Anakin was still trying to get used to his new limbs, the constant mechanical noise of his own breath, the ill-fitting machine he was now encased in. Ahsoka had brought him to her sister's palace, with said sister having overseen the admittedly quite rushed surgeries to save his life. The real question was whether he had wanted his life to be saved at all. He had lost everything. He had lost now two wives, his home, all his children, his stepbrother, his limbs, even his voice. What did he have left to live for? Was he born only to suffer? It began to lightly rain, the water hitting his helmet and running down his mask. He couldn't feel the cool or the wet, only hear the pitter patter of the droplets landing on his mobile prison, see the trails of water forming on his red field of view. Standing stock still, the only way he could avoid the constant pinching and jabbing of the machinery that had been quickly slapped together from decades-old parts. If he wanted to, he could probably work on it to give himself even a modicum of comfort, but why even bother? He had failed, and this was punishment. He deserved it.

Ahsoka stood not too far away from him. She could feel the waves of self-loathing pouring from him. Opening her umbrella, she walked towards her old Master to give him some level of comfort, even if it only meant standing in silence next to him. As she stood next to him, his new form looming over her, towering above her montrals, cape whipping around him in the wind. He looked like a dark specter hovering over her, his own pain anchoring him to the mortal plane. For a second, she wondered if saving him was really the right thing. Would he have wanted it? Wanted to keep living like this. The mechanical inhalations brought her back to the real world however, the world where she did save him. "Are you alright?"

Anakin stood in silence.

Ahsoka looked back towards the ground. "You had been standing here for a while, and the suit hasn't been fully waterproofed yet. We tried our best with what we had, but it was kind of last minute."

Anakin stood in silence.

Ahsoka stood in silence.

"Why?" he barely whispered

"Hmm?"

"Why did you save me?"

"Master, I knew you were in danger from our link. I-"

"Why did you not save them."

"Oh..." Ahsoka realized. "I tried, but when I got there, it was already ash. They were gone. You almost were too."

"Who did you go to first?"

"Your family," she lied. "I went to try and help them out against Windu's Shadows, but they were already dead by the time I came out of hyperspace. I sensed that you were just barely hanging on and ran towards you as fast as I could."

Anakin stood in silence once more. Several minutes passed between them. "Ahsoka..."

"Anakin?"

"You are a terrible liar."

The words were so cold she felt their chill running up her spine. She didn't need to see his face to know the pain they carried, the anger they barely contained. She watched as he turned around and walked back towards the palace where he had been sheltering. He wasn't sure what to do with himself now. All he knew was that he wanted to kill Windu, no, not even that was enough. The Force raged around him like a whirlwind. A hurricane of hatred swirling about his encased form. He could hardly blame Ahsoka for saving him over at least some of his family. If their positions had been swapped, he would have likely gone for her over her family too, but that didn't make the pain go away. It didn't get him out of this damned suit. It didn't bring his sons and daughters back. As he walked through the halls of what had apparently been Dooku's old castle, he banged his head on the low doorframe to the old throne room.

At least he was taller.

Jinn awoke in a small, dark cell. He took a shallow, shivering breath and licked his dry lips as he rolled off of what felt like a rock barely lifted off the ground. Barely a crack for a window he tried standing to see where he was, only to find his hands were chained to his knees, and he could barely stand over a low crouch. He tried using the Force to reach out into his surroundings only to find his connection had been severely limited. Noticing the blue bands that were his shackles, "Force Binders."

"Made specifically for containing Jedi," a silken voice replied from the opposite corner of the room, "Or Sith Acolytes."

Jinn's eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness surrounding him, but he could recognize the voice. The fire. He tried to lunge at the Shadow, only for his bindings to tighten and contort him into a ball once more as he fell to his knees, practically bowing at her feet. She slammed a boot into the back of his head and stood with her heel digging into the base of his skull, getting down on one knee and forcing as much of her weight on his neck as possible, "I lost a lot of friends to catch you for my Master. You are going to tell me everything I want to know, Jinn Skywalker."

"Why should I?" he barely choked out, breathing becoming harder and harder to accomplish.

"Let's just say I can make myself very convincing," she chuckled, igniting a blade of her saber and lightly brushing her captive's shoulder blade with it. As Jinn cried out in pain, Septa took her boot off his neck. "I wonder, where on your body could I carve my initials best. Unless of course, you want to cooperate."

"Even if I did know anything," he panted, "I'll never tell you."

"We'll see about that," Septa teased, making a quick jab at Jinn's thigh.

He had not inherited his father's pain tolerance, that much was certain, as the half-second poke brought out a guttural yell, much to his tormentor's sadistic pleasure. Grinding his teeth together he hissed at her, "I don't even know what it is you want."

"The locations of the remaining traitors."

"I don't know!" Jinn shouted, not that he would have told her anyway, but it was a comforting thought that even if he did crack, he couldn't give away anything anyway.

"We'll see about that," Septa cooed. She was going to enjoy this.

Leia crawled across the sand, nursing her wounded arm, missing its hand. At least the Tatooine dunes weren't sweltering at night. She had no idea which was she was going or where Mos Espa was, all she knew was that she had to find water soon. She had found a small oasis spring earlier and had drank her fill there, but it turned out to be a Tusken holy site, and she was quickly chased off when they found her there after coming to perform a ritual. They were pursuing her still, she sensed it. She did not enjoy being hunted. She hadn't eaten in several days, and only had a few drops of that Tusken shrine water left in her canteen. Off in the near distance she heard the war cries as the Sand People followed her. If she were able to find some hole to hide in, perhaps she could wait on the Raiders to run past her and she could get to sleep. She didn't even have her lightsaber anymore to defend herself with if they caught up with her.

Gràinne looked over the map of the galaxy rolled out on the table before her. On Naboo, resistance against the Republic was still burning strong, but disorganized. Imperial, or just anti-Jedi, sympathies dominated among the locals, but they had been crushed under the Republic's new weapons. Perhaps she could lead an assault to claim the planet for the Empire? Resistance to the occupation would likely be minimal. She shook her head, "Tha cus ann dhomh a làimhseachadh an seo. Is dòcha gum b 'urrainn dhomh Darth Sadista a chuir airson a dhèanamh dhomh?" She couldn't do everything herself after all, otherwise what would even be the point of having an entire Sith Order? Still, maintaining control over what was, admittedly, hundreds of power-hungry sociopaths was becoming more and more difficult. She could certainly trust those who had personally proven their loyalty and devotion to her time and again such as Vengeance, Iustitia, Desolata, but she had already had an attempted coup. Giving any she could not trust beyond the slightest semblance of a doubt an army tocommand would be suicidal and lead to a Jedi victory. Her thoughts toward her sister and niece, fine Jedi warriors in their own right, if the training sessions she had observed were any indication, though she would never admit such aloud, and certainly no friends of her new enemies. Had Ahsoka not said that there were several Schismatic Jedi in hiding? Her lips twitched upwards as she turned to face a droid. "Faigh dhomh mo chamara holografach. Feumaidh mi clàradh a dhèanamh agus a chraoladh."

Obi-Wan had sat and listened to Satine screaming at their son for five hours straight. He was honestly impressed that her voice hadn't given out yet, and that Djarin knew better than to argue back. Clearly, he learned something at the Academy. It was almost a relief when his commlink chirped, he wanted something, anything to get this to end. He opened the message to reveal a Togruta woman in Baskar armor styled in the way of ancient Sith Stalkers.

Well, he did say anything.

"This is a message for any and all remaining Jedi who are being hunted down by your Republic," she began, "It would seem that your former comrades appear tae think that you're allied to us. Well, I offer ye the chance tae make it so, the coordinates to Talamh are embedded in this message, and we'll welcome any Jedi fleeing persecution with open arms. What chance do ye have otherwise? Together, Sith and Jedi, we can bring an end to those tyrants who hunt ye for sport and bring order to a chaotic galaxy. I hope ye make the smart choice." With that, the message ended, showing only the coordinates for Talamh: the central planet of the New Sith Empire.

Satine's eyes were wide as dinner plates as the message that just played in his hand, as well as those of thousands of others across the galaxy. It was hardly a private broadcast, and within hours the entirety of the galaxy would see this message and know of its sender. There was no Jedi Purge anymore; now, it was galactic-scale war.