Luke Skywalker stood next to Palpatine as he continued to torture Anakin. He quivered, feeling waves of a dull pain, reflecting that of his father's. Over the past few days, Obi-Wan had helped him learn to control the pain he and Leia could feel through their bond with their father. The power of Palpatine's Sith Lightning, however, was enough to make him wince in pain.
The lightning stopped, finally, leaving Anakin wheezing on the ground. Palpatine turned back to Luke.
"Look what your hero has been reduced to, young one." Palpatine cackled. "Just think. You can be so much more than that, if you join me." Luke shook his head, tears staining his cheeks.
"No. No, I won't do it." he cried. But Palpatine could still sense the conflict in the young boy, he could still see the potential. A greedy smile slithered its way onto his lips as he turned back to Anakin, who had managed to roll onto his side.
"Leave him alone, Palpatine. He's stronger than I ever was. He will resist your manipulation, no matter what," he yelled between gasps. Palpatine laughed.
"You know, Skywalker, you were always the first prize. Your power was always what I was after, but now? Now I have someone else, someone with so much more potential than you." Palpatine retorted, "I see now that you are a lost cause, Skywalker. All my years of work, unraveled by that blasted senator of yours all those years ago on Mustafar. I have no use for you. Your son, however, will be a most valuable asset to my Empire."
Palpatine raised hands again, shooting more lightning at Anakin. Anakin convulsed, now screaming in agony. Anakin managed to open his eyes, seeing past the blinding blue of the lightning. He could see Luke, screaming, trying to fight Palpatine off.
"Luke..." Anakin murmured, not entirely sure if he was speaking out loud or not, but Luke looked over to him in response, "Luke!"
He reached his arm of flesh and blood toward his son, beckoning to him through their bond. But, to his horror, Luke was ignoring him. Anakin grimaced, and shut his eyes tight. He pushed through Luke's small barriers in their bond. He needed Luke to see. He needed him to understand.
So Anakin shared his memories that led to his temporary fall, so Luke could see Palpatine's deception. Luke brought a hand to his forehead as images flooded his mind.
"Good, Anakin, good!" an old man, Palpatine without the scars, called to him. "Kill him."
"I don't trust him." a bald, Korun Jedi stated coldly.
"How do you know you have the whole truth!" Anakin called angrily to bounty hunter Rako Hardeen.
"My son, oh my son. I love-" a woman choked before falling back.
"I think I've found a way to save you, Padme." Anakin frowned looking back at Padme.
"Rise, Lord Vader."
"Master Skywalker! What are we going to do?" a young boy of about Luke's age cried.
"If you go down this path, don't expect me to follow you." Padme spat at Anakin.
Luke felt the sheer shock of every word, just as Anakin had when he first heard them himself. His eyes met Anakin's, watching Palpatine continue to bombard him with lightning. And he suddenly understood. He understood not only what Anakin went through, but also the fact that Anakin thought it was right. Obviously, his father had been wrong, but Luke could now see there were two sides to Anakin's story. And it suddenly made his father seem more... human.
All his life, Luke heard his father's heroic stories. Anakin seemed like a god, and Luke only dreamed of being just like him. But now Luke could see that maybe the life of the great Anakin Skywalker wasn't as simple as always swooping in to save the day in the knick of time. It's not to say that he understood, no Luke was far from understanding. But in that moment Luke saw that Palpatine was right about one thing: he could be greater than his father. And that's why nothing stopped him from jumping in front of Palpatine's line of fire.
Luke's world exploded with pain as he was thrown to the ground. Anakin looked up in shock at what had just happened, shouting for Palpatine to stop as the six year old convulsed before him. Palpatine had not heard Anakin, but stopped all the same. Luke small form laid still on the blood red carpet of the office. Anakin gasped as he rolled onto his stomach and army-crawled over to his son, ignoring the fact that every part of his body was on fire. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he desperately searched for a pulse. To his relief, he found it, though faint and erratic. He buried his wet face in Luke's tunic.
"Oh, my Luke. What have I done?" he sobbed, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
Meanwhile, Palpatine stared in utter awe at what he had just witnessed. He had not accounted for this, this was totally unexpected. He was ready for Anakin to die and for Luke to join him. But this? Palpatine's awe faded into anger.
"No!" he howled in fury, the entire room seeming to shake in response to Palpatine's reaction. Palpatine stormed over to to his desk, slamming his hand on the comm unit, bringing up the image of Ahsoka.
"Admiral, take Skywalker and the boy back to their cells. Schedule them all for execution to take place first thing in the morning. I want it broadcast across the entire galaxy so all will see just what happens when someone tries to go above me!"
"No!" Anakin cried, "No it's just me you want! Leave them alone!"
"Shut up, Skywalker, you've no say in the matter." Palpatine sneered as the door opened to reveal Ahsoka. She moved over towards Anakin, who was now holding Luke.
"Take them away." Palpatine waved his hand and turned his back to them.
"Get up." Ahsoka hissed. Anakin simply glared as he stood up, careful to mind Luke's injuries. The three of them walked out of the office and down the hall toward the cell Anakin had been held in the previous night.
The walk was silent, which brought Anakin both comfort and guilt. He hugged Luke closer, praying to the Force that he might forgive him whenever he woke up.
Just as they were about to reach the cell, Ahsoka took a sharp turn away and entered a small alcove sheltering a small door, leading to what seemed to be a broom closet. Anakin looked around and noticed there were no holocams. Ahsoka turned to him and held out his lightsaber, which he took with his free arm.
"I know you didn't have to do this, Ahsoka." Anakin murmered, his cerulean eyes fixated on Ahsoka's dull gray ones. "I can't thank you enough. And for what it's worth, I'm so, so sorry."
Ahsoka frowned, seeming to be somewhat taken aback. But this lasted only a moment, as the door to the broom closet slid open to reveal Padme, Obi-Wan, and Leia.
"Anakin! Luke! Thank the Force!" Padme cried, rushing to hug the two of them. She immediately tensed, however, at noticing Luke's current state. "What happened? What did he do?" she growled. Anakin shook his head.
"It was my fault, Padme. Palpatine, he tried to convert him, but Luke, oh he was so strong. He stopped Palpatine from hurting me further. He saved me." Padme's eyes widened, but then softened at what she heard, smiling down at her unconscious child.
"My boy." she whispered, kissing Luke gently on the forehead.
"We don't have much time." Ahsoka pressed, looking back down the hallway. "No doubt, the Emperor has noticed you haven't made it back to your cell."
"You're right." Obi-Wan nodded, resting a reassuring hand on Anakin's shoulder. Anakin handed Luke over to Padme and drew his lightsaber from his belt.
"Then let's go." Anakin replied, a small encouraging smile gracing his lips. Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Padme, and Luke quickly made their way out of the small alcove, but Anakin felt a quick tug on his gloved arm. He turned around to see Leia, quivering.
"What is it, Princess?" Anakin knelt down to her level.
"Daddy, are you scared?" she asked, almost in a whisper.
"I'm terrified." Anakin stated honestly, "But I'm not going to let that get in the way of protecting you. Now come, climb on."
"Luke'll be okay, right?" Leia asked as she hopped onto her father's back.
"Luke will be just fine, sweetheart." Anakin reassured, smiling again as he broke into a sprint to catch up with the others as alarms began to blare.
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"Sir, we've broken through the blockade." Raymus Antilles called back to Bail Organa. The duo was now seated in the Tantive IV, Antilles at the helm. Numerous fighters flew ahead of them, taking down the unsuspecting Imperial Star Destroyers at an amazing rate. A few other cruisers carrying ground soldiers followed the Tantive IV as it burst through the opening created by the fighters.
"We're all clear," Bail commed the other cruisers, "Begin your descents. We'll rendez-vous at the Imperial Palace. Be prepared to take heavy fire upon landing." He turned back to Antilles, lips tight and brow creased.
"No going back now." he added under his breath.
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Emperor Palpatine sat back in his office chair, flustered. First, Skywalker never makes it back to his cell, then Amidala and Kenobi are missing, and now he's getting commed from his planetary blockade that an entire fleet has broken through and are now headed for the surface. He rubbed a hand over his temple.
Oh, this is not how I thought today would go... he thought.
He'd no doubt Tano had helped them. She had an agenda of her own, and he was obviously not a part of it. It mattered not, however. He knew they would all suffer soon enough, starting with Skywalker. For now, though, he simply commed his captain of the guard to inform him of the impending invasion.
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The Skywalkers arrived to the main landing platform of the Imperial Palace to find that all hell had broken loose. Stormtroopers were fighting against men and women of all different uniforms. From what they could see, for now the rebels were winning. They seized their opportunity to run towards what Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan recognized as the Tantive IV. Bail saw them coming and was able to call a few fighters to cover them.
"Padme! Anakin, Obi-Wan! Thank the Force you all are alright!" he grinned as the family plus Ahsoka made it to cover. "Not much of a fight, is it?" he chuckled.
"Not now, it's not." Ahsoka replied, looking back toward where the troopers were appearing. "I'm sure the Emperor has sent down reinforcements by now. They're probably on their way."
"Well, we have what we came for. Let's just hop on the Tantive and get out of here." Everyone nodded amongst themselves, turning to get on the ship.
But something suddenly pulled Anakin's gaze toward the top of the palace. He realized that from his position, he could see the window to Palpatine's office. From there, he could just make out the Sith Lord's figure staring down at them. Anakin frowned, rage boiling within him. He did this, he thought bitterly, he is behind all of this. He must be stopped. Running away won't do anything. He huffed, turning back toward the others.
"Daddy? Aren't we going too?" Leia asked, confused. She was still clinging to Anakin's tunic. Padme and Obi-Wan turned around, hearing Leia.
"I told you I was done running," he said, looking at Obi-Wan and Padme, "I meant it."
He suddenly handed Leia over to Obi-Wan, and rushed to kiss Padme on the cheek.
"Get them out of here." he ordered, pointing them to the ship. "I've got to take care of this."
"Ani," Padme started, worry lacing her voice.
"No, Padme. I mean it. I'll be quick. I can catch a ride. Just don't wait up for me." he looked to Obi-Wan, who nodded as if to say "I'll make sure she doesn't do something stupid".
Anakin turned around and started heading back to the palace, but Obi-Wan suddenly called to him.
"May the Force be with you, my brother." he offered up an encouraging smile. Anakin sent one his old master's way as well.
"You too, Master." he nodded.
And with that, he broke into a sprint, making his way to end Emperor Palpatine's rule. One way or another.
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Well there we go! Another one down. I decided to post this tonight so I wouldn't have to worry about doing it tomorrow. I'm pretty happy with this one, and I hope you enjoyed it. Man, I feel like I sound like a broken record every time I say that...
The next chapters already half written, so it should be up pretty soon. Then again, the next couple weeks are going to be a little insane for me so I leave you no promises.
Thanks for the continuing support of this fic. I really am writing this for my own enjoyment, but seeing other people getting something out of this is a huge bonus and it only motivates me more to get chapters up quicker.
Let me know how I'm doing! Follow/Favorite/Review!
Until next time,
rennywrites