The room was small, its furniture minimal, some plush armchairs and a screen. There was no window and the silence was broken only by the breathing of the three persons sitting there.

Padmé was grateful for the arm Qui-Gon had wrapped around her shoulder, and for the presence of the Mon Calamari Healer Bant Eerin at her side. She felt supported, cared for, protected—as she desperately needed to get through this experience.

"We' will begin we when ready you are, Padmé," Qui-Gon said softly.

Padmé took a deep breath. She would never be ready to see what there was in the security tapes the Jedi thought it was important she saw. However, she needed to know what had happened to Anakin and Obi-Wan.

She needed to know why Qui-Gon Jinn was pale, distraught and seemed to have aged ten years in just a few hours. She needed to know why he had been unable to tell her anything, but ask her to come with him for there was something she had to see. She needed to know why the Senate building was now surrounded by Jedi knights and the whole Jedi Temple was awake and full of activity despite the fact it was night.

She took another deep breath and with the steadiest voice she could manage, said, "I am ready, Master Jinn."

The lights went off and Qui-Gon's arm tightened around her shoulders as the holovid was switched on and Chancellor Palpatine's office appeared on the screen….

…. Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Agen Kolar, Kit Fisto and Saesee Tiin entered Palpatine's office, four across, stopping just after the threshold.

"Master Windu. I take it General Grievous has been destroyed then. I must say, you're here sooner than expected," Palpatine said from behind his desk, a deceptively suave expression on his face.

"In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor," declared Master Windu, as he and the other Jedi ignited their lightsabres.

"Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" Palpatine replied, his voice almost a growl.

"The Senate will decide your fate."

"I am the Senate!" the Chancellor snarled, with anger.

"Not yet!" Mace Windu exclaimed.

Palpatine stood up, as the hilt of a lightsabre appeared in his hand. He ignited it, and a crimson blade sprang up.

The older man leapt away from behind his desk, "It's treason, then."

Palpatine then attacked the four Jedi, vicious and unstoppable. Masters Kolar, Fisto and Tiin died quickly under his blows, but Mace Windu held his ground.

The two men, Jedi and Dark Lord fought their way down the hallway and into the main office area. Palpatine used the Force to slam Windu against the wall, but the Jedi recovered before the Chancellor could cut him down.

The fight continued and in the heat of battle, Master Windu cut the window behind the Chancellor's desk, crashing it away. The two men kept on fighting, teetering on the edge, as the cold night air entered the room.

In that moment Anakin Skywalker burst in the office and stopped cold, taking in the scene in front of his eyes.

Mace Windu had just disarmed Palpatine, and was pressing him against the floor and the wall near the window with the tip of his purple lightsabre.

"You are under arrest, My Lord," the korum master said aloud.

"Anakin!" Palpatine whined, looking at the younger Jedi. "I told you it would come to this. I was right. The Jedi are taking over."

"You old fool. The oppression of the Dark Lords will never return. Your plot to regain control of the Republic is over. You have lost," Mace Windu replied, getting closer.

"No! No! You will die!" Palpatine screamed, his voice increasing in volume.

The Dark Lord raised his hands, and lightning bolts shot out. They were deflected by

the Jedi's lightsabre and Palpatine was pushed back against the window sill.

"He is a traitor, Anakin!" the Chancellor screamed, looking at the younger man still standing by the door.

"He's the traitor. Stop him!" Windu replied.

"Come to your senses, boy. The Jedi are in revolt. They will betray you, just as they betrayed me! You are not one of them, Anakin. Don't let him kill me."

Anakin shifted his weight, as his eyes darted from one man to the other, unsure.

"I am your pathway to power. I have the power to save the one you love. You must choose. You must stop him!" Palpatine said again, his voice now weaker.

"Don't listen to him, Anakin," Mace Windu grounded out, his face contorted in the effort of resisting the blue bolts he was still invested with.

"Help me! Don't let him kill me. I can't hold on any longer…"

Mace Windu pushed the Dark Lord out to the edge of the ledge. As the Jedi moved closer, the bolts from Palpatine's hands began to arch back on him. The Chancellor's face started to twist and distort, becoming grotesque. His eyes became yellow as he struggled to intensify his powers.

"I can't ... I give up. Help me. I am weak ... I am too weak. Don't kill me. I give up. I'm dying. I can't hold on any longer…." Palpatine said, his voice apparently weak and exhausted.

"You Dark disease. I am going to end this once and for all!" Mace Windu exclaimed.

"You can't kill him, Master. He must stand trial!" Anakin shouted, finally leaving his trance-like state.

"He has too much control over the Senate and the Courts. He is too dangerous to be kept alive!" Master Windu protested.

"I am too weak. Don't kill me. Please…" Palpatine panted, his yellow eyes fixed on Anakin.

"It is not the Jedi way!" Anakin interjected, but Master Windu ignored him. He raised his 'sabre over his head, ready to inflict the killing blow. "He must live!" The younger man added, desperate.

"Please don't, please don't . . ." Palpatine begged.

"I need him!" Anakin tried again, only to scream "NO!" when he saw the Jedi Master tense his muscles in preparation.

Mace Windu was about to strike down Palpatine, but before he could complete the gesture, Anakin stepped in, and cut his sword arm with his lightsabre.

As the Jedi master stared at his amputated arm in shock, the Dark Lord sprang to life, showing his weakened state had been only a ruse. He invested the powerless man with the full force of his blue lightening, and flung him out the window, where he fell down in the Coruscant heavy traffic.

"Power! Unlimited power!" Palpatine screamed, as he smirked in triumph.

Anakin watched in horror as the scene unfolded, and fell to sit, letting go of the hilt of his lightsabre. "What have I done?" he moaned in desperation.

"You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin," Palpatine answered, his voice suave, persuading. "Become my apprentice. Learn to use the Dark Side of the Force."

"I will do whatever you ask," the young man whispered.

"Good."

"Just help me save Padme's life. I can't live without her. I won't let her die. I want the power to stop death," Anakin all but begged.

"To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together, I know we can discover the secret," the Dark Lord replied, walking closer.

Anakin slid off his seat to kneel before Palpatine. "I pledge myself to your teachings. To the ways of the Dark Lords," he said, bowing his head in submission.

Palpatine's grotesque face broadened into a smile of pure, malicious triumph. "Good. Good. The Force is strong with you. A powerful Dark Lord you will become. Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth . . . Vader."

"Thank you, my Master," Anakin murmured.

"Rise, Darth Vader," Palpatine then commanded and moved over to his desk, putting on a dark cloak to conceal his deformed face.

"Because the Council did not trust you, my young apprentice, I believe you are the only Jedi with no knowledge of this plot. When the Jedi learn what has transpired here, they will kill us, along with all the Senators, and the Sith will help them."

"I agree. The Jedi's next move will be against the Senate."

"Every single Jedi, including your friend Qui-Gon Jinn, is now an enemy of the Republic. You understand that, don't you?"

"I understand, Master."

"We must move quickly. The Jedi are relentless-"

"And so are the Sith!" a new voice thundered from the back of the room.

Palpatine and Anakin turned around, as Obi-Wan Kenobi approached them, his yellow lightsabre ignited.

"Kill him, Lord Vader! Now!" Palpatine ordered, and Anakin did not hesitate.

"Yes, Master," he said, switching on his 'sabre and leaping toward the Sith master.

Obi-Wan stepped back, avoiding a blow meant to cut him vertically and urged, "Don't do this, Skywalker. I am not the enemy—Palpatine is! Help me to defeat him…it is not too late, you

can still save yourself…"

Anakin paid no mind to him and slashed the Sith again. Obi-Wan parried the attack and tried again.

"Think of Qui-Gon, Anakin! He loves you as a father…and what about Padmé?"

"Leave her out of this!" Anakin roared, his eyes turning yellow as the dark side coursed in him.

"She loves you Anakin! Have you stopped to think what your turning would you to her?"

"I am thinking of her," Anakin growled. "I am doing this for her! All of this is for her!"

"But did you ask her if she wanted it?" Obi-Wan hissed, deflecting another hard blow.

"Leave her out of this! I know what it is best for her!"

A ferocious battle followed. Obi-Wan, who had been only on the defensive in the beginning, became more aggressive. The two opponents went back and forth around the room, attacking and retreating, leaping and jumping, pivoting and sidestepping as the two blades clashed with incredible speed and Palpatine laughed maniacally.

The Dark Lord's laugh, however, ended suddenly when Obi-Wan took advantage of one of Anakin's impulsive moves to break through his guard and plunge his blade deep in the younger man's chest.

A shocked expression crossed Anakin's face for a second, then he slumped to the ground without life.

Obi-Wan watched him, eyes full of regret, before his gaze hardened as he faced Palpatine.

"You are under arrest, Chancellor. Or should I call you Darth Sidious?"

The Dark Lord's face contorted in a grimace of pure evil. "You miserable Sith, you have ruined everything! But you will pay for this!" Fast as lighting, Palpatine called a comlink to his hand with the Force and before Obi-Wan could do something, he switched it on and said, "Commander Cody? Execute Order 67! NOW!"

"What have you done?" Obi-Wan asked, advancing toward Sidious, lightsabre raised in an offensive stance.

The Dark Lord invested him with his blue bolts of energy. "I have put an end to the existence of that pathetic order of yours! I have ordered the immediate destruction of the Sith Temple and of every Sith engaged in combat on the front lines!" Palpatine laughed, baring his yellow, rotten teeth. "I will deal with the Jedi as soon as I am done with you!"

"I will not allow it, Sidious!" Obi-Wan gritted his teeth, angling his blade, so that it deflected the blue bolts against Palpatine. But the Dark Lord had learned his lesson with Mace Windu, and leapt away, landing behind the Sith and attacking him again.

"Arghh!" Obi-Wan screamed as he was invested by a firing pain in his back.

"Die, Sith, die!" Darth Sidious snarled as the bolts grew more powerful.

Obi-Wan fell to his knees, his hands crawling at the floor as he tried to escape. His entire body was on fire, the agony zipping along every nerve. He knew he would not last long, and began to hope the end would be quick.

The attack brusquely ended, and he slumped to the ground, unable to do anything but pant.

Darth Sidious walked closer, wanting to watch his enemy's face as he gave him the killing blow, but a sudden noise distracted him. He whirled around and found himself facing Qui-Gon Jinn and Yoda.

"Master Yoda, Master Jinn, how nice to join us. I believe you know Master Kenobi well."

Qui-Gon gave a concerned look at his friend, lying on the floor, then set his face in a determined expression, as he and Yoda advanced toward Palpatine, their green blades shining in the night.

Darth Sidious ignited his own weapon and attached the two Jedi masters.

The Dark Lord was strong, the dark side making him powerful and able to keep at bay two opponents as skilled and different in their fighting styles as the tall Qui-Gon and the diminutive Yoda. But even him, in all his power, was not able to turn around quickly enough to intercept the flying lightsabre Obi-Wan threw against him with his last ounce of strength. The yellow blade managed only to graze Palpatine's side, but it was enough to break his concentration and allow Qui-Gon to behead him.

The Dark Lord's headless body collapsed, and Qui-Gon ran to where Obi-Wan was lying, kneeling down to check his pulse.

"He needs the healers," the Jedi master said, pulling off his comlink. "We also must summon more knights here. We need to take control of the Senate before the news of Palpatine's death becomes public."

"Senator Organa you should also contact, very helpful he will be," Yoda instructed, as he hobbled around the room, checking the other fallen Jedi. An expression of deep sadness washed over his face as he stopped by Anakin's body.

Qui-Gon watched him and a whispered, "Master?", so unusual for a man of his size left his lips.

"Joined the Force, young Skywalker has."

An look of absolute horror crossed Qui-Gon Jinn's face before a loud rumble made his head turn around to look at the cityscape…

The light returned to flood the small room as the screen went blank. Silence reigned for a long time, as Padmé kept on staring in front of her, trying to cope with what she had seen.

Palpatine had been a Dark Lord. Anakin had joined him, cut Master Windu's arm, planned to destroy the Jedi Order, attacked Obi-Wan…Obi-Wan had killed Anakin…and had been wounded by Palpatine…Qui-Gon had beheaded the Chancellor…the Sith Temple had been destroyed…her husband had been killed and her children would be fatherless…

Padmé was aware of voices talking near her, of hands gently touching her, but she did not know how to respond to them. Her eyes kept on staring in front of her, until the moment she felt something cold being pressed against her neck and a blessed oblivion enveloped her.