A/N: Vader's rampage and the Senate Session were taken from Mathew Stover's novelization from 'Revenge of the Sith'
Episode 3 Chapter 11
Back to the Beginning
Mustafar
On the volcanic planet in the Outer Rim, Nute Gunray stood with the other Separatist leaders, watching holographic updates of several battles when suddenly one was interrupted by the holographic form of Darth Sidious.
"The plan has gone as you had promised, my Lord," Gunray informed the Sith Lord. Sidious smiled cruelly.
"You have done well, Viceroy. When my new apprentice, Darth Vader, arrives, he will take care of you." The hologram disappeared and the Separatists went back to watching the battles unfold.
Coruscant
Buffy was silent for the rest of the voyage back to Coruscant. Despite what Bail had told her, she refused to believe that Anakin would give into the Dark Side. She had spoken with Zett personally when he awoke, but he hadn't actually seen her brother. Nobody here had seen her brother, let alone see him do anything. And until she saw proof, she wouldn't believe what they said. So she sat in the cockpit of the star cruiser, silent and brooding.
"Approaching Coruscant," Captain Antilles announced. "Sir, we're receiving a message from the Chancellor's office."
"Send it through," Bail said, leaning forward towards the screen and effectively blocking out the Jedi seated behind him as Mas Amedda appeared on the screen.
"Senator Organa . . . the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic requests your presence at a special session of Congress," the aide said. Bail nodded once in compliance.
"Tell the Chancellor I will be there," Bail replied.
"Very well. He will be expecting you," Amedda responded and then the connection was cut. Bail sat back and looked to the three Jedi sitting behind him. "It could be a trap."
"Doubt it," Buffy said. Obi-Wan nodded in agreement.
"I agree," he said. "The Chancellor will not be able to control the thousands of star systems without keeping the Senate intact."
"If a special session of Congress there is," Yoda interrupted, "easier for us to enter the Jedi Temple it will be."
"And find out the truth of the matter," Buffy remarked softly.
Mustafar
Vader and Traya's small Sith craft landed on a small landing platform next to the Mustafar control center. Vader powered down the craft and rose but stopped when Traya remained in her seat. "Are you not coming?"
"No, Lord Vader. I'm not," Traya said, gazing up at the new Sith Lord. "This task is for you and you alone. Do us proud."
Vader bowed his head. "Yes, my Master," he replied, exiting the ship. Traya sat back and sighed in satisfaction. Everything was going according to plan.
Nute Gunray was quietly watching the battle progress on Cato Neimoidia when the door to the facility cycled open. He and the rest of his collaborators turned to face the stranger that entered. He was a tall cloaked figure, slim in build but broad shouldered, with a face shadowed by a heavy hood. San Hill beat the others to the greeting. "Welcome, Lord Vader!" His elongated legs almost tangled with each other in his rush to shake the hand of the Sith Lord. "On behalf of the leadership of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, let me be the first to—"
"Very well. You will be the first," Vader said as he stepped inside and made a gesture with a black-gloved hand. Blast doors slammed across every exit. The control panel exploded in a shower of sparking wires. Vader then threw back his hood, revealing his grinning face tot the Separatists, who recoiled in shock. San Hill had time to gasp, "You're—you're Anakin Skywalker!" before a fountain of blue-white plasma burned into his chest, curving through a loop that charred all three of his hearts. The Separatist leadership watched in frozen horror as the corpse of the head of the InterGalactic Banking Clan collapsed like a de-powered protocol droid.
"The resemblance," Darth Vader said, "is deceptive." Then he attacked.
The bunker was armed with dozens of combat droids, armed guards and defensive systems designed by the greatest minds of the Separatists.
None of them made a difference for the Sith had come to Mustafar.
Poggle the Lesser, Archduke of Geonosis, scrambled like an animal through a litter of severed arms and legs and heads, both metal and flesh, whimpering, fluttering his ancient gauzy wings until a bar of lightning flash-burned his own head free of his neck.
Shu Mai, president and CEO of the Commerce Guild, looked up from her knees, hands clasped before her, tears streaming down her shriveled cheeks. "We were promised a reward," she gasped. "A h—h—handsome reward—"
"I am your reward," Vader replied innocently. "You don't find me handsome?"
"Please!" she screeched through her sobbing. "Pleee—The blue-white blade cut into and out from her skull, and her corpse swayed. A negligent flip of the wrist slashed through her column of neck rings. Her brain-burned head tumbled to the floor. The only sound, then, was a panicky stutter of footfalls as Wat Tambor and the two Neimoidians scampered along a hallway toward a nearby conference room. Vader was in no hurry to pursue, however. The control center was sealed, the blast doors closed and locked. Vader glanced around the dead control room once more, his once solid-black eyes now tinged with red.
And deep inside, the man once called Anakin Skywalker screamed in anguish, fighting with all he had to get free.
Coruscant - Senate
Bail slipped into the rear of the Naboo delegation's Senate pod as Palpatine thundered from the podium, "These Jedi murderers left me scarred, left me deformed, but they could not scar my integrity! They could not deform my resolve! The remaining traitors will be hunted down, rooted out wherever they may hide, and brought to justice, dead or alive! All collaborators will suffer the same fate. Those who protect the enemy are the enemy! Now is the time! Now we will strike back! Now we will destroy the destroyers! Death to the enemies of democracy!"
The Senate roared.
Amidala didn't even glance at Bail as he slid into a seat beside her. On the opposite side, Representative Binks nodded at him but said nothing, blinking solemnly. Bail frowned; if even the irrepressible Jar Jar was worried, this looked to be even worse than he'd expected. And he had expected it to be very, very bad.
He touched Amidala's arm softly. "It's all a lie. You know that, don't you?"
She stared frozenly toward the podium. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "Where have you been?"
"I was... held up." As she once had told him, some things were better left unsaid.
"He's been presenting evidence all afternoon," she said in a flat, affectless monotone. "Not just the assassination attempt. The Jedi were about to overthrow the Senate."
"It's a lie," he said again.
"I know. My sister told me all about it."
Bail looked at her in shock at that revelation. Meanwhile in the center of the Grand Convocation Chamber, Palpatine leaned upon the Chancellor's Podium as though he drew strength from the Great Seal on its front. "This has been the most trying of times, but we have passed the test. The war is over!"
The Senate roared.
"The Separatists have been utterly defeated and the Republic will stand! United! United and free!"
The Senate roared.
"The Jedi Rebellion was our final test—it was the last gasp of the forces of darkness! Now we have left that darkness behind us forever, and a new day has begun! It is morning in the Republic!"
The Senate roared.
Padmé stared without blinking. "Here it comes," she said numbly.
Bail shook his head. "Here what comes?"
"You'll see."
"Never again will we be divided! Never again will sector turn against sector, planet turn against planet, sibling turn against sibling. We are one nation, indivisible!"
The Senate roared.
"To ensure that we will always stand together, that we will always speak with a single voice and act with a single hand, the Republic must change. We must evolve. We must strive. We have become an empire in fact; let us become an Empire in name as well! We are the first Galactic Empire!"
The Senate went wild.
"What are they doing?" Bail said. "Do they understand what they're cheering for?"
Padmé shook her head, remembering a poem Buffy had told her once. "Remember, remember, the fifth of November…"
"We are an Empire," Palpatine went on, "that will continue to be ruled by this august body! We are an Empire that will never return to the political maneuvering and corruption that have wounded us so deeply; we are an Empire that will be directed by a single sovereign, chosen for life!"
The Senate went wilder.
"We are an Empire ruled by the majority! An Empire ruled by a new Constitution! An Empire of laws, not of politicians! An Empire devoted to the preservation of a just society. Of a safe and secure society! We are an Empire that will stand ten thousand years!"
The roar of the Senate took on a continuous boiling roll like the inside of a permanent thunderstorm.
"We will celebrate the anniversary of this day as Empire Day. For the sake of our children. For our children's children! For the next ten thousand years! Safety! Security! Justice and peace!"
The Senate went berserk.
"Say it with me! Safety, security, justice and peace! Safety, security, justice and peace!"
The Senate took up the chant, louder and louder until it seemed the whole galaxy roared along.
Bail couldn't hear Padmé over the din, but he could read her lips.
So this is how liberty dies, she was saying to herself, with cheering, and applause.
"We can't let this happen!" Bail lurched to his feet. "I have to get to my pod—we can still enter a motion—"
"No." Her hand seized his arm with astonishing strength, and for the first time since he'd arrived, she looked straight into his eyes. "No, Bail, you can't enter a motion. You can't. Fang Zar has already been arrested and Tundra Dowmeia and it won't be long until the entire Delegation of the Two Thousand are declared enemies of the state. You stayed off that list for good reason; don't add your name by what you do today."
"But I can't just stand by and watch—"
"You're right. You can't just watch. You have to vote for him."
"What?"
"Bail, it's the only way. It's the only hope you have of remaining in a position to do anyone any good. Vote for Palpatine. Vote for the Empire. Make Mon Mothma vote for him, too. Be good little Senators. Mind your manners and keep your heads down. And keep doing... all those things we can't talk about. All those things I can't know. Promise me, Bail."
"Padmé, what you're talking about—what we're not talking about—it could take twenty years! Are you under suspicion? What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry about me," she said distantly. "I don't know if I'll live that long."
Mustafar
Darth Vader left nothing living behind when he walked from the main room of the control center. Casually, carelessly, he strolled along the hallway, scoring the durasteel wall with the tip of his blade, enjoying the sizzle of disintegrating metal as he had savored the smoke of charred alien flesh. The conference room door was closed. A barrier so paltry would be an insult to the blade; a black-gloved hand made a fist. The door crumpled and fell.
The Sith Lord stepped over it. The conference room was walled with transparisteel. Beyond, obsidian mountains rained fire upon the land. Rivers of lava embraced the settlement. And inside the room, Rune Haako, aide and confidential secretary to the viceroy of the Trade Federation, tripped over a chair as he stumbled back. He fell to the floor, shaking like a grub in a frying pan, trying to scrabble beneath the table.
"Stop!" he cried. "Enough! We surrender, do you understand? You can't just kill us—"
Vader smiled. "Can't I?"
"We're unarmed! We surrender! Please—please, you're a Jedi!"
"You fought a war to destroy the Jedi." Vader stood above the shivering Neimoidian, smiling down upon him, then fed him half a meter of plasma. "Congratulations on your success."
The Sith Lord stepped over Haako's corpse to where Wat Tambor clawed uselessly at the transparisteel wall with his armored gauntlets. The head of the Techno Union turned at his approach, cringing, arms lifted to shield his faceplate from the flames in the dragon's eyes. "Please, I'll give you anything. Anything you want!"
The blade flashed twice; Tambor's arms fell to the floor, followed by his head. "Thank you." Darth Vader turned to the last living leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Nute Gunray, viceroy of the Trade Federation, the man who had hired bounty hunters to kill his wife, stood trembling in an alcove, blood-tinged tears streaming down his green-mottled cheeks. "The war...," he whimpered. "The war is over—Lord Sidious promised—he promised we would be left in peace..."
"His transmission was garbled." The blade came up and both halves of Nute Gunray fell down. "He promised you would be left in pieces.''
Coruscant, Jedi Temple
While the Senate was busy giving away their right, a small company of Clone Troopers stood guard over the decimated Jedi Temple. They had been chosen for this task because they were the best and the brightest of the 501st, the most elite company in the new Empire, and therefore most qualified to take down any returning Jedi.
Of course, they hadn't counted on three returning at once. Nor had they counted that the three would be the best swordsmen in the Order.
Or that one of the said Jedi was a pissed-off Slayer.
Buffy mowed through the Clones, her rage barely held in check as her two blades weaved a scene of destruction between them. Obi-Wan calmly turned back multiple deflector bolts to their senders, even as eh cut down the troops close to him. Buffy blocked a bolt and severed the head of the one who had sent it in time to see Yoda hurl his lightsaber like a spear into a Clone, then leap onto the clone's chest to pull it out in time to take down another. Within a few minutes, all the clones guarding the temple were dead.
"That's the last of them out here," Buffy remarked, switching off her sabers. Yoda and Obi-Wan followed suit.
"There's sure to be more inside," Obi-Wan pointed out.
"Careful, we must be, if undetected we are to remain."
"Amen, Yoda," Buffy murmured, stalking towards to loading bay doors. "Let's go."
The three made their way into the decimated temple, but were stopped short by what they saw.
Bodies.
Hundreds of bodies.
None were spared. Man or woman or child - all had fallen at the hands of the clones and their leaders. Buffy spied a corpse and gasped in shock.
"Master Drallig!" she breathed as she took in his dismembered body. Obi-Wan sighed sadly.
"There can be no doubt now," he said. "This was caused by a lightsaber. Many of those killed were killed by a lightsaber. Too many for just one…"
"To the beacon, we must continue," Yoda said after a moment. Obi-Wan nodded.
"We can reach it through the Archives."
"Then let's go."
The three Jedi skulked in the shadows, avoiding the patrols of Clone troopers as they made their way deep into the temple towards the archives. When they finally reached them, they were devastated by what they saw.
The archives, the great hall of knowledge of the Jedi, were in ruins.
"Sithspawn!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "All of our history…all of the knowledge…"
"It's not all gone, Ben," Buffy said. "But we don't have time to worry about this. Get to the beacon."
"And where are you going?" Obi-Wan asked as Buffy started moving off. Buffy stopped and turned her head to look behind her.
"To the security recordings. I need to see it…" With that, Buffy moved off into the archives towards the security station. Once she reached it, she turned on the live holo-feed, only to see Palpatine declare the institution to his new empire. Buffy watched the feed with narrowed eyes. "I should have killed you a long time ago, Sidious," she whispered. "And I promise I'll see you dead before this is over." Turning her back to the screen, she moved over to the security station and switched on the security holo-vids. She flipped through them for a few moments before she found the one she wanted the most - and the least.
Anakin fought with Cin Drallig. After only a few moments he moved on to Jocasta Nu, and finally Nejaa Halcyon. She paused the recording as Anakin lifted up Halcyon, holding him suspended with the Force. She studied the face of her brother intently, noting the emotionless expression, the tension in his jaw, his eyes -
His eyes -
And then Buffy, Jedi Master and Vampire Slayer, began to laugh.
"There," Obi-Wan said as he finished reprogramming the signal beacon. "I've reprogrammed it to warn all remaining Jedi to stay away."
"Good . . . For the Clones to discover the recalibration, a long time it will take," Yoda said. "To change it back, longer still. Now leave we must, before discovered we are."
The two Jedi headed back into the archives, were the sound of laughter greeted them. They gave each other a worried look and then headed towards the security station. Upon entering it, they saw Buffy doubled over in laughter.
"She's gone mad," Obi-Wan said. Buffy finally managed to get herself under control, and then looked up at her friend.
"This isn't madness, Ben," she explained. "This is relief. Look at the recording and tell me what you see."
Obi-Wan moved over to the station and studied the figure before him. "He looks emotionless, not so much filled with hatred than filled with…apathy."
"Look at the eyes, Obi-Wan. Look at the eyes."
Obi-Wan stared closer at the image. Anakin's eyes were…
"They appear to be a solid color," he said in disbelief. "But that's not possible."
Buffy smiled and leaned back against the wall. "Back in Sunnydale, when Willow would do magic, sometimes her eyes would become solid black. When I thought about it, I figured they became black because the magical energy she channeled on the Hellmouth was inherently dark. Now, when I saw the recording and saw Anakin's eyes, it hit me - they're black. Which means that Traya put Anakin under some kind of spell - probably a variation of the will-be-done spell Willow used once. Which means there's still hope for him."
"What do you mean?"
"If I can stop Traya in time, Anakin can still be saved!" she explained. "But it has to be done soon. She's forcing him to tap into the Dark Side. And the longer he's under, the harder it will be to come back."
"Destroy the Sith, we must," Yoda declared. He looked at the screen behind Buffy that still played highlights from Palpatine's speech. "Handle Darth Sidious I will. Buffy, find and defeat Darth Traya you must."
"Agreed. Obi-Wan, you have to find Anakin. Stop him, but don't kill him. He's innocent in this."
"But I don't know where to look!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "Where would I even start?"
Buffy looked at the Jedi Master for a moment, then finally spoke. "You can start with his wife."
After a moment, Obi-Wan finally responded with a phrase he had learned long ago from Buffy.
"Bloody hell!"
"Yeah. I think you know where she lives." Buffy said as she moved to leave. Obi-Wan put a hand on her arm to stop her.
"And where will you go?" he asked her. Buffy smiled grimly.
"Back to the beginning."
It didn't take the three Jedi long to find a way out of the temple. Yoda stowed away on a Clone supply ship that was headed towards the Senate Building. Buffy took a more visual route, fighting her way through the halls of the temple until she reached the main hanger - and the Millennium Falcon, which blasted its way out of yet another enemy hot spot. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, used Buffy's antics as a diversion to secure a small speeder, which he then flew with reckless abandon to Senator Amidala's private apartment. Docking the small craft next to the veranda, Obi-Wan made his way inside, where he found Padmé staring forlornly out her window towards the Senate building.
"I knew you'd come, Obi-Wan," she said without looking at him. "Somehow, I knew that even my sister couldn't manage to kill you. Tell me, is Buffy alive as well?"
"Yes."
"You must tell her that Anakin is innocent, Obi-Wan. It's not his fault…"
"I know, Padmé," Obi-Wan interrupted, moving to stand next to the fragile Senator. "Buffy figured it out. And now I need your help. I need to find Anakin and stop him."
Padmé suddenly turned to Obi-Wan with fear in her eyes. "You mean to kill him, don't you?"
"No!" the Jedi quickly said. "I mean to stop him, so Buffy can stop Traya! She's the key to all of this!"
"I know," Padmé said sadly. At Obi-Wan's questioning look, she elaborated. "They paid me a visit this morning."
FLASH
"Come Padmé, we have much to talk about."
Padmé broke free of Traya's arm. "I have nothing to talk about with you!" she spat. Traya looked hurt.
"Really, Padmé! You shouldn't say such things! It isn't healthy-" her tone turned deadly, "for you or the baby."
Padmé's breath hitched at the implied threat. After a moment, she finally spoke. "What do you want?"
"It's quite simple, really," Traya said jovially. "Our dear Emperor is about to consolidate his power and eliminate his enemies. That means there will be two thousand less Senators in the coming week. What I'm offering you here is a chance to make it one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine."
"What do you mean?" Padmé ground out, trying to control her temper for her baby's sake.
"What I mean is that you join with us, Padmé," Traya explained. "Palpatine thinks he's in power, but he's nothing more than a puppet. My puppet. He'll set everything up, then Lord Vader and I will take him out and take his place."
Padmé stared at the woman she had once considered her dearest confidant and sister. "My god…"
Traya chuckled. "Lady Traya will do." Her tone turned serious once more. "You are a powerful senator, well liked and respected. With you backing us, no one could stand in our way! We could turn this galaxy into a paradise!"
"You have to be kidding me!" Padmé exclaimed. "Why would I help you?"
"Maybe to get your husband back?" she said silkily, sidling up next to her. "I can do it, you know. Cancel the spell in a heartbeat. And with you beside me, he'd follow along, no problem. However, if you refuse - well, I was upset that Count Dooku had plotted to have you killed before but I've had three years to get over those feelings. You don't play ball, and I will kill yo u- starting with your child." Traya held her hands out to either side. "The lord giveth, the lord can taketh away." Traya stepped back and let the threat sink in. "Of course, I don't need an answer right away. Lord Vader and I need to see to the Separatist Leaders that are hiding on Mustafar. When we come back in a day or so, then you can give us your answer."
FLASH
"They've gone to Mustafar, Obi-Wan. They're probably still there."
Obi-Wan frowned. "And I don't know exactly where Buffy was headed. She could be anywhere."
Padmé took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "There's nothing to it, then. We'll go to Mustafar."
"Padmé!" Obi-Wan explained. "I don't think that would be such a good idea…"
"I will never join Darth Traya, Master Kenobi," Padmé said resolutely. "If I am to be a dead woman then I will die trying to reach my husband. My ship is standing by, Master Kenobi. And that is the only way you will be able to leave this planet."
Obi-Wan looked at the young Senator for a few moments before sighing in defeat. "Very well. Let's go."
Tatooine
Owen Lars was working on one of the more stubborn moisture vaporators when the dust suddenly started blowing around him. "What the devil!" he exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet in time to see the large, saucer-like ship settle down next to his farm. Owen rushed over to the ship, an angry scowl on his face. As the ramp started to lower, he started to scream, "Who in the hell do you think…"
Buffy smiled as her stepbrother trailed off. "Hey Owen. Mom around?"
"Hey, mom."
"Buffy!" Shim cried happily, wrapping her arms around her surrogate daughter. "It's so wonderful to see you."
"You too, mom," Buffy replied, returning the hug. "I only wish it was under better circumstances."
"What is it?" Shim asked, confused. Buffy took a deep breath and plunged in.
"Mom, Anakin's in trouble," she said. "I need to know if Willow has been here recently. I know you feel you owe her," she added quickly, "but it's important that I find her."
Shmi shook her head in confusion. "Buffy, I haven't seen Willow since she saved my life."
Buffy blew out a breath in frustration. "How about around town? Have you seen her in Mos Eisley? Or Mos Espa?"
"No, Buffy," Owen said, taking a glass of Blue milk offered by Beru, who then gave a glass to Buffy and Shmi. "We haven't seen her here at all."
"I don't get it!" Buffy growled, slamming her fist on the table in frustration. "Traya said I'd find her back where it all began. Everything began here! This is where we found each other. This is where we set off with the Jedi from…"
"But that isn't where it began, is it?" Beru asked. "I mean, you both ended up here, but you came to this galaxy somewhere else, right?"
FLASH
Buffy stood on the top of the tower in Sunnydale, telling Dawn to live. She turned and ran down the platform and took a swan dive into still-forming portal. Meanwhile on the ground, a strand of energy reached out and struck Willow, who pushed Tara away before it could strike her.
They appeared over a volcanic landscape, tumbling down 15 feet until they impacted the rocky, ash-covered landscape next to a river of lava…
FLASH
"A land of ash…lava…" Buffy said quietly to herself and then she looked up to Clieg. "Do you have a computer with access to a planetary database?"
"Sure," Cleig said, a bit confused. "Sure… I had it installed after Owen was born, for his education. It's in the den…"
Buffy shot up out of her chair and into the den. She turned on the learning computer and brought up the search database.
"Let's see… volcanic, mostly uninhabited…" she rapidly typed into the computer. After a moment, a single name popped up, and after 13 years Buffy finally was able to place a name to her hell.
"Mustafar…"
TBC