Galaxies Opera House
Coruscant
A Few Hours Later
Sheev Palpatine, Chancellor of the Republic, hidden Sith Lord, walked uneasily down the corridor and pushed the door open with one hand. And wasn't it annoying to have to suppress his Force powers some of the time? It was so tedious. Well, soon the Republic would fall, the Jedi would be slaughtered, and he would be Emperor of the Galaxy and would no longer need to push doors with his own hands. He could use the Force. Or have slaves do it. Or something fun.
Anyway.
He stepped into the great pit and looked around, allowing the Force to sharpen his eyesight. He had been here once before, in the area where the musicians plied their trade during the grand operas which occurred on the stage many meters above him. The pit, while large, was rather crowded, with multiple instruments and chairs set in ordered rows around the edges.
A tall, slim form stood in the middle of the floor, dressed in black.
"Anakin?" Palpatine asked, suddenly aware of a strange trickle of unease. The Force was telling him something, but he wasn't sure what it was.
The young man turned toward him and pushed back his hood to reveal a worried face, just as multiple soft lights sprang on around the edge of the pit.
"Chancellor," Anakin Skywalker said, his eyes grave. "Thank you so much for joining me here. I know you have many demands on your time."
"I always have time for you, Jedi Skywalker," Palpatine replied, producing a fatherly smile for the benefit of the young man who was very close to pledging himself to the Dark Side of the Force.
"Thank you, sir," the young man said, looking around himself "I realize this is an odd place to meet, but I know you like the opera."
"I do, very much," Palpatine agreed, lifting his head to peer high above him, where a great ball of water was suspended using anti gravity generators, ready for an upcoming performance of Squid Lake by the Mon Calamari ballet. He had no real use for the Mon Calamari as a species from a military perspective, but he admitted that they did wonderful ballets.
Anakin heaved a great sigh, reclaiming his attention, and said, "I am worried about the events of today. My padawan Tano was nearly found guilty of murder, and Barriss Offee was behind it. Sir, it was a dreadfully close call for Ahsoka, and Offee turned against the Jedi and the Republic!"
Palpatine was adept at masking his true feelings, and his face automatically drooped into an expression of sympathy. "Indeed, Anakin, it was a most difficult day for all of us. I apologize for my own role in it; based on the evidence, it seemed that Padawan Tano was guilty."
"Yes," Anakin agreed instantly. "Yes, she did. Barriss framed her with such care. But it worries me, sir; do you think that there are those who are trying to take down the Republic from within? I mean, apart from the Separatists?"
Palpatine suppressed a maniacal laugh. Yes, someone was most definitely taking down the Republic from within. He was.
"No, of course not, Anakin," he said soothingly. "Barriss Offee is a lone loth wolf, one who…"
He broke off as a Force presence suddenly flared into existence, and another dark figure leaped from the edge of the stage, far above them, to drop onto the floor with surprising grace.
Anakin spun around, his lightsaber suddenly glowing blue in the gentle lights. The intruder lit his own saber, a green one, and Palpatine tensed at the sight of the dark cloaked figure, whose hood was pulled over his or her head. Who could this be? Ahsoka? She had a green lightsaber…
"Jedi Skywalker," the unknown said, and the voice was male, so it was not Tano, "kindly step aside. The Chancellor is a Sith Lord and deserves to die."
Skywalker jerked and said, "Don't be ridiculous. Chancellor Palpatine is no Sith Lord!"
The unknown proceeded slightly closer and abruptly the hood fell away, to reveal a human male of some thirty years, with blue eyes and a cleft chin. Palpatine had never seen him, which was on one hand a relief, because he couldn't be an experienced fighter, and on the other, a huge problem, because somehow this man knew he was a Sith.
"He is," the Unknown said, moving closer still. "Now Skywalker, I have no desire to harm you, but you had best step aside, because I am killing Palpatine."
Palpatine found himself thinking rapidly. On the one hand, whoever this was could not be a match to Skywalker, who was one of the best duelists in the Jedi Order. So the man would be dead shortly unless he intervened.
It would be good if he were dead, but then again, it would be better if Palpatine knew how this Unknown had discovered his true identity. If the man was arrested and interrogated properly, well, that would be excellent.
"Anakin," he said aloud, making up his mind, "this individual seems disturbed. I think it would best if you took him alive."
"Disturbed?" the Unknown replied, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Yes, I am disturbed. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"
Palpatine had, in his long, illustrious, and hidden career, killed many fathers, but naturally he did not have any intention of admitting that.
"I do not," he began, and then stopped as the Unknown leaped forward to attack him, and Skywalker got in his way.
Palpatine took a step backwards and prepared to enjoy himself. This was actually quite a marvelous opportunity; for all that Anakin was an excellent swordsman, there were some tweaks that he needed in his fighting style, and this would be a good time to contemplate necessary changes.
A minute passed as the two men traded blows, and Palpatine felt his satisfaction give way to surprise and then genuine unease. The Unknown was several inches shorter than Anakin Skywalker, but he was an absolute Master and was well on his way to defeating the younger man. Who in all the galaxies could this be? He knew all the Jedi, knew them well. Where had this Unknown come from?
A seven stringed hallikset, which had been resting peacefully near the wall, suddenly leaped into the air and flew toward Skywalker, who jumped back in time to avoid it. A moment later, multiple instruments began leaping from their spots and hurling themselves at Skywalker, who managed to slice them in two except for one, thankfully small, mandolin, which struck the younger man in the shoulder before bouncing off.
Skywalker was sweating under the assault, but he lifted his left hand and gestured, which caused a full dozen vioflutes to leap from their stands and hurtle toward the Unknown, who lifted his own left hand and stopped them midair before throwing them back at Anakin.
Skywalker ducked, which meant the vioflutes would have struck Palpatine, if the old man had not gestured and cause them to veer away. Of course he had no desire at all to reveal his Force abilities, but he didn't want to get slammed about by musical instruments either!
He would, he realized, need to get involved if Skywalker lost this battle. He wasn't quite ready to reveal his true nature to his (unknown) apprentice, but then again, if he saved Anakin's life…
A piano, sitting high above on the main stage, suddenly came crashing down, and once again, Palpatine was forced to use the Force to levitate it to one side so that it didn't smash him on the head.
When he looked up, both men were standing side by side, their lightsabers buzzing, both staring at him.
"You… you are a Sith Lord," Anakin Skywalker said incredulously. "You can use the Force."
Palpatine blinked, and blinked again. In the middle of frantic fighting, surely Skywalker had not actually seen…
"Nonsense, my boy!"
"You moved that piano so that it didn't hit you!"
"I most certainly did not," the Chancellor said, managing a grateful expression. "If it moved, you must have done it unconsciously to save my life. I thank you profoundly!"
There was a soft thud to his right, and he turned just as an enormous Force presence bloomed in his consciousness. He jumped and watched, unsettled, as a slight, dark cloaked figure pushed back her black hood to reveal a young woman of some thirty years, a young woman of staggering beauty, who looked oddly familiar.
"We should introduce ourselves," the woman said with what was most definitely not a pleasant smile.
"Yes, we should," the unknown agreed. "I am Luke Skywalker, and this is my twin sister Leia. We are Anakin's twin children from thirty plus years in the future. In our timeline, you killed Anakin, who was your apprentice and going by the name Darth Vader. So you, or another version of you, killed our father."
"Prepare to die," 'Leia' said.
Sidious choked briefly and then turned wide, innocent eyes on young Skywalker. "Anakin, this is madness…"
"I know they are telling the truth about the time travel," Anakin said. "But I could not believe you were manipulating me as they said you were. But now I know. I felt you use the Force using the Dark Side. You are a Sith Lord!"
Palpatine lifted his comlink to his mouth and said, "Clones, activate…"
The comlink flew out of his hand with the Force into Luke Skywalker's hand, and the man crushed it. How could he have…this man was incredibly powerful! Bantha Poodoo. This wasn't good. He hadn't come armed because, well, he hadn't thought he'd need his saber.
But he could move things around with the best of them.
He reached out with the Force, high, high, high above them all, to the great ball of water which was suspended above the stage for the upcoming performance of Squid Lake and smashed the antigravity generators. The ball broke open and water began spilling out, and Palpatine leaped.
"Leia, Anakin, jump!" Luke yelled, and leaped as high as he could to escape the sudden influx of water.
His twin and Alter father did so, but the waters caught them all, and they found themselves being buffeted by tons of water as it jostled and twisted and lurched.
Luke was glad that he had spent time learning to swim well. He reached out to link with Leia's mind and together, using the Force, they grabbed Anakin and forced themselves to the surface of the maelstrom of water which was currently flooding the orchestra pit. Once they had reached the surface, they grabbed the walls and did another leap, dragging themselves onto the stage, where Palpatine was frantically looking for a comlink to start Order 66.
Luke leapt forward and lit his saber and swung it at the old man, who dropped the comlink as he blasted the young man with Force lightning.
Leia, seeing her twin in battle, grabbed her own saber and advanced on the old Sith from the other side.
Palpatine was shocked and horrified to discover that his adversaries were obviously skilled in managing Force lightning. He needed to get out of here, and now!
He blasted first the man, and then the woman, with lightning, which both caught on their blades, and leaped toward the door of the opera house. He had almost made it when another blade lit up and before he could react, before he could think, Anakin Skywalker slashed his legs out from under him and gave him a good push with the Force toward the opera pit.
He fell into the water, and he had no legs, and he was in agony, and he did know how to swim, but it was hard to do so with only his arms, and suddenly an organ landed on his head, and he was sinking, and he couldn't move it because he was in pain, and he couldn't breathe and…
And he was dead.
Author Note: The inspiration for this particular method of killing Palpatine is Veggietales Esther: the Girl Who Became Queen. In the book of Esther in the Bible, Mordecai, Esther's cousin, overhears a plot to kill the king and reports it, saving the king's life. In the Veggietales version, two evil peas plan to drop a piano on the king's head. Mordecai notices and saves the king's life.
