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Phase 10: Thy brother's blood

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Part 6

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Loyalist positions

Senate building

Coruscant

A Torrent spun out of the sky with its right wing gone and splattered itself nearby throwing burning chunks of fuselage over the tense stand-off. More rogue Clones moved around the obstruction despite an ever increasing loyalist close air support.

"Look, what the Chancellor and General Kenobi did, they did it for the good of the Republic!" Anakin struggled to find the right words.

He didn't know these Clones; he hadn't fought beside them since the war began. Rex, if the man was in any mood to listen to anything Anakin would ever have to say, him he knew how to speak to. He knew that man. These? Trying to convince them what was best for them was obviously out of the question, if that was ever a consideration in the first place. They did attack the Senate, a place they had to know would be defended by an overwhelming number of loyalists. What was left then? They were obviously far too willing to shoot their own brothers, disturbingly so in fact, something Skywalker shelved for a later consideration.

What he was left with was their obvious faith in the Republic. They fought to preserve it, didn't they? He had to put stopping this madness in a way that would resonate with their desire to protect it. Sithspit, he should have paid more attention to Obi-Wan's lessons about diplomacy and how to properly talk to people, instead of blanking out most of those conversations while thinking about tinkering with the latest thing that got his fancy...

"It's what we're doing!" Snapped the Clone on point, rudely interrupting his internal monologue. "If your bastards had any regards about what's best for the Republic, you wouldn't have needed a coup! If you had enough support, your so called Chancellor wouldn't have needed to sideline the Senate! We all know she can't have enough support, otherwise none of this would be necessary! We won't leave you people to convince, coerce or buy your way into legitimacy! We're sworn to protect the Republic and the Senate, not to silently support and uphold a coup! We won't betray our duty!"

"That's not what happened!" Anakin protested in a tone that betrayed the fact he believed it to be at least partially true... probably because as far as he knew, it was. Despite the cacophony of the ongoing battle, his voice carried out loud enough to be heard and he immediately blamed himself for that slip of the tongue.

The distinct drone of an approaching LAAT sounded from behind. Anakin didn't need to look back to see incoming reinforcements, however he couldn't help but curse their timing. If he hadn't slipped, if he had more time to talk...

"He's buying time!" A Clone shouted.

There was no need for any-more words. As one, the rebels opened fire and Anakin was hard pressed to weather the onslaught. He dove deeply in the Force and let it guide his movements. His body moved on autopilot – a mix by his power's guidance and years of training, which let his mind freer to think. He had to end this, before that walker came into action. There were injured people laying all around him and heavy ordnance impacting where he stood would be fatal. It was bad enough that there was too much incoming fire that he couldn't properly deflect the shots back and had to simply interpose his blade between him and them as fast as possible. At least the walker's turret was swinging away, probably to take out the LAAT behind.

He was out of time. Anakin snapped his prosthetic arm forward in a gesture that helped his mind channel the Force in a massive push that carried a telekinetic wave half a meter above the ground thus missing the injured. As suddenly as it began, the onslaught halted as every single rebel shooting at him was thrown off their fleet. He wasted no time and charged the walker, even though it was futile. A pair of missiles streaked overhead just as the Force sent him a warning and he dove for the ground. The walker managed to sent a single shot downrange before the warheads struck – one blew the vulnerable cockpit to pieces while the other slammed just below the turret and detonated tearing it from its cradle. A split second later the LAAT behind exploded when the enemy's round flew true and the walker followed suit when ammo and fuel cooked off. Shock-waves slammed into Anakin and the wounded bringing their little part of the engagement into a fiery end.

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Senate Building

Coruscant

Her whole world was a loud buzzing sound and dull, all encompassing pain. Something hard and firm laid over her, pressing her uncomfortably in the floor, making her hurt even more. The weight shifted and she let out a moan of pain and relief. Red emergency light came online and revealed a blurry white form leaning above her.

"...rght. Chancellor, are you all right!?" The armoured man shouted louder and this time she made out the words over the echoing ringing in her ears.

"dht...nhw..." Her jaw ached something fierce and only mumble got out.

"Get me a medic over here!" The figure roared.

Now she could hear pieces of other conversations too.

"Perimeter's breached. The whole left flank's as good as gone. While the trap's closed and we've got reinforcements pouring in, a number of enemy transports got to the building before our fighters could lock down the airspace..."

"Wounded all over the building... multiple checkpoints not responding... Enemy infantry confirmed in sectors..."

"The Senate Chamber got hit hard. We've got significant loses there including multiple Senators..."

"The primary is Priority One. Funnel all available reinforcements to our position. We're bunkering here if practical, then retaking the rest of the building. Any word on the General?" The armoured form turned his head sideways when he asked someone Satine couldn't see.

What the hell did just happen? Why did everything hurt? Her mind was slowly rebooting and piecing things together from the bits of conversations she could comprehend. They were at the Senate waiting for something. An attack? What?

"Unknown at this time, sir. His unit was much closer to the impact site. We've lost contact. Any units still active nearby are moving in to extract him if practical..."

The General? That was wrong. The Clones usually talked about only one man that way and he was out on the Rim doing Sith things and generally making her life harder. Who then?

"Obi-Wan!" Satine managed to croak and tried to stand up, only to be held back by firm hands.

"Stay down, Ma'am. At least until the medic clears you up. We got just a moment of warning before we got hit..." The armoured figure came into focus as Satine glared at it.

Now she could give it a proper name – Commander Cody, the minder Obi-Wan put in charge of her security.

"What happened?" Her voice shook but she could speak even if it sent sharp needless of pain up and down her jaw. She felt as if someone slugged her, while wearing an armoured gauntlet no less. She should know – Satine had an experience with that courtesy of Bo during their first fall out years ago...

"The building got hit by a very light ship-grade ordnance, ma'am. We're only lucky it wasn't something heavier or we wouldn't have this conversation..." Cody trailed off.

She knew the implications. Anything heavier would have gutted the whole building and killed everyone inside and nearby for that matter. The actual heavy stuff... Satine didn't want to think about the collateral damage. There was a reason why ships usually didn't slug it in the atmosphere. The side effects tended to be catastrophic if they went all out... like those reports from the time of the Jedi Coup from Corellia... But that was a problem for later.

"It's bad I take it?" Satine asked, while pointedly ignoring a medic who came over and began waving a scanner over her.

"Bad. That strike practically wiped out the division caught directly in the way of its back-blast and decimated those on the flanks leaving a huge gap in our perimeter. Enemy units get inside before our reinforcements could stop them. They'll be going after you and the Senators ma'am Chancellor. Orders about their disposition?"

It took Satine long seconds to figure out what exactly was Cody asking. Then she took a double take, in disbelief. Was she wrong after her association with Veil or did the man politely ask for permission to arrange an accident for the surviving Senators? Perhaps she was overreacting and he simply meant if he should sent more people to keep them out of the hands of the rebels? She hoped so at least...

"Do your best to prevent their capture by rogue forces..."

"Ma'am, I'm not detecting anything life-threatening for you, however the shock has your baby in distress. I'm recommending displacing you to a proper hospital ASAP just to be on the safe side..." The medic interrupted.

All colour drained from Satine's face. In the chaos and excitement after becoming Chancellor, not to mention when the crisis with the Clones began, she utterly forgot about the fact she was pregnant and how everything could affect her baby...

"Does she need to be moved now?" Cody asked. "We can't guarantee her security if we displace immediately."

"Nothing critical, I think, but try to keep them both from getting shacked around again. I'm not really versed in this." The medic, presumably another Clone under that armour, shrugged.

"We will do so ASAP, then. Where are my bloody reinforcements?!" Cody stood up and went to order his minions around.

=RK=

Part 7

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Senate Building

Coruscant

Sheev Palpatine the now former Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, also known as Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith. That was his name, who he was. He could remember it all now – it all got back in bits and pieces while he watched the battle, which was turning to be surprisingly fun. With than regained knowledge came self-reflection. Sheev couldn't help but wonder which of his contingencies in case of a sudden and unexpected death led to this nice little bit of chaos. It was a bit concerning that apparently there was a snag with Order 66 – Skywalker fighting alongside one of the two sides, without said Clones shooting him in the back indicated that much. Still, this nice little civil war going on was a point indicating that at least some contingencies did work after all.

He walked across the halls of the Senate and enjoyed the show, while pondering what to do, now that he was dead by apparently not quite. What could he do besides pass through walls and play voyeur? That wasn't a pastime he was going to enjoy, that much Palpatine knew.

A whole Clone platoon ran from behind and passed through him as if he wasn't even there – despite that happening a lot since he came back, the feeling was still weird. Being ignored that way, there was no way to put it mildly – it grated, damn it all! At least that offensive platoon wasn't going to bother anyone for much longer – there were the delightful sounds of battle and general mayhem coming behind the corner and when Palpatine walked around it he was graced with a pleasing sight. The irritating group of Clones had run straight into a barricade manned by more of their kind and were now busy annihilating each other. Blaster rifles, man-portable assault weapons and grenade launchers spat fire in all directions. Explosions scoured the metal walls of the corridor, blaster bolts tore chunks of the alloy, yet the short and vicious battle wasn't over in the instant as one might expect. Despite finding themselves in the open with not a shred of cover, the attackers weren't exactly helpless – their improved armour and its built in shields made what should have been a suicidal charge in a much less one-sided affair. A burst from a grenade launcher tore the barricade apart along with the fire-team manning it, but before that could happen, the leading element of the platoon was cut down by concentrated heavy-weapons fire. The rest fared little better, because it was soon revealed that behind the first barricade waited another, with yet more Clones and heavier weapons. More grenades flew both ways and somehow didn't run afoul by the automatic blaster fire filling the corridor. Deafening explosions followed and red-hot shrapnel scythed its way into armour that mostly held at anything but point-blank range where the shock-wave itself was the real danger. An assault cannon shredded the next barricade along with two of the Clones taking cover there, then a rocked blew up the heavy trooper and a pair of his own buddies. Then thermal detonator thrown by the defenders put an end of the skirmish by searing the far end of the corridor with its short-lived nuclear fury and it was all over.

Palpatine walked over red-hot warped floor and through melting wreckage that used to be armoured men. Oh, how he missed the few occasions he got to cut lose in such a way himself! It's been years since he could be himself instead of playing the nice old man! It was so frustrating and now that this battle rubbed it in his face he had to wonder was it worth it? For a decade he was the most powerful man in the galaxy, yet he didn't get to have any fun! It was just dealing with one crisis after another or butting heads with the idiots in the Senate so anything could get done... Neither he nor the Sith in general couldn't even take credit for that particular mess – the Senators and their masters at home ensured that the Senate was the dysfunctional mess that it was when he was elected for the first time. It was the height of irony that the Republic functioned the best it had in centuries if not since the reformation under the guide of a Sith intending to turn it into his personal Empire... At least once that was done he was supposed to finally have some fun... right?

Thinking about the Senate and the fact that he would have had to deal with them for years to come – and that was the best case scenario... Why did he really bother? Vengeance against those stuck up hermits in the Jedi Temple, well, over the years they did cause him much, much fewer problems than the Senate. In fact they were usually at least as helpful as a pain in the backside...

Only now that he was dead it looked like he saw things more or less clearly. There had been something inherently flawed in the Sith's grand plan. It had to be when even a complete success meant only more thankless toil for years to come after he dedicated his life to it. Now that he thought about it, it didn't seem worth it. Not really, because what becoming an Emperor would really gain him? He was painfully aware of all the alliances, deals and promises he had to make in order to ensure that his Empire won't be stillborn. That also meant he would have been bound to follow up on most of those promises and would have had his hands full in ensuring he didn't lose everything until his new order got established as the status quo. It would take even more time to get enough people believing that the Empire would be the best way forward for them if no one else... Baring a miracle it would be another decade, probably two to three before he could rid himself of the Senate and begin to enjoy the spoils of his victory. Would he ever had time to figure out Plagues' intended way to become immortal?

Palpatine walked through another long corridor, one leading towards the Senate Chamber. Something in the Force told him that there would be something interesting to see there. What he did saw after entering was another battle. He had been so self-absorbed he hadn't even paint heed to the sound, though to be fair, the whole building echoed with rapid-fire and explosions. At any other time, such absent-mindedness would have been inexcusable. Today? He was already very, very dead so what of it?

This time, the attackers won the day, by using a liberal amount of explosives and mowing down everyone who survived the initial bombardment with heavy weapons. One of them attached a square device to the door leading into the Chamber got back to a safe distance and pressed a detonator's button. A blinding bluish explosion obscured the far end of the corridor. Just a few pieces of melted metal flew back thought they fell short of the waiting Clones, who threw a few grenades in and then charged after the concussion ordnance went off.

Palpatine calmly walked inside behind them and grinned at the sight that greeted him. Oh, how many times he had wished to reveal his true colours to the men and women gathered in this place and demonstrate to them the depths of his frustration with their foolishness! What he saw was like a dream come true!

Many of the pods were thrown out from their cradles and laid crashed either at the bottom or more often, at the ones on the rows below. Hundreds were dead, with many more injured spread all over the place – crushed, maimed, or just fallen a row or two below resulting in nasty breaks. There were a lot of Clones inside, some were attempting to restore order, others were busy treating the wounded – and ensured that their own got preferential treatment. It was in this scene of carnage that the group Palpatine followed charged. Initially no one was in a position to respond and they managed to cut down a number of the defenders along with at least a few Senators foolish enough to be at the wrong time at the wrong place. Or at the right time and place as Sheev saw it. He just wished that he could actually make this mess even nastier for the band of his past ten years who were all conveniently gathered in one place.

More of the attackers broke in through different entrances and the chaos raised up a notch. The Senators predictably lost it and tried to run for the nearest exit. At places the Clones either let them go or were in no position to stop them. In others, they either bodily-checked the running people or levelled weapons at them. Now all it would take was a just a little push and Palpatine's day would be complete!

It was then when a group of bolder Senators, or just more arrogant or even scared from the battle, pushed their luck. Sheev didn't know what order the Clones had but it suddenly ceased to matter. One of them clubbed a particularly insistent human across the face with the stock of his weapon. Another Senator grabbed the weapon and grappled with the Clone which prompted the rest of that small group to rush the soldiers. Palpatine narrowed his eyes at the scene, then they lit up in recognition. That little clique was made of veterans from various security services. It was unlikely that they would just stand down and let such an opportunity to go to waste – something told him that the Senators weren't gathered here by their own volition. The way the Clones were trying to keep them inside despite the ongoing attack on the Chamber indicated that much. Figuring out that would be quite interesting, once he was done watching the show.

In the middle of the grappling a blaster went off and it was too close to a Clone for his armour's shields to activate. The shot caught him in the neck and he went down immediately. For a single stunned instant the struggling paused, then the Clone's buddies ceased playing nice and levelled down their weapons. Another heartbeat and they opened fire at the Senators they could hit without risking hitting their fellow soldiers. Seeing that, the rest of the Senators went wild and Palpatine laughed to his heart's content.