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Chapter 26: The Last Duel

Sidious parried the first of Anakin's many swipes at his head. Then the second and third. He struck low, Sidious jumped and she blade hovered over the ground his ankles had been on just moments ago. He snarled like an angry animal and launched himself into a fighting form of Juyo, in fact the last form you must learn to become as master. He did a jumping spinning back kick, which barely missed Anakin's head and came so close it ruffled his hair. When he landed he spun twice with his saber outstretched, Anakin ducked both times, but Sidious caught him when he ducked and hooked his leg with a sweep kick. Anakin literally flipped and landed on his back. Sidious angled his blade down at Anakin's neck.

"And to think, this never would have happened had I not wanted you to get an apprentice. I should have just told you to kill any Force sensitive you came by not train them. How inept I was to not see that imprisonment of the woman's sister would anger her so much that she would turn you from me."

"You only have one part of that right. Yes you are inept, and I turned by choice, not because she made me."

"Then tell me here before you die why you turned."

"No." Anakin took his left foot and slammed it into the dark lord's ankle. He fell to the right, landed on his arm and rolled over, his lightsaber rolled from his grasp and he clutched his injured shoulder. "I'll tell you before I kill you. Padmé was pregnant, you would have killed out children."

"CHILDREN?" Sidious cried. "Pregnant! You were a Sith Lord at the time what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I loved her. And I still do."

"Well I would have killed you children, yes, you are right."

"Not now."

Anakin raised his blade for the kill, but before he could swing Sidious somersaulted backwards used his hands to spring up, landed on his feet, and called his weapon to him through the Force. It hit his open palm and his fingers closed around it, activating its blood red blade. Sidious smile, feigned a stab to the gut and extended his hand. Anakin felt himself being lifted in the air. He stopped about a foot off the ground and Sidious began to pump him with Force lightning. He cried out it pain and agony, and the lighting twisted around his body, burning his skin, his muscles, and sending deadly volts of energy through his heart.

Mara saw what Sidious was doing to Anakin, she could save him, Traya was giving her the perfect chance. She was going at her offensively once more in all those stupid forms. Mara parried all her jabs, cuts, and strikes all the while backing up toward Sidious. After a few moments she was close enough, she ducked down as Traya swiped looked behind her and (seriously) she kicked Sidious right in the butt, hard. He fell down to the floor and let go of Anakin. Mara continued her fight this time taking advantaged of Traya's look of amusement that Sidious had fallen. She struck and Traya's lightsaber which sat in mid air. Traya immediately held it in place, lest if fall from her grasp. But Mara kept pushing it, she was defiantly more muscular than Traya and should be able to do this easily. But then Traya showed surprising, surprising strength and Mara found she could no longer hold her blade. Traya twisted it out of her grasp and sliced her blade through Mara's right wrist. She cried out in pain.

Anakin looked to Mara as she cried out, and Sidious foolishly turned. Taking full advantage of this Anakin jabbed, and his blade ran through his targets side, coming out the other end. Sidious gasped, Anakin pulled his saber out and he fell.

"Well you saved me the trouble of it, so for that I must thank you." Traya said.

"You are next you inept old woman!"

"Inept? I am the only one who sees the truth about the Force! It is an evil thing."

"From a certain point of view."

"I see we shall never agree on this, sadly I haven't the time, patience or years required to try and teach you this. Let us end this."

"Fine."

With Mara as a center point they began circling each other, both at the ready. Anakin in Djem So ready stance, saber cocked down and over the shoulder. Traya in a Juyo ready form. Saber held high and pulled back to the shoulder, elbow cocked and blade pointing forward.

"Your move." Anakin said.

"No by all means attack first."

"No I insist, ladies first."

"Who made up that saying? It is incredibly dull."

Before Anakin could answer Traya ran at him and used her form to come down and stab. Anakin turned out of the way and Traya lost balance. He spun while bringing his saber up and it cut through both of Traya's wrists. She fell to her knees and looked up at him.

"End it."

"Gladly."

Anakin swiped, and Traya's still hooded head fell to the ground. He ran up to Mara, bent down and looked at her hand."

"Can you stand?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, just get Mon Mothma." Mara sat up and crossed her legs. She immersed herself in the Force into a Jedi calming technique, it bypassed pain and one ignored it for a time. Anakin ran up the steps to the chair where Mon Mothma sat and shut down the ray shield cage with a nearby control panel. Mon Mothma stood up and somewhat inclined her head to him.

"Thank you."

Anakin nodded. "Let's get out of here."

"With pleasure."

The moment Anakin turned around a blaster bolt zoomed narrowly past his head and burned into the wall behind them. He looked down and saw at the doorway to the throne room, the oddest looking humanoid he ever crossed path with. It was a woman who looked like she had died a long time ago. Her skin was chalk white as though she had lost all blood. She wore to top this, a skin tight red outfit. She had no hair except for a thick strand of orange red tied into a ponytail in the middle of her head. In one hand she held a highly polished blaster pistol, in the other a lightsaber.

"Aurra Sing." Anakin said. "I remember you, bounty hunter, you were on Tatooine during the Boonta Eve race."

"Correct Skywalker and it seems now I must kill you."

"Try."

She shot at him again but he deflected the bolt back at her. It zoomed and hit her in the foot. As she cried out in pain Anakin propelled himself off the throne platform. He landed in front on Aurra. She raised her blaster pistol but he sliced its barrel off. She drooped the weapon and struck at his head with her lightsaber. He parried her blow, kicked her in the stomach spun, and tore a hole in her stomach. She looked up and fell to the ground. Mara stood up and Mon Mothma hurried down the steps.

"Come on, lets go to the shuttle hanger, they had a Lambda shuttle in here that we can take out." Anakin said. They all ran for the door and Anakin took out his comm link and opened up a channel with the Executor. He spoke into it quickly.

"We have the Chancellor Piett. We'll be out momentarily take out the Gorgon now!"

"Yes sir. We have already depleted half of the Emperor's force."

"Excellent. Skywalker out."

XxX

Anakin blasted off from the Gorgon in the stolen Lambda class shuttle with Mon Mothma and Mara just as the Gorgon buckled and exploded into a fiery ball of gas.

XxX

A Week Later

The battle for Coruscant had been won. Mon Mothma had presented Anakin with the highest medal of honor in the New Republic for rescuing her and Anakin wore it down, pinned on his blowing cloak as he rode on the water skiff toward the lake house on Naboo. He parked it and ran up the steps. Before he even knocked on the door Padmé opened it and smiled.

"Why are you here?" She asked playfully. "I thought you might be attending Mon Mothma's meeting of council today."

"It's going to be broadcasted on the HoloNet. We can watch it with our children."

And so they did and Anakin enjoyed a well earned month long vacation at the lake country with Padmé, Luke, and Leia, before he was called out again, to patrol Coruscant once more.

And so ends Master and Apprentice.