REVIEWS! W00T! Well I'll take time off my .. um .. busy schedule to respond to them. Yeah ... busy ... that explains why I'm writing a fanfic ... anyway.
Darth mojo the Spork – Anakin's instability allows the story to take a lot of twists and turns. I find it useful when writing about him. That's his problem, I think (well, before he got burned up in ROTS) He has so much power but he doesn't really know where his loyalties lie. I like the last line too.
Anwinn – Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Hieiko – Heh, I was feeling bad for Anakin as well. I like the last line too .
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Chapter 18
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Artoo-Detoo was lost. He was looking for a friend, and he wasn't finding him. Sifting through heaps of scrap metal and other junk, he was searching for See-Threepio.
He hoped he would make it back to the ship soon. Anakin wouldn't be too happy that the little astrodroid just ditched the ship.
He tootled as he rolled into the adjacent room. Even after downloading the schematics, navigating the huge Death Star was a challenging feat. Especially since C-3PO could be anywhere.
As he moved out of the room empty-handed, he suddenly saw a white-clad man rushing up at him.
Obi-Wan Kenobi didn't even glance at him as he ran past.
--
Obi-Wan felt the rise, the surge of hatred in the Emperor's throne room. The power was incredible, but it wasn't what frightened the Jedi Master. What frightened him was the fact that it was Anakin who was emitting such fury. His former padawan was angry. At ...
And then Obi-Wan felt another dark power, slowly, almost reluctantly, draw it's power from the Force. And at the moment he hurtled through a sliced-open door and moved into the room.
And saw two men, both with right hands spitting flame-colored lightsabers. He noticed Tarra lying on the ground, then looked up. Anakin looked at him, his eyes widening in surprise ... was that relief he sensed?
The cloaked Sith Lord Sidious took advantage of Anakin's momentary distraction, leaping forward, roaring and springing his hands forward, sending a jolt of lethal electricity arcing towards his former apprentice.
Anakin groaned, though he managed to stay upright. His eyes were shut tightly, and his lightsaber clattered onto the floor.
"Obi- ... Obi-Wan ..." said a voice. The Jedi Master didn't even hear it. He was transfixed on the scene before him. His friend, his enemy. A brother ... a sith.
"Obi-Wan ..." said the voice again. The Jedi Master looked down, looking upon the prone form of Tarra Havanis, her body broken and injured by the Sith lightning. "Obi-Wan ... Anakin's ... on our side ... now ... there is good in him ... help ... kill ..." and then the Jedi Knight fell silent. Obi-Wan felt for a pulse. It was faint, but it was there. Obi-Wan straightened up.
A blue lightsaber was called from his belt to his grasp. Igniting it, he raced forward, prepared to meet the Emperor in the final duel of the fates.
For peace.
For justice.
For democracy.
--
"Artoo!" A voice spoke in surprise. The little astrodroid stopped in his tracks, swiveled his domed head, then rolled forward to a droid who, in pieces, had its paint chipped off, and now resembled partially like the old C-3PO that R2-D2 had come to know and love.
-WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?- the droid beeped.
"What happened to your face?" Apparently Anakin's programming, although aborted, had affected the droid, who was obviously no longer as polite as it used to be.
-I DON'T HAVE A FACE- Artoo tootled, and the half golden, half Imperial-trooper droid fell silent.
And the astrodroid set to work getting the former protocol droid out of the junk he was in.
--
Anakin stumbled as the electricity stopped pouring from the Emperor's pasty white hands. Obi-Wan hurtled himself at the Sith Lord, bodily slamming him into the ground. The Emperor moved quickly, though, and, rolling, flung Obi-Wan off of him, and, reaching through his dark Force powers, leapt to the second level of his quarters
Anakin grabbed his lightsaber, ignited it, and prepared to follow the Sith Master, but his eyes locked on with the eyes of Obi-Wan. The two exchanged a silent moment, then Anakin opened his mouth to speak.
"No time, Anakin," said Obi-Wan, cutting Anakin off before he could say anything. The Jedi Master then crouched low, and launched himself after Darth Sidious.
Anakin shook his head. Obi-Wan was right, there was no time. If he could destroy the Emperor, destroy the one who had destroyed him, then perhaps some of his crimes would be negated.
He crouched low. Padme... this is my parting gift to you.
And then the Chosen One followed his two former masters.
--
Han Solo was having fun. "Home-One, this is Blue-Five, located target cruiser, dead ahead, focus fire,"
"Fire at will, Blue Squadron."
Han aimed directly above the fuel cells, and watched as his blast, along with the shots of 6 other fighters, slammed into the hull of the Imperial cruiser. The ship bucked from the impact, and spun out of control.
Right into the Death Star.
--
For the first time during the battle, the Death Star rocked.
For the first time, the Emperor had a sudden bad feeling about this. Not about his plan. No, nothing like that anymore. He had a bad feeling about his head.
Gripping his lightsaber tightly, the Sith Lord fought off the two warriors before him. One, he knew all too well. Anakin Skywalker, the force of destruction, the impenetrable whirl of red light.
As for Kenobi ... Sidious was puzzled. Obi-Wan Kenobi was the prototypical Jedi. Always disciplined, regardless of the battle, regardless of who he was battling. Sidious glanced at the whirlwind of blue energy to his left. There was no Jedi restraint here. Obi-Wan Kenobi was breaking loose.
And Sidious was beginning to tire; the two warriors in front of him showed no signs of fatigue. If they ever did. The Sith Lord parried one of Anakin's slashes, then leapt far and wide, away from the battle. Waving his hand toward the floor, he called upon the Force to activate the sentry guns located there.
The guns opened fire on the Skywalker and Kenobi. The next second, they weren't. Sidious was astonished. Nobody could take care of those so quickly. Yet before him stood Kenobi and Skywalker, completely unscathed and still with their blue and red blades, respectively, out.
But the Emperor knew that the Jedi had lost the edge. Kenobi's anger, his hatred was spent. The Emperor smirked; Kenobi would make a horrible Sith. Such short-lived anger. Jedi let go of attachments, of feelings, too quickly to be capable in battle.
--
"Governor, the Death Star is rotating out of orbit, sir."
Governor Tarkin stood on Level G of the Death Star. "What? I thought you said it was impenetrable!"
"It is, sir. Or rather, was."
The cowardly governor sighed. This was now the Emperor's problem. He didn't have the guns, nor did he have the guts, to handle this new problem.
"Prepare my shuttle."
Not two seconds later, blaster fire streaked towards the governor and his aide, leaving them both with holes through their heads.
"Oh, my! Artoo! We did it!" C-3PO looked at his golden-white arms, looking as if he was flexing them, gloating in victory.
R2-D2 didn't even pause. Tootling, he rolled right past the dead governor, toward the hangar bay.
C-3PO looked at his arms, and his blaster, again, then back at Artoo.
"Artoo-Detoo! Wait for me!"
--
A flying Sai attack knocked the Emperor down the ground, but he quickly rolled around, bringing his blade up and over, meeting Anakin in his ensuing attack. Sith blade met Sith blade in a flaming clash of scarlet.
"It's over, my "master". The Sith will never rule the galaxy again."
"It is you who is finished," the Sith Lord hissed.
"You won't beat me!" Anakin roared.
The Emperor would have retorted with a "oh yes I can" line, but something in the Force called out to him, and he whipped around, catching Obi-Wan's blade just before it connected with his flesh. The Sith Lord scowled as Obi-Wan's balanced Soresu form allowed him to block every one of his attacks without retreating an inch. Palpatine had no time, any moment, Skywalker would be upon him. He reached through the Force, and, sending a burst of power at Obi-Wan, held him in the air with the force for a second, then hurled him against a wall, watching in glee as the Jedi Master hit with a loud smacking sound, then fell to the ground, a trickle of blood running down his forehead.
But Palpatine had no time to enjoy his small victory, because the Force hissed another warning to him, and he whirled again, raising his blade just as Anakin brought his Sith saber in a graceful, downward swoop, but in doing so, he lost control of his own blade in his haste to protect himself, as it slipped from his fingers. Anakin's recovery from his swing sliced the saber hilt neatly in half.
The red light sputtered then went out.
The victory in Anakin's eyes was undeniable.
His blade went up. And at that moment, the Sith Lord focused every ounce of power, every fiber of his being into removing that blade. Calling upon the farthest depths of his dark energy, Palpatine sent a jolt of Sith lightning towards the young warrior.
Anakin's red blade stopped its decent, retreating to block the blast.
One second later, the saber was a smoking scrap of metal, on the ground.
"Wha—" Anakin watched, aghast, at his smoldering lightsaber, which, only a few moments ago, was functioning and in his grip. I won't fail you ... Padme, I can't fail you.
The Emperor laughed. For the first time during this battle, he sensed Anakin Skywalker's fear once more. The boy's attachment to Padme Amidala would be his undoing. Lifting both hands, the Emperor was about to send a fatal voltage of Sith lightning into the young former Sith—
But in a flash of blue, his right arm was reduced to a smoldering stump. Growling and whipping around, the Sith Lord gathered all the dark power that was his, fed it with his pain, and the sickening smell of his own burnt flesh and bone, and sent the Jedi Master who had so covertly attacked him sprawled on the ground, his body aching in pain.
Behind him, Anakin Skywalker was on his feet, a blue lightsaber glowing at his side. With a roar, the young man sprang forward, his blade angled for the kill.
Until he was lifted into the air via the Force, and sent hurtling down from the second level. Darth Sidious cackled, then, slowly and reverently, pulled his uninjured hand into his robes, drawing out another sith lightsaber. His hidden blade, kept exactly for this purpose. Then he walked to the balcany.
"Come, Lord Vader ... you cannot defeat me. Join me once again, and we can together ... save Padme."
Anakin Skywalker had clambered to his feet. Limping a little, he strode closer to Palpatine, who stood above him on the second level of the emperor's throne room. He glanced off to the side, at Tarra, who lay, still unconscious.
Seeing Tarra's crumpled form seemed to invigorate Anakin's fury. "Your tricks will no longer work on me, Sidious. You've failed. I will not become a Sith Lord!"
Sidious' eyes burned. "Very well ... Jedi ... you will die." With that he ignited his flame-colored lightsaber. "Come, Jedi ... come put me out of my misery."
Anakin crouched, poised for the leap. He knew very well he shouldn't just jump; the last time he tried doing that he got three of his limbs sliced off and got his body burnt to a crisp. No, not a chance of that this time. This time, Anakin decided, he would attack.
He pushed off the ground, gathering the Force around him, feeding from its power, using it and pushing it through his body, into his lightsaber.
Spinning in a spiral at an unbelievable speed, Anakin's spinning form drilled right through the durasteel floor of the second level, forcing Sidious to make a quick leap backwards to avoid being ripped to shreds.
The Emperor took awhile to regard his surroundings. Behind him, Obi-Wan Kenobi had struggled to his feet, his blue lightsaber ignited.
Before him stood the Chosen One, his black cape and robes left behind on the first level, but he was certainly all there, in one piece. Sidious cackled inwardly. Wouldn't it be nice if he had just killed himself on the way up here?
But there was no time for games. He had to kill. He had to. Sidious hated having no choice on the matter. He was always in control, always having a backup plan to his backup plan.
And he didn't like it when his first backup plan involved himself doing battle with two able fighters with one arm.
That was as far that he could go, mentally, because the Force hissed a warning to him, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker moved simultaneously, their strides quickened by the speed of the Force, towards the Sith Lord.
--
Sith Lightning was one of Darth Sidious' favorite dark powers, but it certainly wasn't his only one. Like all Jedi and Sith, he was able to produce powerful shockwaves using the Force. Like all Jedi and Sith, he could temporarily heal himself of flesh wounds, stopping blood flow.
But there was one trick that Jedi never learned. Nobody knew it, but the dead Darth Plagueis and himself. Darth Plagueis had developed what he called the 'Force Shield', which would repel any living being that touched the invisible wall.
Sidious took it one step further.
Raising his hand, dropping his lightsaber as he did so, he focused his dark energy into a single point, watching as the lightning that erupted from his fingertips surrounded him in a protective shield.
Both Obi-Wan and Anakin stopped their advance, watching in amazement at the new power that Sidious had obviously perfected. Raising their lightsabers, they prepared for the worst.
It wasn't enough.
With a burst of sheer Dark power, Darth Sidious released a huge energy shockwave in the form of electricity, arcing it in a 360 degree area attack. Obi-Wan backpedaled, but was hit anyway, shocked mercilessly by the hideous lightning and being thrown backwards a good ten feet.
Anakin managed to catch one arc with his lightsaber, but the next arc caught him in the stomach and coursed through his body, sending him flying backwards as well.
The blast was so powerful it ripped through walls and the glass windows, ripping it apart and allowing the gases inside the Death Star to seep through the shattered windows, causing a wild wind.
Sidious cackled as his strike came to an end. Turning towards Obi-Wan, he called his lightsaber to his hand.
He never got to ignite it.
Before he took one menacing step towards the fallen Jedi Master, his chest ripped open in pain. His heart burned. He looked down.
A foot of blue plasma protruded from his chest.
"It doesn't ... hurt ..."
--
Anakin Skywalker watched in horror as lightning arced towards him. Raising his lightsaber defensively, he managed to stop one blast, but another one caught him, and he was sent reeling, stumbling as he was thrown backwards. The wind howled
At the last second his mind cleared, his fury mounted, and he threw his blade with all his might just as Sidious turned away from him, turning his evil gaze upon Obi-Wan.
The lightsaber embedded itself in Sidious' chest.
"It doesn't ... hurt ..." the Sith Lord gasped, as he turned to face Anakin, the blue blade still embedded in his flesh.
Anakin stood slowly, watching the nearly-dead Sith Lord.
"If Darth Plagueis could bring someone from the dead back to life, then prolonging the life of someone already alive is simple, isn't it?" the memory of Sidious' claims surfaced in his mind. And then he realized it.
He realized that everything Sidious had told him to fall to darkness in the first place, before Padme died, was true. All true. Sidious never lied to him. Palpatine never lied to him.
And even as he realized this, he found, with a pang of regret, that he had to kill the man who stood, struggling to hang on to life, already extinguished the lightsaber, which clattered onto the ground.
As his eyes locked locked with the eyes of Darth Sidious, he realized that what the Emperor had said was true. He could save himself from death. Even now. Fighting against the shrieking wind, Anakin Skywalker focused.
--
Palpatine didn't even wince. It didn't hurt. There wasn't enough left of his soul to register the pain of his heart.
For the first time in his life, Palpatine was fighting for his life. Using the Force, he removed the lightsaber from his chest, mended his wounds. Slowly, his vision became more clear. Things changed colors, from a deep red to only a light pink. He was glad, for the first time, that he had never told Anakin that he really could heal himself, that he could save himself from imminent death.
And when he looked into Anakin's eyes, he saw them as red. His hands were pointed up, as if he was carrying something.
Carrying something? Palpatine's mind, already preoccupied with trying to save himself, had to wonder. He looked behind him. Obi-Wan's arms were outstretched as well, towards the sky.
His heart began to beat light, flimsly flutters. Palpatine looked up hazily.
He never saw what hit him.
A giant durasteel plate, dislodged from Palpatine's previous blast of fury, had hovered in the air directly over Palpatine. Then it fell like a stone, pushed faster by the Force grasps of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan's combined might.
It squashed Darth Sidious like a bug.
And it was over.
--
Obi-Wan surveyed the debris that resulted from the huge crash.
"That went rather well," he remarked. Anakin nodded.
"A death and a burial at the same time." Numbly, possibly amazed by what they had just done, what they had just achieved, the two Jedi leapt off the second level of the dead Emperor's throne.
Just as it crumbled and fell behind them.
--
Tarra blinked. Something massive had jolted her from her unconscious state. Some huge explosion. She looked up, and saw two black boots, followed by two brown ones. She was hauled upwards through the Force, and she felt Anakin's hard mechanical hands at her shoulders.
She began to cry, tears of happiness and relief, tears showing Anakin how much she had worried about him. Even while unconscious.
Anakin smiled at her. "Shh," he said softly, "it's alright. We're fine, you're okay now ..." And the two fell in a loving embrace.
--
Anakin felt a light tap at his shoulder. Releasing his grip on Tarra, he turned, grinning widely for the first time since a long time, and found himself looking at a lightsaber hilt.
"I retrieved it from Sidious right before we ... uh ... impaled him," Obi-Wan said.
"Thanks," Anakin said.
"A lightsaber is a Jedi's life. You must take care of it!" Obi-Wan said with a chuckle.
Anakin reached for it, but Obi-Wan pulled it back. "It is your responsibility to keep it with you at all times."
"I've heard this before, Obi-Wan," Anakin said, laughing, "how many times do you have to tell me this?"
"At least once more, Anakin," said the Jedi Master, as he handed Anakin's lightsaber back. "As always."
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A/N: END CHAPTER 18! Seemed a fitting way to see Sidious go, don't you agree? Don't worry, the story isn't over yet, but it probably will be soon. I'm almost sad to see it ending. Keep reviewing!