Chapter 16
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Obi-Wan and Yoda stepped off the fighter, onto the rocky planet of Turanis. Gas outlets were everywhere, and the planet was covered with a seemingly impenetrable fog. One could not see past 50 meters.
"Well," Obi-Wan said, "This is an odd place to build a shield generator."
Master Yoda had his eyes shut tightly. Something wasn't right. Didn't feel right. "Surely, young Obi-Wan, sense danger, you do?"
Obi-Wan replied, "Of course, this is obviously a trap. And you know my policy on traps."
Yoda shook his grizzled green head. "In danger, we all are. Darkness, I sense. Too soon, we attacked. Yes, yes ... too soon," he said sadly.
"Master, look," Obi-Wan said, pointing ahead. "There's an entrance."
"Enter we will, it is clear. Succeed ... not as clear, it is."
--
"How are you going to save Padme? Tell me!" Anakin demanded.
"How fortunate, I am," drawled Sidious, "to have an apprentice who feels he should threaten me." He chuckled. "Your hate is still strong, Lord Vader ... together we will resurrect ... Padme."
Anakin was not in the mood for cryptic mind games. "Tell me! Tell me how!"
"It will take you ... years ... to learn," the elderly Sith said. At these words, Anakin, as if someone had swung a lightsaber at him, let go immediately, like a spring, stepping backwards.
"I'm sorry ... please ... help me ..." he said, longing in his eyes.
"Oh, I cannot help you now ... I have a rebellion to defeat ... my Empire needs security before I can attend to other matters. I'm very sorry, Lord Vader, you will have to wait quite until peace has been restored to the galaxy before I can devote my attention to Padme. When the galaxy is at peace ... then I will assist you. You will have to wait awhile. The Empire itself takes precedence over your wife."
Anakin seethed. "Could you ... speed it up a little?"
"I? No ... no, I cannot. Ever since my last able apprentice left me ..." Darth Sidious trailed off. "Unless you can speed it up a little ... I'm afraid you will have to wait."
Just hang on, Padme. I willbring you back. "What must I do?"
"Only what is ... necessary ... Lord Vader ... the Jedi ... must be destroyed. Until the last of the Jedi have been killed ... peace will never take hold of the galaxy ..."
Anakin bowed. "It will be done ... my master." He had absolutely no love for the Sith Lord, but he would do what he had to, as long as Padme would return.
The Emperor smiled. "Good ... good ... now go! There is a disturbance in the Force ... do what must be done!"
"Yes, my master." You underestimate my powers, he smirked inwardly, I am your disturbance in the Force. Soon ... Padme and I will rule the galaxy as husband and wife.
--
Outside, the battle raged.
"Yee-haw!" yelled Han Solo, with his new co-captain, a Wookiee by the name of Chewbacca, blasting apart Imperial TIE fighters.
TIE fighters were everywhere, of both the Rebellion and of the Empire. Shots were fired all over the place, and it was utter chaos.
Amid the chaos and destruction was one Jedi starfighter. In that starfighter sat a very alarmed Tarra Havanis. "Arfour, when was the last time Anakin contacted the Executor?"
-HALF AN HOUR AGO- whistled the reply.
"Do you think he's alright?"
-HE HASN'T BEEN "ALRIGHT" FOR MONTHS-
"That's not funny, Arfour. Where do you think he is?"
-HE LEFT THE SHIP, AND HEADED FORWARD-
"Forward? But that means –" Tarra froze. Anakin had gone to the Death Star. This she was certain of. But why? Why would he abandon all the plans of the Rebellion?
"He's in trouble, let's go check it out."
-THE SHIELD IS STILL UP...- Arfour's tone was bored.
"Oh, right ... well alert me once it's down!"
--
Obi-Wan and Yoda cautiously made their way towards the entrance. Whipping out his lightsaber, Obi-Wan ignited it and sliced through the door. Extinguishing his blade, he and his diminutive partner strode in.
"Something's not right," remarked Obi-Wan.
Yoda sniffed the air. "Right, you are. Been here before, someone has." He bent low to the ground. "Human ... this one is. Hmm ..."
Obi-Wan looked at Yoda worriedly. "Let's keep moving," he suggested, and the two Jedi Masters continued to walk slowly and cautiously, across the barren land, toward the power shield generator. Well, they assumed that's what the huge beeping light was in the distance.
Shifting sand. A cloaked figure landed in front of the two Jedi. Lowering his hood, he remarked, "Hello, masters."
Obi-Wan stared blankly. "I thought I told you to stay on the ship."
"You're not my master anymore."
Obi-Wan was angry, but calmed himself, letting the Force flow through him once more. "Fine. Let's all just ... go ... together."
A new voice stopped him. "Hahahaha!" it cackled. "I don't think so!"
Obi-Wan, for the second time that night, stared. "Grievous?"
"The one and only! Hahaha! Prepare to—"
"To die. Yes, so I've heard many times, I'm still alive, aren't I?" remarked Obi-Wan.
Seven lightsabers ignited, Two azure blades erupted from Anakin's and Obi-Wan's sabers. From Yoda's hand sprouted a bar the color of life. From Grievous' metallic hands spawned four menacing Sith synthetic blood-colored lightsabers.
Anakin looked at General Grievous, then, with a furious cry, raised his lightsaber.
--
This is the death of Master Yoda, aged eight hundred and fifty-nine.
You watch as Anakin raises his blade, and you wonder ... why in the name of the Order was he beginning an attack so far out of range? Last time, you had checked, Anakin's arms were not ten feet long. And yet at the same time, you have a sudden, horrible, sickening bad feeling about this.
Anakin's blade whips downwards, left, then right Your eyes widen, because the blade does not stop. It keeps going. It's speed, it's precision unmatched. It's ... not doing anything.
And just as you cock your head in wonder and amusement, you are fed half a meter of blue plasma, straight through your chest.
Beside you, Obi-Wan Kenobi lets out a strangled yell. "Anakin!"
The Chosen one turns to face you, and through the mist, through the red that is now your vision, you notice ... his eyes are glowing.
Yellow.
You look down at your chest, watch as the blue blade removes itself from your chest. And you fall for the rest of your life.
--
General Grievous, lightsabers still ignited, watched the entire thing with wide eyes. "What –"
Anakin Skywalker turns to you and says, "Go back to the shield generator ... there is nothing you can do here."
"What –" Grievous is still stunned by the sudden turn of events.
"Go. Now. Guard it with your life," The power in Skywalker's voice was unmistakable. Grievous scampered like the coward he was. Back to his magna guards. Back to the shield generator. Back to safety.
Anakin turned, pulling his hood away from his head. "I'm giving you one chance, Obi-Wan. Go away. Leave forever, don't come back.
"Anakin, why –"
"You wouldn't understand. I'm doing this to save Padme. I killed her the last time. I'm not making the same mistake again."
"You ARE making the same mistake! Leave the Sith! Let me help you!"
Anakin sneered. "When have you helped me?"
Obi-Wan was exasperated. "Maybe ... when I trained you?"
Anakin scoffed. "That doesn't count. You only did that because Qui-Gon asked you to."
"Anakin, you know that's not true!"
Two bright blue blades extended to the sky.
Deja vu all over again.
--
"Alpha-leader, this is Beta-Seven. We're being hit by heavy fire. Requesting assistance."
"Copy that, moving in now."
Swarms of fighters streaked across the sky, plasma cannons firing wildly, but Han Solo, aged only fifteen, held his own. Twisting the saucer shaped Falcon around, banking left and right, dodging fire, and shooting back.
But with the shield of the Death Star still intact, there was no way the Rebellion could score a victory.
And so the entire fleet waits with anticipation, hoping against hope that Obi-Wan and Yoda will make it to the shield generator soon.
--
General Grievous, upon reaching the shield generator, seethed. Skywalker had the nerve – the audacity to order him around. Him! The greatest field general the Empire had ever known. Grievous would not tolerate this ... this obvious betrayal.
It had been a long time since General Grievous had felt anything. For the first time in more than a decade, his mechanical heart beat faster than normal. For the first time in a decade, General Grievous considered ...
Fighting back.
For the first time, General Grievous remembered the one thing he had not remembered until now. Because it was Darth Sidious himself who had ruthlessly sliced apart the once proud alien, laughing underneath that infernal hood of his. Only when Grievous displayed his willingness to survive, clawing at the ground beside him, screaming, vowing for revenge, did Sidious order his internal organs be placed into a sack, and his remains placed in a cage. The cage that became his identity. The bio-droid that everyone feared.
And now, it was clear, what he had to do. He took out his lightsaber, and plunged it into the machinery with a shower of sparks. Jolted by the voltage of the machine, Grievous was thrown backwards, still clutching his lightsaber.
The central control exploded, raining debris around the control room. The magna guards were swallowed up, as were the few storm trooper patrols around the controls. Grievous, luckily, was unhurt, for the initial jolt had sent him flying behind a large chair, which shielded him from the worst of the explosion.
The once-proud bio-droid stood and, gripping all four of his lightsabers, laughed. Then he strode out the door to complete his life's goal. His dream. His ambition.
He would slaughter.
He would spill Kenobi's blood, he growled, before the night was over.
--
-THE SHIELD JUST WENT OUT- whistled Ar-four-Tee.
"Really? Excellent," said Tarra, with grim determination etched on her face. "Let's figure out what all this is about. I hope Anakin's okay ... I can't live without him."
-JEDI ARE NOT TO HAVE ATTACHMENTS- tootled the droid.
"Oh shut up."
--
"Captain ... it's time!"
Captain Ozzel turned, facing a young Lieutenant Piett as the man, face shining, informed him that the Death Star's shield was, indeed, down.
"All fighters ... commence attack on Death Star. Repeat, the shield is down, commence attack on Death Star now!"
He looked at the forward viewscreen. The moment of truth was now. The Rebellion versus the Empire. Democracy versus Absolute Monarchy.
The victor would determine the fate of the galaxy.
--
Blue lightsabers whirled, then met in a crackling clash of energy. "Anakin," Obi-Wan's voice was strained. "Please! Don't do this! We don't have time!"
"You think I don't know that? Why don't you just let me kill you!" Anakin's yelled, swinging his blade again. The two warriors circled each other, lightsabers a constant, lethal dance between them. Once more these two men were locked in their own epic struggle. But this time it was different. It was no longer Light versus the Dark side. It had absolutely nothing to do with that, not in Anakin Skywalker's mind.
In the mind of the Chosen One, it was Padme versus Obi-Wan. And it appeared as if Padme had won out.
Blue light streaked up, over, around, the two warriors never missing a beat, slashing away constantly; Anakin, always on the offensive, launched into his vicious overhand chops and horizontal swipes. Obi-Wan, in his own defensive-minded Soresu combat style, picked off strike after strike that rained down upon his figure.
There was no time for this, Obi-Wan decided. The Rebellion depended on him, and on him alone. With Master Yoda dead, it was up to him to disable the shield. He couldn't very well disable the shield with Anakin hanging all over him.
Obi-Wan attacked. Anakin, surprised, desperately parried, matching every strike with equal skill and precision.
Then Obi-Wan stopped. This had always been Anakin's weak point. He always instinctively turned right around and slashed hard. And the Jedi Master still had one trick up his sleeve.
It worked like a charm. Like a raging reek, Anakin turned, roaring and slashing hard. And was thrown backwards by the sheer power of Obi-Wan's resulting Force shove. By the time a groggy Anakin had struggled to his mechanical feet, Obi-Wan had gone.
Anakin stared off into the mist, where his former master had been moments before. Turning off his lightsaber, he fell to his knees.
"What have I done?"
Inside his head, he heard the words Fulfilling your destiny.
But Palpatine didn't say those words.
He did it. He said it himself.
You're doing the right thing, Anakin, he consoled his troubled heart. It isn't the Jedi way, but it's the right way. It has to be the right way. It's for Padme.
Pushing his doubts aside, he stumbled away from where, moments earlier, he had engaged in a vicious saber battle with his longtime friend, mentor, and master. Away from where a diminutive Jedi lay, dead, slain by the one prophesized to bring balance to the Force.
A prophecy misread, it may have been.
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A/N: End Chapter 16! Big twist there, killing off Master Yoda ... I was kind of sad to see "my little green friend" go out like that. Snuffed. Anyway, the story's not over, like I said. The Empire may win the war after all. Anakin Skywalker is still hovering around the edge, as shown by his conflict at the end of the chapter – so for you "OMG WHY'D YOU HAVE ANAKIN GO BACK TO SIDIOUS?" folks (Thanks Hieiko for the review btw) – there's still some hope he may turn back to the light, don't give up on him yet!
To Darth Mojo the Spork – I was going to bring Leia into the forefront of the battle, which will affect Anakin's decisions, but I found out a better way – since I realized that putting Leia in danger doesn't exactly help my story out. Thanks for reviewing.
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