Chapter Six - The Masks Fall

"Forgive the abrupt visit, Chancellor." Anakin kept his tone casual, moving to gaze out at the Coruscant skyline. "I bring news the Council felt you should hear urgently."

He sensed rather than saw Palpatine pause warily. "Indeed? Dark times make all of us expect the worst." The Chancellor moved closer. "What troubles the esteemed Jedi Council that cannot wait for their report to the Senate?"

Still studying the view outside, Anakin spoke evenly. "Evidence has emerged that Count Dooku did not act alone. The Sith Lord we've hunted has been hiding in plain sight all along." He took a breath. "Here on Coruscant."

A charged silence fell. Anakin could feel Palpatine's stare boring into the back of his head. When the Chancellor finally spoke, his voice was cold steel. "Those are disturbing accusations from the Order against their own Republic."

Turning, Anakin met the Chancellor's gaze. "Sometimes truth can be hard to accept." He paused. "Particularly from those we trust."

All pretense fell away from Palpatine's expression, leaving pure malice. "So. You think you have won, boy?" His lips twisted in a cruel sneer. "I made you! Your power exists only through me!"

"The Jedi stand together through our own strength," Anakin replied firmly. "Your shadow will corrupt us no longer." He drew himself upright. "In the name of the Galactic Senate, you are under arrest."

For a moment Palpatine only glared back silently, the dark power swirling around him almost physical in its fury. Then his gnarled face creased into a hideous grin.

"Arrest? Are you so certain of that?" He spread his hands, and the doors slammed shut behind Anakin, sealing them alone inside. "I hope you haven't acted rashly, my young friend."

Anakin shifted his stance, senses primed for the attack he now knew must come. But he kept his voice steady. "The Jedi Council is on its way. By your own hand or theirs, your reign ends today."

Palpatine's yellow eyes blazed. "You will find I am not so easily cast aside!" He drew himself up, the surrounding shadows visibly deepening. "What power can your Jedi Council truly claim over the leader of the Republic?"

With a cackling roar, he thrust forth his hands, unleashing explosive torrents of Force lightning. Anakin cross-blocked the sizzling energy surges with his lightsaber, but the dark power drove him to his knees. Palpatine loomed closer, skeletal face alight with cruelty.

"Why draw out your pain, my young friend?" the Sith Lord purred. "Embrace your true potential at my side!" More lightning rained down, but Anakin clung to the light, rejecting the searing agony.

Suddenly a warning flared in the Force. Anakin swung his blade up to parry a concealed dagger just before it plunged into his back. Twisting away, he slashed a cut across Palpatine's arm that made the Sith howl in pain and fury.

"I will never join you!" Anakin shouted above the storm. All his rage and grief over Palpatine's betrayal channeled into his blade as he unleashed himself at the dark figure who had sought to warp and possess him.

Palpatine spat curses in languages long forbidden as he gave ground before Anakin's relentless barrage. Lightsaber forms and power long hidden came roaring to the surface in Anakin now, fueled by years of subtly cultivated fear and anger. The dark poison poured out through his blade, turning against its original master.

With a contemptuous blast of Force energy, Palpatine flung Anakin away. But before the Sith could renew his assault, a glowing green blade slashed down to block his path.

"At an end your rule is," Yoda declared. The Jedi Master stood unfazed amid the howling darkness. "And not short enough it was."

More Jedi Knights rushed into the room, surrounding Palpatine. But the Sith Lord only smiled viciously, teeth bared.

"Think you have won, do you?" he hissed. "Long have the Sith prepared for this moment!" Cackling with rage, he flung lightning and debris with reckless fury at the advancing Jedi.

But Yoda was a whirlwind, batting aside each desperate attack. Together he and Mace Windu drove the Dark Lord back toward the viewport overlooking the abyssal depths of Coruscant.

"Your Republic will be reborn under Sith rule!" Palpatine shrieked. "All your Jedi shall fall! It is foreseen!"

With a mighty slash, Mace severed the Sith Lord's sword hand. Howling in pain, Palpatine toppled backward, robes billowing.

The Jedi rushed to the smashed viewport, gazing down into the gloom. There was no sign of the Sith Lord's body. But all could sense the dark vortex of his spirit receding deep into the shadows of Coruscant.

Panting, Mace turned to Yoda. "Has he fallen?"

The wizened Master shook his head. "Gone for now, the Sith is. But unfinished, this war remains." He turned slowly to all the Jedi.

"Into hiding Darth Sidious will go to nurse his wounds and plot revenge. Vigilant, we must all remain. Return the Sith will."