Lightsaber: Yo, y'all pink haters, I am a fine-arts painter. His lightsaber is orange, just with that intense fire tone of pinkish sunsets. Basically peach that isn't pastel. It is closer to red than yellow, but you wouldn't mistake it for red, but they will pick on Luke because, you-know, close enough.

KEYnote: The Massacre of the Dathomirian Witches doesn't happen, Dooku is distracted.

Chapter 8 - It's a Trap

"What happened?" was Cody's first reaction to seeing his face.

Ben sighed, "Just a vision."

Cody pointed at Luke, "I thought it was his quest."

"I needed a temporary saber as well," Ben said loftily.

He might still have tear tracks on his face, but he had managed to heal the kyber. He really needed to talk to Yoda, or better yet, Mace.

Ben was a bit warier of the Grandmaster now that he learned that Anakin had gone to him for help. Anakin had needed help, asked for it, not received it, and Yoda had left him in the dark.

It was nearly as bad as the time Yoda had stopped him from assisting Ashoka when she was framed for the Temple bombing.

The rest of the Council had barred him from so much as questioning her.

It was only on reflection of this that he realized how tightly the rest of the Council held him, how high their standards for him had been, how little they had truly trusted him.

Oh, they believed he was the 'perfect Jedi', Yoda had said as much, but only to the extent where his every move had been transparent and approved by them.

As much as Anakin thought it was a pain to be held in his shadow, Ben had been just as beholden to his own Master's shadow.

He was the Maverick's Padawan, the Padawan who almost hadn't been a Padawan then had left the Order to help in a civil war, and he was also Dooku's grandpadawan.

Yeah, so maybe his background hadn't exactly inspired faith. But still, he hadn't earned the rank of Master simply because Anakin had been knighted.

And regardless of his own circumstances, Yoda knew how much influence he had over the Jedi Order, and he had a tendency to withhold comment, as if sparing them from his approval or disapproval.

Ben wondered if Yoda understood how condemning his silence was.

Ahsoka wouldn't have been expelled from the Order if Ben had been allowed to speak, Anakin might not have fallen if Yoda had told him that Anakin was actively seeking help.

But things were different this time.

Ben looked at Luke.

The forbiddance of attachments could burn to fire crisp on Mustafar.

And Ben was really done keeping his mouth shut on problematic issues, to the extent, of course, that he didn't accidentally spark a genocide.

"Sir?"

Ben blinked behind his goggles he put on as a wind picked up, "Sorry, what was that Cody?"

"I have good news."

Ben raised his brows, "Don't keep us in suspense."

"Padawan Luke has been promoted to a Jedi Commander, and the 212th Battalion has been placed on his command. So we aren't deserters and as long as you, Sir, stay off Coruscant, your exile is considered to be respected."

Ben nodded, "That is good, as long as you recognize that Luke is still very much a cadet and still under your orders."

Cody was wearing his helmet, but Ben was pretty sure he had gotten a grin out of him, "Yes, Sir."

"So what's the bad news," Ben asked, because Cody never left it at 'good news.'

"Ilum is under siege."

Ben started jogging toward the platform, "You couldn't have led with that?"

"We have it handled, Sir, and your coms weren't working when-"

"How big is the enemy force?"

"The fleet-"

Ben cut him off as he spoke into his com, that was working now that they were back on the surface, "Land the Star Destroyer, disengage any fighter ships! I repeat, ground the Star Destroyer, ground all ships!"

"Sir?" Appo asked from his left.

Ben shook his head, and contacted the Ilum base, "I have ordered our Star Destroyer to land and all other fighters. Has help been requested?"

He was gazing up at the sky as more Separatist cruisers entered orbit. Ben had forgotten that by this time in the war, their forces had already been spread thin.

"Yes, General Kenobi, General Windu authorized two battalions to join yours. Estimated time of arrival, seven hours."

"Sir, why did you pull our men?" Cody asked.

"Because this is Ilum," Ben said, before ordering into the com, "Sentinel, ready the ion canons."

Appo nearly tripped in the snow, "Did you say canons? As in plural?"

"Ilum is one of the greatest resources of kyber in the galaxy. We don't need the reinforcements, but if Dooku wants to his sacrifice resources-" and judging by the increasing specks of light in the sky, lots and lots and lots of resources, "then there is little reason to relieve him of them."

"But why would he attack here if he knows he can't win?" Luke asked, "You said Dooku was a Jedi, wouldn't he know how well defended this system is?"

"Even one cargo box of kyber would be worth that entire fleet," Cody said.

But Ben agreed with Luke.

Why would Dooku attack-

Their forces were spread too thin.

If a Separatist force this large could even reach Ilum they had a problem.

"Sentinel," Ben called back through his com as they began running faster in the snow, "contact the Council."

It was a trap, and a hand played one year too early.

Ben had wanted to change the future, but he was absolutely certain, he know longer knew what that future was.

Asajj Ventress really hadn't expected Savage Opress to come back to Dathomir.

As Savage hadn't expected them to save Feral Opress. As Feral hadn't expected to wake up from a broken neck.

But Mother Talzin had begun work on him the moment she and Savage left the room. Feral was their insurance. He had also become Asajj's new apprentice, one that had the will to listen, and unlike with Savage, he wasn't training him to be a Sith.

Yet what the three of them, Feral, Savage, and Asajj, had not expected was to go on a quest to save her old Master's Master's first apprentice. Feral's twin brother as it so happened.

"How many sons do you have?" Asajj had asked.

Mother Talzin, unsurprisingly, hadn't answered her question. And Feral, skittish as the male could be, had spooked when they found Spider-Butt.

For once, she hadn't blamed him. Healing from a spinal injury when receiving near immediate healing was one thing.

Surviving bisection and living years with…

It didn't make any more sense to her on reflection but Darth Maul was…

An exception.

And much further along the Dark path than she had ever achieved.

The four of them had decided that the rule of two was pointless, but that killing Darth Sidious and Tyrannus was necessary, both were too dangerous and traitorous to survive.

Maul was obsessed with Kenobi, Asajj couldn't blame him yet she felt some regret for that Master Jedi's inevitable passing. In another galaxy, they might have been allies.

And the Force seemed to be on their side when they encountered Death Watch.

Mandalore seemed as good a place as any to start their empire.

Rex couldn't exactly say he was happy that Senator Amidala was putting herself in danger, yet again, but he was happy that the end result was his General getting to spend nearly every day with her. Rex had never seen him happier.

The 501st hadn't been grounded on Coruscant since… the start of the war? At least not for prolonged weeks.

Their days were spent on rotating guard shifts, and Rex was able to witness more sparring and training between his General and his Jedi Commander than had ever been possible before.

Maybe weirdest of all was seeing Skywalker meditate.

Of course, it might have helped that it wasn't just days that General Skywalker was guarding the Senator.

Rex couldn't tell if they were married but he knew they were committed to each other, or at least so in love that it really didn't matter. There was a betting pool going around the 501st and another one on if Commander Tano had or hadn't figured it out yet.

They, they being Commander Tano, himself, and Fives were currently escorting Senator Bail Organa out of the Senate building so he could contact his own wife on Alderaan. As the Queen of Alderaan, Rex had learned, their windows for communication could be very limited. Even now, Bail wasn't truly free as the full Senate was in session, but that's what Bail's secretary was for.

They were in one of the hallways in an alcove, and Rex stood, well not shoulder to shoulder as she was too short, but beside Tano as they turned away from Bail and pretended not to hear their conversation, doing their best to give him the illusion of privacy.

"Breha, Padme thinks we should adopt."

"Bail, we've talked about this, my throne is hereditary, and by our laws, an adopted child would be placed with the burden of the crown as well."

"Then maybe we adopt more than one baby and then whichever child we dee-"

"You know that's not how it works."

"My love, how is adopting a child and having our own any different? Both would start out their lives as babes, and we would love them the same."

"But what if they aren't ready?" she asked.

"We would have your entire life to teach them, and if they aren't ready or not suited, we can advise them to abdicate or change the laws to be more like Naboo's system."

"Alderaanians are wedded to their tradition."

"Breha, you want to be a mother, I want to be a father. What are we waiting for? If we never have a child then the throne passes on to a voted family anyway."

Breha was quiet for a long moment, "I will think on it."

Bail's relieved sigh was audible, "Good. I love you."

"I love you too."

Rex was ready to turn, when Commander Tano let out a cry, "Bomb!"

Rex would never quite understand how her senses worked, but trusting her, he tackled her to the ground as Fives tackled the Senator.

As the world fell down upon them in deafening and blacking measure, his last thought was that he was glad Bail got to say goodbye to his wife, that the last thing he said, was I love you.

Obi-Wan's warning of 'It's a trap' came far too late.

Half the dome of the Senate building had come down, revealing the sky above and all hell breaking loose as the biggest Separatist fleet Mace had ever seen was engaging their forces.

The Force rippled with the panic and fear, and like blood in the water, the chaos attracted more.

Half the Senate building had been destroyed and all coms signals were being blocked on the ground. Above them rained all manner of lights and fireworks.

And the native Coruscantians?

They were panicking.

Because, of course, they were panicking.

Mace was shouting orders, he would be lucky if he had a voice at all by tonight. Personnel were evacuating from the ground floors while hover crafts brought traumatized politician after traumatized politician out of the arena.

This, he knew, would be considered the worst battle of the entire war.

It wasn't, not even close to the worst thing Mace had seen in the last three years, but it would purposely affect the most people in the galaxy.

While many or most Senators were corrupt, other representatives were the best and brightest from their systems.

And the situation wasn't improving as Separatists ships broke through the blockade.

Kit jumped up to his platform, Senator Mon Mothma in his arms, she had a gash across her forehead, her white dress was all but drenched in blood, "The Chancellor is still down there."

Mace half wanted to say leave him, but Palpatine was still the Chancellor of the Republic. "I'll get him, after you get her to a medic transport, start directing people to Westside Hospital, use the second level port."

Kit nodded, already moving.

Mace was not surprised to find both Skywalker and Senator Amidala helping people out from under fallen rubble. Arguably, Skywalker was doing the heavy lifting, but Amidala was keeping people from straight panic as she directed them toward help.

It was so loud, Mace could hardly think, the crying, the screaming, the kriffing building still falling, and now the sound of blaster fire gave what had been a disaster zone the additional appeal of becoming a war zone.

Even under fire, they kept evacuating the building, and the Chancellor, having been in the middle of the stadium, had been at the bottom of a stack of fallen platforms. He was only alive because one platform leaning on another had acted as a shelter.

Sly Moore was unconscious beside him, but his other aid had been pulverized.

Mace took the Umbaran female in his arms and allowed Palpatine to hold onto him for support as they made their way onto the platform that Skywalker was directing.

As one of their better General's Anakin should have been in the skies, but this was the Senate, and getting these people to safety was just as important as stopping the enemy forces.

But Plo and Wolffe could handle it.

And that's what Mace told himself, until they arrived on the half dome, and a voice called out to him.

"We meet again, Master Windu."

Mace almost dropped Moore as he put her down, going for his blade. "Count, a pleasure to have you back in the Republic."

Dooku smirked at him, his one time friend. He had looked up to Dooku almost his entire life. Even now, it broke his heart to see what the man had become.

"The Republic is finished. How fortunate you are to have been there at the eve of its fall and now at its final hour."

Mace ignited his blade, "Do you not grow tired of being wrong?"

Dooku smiled, igniting his own saber to the side, always taunting.

Skywalker jumped over his head, his blue blade clashing down on Dooku's.

Mace almost sighed, the boy had no patience.

"Skywalker," Dooku greeted, "Don't you have pedestrians to save?"

Dooku waved his free hand, and Senator Amidala went soaring off the side of the building.

"PADME!" Anakin bellowed before diving off the building after her.

Dooku looked disgusted, "Jedi, they make it too easy."

Mace launched himself forward.

The Republic would be in chaos after this, a war that had been mainly on the fringes of the galaxy, was now being waged at its heart.

With about half the Senate members dead or injured, the parameters of the war had taken a hard turn.

Mace let himself fade into the fight. He saw Dooku speaking, but he let the sound wash over him. One of Dooku's most useful tactics was verbal assault.

Mace didn't care what the traitor had to say.

Only the Force mattered, the Dark and the Light, and the sharper Dooku struck, the more power Mace was able to redirect.

This was one of the first time's Mace had been able to truly duel a Sith with his Vapaad.

Mace had never felt stronger.

He only noticed peripherally that Palpatine was trying to get to the controls, his injured leg dragging behind him as he slipped to one knee.

If he was a Sith Lord, Dooku's Master Sith, then he was either an actor that should have been playing in the theatres, or he was a pathetic creature who Dooku would usurp.

Another explosion rocked the building, Mace lost his step. He thought Dooku would take advantage.

And he did, only to launch himself at Palpatine who had finally managed to reach the controls.

Palpatine's expression was almost comical as he looked back at Dooku.

Throwing himself backwards, the Chancellor's scream was ear piercing as Dooku's strike that would have killed him cut from his brow to his jaw. But Palpatine had the sense to hit the throttle.

Mace attacked while Dooku's back was turned, because Mace wasn't too proud, it was one of the things he approved of about Anakin Skywalker.

Skywalker had yet to miss an advantage in this war.

Dooku had to leap off the platform carrier, allowing the injured Palpatine to get away and leaving the Count to face Mace.

And their duel lagged on, and Mace was winning, slowly but surely, he wore at Dooku's defence.

In theory, Vapaad like its sister, Jayo was an aggressive offence, but when used against a true Dark Sider, Vapaad was like Soresu, a redirection, a defensive style as much as an offensive one.

If Dooku were ten years younger, he might still have out matched Mace. Dooku was simply that skilled a saber Master.

But then something inexplicable happened.

Dooku's brown eyes shown with amusement as he-

Pulled himself back within the Force.

Mace stumbled, the power of the Dark Side he had been using, gone, and he couldn't call on it himself, not without losing his balance.

But Dooku pressed the attack, not as a Sith Lord, but the Master Jedi he had been.

Mace sped up his blocks out of necessity. Dooku was the Makashi Master, he wasn't aiming for death blows or to slice off his limbs, no, Dooku would use a small series of multiple injuries until he was too hurt to continue.

"How?" Mace asked, "You fell!"

"Are we so unalike?" Dooku asked, the Light rippling about him, giving him a second strength. The night was cold and Mace was growing weary, he'd been using the Force all evening to pull survivors from the wreckage.

Dooku continued speaking when Mace didn't answer, "Unlike my Master, I never lost control."

Mace snarled, "Then you are truly evil."

Dooku smiled, "Are the Jedi so much more important than all other life in the galaxy? A wildfire burns away the old and the dead, the weak and the sick, and in its place grows new life, new hope. The Republic is broken and the Jedi sided with the wrong purpose. You no more serve the Force than you do the peoples of this galaxy."

Mace felt those sobering words, felt them ring true, "Then you should have stayed to fix it."

"I tried, but you ignored me, and Qui-Gon died for it," Dooku said, "The Jedi cannot be saved."

Their blades locked, and Mace said through gritted teeth, "You still are one."

Dooku's smile seemed regret filled, and he almost said too softly to be heard, "Not by choice."

The parted, and Mace raised his saber too high, Dooku's swing should have killed, but another explosion, or maybe it was just the supports giving out, but the roof of the dome gave way beneath them. Mace fell one way and Dooku the other.

It would have made for a fitting end.

A fighter dived toward him, and Mace landed on the arrowed dash. He didn't have to look back to know it was Plo. But when they banked toward where Dooku had been, the Fallen Jedi Master was long gone.

By the time they were head toward to the Temple, the battle had been won with surprisingly few military casualties. Even with the ships he authorized to Ilum, Coruscant had been well defended.

Dooku had been the one to lose a staggering amount of droids and ships.

But none of that would matter to the Senate.

"Connection frequencies are back," Plo's voice came from the com.

Mace nodded his head as the wind cooled the sweat on his scalp, speaking into his com, he said, "Kit, status report."

"The main evacuation of the Senate Building has been complicated, pulling people from the more significant damage now."

"The Temple?"

"Treating wounded, but no successful damage was caused."

Shaak Ti's voice rang clear over the coms, "All orbital fighters have been defeated and repelled, search teams have been sent to clear any remaining droids that may have landed on the surface. Every remaining Separatist vessel that can has retreated."

Mace nodded, and though he was exhausted, he signalled to Plo to return to the Senate building.

Then he began the odious task of sounding off every commanding officer from the top down.

Meeting back up with Skywalker, who looked angry, and Senator Amidala who looked none the worse for wear having been tossed off a building, Mace paused to listen as Skywalker called through his com.

"Commander Tano, Commander Rex, report."

Silence.

"Padawan Tano, report."

They waited.

Amidala put a hand to her lips.

"Ahsoka," Skywalker growled into his com, "Respond to me, damnit."

Amidala shook her head, "She was with Fives and Bail."

Mace flipped over to the records medics, "Windu, has Senator Bail Organa from Alderaan been seen in medical?"

There was a pause and then answer, "No, General, Senator Organa has not been accounted for. However, droids are still data-banking the dead."

Skywalker looked too pale. And he nearly shouted into the coms, "ARC-5555, come in! Fives, respond!"

No response came.

"No, no, no, this can't be happening," Skywalker said, putting a hand to his face, expression distraught.

Mace approached him carefully, waving back Amidala, who backed up reluctantly. "Skywalker, breathe. She is your Padawan, that connection runs deeper than a title. Breathe, still your mind, and you can find her in the Force."

Skywalker sucked in a breath, but his mind seemed to be anything but still.

"She is here with you," Mace instructed, "she is with you, the Force is with you. Let go of your fear, it cannot help her. If you wish to protect the ones you love you must put aside your own needs, your own shortcomings. You are a Jedi, Anakin, and with the Force you are limitless."

Anakin seemed to truly see him then, he swallowed hard, "No one has ever said it like that before."

"The Jedi are not without emotion, a Jedi Knight must feel to be compassionate, but you cannot let your emotions rule you. Breathe, find your Padawan."

Anakin let out a long shaking breathe before closing his eyes and dropping to the rubble stone streets in a mediation pose.

After a few minutes, Anakin opened his eyes.

"What do you sense?" Mace asked, not wanting to lose the young Torgruta girl any more than Anakin did.

Ahsoka Tano was the type of Jedi who might just surpass Qui-Gon and Dooku for her brilliance. She was powerful, if unstable in her understanding of the Force, but unstable in the way Mace himself had been as a Padawan.

She had a tenacity about her that could stretch the limits of what they knew as a people.

But Anakin looked up at him, the hue of his eyes deepened with sorrow, "Darkness, all I sense... all I can see is Darkness."

Mace closed his eyes, and spun as he felt someone approaching with hostile intent.

"Where were the Jedi for this attack?" Captain Tarkin asked, his boots crunching in a pile of broken glass.

"Mace, I'm joining the rescue units," Anakin said from behind him by way of parting.

Mace signalled that he had heard, glancing back at their retreating forms.

"I asked you a question, Jedi, where were the extra battalions?"

Mace felt the exhaustion of the day catch up to him like a blow to his sternum as he contemplated the implications.

Count Kriffing Dooku.

"They were sent to defend Ilum."

Captain Tarkin sneered at him with a raised chin, "I'm certain that what remains of the Senate will be comforted to hear it."

Mace held the bastard's gaze as the pieces fell together.

Dooku likely wanted to kill his Master, the Rule of Two being what it was, but they were still uneasy allies working against the Jedi Order, working to destroy the Republic from within and without.

In his mind, Mace accepted that Palpatine was almost undoubtedly Darth Sidious.

But his hands were tied, he didn't know how to prove it, and he couldn't act on it, not without the entire Republic turning on the Jedi Order.

Kriff.

"What's the problem?" Maul growled in an overly sinister manner.

Asajj rolled her eyes, Were all Sith Lords so grandiose?

When Vizla failed to answer, she asked, "Why are you stopping, Vizsla?"

Vizla shook tapped his fingers on the keyboard, "It would appear that a Star Destroyer just landed to the east and the entire 212th Battalion is disembarking, fully armed, into the landing bay."

Bo-Katan's jaw dropped, the girl looking all of twelve, "What the actual kriff? Satine allows this but denies the Way of the Mandalorians, her own people?"

Vizla shook his head, "Our plan won't work. We don't have the numbers to take them out. Mandalore has joined the Republic."

Asajj shook her head, "No, Kenobi was exiled from the Republic, its been all over the holonet. His battalion must have followed him."

Bo-Koton began searching on her datapad, and she read aloud, "The 212th has been given under the command of Commander Luke Kenobi, Padawan and son of General Obi-Wan Kenobi, whose military status and status within the Jedi Order has been temporarily suspended due to Chancellor Palpatine's exiling him." She paused, "Huh, I didn't think Jedi had kids or family, I mean not any they acknowledge."

Asajj, Savage, and Feral were watching the manic glee darken Maul's expression. "Kenobi has a child?"

Asajj shook her head, and warned the Sith, "If Kenobi has been exiled, if he is no longer a Jedi, he may no longer be beholden to the Jedi Code."

Maul snarled at her, "You fear him?"

She frowned, "I have never known a Jedi with a child, I don't want to find out what Master Kenobi could do if he snaps-" because Jedi breaking at the end as their need for revenge overcame them, that, she had seen, "-he could be worse than Dooku."

"Death Watch isn't going," Vizala announced, "The thugs we hired will not be able to stand up to a clone Battalion."

Maul snarled, "We don't need you." He left toward the back hatch, wisely, none of the Mandalorians tried to stop him.

Savage followed but Asajj caught Feral's arm, and he stopped obediently, "No, my pet, we did not go to all that trouble to save your life to have you die here."

He tilted his head slightly, his golden eyes alight with a child-like curiosity, "Are you so certain they will die?"

Asajj shook her head, "Kenobi isn't stupid. Either his son is stronger than we know or Master Kenobi is willing to break his code to protect him. Otherwise, this Padawan, Luke Kenobi, would have been kept in hiding."

AN: Thoughts or feedback, please?