Here, the action shifts in the past, as we see the unfolding of the Jedi-Emperor's story. If you are curious as to what does the crate contain or what will happen to Nizzy, the answers will come at the end of the series, when she has seen everything her Guardian has had to show her.

I thank all of my reviewers for their kind and supportive words. You make me truly happy every morning, when I have to drag my feet to school! Thank you!

Chapter V – The Hero Without Fear

Heroes . . .
Are Mortal
And not Divine.
We are all
As God made us
And many of
Us much worse.
John Osborne

Planet Coruscant, Star-System of Coruscant, 13 years A. B. N.

Coruscant, the jewel of the Republic shone intensely, even rivaling its star for brightness. The sun's light reflected in the upper layers of the atmosphere, giving it a surreal glitter. But what really managed to impress one who saw it from outer-space were the forever lit lights of the planet-wide metropolis. They shone as crystal chains in the starlight, making the entire planet seem like a small pulsar, in the final stages of its life.

Now, however, his beauty went largely unnoticed. The many sentients who could see the planet had only one single thought in their minds: living to see another day.

A gigantic, triangular republican cruiser passed in front of the sun, darkening a good deal of the city, if only for a few minutes. After it raced a swarm of insect-like starfighters. Their cannons emitted red laser beams towards the cruiser, which bounced off its deflector shields.

Seeing as they weren't getting any results this way, a group of fighters broke off from the main formation and skimmed across the giant ship's surface. The lead fighter armed a pair of torpedoes and swiftly fired them towards what seemed to be a satellite dish, at the ship's rear end. The others followed his example and soon, a whole stream of torpedoes was heading towards the dish. They impacted, shattering the instrument, in a fiery explosion.

With a fritz, the cruiser's deflector's shields went off. Taking advantage of the situation, the whole squadron of fighters began to pour laser fire upon the ship's exposed belly, igniting small explosions.

"This is the cruiser Argent" a woman's voice sounded on the republican frequencies. "We're under heavy fire and our shields are down. Requesting assistance!"

"Help is on the way" a gruff male voice spoke. "Hold on!"

A squadron of republican starfighters converged near the cruiser. Most of them were red and white, with X-shaped foils. The leading ship, however, was almost triangular, with two panel-wings on the sides.

"Converge in gamma formation behind me! Lock X foils in attack position!" ordered the leader.

"Yes, sir!"

Shifting to a dagger shaped formation, the squadron speared through the enemy fighters, shattering them with their cannons.

In his cockpit, Jedi Master Saesse Tiin smiled grimly. Picking up his comlink, he spoke in the receiver:

"All units follow me! I'm going for the leader!"

The other pilots obeyed, amassing behind the Master's starfighter. Tiin opened the side thrusters and accelerated, zigzagging between various spaceships, towards the separatist leader's fighter. Seeing the danger that was heading his way, the leader quickly took off, flying his craft under a destroyer's belly, to use the ship's shield as cover.

"I don't think we can get him, General Tiin!" a pilot said.

"Yes, we can!" the Jedi Master hissed, pitching the nose of his aircraft down, towards the destroyer. "Commander Varyn, take these men and reinforce the defenses in the third sector!"

"What about you, sir?"

"I can take care of myself!" Tiin grumbled, gunning the engine and sending the starfighter in a straight dive. "Skywalker should have been out here" he murmured to himself, as he straightened the craft. "He's a better pilot than me."

The separatist leader, seeing the Jedi's starfighter approach, turned sharply, trying to escape.

"I don't think so" Master Tiin smiled, watching his H.U.D. pinpoint the exact position of the enemy fighter. After a few seconds, it changed to green and the onboard computer signaled the lock.

"Locked on target. Armed and ready" Saesse whispered, thumping the trigger. With a shaking roar, two air-air missiles were launched from the sides of the craft, towards the other fighter. It engaged in evasive maneuvers, but it was too late. The two missiles collided with it, in a bright explosion.

"That should teach you that the Republic means business!" Tiin said, enjoying the impromptu light show.

"Sir, are you all right?"

"Yes, commander Varyn. How are the defenses?"

"Fine, sir. The separatists have tried to escape through a few corridors, but we have managed to hold them."

"Good. Master Windu's words were clear. Not one Separatist ship must get away before we free the Chancellor!"

Suddenly, Saesse's conversation was interrupted by a rumbling sound. Turning to his right, he saw the largest Separatist Cruiser, The Ghost Hand, General Grievous' flagship, falling slowly into the planet's atmosphere. With short bursts, all the escape pods detached from the doomed ship.

"What's happening, sir?"

"We're winning the battle, commander" Tiin answered. "I just hope Kenobi and Skywalker got out of there with the Chancellor."

x x x

With low, screeching sounds, The Ghost Hand began its descent towards Coruscant's surface. All those who saw the Cruiser thought that any life form still alive inside was doomed to a painful death. However, that theory was known to not be applicable to the two Jedi Knights who were working frantically to save both themselves and Palpatine, the Chancellor of the Republic. . .

Inside the command post lay total devastation: dismembered droids were scattered everywhere. The shattered doors opened themselves with a groan, admitting three humans and an astromech droid. The first one appeared to be in his late thirties. He had shortly cropped auburn hair, with a matching beard. His eyes were a light silver-blue, surrounded by fine lines. He was clad in the traditional tan robes of the Jedi Order. No other than General Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The second one, and the shortest one of them, was an old, wise looking man, clad in rich, ornately decorated robes. Palpatine, Chancellor of the Republic.

The third one was the tallest. Dressed in dark robes, his posture was that of a seasoned warrior, contrasting with his young age. His gold-brown hair flowed on his shoulders, like a lion's mane. His eyes were deep blue, like the sky on a clear summer night. He was Anakin Skywalker, called "The Hero Without Fear" by the Galaxy, for his valiant efforts against the Separatists.

Lastly, came a white and blue astromech droid, who had seen more battles than any other of his kind: R2-D2.

Obi-Wan took in the damage around him with a critical eye. His gaze stopped on the viewscreen, where the approaching planet could be seen.

"Can you fly this ship?" he asked his former Padawan, who was already strapping himself in the pilot seat.

"Considering the state of things, I would say that the ability to fly this thing is irrelevant" Anakin answered, tightly. "Strap yourselves in!"

The two men quickly obeyed his command.

"Good. R2, I'm going to need your help to control the descent."

The little droid cheeped, enthusiastically, inserting his metal coupler into a port.

Anakin turned his sight to the control panel, swiftly turning dials and pressing switches.

"Open all ports and extend drag fins to decelerate!"

The ship shook violently as the drag fins opened on all sides, beginning to decrease the speed.

"We're stabilizing" Obi-Wan said, looking at the screens, over Anakin's shoulder.

Just the, an unbelievably strong tremor gripped the cruiser, shaking it like a paper doll in the wind. With a high-pitched sound, the ship tumble sharply over its axis and several readouts on the command screen went critical red.

"I think we lost something" Anakin grunted, desperately trying to preserve his failing control of the cruiser.

"Don't worry, we're still flying half the ship" Obi-Wan quipped with his characteristic dry humor, earning a sharp look from his former pupil.

Turning towards the controls once more, Anakin checked the temperature readings. "We're heating up."

Outside, the falling ship was being shrouded slowly in a veil of incandescent flames. Now, it resembled a fireball, a glowing tear ripped from the heart of Coruscant's sun.

"As long as the heat shields last, we should be able to make it" Anakin said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a black gloved hand.

"And if they don't?"

"Then we'll all turn into little shimmering lights in the atmosphere" he replied. "But I certainly won't allow that to happen!"

Visibility reduced to zero, as the ship was rocked by a new wave of turbulences.

"We're entering the atmosphere."

When the burning cruiser exited the thick blanket of clouds, all four occupants could clearly distinguish the tall, graceful spires of the metropolis.

"Fire ships, on the left and right" Obi-Wan announced.

On both sides of the craft flew small, rectangular ships, spraying it with pressurized jets of water, in an effort to contain the flames.

"We'll escort you in" the leader said, on the comm.

"Acknowledged"

As the cruiser entered the final stages of its wild descent, numerous smaller aircraft needed to swiftly change their course, avoiding to be struck by the metal comet.

"There's the runway" Obi-Wan said, pointing ahead.

"We're coming in too hot!" Anakin ground out trough clenched teeth. The young Jedi's sweaty palms were holding the piloting rod in a bone-crushing grip.

Slowly, the craft made its way towards the ferrocrete runway. As it drew nearer and nearer, the hearts of the passengers began thumping loudly inside their chests.

"Easy . . . easy . . . "

Then, in one blood-chilling moment, the cruiser's metal belly connected with the runway. The ship began to slide quickly on the ferrocrete surface, giving no sign that it had the intention to stop. The runway's end was fast approaching.

Sensing the impending danger, the two Jedi Knights reached inside themselves, calling forth the strength of the Force.

For a few seconds, the cruiser continued to move against the current of the Force, only to stop abruptly, with a shudder.

"Another happy landing" Obi-Wan said, unfazed.

Anakin leaned his head on the computer panel, struggling to control his ragged breathing.

"That was too close" he panted, looking at his former Master.

"That it was. Let us hope we will not be needed to repeat the experience!"

Anakin smiled slightly, extending his good arm, to pat Obi-Wan on the back.

However, his fingers only touched air. Perplexed, the young Knight tried again, only to see Obi-Wan's silhouette fading and distorting.

"Master!" he cried out. The whole command center started to darken and disappear before his very eyes.

Then, a dim light striked his eyes, among the clouds of darkness. It continually grew, until Anakin saw himself inside what appeared to be a medical bay. He squinted his eyes, trying to clear his blurry vision. He could almost make out a frail body on the operating table . . .

"Anakin! Anakin! Help me . . . ."

Padme!

Before Anakin could do anything, he felt himself being pulled away from his beloved wife.

No! Padme! No!

With a pained scream, he shot out of his bed, drenched in sweat.

x x x

The inhabitants of the Jedi Temple were overseeing their daily chores, Masters, Padawans and Knights alike. The morning light shone through the tall windows, giving the entire interior a surreal feeling. Few Jedi, however, stopped to admire the unusually tranquil morning. The Order's numbers were dwindling, because of the losses registered during the war, and now every pair of hands was precious.

Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi made his way slowly through the hustle and bustle, towards the Council Chambers. Although he kept smiling and nodding politely to the various Jedi who saluted him, his thoughts were wandering very far away . . . towards his former apprentice.

"Be wary of your friendship with Palpatine, Anakin."

"Why?"

"Because we are not sure of his intentions."

"He isn't a bad man, Obi-Wan."

"I am not so sure about that, Anakin. He has requested a meeting with you a few minutes ago."

"He did? Without informing the Council? That is unusual."

"Exactly what I was saying earlier. The Council wouldn't have agreed to appoint you as a member if it wasn't for your strong friendship with Palpatine."

"What do you mean?"

"Anakin, you must understand . . . I didn't come up with this. I'm on your side."

"With what?"

"Anakin . . . the Council wants you to report on all of the Chancellor's dealings. We want to find out what he is up to."

"You mean spy on him?"

"Yes."

"That's treason!"

"We are at war, Anakin!"

"Master Kenobi? Master Kenobi?"

Obi-Wan pulled himself out of his thoughts, only to see a teenage girl, dressed in olive robes, with a short Padawan braid hanging on one side.

"Yes, Padawan Kazuya?"

"I have been asked to give this to you" she said, handing him a datapad. "It is Master Quinlan Vos' report, from Boz Pity."

"Thank you, Padawan" Obi-Wan said, taking the datapad from the girl's hand.

With a short bow, she disappeared in the stream of Jedi walking down the corridors.

Tucking the datapad in a pocket, Obi-Wan made himself focus his emotions.

Get a grip, Kenobi, he thought. Anakin has never betrayed your trust and he certainly won't start now.

x x x

Anakin Skywalker strode down the same corridor as his master, towards the Jedi Council's chambers. And, as his master, his mind was filled with conflicting emotions. This was the third time when had had the horrifying nightmare of Padme dying during childbirth.

I will not allow it to happen! Never!

Ever since he had been only a child, the Temple had been his refuge, his Sanctuary. Whenever he and Obi-Wan arrived from particularly grueling missions, nothing compared to the peace and serenity he felt within these walls.

Now, however, the peace was gone, shattered, like a delicate crystal. His soul could not find serenity anywhere, whether it was the Room of a Thousand Fountains or a broom closet.

And what made his situation truly desperate was the fact that, when he had turned to his Jedi brothers for help, the only answer he received was to detach himself from that which he feared to lose.

Never!

Strengthening his shields, so that no one would feel his inner turmoil, he locked himself in his thoughts once more. No one understanded what he felt in these dark moments . . . no one except Palpatine, his mentor, that is.

"The Dark side is a powerful aid to many abilities, some considered to be unnatural. Nevertheless, with the Dark Side, Darth Plagueis became so powerful, that he could stop those that he cared for from dying."

"Is it possible to learn this power?"

"Not from a Jedi."

In many ways, Palpatine was right. The Jedi were holding him back, keeping him from fulfilling his true potential! And now, that there was a solid chance of actually ending the war, they weren't going to push him aside!

"My agents tell me that General Grievous has been spotted, hiding in the Utapau system."

"Finally! We can kill that monster and end this war!"

"Indeed. I would doubt the collective wisdom of the Council if they didn't appoint you with this task. You are the best choice, by far."

Palpatine was absolutely right! He was meant to finish the droid-General and end the Clone Wars once and for all!

And then . . . then he could have enough time to find out a way to save his beloved wife's life.

I will not allow her to die! Even if it means giving my own life, my own soul, I will not lose her!

Concentrating deeply on this fevering wish, Anakin squared his shoulders as he opened the doors to the Council chambers.

It was now or never!

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