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Chapter Twenty-Two
Anakin Skywalker wasn't a fool, and though he was occasionally painted by the Republic propaganda machine as the brawn to Obi-Wan's brains, those who followed him into battle knew that he was a skilled and daring strategist. He knew a trap when he saw one. And this was most definitely a trap.
The remainder of the Sith fleet in orbit over Coruscant had only just started maneuvering to intercept his X-wing fighter when they suddenly backed off, returning to the patrol patterns they'd been maintaining before spotting him. When he flew closer, a few of the enemy starfighters actually veered away from his path, avoiding him as though ordered to.
Of course they'd been ordered to. This was what Jacen wanted. He'd said as much on Vjun, hadn't he? The full, extraordinary power of the Chosen One…
Yeah, this was a trap, all right. And Anakin had always been pretty good at springing traps. Even if he hadn't been, he didn't have much choice. Allana was down there, and he was going to get her back. Anakin angled his fighter between the two closest Star Destroyers, buzzing past one of their bridges, and began his descent toward Coruscant.
Like so much of the galaxy in this time, the capital of the Republic – no, the capital of the Sith Empire, he reminded himself – felt wrong to him, as if its very essence had been altered. He supposed that was quite literally true in Coruscant's case; Ben had told him how the Yuuzhan Vong had reshaped the ecumenopolis in the image of their annihilated homeworld, renaming it Yuuzhan'tar and changing its orbit to make it a suitable jungle environment. And even though efforts had been made after the war to return the planet to its former glory – not that Anakin had ever found it particularly glorious, however awe-inspiring the sight of it might have been – there was still much of Yuuzhan'tar left behind in the planet below.
Anakin guided his starship through the atmosphere and was greeted with a sight that, while different, still resembled the old Coruscant in many ways. Neon lights flashed against the deep blue backdrop of night, reflecting off of unending streams of speeder traffic that weaved around glittering skyscrapers. And in the place where the Jedi Temple had once stood, there now rose an angular black fortress whose forbidding spires nearly disappeared against the dark sky.
He met with no resistance as he guided his ship to one of the Sith Temple's landing pads, just as he met no resistance upon entering the fortress and beginning his ascent to the top of the tallest spire. He could sense Jacen's minions lurking close by, no doubt confused by their master's orders to let him pass. Anakin was still a little surprised that his grandson hadn't sent someone to face him. That would have been more consistent with the Sith Master he fought on Vjun, trying to push him to his limits and beyond. He wondered what was waiting for him in the tower.
He could feel Allana up there somewhere. Though it was strangely muted, her agony still bled into the Force, assaulting his senses. He ground his teeth together and forced himself to focus.
As he neared the center of the temple, he heard voices ahead, the sounds of an argument.
"—really going to pretend that didn't just happen—"
"The hell do you want me to do? We have our orders—"
"Screw our orders, we don't owe that traitor anything!"
Anakin turned a corner and found himself staring down a narrow corridor with a single turbolift at the end. In front of that elevator were two dark-haired human males. The taller of the pair was pacing back and forth and looked on the verge of violence, while the other watched, hardly moving at all.
Their arguing ceased as they turned to face him, and rage flared in Anakin's chest as he recognized them, recognized the shorter one who had nearly killed Allana on Vjun. Festus, she'd called him; and though the boy stood completely still, the current of the Force was chaotic and frenzied around him, floodwaters beating against a crumbling dam. He let out a short, barking laugh.
"Look who it is, brother," Festus said, grinning too wide for his face.
The taller boy – Ferrus, he assumed – cracked his knuckles and glared at Anakin. "Great. Fair warning, Jedi: we're in a really bad mood."
Anakin drew and activated his borrowed lightsaber, the emerald blade casting an eerie glow over the corridor. "I thought I already dealt with you two," he said, swinging the saber at his side.
The Sith activated their own lightsabers in perfect unison, and Festus made a casual, sweeping gesture with his blade. "You're not the first person to tell us that—"
"—and you won't be the last," Ferrus finished.
They sprang at him, spreading out to attack from either side. Ferrus barreled directly into him, battering Anakin's blade with his own while Festus dropped into a slide and slashed at his legs. Anakin pivoted out of the way and caught Festus under the chin with a hard kick. Without pausing, he deflected Ferrus's next strike and shoved back with his full weight, sending the boy stumbling backward. Then he raised both hands, throwing Festus and Ferrus against opposite walls, pinning them in place.
Anakin looked from one twin to the other. "I really don't have time for this," he said with a growl.
Ferrus grunted as he tried to break free of Anakin's Force grip, but Festus just laughed again. "Don't you want to finish what you started last time, Jedi? Do you know how easily I could have killed her? Maybe I'll get another chance at it, after you fail to save her."
His mocking words burrowed under Anakin's skin, eating away at his already tenuous calm. He didn't have time to deal with both young Sith Lords at once, that was true. But maybe just one…
He released his hold on Festus; no sooner had the shorter boy dropped to the ground than he was hurtling forward, meeting Anakin blow for blow as they circled each other in the narrow corridor. Anakin ducked under a wide swing and deactivated his saber, striking Festus across the face with the hilt. Before the boy could recover, Anakin tossed his saber to his left hand and made a fist with his artificial right, smashing it into the Sith Lord's jaw. Then he kicked him hard in the stomach and sent him crashing to ground.
"I'll kill you, Jedi!" Ferrus roared from behind him, straining against Anakin's hold. "You're dead!"
Festus staggered to his feet, lightsaber melting durasteel as it dragged along the floor beside him. He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his wrist, and grinned. "That the best you've got?"
He charged forward and swung his lightsaber again; Anakin ignited his saber and caught the crimson blade with ease, rolling his wrists just enough to tear the weapon from the Sith's hands. Festus lunged at him, drawing a knife hidden in his left sleeve, slashing at Anakin's stomach. The Jedi weaved his way past the jagged blade, knocking it from the boy's hands; then he grabbed Festus by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
"You are beaten," he growled.
Festus stared back at him, eyes wide. "Do it, Jedi," he whispered. "Finish it. You know you want to."
"Shut up, idiot!" Ferrus screamed. He was strong; Anakin could feel his dark energy lashing out, desperate to break free. He wouldn't be able to hold him back much longer, not with his attention split like this.
He squeezed the fingers of his bionic hand, felt them press against his enemy's throat. It wouldn't take much; the enhanced strength in his prosthetic was more than enough to crush a human windpipe. When he thought of Allana's face, tear-stained and shoved into the filthy rug of that ballroom… it wouldn't take much at all.
Festus gasped for breath, but he didn't struggle. His eyes were squeezed shut, and Anakin saw tears slip down his cheeks; and he remembered how Allana had pleaded with him on Vjun, how Padmé had pleaded with him before her death, begging him to stop, to come back to her…
He released his hold on the Sith Lord, and the boy collapsed to the ground while his brother continued to scream all manner of threats. Festus reached for his knife and found it, swiping blindly at Anakin; but the Jedi swept one arm to the side and sent both brothers smashing into the wall. They fell in a heap together, unconscious.
Anakin let out a breath, squared his shoulders, and strode forward to enter the turbolift. As the lift closed and began to ascend, his heart raced. There was something very wrong above him, something about the room, or maybe the tower itself. Cold dread settled upon him as he realized the only thing he could clearly sense about the room was that Allana was in it.
The turbolift stopped, and the doors parted to reveal the most bizarre throne room Anakin had ever seen. It was lit by globes of bioluminescence like those on Zonama Sekot, and just about every surface was covered with vegetation. Mucous membranes along the walls and ceiling; carpets of long, wild grass that climbed a wide staircase at the center of the room before spreading out along the perimeter; and splitting those stairs up the middle, a path crusted with a coral-like substance. Beyond the staircase, was a massive, curved window and a throne made of that same coral.
Despite the organic and alien nature of the room, Anakin was struck by a sense of familiarity. For one terrible instant, he was back on the Invisible Hand, Palpatine seated upon high, Count Dooku's headless body lying before him.
"Welcome, Grandfather."
Anakin twisted toward the sound of Jacen's voice, somewhere to the right. At first it was too dark to see, but after a few seconds he could make out two figures in the far corner of the room. Instead of the armor he'd worn on Vjun, Jacen was dressed all in black, in clothing of a vaguely military cut. He appeared so much smaller than he had before. Hardly the larger-than-life Master of the Sith who'd defeated him. Even from this distance, he could see the weight of age and experience that separated this Jacen from the version of him Sekot had impersonated.
Anakin's eyes shifted to the apparatus Jacen was standing beside. His stomach churned when he saw Allana strapped to it. No, not strapped. The apparatus – the organism – was holding her in place with gnarled, fleshy appendages that resembled the branches of a tree. She was alive but unconscious. It took everything in him not to instantly run to her rescue.
"What the hell is that thing?" he growled, heat rising up in him with every breath. "What are you doing to her?"
Jacen frowned and placed a hand on Allana's forehead. "I'm keeping her safe," he said gently. As he spoke, he caressed the side of his daughter's face. "And helping her to understand. The Embrace of Pain can be a great teacher as well as diviner. It set me on my path; it can do the same for Allana."
Anakin's mouth went dry. The Embrace of Pain? Why hadn't Ben ever mentioned this?
Jacen's lips cracked in a faint smile as he looked away from Allana. "You know nothing of this, do you? I see I wasn't the only thing Ben kept secret from you."
Anakin's fingers tightened around the hilt of his lightsaber as understanding caught up with him. "You… you did this to him, too?"
Jacen's expression shifted once more from vague amusement to an almost wistful sadness as he returned his gaze to Allana. "I only wanted what was best for him. What was best for our family."
Anakin's gut twisted. Jacen hadn't just fallen to the dark side – he'd lost his mind. He'd been ready to face the relentless Sith Master he'd fought on Vjun, with his smug superiority and fearsome strength. But this demented, delusional man before him, who seemed somehow more pathetic and more threatening? Anakin didn't even know where to begin.
He shook his head. He couldn't take anything he saw or heard at face value. The dark side was clever and adaptable. Palpatine had been proof enough of that. "I don't understand how torturing someone could ever be what's best for them, but then I guess I'm old-fashioned."
There was something dangerous in the way Jacen smiled and dropped his gaze for just a second. "My offer still stands, Anakin. You may not understand now, but I can help you unlock your potential and fulfill your destiny."
Anakin eyed his surroundings, looking for a way to distract Jacen and free Allana. "How? The torture thing? Not interested."
"You've been looking for something greater all your life, haven't you? Something even other Jedi couldn't achieve? Isn't that why you were going to take Palpatine's offer? To achieve that power?"
"A life of significance," the Chancellor had said as he quietly tore Anakin's world down around him. "Of conscience."
Palpatine had known all along. He'd known that deep down, Anakin yearned for more than what the Jedi offered, that he'd wanted to make a real difference, to be the hero, to change the galaxy. To force change, if necessary, especially where corruption ran rampant and the innocent suffered. To be truly powerful, more powerful than the politicians and the crime lords and war profiteers and slavers – and then to crush all that greed and rot and sickness under his heel, never to rise again.
Jacen watched him carefully, his expression inscrutable. "You don't have to pretend with me, Anakin. I'm hardly in a position to judge."
Anakin shook his head. "I wanted to save Padmé's life," he insisted, clinging to that truth like a lifeline.
"And I want to save my family. Our family." His grandson lowered his eyes and let out a quiet, mirthless laugh. "You know, I spent so much of my life in your shadow, haunted by your crimes, my heritage. And my brother—" Jacen hesitated ever so slightly over that word. "—he fought harder than any of us to reverse your legacy."
In the Embrace, Allana let out a quiet moan, and every one of Anakin's instincts screamed at him to save her.
"Jacen," he said as calmly as he could, hands raised in a conciliatory gesture. "I know you don't want to hurt her. Please, just let her go."
For the first time since he'd arrived, Anakin saw a flash of uncertainty in his grandson's eyes. It was followed quickly by cold anger. "Do you think this is what I wanted? Do you think any of this is what I wanted?"
"I don't know," Anakin said, placating. "I don't know, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you from this. But I'm here now."
Jacen stared back at him. "Stand firm," he murmured. "You were there, when I needed you. When the universe spun around me, and everything was suddenly within my power to choose, it was your voice I heard. In your own way, you helped me become what I needed to be, to save everyone." There was a hint of awe in Jacen's voice as he continued. "Don't you see, Anakin? You're not here to save me. You're here to help me. You're the proof that my plans haven't been in vain, that events aren't set and that there's still time to make things right."
"You must have wondered why you're here."
"No," Anakin said in disbelief, Sekot's words still echoing in his head. "Whatever reason you think I'm here, it's not to help you carry out some delusional plan to, what… change history? Erase what you've done?"
Jacen didn't move, and a shadow seemed to pass over his face. "I would have thought," he said quietly, with an edge of durasteel, "that the man who traveled across time and space would be a little more open-minded."
Anakin gripped the hilt of his saber harder. "Do you really think you can kill and kill, and as long as your reasons are good, it's okay? Because you're going to make things right?"
His grandson took a halting, labored breath, and his features twisted in a semblance of pain. "You know, a long time ago, I thought I knew the answer to that question. I thought I knew a lot of things. And now here we are."
Anakin stretched out with his senses again, but the entirety of the room was still hidden from him. When he'd listened to Ben's story about the Yuuzhan Vong and their technology, he'd never imagined he might actually encounter it. He was starting to wish he'd asked for more information back then.
"I'm not going to help you," he said, straightening up to full height. "And I'm not leaving without Allana."
Jacen sighed and rolled his shoulders back. "Then you leave me no choice." He reached behind his back and pulled out two lightsabers. They activated with a snap-hiss, one violet and one blue. "Because I'm not letting her go again."
Anakin ignited his weapon and gripped it with both hands. "I don't want to fight you, Jacen."
The Sith Master flourished his Jedi lightsabers and began to walk toward Anakin. "I don't think it matters what either of us wants anymore."
As Anakin raised his lightsaber, something sharp struck him in the shoulder. He spun around to fight it off, but he saw and sensed nothing. Jacen continued to walk toward him, a small smirk twisting his mouth.
"Razor bugs. They're an old Yuuzhan Vong weapon. You won't be able to feel them in the Force."
Anakin reached up with one hand to check his shoulder. His fingers came back stained with blood. Great. "I was hoping you were actually going to fight me this time, not just throw things at me."
Jacen circled around Anakin, pointing the violet blade at him. "If you insist."
Then he sprang.
.
.
"Have you got a read on Gren and the others yet?"
Tahiri opened her eyes and looked up at Myri, who was peering around the corner of the building they were sheltered behind. The ground rumbled beneath them as two of the AT-ATs trudged in their direction, and Sith bombers continued to streak across the sky, unloading their payloads all across Salis D'aar.
"Not quite," Tahiri replied, unable to keep her frustration from seeping into her voice. "I'm having trouble pinning him down." She nodded in the direction Myri was facing. A few blocks away from their hiding spot, there was a large, open plaza lined with shops and restaurants – all currently vacant as the citizens of Salis D'aar took shelter or fled the city. "I thought I sensed something near that plaza, but I can't be sure."
"He must be shrouding his presence from the Sith," Valin said from behind her.
"Makes sense," Myri said. There was something odd in her tone.
Tahiri straightened up a little. "What is it?"
Myri pulled back behind the wall, her face grim. "Those walkers are getting awfully close." She pointed at two of her soldiers. "You two. Take half the squad and circle around the walkers from behind. See if you can slow them down."
The soldiers saluted. "Understood, General."
After the soldiers had moved out, Tahiri saw Valin raise an eyebrow at Myri. "General Antilles, huh?" he said with a grin.
"Yeah, you didn't hear about my promotion?" Myri rolled her eyes and leaned out past the edge of the building for another look. "There goes my career as a covert intelligence operative."
Tahiri was about to interject when an icy tendril of fear dragged up her spine. "Gren," she whispered. She could feel his fear – not for himself, but for the Jedi in his care. He was very close to the plaza. Tahiri closed her eyes and expanded her awareness past the city to the walkers. She sensed them now, the Sith Lords in the lead transport. Most of them felt too vague to be familiar, but she recognized two of them. Darth Dominius and Darth Satrus, members of Krayt's inner circle.
Jacen's inner circle, she reminded herself. Her thoughts flitted briefly to Ben before she planted herself once again in the here and now. He could handle himself. Right now she had to figure out how they were going to save their friends while fighting off a handful of Sith Lords and dozens of soldiers.
Before she could say anything, Valin's eyes grew wide and unfocused. He'd felt it, too. "Well," he said, "we didn't really think we'd get out of here without a fight, did we?"
Myri turned to where Ulin was hard at work on his datapad; she waved to get his attention. "Any luck contacting Bakuran defense?"
Ulin nodded without looking up, fingers tapping away with astonishing speed. "I think I've almost broken through. And I'm running a search for possible safe house locations we might have missed."
The familiar clanking of the Sith walkers filled the air around them, and Tahiri sensed a swell of panic, one that was distinctively Gren; and in her mind's eye, she saw him clearly for a few seconds, lightsaber ignited as he left his hiding place and charged in the direction of those walkers. She wanted to call out to him, but then another image came to her, of children and apprentices huddled in a bunker or basement of some kind. She could feel them all now, as if a curtain had been thrown back to reveal their presence.
She stood next to Myri and looked out past the plaza, where the walkers had maneuvered around a tall building and squadrons of bombers still peppered the sky; and she watched as a lone Jedi Knight made his last stand.
Tahiri ran ahead without thinking. She was dimly aware of the explosions that had begun to rain down near them, of Valin and Myri and the others running after her. The enclave was her objective; the Jedi had to be protected if Gren's sacrifice was to mean anything. If all the sacrifices were to mean anything. Too many had died to keep them safe. Mara, Tenel Ka, Han, Leia…
Tahiri!
The mental call broke into her thoughts, and she stopped abruptly just as a building blew up in front of her. She was thrown backward into her squad; when the debris began to settle, she found herself in Valin's arms. Tahiri looked up at her old friend.
"Thanks for the warning," she said, hardly able to hear her own voice through the ringing in her ears.
Valin gave her a wry grin and helped her up from the rubble. Next to him, Myri was on her comlink, calling for an extraction team.
"The children," Tahiri said, fighting to catch her breath. "Ulin, do you have anything—"
She cut off as she turned and saw Ulin lying on his back among the debris, scarlet blossoming across the front of his shirt. He lifted his head up to look at her and groaned.
"That hurt," he said, sucking in a breath between his teeth.
Tahiri was at his side in an instant, lifting his head and shoulders into her lap. She reached down to inspect the wound, but he raised a hand to stop her. She realized he still clung to his datapad.
"Found them," he said, hand shaking as he held the device up for her to take.
Myri dropped to her knees next to them and raised her comlink to her lips. "I'm going to need a medic with that evac team, Green Leader."
"Copy that, Blue Leader."
Tahiri took the datapad from Ulin and glanced down at indecipherable streams of information scrolling across the dust-covered screen. "I can't…"
"Here." Myri reached out and took the datapad from her. "Let me."
While Myri scanned the data, Tahiri returned her attention to Ulin, to the wound in his side. "You're going to be all right," she said as she applied pressure. "The evac team is on its way."
"Ulin, you genius!" Myri whooped as she jumped to her feet. Her eyes swept over the plaza, and she pointed toward the far end. "Undari's Speeder Emporium. The owner was part of the Great River during the Vong War, a pilot. The plans for her shop include a basement; that must be where Gren stashed the kids."
Ulin let out a small laugh. Too weak. "See? Now go save them, and don't worry about me."
Tahiri would have shaken him if he wasn't so gravely injured. "That's enough of that. We're coming back for you, and you'd better not die on me while I'm gone."
Another weak laugh. "Yes, ma'am."
Something pooled in her chest as she watched him struggle for breath, as she felt the chaos and fear in the city around her and thought of the lives she'd been too late to save. She recognized the feeling from too many battles waged across too many worlds, and all the losses she'd taken each time, piling up one on top of the other; from Yalena to Coruscant to Corellia, to Ossus, to the space over Myrkr… it threatened to drag her down with its sheer, horrible mass. And yet…
And yet, it didn't drag her down. It wouldn't drag her down, because she was still a Jedi Master, one of the last, and she still had so many lives to protect. The waters of her grief could stretch on and on, if she let them – a vast ocean of pain and suffering and misery, with a weight and current that most beings couldn't hope to fight against. But she'd been broken before, and reforged through her own will into someone who could keep fighting, who could lift others up to keep them from drowning.
Tahiri bent forward to place a kiss on Ulin's cheek. "Hey. Wish me luck."
He grinned a little at that. "I thought Jedi didn't believe in luck?"
She shook her head and smiled. "No harm in hedging my bets, is there?"
"There she is." He winced and closed his eyes. "Good luck, Master Jedi."
Myri waved one of her soldiers over, and Tahiri shifted Ulin carefully into his arms. Then she headed for the edge of the plaza, Myri and Valin close on her heels.
Undari's was on the northwest side; they moved along the perimeter of the plaza, listening all the while for the tell-tale clanking of the Sith walkers, until finally, they reached the building.
The shopkeeper was a short, round woman of advanced years, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she opened the door. "Come on, quick, Jedi," she said, waving them into the store. A moment later, Tahiri found herself in a low-ceilinged basement facing a cluster of very young Jedi students. They were watched over by a recently Knighted young Mirialan woman named Bree; Tahiri had only interacted with her directly a handful of times, but she'd always known her to be a levelheaded and capable apprentice.
"Bree," Tahiri said as the dark-haired girl stepped forward. "There's no time, the Sith are coming."
"Master Gren…?"
Tahiri took the young Knight by the shoulders and shook her head. "We have to go, now."
"This way," Valin said, motioning up the stairs. The children rose quickly and followed him. Tahiri and Bree brought up the rear. They had just reached the street when a familiar deep hum met their ears. Tahiri twisted around in time to block the Sith Lord's descending blade. Through the mingling of red and blue light she saw a Twi'lek woman sneering at her.
"Ready to join your friend, Jedi?"
Tahiri countered with a series of quick, tight strikes, turning her opponent's momentum back on her. She sensed the other Sith nearby, as well as Valin coming back to help her.
The Twi'lek Sith slashed wildly with her lightsaber before flipping in a high arc over Tahiri's head. She landed several feet away, right next to Darth Dominius and Darth Satrus. The Falleen man regarded Tahiri coolly, his saber activated at his side.
"I had hoped Skywalker might be here. We never had a chance to finish what we started on Vjun."
Tahiri raised her weapon in front of her as Valin took up a defensive position at her side. "I guess you'll have to settle for me," she said.
Dominius smiled just slightly and brought his weapon to bear. "Indeed. Skywalker's master is the only worthy alternative in this situation. I will enjoy killing you."
She cocked her head to one side, and felt a thrill race through her that was nearly all Yuuzhan Vong. "I'll enjoy watching you try."
Before the Sith could move, she lifted her hand and wrenched it back, sending a flurry of debris hurtling at the enemy. The Sith Lords sidestepped it with ease, but the soldiers behind them weren't so quick. As dust kicked up around them and the soldiers scattered, Tahiri glanced back to where Myri and her squad were herding the children away.
"We've got this," Valin murmured, low enough that only she could hear.
"Yeah," she said, turning back to the three Sith Lords before them. "You're damn right we do."
.
.
Anakin had thought Darth Krayt was fast before; but now, without his armor, Jacen moved with incredible speed. He was nearly twenty years older than Anakin, and not only could he keep up, but he wasn't even breaking a sweat. Anakin dodged a right-handed swipe from the cerulean blade and caught the violet one against his own. As their two sabers clashed, Jacen tried to stab at him with his second one. Anakin shoved hard, knocking the first away and backflipping beyond the reach of the second.
Rather than pursue him, Jacen smirked and rolled his shoulders back. "You're doing well. There aren't many who can face me when I fight with dual sabers."
Anakin ignored the pain in his shoulder and forced himself to breathe normally. "Not a big believer in fair fights, are you?"
Jacen's eyes narrowed. "Not when the stakes are so high, no." He twirled the sabers at his sides, creating pinwheels of light that reflected off of the slick membranes lining the ceiling.
"What happened to your red one?" Anakin pointed the tip of his lightsaber toward Jacen's hip before settling into a defensive stance.
"I put it away. Figured today called for something a little more meaningful than your standard-issue symbol of the dark side."
He held up the weapon in his left hand, the violet-bladed lightsaber. As Jacen stared into its white center, Anakin was struck by a sorrow that burrowed deep down into his bones.
"This was Jaina's. When I dragged myself to an escape pod after our duel, I somehow picked up her lightsaber instead of my own. Even at the end we were connected by more than just blood."
"But you still killed her."
Jacen lowered the lightsaber, his expression shifting back into neutrality. "As you killed Obi-Wan."
"I told you, I'm not that man."
A dark smile twisted his grandson's lips. "We both know that's not true."
Anakin tried not to think of the rush of power that had filled him on Zihrent, as lightning flowed with abandon from his fingertips, or of the teenage Sith Lord whose throat he'd nearly crushed. Most of all, he tried not to think of how Jacen seemed able to peer right into his heart, right to the darkest parts of him.
He tried instead to think of Obi-Wan, of what his friend would say if he were here now. He couldn't summon any particular words, but for one fleeting instant, he felt a faint spark in the place that had bonded them together.
Anakin took a shaky breath, willing himself to let go of his doubts, his guilt. "I'm a Jedi Knight," he said. "As you once were."
Jacen bent slightly at the waist in a mock bow, sabers held out wide at his sides. "See how far you have to fall?"
He heard something behind him, turning in time to see one of those razor bugs flying toward him. He raised his saber and deflected it at the last second, but another one caught him behind the knee. He stumbled forward, and Jacen pounced.
His grandson was as relentless as he had been on Vjun. He pummeled Anakin, his twin lightsabers giving the beleaguered Jedi no respite. Defense had never been Anakin's preferred strategy, though he was still better at it than most. He usually opted for a more aggressive approach in lightsaber combat, one where he could leverage his height and weight against his opponent. But Jacen countered each move with a fluid grace, turning those attacks back on him as easily as a master toying with his apprentice.
Jacen swung, and Anakin parried, ducking and weaving to avoid the dangerous second blade. He had to disarm Jacen and even the odds a little before it was too late.
"I really am impressed." Jacen twisted the cerulean and violet blades under Anakin's emerald one and thrust upward, chasing that motion with a kinetic blast that sent Anakin into a railing covered in slippery organic matter. In the half-second it took for Anakin to regain his footing, a razor bug appeared out of nowhere and sliced him across the cheek. Several more hit his arms and legs. Jacen cocked his head to one side. "But surely the Chosen One can do better?"
The mocking tone was jarring after all his seemingly heartfelt – if delusional – speeches. It burned Anakin to hear him speak that way while Allana's life and soul were in the balance. It stoked a fire in him that he'd been fighting to suppress since he lost control on Zihrent – no, since he'd arrived here, since before he'd arrived here. Since the Invisible Hand and the Outer Rim Sieges, the beginning of the Clone Wars and the death of his mother and his first kill on Zonama Sekot, all the way back to his days as a slave, when he'd dreamed every day and every night of having a power that could set him free.
He didn't want to resist anymore. Not if it meant losing Allana. He ignored the blood trickling from the gashes on his face and limbs, and he glared at the Master of the Sith.
"Just remember," he said, focusing his will on the metal beams running across the ceiling, hidden under layers of coral and mucous membranes. "You asked for this."
He raised his left hand toward the ceiling, and it began to shake and crack apart. Yorik coral rained down upon them as pieces of metal sheeting broke off and fell to the floor. Anakin smirked and looked back at Jacen.
The panic he'd hoped to see on the other man's face wasn't there. Instead, Jacen seemed pleased.
Anakin let out a growl and ran toward the Sith, swinging his lightsaber in a flurry of attacks that actually succeeded in pushing Jacen back. As he opened himself to the full spectrum of the Force, he felt himself more focused than before, able to perceive Jacen's intent well in advance. What had been a grueling, uphill fight before was now a series of moves as natural to him as a well-practiced dance. In five steps he would relieve the Sith of one of his lightsabers. Four steps. Three… two…
One.
The emerald blade sliced through Jaina's lightsaber, destroying the hilt and the crystal inside. Anakin shifted his weight and kicked Jacen square in the chest. The older man staggered backward.
Anakin pointed the tip of his blade at Jacen. "Was that good enough for you?"
Jacen rubbed absently at his chest, but once again he seemed more pleased than perturbed. He twirled the blue saber in his right hand and smiled. "What do you know?" he said in a soft and menacing murmur. "I wondered when I'd get a glimpse of the great and terrible Darth Vader."
Jacen took a faltering step toward him, lightsaber only half-raised. He stopped a few paces away and straightened up to his full height, cracking his neck as he did so.
"You're still holding back, Anakin. You need to surrender your control and leave your limits behind."
"Enough!" Anakin raised a hand and hit Jacen with a kinetic burst. His grandson lifted one arm to block, but he still slid back a few steps.
"It will never be enough. The Jedi way won't protect the ones you love. The Jedi way would see them die."
From across the room, Allana let out another gasping moan, and Anakin felt a scream buried in his chest, fighting its way out. A red haze across his vision, grief and rage filling him like smoke. The beams and ceiling panels that had survived his first attack began to tremble; the entire room shook as Anakin reached for the power he'd denied himself. It didn't matter if this was what Jacen wanted. He had to save Allana.
The tremors grew more violent, radiating from Anakin in waves. They flowed up the walls, breaking off whole sections of coral. Underneath, the metal buckled and twisted apart at the seams. Jacen deactivated his lightsaber and raised both arms to slow the onslaught of debris, but he was unable to match the strength of Anakin's wrath. The Chosen One had become a rolling tide of fury, and he was about to wipe everything out.
Anakin raised his hands in the air once more and pulled back with all his might; and the ceiling came crashing down.
.
.
The Daybreak streaked toward the Eradicator, weaving in and out of narrow gaps between the other Sith warships in their path. As the approached Krayt's flagship, a squadron of Sith fighters flew to intercept them.
"Hold on!" Elias yelled from the cockpit.
Arden had her hands on the turret controls, waiting for the fighters to enter her crosshairs. The first one appeared, and she opened fire. The pilot was ready for her, though. He turned the ship on its side, and the laser flew right past him. Arden readjusted her grip and narrowed her eyes at the viewport.
The ship bucked, and Arden was thrown back in her seat. Below her, she heard Ames swear.
"Sorry!" Elias said as the helix fighters swarmed around them. Now there were so many that Arden hit one every time she fired. Elias continued to zig and zag between the larger starships, rolling the Daybreak so that Arden and Ames could get better shots at their attackers.
"I didn't know you were this good of a pilot, Elias!" Ames whooped and called out as two more Sith fighters were turned to dust.
"I fly all the time!"
"Are you sure? It's Ben's ship."
"I do at least forty-two percent of the flying around here."
The Daybreak dove, narrowly avoiding the bridge of a Star Destroyer.
"That's a very specific percentage," Kohr said skeptically.
"Still sounds made-up," Ames added.
"Hey!" Arden shouted into the comm. "Less talking, more shooting of Sith Lords!"
The comm was quiet for a moment before Kohr broke the silence. "I love this ship," he said with a happy sigh. Arden shook her head and squeezed the trigger as another starship crossed her path.
So much for the whole Jedi stoicism thing. She grinned as Ames let out another victorious cry.
"Blue Five, this is Gold Leader," a new voice said through the comm. "We're starting our attack run."
"Copy that, Gold Leader," Elias answered. "Better make it fast."
Arden craned her neck to see out her small viewport, and for a second she caught site of the Eradicator, its massive, black form surrounded on all sides by little explosions as the members of Gold Squadron engaged its fighters. A trio of Y-wings hurtled toward the Star Destroyer, ion cannons firing.
"Shields are down," Gold Leader said. "Good hunting, Blue Five."
"Copy, Gold Leader. May the Force be with you."
The Daybreak weaved through enemy fighters and past the members of Gold Squadron, and moments later Arden's viewport went durasteel gray as Elias flew them right into one of the Eradicator's hangar bays. Below her, she heard Jysella Horn giving orders as the members of their strike team assembled near the ramp. Arden climbed out of her turret and slid down the ladder, arriving at the same moment as Ames. The boy held his lightsaber in one hand, and he gave her a nod as they joined the group.
Elias jogged from the cockpit, and as he reached her, he pulled her into a kiss. Then he pressed a blaster into her hands. "You sure you don't want to stay here with Kohr?"
"I'm sure," she said, gripping the blaster tight. "Where you go, I go."
He kissed her again, then looked back toward the cockpit. "Cover us, Kohr!"
"You got it, boss!" the young Jedi shouted back.
The ramp lowered, and Jysella was the first down, the blue blade of her lightsaber igniting with a snap-hiss as she began to deflect fire from a group of startled Sith soldiers. The strike team fanned out around her, returning fire.
"Come on, Artoo!" Elias waved the little astromech over to his side, and he and Ames positioned themselves in front of him. "We've got you, buddy."
Artoo beeped an affirmative and followed them down the ramp. Arden stayed close to the droid, her heart in her throat as she emerged from the protection of the Daybreak into a frenzy of blasterfire. Their strike team made short work of the enemy soldiers, and after a minute, the hangar was quiet.
"Edrix and Tail, you stay with the ship," Jysella said. "Alpha group with me, Beta group with Elias." She straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Let's find our people."
Arden reached for Elias and grasped his hand for a few seconds. She could feel the nervous tremor in his fingers, and when she looked up at him, she saw a hint of the haunted stare he'd worn in the aftermath of Vjun; but then he gazed down at her and smiled, and she knew with bone-deep certainty that they were going to be okay. Was that a newfound faith in the Force that made her feel that way, or just faith in her friends and in the man she loved? As she followed Elias and the strike team into the belly of the Eradicator, she thought maybe those things were one and the same.
.
.
Anakin gasped as he struggled to crawl out from under a body-length sheet of durasteel. Several kilos of metal and duracrete and coral had dropped on him when the ceiling came down; only a last second push from the Force had prevented the ceiling panel from completely crushing him. He pushed up on the end of the panel, freeing the rest of his leg. Pain stabbed through him, from the injured leg all the way up to his side. He gritted his teeth against the feeling.
The entire room had been plunged into near-darkness, and when Anakin looked up he saw frayed electrical wire sparking in what was left of the ceiling; only a couple of the bioluminescent globes remained standing. He found his lightsaber despite the dark, but he didn't activate it. Though he couldn't sense Jacen's presence, he was certain his grandson had survived, and he didn't want to give him a beacon.
Next, Anakin reached out for Allana. The cave-in had left her miraculously untouched. She was still unconscious and still connected to the Embrace of Pain. As he began to crawl through the debris, he heard the screech of metal grating against metal several meters away.
Jacen.
Shrouding his presence as best he could, Anakin stayed low and continued moving toward the Embrace.
"I know you're not dead, Anakin." There was a rough edge to Jacen's voice, but nothing in it to suggest he'd been seriously injured. Anakin tried to ignore the pain in his leg and side. He couldn't give Jacen the satisfaction.
"I'm proud of you." Jacen's voice was traveling. It came now from the perimeter, near the turbolift. Away from Anakin but closer to Allana. "I'd heard stories about Darth Vader, about what he was capable of. You haven't disappointed me."
Anakin took a long, steadying breath. He was such a fool, playing right into Jacen's hands. And for what? Power? The Sith Lord was alive and well while Anakin nursed more injuries than a gundark hunter. He winced as his leg caught on something, some piece of organic Vong tech that he couldn't sense. He wrestled silently with the coral – or whatever it was – before his leg finally came loose.
He had failed. Even knowing his future and all the horrible things he'd done, he still reached right into that well of darkness inside him, drinking freely and without hesitation. He chose the dark side. How was he any better than Jacen? He wasn't.
"You can't hide forever. Come out, and join me. It's the only path you have left."
Anakin reached the short, grass-covered flight of stairs that led down to the Embrace of Pain. It was littered with debris. Since it was too dark to see anyway, he closed his eyes and let the Force guide him. He crawled down the stairs slowly, careful not to disturb anything.
"Do you honestly think Ben and his Jedi will accept you after what you've done? Knowing that one day you could be their destruction?"
Anakin was almost to Allana. Jacen's voice was coming from the center of the throne room now, so he'd only have a few seconds to get Allana out once she was free of the Embrace. Not the greatest odds, but he had little choice. He wasn't leaving without his granddaughter.
He could just barely make out the organism that was holding her, but now that he was close up he could see its branchlike appendages grasping onto her arms and legs, her waist and her neck. Two of those branches had inserted small barbs into the veins in her wrists. Though she was unconscious, Allana turned her head toward Anakin as he approached. He reached out to her through the Force, calling on its healing energies to soothe her. As if sensing what he was doing, the organism pressed another needle into Allana's arm; a few seconds later she let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Anakin was reaching out to tear the branch-grips off of her when a blue lightsaber ignited above him. He rolled out of the way as Jacen slashed downward where his head had been. Anakin jumped up with more speed than he should have been capable of and activated his saber. In the light of their blades, Anakin saw Jacen's calm, calculated veneer had vanished, replaced with something feral.
"You don't touch her!" he snarled.
Anakin raised his saber to block, moving away from the Embrace. "She's going to die if you don't stop this!"
Jacen sliced horizontally toward Anakin's midsection. "The Embrace won't let her die," he said as Anakin parried. They traded blow after blow, Jacen attempting to steer Anakin away from Allana. Anakin dodged an overhead swing and spun around to kick Jacen in the ribs. The Sith Lord growled and swung his saber wildly as he fell to his knees. Anakin angled his blade at Jacen's neck and held it there.
"Tell me something." Jacen's breathing was labored as he stared up at Anakin. "If the Force does have a will and it wants you to save me, why did it bring you here? If it was really serious about saving me, why didn't it drop you in my path ten years ago, before I killed everyone I loved?"
There was genuine bitterness in his voice. Anakin swallowed hard before answering. "I don't know."
Jacen sighed and closed his eyes. "Go ahead. Kill me. It's what I deserve."
"I don't want to kill you—"
His back exploded with pain as something sliced across it. He twisted to see a long, serpentine creature coiled on the ground behind him, hissing at him. Jacen sprang to his feet, throwing Anakin across the room with a powerful blast of energy.
Anakin held tight to his lightsaber as he rolled to a stop in front of the empty coral throne. He used it to pull himself up as Jacen vaulted across the gap between them. With one arm still around the throne, Anakin held out his saber in his right hand to block the coming blow. Jacen's blade slipped under his and snapped up, sending it flying. In the next instant, the blue-white beam sliced through his bionic arm.
It was a strange sort of pain, losing his artificial limb to a lightsaber. There was the initial agony of having his arm severed, then the nerve endings fired almost instantly, sending little jolts through his arm as they short-circuited. He cried out and fell to his knees, clutching at the prosthetic stump.
Jacen kneeled next to him, the lightsaber still activated at his side. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Grandfather."
Anakin grunted as he tried to drag himself toward the stairs. In his rational brain he knew he couldn't escape, but every instinct screamed at him to flee. He managed to move half a body length before Jacen stood up and kicked him hard in the ribs. Anakin coughed and tasted blood. Jacen kicked him again, and this time Anakin tumbled down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he could no longer identify individual wounds; his entire body felt like it was coming apart. He got the feeling some of his wounds from Vjun had reopened.
Jacen leaped from the top of the stairs and landed beside Anakin. His lightsaber hummed next to the Jedi's ear. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize this lightsaber."
Anakin tried to answer, but he couldn't form the words. All he could do was lie there on his stomach and watch the cerulean saber out of the corner of his eye. He let his gaze wander toward the hilt, and a bitter laugh stuck in his throat as he realized whose weapon Jacen wielded. He wondered that he hadn't noticed it before.
Jacen didn't seem to mind that he was silent. "You left this behind on Vjun. I figured I'd hold onto it for you. Did you know you used this lightsaber to cut off your son's hand? And you think I'm sick." The blade left Anakin's field of vision, but he could sense it hovering over him. "I never wanted to hurt any of them," Jacen continued, his voice suddenly soft. "I hope you can believe me."
White-hot pain burst in Anakin's abdomen as the lightsaber pierced him. He gasped for air, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get enough. His lungs and stomach burned, and his remaining limbs started to go numb. His head was spinning, lost in a fog of pain. All the times he'd cheated death, and it had finally caught up to him. Now, now, he knew what it was like to lose everything.
I'm sorry, Allana, he called out to her. That failure hurt worst of all.
Jacen kneeled down next to him and took his chin in his hand, lifting it just slightly off the ground. Fire-rimmed eyes found his. "I know you don't understand, but I'm going to fix this." Then the Master of the Sith sighed and deactivated his lightsaber. It was silent between them, and Anakin wondered if that was a small mercy, that he could die in peace, without Jacen taunting him for his failure, without even Allana's muffled cries to remind him of how he'd doomed her by not being strong enough.
A distant buzzing filled the air, humming steadily in his ears as it grew in volume, and fire raked through his lungs as his breath caught in his throat.
Anakin turned his head and lifted it just high enough to see the man standing in front of the open turbolift, a familiar cerulean lightsaber ignited at his side.
He felt a crack in Jacen's defenses, then. A sense of relief and anticipation and an overwhelming feeling of completeness. Though he couldn't see him, he knew Jacen was smiling.
"Hey, Ben. Welcome home."
.