' Riddled' (Chapter Six)
By Ennon
A/N- YodasPadawan- Glad you considered #5 fantastic and I hope you don't do too much damage waiting for #7.
Emgirl1904- Glad you believed #5 to be awesome- and it's not untrue what was said at the end.
Skywalking- Glad you didn't think Anakin was too MUCH of a drama queen here. I always thought that Han and Vader weren't entirely different in MO so possibly might bond but wouldn't want to admit it. Yes, I've got some discount sunglasses that stick around. Oh, I always thought the Hutts' bark was worse than their bite but you're right if it was easy it would be no fun for them to win their freedom (or to read about it-shameless plug). Not sure if Anakin's like the Hulkster in that so far he's not seeking a reality show to showcase Leia as a pop star. Don't worry about the comment being long, it was fun to read with lots of interesting points, etc.!
CHAPTER COMMENCES
"Whoa! Look at that size of the city! I never knew any city could be THAT big," Luke gulped as he, Han, Leia, Padmé, Anakin, Chewbacca and the droids were riding cramped in Vader's Shuttle with Anakin at the steering controls while nearing Coruscant.
"Yeah, even Space Worms could get lost in it," Han gulped.
"Why does everyone have that reaction seeing it for the first time?" Leia laughed.
" Boys, you've been our good guard-guides in your Outer Rim wilderness. Now it's Anakin's, Leia's and my turn to help find your bearings in this one!" Padmé insisted.
" I just wish I felt better leaving the Falcon behind on that asteroid 50 light-years away," Han groaned.
"As the Falcon's as every bit the Rebellion's prize ship, we can't chance ex-Imperials capturing it and trying to trace us with it. With these disguises, we can fool them into thinking we're simply patrollers who happened upon Vader's Shuttle and are here to collect its bounty,"Anakin explained.
"And with the Tatooinians landing following us in the Huttese cast-off ships helping incite that Coruscant citizen rebellion, perfect time for us to capture the Command Center while they're too distracted to think of guarding it," Luke beamed.
"I don't know. I just have the feeling it's been too easy," Leia groaned.
"Easy? You call us getting into the dogfight 25 light years away easy? We're lucky your Pops is such a quick shot or else none of us would have made it another meter," Han groaned.
"No matter what happens, I'll always be grateful for us getting these new chances to work together," Leia exclaimed as she kissed Han on the lips.
"Whoa! Ya think I'm gonna get vaporized or somethin'?" Han laughed after they broke the bond.
"The city is in full rebellion!" Kitster Banai explained with his eyes wide open a few days later while he joined Anakin with the others to sneak into the Command Center (which happened to be in one of the inner wings of the Imperial Palace.
"And General Rexler's troops are spread out all over the streets trying to crush it! Now's our chance!" Padmé exclaimed .
"Are you sure you and the other Tatooinians will be okay here until we return?" Anakin asked.
"Of course! It's too dazzling to be frightening. What a great journey you've taken us on, Ani!" Kitster beamed as he joined the other Tatooinians outside.
" It just doesn't seem right," Leia groaned.
"Leia, could you chuck the negativity? We're almost inside!" Han snapped.
"You're sensing it could be a trap, right," Anakin pondered.
"Lando had the same thing happen over Endor but he knew he wouldn't get another chance- nor will we. Come on!" Luke pleaded- as he, Anakin, Han and Chewie started climbing inside the ventilation shafts.
"Once Leia,Cxvcre,Threepio and I are inside, we'll send Artoo to meet you in the Control Room. May the Force be with us!" Padmé whispered.
"Luckily, Leia can communicate with Father and me via the Force so we can don't have to worry about any transmission interception or comlink failures," Luke sighed as they split up from his mother, sister, the Sand Person Padawan and the droids.
"One thing we need to keep in mind with General Rexler is ,while he's not very smart, he is a Force wielder," Anakin groaned while they were inside the shafts.
"Great, NOW you tell me," Han groaned.
"Han, with our Sand Person Padawan Cxrvce, there's four of us against one of him- and I'm sure his midichlorian count isn't anywhere close to Leia's and my mid-teens or Father's 45,000 level," Luke encouraged.
"So you guys outnumber him, right?" Han asked.
"Technically, yes, but with such a strong Force concentration, he's likely been sensing us since at least as long as we've been on Corucscant.. Maybe Leia and Cxrvce's splitting from Luke and me will temporarily confuse him," Anakin replied.
"Oddly enough, he's not moving from the Control Room- although he's sent troops to surround the Imperial Palace," Luke sighed.
"Great," Han groaned.
Anakin was the first to emerge from the ventilation shaft and dropped behind several guards.
"We will say and do nothing while letting the liberators take over the room," Anakin droned in his Jedi Mind Trick voice while holding up his hand.
"We will say and do nothing while letting the liberators take over the room," the fourteen soldiers said in unison.
"Lord Vader, we've been expecting you," the 35-year-old redhaired human man General Rexler exclaimed.
"I do not answer that name," Anakin snarled.
"Tell your compatriots to surrender immediately and let me debrief you or I'll. .." General Rexler started to say.
"You're actually trying to Force choke me? How unoriginal,"Anakin scoffed as he felt the pressure that would have instantly choked Chewbacca and broken his neck but Anakin coolly used his own Force powers to keep the deadly Force ring no less than 1 milimeter from his neck's skin.
"Dare you question my strategy?" General Rexler scoffed.
"Who writes yer dialogue?" Han scoffed.
"And you are. ..?" General Rexler asked while turning towards the vent shaft.
"Solo, stay unseen," Anakin ordered via the Force.
"You think someone unarmed in the Force can undo this chain of events?" General Rexler sneered.
Han poked his upper torso out of the vent shaft and pointed his blaster.
"Yep!" Han shrugged while blasting General Rexler's chest.
"Fool," the dying General Rexler, Anakin and Luke all said together as General Rexler used the last of his Force energy to cause a single lever on the control panel to move- setting off a horrible noise.
"WARNING! WARNING! The Coruscant Failsafe DOOMSDAY Device will EXPLODE Coruscant in 10 minutes! The Coruscant Failsafe DOOMSDAY Device will EXPLODE Coruscant in 10 minutes! Please de-activate device or evacuate all personel!" the alarm droned.
"Lord Vader, you should have known if we Imperials couldn't keep Coruscant, NO ONE would have it- according to the late Emperor. I die doing my duty to him and the Dark Side!" General Rexler gasped.
"Leia, send Artoo here IMMEDIATELY! You, Padmé, Luke, Threepio, Cxvrce, Han and Chewbacca go to the roof to try to reach the Imperial Evacuation Escape Pod!" Anakin shouted aloud/ via the Force.
"NO! We're staying here to help you!"Luke pleaded while Chewie nodded and affirmatively grunted.
"Uh, yeah, " Han groaned.
" Don't risk yourselves- even though it's somewhat your fault that we're minutes from the planet exploding, Solo," Anakin boiled.
"Yeah, like I built that bomb or knew about it when I blasted Rexler," Han scoffed.
"Good Artoo's here! Quick, plug in and decode the Deactivation Sequence from Coruscant Command," Anakin ordered- while Artoo put in a probe into a the larger terminal's communication port.
"YEEEOOWW!" Artoo screamed as the port blasted him.
"You tried, Old Friend! We'll have to deactivate this on our own! Luke see if you can sense the sequence with the Force," Anakin gasped while patting Artoo's smoking lid.
"I can't get anything either," Luke gulped.
"NINE MINUTES to EXPLOSION!" the loudspeakers droned while they heard the sounds of mass panic of billions of Coruscant's citizens spreading.
"Oh, I'd give almost anything if I just had that code inside my head," Anakin groaned.
"HA!HA!HA!HA! I've been WAITING to hear all these months, Lord Vader," a disembodied voice taunted that instantly caused Luke to cringe, Han to shudder and Chewbacca to roar.
"Palpatine!" Anakin spat out and actually spat out saliva - as the Force of the Sith Master became visible with a red haze surrounding his form.
Instantly, Han fired blaster shots at the Emperor's voice.
"Even if you could SEE me, you Force Forsaken Fool, your shots would be USELESS against me for I have no form," Palpatine sneered.
"Han, you're not missing anything not seeing him," Luke groaned-for only he and Anakin being Force wielders could see Palpatine's Force ghost at this time.
"Leave us IMMEDIATELY and FOREVER!" Anakin boiled.
"Oh, but I was hoping to give you the Deactivation Code so you could save the pathetic citizens of this useless planet," Palpatine said in his sickenly saccharine tone.
"What do you want from us?" Luke asked.
"Young Fool, what makes you think. ..?" Palpatine chided.
"You never give without taking SO MUCH more," Anakin sneered.
"I just want you to let my feeble, tired, old spirit take over your young, vigorously healthy, midclorinian-saturated body," Palpatine taunted.
"NEVER!" Anakin boiled.
" I'd let you take ALL the credit ,of course, for saving this planet," Palpatine sneered.
"Father, don't listen to him!" Luke pleaded.
"I wasn't! I'm THROUGH doing that!"Anakin boiled while spitting a rather large wad of spit in Palpatine's ghost's direction.
"Stay calm! Don't let the Dark Side. ..," Luke pleaded.
"You're right, Son!" Anakin said trying to calm himself down.
" Lord Vader, I ask you just let me take over your nice,toned, healthy young body for a short time. It's only fair since you rejected the one I so thoughtfully made for you," Palpatine sneered.
"EIGHT MINUTES TO EXPLOSION!"the loudspeaker droned.
"We'll disarm it with the Force without being ANY more beholden to you!" Anakin shouted.
"The Force has nothing to do with this," Palpatine taunted.
"Got any other ideas?" Han gulped while Chewie growled.
"Think of all those trillions of pathetic citizens you'd be saving- and it would invariably balance out Alderaan and all the other things you did for me," Palpatine laughed.
"You'd take my body over permanently-and then you'd do FAR worse damage than you ever were capable of as Palpatine and destroy the Galaxy and the Skywalkers forever!" Anakin boiled.
"Interesting hypothesis. Now, I'm through asking and DEMANDING you turn over your body to me that your Fool Son so thoughtfully restored to the way I always wanted it for myself," Palpatine growled.
"And, if I refuse?" Anakin said- trying to stay as calm as per Luke's pleading.
"Then I'll haunt you and the rest of your pitiful family the rest of your days until you give me dominion- and I'll be joined by. .." Palpatine sneered with a curdle in his voice.
"CROIKA! In the name of the Light Side, I beseech the Most Powerful Jedi Spirits to BIND YOU, Palpatine, from the mortal world FOREVER!" Anakin half- prayed, half-shouted.
"CROIKA! In the name of the Dark Side, I beseech that the Most Powerful Sith Spirits compel you,Lord Vader, to give me your RESTORED BODY!"Palpatine shouted at the very same time.
"SEVEN MIN. .."
Instantly, seven figures appeared.
On Anakin's side (in blue haze surrounding their forms) appeared Obi-Wan, Mace Windu and Yoda. On Palpatine's side Count Dooku, Darth Maul and Darth Plageous. (in red haze surrounding their forms). In the middle of the opposing figures appeared the image of Qui-Gonn with a white haze surrounding his form.
"What happened?" Anakin and Palpatine gulped- while Anakin noticed Luke,Chewbacca, Artoo and Han frozen as though they were carbo-frozen.
"Four against three. Not fair but what could I expect from Jedi," Palpatine sneered.
"I'll destroy him all over again, Master!" the Sith Ghost Darth Maul growled at seeing the image of Qui-Gonn and started to run towards the image.
"I can easily stomp on Yoda like an insect now! Darth Sideous, it's too bad you weren't born for centuries to witness our last duel that he cheated on," the somehat taller image of Darth Plageous sneered while Yoda growled at him.
"ENOUGH!" the image of Qui-Gonn shouted- but with the sounds of dozens of voices of many genders, accents and species in unison- as it froze Darth Maul's and Darth Plageous's Sith Ghosts in their tracks.
"Master Qui- Gonn?" Anakin gulped and bowed.
"He is the Force Conduit we allow to only observe until we leave who we are using. For, all the mystics, he is the most qualified when we appear to judge these Force Petitioners!" the voices shouted from Qui-Gonn's ghostly mouth.
"You mean, you're . you're . .The Force?" Palpatine gulped.
"That is correct. We judge on behalf of all in the Galaxy- Light and Dark and many shades of Grey!"the ghostly image of Qui-Gonn as the Force Conduit explained in all those dozens of voices.
"And you've stopped time to do that?" Anakin asked.
"Time cannot be stopped but you and the others in this case have had your metabolism temporarily sped up so what takes place in a single minute in the rest of the universe will appear to take an entire hour until what needs to be done here is complete," the ghostly image of Qui-Gonn as the Force Conduit explained.
"Great! You need to compel Lord Vader to give over his body to me so he can save this planet from doom," Palpatine pleaded.
"And you need to destroy Palpatine's spirit altogether so he cannot hurt any more innocents like Padmé and Mama," Anakin pleaded.
"You see, Force Conduit, how ungracious he is? He's no more changed to Light Side but is every bit as much my vassal as ever. He's always been nothing without me," Palpatine sneered.
"Correction, you've always been nothing without ME and my powers that's why you schemed so hard to get me on your side. I have a lifetime of atonement for the atrocities I've done ahead of me but at least I'm free of you and intend to be forever," Anakin insisted.
"I'm hurt. I don't want to destroy your spirit. .." Palpatine said with sickening sweetness.
"Yet! You want to torture me by taking me along for the ride while you do unspeakable things to my family and everyone else in the Galaxy to break them. Even 20 years in that walking prison was better than that fate. As I'd want it,your end would be instant," Anakin growled..
"Master Yoda, Master Windu, Master Obi-Wan, how can you side with this ingrate after what he did to all of you?" Palpatine scoffed.
"We have felt his sincere remorse by words and deeds. That is enough," Mace Windu explained.
"To think that the part of you I'd treasure the most is the part of you that could cause you the most unhappiness," Palpatine mocked.
"Don't try your Sith curses now!" Obi-Wan sneered.
"You know it's no curse. Just a simple fact- or else the Force Conduit would have. .." Palpatine smirked.
"ENOUGH! The Force knows thoroughly what's in the Petitioners' hearts, deeds and minds and we need no further testimonies from either side. Time is of the essence for the fates of the Galaxy, Coruscant and the Petitioners so we need only ask a single question to the Petitioners. The Petitioners are each expected to give one answer and its justification to the Riddle of Our Choosing," the Force Conduit in the form of Qui-Gonn Jinn's appearance explained.
"Riddle?" Anakin and Palpatine asked at the very same time in puzzlement.
"Yes. Many a truth is found in riddles- even more so than in straight questions,"the Force Conduit in Qui-Gonn's appearance explained in those dozens of voices in unison.
" I see," Anakin pondered- how he wished Artoo could participate for Artoo always had fun with riddles.
"The Riddle Of Our Choosing Is This: A Jedi Master and a Sith Master dueled one score and three years past in the Jedi Temple on this very planet. Which of these was the actual victor and why? We've frozen all the others from communicating with you so you can only seek your own counsels,"the Force Conduit in Qui-Gonn's appearance explained in those dozens of voices- while everyone could see Yoda get frustrated at being reminded of that event.
"Why that's quite evident! It was I, Darth Sidous known as Palpatine who vanquished the last impediment to my absolute rule as Emperor of the Galaxy who won that battle and reaped the bounty of the Galaxy thenceforth while my opponent Yoda was sent into exile to a tiny mud hole. Yes, I found out about Degobah after my passing," Palpatine gloated.
"Are you certain of this?" the Force Conduit in Qui-Gonn's appearance asked with those dozens of voices.
"Absolutely," Palpatine sneered.
"What say you, Anakin Skywalker?" the Force Conduit in Qui-Gonn's appearance asked.
"Can it be the same answer?" Anakin asked with a gulp while Palpatine smirked.
"Possibly but surely you can render your own justification," the Force Conduit in Qui-Gonn's form replied in its dozens of voices.
A/N- BWA- HA! HA! CLIFFHANGER TIME HERE! Ducked just in time to have those objects miss the screen on my end. Got any ideas as to what you think Anakin will answer, what will result from his and Palpatine's answers and will he and/or the others be able to stop the Coruscant Doomsday Exploder? I should be back with the answers around Thursday! Faithful readers, you've been great, and I won't leave you hanging too long.