Knightfall: Part 2

Commander Appo stood inside of a meeting room in the senate building, his blue-striped armor a stark contrast from the red carpeting and walls. He was commander of the 501st Legion, an army unit of the clones that HNN had taken to call one of the most skilled in the Grand Army, and he intended that that reputation stuck.

The comlink in his helmet flashed, an incoming message from Palpatine from the look of it. With a miniscule movement, he played the message. Palpatine looked worried, frightened even. His slightly balding grey hair was disheveled, and his eyes darted back and forth as if he was looking for anyone spying on the conversation. "Commanders Appo, Bow, the Jedi have betrayed the Republic. Execute Order 66." The voice was calm, calculating even.

Appo and his second-in-command Bow both nodded as they received the order to terminate the Jedi, every one them. Unlike ARCs and commandos, regular clone troops had no independent decision-making powers when it came to disobeying orders. The two and the other clones in the room checked their DC-15s, making sure that the gas and energy cells in the large blaster rifle were adequately filled.

Appo approached Yoda, the order he had been given had to be fulfilled. The other clones moved closer to the center of the room as well, their weapons armed and ready.

"Master Yoda," he said, kneeling before the Jedi Grand Master, "your suspicions were right. "Palpatine indeed attempted to order your deaths."

Yoda silently nodded and then gritted his teeth as a small wave of Jedi deaths rippled their way through the Force. "Received the message of Palpatine's recent dismissal, not everyone got…" he sadly said.

"I'm sorry, sir," Appo offered. "I'll contact HQ and have them continue relaying the message. We'll stop them from killing more."

The only door leading into the room opened, causing the clones to immediately turn towards it, rifles aimed. "It's only me," Obi-Wan Kenobi stated as the soldiers lowered their firearms. "I take it that Palpatine just tried to murder us," he added.

"That's right, sir," Bow replied.

"The majority of the Senate that could be roused voted in favor of removing Palpatine after learning that he was a Sith Lord," he reported. "Just in the nick of time, I guess."

"The other Jedi," Yoda began, "arriving are they?"

"Yes, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan answered. "The best we have available in the Temple."

"We're taking an awful risk pulling them from the front lines, generals," Appo stated. "What about the battle droids and the destroyers on the streets of Coruscant now?"

"Confederacy and Sith leadership, to hear they come," Yoda replied. "An end to the war, we can cause."

"Why not simply let them rescue Palpatine and then blow their shabla shuttle out of the sky?"

"The Jedi way, that is not," Yoda replied.

"Master Yoda," Bow interrupted. "A LAAT filled with your Jedi has just landed. We have about two minutes before the enemy arrives here."

With that news, Jedi Master Yoda and Knight Kenobi walked out of the room, ready to meet their colleagues and prepare for the battle against the CIS forces that would soon be entering the building. There would be senators and other politicians to protect, Appo thought, the last words that Master Yoda had said to him still running through his head. "Bloody Jedi," he muttered, his comlink off.

The shuttle/transport landed in a heap minutes later as the war continued behind them. Starfighters strafed buildings, slagging durasteel and shattering transparisteel as the blaster shots pelted them. The doors on the shuttle opened and the platoon of super battle droids stepped out of the vessel first, robotic shields for the leaders inside of the shuttle. 501st clone troopers taking cover behind the massive pillars that framed the entrance of the senate building opened fire on the droids, the blue laser bolts flying towards the enemy. The droids fired back, singeing the air.

"Now is the time," Darth Vader shouted over the blasterfire to his lone companion. General Grievous nodded and ordered the single droideka to deploy. The battle droid that had proved to be so devastating to clone and Jedi alike during the war formed itself into the ball that was its primary form of travel and then rolled meters away before unfolding. The blue deflector shield switched on before any of the clone's frantic shots towards the droid could hit their mark. The four blasters in the two "hands" of the fearsome droid opened fire upon the hapless clones, melting the plastoid armor of them when the shots hit and blasting large holes in the columns.

Grievous was the first to leave the ship, his sturdy duranium armored body strong enough to resist the occasional blaster shots that managed to break past the droid "wall". Only the sac containing the remains of his organs were really vulnerable, and they were incased deep behind a solid artificial rib cage. His green cape billowed behind him, but not before the mostly cyborg Kaleesh general withdrew two of the many lightsabers he had deposited in specially made pouches. He ignited the two swords as he approached, the blue and yellow blades springing into existence just in time to slice into the nearest clone trooper, cutting him into three pieces. Two of his completely robotic bodyguards followed, staying behind their general to gain the full advantage of the position.

Mechanized limbs moved nearly blindingly fast, luckily blocking four blaster shots as they cut into another clone.

Vader followed the general, his own red lightsaber igniting the second he stepped off of the transport. He blatantly ignored the blaster fire as it slowly petered down as the clones began to fall back to the main hall. The droideka had been destroyed, but the damage had been done. A casual wave of his left hand violently threw three straggling clones into two columns, the sounds of their necks breaking as they hit was barely audible.

"Master Yoda," Commander Appo reported as the updates from the front reached him, "they've entered the building."

"Then we need to move now," Quinlan Vos stated, the Kiffar Jedi Master standing with his back to the wall, arms crossed. His former Padawan Aayla Secura stood next to Master Yoda.

"I agree with Master Vos," Mace Windu said. "They cannot easily flee the senate now, and we must neutralize them before any harm comes to the senators."

Obi-Wan Kenobi tuned out the remaining conversation and studied the room. Other than Masters Yoda, Windu and Vos, and Aayla, there were only two other Jedi in the room beside himself. The tall, Whiphid Jedi Master K'Kruhk was a revered member of the order and was sure to be on the Jedi Council in no time, the way the war was going. And the second… Obi-Wan could barely look at her. Siri Tachi, the blonde Jedi Master with whom Obi-Wan had trained with when they were both younglings. They had fallen in love with each other then; feelings that both tried to stop once they were made aware of the consequences of. The feelings had rekindled somewhat after the battle of Naboo, and then… He looked away from her, not wanting to risk seeing her left hand. "Protect the senators with the clones, I will," Yoda said, breaking Obi-Wan's dwellings on the past by jumping up onto his hoverchair. "May the Force be with us," he said before steering his way out of the room flanked by the two clone commanders.

K'Kruhk motioned Obi-Wan and Siri over to him and the two other Jedi followed. "We have been tasked to intercept General Grievous and Darth Vader when they are here," he motioned to a holographic map of the senate chamber, his large index finger pointing to a hallway surrounding a lower portion of the senate chamber. "The only way to reach the former Chancellor is through this turbolift," he added. "We are to guard it with our lives. We must ensure that Mace, Quinlan and Aayla are not outflanked by his allies. If Shaak Ti is able to arrive from the front in time, she will join us as well. Hopefully," K'Kruhk mused, "she will be fashionably late, flanking them and giving us an advantage."

Obi-Wan nodded. At last the Sith were going to fall. And finally he would have the chance to right his own wrongs.

Darth Vader effortlessly blocked the blaster fire from the clone troopers as they took cover behind the doors to various offices and closets in the hallways of the senate. Only once had the Sith attacked the legislature building itself in the past, and the purpose of the mission—rescue—was the same. Vader had heard those stories from the Holocrons his master had allowed him access to, and eagerly waited for his day to do as Exar Kun did. In his mind's eye, he could see himself destroy the insignificant Yoda and bring an end to the Jedi once and for all.

His left arm reached out once again, fingers splayed, and sent forth a torrent of electrical energy that arced through the air. Four clones were hit, killing them nearly instantly. The walls were also charred black from the lightning.

The clone resistance was getting lighter, he noticed as he, Grievous, and the monster's bodyguards continued down the hallway, slaughtering anyone who got in their way. We must be getting close, he thought. The Jedi will be here soon. A redirected blaster shot ended the "life" of the last clone in the hallway as Vader stopped. "Grievous," he said, removing the hood of the cloak from his head. "Stay here. Keep our escape route clean." The mechanical general nodded in agreement and ceased following the young Sith. His bodyguards thumbed off their magnastaffs and waited.

He continued down the hallway, taking a stairway down to the lowest level of the area surrounding the chambers. About 20 meters away, he remembered, would be the turbolift that served as the only way in or out of the floor that housed Sidious' office in this building. He stopped four meters after leaving the stairwell. It was then that he physically saw his nemeses standing in the hallway, each one positioned to block his passage. Fools! He thought as he readied himself into an aggressive stance, his lightsaber craving more flesh. It's almost as if they want to die. I shall oblige them…

Darth Sidious cursed as he received notice of his political disposal minutes after issuing the order designed to kill the Jedi. The clones had tricked him! They must have known of it before it hit the official HoloNews. For HNN was the only physical resource that Palpatine had access to at the moment. Even now he could sense the three Jedi sent to neutralize him making their way to his office, three more set meters away to attempt and prevent his rescue. He gripped his lightsaber tighter in his hands, readying himself for the battle to come.

They were close to the door now, about ready to enter his office. Smiling to himself, he thought of a new plan; one that would shift the odds even more to his favor. He placed his lightsaber back onto the desk and turned to face the door. His hands raised towards the door, he scowled as it opened. Three Jedi entered and were soon standing in a line, blocking him from escaping. A powerful arc of lightning surged from his hands, headed towards the three Jedi. The human and the Kiffar blocked the attack with their lightsabers, the tendrils of electricity wrapping harmlessly around the violet and green blades. The twi'lek wasn't as lucky, however. The attack wrapped around her body, burning her skin and devastating her body. A cry of anguish was the last thing that left Aayla Secura's mouth. Her life force ebbed out of her body as she died, the ripple of the death affecting every Jedi and Sith in the area.

His ambush done, Sidious once again called his lightsaber to his hand and ignited the blood-red blade. His anger and rage flowed through him, and he used that strength to bolster his own combat abilities, as well as those of Vader and Grievous. It was a perverse form of battle meditation, and it was guaranteed to give the Sith aligned forces yet another advantage. There was no way that they could lose…