Jedi Temple
Mara stopped in front of a door and grimaced. They didn't have much time, but given that the Clones might wake up, she couldn't just leave the babies and toddlers to be murdered! She had to get them to safety! She could sense a Light Side adult and at least ten tiny sentients in the chamber beyond them, but the door was locked, naturally enough since the caretaker of the children were trying to protect his or her small charges.
"Anyone know how to get this door open?" she asked the children crowded around her like so many ducklings.
"I can open the door," a dark haired, dark skinned, dark eyed child said.
"Please do, then," Mara said urgently. "We need to get the little ones to a safer place."
The girl stared at her intently and then lifted a hand toward the door, which promptly clicked open.
"Stay here," Mara warned, stepping into the room and then freezing as a tall female Togruta stepped forward, her yellow lightsaber buzzing ominously.
"Who are you? What is happening?" the Togruta Jedi demanded.
"I am Mara, a Jedi Knight from the future. The Clones have been forced by Palpatine to turn on the Jedi, though my husband has halted their rampage for now. But we need to get the little ones to a safer place."
The Togruta stared at her and then shifted her blue eyes to stare at the little one who had opened the door. "Reva, do you trust her?"
The girl looked briefly at Mara, then back at her guardian. "Yes, she and two other Jedi saved our lives, Master Shylo."
"Very well," Shylo said, her shoulders relaxing. "The older children will have to carry the infants and toddlers. Perhaps we should make for the hidden vaults in the cellars of the Temple?"
"I think," Mara said thoughtfully, "that we ought to leave the Temple entirely, and I have a good idea of where to go."
/
Chancellor Palpatine's Office
Darth Sidious, also known as Sheev Palpatine, glowered out the giant windows of his office toward the Jedi Temple, where one wing was now glowing orange from the flames. He should be feeling triumphant. He had successfully destroyed four Jedi Masters and had turned Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side. He had executed Order 66. The Jedi would soon be extinct, and he would be crowned Emperor of the galaxy.
But something wasn't quite right with Vader. He knew the former Skywalker very well and had formed a strong bond with the boy even before Vader had become Vader. Anakin had always been an emotional person, and Vader was no different, though with the Dark Side coursing through his veins, he should be far easier to manage. But no, there was a strange current, a buckle, and twitch in the Force that made him very uneasily. Furthermore…
He stretched out through the Force, and his yellowed teeth bared in anger. Vader was approaching him even now, and the Temple had not been fully eradicated of the Jedi scourge.
How dare he?! Vader would need to learn that when his master gave an order, it must be obeyed.
He turned toward the door of his office and wiggled his fingers experimentally. He did love throwing Force Lightning around, though it was a trifle tiring. The door opened and Vader, his hood thrown off his head, strode in with...
"Jedi!" Palpatine snarled, pointing at the two individuals following in the junior Sith's wake. He didn't know them at all, but now that they were in the very room with him, he could sense the disgusting Light emanating from the man and woman.
The Clone Troopers guarding the room immediately spun around and fired toward the intruders. Vader and his companions shifted into defensive position, and all three raised their hands, causing the bolts to deflect back toward the troopers, one of whom was hit and fell with a groan. Palpatine found himself having to deflect a stray bolt, which made him even angrier.
"Vader, what is the meaning..." he began, then cut off as the male Unknown opened his mouth and proclaimed, "Execute Order 33!"
The voice...the voice was his own! What in all the galaxies was happening?
"Oh, I want some fish!" the Clone commander exclaimed. "Where are the fish?"
"Order 34, Luke!" the woman said urgently.
"Sorry! Execute Order 34!"
The clones, one and all, collapsed to the ground, and Palpatine's grim expression shifted to something that might have been construed as worry. He knew about Order 33 and 34 and 35 and so on and so forth, of course, but how did this Jedi know of the orders? Furthermore, what kind of moron had set things up so the Clones would respond to someone who merely sounded like he did?
"Execute Order 66!" he ordered.
The clones stirred, clambered to their feet, and...
"Execute Order 34!" the Unknown male said in a gravelly voice, and the Clones collapsed again.
Palpatine snarled aloud. He would have to deal with this person before he could get his own guards conscious again.
"Vader, what is the meaning of this!" he demanded of the young man, who had stepped a few paces closer. The former Anakin Skywalker's eyes were still yellow, but Palpatine sensed confusion and distrust toward ... toward himself. Well, that was inconvenient.
"You said you could save Padme," Vader said abruptly. "You did not say you would save Padme. Do you promise to use your power and knowledge to save her life?"
Palpatine felt a strong inclination to start hurling Force Lightning at this question. He was master, Vader was apprentice, and these kinds of questions were entirely inappropriate.
But he had drawn the youth to the Dark Side through Vader's fear for Amidala's life. Given that two mysterious Light Siders were at Vader's back, he needed the boy's help.
"Of course, my friend," he said soothingly. "Padme is..."
The Force flickered a warning, but it was too late. Abruptly, painfully, a tremendous surge of power smashed into his mind, into his shields, breaking them into a million pieces, and his derision and loathing of the senator of Naboo broke free. He had hated Padme for many years, ever since the girl had managed to ward off the Trade Federation's blockade on Naboo, thus delaying his own ascension as Emperor for nearly a decade. He had looked forward so much to killing her in some exciting way, which would in turn push Vader even further into the...
"You are going to kill her!" Vader cried out, his yellow eyes burning with outrage. "You...you said that you would...you have been using me...!"
"Lord Vader," Palpatine began, as his (former) apprentice strode forward, his lightsaber lifted.
Well, blast, this wasn't great. He grabbed his saber and leaped forward, intent on salvaging what he could of the situation, though it was a little dicey. Vader was a powerful swordsman, but if Palpatine could chop off a couple of limbs, maybe he could...
The two intruders lit their sabers and now Palpatine was really in trouble. He was a very gifted swordsmen and, in fact, had taken down four Jedi Masters already today, but he had also had Force Lightning deflected on him a bit, and he was a little tired, and...
"Mercy!" he cried out pathetically. "Mercy!"
That usually worked with Jedi, who clung to compassion and ...
Leia's lightsaber connected with Palpatine's torso, and Luke's connected with the Sith's neck. The trisected Sith stood for a fraction of a section, his head cocked to the side just a touch as if confused, and then his three parts toppled onto the floor, making wet, slapping noises on contact.
Vader turned off his saber and collapsed onto the floor. "You are right! He was never going to save her! What can I do? I cannot lose her..."
"Go to sleep," Luke said firmly.
The younger man stared up in bewilderment. "What?"
"Go. To. Sleep!" Luke said, as he and his twin reached out to smack their boneheaded father in the brain.
Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, collapsed into a heap.
"He is such a mess!" Luke remarked, reaching out a hand toward the corpse of Palpatine. The Sith's com flew into his hand, and he turned on the audio which would send commands to the distant regions of the galaxy.
"Execute Order 34!" he ordered in Palpatine's voice. "Execute Order 34!"
/
Padme's apartment
Coruscant
"The chancellor's office indicated that Master Anakin returned to the Jedi Temple," C-3PO said fussily. "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be all right."
Padme Amidala Naberrie Skywalker waited until the droid had wandered off before turning away from the window and bursting into tears. Even from this distance, she could tell that the Temple was burning. Was she now a widow? Was her unborn child fatherless?
The main door to her quarters openly suddenly, and Padme, startled, awkwardly leaned down to pull her small blaster out of her boot. Her giant belly made it hard to move fluidly. She lifted the blaster with calm experience, then froze in disbelief as Jedi Master Shylo, whom she had met several times before, entered her quarters with a horde of children crowding around her, some with infants and toddlers in their arms, and a totally unknown red haired woman at his heels.
"Master Shylo!" she exclaimed, lowering her blaster and rushing forward. "What is happening? I see the Temple burning!"
"It is complicated," the red headed woman said, gesturing toward the door into Padme's bedroom, which closed obediently. "For now, it is enough to say that the Clones have turned on the Jedi, and these little ones are in danger. We decided to hide out here, with your permission, and we will keep you safe as well."
"The clones have…?" Padme repeated in confusion, just as the unknown woman squeaked and leaped across the room to enter into the kitchen area. A moment later, she backed out of the room with two squirming toddlers in her arms and shut the door to the kitchen.
"This place isn't exactly toddler proof, is it?" she said with a roll of her eyes. "Master Shylo, can you make sure the door to the balcony is firmly locked, so none of these crazy little people fall off the precipice?"
The Togruta nodded and hurried over to the door. Mara glanced around and, assured that no one was actively trying to kill him or herself, turned toward her husband's Alter Mother.
"I am sorry for bursting in like this," she said. "I know what I'm going to say sounds insane, but I'm from thirty years in the future, and I'm married to your son, the one you are carrying now."
Padme's eyes flared open and her brow wrinkled. "What?"
"I am a time traveler. Your son and daughter are here too, but they are dealing with Palpatine and Anakin."
"My son and… what?"
"You are carrying twins," Mara said with a chuckle, "and I must say for a petite woman, you look amazingly small. I know the twins were born prematurely but healthy; they must be curled up just right in there."
"I … Master Shylo? Do you believe any of this?"
The Togruta Jedi took a moment to take one of the Jedi babies into her arms and then said gravely, "I do, Senator. Something terrible has happened tonight, and the clones have turned on the Jedi. Indeed, the children were in terrible danger from…"
She trailed off and cast an anxious look at Mara, who said steadily, "From Anakin, Padme. He turned to the Dark Side a few hours ago, though I hope his Fall will be of short duration this time around. He would have killed the younglings if your twins from the future hadn't interfered."
Padme wobbled slightly, and Mara quickly pushed her into a chair. "Sit down, Padme, please. Reva, my dear, would you be willing to get some water for the Senator?"
"Yes, Madam," the little girl said, hurrying off.
Mara kept a close eye to make sure none of the little ones followed Reva into the kitchen, where all sorts of enticing knives and breakable things were waiting. A minute later, Reva appeared, shut the door behind her, and brought the water over to Padme.
"Drink this, and calm down," Mara ordered. "Everything is going to be all right, I promise."
Padme obeyed the first part, but her mind was sufficiently tumultuous that it was impossible to obey the second.
"Anakin wouldn't! He's a good person!"
"He's… a mess," Mara said judiciously. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I like the versions of Anakin I've met, but Darth Vader, his Sith alter ego, sucks convor eggs. Anyway, you know about the dreams of you dying in childbirth, right?"
"Yes, but they are just dreams…"
"In our timeline, those dreams came true," Mara said bluntly, and then reached out a gentle hand to touch Padme's arm. "They won't this time, because we've stopped the events that led to your death. I think that…"
She lifted her eyes and stared at the ceiling, her eyes narrowed. A moment later, she grinned and said, "Palpatine is dead, so yes, you'll be fine. Master Shylo, let me take that precious little baby so you have your arms free, Ok?"
The Togruta thankfully handed over the little girl and rushed off to detach a small Twi'lek who was clambering up some curtains.
Padme was still flummoxed by Mara's previous statement. "Palpatine? What do you mean?"
"He's a Sith Lord," Mara said, planting a gentle kiss on the infant's bald head. "I just adore babies. Makes me want to have another one. Yes, anyway, Palpatine is a Dark Side Master and the leader of the Separatists. He's been running both sides of the war so that he could position himself to become chancellor of the Republic. Today, Palpatine activated Order 66, which forces the Clones to turn on the Jedi. Unfortunately, a lot of Jedi have died today, but I hope that since Luke sent Order 34 that at least some Jedi are safe. And we rescued the little ones, which makes me happy."
"Order 34?" Padme repeated.
/
Author Note: I am always a little amused at the Mustafar scene where Padme runs up to (not yet fried) Darth Vader and she has this cute little baby bump. Like lady, you are supposed to be carrying nearly full term twins! She was WAY too small!