The Jedi Temple

Coruscant

The Day of Order 66

The newly created Sith Lord, Darth Vader, climbed, yellow eyes glowing, at the head of scores of clone warriors. He reached the top of the long flight of steps which led directly to the main door of the Jedi Temple and began marching through the halls, prepared to destroy the Jedi.

Prepared to save Padme.

That was the only reason for this, the only reason. He would not lose Padme, he could not, for he loved her more than life itself, more than Obi-Wan, more than Ahsoka, more than the Chancellor himself, though Palpatine had always been good to him. He had made the right choice in bowing his knee to the Chancellor. The Jedi did not care, not truly; they pretended to be so caring and compassionate, and yet their grandmaster himself had urged the former Jedi, Anakin, to let his wife die.

And the power! Oh, the power of the Dark Side! For so long he had struggled to contain his anger and fear, when in fact such emotions brought about such tremendous potency. He had never felt so alive, never so connected to the Force which joined everything together.

The Jedi turned Sith stopped and ordered his men to penetrate into the main hall of the Temple, where numerous Jedi were waiting to be slaughtered. They were a skilled set, without a doubt, but Vader had numbers on his side. Palpatine had prepared carefully, and there were legions upon legions of clone troopers available to do his bidding.

His own task was an unpleasant one, but necessary. Palpatine had ordered him to destroy the Jedi younglings and the babes within the crèches. They were damaged by the lies of the Jedi and must be cut down so that they would not cause further trouble for his master, Sheev Palpatine.

Vader turned right, then left, only to halt, briefly, in front of a closed door. There were at least ten life forms within, all young, all shining with Force power, though none were, of course, as strong as he was.

The Chosen One. Yes, he was indeed the Chosen One; he would help rid the galaxy of the Jedi Scourge, and he and Padme and their child, would be happy together.

The door slid open, and he stepped in, his robes swaying. A small tow-headed human boy, Tinter, stepped out of the shadows, his little face dark with worry. "Master Skywalker, there are too many of them. What are we to do?"

For a second, he hesitated. Could he take these lives? These little ones whom he had played with in the courts?

Yes, he could. For Palpatine. For the Empire. For Padme.

He grasped his lightsaber and the blue blade ignited, causing Tinter to start in confused amazement.

He took a step forward and…

A green blade suddenly flashed down upon his own blue blade, knocking it aside. Vader jumped back in shock. What…?

A shorter man of some thirty years, with dark blond hair, a totally unknown man, stood across from him, his eyes narrow. Vader compressed his lips tightly and lunged forward confidently. He had never seen this man before, therefore he could not be a Jedi, and therefore he could not be particularly skilled.

The resulting attack was enlightening, to say the least. Vader had fought many times against others, including the former Sith Count Dooku. He had lost a hand to Dooku, but since then, his skills with the saber had grown and he was now one of the very best fighters in the galaxy.

But this young man, this Unknown, fought with the skill of Yoda himself, and it seemed like every move Vader made, his opponent sensed before it happened. He was gradually pushed back toward the side wall, and his breath was coming quickly, and …

Abruptly, pain exploded in his gonads, and he collapsed to the ground with an anguished bellow of pain. His lightsaber and his comlink flew from his hand and belt, respectively, as he curled over miserably and tried not to throw up.

"Leia, really!" the unknown male remonstrated, sounding rather shaken.

"He deserves it," a feminine voice answered angrily. "He was going to kill those kids!"

"It's Order 66!" another female voice exclaimed, "and this is the Jedi Temple."

Vader opened his eyes and started to uncurl, only to freeze. His own blue lightsaber was pointed directly at his neck, and if he moved even a centimeter, he would slice himself open. At least the agony in his nether regions was subsiding. He could only hope there hadn't been permanent damage.

"Leia? Mara? I can't remember whether I should use Order 33 or 34."

"Order 33 is fish. Order 34 is sleep."

"Ok, thanks."

Vader stayed frozen, his mind working frantically. Who were these people? What did fish have to do with anything?"

"Execute Order 34," a gravelly voice, a familiar voice, suddenly proclaimed.

Vader stared, flummoxed, toward the lightsaber at his neck, which was being held by a dark haired young woman of startling beauty. There was a weird quiver through the Force. What had just happened?

"I think that did it," the male voice suggested.

"It did, at least here," the woman keeping Vader in check announced. "It may not have gone any farther than the temple."

"Right. We probably need to get to Palpatine to calm down everyone else, though I'm going to do some work on the comlink and see if maybe I can expand the range."

"Luke, I know the Temple well," the second female voice said. "I think I should get these little ones to safety in case the troopers wake up soon."

"Do, and be careful. Let me know if the clones start causing trouble again."

"I will."

There was the unmistakable sound of kissing, and then the second female voice said, "Kids, everything is Ok. Just come with me, and I will make sure you are safe."

The door opened and, a minute later, closed, leaving Vader on the ground with the lightsaber at his throat.

"All right, get up," the woman ordered, taking a step backwards but keeping her dark eyes fixed menacingly on Vader's face. "Trust me, if you cause any trouble, I'll start chopping off limbs."

Vader rolled slowly to his feet, his mind a mixture of fury (at being bested), fear (at having a limb or three cut off), and terror (because he had failed to obey his Master's direction, and Padme was going to die if…)

"Who are you?" he rasped. That was the weirdest thing. He'd left Tatooine 14 years ago, and he knew most of the Jedi, certainly all of the really powerful ones. But these two beings were obviously immensely powerful with the Force and well trained too. Where had they been all these years?

"We are from the future," the man said calmly, "some thirty plus years in fact. Also, I am Luke Skywalker and this is my twin sister Leia. We are your children."

Vader felt his mouth fall open and a moment later, drool began gathering in the corners of his lips.

"Wuh?" he demanded.

"Your wife is carrying twins," the girl said, her eyes flashing with Padme's familiar fire. "We are biologically your children, though of course we are from another timeline."

"That's…that's impossible!"

"Search your feelings, Father," Luke said gravely, his blue eyes fixed on Vader's similarly shaped ones. "You know it to be true. Besides look at me, and look at my sister. I look so much like you, and Leia is the very image of Padme."

Vader gazed, wild eyed, and demanded. "Why are you here? How are you here?"

"How is complicated. The reason why is that we keep being sent to different timelines to fix problems, and this time we are here to keep you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

Vader shook his head frantically. "No, no, it isn't a mistake! Padme is going to die in childbirth! I have seen it…"

"In your nightmares, I know," Luke said sympathetically. "Here is the thing, though; it is your decision to turn to the Dark Side that brought about Padme's death in our timeline."

Vader gulped and took a shaky step backwards. "I … I turned, and she still died? Palpatine promised me … he can use the power of the Force to save a life."

"Even if that were true, which it isn't," Leia said with a roll of her eyes, "Palpatine doesn't want to save Padme. Don't you get it, Father? He hates her. He hates hates hates hates Padme! She's a devotee of democracy!"

"No! No, he said … he is going to save her!"

"In our timeline, Palpatine killed Padme," Luke said gravely. "He reached through the bond between you and her, and he drained her life force. She managed to hang on enough to deliver us, and died within minutes."

Anakin/Vader lifted his hands, one flesh, one mechanical, and grasped his long, manly, flowing locks in horror. "No, you lie! The Chancellor is my friend!"

"Palpatine is not your friend!" Leia snapped angrily. "He is a rock vulture searching for sustenance, and you are a giant mound of rotting rancor meat."

"Symbolically speaking," Luke said in a slightly apologetic tone as he fiddled with Vader's comlink.

"That … that doesn't even make sense!" Vader snapped, "not to mention, it is a disgusting image!"

Leia groaned aloud. "Listen, you idiot, Palpatine is working on overthrowing a Republic that has lasted thousands of generations. You are the most powerful Force sensitive the galaxy has ever seen. He wants you as an apprentice, and he has been grooming you to trust him for the last 13 years so that you would turn to the Dark Side and become his evil sidekick. It isn't hyperspace fuel science!"

"Hang on a minute," Luke said, lifting the comlink to his mouth. Anavader watched incredulously as the man's mouth moved and the voice of his master, Sheev Palpatine, came out. "Execute Order 34!"

"Were they waking up?" Leia asked worriedly.

"No, not yet, though I'm sure Palpatine will soon realize that something has gone wrong. But I think I managed to boost Vader's comlink to the local holonet and that command should have made it to a bunch of core worlds, anyway. We do need to go kill the Emperor."

"Yes, we do," Leia responded, and turned her glare on her biological father. "Well, are you with us or not?"

Anakin stared his (sort of) daughter and swallowed convulsively. "Is he…will he really kill Padme?"

"Yes, he will," Luke said simply.

"Why...why should I trust you?" Vader demanded, the cold fire of the Dark Side suddenly surging through his veins. "You came out of nowhere, you say you are my biological children, but Palpatine..."

"Fine, let's go find Palpatine. You can just ask him directly," Luke interrupted. "Just ask him if he is going to save Padme from death and see what he says. That's the whole reason you turned, so don't you think you should find out that he definitely is planning to save her?"

Vader considered this and then nodded reluctantly. "I guess that makes sense. Let's go."