The Eighth Brother felt every muscle in his body tense at Sidious' words.
He knew. He already knew. He more than likely knew all along.
That terrified the Inquisitor.
It had always been a possibility. Sidious didn't miss much. But the Eighth Brother had been hopeful. Hopeful that Sidious was so obsessed with finding and turning Tano that he wouldn't notice his Inquisitor's actions. His deception.
Had anyone else said those words, the Terrelian wouldn't have flinched.
But with Sidious, it meant something.
Still, he hadn't come this far to give up now, and begging for forgiveness would get him nowhere.
"You claim to have orchestrated the events of this day like some sort of Dejarik master, but in truth all you have done is my bidding all along. You have not brought all of your enemies together. You have brought all of MINE!"
Sidious then sprang into action, darting towards the Eighth Brother, his sabers twirling in deadly arcs, clearly aiming for his head.
The Inquisitor barely brought his own blade up in time to deflect the attack, finding himself suddenly on the defence as he was pushed backwards, his feet having to moving swiftly to keep pace with Sidious' pushback.
From behind Sidious, The Eighth Brother caught a glimpse of Tano, moving slowly and cautious, planning her own attack. Hopefully she would focus on Sidious first.
Not that he minded. The Eighth Brother fully intended on killing both of them, or letting them kill each other.
"Everything has proceeded as I have foreseen Inquisitor. You shall die, Tano will become my apprentice, and the rebellion will be destroyed. I win, every time. The galaxy and its people do my bidding, whether they know it or not." Sidious croaked out manically, bringing one saber into lock with the Inquisitor's, before pivoting his other behind him to block a strike from a pair of white blades.
"You are an arrogant simpleminded old fool. You are not worthy to rule such an empire. It belongs to someone with more potential." The Eighth Brother snarled back, pushing back into the saber lock, forcing Sidious to break off and defend himself from Tano for a few moments.
Yet Sidious was not granting any reprieve for the Eighth Brother. No sooner had he broken off from the fight, he unleashed a torrent of lightning at Tano, forcing her back, and refocusing his attention of the Inquisitor.
"More worthy? Such as yourself Inquisitor? You and your siblings were a means to an end. Lord Vader could not have been in multiple places at once. But despite out training, despite everything we gave you, the Inquisitorius failed us. You failed us. And now, you will die like the rest!"
Sidious then began to advance on the Eighth Brother again, his sabers swinging in brutal yet precise arcs. Each blow, each deflection caused the Terrelian to lose his balance. He was being pushed back at an alarming rate, until suddenly, he found himself out of room.
The heels of his feet reached the top of the stairs that led to Sidious' throne, and the Eighth Brother felt himself lose his balance again.
Spotting another strike coming his way, the Eighth Brother moved his saber to deflect the blow, and succeeded.
Only the have Sidious second saber pivot in another arc, this one downwards.
Suddenly, the Eighth Brother found himself tumbling down the stairs, a horrific burning sensation on his arm.
When he finally stopped tumbling, the Eighth Brother found himself sprawled on his back. Groaning to himself, he reached out for his lightsaber with his right hand, finding it still present, and moved his left one to push himself up.
"ARRGGGG!" The Terrelian yelled in agony, collapsing back to the floor as pain shot through his body. The pain had begun to second he had used his left hand to push himself up.
Whimpering slightly at the agony, the Eighth Brother glanced at his left hand…
Only to find it missing. In its place was a stump, the ends of which burned a bright orange.
His hand! It was gone!
Flickering his eyes around in panic, the Eighth Brother spotted the appendage not far away from him, his clawed digits locked in the position they had been in before they had been removed.
Sidious had cut off his hand!
The pain was agonizing. Worse than anything he had endured before. His vision was distorted from it, and he felt himself wanting to retch because of it.
And then he heard it. Sidious' laugh.
The Sith Master cackled in insidious glee as he moved down the stairs, towards the now cowering Inquisitor.
"So pitiful. And now, you will die!"
The Eighth Brother tried to back up, but his body was worn out from the combat, and the strain from his injury was only slowing him further.
Somehow, he managed to make it back far enough that he found himself propped up against a metal bar, one that acted a part of the railing for the drop that led into the heart of the station.
And still, Sidious approached, his blood red sabers in his hands.
The Eighth Brother could back up no more, and so he sighed, resigning himself to his fate.
He had failed, as he always did.
The Eighth Brother glanced up, his eyes locking onto Sidious' golden ones through his helmet. The Sith Master could not see his expression, but it was one of hatred. If he was going to die, he would do so as he lived.
Defiant to the end.
Sidious lifted both sabers over his head, and then brought them down upon the Inquisitor…
Only the blades didn't strike him as he expected. Instead, the Eighth Brother had to stop his jaw dropping.
Instead, the blood red blades of Sidious clashed with the pure white of Tano's.
She had protected him!
She had saved him!
The door before them opened, revealing a large room with many terminals. Each terminal appeared to have a serious amount of data on. Readings of something.
Ezra stepped through the threshold of the doorway first, Vos and the others not far behind.
And then, like clockworks, the imperials sprang their trap.
A squad of Deathtroopers emerged from behind various consoles, opening fire on the rebels and forcing them to cover.
Igniting his saber, Ezra pivoted to deflect the fire from one trooper, only to be forced to duck to evade another blast.
To his side, Vos was also on the defensive, deflecting blasts back himself.
The standoff only lasted a few moments this time. Between two Jedi and the others, even Deathtroopers stood little chance.
When the conflict finally stopped, a loud whistle was heard through the room, coming from Hondo.
"Now that is a kyber crystal! I wonder how much I could get for that!"
Ezra noticed Hondo looking upwards at something, and following his gaze discovered exactly what is was.
Embedded in some sort of circuitry was a large green kyber crystal. It was clearly connected up to the battle station itself, just as the reports had said.
Through the force, Ezra could feel the crystal singing out to him lightly. It radiated power. Power that had been corrupted.
And now, they had to destroy it.
"That must be it. This will just take a second." Sabine spoke, moving over to the crystal, explosives in hand.
"Wait. I sense something." Vos interrupted, holding his hand out to stop Sabine, before beginning to move throughout the room, heading towards another doorway that lay in the back of the chamber.
The rest of the team followed, and soon they found themselves passing by more kyber crystals, each one equally embedded in the station.
"It appears there is more to this station than what we knew about." Cham broke the silence as they followed Vos, gesturing to the crystals.
That much was true. The intel they had suggested one kyber crystal, not many.
And then he sensed it. Something dark. Something corrupted.
He had felt it earlier, only now, it was stronger.
And it felt like it was eating away at his very soul.
"What is that?" Ezra questioned to Vos, who had a look of dread on his face.
The Kiffar man had stopped in front of a door, one that was heavily fortified.
Rather than reply, the Jedi Master reached out with the force, and opened the doors.
Ezra felt a rush of the darkside swell over him, nearly overpowering him. Were it not for Vos, who seemed to be shielding him from the majority of it, Ezra was sure he would have been overwhelmed.
"Is that…?" Rex spoke from beside Ezra this time, moving forward.
Ezra followed Rex's line of sight, his eyes coming to lock onto another kyber crystal. But this one was different. It was much larger for starters.
And rather than the peaceful green the others glowed, this was pulsated a dark red.
And it reeked of the darkside.
"An artificial kyber crystal, one tainted by the darkside. There were legends of the Sith creating these things as weapons. Turns out they were more than stories." Vos spoke clearly, taking the lead into the room.
The team entered cautiously, all staring up at the massive crystal that also appeared to be wired into the station's architecture. Just being near it gave Ezra an unwelcome feeling. It made his head hurt, brief lances of pain shooting through his skull.
Even the non-force users seemed to be struggling in its presence. Whatever it was, Ezra knew it had to be destroyed.
"Where did the Emperor find such a thing?" Gregor spoke, bewilderment in his tone.
"He found it on Malachor." A new voice spoke from a shadow behind a terminal, one that didn't belong to the team.
Ezra ignited his saber in an instant, and the rest of the team also prepared. There was no guarantee this person was friendly.
"Come out with your hands up!" Fenn Rau commanded, his blasters trained on the shadow.
Moments later, the person did.
He was male, and looked tired, as if he had seen too much.
And from the way he moved, he clearly didn't want to be here.
"Identify yourself." Rex ordered, "Or we'll shoot."
The man glanced over the team quickly before speaking.
"I am Professor Galen Erso. I am the head researcher of this project, rather reluctantly of course. Are you with the rebel agent Fulcrum? I sent a message asking for help."
Ezra recognized the name given. Galen Erso had been the one to give them the information from the inside, acting as a rebel spy. Given his position, it was easy to see how he had gotten such information in the first place.
"We're with Fulcrum yes. How can we trust you though?" Rex responded, his pistols still trained on Erso.
Erso's face took on one of despair and loss, as well as remorse.
"I have done many terrible things, and I have lost so much because of it. My wife is dead, and my daughter, I don't know where she is. I thought that, if I told the rebellion, if I helped them, then maybe I would have a clearly conscience. Maybe I would be forgiven, not that I expect it, or even deserve it. I helped a madman create a weapon of unquantifiable power."
Ezra listened to his words, to the way he was speaking. There was genuine remorse in is tone. He truly did regret the things he had done, and he was trying to atone in any way he could.
Ezra didn't need the force to figure that out.
Clearly, Rex didn't either, as the clone lowered his weapons after Erso had finished speaking. The scientist seemed to close in on himself, whispering something to himself.
Ezra took the opportunity to ask a question.
"Professor, you said the Emperor got this crystal from Malachor? What does it do exactly?"
Erso glanced up at the young boy, a look of surprise on his face, before one of acceptance appeared shortly afterwards. He could tell that Ezra was giving him a chance.
"From the report I received, he and his Inquisitor excavated the crystal from an ancient temple of some kind. He asked me to integrate it into the weapon systems of project 'Stardust'. He believes he can use it to sterilize a planet of all organic life, whilst ensuring that the resources on the planet remain intact."
It all suddenly made sense to Ezra. The Emperor had gotten the crystal from the Sith temple back on Malachor. Clearly it had powered the weapon inside of the temple.
And now he wanted to use it on his battle station. A portable version of the weapon.
"Hang on a minute. The information you sent said this weapon was designed to destroy entire planets, not sterilize them." Cham Syndulla spoke next, remembering the brief they had been given at the start of the mission.
Erso nodded his head before continuing.
"That's true. Before the synthetic crystal was found the Emperor wanted to harness the power of the smaller natural crystals in the previous rooms. When the weapon in this station is fired and channelled through those crystals, the resulting attack would devastate planets of considerable size, even destroy them. But with the added synthetic crystal, it is now possible to only sterilize the surface. Both options are very much in play. The information I sent to Fulcrum was from before changes of the design."
So the weapon had two functions, both equally as diabolical. Ezra had to say he wasn't surprised really. The empire was evil. The Emperor even more so.
"Is the weapon ready to use?" Hondo quipped up, fear in his voice at the thought of it being used. If even a pirate such as Hondo was concerned about it, then it had to be bad.
Erso's face took on one of repressed glee.
"In theory yes, the weapon is ready. However, the synthetic crystal is highly unstable. Any attempts to even begin to channel the energy through it would cause it to destabilise. The Emperor was supposed to bring something along to help stabilize the crystal. As of yet he hasn't."
A lightbulb went off in Ezra's mind. If the weapon was fired prematurely, it would cause the crystal to destabilise.
They could use that to destroy the station, rather than Sabine's explosives.
It would be safer in theory, without having to actually detonate the explosives manually. They could prime the weapon to fire, and run, letting the crystal do all the work.
It was not too dissimilar to the original plan, but it would far more likely to succeed in the long run.
And Ezra was willing to bet that any explosion caused by such a large unstable crystal would eradicate any trace of the imperial threat around.
They could do far more than just cut off the head of the empire. They could practically cripple their navy.
"Professor Erso, can you fire the weapon from here?" Ezra asked, taking charge. From behind him, Sabine made a sound of understanding, clearly having the same revelation as Ezra.
"Yes I can. It might take a few minutes to prepare however." Galen Erso replied.
"Then do it. Prime the weapon, and then we run." Ezra responded, determination in his voice.
"Even now you defend those not worthy of your time? Why? He had done nothing for you?" Sidious snarled as he stared directly at her, his molten gold eyes burning into her blue ones.
Across the combined glows of their lightsabers, Ahsoka could make out Sidious' horrifically twisted face. It was wrinkled beyond what was normal. Or perhaps it was some serious scarring, and aftereffect of whatever had happen to him at the end of the clone wars.
White and red continued to push against one another, neither fighter giving up. Sidious, determined to end the traitorous Inquisitor, and Ahsoka, determined to end him.
"He may not be the nicest person in the galaxy Sidious, but he is defeated. He no longer poses a threat to you." Ahsoka replied, steadfastness in her voice.
Sidious cackled again before replying.
"The same could have been said for Lord Vader, but you killed him nonetheless."
"That was different!" Ahsoka snarled in reply, now twisting her shoto blade around in her hand, forcing Sidious to back off and counter an assault with ease.
"Is it? The Inquisitor betrayed me, just as Anakin Skywalker betrayed you. You preach many things Ahsoka Tano, but in your heart you are clearly conflicted on a deep scale. I offer you a chance to join me, and together we can find your path as a Sith Lady."
As he spoke, Sidious lunged with his blades again, determined to get to the fallen Inquisitor.
And once again, Ahsoka intervened, blocking his strikes and forcing him into exchanging a series of blows with her.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I am not, and never will be your apprentice!"
Sidious cackled again before locking his blades with Ahsoka's, red and white pushing against one another.
"You deceive yourself!"
Just then, the tell-tale sound of another lightsaber igniting hit Ahsoka's senses. From behind Sidious, Maul emerged, his double bladed saber swinging, one again poised to strike at his former master.
Sidious clearly sensed this, as he pushed Ahsoka back once again, before turning to deflect and redirect Maul's strikes.
"You have stagnated my old apprentice. Such a shame!" Sidious taunted as he unleashed a volley of his own strikes in retaliation, before being forced to pivot and defend himself from Ahsoka once again.
"I have improved significantly, no thanks to you 'Master'. Lady Tano has helped me far more than you ever have!" The Zabrak all but screeched back, rotating his saber in his hands quickly, forcing Sidious to back off further into Ahsoka.
Ahsoka swung her sabers towards Sidious midsection from both directions, aiming to cleave the Sith Master in two. Anticipating this, Sidious harnessed the force and launched himself upwards, over the heads of both Ahsoka and Maul, coming down behind the Zabrak.
"So it seems my former apprentice. Perhaps I have use for you as well." Sidious spoke, a dark tone in his voice.
Maul growled under his breath, coming to stand beside Ahsoka in preparation.
"You have nothing to offer me anymore Sidious."
Beneath his hood, the Sith Master's eyes shone, a plan clearly circulating in his mind.
"Not even the position of 'Grand Inquisitor'? You could work beside us both, help us bring order to the galaxy. You would finally have the power you seek Maul!"
Through the force, Ahsoka felt Maul's surprise at the offer.
What terrified her was that it seemed like Maul was considering it.
Reaching across their unexpected bond, she tugged lightly at Maul's signature, reminding him that she was here beside him, and that she wanted to help him.
And just as quickly as the consideration had appeared, it vanished, anger and hatred replacing it.
"LIAR! YOU WOULD USE ME AGAIN, AND THEN CAST ME ASIDE!" Maul yelled, twirling his saber in deadly arcs and charging the Sith Master, who cackled in glee.
Red blades clashed duelled, sparks emerging around the combatants as sabers clipped the floor from deflections.
"Oh course I lie. What possible use would I have for a failed apprentice who lost his legs to a padawan?"
Maul roared again in anger, trying to breach Sidious defences through brute force. Ahsoka tried to intervene, to take some of the pressure off of Maul, but the combat was too intense and fast paced for her to join in anywhere.
Sidious was fighting a lot faster now, much faster than he had been when they had been duelling.
'He is trying to turn you. Use that!' A feminine voice spoke in her head suddenly, the same one that had informed her of where Sidious was earlier.
In the midst of the battle, Ahsoka found her gaze drawn to Sidious' throne. There sitting on it, was the Sith holocron from Malachor.
That was who had been calling her. The presence inside the holocron. She had bonded with it on an intrinsic level.
And now it was calling out to her, flooding her senses with darker side.
'He will kill them, but he wants you!' The voice spoke again, confusing Ahsoka more. What exactly did the presence mean?
"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Sidious voice boomed out suddenly, pulling Ahsoka back from her distracted thoughts.
The sudden crackle of electricity once again filled the room, as lightning once again erupted from Sidious towards Maul, knocking him down to the floor.
Ahsoka moved on instinct, shifting her blades towards Sidious, forcing him away from the fallen Zabrak.
Once more, white and red clashed and danced, blows being traded, the cycle of offensive and defence shifting constantly.
As she defended herself from another onslaught from Sidious, Ahsoka began to notice something.
He was fighting slower against her!
When going up against Maul, the Sith Master appeared to be going full on, attempting to kill his former apprentice.
But against her, Sidious seemed to hold some sort of restraint. As if he was testing her.
Or more like trying not to kill her!
In that moment, she understood what the presence in the holocron was telling her.
Sidious wanted her as his apprentice, so he couldn't kill her, only maim her.
However, he held no such reservation when it came to Maul.
Nor Kanan or Obi-Wan. Sidious would kill them if he got the chance.
But Ahsoka, he wouldn't. Not unless she really pushed him to.
If she could just find some sort of opening in his defences, maybe she could fool him into leaving himself open.
Maybe she could catch him off guard.
Pivoting her blades again, Ahsoka broke off her defence, launching a counteroffensive against Sidious, who in response shifted his twin sabers closer to his body, protecting his middle.
White and red continued to clash, before once again Ahsoka found herself in a saber lock, Sidious peering at her maliciously.
"Do you not recognize the crystal within this saber of mine? I lost the original twin, but then I discovered one that would be a suitable replacement. After all, it is only fitting that Lord Vader be here to witness this day as well. He would have been so proud."
Ahsoka chose not the react, other than a gritting of her teeth, to the revelation of one of Sidious' sabres' containing Vader's crystal, which he himself must had plundered from a Jedi at the end of the clone war. It would do her no good to be distracted by such memories.
"Yes, that is good. I can feel your anger. Embrace it!" Sidious continued, clearly sensing Ahsoka's line of thought, despite her best efforts to withhold them.
"Never!" Ahsoka spat in reply, pushing against the saber lock, forcing Sidious back a step.
"Ah, but you already have Ahsoka. Your eyes are the same as mine. Full of power!"
That got under her skin. The very thought of her eyes being golden rather than blue upset her. She knew that tampering with the darkside was dangerous, and from what Rex had told her in the past, her eyes had gone golden before.
In her temporary distraction, Sidious managed to force her back, breaking out of the saber lock and knocking her to the ground.
Shaking off her disorientation, Ahsoka glanced back up to see Sidious raising his hand, no doubt to assault her with more lightning.
That was until a pair of blue blades ignited behind the Sith Master, forcing him to turn to deal with his new attackers.
Maul too was back on his feet now, working in tandem with Obi-Wan and Kanan to surround Sidious, forcing him to defend himself from all sides.
In the chaos, Ahsoka too managed to her feet, moving to join in on the assault on Darth Sidious.
From all sides, lightsabers swung and lunged towards the Emperor.
And he met every single one, deflecting and redirecting attacks, launching counter attacks where it would not have been possible for anyone other than himself to do.
He was fast. That Ahsoka had already discovered. But this was something else. Never before had she seen someone fend off four separate force users at the same time. The closest she had in comparison was General Grievous, but that was only one person wielding multiple sabers.
Sidious was defending himself against four independent duellists working together…
And winning.
And all the while, the Sith Lord cackled, his blades crashing against everyone else's blades.
From one side, Maul and Obi-Wan attacked, aiming to throw Sidious off with a two pronged attack.
But Sidious responded, lightning erupting from his hands, pushing Obi-Wan back, and then turning to deflect Maul's flurry.
And he was doing this all in the space of around a second.
'How the kriff do we beat that?' Ahsoka thought in anger.
The conflict seemed to continue for a while, and Sidious was showing no signs of stopping, yet alone slowing.
But Ahsoka continued, hoping that eventually she would find an opening, whether by accident or not.
It only occurred to her then that Kanan was not attacking. He was standing on one side of Sidious, blocking his escape. But unlike herself, Obi-Wan and Maul, he was no attempting to strike at Sidious.
He was still defending himself from any wayward strikes the Emperor tried to send his way, but for the most part, Sidious seemed to be preoccupied with the others.
From where she was, it seemed like Kanan was waiting for something, rather than not participating altogether.
Had he seen something she hadn't?
Trusting that Kanan knew what he was doing, Ahsoka launched another assault at Sidious, her twin blades coming across in a horizontal motion. Again, Sidious deflected the blow, cackling all the while, before ducking under a swing from Obi-Wan and moving to clash and deflect a strike from Maul.
And still Kanan did not move.
Then, she heard his voice in her head.
'Get him to duck again.'
Sending a wave of acknowledgement through the force, Ahsoka attacked again, utilizing the same strike as before. Sidious clearly anticipated this, as once again he deflected the blades of Ahsoka, before turning to clash with Obi-Wan.
And then Ahsoka swung for the Sith Master's head.
Having no time to turn and deflect, Sidious broke off from Obi-Wan and ducked under Ahsoka's blades.
And then Kanan lunged.
The blind Jedi's sudden intervention clearly surprised Sidious, as he released a scream of fury as Kanan's blue blade broke past the threshold where Sidious could easily deflect it.
The Sith Master was able to evade a lethal blow, but that didn't seem to be Kanan's goal at all.
Instead, his blue blade aimed directly for one of Sidious' saber hilts, the plasma blade connecting with the hilt and shattering it in Sidious' hands.
The Sith Master growled as the wreckage of one of his blades fell to the floor. The breach in his defences, and the unexpected loss only seemed to infuriate Sidious further. The knowledge that it was Kanan that had done it of all of them only served to increase the anger.
Now, Sidious was left with only the saber he had constructed with Vader's crystal.
Rather than try to defend himself with one blade, Sidious delved into the force, and pushed.
His four opponents were sent stumbling backwards from the push, beginning to recover relatively quickly despite the attack.
And then Sidious attacked again, this time in an unexpected manner.
Reaching deep into the darkside, Sidious placed his free hand palm down upon the floor, and channelled his rage.
Lightning erupted from his fingertips, coursing through the floor towards his foes.
The team barely had any time to evade, and there was no room to escape.
As if grabbed by something from deep underwater, the lightning grasped hold of Ahsoka's ankles, launching her upwards into the air, electricity coursing through her body from the attack.
Despite her pain, Ahsoka could make out the forms of the others, each in a similar predicament.
And then Sidious pushed again, throwing the team members in various directions.
Maul and Kanan were sent barrelling into walls on opposite ends of the throne room, crashing against the walls before collapsing to the floor.
Obi-Wan was sent careening over towards Sidious throne, tumbling over the top of it in the process, coming to rest on the other side of it.
And Ahsoka found herself sailing backwards towards the pit that seemed to lead into the interior of the station.
Reaching out with her hands, Ahsoka managed to grasp the railing, before her grip slipped.
Gritting her teeth, she reached out again as she fell, and this time she managed to grab hold of the ledge, her hands suspending her above the chasm below.
The strain from the fight, as well as the damage from the lightning was having a detrimental effect on her body. She as feeling tired, and lightheaded.
And then she realised her fingers were slipping.
Author's thoughts
So, pretty hectic chapter, right? We are so close to the end that I can practically taste it!
Now, before I go any further I am going to say this. Bad news time. I am not going to upload the next chapter of this story until I have finished writing the story as a whole. In good news, I only have the epilogue to write, but it is going to be long. Hopefully this chapter sates your desire for now. :)
Anyway, I hope you all liked what happened with the Eighth Bro. No way was he going to be able to beat Sidious, even with help. So, I cut his hand off. Sorry buddy. But hey, at least he's not dead. (yet)
Also, Kanan being the one to take out one of Sidious' lightsabers is going to be controversal I know. But hey, I liked the idea, and it was unexpected. So I put it in.
Anyway, next time round everything comes together. The only question is: Who will survive? And who will not?
As usual, comment and speculate at will. Speaking of which:
Travis Middleton: Sidious knows pretty much everything. Of course he would see that the Eighth Bro was plotting against him.
I'm glad you liked the scene with Vos and Ezra. They work so well together because they are so alike.
The cameo's of the names will play an important role in the one shots to come. Patience will be required however.
And poor Tarkin, if only he knew what was coming. Muhahahaaha!
Maliwan: I think the Eighth Bro probably 'eeped' too. Sidious is a master of everything, especially deception.
Glad you enjoyed the royal guards, even if they got their arses handed to them. :)
And writing Thrawn planning stuff is great fun.
Mogor: The Ghost always arrives in the nick of time. Hera knows when she is needed.
Vader is alive... in a way. He lives through his corrupted crystal. (Foreshadowing much?)
Only time will tell what happens to the team. Let's hope they make it mostly unharmed.
Mysterious Guest one: Don't kill Eighth Bro... oh boy!
Mysterious Guest two: Eighth Bro turning on Palpy has been planned from the inception of this story, so it was great fun to finally write the moment it happens. Poor Eighth Bro though, didn't happen as he expected it too.
Everyone wants to kill Tarkin indeed. Question is, who will get the honor. It's like a reverse murder mystery game. :)
Cranky Paws: Sidious can turn everything someone had planned out for months into ruin with three words. It's kinda his thing. :)
Glad you are liking it. Hope you enjoy the ending when it comes.
Chiara Polairix Edelstein: I'm glad the chapter was worth the wait. It was a fun one to write with all the different perpective shifts.
SLE's face guest: Well, I am officially going to headcanon your comment as a deleted scene for a 'bad ending' for the suicide mission where Ahsoka turns evil and kills everyone. :)
I get the idea about Palpy stagnating in terms of power after ROTS, but at the same time it is Palpy. He is still leaps and bounds ahead of everyone, even if he is a little rusty in comparison to Ahsoka. That being said, unlike Maul, who does stagnate in canon, Ahsoka has only improved since her days as a Jedi, putting her up there with the best of the best. Whilst I worry about making her too OP, I also don't want to make her underpowered, as I feel many make her seem sometimes. (Just my opinion. It's neither right nor wrong)
TerminatorJedi1995: Hera to the rescue indeed, as it should be. The upgraded Ghost did take out Chimaera single handed earlier, even if Thrawn did throw the battle on purpose.
Glad you enjoyed the duel with the royal guards. Since they do a grand total of zero things in the movies, I wanted them to actually do stuff in this AU, even if they do get their arses handed to them.
Hopefully you are liking the how the standoff is going. Can they defeat Palpy?
And yes, the Eighth Bro's speech was a ROTJ reference. :)
jamese765: The Eighth Bro tried, and as you can see, he failed. Poor dude.
If only Tarkin knew what was coming. ;)
FossilQueen1984: A lot is going on, and we are nearing the end now. Let's hope I can resolve all the issues in a way that is liked by my readers. :)