Evelyn storms up the steps of the temple, the entire 501st trailing behind her, weapons at the ready, she lowers her hood from her head, turning towards Anakin's captain, "Rex, set up a perimeter around the temple, no one gets in or out," she commands before throws her hood back over her head, igniting her lightsaber, and walking inside the temple.
"Yes, sir!" The clone captain calls out, ordering his men around.
Inside the temple, a Jedi tries to gather the younglings, bringing them to safety inside the council chambers before the doors fling open. The Jedi whips his head around, igniting his blue blade, ready to lay down his life if he has to.
Evelyn lowers her hood, "It worked," she says softly. The Jedi comes out of the shadows, wrapping Evelyn in a hug, "Sorry if I pushed you too hard," she says with a tiny chuckle.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Anakin reassures her, "Are you alright?" he asks, gently taking her face in his hands, "Did he hurt you?" Evelyn shakes her head, giving Anakin some relief.
"And Master Windu?" Evelyn asks, concerned for the master of the order.
"He's alright," Anakin says, "Obi-Wan got him out with ease, and he's almost healed since the slice wasn't too deep."
"Master Skywalker, why are you and Master Zaad hugging for so long?" One of the younglings, Sors Bandeam, calls out. Anakin and Evelyn instantly jump away from each other, not remembering that the younglings were in there.
Anakin turns towards the younglings, red-faced, "Uhm, I was just-"
"He was telling me some secret information," Evelyn says, covering for Anakin, who nods towards her appreciatively, "What's the next step of Operation Fortress?" She whispers with a concerned look on her face, hoping that this plan works.
Anakin smirks, remembering how he brought his plan to the Council a few days ago.
Operation Fortress:
A few days ago...
After Anakin and Kix discover the inhibitor chip infection, Anakin and Rex take a walk with the medic, "Kix, what's this idea of yours?" Anakin asks, walking to a private room with Rex following.
"Well, sir, I was thinking we could issue a chip removal for our legion to prevent any more infections," Kix says, not wanting any more of his brothers to perish.
Anakin nods his head, "Any risks?" He asks, not wanting to do this unless it's a guarantee.
"Almost none, Sir," Anakin nods, satisfied.
"Proceed with the plan," Anakin says, walking away, but not before Kix slips a small container into Anakin's hand.
Anakin shuttles back to the Jedi Temple, and heads straight for the archives, "Master Nu!" Anakin calls out, running towards the head archivist.
Jocasta turns around, and looks over at Anakin, "What can I do for you, Master Skywalker?" She asks happily, beginning to take a liking to the studious master.
Anakin takes the container out of his belt, "I need you to analyze this chip, see if anything's wrong with it," Anakin explains as the elderly woman nods, taking the chip from Anakin's hand.
"I'll need a day or two," Jocasta responds, turning to set the sample down before facing Anakin again.
Anakin nods thankfully, "Thank you, Master," he says, bowing respectfully, "Let me know when you're done."
Anakin walks out of the archives before he heads up to Evelyn's quarters, hoping that she's not training with Gungi. He pounds on her door, growing impatient.
The door swings open, "How'd it go?" Anakin asks, Evelyn letting him in.
Evelyn goes to get caf for the two, "He was trying to engage in conversations about his old mentor, Hego Damask, a member of the banking clan thirteen years ago before he was murdered," Anakin takes his cloak off, throwing it over the couch as he sits down, deep in thought, and realizing something about both Palpatine and this Hego Damask.
Evelyn can practically hear Anakin's thoughts, realizing that Anakin's connected something no one in the last twenty years has - Hego Damask was the Sith Lord.
"Holy shit," Evelyn mutters, "We have to tell the council!"
Anakin stands up, "Now hold on, we can't do that yet," Anakin says reasonably, "We know that they're going to sit on it, so I'd rather have a really good case against the chancellor before I go to them."
Evelyn grumbles, "Why can't we just go kill that fucker?"
Anakin chuckles, "He has too much power," he says simply, "And he's painting the Jedi Order in a really bad light, so if we kill him, it looks really bad on us. We have to build up a strong legal case against him."
Evelyn nods her head, understanding where he's coming from, "We have to bring someone in," Anakin nods, agreeing with Evelyn, knowing exactly who he has in mind. Two people to be exact.
"Evelyn, what I'm about to ask of you is extremely dangerous," Anakin warns, "And I don't want to put you into harms way," Evelyn nods, understanding Anakin's concern, "I need you to spy on The Chancellor for me."
Evelyn nods slowly, "And do what, exactly?"
"Talk all the shit you can about the Jedi, about me," Anakin says, a broken look appearing on Evelyn's face, "Get him to believe you're going to fall."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm absolutely positive," Anakin says, bringing her into a hug, and kissing her temple, "Wanna go spar with Master Windu?"
Evelyn smirks, biting her lip as she pushes him to the bed, "I have a better idea."
Landing Pad: Jedi Temple.
"And be wary of the Chancellor," Obi-Wan says softly, Anakin giving Obi-Wan of confusion, "Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and tell me immediately," Anakin can't believe what he's about to tell his master.
"Master, I believe he's the Sith Lord," he says through their bond, not wanting to reveal anything to anyone listening in.
Obi-Wan's eyes so wide, drawing his lightsaber about to storm the Senate, "Hey, I have a plan," Anakin says, "And you have a part to play," Anakin says, talking his old friend down.
"What do you need me to do?" Obi-Wan asks, ready to end this tyranny.
After Obi-Wan leaves...
Anakin runs back into the temple, meeting Jocasta Nu in secret, "Master Skywalker, I've found a terrible truth."
"What is it?" Anakin asks, preparing for the worst.
"The chip contains only one executive order written by the Chancellor - sixty six," Anakin furrows his eyebrows, not knowing the detrimental nature behind that number, "It's an order to wipe out all of the Jedi."
Anakin's breath gets caught in his throat, completely blindsided by that, "So it is him," Anakin mutters.
Jocasta's eyes go wide, "I'm sorry?!"
Anakin starts to run off, "I'll explain later, Master, I have to go!" Anakin calls out, sprinting towards the council chambers, slowly piecing together the endgame of his plan, leaving Jocasta to organize the Younglings while protecting the integrity of the archives that she built.
Anakin bursts into the council chambers, "We need to activate Operation Fortress," Anakin all but shouts, taking the attention of all of the Masters.
Padme's Apartment...
"We've come a long way since Tatooine," Padme says with a smile before growing serious, "What do you need me to do?" Padme Amidala asks her old friend, who is walking with her in her home.
"Get everyone out of the senate, and keep them out for the entire day tomorrow," Anakin says seriously, "I know you had a plan to take him down, but it's in our hands now."
Padme nods, taking a deep breath, "Are you sure about this?"
Anakin nods, "We need to ensure the safety of the Republic, and that means taking Palpatine out of the equation entirely. He has too much power for anyone to get anything done," Padme understands Anakin's concern, and won't fight back, knowing that if anyone were to save the galaxy, it would be him and his plans.
Okay maybe she didn't mean that, but Anakin is the best option.
Jedi Temple...
Evelyn runs into the Temple hangar bay, finding Obi-Wan, Mace, and Anakin heading towards a gunship, "Masters!" Evelyn yells, sprinting towards them, "We were right," Evelyn says, "Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord."
Mace nods, apparently already knowing the truth, "Follow us."
"We need to have the element of surprise," Anakin says, walking with Mace Windu, Obi-Wan, Kolar, Fisto, and Evelyn to a gunship, "The temple's defenses are going up as we speak."
"Is the plan still the same?" Obi-Wan asks Anakin, who nods.
"If either myself or one of the others is wounded, Obi-Wan, you're on relief duty," Anakin points as the four Jedi get into a gunship, taking off, "I'm assuming that once Evelyn is really close, Palpatine's going to throw the duel to try and turn her, Evelyn is going to come in, and accidentally force push the four of us out of the window, cementing your imminent fall to the darkness," Anakin says humorously, catching Evelyn a little off guard since she was just finding out this information, "Once we do that, march the temple, set a perimeter, and check in with us in the chambers."
"And in the morning, Master Plo and the council will mask our presence, while we go end the Chancellor once and for all," Mace Windu says, somewhat understanding Skywalker's risky, but astonishing plan.
The gunship lands at the Senate building, "May the Force be with you," Obi-Wan says, bowing to Mace before wrapping Anakin in a strong hug, "Be careful, brother," Anakin nods before going over to Evelyn, giving her a loving hug that makes Obi-Wan smile, truly happy for Anakin.
"You better come back to me," Evelyn whispers, on the verge of tears.
Anakin hugs her a little tighter, "I love you," he whispers for the first time before releasing their hug, leaving Evelyn's heart hurting, not ever knowing if she'd hear those words again.
As the four Jedi run off, Anakin hears a voice, "I love you too," Evelyn says through their bond.
Present
"Send a beacon to all Jedi, tell them to not trust the clones and return to the temple immediately," Anakin says, looking out of the window.
Evelyn nods, running out of the room with Anakin following slightly behind, guiding the younglings down to the archives.
Obi Wan meets the two down there, "Mace is recovered, thanks to bacta patches," Obi Wan says, "When are we making our move?" Obi Wan asks, ready to bring an end to the tyranny of Palpatine.
Anakin thinks, "Middle of the day tomorrow," he says, knowing that time is the one thing other than Palpatine that is not on their side, "Palpatine's going to discover that Evelyn was lying, so we need to act fast," Anakin says, handing the younglings over to Masters Sinube and Nu, "We have Master Plo leading the rest of the council in deep meditation since he was a former Baren Do Sage, but he's going to be the one that can help us mask the presence of the order," Anakin reveals, upset that he can't have him face Palpatine with them, but knowing that he was the best force user they had, "Has Padme emptied out the senate?"
Obi Wan nods, "I did a sweep," he explains, "Everyone clocked out except Palpatine and his staff," he says wearily.
Anakin nods, "Now we wait," he says wisely, seeing Evelyn run towards them, "Good luck," he tells her as she runs out of the temple, headed towards the senate building.
Anakin and Obi Wan run up to the chambers, where they're met by all of the Council on site before they go into deep meditation, masking the presence of all Jedi.