"Repeat, will you, what told Obi-Wan, you have?" Master Yoda leaned forward in his chair in the Jedi Council chamber. Obi-Wan had forgone his usual chair to stand beside Anakin supportively, something Anakin was very grateful for. This was going to be hard enough without having to stand alone before the Jedi Council.
Although, now that he thought about it, standing before the Jedi Council didn't seem so bad after so many years kneeling before the Emperor. At least the Jedi Council didn't use lightning as punishment. Anakin had lost count of the number of times he had displeased the Emperor and been hit with lightning as punishment for some deviation from Palpatine's orders. In hindsight, Anakin wasn't sure what Palpatine had expected. It wasn't like Anakin had ever stuck to the rules before he'd fallen and become a Sith.
"The Republic is in the control of a Sith."
A stir went around the room at Anakin's words, the members of the Jedi Council exchanging whispered words and worried glances. Yoda was the only one who didn't react, except for a slight twitch in the ears. Anakin waited for the council to fall silent once again, focusing on the waves of reassurance Obi-Wan was sending him through their bond. The bond…oh how Anakin relished in the feeling of his bond with his former master. It had been severed after his fall, and given how Vader felt about Obi-Wan, it was certainly for the best, but now…now Anakin actively nurtured the bond, building it back to what it had once been, back before he'd been knighted.
"The Chancellor is the Sith Lord…Darth SIdeous."
Another stir went around the council chamber, but this time Yoda spoke.
"Know this, do you? A vision you have had?"
"I…of sorts," Anakin offered, somewhat lamely.
"A vision of sorts?" prompted Yoda curiously
"The future, I've seen it…I've lived it. The next 27 years, up until my death. I thought it was over, that I was one with the force…but then I woke up, and I was in the past again. I think the force sent me back to…make things right this time around."
"Make things right? Why would the force send you back to now to do that?" asked Mace Windu
"Did…did the separatists win?" Plo Koon's concern was unmistakable.
"The Chancellor is running both sides of the war. Dooku reports to him, just as the senate does. He engineered the war for his own personal gain…he's been doing it for a long time before the war started too. He organised the Blockade at Naboo nearly eleven years ago. The outcome of the war…it doesn't really make any difference to him, in the grand scheme of things. The War…it gave him a reason to grant himself extra powers…give himself more and more power and control over the Senate, and by extension, the whole galaxy. We're all just pieces in his game, nothing we do really matters to him."
"So, why send you back?"
"Because…because in three years' time, the last time I lived through them…I fell to the dark side and became his apprentice."
This time there was no whispers or comments, just stunned silence. More than a few members of the council reached for their lightsabres, but none actually drew their weapons. Anakin kept his gaze lowered, feeling sick as he remembered the last time he was in this very room...the younglings peering up at him, expecting him to save them…and instead he'd murdered them.
Swallowing, Anakin knelt to the smooth floor of the council chamber, his head bowed, just as he would have if he was before Sideous. There was a part of him that half expected for his head to be taken off right then and there. One of the council members moved, stretching out their hand for a glass of water, and Anakin instinctively flinched back, bracing himself, for the burning pain of electricity coursing through his system. There was no pain however, no lightning arcing through the air towards him. This was the Jedi Council, not Darth Sideous.
"Hmmm, tell us more, Knight Skywalker?" Yoda enquired
"What do you want to know?"
"Fall you say you did, happen how did it?"
"It…it had been coming on slowly for…awhile," Anakin admitted.
"Before now?"
Anakin shuddered, remembering the Tusken village, "Yes, it was just before Geonosis."
"When you were protecting Senator Amidala?" Mace again
"I…I had been having dreams…of my mother, for a few weeks. Obi-Wan told me to let go of my attachments, that I shouldn't worry. While I was on Naboo with Pad…the Senator, I had another dream. I told her about what I'd dreamt, and we mutually decided to go to Tattooine to check. At a similar time to when I started having the dreams my mother was attacked and taken by Tusken Raiders. They kept her prisoner. I found her there, in that tent…tortured, starving, and barely conscious. She recognised me though…and then she died in my arms. I…I could not release my emotions into the force, like I know I should have. I…lost myself to my anger…my grief, and I let the dark side take over me, control my actions."
Anakin was careful not to focus too much on Obi-Wan. He'd never told Obi-Wan what had happened on Tattooine. Obi-Wan had asked once, not long after Geonosis, what he and Padme had been doing there, and Padme had simply stated that he'd been following his mandate and staying with her. Obi-Wan probably knew that it somehow related to Anakin's mother, but hadn't said anything more on the matter. He didn't even know that Anakin's mother dad died
"I sense a great grief within you, your actions on that day, do you regret?"
Anakin had to think before replying, "Not as much as I should," he admitted, "I still hate them, but I will also admit that I went too far."
"Have there been any other moments since then?
"No" Anakin replied. It was the truth. While even at this stage of falling, the first time around, he'd been constantly aware of the lure of the dark side, he hadn't fully given into it again until the closing days of the Clone Wars, when he'd fought and killed Dooku. He'd been reckless, and angry, but he'd never lost control like he had that night on Tattooine
"In danger, do you feel, of falling again?"
"No," Anakin needed no time to think after Yoda's question. He wasn't going to let that happen to himself again…He'd hurt or destroyed everyone and everything he'd ever cared about…Padme, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, the Jedi Order, his own soul and beliefs, Ahsoka again, Leia, Obi-Wan again, Luke...
"Then return we will, to this topic, at another time. More pressing, however, this matter of the Chancellor is."
"You're just going to believe him?" Anakin didn't think he'd ever heard Mace Windu sound so shocked.
"No deceit can I sense in young Skywalker," Yoda turned to his fellow Council member, "great guilt I can sense, regret his actions deeply he does. Great his suffering. No way, there is, for one so young to have seen so much. Tortured and in pain, his soul is. If untrue, his claim is, then we as Jedi have failed him." Yoda broke off to shake his head sadly. Anakin looked up at the aging master as he hopped down from his chair and hobbled towards Anakin. He rested his green, clawed hand on Anakin's flesh arm gently…supportively.
"Tell us what you can, about this Darth's Sideous' plan."
"He wants to claim control of the Senate."
"He already does that," Mace Windu pointed out.
Anakin shook his head, "it gets worse. As the Clone Wars drag on he will grant himself new powers, and staying in power long after his term has been completed. He will argue that it's because of the war, and that a change of leadership will leave the republic vulnerable. He feeds his apprentice Dooku and the separatists information about the plans of the clone army, and sets traps for us, slowly weakening the Jedi and solidifying his own hold in the senate as time passes. Eventually he will call for an end of the republic, and declare himself Emperor of the new galactic Empire. His regime will be filled with domination, corruption, suffering and oppression for the people of the republic. Eventually, the Senate will be dissolved entirely, and Sideous will have complete control, with his Moffs and grand Moffs and his Regional Governors managing day to day things in their jurisdictions…and me, I suppose."
"Play what role in this Empire, did you?" Yoda questioned.
"I was his enforcer…the head of his Navy, I terrorised systems into submission, and tried to shut down the Rebellion. I also hunted down Jedi who escaped the purge, although there were others who also undertook this task. In the event of his death, I would have succeeded him, both as the Sith master, and as Emperor."
"Come about, this did?"
"No, I only briefly outlived Sidious, but I do not believe that the Empire will last long without him at its head. The Moffs and regional governors will fall into petty infighting and squabbling over who is in charge with both Sith dead, and the Rebellion will not take long to wipe them out." Anakin was confident that the Empire would not have lasted long after his death and the destruction of the Second Death Star, if it hadn't crumbled apart completely the moment word broke of Palpatine's death. Luke, Leia and their friends in the Rebellion were all but guaranteed victory, of that Anakin was sure.
"What of the Jedi order?" Plo Koon questioned.
"The Jedi's numbers were depleted greatly by the drawn out Clone Wars. Most of the Jedi Council were defeated by Sidious when Master Windu took them to confront Sidious when you all began to suspect him. It was a massacre, Master Windu was the only one still standing after the first few moments of the fight. After Master Windu…died, and Sidious had made me his apprentice he…he issued order 66."
"Order 66?" Mace queried, not appearing at all phased after hearing of his death.
Anakin nodded. This was the part of the interrogation he was particularly not looking forward to.
"I need to back track a little," Anakin admitted, "back when Sidious was planning all this, he was the one who ordered the Clone army to be created, and He instructed the Kaminoans to install a chip into the brains of the clones, during a very early stage of their development. For all outward intents and purposes the chip was there to…inhibit some of the more negative aspects of Jango Fett's personality, to make the Clones less aggressive, easier to control and make them willing to follow orders, robbing them of their free will…" Anakin took a deep breath and focused on Obi-Wan. Now was not the time for him to break off to rant about how the Clones were essentially Slaves, with chips of their own to enforce their compliance.
Obi-Wan gently rested his hand on Anakin's shoulder, and Yoda's hand was still resting on Anakin's flesh arm, and he could feel the soothing encouragement and warmth of them both, helping calm him and reassure him.
"When Master Sifo-Dyas placed the initial order, the chip's sole purpose was to make the clones less aggressive than Fett, and as a safeguard should a Jedi turn rogue. When Sifo Dyas was murdered by the Sith, however, they took over the project, which the Jedi Council itself was not aware of at the time. Under their direction the directive in the chip referring to rogue Jedi changed. Order 66 was an executive order that all the Clones with a functioning chip would follow. It could only be issued by the Chancellor."
"The order, what was it?" asked Master Yoda, although Anakin guessed from the droop in Ypda's ears that the Jedi Master had already guessed.
"Kill all the Jedi." Anakin sighed.
There was another stir in the room, as various members of the council shuddered at the mere thought of being attacked by their own men. Even at this early stage of the war many of the Jedi generals trusted their clone backing completely. To know that one day the clones would be forced to turn their back and execute the Jedi was sure to be a shock. Anakin had been shocked when he'd learned, and he hadn't been in a good state of mind at the time, having just fallen.
"Every Jedi leading men that day was attacked by their own troops. I…I took the 501st and marched on the Temple…I didn't leave any survivors. There were some who lived. Yoda, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka all survived, as did various other Jedi. They were all pursued by both myself, and force sensitives that Sidious called the Inquisitors, but considering the number of Jedi still alive today…there were very few survivors."
"The…the younglings?" Master Mundi gasped in horror, his hand over his mouth.
Anakin bowed his head and nodded. He kept his mouth shut, not sure if he could prevent himself from throwing up if he did.
"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?"
"A break, young Skywalker needs. Haunted, he is. Take care of your former Padawan, you must, Obi-Wan."
Anakin was barely aware of Obi-Wan carefully pulling him upright, slinging Anakin's arm over his shoulder and guiding him out of the Council chamber. Anakin was oblivious to the doors sliding shut behind them. His legs buckled beneath him and he knew Obi-Wan was supporting most of his body weight. At least he didn't weigh as much now as he did when he was Vader. The suit alone was fairly heavy, and then added the prosthetics.
Anakin was not going to reveal to anyone how many times he tripped in those first few years as Vader. On his own cape, or just because he was still adapting to his leg prosthetics, or the tinted lenses of his mask meaning that he didn't see something. More than a few Storm troopers and imperial officers experienced a sudden untimely death simply because they'd had the misfortune of seeing Lord Vader trip over his own feet.
"Anakin…Anakin are you alright?" Obi-Wan inquired, leaning Anakin on a wall and moving so he could get a better view of Anakin's face.
"You look like you're about to pass out."
Anakin grunted, still not trusting himself to open his mouth. No, he was definitely going to be sick.
Luckily there was a refresher quite close to the Council chambers, put there with the knowledge of how long Council meetings could go on for. Anakin and Obi-Wan had both used this particular refresher many times over the years.
He reached the Refresher just in time, hunching over the toilet and heaving up what little food Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had been able to coax him into, his breath coming in pants and sobs as tears rolled down his face yet again.
Anakin jumped reflexively as he felt Obi-Wan's warm hand brushing up and down his back, his master's other hand holding back Anakin's hair, still growing out of it's short cropped Padawan style at this stage of the war, but still fairly long.
"It's ok, Anakin, you're alright, you haven't hurt anyone yet. The younglings are still fine, it hasn't happened yet…we'll make sure of it."
Anakin could only retch and cough and gag in response until his stomach had settled down, at which point Obi-Wan offered him a cup of water. Anakin's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Master Windu brought one here for you, you were…rather occupied at the time," Obi-Wan offered by way of explanation.
Anakin felt his cheeks tinge red in embarrassment at Mace Windu seeing him brought low like this, but said nothing, instead taking to offered cup and sipping, rinsing his mouth out before he drank anything. Ah, swallowing…another simple thing that Mustafar had robbed him of.
"You need to rest, Anakin, you're still recovering."
"I'm fine…Where's Ahsoka?"
The last time he'd seen his Padawan had been when Anakin and Obi-Wan had been heading into the Jedi Council chamber. Ahsoka had wanted to follow them in, but Anakin hadn't wanted her to witness whatever had been about to happen. He'd half expected to get kicked out of the order immediately. It was still a possibility, he hadn't even got round to telling them about Padme, but he hadn't wanted Ahsoka to have to see that. He was going to tell her though, there was no point in hiding the truth from her anyway. Anakin was going to need her help just as much as he needed Obi-Wan's and even the council in order to defeat Sidious once and for all.
Anakin had half expected Ahsoka to be impatiently waiting outside the Council chamber for them to emerge, eager to hear what had happened, and the state Anakin had been in when he and Obi-Wan had left the chambers…it would have alarmed Ahsoka. He was glad that she hadn't been there to witness him like that, but now he didn't know where she was.
"It's late, Anakin, she back in your quarters." Obi-Wan reassured gently, "I suggested that she go and sleep while we were meeting with the council. She's barely slept since you…"
"Slammed back into my 20 year old body after being a Sith Lord?" Anakin supplied.
"Yes, that," Obi-Wan smiled grimly, "now, come on, you need to rest too. Don't think that the Council are done grilling you yet."
"Oh, I know Master," Anakin let Obi-Wan pull him back upright and lead him back to the quarters he shared with Ahsoka.