Chapter 6: First Coruscant
The virus had reached Coruscant.
It was the only explanation for the quarantine, the security, the feeling of pure horror that buzzed through the Force.
Anakin immediately pushed the throttle to full speed so that the Twilight was speeding towards Coruscant as fast as possible. Obi-Wan was still stunned at the new revelation, and could only watch as his partner slipped into near madness from panic.
When they entered the atmosphere of the magnificent planet, both Jedi's eyes widened and their blood ran ice cold.
Police hovercrafts were everywhere. It was obvious that the entire planet was in a state of horror, there was an entire line of ships struggling to get out of the atmosphere while security tried checking everyone attempting at keeping everything is some sort of the order. Flames could be seen in the Underworld. They're trying to burn out the disease, Obi-Wan thought grimly, taking a deep breath so that he finally found his voice. "Anakin, we have to get to the Temple."
"I know. I'm already taking us there." The younger man's voice was shaking, and Obi-Wan could sense the distress coming off him in violent waves, a tsunami crashing through the Force. "Anakin, I know how you are feeling right now, but we must remain calm if we're to stop this thing before it gets any farther."
Anakin nodded quickly. "I know, Master."
"They may have it under control."
It was a fruitless suggestion. And they both knew it.
Anakin shook his head, lowering his eyes as he gripped the steering controls. "I can't gain contact with Ahsoka or…" He wanted to say "Padme", but stopped himself. It didn't end the heavy weight that crippled his breathing or his speeding heart, though. Oh please, let them be alright. Obi-Wan, Padme, and Ahsoka were the three people that he had sworn to give his life for, despite the Code against attachments. Please Force…
"I'm sure she's alright, Anakin." Obi-Wan truly wanted to believe his own words, he wanted to so badly.
The Twilight flew over to where the Jedi Temple seemed to be just as bad as the rest of Coruscant. Ships were packed tightly around it, and it seemed that the main hanger had been opened as a public area to help people get off-world. Moving figures could be seen trafficking inside, and Anakin quickly found a place to land the ship. Both Jedi were out of their seats a quarter-second later.
As they burst from the ship and ran towards the Temple entrance, their quick walks turned into a desperate run. They were flying over the concrete pavement, using the Force to help aid their speed. They needed answers, explanations… Anakin wanted his Padawan, Obi-Wan wanted information.
They had been forced to park a quarter mile away, so as they ran, Obi-Wan had time to look around in disbelief. The sound of sirens and faint explosions filled the air, along with a musty, death-filled stench. Nine hours – this all happened in nine hours! He paused for a split second to glance downwards to the street level, and noticed it was completely abandoned. No one was here, and Obi-Wan guessed they were all part of the mob that was either in the Temple or at one of the stations, trying to get away from the terror that must be contaminating the Underworld. That was where he assumed the virus had struck first, from the look of things.
What happened?
Who else had been infected? Only the Jon Doe? Than how had it spread?
They practically broke down the large Temple doors as they entered. Immediately, they noticed the eerie difference.
The silence.
Not a soul was anywhere in the front halls, which were unusual. "They must be near the back," Obi-Wan panted. "Because I saw people in here. They're probably near the hangers."
Anakin nodded, also trying to catch his breath. "Alright – there are two ways to get back there. I'll take the right corridor, you go through the Halls of Healing. We need to find someone."
"Okay."
The two friends split up, and Anakin forced his trembling legs back into a run as he tore through various hallways, trying to reach the back. He honed into his senses… Yes, he could sense beings inside the Temple, but so far he had physically seen no one.
However, as he ran closer and closer to the hangers, he began picking out the noises of shouting, protesting, and lots of banging. The sounds grew louder until his ears were filled with the sound of a rioting throng. As he entered the first hanger, he found himself face to face with a horde of angry, panicked people, the citizens of Coruscant all screaming at the top of their lungs. He spotted Master Windu standing on top of a speeder, trying to calm everyone down in vain. Clone troopers were positioned everywhere around the hanger, and Anakin noticed several of the ships were already starting to fly out.
He just stared at the scene before finding Jason, standing in a corner of the room, typing something on a data-pad. "Jason! Over here! Jason!"
The red-headed Jedi looked up to see his friend, eyes wide. "Anakin?!" He immediately forced his way through the crowd and over to them.
The two met each other in the hall just outside of the hanger. "Jason, what's happened? We just managed to get back…"
"Anakin." Jason's green eyes held a strange gleam… Fear. "That theory of yours about the virus and the mutants… You were right. Oh Force, you were right. Dr. Fuzio…"
The doctor's name once again sent Anakin's heart racing. "Wait – where's Ahsoka?! She was with Fuzio doing the autopsy…"
Jason quickly placed a hand on the younger Jedi's shoulder, trying to calm him down. "She's safe, Anakin!" he cut him off. "She's in the Underworld now, with Master Plo. They're evacuating the lower levels. Thank the Force she wasn't hurt. Neither was Inya, the doctor's assistant."
"What happened?"
"Ahsoka told me all three were working on the body when Fuzio seemed to have a dizzy spell. He shrugged it off as a headache, but upon Inya's insistence, he went to lay down in the lounge area of the hospital for a while…"
Jason's voice got lower as he continued. "…Ahsoka said about an hour later, she felt a disturbing presence in the Force. That's when Inya told her that Fuzio had cut himself with a piece of the Jon Doe's bone. He'd disinfected it; but Ahsoka, thank the Force, knew better. She had Inya bar the door, just as Fuzio came screaming and stumbling down the hall, his skin all grey and his eyes bleeding…"
"…There were screams and chaos as Fuzio attacked his secretary, and then some fellow doctors. Ahsoka helped Inya climb out the window, and then they contacted the police. But by the time they had arrived… The infected had managed to escape the hospital and invade the Underworld. The disease spread fast, faster than we had first anticipated."
Anakin felt a chill run up his spine. "Do you know how the infection spreads?"
Jason nodded gravely. "A bite. Ahsoka said Fuzio bit his secretary on the neck, and about ten minutes later, she was one of… them."
The entire Temple rocked as an explosion could be seen from the Underworld level 2. Sirens blared.
xXx DATE: 5/10/45876 (Five Months Later) xXx
Anakin sat down next to Jason, who was just switching off his comlink. "Still doing those logs?"
Jason replied with a nod, and then looked out towards the horizon. His eyes landed on the silhouette of the Temple, and he frowned. "People need some way to know what happened here."
Anakin drew his knees to the chest, and shivered slightly despite the warm breeze that blew through Coruscant. From their position on the rooftop of Standards hospital, they could see a good portion of the once majestic planet.
"Do you think they're still okay?" the Knight spoke up finally, voice just a whisper. "On Naboo, I mean. Think the virus still hasn't reached there?"
"I think we'd feel it if something had happened," Jason replied slowly.
"I wish we had some way of contacting them."
A brief pause. "We all do."
"Think we'll ever find a real cure for this thing?"
Jason took his time thinking of a true but not dismaying reply. "We have to keep hoping. If we lose hope in the cure and in Naboo… then we lose our last reasons to live."
xXx DATE: 1/01/45876 (Four Months Earlier) xXx
/Everyone, please keep in single file! Any disorderly conduct will not be tolerated, and will be dealt severe consequences! Single file! Be prepared to either show a written evaluation from medical staff, or undergo a physical exam!/
The mechanical voice rang across the landing docks thanks to an advanced speaker and security system that had been rigged up. Thousands of civilians were crowded into that one tiny space port, hoping to get off world before the infection reached the surface of Coruscant.
The Underworld was being torn apart by the savage mutants (nicknamed mutts by the media). Because that part of the planet was lost anyway, fires were being set all over in hopes of controlling the virus's contamination rate.
It wasn't working.
Every once in a while a person would show up, trying to sneak off world; and then they would be caught with an infected wound or a small bite in their flesh. Those people would immediately be hauled into gunships, screaming and kicking before being flown off to 'be dealt with'.
You never saw those people again.
Rumors spread. "The Republic caused the virus!" or "They're using the mutants as experiments for super soldier clones!" Typical tabloid drab. But that didn't mean they went unnoticed. For a panicked people, any information was soaked up like water to a dry sponge – and the Council and Senate were faced with angry mobs of scared citizens looking for answers.
Chancellor Palpatine and most of the Senate had been the first to be evacuated, along with most of the Jedi Council. Security droids were really the only one's keeping full, blown-out terror. Clones had gone MIA and AWOL. No nearby planets were willing to offer assistance out of fear of the virus coming to their own homes.
The evacuation lasted three weeks. By the time New Year rolled around, it was taking every ship, weapon, and fighting force available to keep the mutts from reaching the last few available space ports.
Coruscant was dead. No. Coruscant was home for the undead, which was what a few thought the mutants were. Zombies.
Anakin Skywalker had seen many horrific things during his career as a Jedi; but never had he witnessed the destruction of an entire planet, all at once. He saw a skyscraper crash to the ground one dusk, watched the entire thing get overrun with those creatures before bombers blew the base of the thing. It was like it was in the holo-vids, with the special effects and digital editing.
But it wasn't a movie. It was his home, which was gone now, probably forever.
It took 9 hours for this entire planet to be wiped out.
The nightmares were ripping sleep away from his exhausted mind. More vivid, more traumatizing. Mostly about the virus, but Death and her chilling smile was still there, in the darkest corners of his mind. Laughing at him.
"You can't stop me, Chosen One."
He couldn't. He couldn't stop any of it.
What was the point of being the Chosen One then?
There were very few Jedi still on world. Obi-Wan, himself, Ahsoka, Windu, and one or two Knights. All the others had left with the citizens to help find them new homes and continue the research on the infection. So far, a cure seemed like nothing more than a distant, impossible dream. The virus was spreading too fast, too far.
At least Padme's safe.
xXx DATE: 12/25/45875 (One Week Earlier) xXx
"Anakin, come with me."
The pretty brunette senator clung to her (secret) lover, her hands clutching his sleeves as he held her close.
"I can't," he said regretfully. Oh, how he wished he could just run away with her, away from the war and this new disease and everything that threatened their love… "I have to stay with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. We have to oversee the evacuation."
Tears began spilling from her eyes, and she suddenly flung herself into his embrace, sobbing. Anakin stared at her with wide-eyes as he comfortingly stroked her hair. "Padme, what's wrong? I'll be okay, I'll leave as soon as the evacuation is over… Padme, please stop crying. You're trembling, Padme, talk to me, please!"
"I-I can't lose you, not now, not to this thing," the Naboo senator stammered between sobs. "Oh, please come away with us, Anakin! Don't stay here! It's too dangerous, the infection…"
"Wait." Slowly, gently, he pushed her away so he could stare into her chocolate satin eyes with a confused mask. "Us? Padme…"
She looked up at him, and hung her head. "I need you Anakin. I need you more than ever…"
"…Ani, I'm pregnant."
xXx DATE: 1/01/45876 (One Week Later) xXx
"Anakin, come on…"
The young Hero with No Fear looked up to see Obi-Wan standing in the doorway of the small police station, the dim lighting sending shadows across the bearded Jedi's face. Kenobi's gray eyes seemed almost black with the growing darkness.
"…it's time to go."
It was time to leave Coruscant.
Anakin nodded slowly, sighing quietly to himself. The station was abandoned, just like all the other buildings. He could still hear the explosions and screams, but at least they were minimal, and there was an eerie emptiness. But eerie emptiness was better than the desperate throngs outside.
Obi-Wan walked over to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ahsoka's saving us rooms on one of the ships," he added. "We should leave now, before…" He didn't finish – he didn't have to. There had already been countless cases with mutants sneaking onto ships, or the pilot's going too fast and killing all on board by crashing the kriffing thing.
Anakin got up, and slowly followed his partner out of the station.
The crowds were still there, but they had been reduced to a rather small handful of people still waiting for a ship to be available, clutching their medical approval papers with their life. Anakin only had to turn his head to the right, and he could see past the ray shields into the quarantined part of Coruscant. The streets seemed empty; but everyone now knew that if one merely took a single step past the border, the creatures would come pouring out of buildings and sewers and anything big enough to hold them.
He quickly looked away.
They saw several gunships up ahead, and Obi-Wan led his younger friend through the mob, towards the one he knew Ahsoka would be on.
Suddenly, a security officer stepped in front of them, blocking their path. "Ship #756 is full, sirs. Please step away."
"What do you mean full?" Immediately, anger and anxiety flashed in Anakin's eyes. "My Padawan is on that ship!"
"Good for her." The reply was dry and void. "Step away."
Anakin was about to snap when Obi-Wan calmly intervened. "We'll go to the next ship, then, sir. Thank you." Before anything else could be said, the Negotiator led his former apprentice away from the scene.
As soon as they were a good distance away, Anakin turned on the older man. "What are you doing? Ahsoka…"
"Is safe, Anakin," Obi-Wan said quietly. "She's on the ship, which means she's safe. We'll just go to the next ship and we'll choose a rendezvous point. Besides, you could always comm…"
Just then, Anakin's comlink began blinking, as if on cue. Then, Ahsoka's voice came through the speaker. "Master?"
"Snips." Anakin looked utterly relieved, as if just hearing her voice could dim any worries he'd had about her. "You okay?"
"Yeah." She sounded tired, but they all were. Anakin couldn't deny he himself was exhausted, and Obi-Wan seemed much… older. "I couldn't hold the seats any longer," she continued. "Sorry. Can you find another ship?"
Obi-Wan answered that question. "Yes. In fact, here we are."
It was a rather large gunship, and after showing they were Republic generals and Jedi, the duo was able to easily get seats. Just in time. The ship's doors were sealed and locked, and it began lifting into the air.
Ahsoka's ship took off at the same time. Anakin looked out the window to see the people still on the ground, still hoping for a ride off world. Will they be able to get off?
The question rolled around in his mind just before a slithering voice broke his thoughts.
"You can't stop me, Chosen One."
Anakin's eyes widened, and he bolted upright in the small passengers seat, looking around frantically. Death's hissing tone lingered in his mind like a bad taste to his mouth.
Obi-Wan watched him, concerned. "Anakin? What's wrong?"
"I could've sworn I heard someone say…"
Suddenly, both Jedi were slammed with a heaviness in the Force, a feeling of dread worse than all the others they had felt before. Obi-Wan winced; but Anakin's natural instincts kicked in, and he jumped to his feet, looking out the window.
At first he saw nothing but the thick clouds of Coruscant's atmosphere; but slowly, painfully slowly, he made out the shape of Ahsoka's ship. It was rocking. Violently rocking.
And at the same time, the young Padawan's voice came through the comlink in a scream. 'Master! Master, oh Force, Master!'
"Ahsoka!" Anakin lifted the comm to his mouth, never tearing his eyes away from the ship. Obi-Wan was by his side now, and several other people on board were mumbling and looking around, confused. "Ahsoka, what's…"
'Oh Force, Master, I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Anakin!'
Anakin?
Was she crying?
"Ahsoka, what the hell is going on?!" he roared into the comm.
'I let my guard down, I was sloppy… Holy Force, Master, the pilot's a mutt! He just attacked the copilot, they're breaking out of the cockpit…' The Padawan was sobbing and screaming. 'Anakin, Anakin, I'm sorry! I should've paid closer attention…'
Anakin couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. All he could do was stare as the ship flying next to his own as his ears were filled with the horror-fest going on inside. He could just make out a bloody handprint on the windows…
He couldn't do anything.
He couldn't do a damn thing!
Nothing.
Oh Force…
His heart was going to burst from his chest.
Everyone else in the ship had heard Ahsoka, and they were all standing and crying out as they could make out the shapes of people running and fighting on board. Ahsoka activated her lightsabers… There! Anakin could see the flashes of green.
"Ahsoka." His voice sounded weird. He wanted to scream, but all he could do was whisper hoarsely. "Ahsoka…"
'Anakin, I have a clear path to the cockpit! I'm…I'm…' Panting. '… I'm in! I've locked the door! Anakin, I-I have t-to land this thing on Coruscant. I can't let these things reach any other systems…'
He found his voice. "No! Ahsoka, just get the ship under control! We'll come and get you…"
'No.' The crying had died down, she sounded more in control now. 'Anakin, the engines are fried. So are the controls. If I cut all power to the thrusters we can… we can…' We can fall and crash back onto Coruscant, was what she wanted to say. Anakin got the message.
"Ahsoka, no!"
But he could already see the blue light of the engines fade away. The ship started slowly falling back towards the surface.
Oh Force, please not her. No! No, no, no, no, NO! "Ahsoka!"
'Master.' Ahsoka's voice sounded so young. Oh Force, she was so young! A child! She couldn't die! Call it selfish, he didn't care.
He couldn't let her go.
But despite her age, she sounded a bit older as she continued, 'Thanks for everything you've done for me.' Thanks for being my brother, was added silently in her mind.
'No, no, no, Ahsoka! Please…' He couldn't see the ship anymore. He heard Obi-Wan talking in the background, but was too focused on his Padawan… sister… to care about what he was saying.
Ahsoka's ship caught on fire. She sat down in the pilot's seat, despite the blood, and brushed away several silent tears only to have twice as many take their place. "Anakin, I…" She wanted to tell him so much.
Anakin leaned his head against the window, very close to hyperventilating. He felt her presence in the Force, so young and full of life. 9 hours! All this in 9 damn hours! Tears began falling.
Then, he heard her voice.
'I love you, Skyguy.'
A world-shattering crash came two seconds later.
The bond snapped.
Anakin dropped to his knees.
There were small screams from the others in the ship.
Ahsoka's presence was gone.
And three days later, mutants appeared on Shili, Tatooine, and Hoth.