Star Wars 2.0

Episode 6: Vengeance of the Sith

Chapter 7

Anakin was holed up inside a maintenance chamber. The only door was bolted shut and reinforced with anything he could move against it. His lightsaber was lit and ready, but much of his body would not respond when it came time.

The droids had been more numerous than he had expected. Or rather, the ones being built were more ready than had been surmised. He and his clone troopers had attacked the factory because battle droids were being built here, and its destruction would go far in ending the war. They had come with enough forces to overwhelm the guards, but, much to their surprise, those on the assembly lines were fully functional, and their numbers increased exponentially. There even seemed to be more than those being constructed, as though finished droids had not been shipped out right away.

The result was the clones being butchered in short order, and Anakin taking wounds from blaster fire. He had stumbled to a higher level and gotten into a separate room, locking the door behind him. He had tried to call for help, starting with Obi-wan, but his comm. was being jammed. Anakin was trapped, and alone. Loud banging of metal thudded against the doorway, causing the whole room to shake. One of their larger droids was bashing its way inside. Anakin grasped his lightsaber tightly, preparing for a last stand. He ached all over; he had difficulty breathing, and he knew this would be futile, but they would not take him without a fight.

Then the banging stopped quite suddenly. He heard voices on the other side of the door. He wanted to see what anyone could possibly be discussing, but he did not dare to open the door. He hoped they would leave, believing him to be neutralized.

The banging came again, but this time it was all at once, then no more; as if the droid had thrown its body against the door. From the scraping sounds, it seemed as though it had crumpled to the ground. A smattering of blaster fire followed, but one by one it all stopped. Anakin listened for the familiar hum of a lightsaber. Perhaps this was Obi-wan come to save him. His friend would never let him live it down, but Anakin would make it out alive.

Anakin tried the hand comm. again, but there was no response. He heard a scraping noise at the door again, then quickly realized it was the droid being pulled away to clear the path for entry. Anakin raised his lightsaber again, ready to swing it at whomever at came at him.

The door swished open, revealing a man in a dark cloak. His hood covered his face, which was shrouded in darkness. Anakin clutched his saber harder, ready to strike. But then the stranger lifted his hood back from his face. It was none other than Chancellor Palpatine!

"Chancellor!" Anakin exclaimed. "Come inside. It's not safe out there."

"Yes, not safe," Palpatine said as he stepped in confidently over the remains of the door smashing droid. "But for whom?"

"Did you do that?" Anakin asked.

"Yes," Palpatine answered.

"I'm glad you brought firepower," Anakin said.

"If you refer to the clones, there is a small contingent. But make no mistake, I am the firepower."

Anakin scoffed and peered outside to make sure the coast was clear. The few dozen battle droids he had had to face alone were wiped out; many of them were in pieces. Their burn marks were not consistent with blaster bolts, and he had no explanation. When he looked over at Palpatine, the older man's face was set on him, his eyes were fixed, as though peering into his soul. The chancellor lifted a hand pointed toward the door, and it shut and locked.

Anakin looked at him in fear and intrigue. He held his lightsaber at the ready. Palpatine revealed no fear; no emotion at all, as he dropped his hand down again, then spoke. "I have hidden my powers from the Jedi for fear of a day like this. Long have I expected their treachery, so I waited and watched from the sidelines. And now… see for yourself."

Palpatine removed a holoprojector from his belt and held it between them. Holograms of battles appeared, and in each he zoomed in on the part of the battle field with the Jedi. In each one, the Jedi's lightsaber was on, and they were cutting through clone troopers.

"Why would they do this?" Anakin asked.

"The Jedi have been using this war to weaken our military might so that they might make their move, and overthrow the Republic. I have been trying to counter their moves by building up the clone army; and today they at last made their moves against them."

"I can't believe they would…" Anakin began, still looking in disbelief at the hologram. Then he pulled his face away from it and gasped, "Obi-wan."

Palpatine's face looked at Anakin with sad concern. "I withheld the projections of him because… it may be too much to bear."

"Obi-wan would never turn against the Republic," Anakin said confidently. "He's loyal to them to a fault." Now he raised his lightsaber toward Palpatine, who still showed little reaction. He kept his eyes locked with Anakin's as he switched the holographic image. This time Obi-wan was visible maneuvering through a factory, chopping his way through clone troopers quickly and efficiently.

Anakin pulled away, unable to watch. Palpatine said, "I'm afraid that is not the worst of it." Anakin forced himself to look again. The footage was all from holocameras across the factory, so when he disappeared from the view of one, he appeared in the view of another. Padme could be seen around a corner from where Obi-wan was. She appeared to be taking cover from him, and began to creep toward the side where he was, thinking she was moving away from him. She suddenly realized she was not when he sprang around the corner and beheaded her.

"Noooo!" Anakin shouted, emerging all of his energy into a yell that turned into weeping. Obi-wan never even looked at her, instead keeping his eyes on other droids who were firing at him. It was as though her life had never mattered enough to even slow for it. A minute or so later, Obi-wan came to Owen, who was rounding a corner. Obi-wan was already occupied deflecting shots coming from the other direction, but he took a moment to jab behind him, stabbing straight through Owen's torso.

His wife, and then his brother. Anakin crumpled to the floor, and Palpatine gave him the time he needed. He had to stifle a smile several times as he watched Anakin's despair slowly turn to rage. His eyes red and his face boiling, Anakin began to rise with new, hate-filled determination. He tumbled to the ground immediately. His wounds were too crippling, even for his racing adrenaline.

"You will have your revenge, Anakin," Palpatine said. "But first, we must make you whole again."

"Get me to a bacta tank," Anakin said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I have something better for you," Palpatine said with a wry grin. "A suit of armor that will not only make you whole, but will make you more powerful than you could possibly imagine." Palpatine could no longer hold it in. He began to cackle harder, and louder, until his evil joy filled the room.

Owen's ship arrived at Alderan. Padme knew the senator here well, a man named Bail Organa. He was honorable enough to trust, yet shrewd enough to know the happenings behind the scenes. He might be on Coruscant at the moment, but what they had just seen might make them a target on that planet; so Padme and Owen had decided the best course of action was to go to the capitol on Organa's home world and ask to meet him in private.

Once they had landed, Padme noticed the back end of a familiar ship inside a hangar; it was the fighter craft of a Jedi. Her heart leaped at the prospect that it might be Anakin; though she had never spoken to him about Organa. She had tried to keep their private life and public life separated that way, so she was confused as to how he would know to find her there. Soon after she noticed the ship, however, the hangar door was quickly closed by a droid, as if to hide that it was there.

The trio were led to a suite where they could comfortably wait for a reply from Organa. They were told that there seemed to be chaos on Coruscant, so it might be some time before he could come back to visit.

"Please tell him not to let anyone know we are here," Padme implored the chief of staff who had greeted them. "It is of the utmost importance."

The chief of staff's eyes raised a moment in concern, but she nodded without question and assured Padme that they would only use secure channels and would not use their names when calling him home.

After the chief and all of her staff had left, all was quiet for a short time. Owen and Baroo paged through news holos which spoke about fierce battles across the galaxy. There were mentions of some sort of trouble on Coruscant, but the stories were brief and contradictory, as if the full truth was being suppressed.

Padme noticed a figure drop onto their balcony. Her hand reached for the gun she now carried on her hip, but she did not draw it; not yet. The figure remained out of sight a moment, but did not seem to be hiding, merely approaching with caution. She did the same, and the two rounded the corner of the open door at the same time. "Obi-wan," she said with relief as she approached him.

"Senator," he said reticently.

"It's Padme to you. At times like these, we need to remember who our friends are."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Obi-wan said, taking stock of who all was in the room. He looked at Owen with sadness.

"Is Anakin with you?" Padme asked.

Obi-wan sighed. "I'm glad you're all together," he said. "I'm afraid I have some terrible news." Owen stood. Baroo placed her hand on his shoulder. Padme braced herself. "Anakin was murdered by his own clones."

Padme had been prepared for the news of Anakin's death, but nothing could prepare her for that method. "What?" she asked with confused horror.

"My clones turned on me as well," Obi-wan said. "I fear they've done so across the galaxy. Something has taken their minds and now is controlling them."

"How did you survive?" Owen asked.

"My adversary had inside information and told me just in time," Obi-wan said.

"Luck of the draw," Baroo said.

"I don't believe in luck," Obi-wan said as he swept through the room, searching every corner, every crevice; anywhere that monitoring equipment could hide. "Anakin told me you were coming here before we went on our mission. I'm here to assure your safety, then I'm off to Corsucant. Is there anyone from your own staff we can trust?"

"I've got enough protection here," she said, glancing at Owen.

Obi-wan nodded, then placed a comforting hand on Padme's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said. She jumped into his arms and hugged him.

As she did, he felt the bump in her belly. He surmised quickly what it was, and the implication of it all. When at last she let go, he looked deeply into her eyes and said, "You must find a safe place for all of you to hide." He looked down at her belly briefly to project what he meant. He did not want to say anything in case Owen and Baroo did not yet know.

"I will," she said. "Now go." She released Obi-wan, and he backed away, taking one last look at the three people who may play the most important roles of all by simply hiding. He turned toward the balcony, and leaped off the edge.

To be continued…