Hey again! I normally prefer to post on Friday nights, but I figured it's a holiday weekend and I didn't want you guys waiting another week for an update.
I'll let you get right to it!
Disclaimer: Star Wars is still not mine...
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Darth Sidious stood before his large window overlooking the city, his hands clasped behind his back. A frown had set itself on his lips as he watched various speeders zoom past his office.
"My Lord?" a voice whispered through the silence. Sidious turned around to see the togruta kneeling before him.
"Hm? Ah, it seems I got lost in thought. How silly of me." he grumbled, his frown deepening.
"You were telling me of Skywalker's... progress." Admiral Tano murmured, lowering her head.
"As I was saying," he continued, scowling at the young woman. He turned back around.
"Lord Vader requires something else to bring him back to us. He's forgotten what power truly feels like. He's allowed his passion for his family to cloud his judgement, and it has dampened his lust for power."
"What must be done, Master?" Tano looked up, determination etched into her face.
There was silence as Sidious pondered over just what exactly needed to be done. After a week of torture, his lost apprentice had yet to break. Electro-whips, Force Lightning, Lightsaber burns, everything Sidious could think of. But it still wasn't enough.
The way Sidious saw it, though, nothing was impossible. Skywalker, Lord Vader, would find his way. He just needed the proper motivation. Sidious just needed to step back and reassess the situation. First and foremost: physical torture wasn't working. The further Sidious stepped back to reassess, the more obvious it seemed. With Skywalker, pain of that sort wouldn't have much effect. With Skywalker, it was all mental. Skywalker's mind was burdened with a great many things: guilt, resentment, remorse, confusion, sadness. And most of those emotions seemed to swell around a certain follower of his. And there it was. That love and dedication to his friends, come and gone. It was his weakness. It would be his ultimate undoing.
Sidious turned to the young togruta before him, a smile forming on his thin lips.
"Lord Vader feels guilt," he began, a sick smile slithering onto his lips, "about a great many things."
Tano dared to look up at her master, surprised to find him smiling about this. But Ahsoka Tano, she was smart. It didn't take long for it to click in her mind. She clenched her prosthetic hands.
"He feels guilt for tossing that blasted Windu out of the window," Sidious continued, "He feels guilt for ransacking the Temple, and guilt for killing those Jedi younglings. And, it would seem, he feels guilt for what he, ah, did to you."
Images shot through Ahsoka's mind, a scowl forming on her face.
"I must destroy you!" Anakin's gruff voice echoed. The smell of burnt flesh, the thud of her hands hitting the floor.
"Finish her." he hissed.
"I HATE YOU!"
"Isn't that right, Admiral?" Sidious chuckled.
"It's pathetic, my Lord. I deserved what I got. I was blinded by the Jedi. If it weren't for Lord Vader, I would not be here. I'd be dead with the rest of that Jedi scum." Tano replied, choosing her words carefully, "Lord Vader is our ally, but Skywalker is our enemy. We must destroy Skywalker to get to Vader."
"Good." Sidious nodded.
"My Lord," Tano interjected, standing up. Praying her master would forgive her outburst, she continued, "What about Kenobi, Amidala, and the children? They are his most obvious weaknesses. If we were to... dispose of them-"
"No." the Dark Lord replied sharply. "Kenobi's time will come soon enough. As will Amidala's. The children, though. I may have use for them. Until the moment is right, we keep them all alive."
"Forgive me, Master." Tano averted her eyes back to the ground. "What must I do?"
"I'm glad you asked, young one. I grow tired of our torture sessions. I believe it would be in good taste to have you do the torturing tomorrow. Do what you please. Help Anakin Skywalker see the pain and horror he has caused."
Admiral Tano, couldn't help but allow a grin to flash across her lips. Now was her chance at some revenge. Of course she had no interest in keeping Skywalker alive, or even getting "Darth Vader" back. To her, they were the same person, and they both deserved to die.
"As you wish, My Lord." she bowed and turned and walked out of the office. There were preparations to be made, torture techniques to learn. And a Jedi to break.
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Anakin Skywalker grunted, slowly opening his eyes to the dark cell in which he laid. He had fallen asleep, or had fallen unconscious. He didn't quite remember. His hand of flesh and blood rested near the small view port. The one in his cell that connected to Padme's was slightly larger than the one that connected Padme to Obi-Wan. On the other side of the view port, he could see his wife's angelic face. She must have fallen asleep after Anakin. Though his mind was groggy, he still remembered his silent conversation with her. Her hand rested just opposite of him.
Carefully, Anakin rolled over, a moan escaping his lips as he landed on wounds, some opening upon making contact with the durasteel floor. He felt his torn tunic dampen as blood ran down his back. Anakin frowned. What did Palpatine hope to accomplish by torturing him? Anakin pondered for a moment, knowing the answer, that Palpatine was attempting to break his spirit, hoping to crush all that Anakin was.
Never. That could never happen. At least not ever again. he had resolved, closing his eyes.
He was pulled out of his brief doze as bright light poured into his dark cell. Though he had been injected with a Force inhibitor, he could still sense the two Imperial guards standing at the door. Not moving, he simply sighed.
"Back again?" he croaked, surprised to find just how dry his throat was.
"Your presence is requested, Lord Vader." one of the guards said, his voice deep and demanding.
"Sorry, no Lord Vader here. Might I suggest looking in another cell?" Anakin replied, grinning slightly.
"Get up, scum." the other guard slammed his staff against the wall, a loud bang reverberating through the cell. He heard Padme gasp from the other side of the view port. Anakin opened his eyes back up and propped himself up on his elbows looking at the guards.
"Alright. No need to get so hyped up. Haven't you heard the saying 'patience is a virtue'?" Anakin remarked, trying to suppress a smirk. The guards didn't find it so funny. They began to advance towards him, their staffs pointed at his chest. Before they could strike him, though, Anakin made a last minute decision to stand up and reach his hands out to be cuffed by some restraints. Anakin sighed.
"You know, next time you could just say 'please'." he stated, exasperation in his voice. At this, he did receive a shock to his back. He jumped, taken by surprise.
He was led out of the prison and forced onto a speeder. Palpatine preferred to not leave his office, so Anakin had grown used to the routine of being flown from the prison to the Senate building. No. Anakin corrected himself. The Imperial Palace.
The "palace" laid straight ahead, gleaming in the bright morning sun. Anakin sat back in the seat of the speeder as it zoomed through the Coruscant skyline. He had to admit, he missed the city and it's never-ending hustle and bustle. He smiled slightly, allowing the thrum of the city to run through his veins as the Imperial Palace loomed nearer, forgetting what it was that Palpatine might have in store for him today.
The speeder made a sudden turn though, veering off to the left, cutting through the other lanes of traffic. Anakin was flung into one of the guards at the sudden change in direction. The guard shrugged him off, scoffing. Anakin looked back at the Imperial Palace, as it grew smaller and smaller. The speeder blew past the beautiful 500 Republica, memories flashing through his mind, but he continued to look around in confusion. The guard turned to him, the more aggressive of the two, a smirk now on his face.
"Emperor Palpatine suggested a change of scenery for today's session." he explained, reading Anakin's expression.
The words rang through his mind as he felt his whole body go numb. Anakin turned his head to face forward once again where, just ahead, sat the ruins of the once great Jedi Temple. The one that Anakin himself had destroyed.
The speeder pulled onto one of the landing pads at the front of the temple. Anakin didn't budge as the two guards forced him out of the speeder and up to the stairs.
"Our orders, Lord Vader?" the clone commander at his side asked as he and the clone battalion approached the Temple entrance, Gate Master Jurokk's dead body left on the ground behind them.
"Kill them all." he hissed.
He was dragged up the stairs as he gazed in horror at the still-present scorch marks of the blasters, piles of ash and soot littered all around the floor, along with the bones of the Jedi that had been brutally murdered on that fateful night.
Shots rang through the halls, bodies dropping left and right. He found that with every Jedi he cut down, the easier the whole process became. He dared to find that he was actually enjoying this. He found himself in the Council room, a youngling standing before him.
"Master Skywalker! There are too many of them! What are we going to do?"
The group continued through the halls as Anakin did everything in his power to ensure he did not throw up as bile rose to his throat. Every Jedi he cut down flashed through his mind. Every face, every cry for mercy. The group slowly made their way down a long hallway, filled with quarters, mostly of Master/Padawan teams. They turned to a door that had been blasted open.
"She's barricaded herself in the room, sir!" a clone sergeant exclaimed. Darth Vader huffed, exasperated.
"Jedi coward!" he mumbled. "Blast it open!"
A rusty and blackened plaque was hung on the wall just next to the door frame. It was harder to read it now, but Anakin knew what it said. He knew where he was, and why he was there. He was pushed into the small living area, past the small plaque that bore the words "Skywalker/Tano".
"I must destroy you!" Anakin's gruff voice echoed. The smell of burnt flesh, the thud of his old padawan's hands hitting the floor.
"Finish her." he hissed.
"I HATE YOU!"
Anakin cringed, wishing the painful memories would disappear. He had been suppressing them for so long that he had almost forgotten the magnitude of what he had done. Almost.
The two guards had kicked him to his knees, his hands cuffed behind his back. Darkness surrounded him, but it wasn't as strong as that of Palpatine's. This Darkness was heavier, and it was all directed towards him. Anakin sighed and looked up as he heard footsteps come from what used to be his room.
"Well, that was a fun trip down memory lane." Admiral Tano's harsh voice rang through the barren room. She walked around Anakin, hands clasped behind her back. She looked him over, a frown plastered on her face.
"Leave us." she growled to the guards, who both stiffened, bowed, and exited the room.
As soon as the two men left, Ahsoka turned back to Anakin, a dark smile on her face.
"We have some catching up to do."
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A/N: I was very pleased with this chapter, and next chapter will be getting into the nitty-gritty of the whole Ahsoka situation. But this was a pretty good setup chapter for the next bit as well as for the rest of the story
I also wanted to thank all of you for your support of this fic! Last chapter was my most viewed and I'm so happy that people are getting really into it. It definitely keeps me writing!