Thank you so much for the reviews! I woke up, only to discover a full inbox! Definitely made my day! I'll keep up the posting as quick as possible!
BGTom: What Anakin saw was only an illusion sent by Palpatine to sway him on his side. As for the scars, he won't be getting them from Mace in this story, but from another character.
I just finished Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover a few hours ago. Brilliant book! I practically fell in love with it! Stover has an amazing writing style. I personally recommend it to everyone around here!
Okay, enough of my babbling! On with the story!
Chapter XI – Looking into the Eyes of Destruction
In
what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On
what wings dare he aspire,
What the hand dare seize the fire?
William Blake – The Tiger
The doors of Palpatine's office slid open, admitting four Jedi Masters, who marched shoulder to shoulder toward the Chancellor, determination set on their faces.
Palpatine stood in his chair, regal and dignified, as the leader of the Republic should be.
"Master Windu" he acknowledged the Jedi with a curt nod. "I take it that General Grievous has been destroyed?"
The Masters remained silent, watching Palpatine intently.
"I must say that you are here sooner than expected" he continued, with a small smile.
Mace Windu drew in a deep breath, preparing himself. He removed the hilt of his lightsaber from his belt, igniting the purple blade with a fluid motion. The other three followed suit.
"In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic" he said, on a firm tone, "you are under arrest, Chancellor!"
Palpatine tensed slightly in his chair. He leaned forward, locking his eyes with Mace's.
"Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?"
"The Senate will decide your fate" Mace answered, mindful of the edge he sensed behind the Chancellor's words.
"I am the Senate!" Palpatine snarled, his voice growing hoarse, as his eyes flashed yellow for a moment.
"Not yet!" countered Mace, steeling his resolve.
Palpatine slowly raised himself from his seat. The four Jedi tightened the grips on their weapons, not taking their eyes off the Sith Lord.
"It's treason, then" he stated on a smooth voice, summoning his lightsaber which immediately appeared in his hand.
For a few seconds, the combatants surveyed each other, as the tension in the room escalated. And then the melee began, as Palpatine jumped forward, with a ear-splitting scream, twisting in the air like a corkscrew. The Masters immediately raised their sabers to block the attack.
Palpatine's weapon slammed into Fisto and Koth's crossed blades, halting his attack.
With determination, Saesse Tiin charged ahead, bringing his blade down upon his foe. Palpatine raised his saber, blocking the strike. Twisting the Darkside around himself, he sent a powerful wave toward Koth and Fisto, knocking them to the ground.
Seeing as the Chancellor was not paying attention, Mace attacked with a sideways cut. Sensing the danger, Palpatine jumped out of the way and Mace's sword sliced through the air.
"How foolish of you to think that you can actually defeat me!" he cackled, sending a desk and two chairs flying toward Mace and Saesse.
Saesse raised his blade, the tip pointing upwards and quickly brought it down in a zig-zag pattern, slicing both chairs in half. Mace outstretched his hand, concentrating on the subtle ebb of the Force. Under his command, the huge mahogany desk was thrown backwards, crashing into the window and shattering it, spreading glass everywhere.
"I believe that is called vandalism, Master Jedi!" smirked Palpatine, as he watched his opponents. Fisto and Koth slowly raised themselves from the floor, a bit dazed from the fall.
"You snake!" roared Saesse, his dark eyes narrowing. "This will be your end!"
"Master Tiin! No!"
But Mace's shout was in vain, as Saesse charged blindly at Palpatine, holding his saber like a spear, hoping to impale the Sith. Palpatine, however, easily dodged the unrefined attack and swiped his blade under Saesse's wrists. The Jedi roared in pain, as both of his hands were severed in an instant, his lightsaber cluttering noisily on the floor.
"I believe you wanted to do this?" Palpatine asked smoothly as he grabbed Saesse by one of his horns with one hand, while he thrust his blade into the Master's chest.
Saesse's eyes opened wide, as his mind registered the white-hot, searing pain of death. He opened his lips and thick blood began to flow down his chin.
Palpatine released his foe and he crumpled to the floor, lifeless, like a rag doll.
Mace pushed back the horror at what he had witnessed. He needed his mind clear if he wished to survive this ordeal.
"We fight together!" he ordered the other Masters. "Do not let him separate us!"
The two nodded and proceeded to flank Mace, blocking the doorway and Palpatine's only exit from the room.
"Do you actually think that your feeble skills are a match for the Darkside?" the Chancellor asked, with a laugh that made chills run up the spines of the three men. "Fools!"
"On the count of three" Mace said, straightening himself and drawing upon the flow of the Force.
"One . . . two . . . three!"
The Masters attacked in unison a perfect harmony linking their every move, but, still, Palpatine was ready. Raising his weapon in a defensive position, he deftly began to parry all of his enemy's blows, not letting a single one slip past his defenses. The four silhouettes danced across the room, lightasabers creating a rainbow of color as they moved with uncanny speed and precision. The Masters steadily advanced forward, as Palpatine retreated slowly. The dark room echoed with the deep humm of the power weapons and the screeches created when two blades collided with one another. To an outsider, it all would have looked like an exquisite ballet, each move refined to near perfection. Only the combatants knew that even the smallest slip meant certain death.
"It's working!" exclaimed Eeth Koth, when Palpatine's back hit the wall. The Chancellor was effectively trapped, with nowhere else to retreat.
"This ends now!" the Jedi Master said, thrusting his lightsaber toward the Sith.
"I think not" Palpatine countered and spun out of the blade's way with blinding speed. Koth didn't even have time to be surprised, as he felt a surge of dark power shove him face-first in the wall.
"Unfortunately, it is your end!" Palpatine smiled, as he pushed his weapon through Koth's shoulder and into the wall. The Jedi gritted his teeth against the agony and tried to move, but the Sith Lord pushed the lightsaber even deeper. And then, he moved it sideways, severing flesh and bone until it emerged out the other shoulder. Koth wailed silently and fell to the floor, a charred gash left in the wall, smeared with blood.
Everything happened so fast, that Mace and Kit Fisto didn't even have time to react. They looked on at the smiling Chancellor, the Force whirling around them like a hurricane.
"Two down, two to go! Gentlemen, I believe that you will make it a lot easier on all of us if you would just lay down your weapons and allow me to send you into the Force without further resistance!"
The Masters looked in Palpatine's pale blue eyes, which held only cold contempt. But behind the layer of ice, they could barely distinguish a black, burning flame. They were looking directly into the eyes of destruction.
"Well, what is your answer!" the Chancellor asked once more, with a smile that made him look like a Firaxan shark who had just spotted its next meal.
"We will never surrender, Palpatine!" Mace spoke with determination, supported by Kit Fisto.
"So be it . . . Jedi!" the Sith Lord snarled, all traces of mirth disappearing from his features. With a swift jump, he was upon the two Jedi, raining a flurry of blows at them. Mace and Kit found themselves quickly moving backwards, retreating from the devastating onslaught. Their blades clashed with Palpatine's red one, showering sparks through the entire room. As they struggled to maintain their defenses against the frenzied attack, none of them saw the fallen chair behind them.
Kit felt his foot collide with something hard and when he moved again, his robe got entangled in the chair's leg, making him lose his balance for a second.
That second, however, was all that Palpatine needed, as he brought his lightsaber around in a wide arc, decapitating Fisto with one fluid motion.
The Master crashed with a dull thud, his head landing a few meters from his body.
Mace watched the entire scene with a sinking heart.
How can anyone defeat this monster, he thought, disgruntled, when he seems to be the very essence of Darkness?
Palpatine turned his pale eyes toward Mace Windu, with a piercing glare.
"You should have thought about that long ago, Master Windu" he said, on a raspy voice. "Only now, at the end, do you understand!"
"All I understand is that you are the biggest threat to this Galaxy and you must be destroyed!"
Palpatine shook his head, chuckling lightly.
"Such hopeless arrogance" he spoke, disdainfully. "Soon, both you and your precious Order will learn what a Dark Lord of the Sith is truly capable of!"
Palpatine lifted his lightsaber over his head, with both hands and brought it down, in a crushing blow. Mace quickly raised his own saber and met the attack head-on, but the force of the impact nearly broke his wrists. The two combatants resumed their duel, slashing and dodging lightning-fast strikes. They moved around the devastated office, as shards of broken glass crunched under their feet.
Mace closed his eyes, willing the currents of the Force to guide his hands, telling him exactly when and where Palpatine's attacks would occur.
There is only one way out of this, he thought, the frenzy of battle boiling in his veins. Only the Vaapad technique can prove to be a match for him!
The aforementioned technique was also called the Sixth Jedi fighting style. It was based on very fast moves, flowing in continuous motion, one after the other. It had been named after the vaapad, a ferocious predator, native to the volcanic planet of Sarapin. The vaapads were infamous throughout the Galaxy for their hunting style: they possessed an undetermined number of tentacles, with which they slashed their prey to the death. The only way anyone could tell how many tentacles a vaapad had was by killing it; when it was alive, the creature moved with such speed that it seemed to be only a dark blur.
Mace had imitated the predator's moves, creating a new fighting style, the most dangerous of them all. Very few Padawans trained themselves to use Vaapad, for it required total immersion in the fury of battle. It was a way that trekked extremely close to the Darkside.
But now was not the time for such misgivings, Mace thought, to calm his panicked mind. If passing through the shroud of the Darkside was the only way to destroy the Sith Lord, than so be it!
Mace opened himself to the Force, allowing the ocean of Life to effectively swallow his being. His awareness extended far beyond himself, but he struggled to not be distracted and he focused all of his attention to the present moment. Relaxing and then tensing his entire body, he shifted his stance, placing his lightsaber in an offensive position over his right shoulder. And suddenly, his attack began.
Palpatine had only a moment to ponder exactly what the Jedi's next move would be, when he found himself blocking a torrent of uncontrollable strikes. His lightsaber moved with inhuman precision, seeming to surround him in a halo of fire.
Mace pushed forward, maintaining the ferocity of his attacks, as the blood fever burned inside him. Only a little more and it would be over!
Palpatine continued to give ground in the face of the possessed Master. The Sith Lord was confident in his abilities and the power of the Darkside, but Windu's superiority in sheer physical power was quickly becoming apparent. He needed to find a way to turn the situation to his advantage fast!
Suddenly, Mace's relentless offensive paid of, as Palpatine lost his balance after a particularly vicious strike and fell down on the blood-stained floor. Sensing his enemy's shatter point and the moment of victory drawing near, Mace brought his blade down, for a killing blow. Palpatine's reflexes, however, had been in no way dented by his old age, as he unexpectedly blocked the strike.
The Chancellor smiled wickedly as he saw Mace's straining face over the light of the two crossed weapons and heard his labored breathing over their crackle. Finally, the moment that he had been awaiting! Now was the time to add the final piece on the dejarik board! Stretching out in the Force, he sought a young, bright presence. When he managed to locate it, he projected an image of deep suffering, followed by a hopeless plea for help.
Anakin! Help me!
He could almost burst out laughing with joy when he felt the distress emanating in waves from the young man. Still, he needed to be completely sure of the effect.
Please, my son! Help me!
And the he closed the mental link. He could almost see Anakin racing out of the Temple and toward the Senate! Soon, everything in his grand design would fall into place and then no one will be able to stop him!
Smiling, he looked up at Mace Windu. The man's black eyes were burning with an internal flame and his hands were holding the saber's handle so tight, that his knuckles had turned white.
Enjoy your moment of supremacy, Master Windu, he thought, maliciously, while you still can!
x x x
On the planet of Kashyyyk, long plumes of smoke were rising toward the sky, as entire majestic Wroshyr trees burned. The battle had ended, but its scars were still all too obvious. Groups of frantic Wookies were running everywhere, carrying large pots filled with water on their backs, trying to put out the flames.
Sitting high on a mound, Chewbacca was growling orders in every direction, directing the Wookies were the fire was strongest. Alongside him stood Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, her eyes focused upon the chaos unfurling around them.
"What savagery" she sighed, as another thousand year-old tree collapsed on the ground, leaving nothing but a blackened, charred mass in its way. "At least the war is finally over."
"And none too soon" huffed Chewbacca, as the smell of burnt fur hung heavily in the air. "Those guilty for starting it in the first place deserve to die in the most dishonorable way possible!"
Luminara smiled, slightly.
"I would think the same, if it weren't for my Jedi training. Besides, there is no one left to punish. Commander Cody's report stated that all of the Separatist leaders had been killed during the attack at Utapau."
"They didn't deserve a quick death" growled Chewbacca, the hairs on his neck standing on end.
"Easy, my friend" Luminara spoke, as she placed a hand over his large shoulder. "What's done is done. All that we can do now is help the Republic heal its wounds and rebuild all that has been destroyed."
Chewbacca looked in the wise eyes of the Jedi Master, where he saw the truth of her words shining clear.
"The Wookies are forever indebted to the Republic and the Jedi for your support" he said, on a reverent tone. "Without your help, we would have lost Kashyyyk."
"It was an honor to fight alongside your people, Chewbacca" Luminara answered, with a small bow.
Chewbacca nodded and again started barking orders to the teams of firefighters.
Luminara's gaze turned to the blue sky, as she continued to take note of her surroundings. Some day, other trees would grow, to replace the fallen ones. So was the endless cycle of the Universe: Death makes way for a new Life, like a Phoenix bursting free from its grave of ashes.
And then, everything chanced. The woman felt a horrible pain erupt in her head, as though someone had pierced it with a metal shard. Her knees wobbled under her and it took all of her willpower not to fall.
"Lady Jedi" asked Chewbacca, helping Luminara steady herself with one furry paw, "are you all right?"
Luminara blinked twice, the light entering her eyes seeming very painful all of a sudden.
"Don't worry about me, I'm all right, I think . . . "
Stretching out her perceptions, she tried to detect what had been the cause of the mysterious wave of pain, but nothing seemed out of place. She could feel the deep pain of the still burning vegetation and the determination of the young Wookies to finally put out the blaze. However, none of these factors seemed strong enough to cause her to feel such an abrupt distress.
Unless something had gone horribly wrong in another part of the Galaxy . . .
Master Yoda! He was with her on planet. Maybe he had felt the strange warning as well!
"Madam Luminara" Chewbacca pulled her out of her ruminations, " you are pale. Are you sure you weren't wounded in the battle?"
"Yes" answered Luminara, tightly. "This is a wound of the Force, Chewbacca."
The Wookie watched her, an expression on his features that clearly showed puzzlement.
"I need to talk to Master Yoda" she requested, without preamble. "Do you know where he is?"
Chewbacca nodded his head vigorously. "Last I heard, he was speaking with General Tarfful in the Command Center."
"I need to speak with him right away" Luminara said, the urgency in her tone very clear.
"Allow me" Chewbacca spoke and he suddenly bent down, grabbing Luminara by the waist and hauling her over his massive shoulder.
"Hey! What are you doing?" asked the startled woman. "Put me down!"
"I can clearly see that your business with Master Yoda is an urgent one" Chewbacca grunted, on a placating tone, "so I will take you the short way!"
With the matter settled, he gripped a dangling vine in his paws and started escalating the trunk of a mammoth Wroshyr tree, with Luminara Unduli dangling over his shoulder like an old bag.
"Ah, well" smiled the woman, good-naturedly, "it could have been worse. I could have been allergic to Wookie fur!"
Chewbacca climbed steadily, as the ground seemed to get farther and farther, until it vanished completely behind a blanket of swirling mists.
Luminara looked up, over Chewbacca's arms, only to see the green crown of the tree appearing from the clouds, in all of its breathtaking beauty.
Finally, they finished the descent, as Chewbacca hauled them both on the round, wooden platform which made up the Republic Command Center on Kashyyyk.
The Jedi Master was gently lowered by the Wookie on the floor, as her gaze quickly analyzed her new environment. Tufts of white clouds enveloped the platform, making it seem as if it were being surrounded by a translucent veil. Through gaps in the clouds there could be seen the pale blue of the sky or the deep green of the ocean.
A large table was positioned at the center of the platform. The seats were occupied by a group of clone commandos, who were listening intently as their leader gave his report of the battle to Coruscant.
As for Yoda and Tarfful, they were sitting in a corner, conversing quietly among themselves.
With swift strides, Luminara crossed the distance and bowed in front of the small Jedi.
Yoda's large, green eyes focused on Luminara, as he spoke:
"Something the matter is Luminara? Greatly troubled your spirit is, I sense."
"I had a warning through the Force, Master. Something very important has occurred."
"Felt it, I also have" the diminutive Master said, as he brought his green fingers over his forehead. "But what exactly it is, tell I cannot."
"Could it have had any connection with the Darkside?"
"Know the answer, I do not" Yoda sighed, his shoulders slumping. "The dark shroud over my eyes stretches."
Luminara nodded gravely. In the past three years of war, she had gotten to fully understand what it meant for a Jedi to lose his or her insight into the Future and even the Present.
"All I know is" continued Yoda, somberly, "that return to Coruscant as soon as possible, we must."
Tarfful had listened quietly to the entire exchange, until he felt the need to intervene:
"I'm afraid that speed is not an option, Master Yoda. It will take up to two days to prepare your cruiser for flight."
"Take the cruiser, we will not" Yoda shook his heat. "A small, fast ship, we need."
"But we have none" Luminara pointed out. "We came here equipped for land warfare, not a space assault."
"I believe we could be of assistance" Tarfful interrupted. "For a good while we have been strengthening our space fleet, in the hope that we could be of some assistance of the Republic."
Yoda's ears perked up at Tarfful's words.
"One of those ships give to us you can?"
"Of course, Master Yoda" agreed Tarfful. "Anything to show our gratitude for helping us liberate Kashyyyk!"
Yoda nodded slightly and turned toward the clone commander, who had just ended his transmission.
"Commander, leave to you the security of Kashyyyk, I do. Return to Coruscant swiftly, Master Luminara and myself must."
"Yes, sir!" saluted the commander. "We will return to the capital as soon as we will determine that the system is free of any Separatist presence."
Yoda gripped his wooden cane in both hands. It was a signal that he was ready to leave. Tarfful bent down and scooped down the tiny Master, placing him on his shoulder. Chewbacca did the same with Luminara and both Wookies descended deep within the Wroshyr tree through a small door in the Command Center's floor.
The tree itself was hollow on the inside, acting as a makeshift garrison for the Republic troops and medical center for the wounded. Large sections had been devoted to sensitive equipment and sensors which could pinpoint any type of enemy activity occurring in the Kashyyyk System.
The odd procession quickly passed through various rooms, as they descended deeper and deeper.
Finally, they reached a set of heavy, durasteel doors. Feeling the Force around her as the Wookies opened the doors, she suspected that they were underground, in some sort of bunker, deep beneath the tree's roots.
When they entered, large glowrods on the ceiling activated themselves, bathing the interior in a warm, yellow light. It appeared to be a very large hangar, full of different starships. All kinds of designs could be seen, from one-man snub fighters, to a large corvette.
"Our engineers have worked on them for months" explained Tarfful, setting Yoda on the ferrocrete floor. "Unfortunately, things got cut short when the Confederacy attacked, but most of them are complete."
Tarfful took a few steps and placed his paw on a medium-sized starship, with a bulky frame.
"This is the best of them all. It may look like an ordinary transport vessel, but do not be fooled, for appearances are deceiving. Hidden in compartments inside the fuselage is a vast arsenal of weapons, from laser turrets to proton torpedoes and an ion cannon."
Chewbacca grinned, showing large, dagger-like teeth.
"Any enemy who is fooled into thinking it has caught an easy prey won't live to regret his mistake!"
Yoda inspected the ship from nose to tail, nodding in agreement.
"Her name is The Katarn. She is named after a large predator living in the depths of our planet. Is it a fine enough ship, Master Yoda?"
"Good ship it is, indeed" agreed Yoda. "Thank you, General Tarfful."
The Wookie bowed deeply in front of the two Jedi Masters and watched them load their few belongings into the cargo bay.
"The Republic is having problems at its heart" said Chewbacca to his superior.
"How do you know that?"
"I have been around the Jedi long enough to learn how to read between the lines of their words" he answered. "They're heading into the fire."
"It is not our concern" Tarfful huffed. We have no authority to meddle in Jedi affairs
Chewbacca, however, wouldn't relent.
"General, please allow me to accompany the Jedi to Coruscant and offer any assistance that I can."
Tarfful looked at the younger Wookie, noting the spark of hope glimmering in his dark eyes.
"What good would it do? You are no Force-Sensitive. You cannot hope to aid them in their war."
"But they have risked their lives to help us in ours!" countered Chewbacca. "Honor dictates that we return the favor by any means possible!"
"Do not presume to teach me the Rules of Honor, cub!" growled Tarfful, dangerously.
Chewbacca stood still, as if he had been hit head-on by a freight train. To call an adult Wookie, with a life-mate and his own child, by the word cub was a very deep insult.
And a way to show said Wookie were his place in the hierarchy is.
"Regardless of what you may say" Chewbacca spoke, quietly, "I will go to Coruscant."
Tarfful sighed, frustrated by the other's stubbornness.
"Fine!" he relented. "But you will return directly to Kashyyyk once your part will be over. That is a direct order!"
Chewbacca saluted, a sign that he accepted the terms offered by Tarfful.
Luminara and Yoda had witnessed the entire argument and none of them tried to stop Chewbacca, as he boarded the ship. The determination that shined in the Wookie's eyes seemed like a soothing balm for Yoda. Compassion was the opposite of hate. In his visions, he had seen a pair of malevolent eyes that always spelled doom for the Republic and the Jedi Order. But with such noble beings as this Wookie at their side, maybe there was a small hope for the future.
And maybe, just maybe, the eyes of destruction could be blinded.
Forever.
Author's Note: Love it? Hate it? Drop me a review, so I can see what to keep and what to improve!