Chapter 8
THE LAST NIGHTSISTER
Dathomir
The ship containing Count Dooku and Darth Sidious exited hyperspace over Dathomir. As the red planet came into view, on the surface, Mother Talzin knew of their arrival, and knew that this was the end of the Nightsisters.
"Maul, you must preserve the artifacts." Talzin stated to Darth Maul.
"No, Mother. I will stay here with you and I will destroy them and take my rightful place!" Maul growled.
"I am going to die, Maul. I will not let you die as well." Talzin responded. Maul grunted.
"I refuse." Maul replied.
"So be it." Talzin said. She left her hideout and traveled slowly to where Sidious and Dooku had landed. Maul followed behind, to an open clearing littered with the bodies of Nighsisters and the undead. Droid parts also lie in heaps, and Maul watched all of them. This truly was the end of the Nightsisters. As both Dooku and Sidious left the ship, Talzin created a green sword, similar to the one used in her fight against Mace Windu. Maul grabbed both the Darksaber and his own lightsaber, and prepared for battle.
"Ah, Mother Talzin. It is time to remove a threat." Sidious stated, eyeing Maul.
"But which threat is that? You, or me?" Talzin replied. Sidious snarled.
"I'm afraid that is you." he replied, before the other three ignited their lightsabers.
500 Republica, Coruscant
Anakin Skywalker slowly made his way to 500 Republica, to speak with Padmé. His mind was still focused on when he learned that Ahsoka was a Sith, and nobody had even told him. He felt betrayed, almost as if he were about to follow Ahsoka. He shook the idea out of his mind, and took a deep breath before walking into the empty elevator. Once he had reached Padmé's floor, he stepped out of the elevator and walked to her suite.
Anakin opened the door, and awaiting him was Threepio. Threepio obviously noticed Anakin's unhappy mood, and just motioned him towards Padmé, who was sitting on a couch, watching the daily holonews.
"Ani!" she exclaimed.
"I have bad news." Anakin stated. Padmé looked a bit worried.
"About what?" Padmé asked.
"About Ahsoka." Anakin responded. Padmé put a hand on his shoulder as he sat down. "She... she... when I was on Grievous' capital ship." Anakin began, "Ahsoka was there. But... she wasn't in a cell or anything. She was... was... working for Dooku."
Padmé sat in silence, before wrapping her arms around her secret husband. "Oh Ani..." she said quietly.
"I don't know what to do. Ahsoka... she's following Dooku. She's turned to the Dark Side." Anakin replied. Anakin let Padmé into a deep hug, as they sat, wondering what to do now. The sun began to set on Coruscant, and not only did this mean that it was going night, but that a friend, a padawan... was no longer with the light.
Dathomir
Sidious swung at Talzin, who flipped over him, and attempted to stab him through the back. Sidious' reflexes were too great, and he kicked her backwards into a plant. Meanwhile, Maul was in a saber lock with Dooku, and attempted to cut his arm off, but Dooku, only using one hand, unleashed a powerful blast of Force lightning at him, which only left Maul a small window of time to block it with his blade. He broke off the lock, and attempted to find a hole in his defense, but was blocked every time.
Talzin stood up from the plant, but was only pushed back down again by Force lightning. She blocked it with an energy shield, and began to turn it back on Sidious. He ceased the attack, and swung a lightsaber at her, but Talzin quickly ignited her green blade and blocked it. The tides began to turn as Talzin forced him back towards Dooku and Maul. Dooku swung at Maul, who blocked the incoming blade, but seeing opportunity with a distracted Sidious, began to swing the darksaber at him.
Sidious quickly ignited a second lightsaber and prevented it from hitting his back. Maul then saw opportunity in the gash on Dooku's side, and swung at that. Dooku was unprepared for a quick burst of pain in his side, but quickly recovered and shot lightning at his opponent. Sidious brought his two sabers down on Talzin, who quickly blocked them, before pushing them back.
Dooku kicked at Maul, who was sent tumbling backwards, but was then shocked with more lightning. His mechanical legs began to spasm, and then he brought a blade down to block the lightning. Maul stood up, and rushed at Dooku, only to be stabbed in the shoulder by Dooku. Maul growled, holding in his pain, and then unleashed a massive Force blast upon Dooku.
Dooku was sent flying into a bush, where a prickle lodged itself in his already exposed side. He pulled it out, which only caused more pain, to see it coated in blood as he stood up. Now, he had to grasp his side and fight Maul. Sidious was about to impale Talzin, when she dissapeared and reappeared a few steps back. Sidious snarled at the witch, and slashed his saber straight at her.
Talzin was not expecting the saber to reach so close to her, and it caused a giant cut across her stomach. She winced, before bringing up her blade and attempting to kill Sidious. Maul looked over for only a second.
Talzin felt an excrutiating pain in her chest, and tried to say anything, before she fell to the ground. Her spirits that she tried to control around the galaxy were gone. Her mortal self, was gone. She disintegrated into mist, and that mist floated off into the atmosphere, leaving Maul alone. Maul unleashed all he could on both Dooku and Sidious, but was outmached and lost a leg for the second time.
Maul grunted, and fell to the ground. Dooku pointed his saber towards the Zabrak's throat. Sidious cackled with victory.
"What shall we do with him, Master?" Dooku asked.
"Keep him. I will use him when we have control of the galaxy. We only need to turn him." Sidious replied, smiling at Maul.
"You will never take me again, Sidious!" Maul spat.
"I will see about that." Sidious replied, before shooting intense amounts of Force lightning towards him. Maul went limp, and Sidious pulled him back to the ship.
CORUSCANT
Two red blades formed a V across Anakin's neck. A voice said to kill him. But they did not move for the kill. The scene changed.
Anakin was in the Temple. He looked around, confused. He took a step out of his quarters. It was silent. He looked around, then began to walk forward. He stopped when the Temple begin to flame. Fires engulfed everything around him. He saw younglings, Padawans and Masters alike swallowed into flames. Clones rushed through the temple, killing everyone they saw.
He saw himself, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan running away, as blaster bolts fired back towards them. Ahsoka fell to the ground after being hit in the back, and the Dream-Anakin picked her up, but they were stopped, as clones turned onto their position. Dream-Anakin put Ahsoka on the ground, and both him and Obi-Wan ignited their lightsabers. They blocked every blaster bolt, except for one that hit Obi-Wan straight in the chest. He fell next to Ahsoka, and soon Anakin was on the ground next to them. They were all dead. It turned to a scene where Padmé was lying on a medical bed, unmoving.
Anakin jolted awake. He had seen everyone die. Himself, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Padmé. Anakin was right next to Padmé, and sat up, putting his hands over his eyes. He stood up and moved over to a balcony, overlooking the rising sun of Coruscant. Padmé followed him over.
"Ani, are you okay?" Padmé asked.
"I'm fine. It was only a bad dream." Anakin replied. Padmé eyed him with concern.
"Are you sure?" she questioned. Anakin held on to her tightly.
"I saw you die. I saw Ahsoka and Obi-Wan die. And I saw myself die. The clones, they killed us all." Anakin stated, before engulfing her in a warm hug. "I can't let that happen to any of you, Padmé."
Anakin moved away from the balcony, and Padmé stayed there for a moment, taking in the scenery. She followed. Anakin stopped her.
"I need to do this on my own." Anakin said. He moved away from her, and walked out of her apartment. As he put in the passcode for the elevator, he wondered if this was right. He, deep down, knew who those red blades belonged to. The elevator descended down to the lobby, where he took a taxi back to the Temple. He sneaked around, made sure nobody saw him, and found the hangar. There was an old ship, resembling the Twilight, except it was in a bit better shape. He smiled, and walked inside.
He walked to the hyperdrive, and punched in the coordinates.
PALPATINE'S OFFICE
Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, Darth Sidious, was wondering about his plans. He had seen them come to fruition. But something was nagging him. It was the man who barged into the Senate. Something was familiar about him. Sidious looked through the galaxy, searching for this, and found that the man he was searching for was nearby.
Sidious turned around, and frowned. A tall man in a black robe stood in the middle of his office. Mas Amedda was crumpled on the ground next to the man.
"You are extremely quiet, I will give you that much." Sidious snarled, before standing up. The man chuckled.
"You do know why I am here, don't you?" the man questioned.
"I know who you are, but not why you are here. Tell me, before I kill you again." Sidious replied.
"Revenge for what you did to me." the man said, before walking forward and igniting his blade.
"Oh, but I'm afraid you won't be getting any of that." Sidious growled, before laughing.
"Who says I won't?" Darth Plagueis replied, pulling back his cloak.
Sorry for the short chapter, the next one will be extremely long, and will have lots of things in it.
Also, yep, Darth Plagueis. The mystery man has arrived. Many questions will be answered next chapter.
Who was the person who was about to kill Anakin?
Where is Anakin going?
What is going to happen between Plagueis and Sidious?
That will all be revealed, in the next chapter, an extra long one.