As much as Anakin would have liked to hop in a fighter and singlehandedly blast the Droid army into oblivion, command held him to higher responsibilities. Deep in his battle meditation, plumbing the depths of the Force nudging each squadron, each ship along the right path willed by the Force, he sensed the shift in the tendrils between time and space the moment it happened. Something momentous had occurred on the planet's surface, and quickly, he felt the beating heart of the battle outside the Liberator come to a halt.

"General," Rex summoned, confused. "It seems the droid army just stopped their attack."

"I sense something unexpected, Rex. Events seem to have changed on Coruscant."

"They're...they're reversing course," Rex said, reading the layout of the battle as it was happening. "They're directing their fire back down towards the planet."

"I'm getting readouts close to the surface," Appo added in the back. "The droid army is converging on the Jedi Temple."

Anakin nodded. "This is an interesting development indeed." He stood up and studied the command room sensors, studying the droid army's pattern of retreat. "Continue the attack. We will destroy them all the easier with their backs turned to us."

"Yes sir," Rex said, issuing the orders. "This seems way too easy. I still don't understand..."

Anakin closed his eyes, returning his focus into the Force. Reaching down onto the trillions of sentients in the capital world, he felt one unique vergence in the Force and immediately connected in to the sudden shift. And he saw that said vergence was on an immediate collision course with the Liberator. Anakin thanked the Force for this unexpected bounty it blessed its Chosen One with.

"I think we'll find out the reason very shortly. Send the reserves and double the assault on the droids. Command Dooku once he arrives to coordinate with the Jedi if possible. They can only hold them off for so long, and we can't let the droids pose a tangible threat to my wife." Walking up to the map, he brushed through the coordinates until he found a small blip, a solitary ship headed their way. "Give this one clearance to dock, and escort the occupant directly to the bridge."

"Yes sir," Appo said, saluting as he left to carry out the Sith's orders.

"What is going on," Mace grimaced as he questioned the Sith Lady, his voice rising as close to anger as he could allow it. Far above, another blast rocked the walls of the Temple as he spoke, and Mace felt the passing in the Force of yet several more Knights. "What game is this you play, woman, that you'd destroy us along with yourself?"

Guarding the former Consular were about a dozen Jedi's ranging from Padawan to Master, the group led by Shaak Ti, a member of the High Council. Accompanied by Obi-Wan, whom Mace was finding increasingly trustworthy in a Temple way too undermanned for this emergency, they had stormed down to the lower cells the moment they received word that the Droid Army had turned against them.

"I wish this were my doing," Padmé responded, laughing at the Jedi, her condescending tone sounding almost disappointed in their accusations. "You are so truly blind to the Force? That you'd actually believe it when you cast your own failings unto others?"

"Anakin then," Obi-Wan asked. "He must have sliced..."

"You know he would do no such thing," Padmé snarled back angrily. "My husband is capable enough to destroy you all without risking my life in the process."

"Your husband is a Sith," Mace answered sternly. "They are known to turn against their own."

His response elicited such a malicious glare from the Sith that he almost winced in response.

"Had I the means I would make you suffer for your blasphemy, you would feel pain you could never imagine!" Padmé hissed out her words. "For now, I can only take pleasure in knowledge to the extent of your shortsightedness, with further conviction that it will result in your doom."

A beep on Obi-Wan's comm interrupted the intense stare down between Sith and Jedi. "It's Bail Organa," he said, answering the unexpected call. "Consular Organa? Do you know what's going on here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Bail's holo image responded, the transmission spotty and inconsistent.

"We're holding out in Bail's old office," Mon added from beside him, "but not sure how much longer before the Droids find us."

"Are they attacking the Temple too," Bail asked.

"They are," Obi-Wan admitted. "We're not sure what happened, but we lost control out of nowhere."

"There was a backup control," Mon said. "From what I gathered from some of the aides here, Fafi had one, but someone killed him for it."

"Chancellor Fafi is dead," Windu asked, eyes wide in shock. "Who? What happened?"

Mon shrugged her shoulders. "No one knows. Someone stabbed him to death with Gunray's ceremonial sword, but not before he initiated the override. I think the droids then reverted to their default orders and freed Nute Gunray. They have control of the entire building now, and I'm pretty sure Gunray thinks the Jedi were the ones who betrayed him, since it was one your Padawans who attempted to arrest him."

"Kriff it," Mace swore. "I'd like to send help, but our hands are tied here."

Bail nodded sadly in resignation. "We understand, Master Jedi. What is happening with the Clone Army?"

Obi-Wan took out his datapad, trying to discern from the screen any sense of logic from the chaos above them. "It appears they are attacking the droid army from the rear."

Mace huffed indignantly. "The boy's come to save us?"

"Not likely," Obi-Wan responded. "I'd guess that our siege won't end with the destruction of the Droids."

"Very well," Mace said after some contemplation. He returned his steely gaze to the two besieged politicians. "Hang in there, Consulars. If they come for you, surrender peacefully. We'll get all this sorted out soon."

"Thank you, Master Jedi." The Consulars ended the transmission, but it seemed clear that neither one of them believed his words that help was coming, though both were prepared to face certain death with dignity. Mace shook his head in exasperation before addressing the Jedi gathered.

"Masters Shaak Ti. Eeth Koth. Master Kenobi and I will watch over the Sith. Take your guard back up to the main levels. We must devote as many resources as we can to the Temple's defense. We cannot let either army breach the interiors. Both droids and clones will slaughter us indiscriminately, younglings and crechelings alongside our Knights."

"Yes, Master Windu."

All but one left the detention level obediently.

"Knight Offee," Mace addressed the young Miralian who did not depart with the rest of her group.

"Master Windu," Barriss responded, no fear in her voice. "This Sith lord was responsible for the death of my Master. I...I want to make sure that she does not escape justice."

Mace narrowed his eyes skeptically, studying the young Jedi. "You are certain of your intentions," he asked, "your feelings?"

"I am, Master Windu."

"One more won't hurt," Obi-Wan said uneasily, noticing how empty the detention block suddenly felt.

"What a fine group of cowards," Padmé taunted from her cell, sitting on the floor cross-legged almost as if she were in one of the Temple's meditation chambers.

"If this is a trick by your husband...," Obi-Wan began, approaching her.

"Master Kenobi," she said almost amusingly, "it seems your promotions come exclusively at the expense of the Sith."

"You seem confident," Obi-Wan observed. Last time he spoke to her, she seemed defiant yet resigned at the same time. But now, there was a new exuberance in her eyes.

"I trust the Force, Masters Jedi."

"As do the Jedi," Mace retorted.

"I trust my husband," Padmé added spitefully. "Lucky for me, he is the Force, incarnate."

"We'll see about that," Obi-Wan muttered, more to himself than to the Sith.

Two clones accompanied the small, spritely Togrutan onto the bridge of the Liberator, and Anakin regarded the young Padawan with amusement.

"Padawan Tano," he addressed her formally. "Your capacity for agitation seems to have no bounds. It seems," he gestured with his hands to the viewport and the chaotic destruction of the Droid Army before them, "that you have thrown quite hydrospanner into the best laid plans of both your Order and mine."

"I just wanted to do the right thing," Ahsoka muttered nervously, looking away from the Sith. "Seems that's a bit tougher than I expected."

"And when did a Jedi believe the right thing is to run to join the Sith," Anakin questioned.

"You've got other Jedi with you," Ahsoka argued back confidently. "Master Dooku, Quinlan Vos, Yarael Poof..."

"Ah Dooku," Anakin interrupted. "His arrival is imminent, though not as much needed thanks to whatever misdeeds you committed below."

"Yeah...," Ahsoka bit her lip, "about that. I have no clue why those droids just flipped like that, but I think Fafi had something up his sleeve before..."

Peering into the girl and sensing her discomfort and shame, not to mention an inordinate and concealed sense of pride, Anakin's lips turned up in a grin. "You killed him?"

"I didn't want to," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "But...I couldn't help it. He...he..."

"He betrayed you," Anakin finished her sentence as the young girl stumbled over her words.

"Yeah...," Ahsoka agreed. "And he...he's an ass too."

Anakin and not a few clones broke out in laughter. "You're wiser than the average Padawan, Snips. But why come to me? You got your revenge. You got your escape."

"I...," the girl seemed uncertain again. "I'm not saying I want to help the Sith...but...I'm not entirely sure about what the Order is doing."

"You disagree with their actions," Anakin asked, clearly intrigued by the girl's doubt.

Ahsoka sighed as she continued her confession. "It seems a bit dirty what they did. And they just abandoned me to Fafi. But...they're still good, most of them. Many of them I still count as friends...I'd like to, at least. I don't want to see them all die. Especially the younglings."

Walking forward, he put his hand gently on the young girl's shoulder.

"I'm not a butcher, Ahsoka. I have no intentions of mass slaughter. But I will do what I have to do to save my wife."

"I didn't think you were," Ahsoka started, gulping even as she spoke, as if wavering in her decision with each alternating word, "if I could help you, if I could lead you to your wife without going through the entire Temple...will you spare them?"

Looking Ahsoka in the eye, Anakin answered her. "The Trade Federation army is being dismantled on both ends. Once they are wiped out, then we have more than enough troopers to secure the Temple. I cannot speak for how your Jedi will respond to those facts once they are presented with them, whether they will fight fruitlessly to the death, or surrender in peace. I assure you that while Padmé and I will defend ourselves, we have no intentions of genocide. Neither do Rex and his brothers."

All the clones nodded reassuringly at Ahsoka at those words. Anakin continued.

"I also promise you that we will not harm the younglings. If the Jedi continues to resist, I am commanding Rex and his men to set their weapons to stun when it comes to them."

"Thank you," Ahsoka said. Part of her felt like she was finally digging the last specks of dirt in her grave as she sealed her deal with the devil. But something inside her seemed to whisper that she could trust Anakin. And that same voice seemed to suggest that he trusted her too. "There's these tunnels, connecting the lower levels of the Temple to...well, the lower levels of the city. Most of the Masters don't even know about them. No one really uses them anymore, they're pretty grimey and disgusting, but several of them lead directly near the cells where your wife is probably being held."

Crossing his arms, Anakin started down at the girl with one raised eyebrow. "And how do you know about all this?"

"I...," Ahsoka hesitated again. But what was the point of holding this little piece of information back, when she had already committed everything else she had? "I used to sneak out sometimes. There's these swoop races they have down on the lower levels..."

She did not anticipate the giant grin that appeared on the Sith's face. Patting her back in almost a paternal gesture, Anakin laughed. "I have a feeling we'll make a good team, Snips."

Shaking her head, she looked over at Rex. "Is he always this snooty," she asked, boldly pointing at Anakin.

Rex laughed again. "Think he amps it up for you, kid."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "Luuuuucky me."

"Pssst, Skyguy!" Ahsoka whispered as she crawled through the dank tunnels underneath the Temple. To her frustration, Anakin was far ahead of her, almost out of earshot.

"You know, my men address me as General Skywalker," a voice echoed back.

"Well I'm not one of your men," Ahsoka shot back indignantly. "I'm just helping you. Once. And that's it."

"And I appreciate it," Anakin said. He seemed to have stopped, and seconds later Ahsoka caught up to him.

"Do you even know where you're going," Ahsoka asked. To be honest, she was less concerned with the welfare of a Sith, and more annoyed that he was so much faster, and leaving her behind.

"I can sense her presence," Anakin replied with far more intensity than she expected. "We are close."

Ahsoka blinked, scrutinizing for the first time the young man before her, not much older than herself. "Force! You really do love her, don't you?"

"I would die a thousand deaths for her," Anakin said without a pause, though a bit too dramatically for her tastes. "This is the longest we've been apart save for that Sern Prime campaign, but we would comm each other at least twice a day whenever we're separated. To not speak to her, not know what she is thinking, whether she is angry, or in pain...," Anakin stopped, as if the concept was more painful than his words could elicit.

"I didn't know Sith were that into love," Ahsoka remarked awkwardly, suddenly feeling very uneasy at this Sith Lord's lovesick pronouncements. "You're worse than even those dumb holodramas Master Fisto secretly likes to watch." She had read about the two for years of course, ever since their involvement on Ryloth. While by all accounts they appeared to be a devoted couple, once the Sith revelation came out Ahsoka figured the relationship was mostly an image thing, that the two were in reality using each other, as did many of her friends in Temple. Apparently she was wrong.

Anakin shrugged, seemingly changing the subject suddenly back to her. "The Jedi will never take you back. Not after what you did, not after what you are doing now."

"No," Ahsoka admitted. She figured that her time with the Jedi was over the moment they left her rot in Fafi's cells. Before that even, perhaps when she made the decision to approach him in the first place. But Ahsoka didn't appreciate the Sith rubbing her face in it.

"Imagine Padmé and I anoint you now a Sith. Then we both immediately die. What would you do?"

"I guess," she thought carefully, "I guess I would do what I want to do. Be like a Jedi, but...the way I'd want the Jedi to be."

"I was not that much younger than you, and Padmé not much older, when we ended up in that position."

Ahsoka considered his words again. "And you chose not to become blood thirsty monsters."

"For the most part," Anakin replied with a sly grin, before disappearing once more into the tunnels.

"Damned Sith, always showing off," Ahsoka muttered to herself as she hurriedly scurried, keeping pace, arriving at a vent not long afterwards.

"We're below the cafeteria, near the trash receptacles," Ahsoka said, probing through the Force to see if there were any Jedi nearby. The area seemed empty, as the entire Order was clearly occupied trying to ward off the droid army above seemingly hell bent on destroying the entire temple. "The food prep halls lead to the bacta storage units, and the detention cells are above."

Pushing the vent open with the Force, Anakin looked back at the young girl. "I thank you sincerely, Padawan. You have done an invaluable service to both your kind and mine." He motioned into the tunnels back where they came from. "Now get out of here. You don't want to see what's coming next."

He was surprised Ahsoka's indignant reaction. "Force, what are you talking about, Skyguy? I've gone this far, I'm going to see this thing through!"

Anakin shook his head. "This isn't fun and games, kid. I'm going to fight Jedi. Kill them, in all likelihood."

Ahsoka scoffed. "It wasn't fun and games when I tried to arrest Nute Gunray either. I don't do half measures, Skyguy. And who knows? Maybe I'm precisely the one to talk you and the Masters away from bloody murder."

Anakin smiled at the girl skeptically. "I wish, young one. Padmé and I thought the same once too. But confrontation is inevitable."

"You have plenty of Jedi serving you," Ahsoka continued, protesting, though sensing that she was losing the battle. "Masters Dooku and Vos and Poof and all of them, and they're all in better standing with the Council than me!"

"They are adults, secure in their own galactic reputations, who made their own choice. Yoda and Windu are hedging their bets, still. I imagine Dooku and his companions will have plenty to answer to before the Council if the Jedi do prevail tonight."

"I don't know, Anakin," Ahsoka stared at the ground, unsure of how she could continue to press her case. "This just feels right. I've done so much against the Council already. It's not that I hate them, I don't...but I...I don't think you're all that bad. And I don't want to see you die."

Anakin shrugged, close to relenting. He could keep arguing, but valuable minutes were passing as they talked, and it was clear that he couldn't get rid of the little Padawan that easily. "Fine. If you want to burn the last bridge between you and the Order, so be it. They won't forgive you for helping me personally."

"Maybe I don't care," Ahsoka ventured. She surprised herself as she said the words, but she also didn't regret them either.

As Anakin considered the weight and implications of her words, he realized that it was too risky letting Ahsoka tag along. The young one was too spritely, too unpredictable, as clearly evidenced by everything she had already done. He could not afford unpredictability at this time.

"You're unarmed. It will be too dangerous." Having changed his mind on the brink of being persuaded, it was clear now that his words brooked no further room for debate, and Ahsoka sighed, knowing that she was not going to win this argument against a Sith Lord.

"Good luck with your wife Skyguy," she whispered, patting him gently on the elbow. "Try not to kill too many Jedi."

She watched as the young Sith nodded once in acknowledged before disappearing as the lift doors closed.

The few seconds he had to himself in the lift gave Anakin a chance to gather his thoughts. It was so tantalizing, he could feel his wife so close now...and there was something to her Force presence as well. But he couldn't give in to indulgence though, knowing it would take every fiber of his being and then some to be able to defeat the entire Jedi Order. He did not want to fight them. Like Padmé, their hatred was reserved for those in the galaxy who truly deserved it: slavers, Hutts, crime lords, the Banking Clans and Techno Union oligarchs he just swore to Rex that he would destroy...no, the Jedi were an annoyance, to be sure, but he did not hate them. Not even Obi-Wan. He did not want to duel him, Anakin realized. It felt wrong.

Five lightsabers simultaneously ignited the moment the lift doors opened, and Anakin took an inventory of his foes. Obi-Wan and Windu, he expected. There was a younger Miralian too, someone his age. Barriss Offee, he remembered, the girl having been Luminara Unduli's Padawan on Cato Neimodia. He felt hatred and fear emanate from her the moment her eyes set upon him. Good, he thought. That could be of some use.

"Ani," Padmé called eagerly the moment they felt each other's presence. Though she knew he could come, she still couldn't help feeling pure delight the moment she saw his face, vindicating her belief and confidence in him. She struggled fruitlessly against her restraints, hating how helpless she was, how, after years of planning and acting, there was nothing she could do except watch events unfold passively. She couldn't even blow him a kiss. She could only voice to him her undying faith. "I love you Ani. Whatever happens, you know that. And I know you'll make fools out of these Jedi."

"Anakin," Obi-Wan interrupted as the hatred crept into Padmé's voice, his green saber held firmly in front of him as the young Jedi crouched into a fighting stance, "we don't have to do this."

"I agree," Anakin retorted, smirking. "Let my wife go, and I will call off the Clone attack. You can deal with the droids yourself." He took a two steps forward, taking inventory of the spacious quarters in which the three Jedi positioned themselves between him and Padmé. "Better yet, offer Padmé a full and public apology, and I'll have Rex continue to press on until the Droids are destroyed. He and Master Dooku will be getting there soon themselves, anyway."

"You know we can't do that, Skywalker." It was Mace this time who spoke, his purple weapon hanging by his side almost casually. "Your false promises no longer hold sway."

"Believe me. Or don't. It's the lives of your own Jedi you are risking. Without word from me, my army will sweep through the Temple the moment they are finished with the droids, until they reach us down here."

"They will try," Mace said firmly. "They may succeed, they may not. But they will find nothing to salvage here."

Anakin narrowed his eyes menacingly as they started to glow yellow. "Are you insinuating that once you are done with me, you will murder Padmé in cold blood?"

"Of course not," Obi-Wan said with disgust. "We do not slaughter unarmed prisoners."

"Then you will die facing my army, and Padmé will triumph regardless. I will be glad of my sacrifice towards that end."

"Nonsense," they all heard the older Sith shout from behind. "Ani won't die, he will destroy you all."

"He is outnumbered," Obi-Wan remarked harshly, his voice almost pleading, trying to will reason into the two Siths. "He faces a Knight and two Masters of the Council, surely you both can see that!"

"Surrender to the Sith is not an option," Mace said, grabbing his weapon now with both hands and holding it horizontally before his shoulders, as if bracing for an imminent attack. "We can only trust that the will of the Force prevails."

"I'd like that," Anakin snarled, leaping into the fray eyes closed, using nothing but the Force to acclimate himself to the furious slashes coming his way from every direction. As he fought blindly, he let the Force speak to him, discerning the tactics and patterns of each opponent sight unseen, and adjusted his every movement solely towards fending off the attacks.

From Offee he sensed a rage and impatience that was all too predictable. From Mace Windu, the predictable unpredictability of his thrusts, as the senior Jedi utilized his unique Vaapad fighting style to strike snakelike against his defenses and keep him off balance. From both these Jedi he sensed a flirtation with darkness, realized or unrealized, sloppy or precise, and he adjusted his defenses accordingly, letting himself get pressed, allowing the two to imagine that they were gaining an advantage over him.

From Obi-Wan, however, he felt nothing. Nothing except cold, dispassionate, and lethal intent. His strikes came less often, but with more precision than the other two, ones that Anakin found himself straining to fend off most of all. Allowing the three Jedi to encircle him, he found his own defensive maneuvers easier, needing less distance between each parry as he twirled his body continuously, spinning around in the deadly dance, his lightsabers constantly striking back and forming an almost impenetrable perimeter against his opponents.

Sensing an escalation of both impatience and exhaustion from Offee, he struck, ducking over a vicious hack at his neck and, still holding on to his saber, sending a short but vicious burst of Sith lightning at her. The young Jedi was able to react in time to block the brunt of the attack with her saber, but screamed still in pain as the sheer intensity of the attack overwhelmed her last minute attempt at defense, and the Miralian found herself hurled back against an empty cell. Facing only two Jedi now, Anakin went on the offense, slashing at Mace and Obi-Wan furiously, each strike echoing through the Force with the sheer strength only a Chosen One of the Force could muster, and he watched with satisfaction as both Masters' shoulders quaked at each defensive blow. His movements became less predictable as he criss crossed each jab and parry, his sabers dancing through the room as if in a death stick fueled frenzy, zigging left and right, zagging up and down, his torso contorting impossibly with every half step as he pushed the two Jedi towards one of the empty cells next to Padmé.

"Still think me a child, Master Kenobi," he taunted effortlessly as he noticed the Jedi wearing down, particularly the older Windu. Narrowing his eyes at him, he addressed the senior Jedi directly. "Depa Bilaba was your Padawan, was she not?" The Korun Jedi did not respond verbally, but Anakin could tell from his movements and the added intensity of his strikes that he his words had made an impact, so he continued. "She murdered her fellow Jedi, Master Sifo-Dyas, in cold blood. But I avenged him. Do you know what she did when I choked the life out of her?"

Somersaulting backwards away from the two furious Jedi, he shouted as his body was suspended in the air. "She shit herself."

As he landed next to the barely conscious Barriss, with Mace charging furiously, he pivoted his left shoulder across his body with deathly aim at the younger Knight. As he predicted, Mace dove face forward to fend off Barriss's death blow...fatally leaving the rest of his body open to Anakin, whose red blade on his right hand twisted up and around his left arm, his entire body spinning through the air as his blade pierced the Jedi's spine, emerging cleanly through his chest. A quick and sharp bellow of pain and disappointment, and Mace fell dead next to Barriss, who Anakin stabbed rapidly through her chest in good measure.

He turned his attention to Obi-Wan, who had just watched both his companions die within seconds. Anakin could feel the unrest within his heart as well, though he hid it better than his fellow Jedi. Pointing both his lightsabers at the ground at a downward angle, he addressed his old friend.

"I didn't want to kill them, but I can say at least they died quickly. And honorably. You don't have to fall victim to their fate."

Showing no fear, Obi-Wan brandished his weapon calmly back at the Sith. "Nothing is predetermined. And I have no plans on becoming a victim."

"No you don't," Anakin responded calmly. "Always the unassuming aggressor, aren't you, Kenobi?"

Without warning, he rushed forward and attacked the Jedi with a furious onslaught of barrages, his dual lightsabers flying so quickly that they were nothing but a blur of blue and red for any casual observer, yet Anakin noted with frustration the complete lack of progress he was making. Not only was Obi-Wan almost effortlessly reacting to every jab he had, but the damned Jedi managed to not just evade his slashes, but identify and strike at his vulnerabilities in between movements, forcing him on defense even as he pressed ahead.

He's using my aggression against me, Anakin realized, and slowed down the tempo of his movements, letting his sabers dance around him, enough to keep Obi-Wan on the defensive, but tempting the Jedi to strike against him. Sure enough, Obi-Wan did so, but Anakin realized that the man was not trying to cut him in half with one slice as he had been, but rather taking aim at his wrists and elbows, patient movements more easily gained that would never the less seriously disable him and end the fight. Adjusting to the flow of the duel, Anakin twirled his weapons, swinging further arcs around the Jedi, expanding the range of area Obi-Wan needed to defend with his sole saber, forcing him to reach further and further with each defensive parry. And knowing that he held the advantage in sheer power, Anakin managed to land each blow, however fleeting, with impossible strength and intensity, noticeably wearing down the Jedi with each continuing second.

Sensing the danger, Obi-Wan fell to the ground, kicked viciously at Anakin, forcing the young Sith to jump up and giving himself time to roll backwards several feet. Rising again, both assailants on their feet once more, they gauged each other after this first round of single combat.

"You cannot win," Anakin said, trying to give the Jedi yet another chance to save his own life. "I am stronger, I am faster, and I will prevail." Something about dueling Obi-Wan felt impossibly wrong, which Anakin chalked up to their brief bond as Master and Padawan, not thoroughly dissolved by the Force just yet. Yet something about their fight felt also nauseously right, that even if their duel defied the Force itself, it was nevertheless destined to occur so no matter what path each individual chose. But, remembering his promise to Quinlan, and feeling his own distaste for the amount of blood shed already today, Anakin wished fervently that the Jedi would see reason and relent.

"Yet I will continue on," Obi-Wan replied defiantly, hiding the exhaustion in his words. "What use would the Jedi be to the galaxy if we surrendered in the face of every lost cause?"

"Don't lecture me about the justification of causes, Obi-Wan," Anakin shot back, feeling his anger rise again against the grain of his more merciful inclinations. "Was my mother a lost cause, Obi-Wan? Would you have let her toil in slavery?"

"I don't know," Obi-Wan conceded with shocking honesty. "I was young when Qui-Gon died. Perhaps too young to train a student of your abilities. But what mistakes I may have made do not justify the greater evil of the Sith."

"So stubborn are you," Anakin asked, "that you still refuse, even in the end, to entertain the idea that the Sith have changed?"

"Based on everything I've personally witnessed," Obi-Wan replied defiantly, "I'm not willing the risk the fate of the galaxy on the empty promises of two strangers."

His rebuke stung Anakin, even though there was no reason for it to have. Deciding that further talk was fruitless, he went to launch himself for a final, fatal assault on the Jedi when they both felt through the Force yet another ripple, a foreboding sense of danger.

In between them and the danger, however, was a young Togruta girl who burst into the room. "Anakin," she yelled. Seeing Obi-Wan, she instinctively reverted to her deferential Padawan reflexes. "Master Kenobi. Consular Amidala," she nodded to the detained Sith, acknowledging everyone present, noting gravely the bodies of the two dead Jedi on the ground before pointing back towards the lift. "The droids...they've breached the tunnels! One of them must have seen our approach...and there's an entire squadron on their way!"

"Sith kriff," Anakin swore angrily. In his intense focus on taking down the three Jedi keeping him from Padmé, he had neglected his senses for any other areas of danger. Now, both he and Obi-Wan both felt too late the ominous approach of ever more battle droids. Without warning, Obi-Wan somersaulted himself high into the air, landing backwards onto a large crate on the opposite side of the detention hall from Padmé.

"Don't try it," he warned sternly. "I have the high ground."

Studying the stern, resolute look in the Jedi's grey blue eyes, Anakin understood immediately his intentions. While Obi-Wan would never kill an unarmed prisoner...he was prepared to let one die nevertheless. Bound and defenseless, Padmé Amidala, Lady of the Sith, was no match for a squadron of battle droids. And the unyielding yet sorrowful expression in his eyes told Anakin all that he needed to know, that if he turned away to fend off the droids, Obi-Wan would engage him, and distract him long enough for the droids to achieve their deadly aim. He could toss one of his lightsabers to Ahsoka, but able as she was, there was no guarantee that she could take on an entire squadron singlehandedly, and all that would accomplish was to lessen both their odds at survival.

With time running out, Anakin made his decision. He jumped, flipping through the air as he heaved himself upwards at the Jedi, and cried out as his body convulsed at the sheer intensity of the pain.

1saaa: Poor Ahsoka keeps finding herself more and more entangled with this conflict :( As for Anakin, he realizes that this, in a way, is his final trial, and while he is happy letting Padmé take the lead most of the time, he's also learning to enjoy taking on a leadership role.

Paul Lenzen: Thanks! Gunray is his usual stupid self, but he seems to have made things a bit more difficult for both Jedi and Sith. And yes, the Jedi will prevail against the Droids, but not without casualties.

Nightshade's sydneylover150: And I'm afraid you'll have to keep praying through at least another chapter :o

Praetor-Canis: Seems like that's what's happening, yet somehow Anakin and Obi-Wan just can't get through the Prequel era without a fight to the death!