaks for him, and he wishes he'd be able to do something to help him. "You deserve better than this," he finds himself saying, though he doesn't know why. "If I can find it in myself to move on and keep fighting now, I know you can. You still have good in you, or you wouldn't have come here. You wouldn't care for your children, and I know you do. They're all you think about. And if that's not a reason enough to find it, to come back, then what is? If you can't do it, how can I?"
"You and I are not the same," Vader says at last. Anakin can feel the conflict in him though. "I have done things and lived a future you will never experience. Whatever Light was left in me died when – when Obi-Wan did this to me."
"You and I both know that's not true," Anakin retorts, because he refuses to think about the implications of the rest of it. He suspects anyway, though he never would have guessed. His Obi-Wan – the older man kneeling right near Anakin, showing so much concern for the cyborg now, is the one who did to Vader?! He – Anakin really doesn't want to think about it. "If you were truly lost, you wouldn't have a soul left to hurt."
They stare at each other for many long moments, through the red lenses of Vader's mask. "I must go," he says at last, and Anakin finds himself immediately wishing that Vader could stay. There's so much he wants to know. "Echo is alive," Vader adds as if as an afterthought. "He survived Lola Sayu. Find him."
Anakin nods briefly, filing away that little tidbit of information for later. He doesn't know how to react to it. For a year, he thought one of his best friends had died, had been blown up by the Separatists because he was just another person Anakin was unable to save.
Luke and Leia give Anakin a goodbye hug that he wholeheartedly returns – he was hoping to take them to meet Padme, but that obviously won't happen, which he is upset about – before the portal opens to take them through again.
Ahsoka starts forwards before Vader disappears through. "Good luck," she calls after him.
"There's no such thing as luck," Obi-Wan grumbles, and everyone ignores him.
"Dad always says there is!" Leia argues, and Luke nods emphatically.
Anakin nearly groans aloud at the mental image of his older-self arguing with Obi-Wan about something that outrageous.
"There isn't," Older-Obi-Wan promises, but everyone ignores him.
Vader turns back, casting one final glance at Ahsoka and nods slightly in acknowledgement, before they disappear together. Anakin senses them leave immediately. It sends a ripple effect out through the Force, and he finds himself immediately wishing he'd said more, asked to know more. He still has so many questions, and now, there's no way to get any answers.
But... Echo's alive...
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