It's over. Palpatine was on the floor of the throne room, in two halves of body. Anakin had killed him.
I have killed him.
Anakin had turned away from the Jedi, subsumed himself in the dark side; but now - he had returned.
Somehow, he had defeated the most dangerous Sith Lord - in millenia at least - and ended his threat.
I always wondered if I could do it. Pompously, I thought I could overthrow him and assume leader ship of the empire. But for my own power. I would have control over the entire galaxy. And now, I have done it. But not through any new-found power of the dark side, just through my resolve and determination that this must be done. But who do I do from here? I must return to Padme. And to Ahsoka.
But… he felt overwhelmed. It was rather strange and odd to see Darth Sidious' body right in front of him. And Anakin felt scared. Not a fear for his life; he had never been afraid of that; but a fear for what was next.
There was no redemption, Anakin knew. He would probably be killed by the Jedi right then. And Padme. He had accepted the way of the force during the duel, but still he trembled. He would have to rush to her immediately.
The door was blasted open.
"What the hell is going on here?" cried an Imperial officer.
It was not just one. Many men and women in uniform, some who had served with Anakin during the war had arrived and saw the scene, dumbfounded.
"Good God! The Emperor is dead!"
"You… Lord Vader? You killed him." It was Cassio Tagge.
Tarkin was also there, but so much for his loyalty or affection for the Emperor did not look stunned at all, merely surprised.
Conan Antonio Motti raised his blaster, in the apparent attempt to try and arrest Anakin, though he knew the man who killed the Emperor could hardly be made submissive.
Anakin effortlessly used the force to seize the blasters from him and shoot him and Tagge, though the latter had posed no threat to him at all.
"Emperor Palpatine confided in me unwisely that he wished to overstep his constitutional mandate even further. That he would dissolve the Senate with illegitimate force. When I objected, he attacked me. But I have defeated him.
"I am now Emperor."
Anakin said, eliciting fear from everyone, except in Tarkin, where it was mere intrigue.
"But I will leave the fate of the Empire back to the Senate. Set a course for Coruscant immediately. And fly fast."
Everyone now looked at Tarkin, who thought for a while, and said,
"But of course, My Lord. Do as the Emperor says."