Anakin was pleased that his meeting with the rebels had gone well. He glanced down at his lightsaber, which was attached to his belt once more. He had replaced the red crystal in it with the blue crystal Obi-Wan had given him. He still had no intention of using the saber ever again, but without the red crystal it seemed less like a Sith weapon. He wanted to eliminate as many aspects of that horrible part of his past as he could, and he did not want his saber to act as a constant reminder.
Anakin smiled as he approached the Executor with the knowledge that he had truly helped the galaxy. However, part of him ached for what he would do next. He was releasing Padmé, and based on her anger at him, he doubted that he would ever see her again. He could not blame her for leaving, he had treated her badly, and since she had been given to him by Sidious, she had practically been his prisoner.
She had no reason to stay, and Anakin would not ask her to. A deep melancholy fell over Anakin as he landed his ship into the Executor's hold, he would miss her very much.
Anakin exited his shuttle still thinking of Padmé. Had he not been so caught up in his own thoughts, he may have noticed how eerily silent the shuttle landing bay was.
Anakin did not notice that something was not right until he stumbled over something large in the hallway. He had not been paying attention to where he was going, and looked back to see what he had walked over. To his shock, he saw the body of his admiral sprawled out across the floor. He knelt down and called upon the Force to tell him what was wrong. He was shocked to find out that the man was dead; however, there appeared to be no fatal wounds on him.
Anakin quickly got up and started to head towards the bridge to find out what happened. However, as he walked down the Executor's corridors, he found more bodies of his crew strewn across the ship. All of them were dead. As Anakin took in the silence that filled the corridors, he realized that everyone must have been killed. Fear gripped him as one thought flowed through his mind, Padmé.
He immediately turned away from the bridge and sprinted towards his quarters, all the while dodging the bodies of his fellow crewmembers that littered the hallway. As he rounded the corner that led to his quarters, his face fell and terror gripped him as he saw that his door was ajar.
"Padmé!" He called out as he sprinted into the sitting room. He quickly glanced around, and when he did not see her, he bolted into the bedroom as he continued to call her name, "Padmé!"
However, no one answered his calls and she was nowhere to be seen. Anakin began to panic as he opened up all the closets in the bedroom. He then checked the fresher, and when he could not find her there he ran out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, all the while calling out her name. "Padmé!"
With one last room to check, Anakin ran to the storage room where R2D2 and C3P0 stayed. He gasped as he opened the room. He had not found Padmé, but C3P0's limbs were torn from his body, and he had been haphazardly placed inside the closet. He did not seem to be operational, however R2 was. R2 was lying on his side next to one of his robotic limbs that had been dislocated from his body. R2 started making a series of incoherent beeping noises when he spotted Anakin.
"Hang on R2, I can't understand you." Anakin quickly picked up R2's discarded leg and quickly worked to put it back into place as he continued to speak, "What happened? Where's Padmé?"
"Boooooooop Beeeeeeeeep!" R2 said as Anakin reattached his leg to his body and started to reconnect the wires to allow him to move.
"Who kidnapped her? Anakin replied with desperation as he finished connecting the last of the wiring to R2's leg.
"Beeep beep booooop boop."
"Play the message R2." Anakin replied anxiously.
At once R2 played the recording that had been left with him. Anakin eyes narrowed in anger as he watched the image of Darth Sidious appeared.
The image smiled at Anakin as it started to speak, "Welcome home my young apprentice." Sidious then paused, and his smile faded into a sneer as he continued. "Or perhaps I should not call you that anymore. Yes, I know about your betrayal, but that should be evident by the state of your ship. I do hope the dioxin dissipates before you return from your meeting with the rebels, I would hate for you to miss this message." Sidious cackled before continuing once more.
"You are probably wondering where your slave is." Sidious emphasized the last two words. "Since you are no longer a Sith, you have no use for her. However, I assure you, she is quite safe, for the moment." Sidious cackled again. "If you want her to remain as such, you will stop the rebellion before they carry out their plans."
Anakin glared at Sidious, he could feel anger rising within him.
The image of Sidious smiled evilly before continuing his speech, "Would you like to see her?"
Anakin's eyes widened in shock as Sidious's image faded, and he saw Padmé being held by two Imperial guards. She cried out over the recording, "Anakin please, don't listen to him! Help the rebels and do not worry about me! Stop him!" Anakin held a hand out to her image, but it soon faded into the image of Sidious who was cackling manically. Anakin dropped his hand and glared at the image.
"There is no escape. You know what you must do. Join me, or she dies." Sidious paused and as he continued he emphasized every word, "My young apprentice."
With that final statement, the message ended. Anakin stared at the spot where his former master's image had just been, contemplating what he would do next. He knew he could not stop the rebellion. That would harm the galaxy, and not stop Sidious from killing Padmé. He knew his former master well, and knew that regardless of Anakin's actions, he would still kill her.
He realized that the only way to save Padmé was to go after Sidious himself, but he would have to move quickly. Anakin stood up abruptly and walked to the main door of his quarters. However, R2 indignantly beeped at him before he could exit.
"Stay here and take care of 3P0. I am going to rescue Padmé."
"Boop boooooooop beep booooop?"
"This ship is not fast enough. I will not be taking it, and my shuttle will not travel that far of a distance. I will contact the rebels and see what they have available. Perhaps, they can help deal with the dead aboard the ship."
"Booooop, boooooop." R2 stated with remorse.
"Help them in any way that you can." Anakin added before he exited the room and ran down the corridor to the communications room. Time was of the essence, and he hoped the rebels could help him.