The dead body of Obi-Wan Kenobi was lying on the ground, in mere seconds Anakin had killed him after the long battle. No final words, no a final goodbye, not even a word, just simple death. His life, ruined forever, his master's life finished forever.
"What have I done?" Asked Anakin to the dead body of his master, his friend, his brother, his family.
The sound of a starship passing nearby was not unnoticed by Anakin, but he didn't care about it, his brother was dead in front of him, with a lightsaber wound in the stomach, a wound he made. His rage and hate was nothing compared to the amount of sadness that filled him. Rage was momentary, something that happened in mere minutes and seconds, but sadness from this rage was eternal. He knew that he would never forget this, and he was unsure if he wanted to.
The darkside of the force has pushed him into this, the greed and arrogance filling his body. But all of it was worth it if Padme's life could be saved. Obi Wan's life and the destruction of the Jedi Order was something he was more than willing to pay to be able to save Padme's life.
Seeing Obi Wan's body again, Anakin was filled with confusion and doubt. But he couldn't change what was already done. Obi Wan would have killed him if he didnt kill him first. It was a battle where only one would have survived.
"How have things come to this… why did you have to betray me Master?"
Anakin abandoned Obi Wan's body as he walked to where the battle started, where he saw Padme bring Obi Wan to kill him and where the starship was probably going to land. Seeing it now Anakin noticed how this starship was a Theta-class T-2C, Palpatine's personal shuttle. Darth Sidious was coming to see the aftermath of the battle. Anakin closed his eyes and Darth Vader opened them. His yellow eyes filled with hate again. Hate towards himself for what he has done, hate toward Sidious for what he has forced him to do, hate toward Padme for bringing Obi Wan and lying to him, hate toward Obi-Wan for trying to kill him, hate toward the Jedi council that humiliated him for so many years, never trusting him, hate toward the Jedi order that always saw him as inferior, hate toward the prophecy that almost everyone talked about but none of them really believed in.
What was done, was done, hate will make him more powerful, Darth Sidious will save Padme's life. After that he will have just to punish Padme for betraying him and then everything will come back to normality. He will be a father, having a normal life with Padme, he will help to create a better future and his padawan would be by his side against the enemies they would fight in the following years.
Everything was going to be fine.
As Darth Vader walked through the rocks, the warmth of the planet made him remember Tatooine.
Hate toward his slavers, hate toward the Hutts, hate toward the barbarians that killed and raped his mother, hate toward the galaxy where he lived.
Hate was always strong in him, Yoda, and a few others saw this, not only his hate but what bad condition the galaxy was in. Yet they did nothing to change the galaxy, sitting in their temple on Coruscant, accepting this cruel Galaxy. Sooner or later, him and the Jedi order would enter into conflict. Saving Padme's life only made this conflict happen sooner.
Darth Vader walked for several minutes until he finally saw it, the Coruscant Guard securing the landing area, they were putting Padme in a special bed. In the middle of the many clones there was his master. Darth Sidious.
His presence was overwhelming, not in real life, but in a way that only a force user could sense. Darth Vader's presence in the force was maybe wild and strong, two dragons of pure brutality and strength, but Sidious presence was like a very elegant snake that could destroy a planet if needed. You at first wouldn't see it as a threat until it is too late to realize and save yourself when your neck is being crushed by the snake.
So many years, and he never noticed him, neither did the entire Jedi Order.
If he would try to kill his master, would he win? No, it was impossible for him to win. He may be the chosen one of the force. But no amount of raw force could defeat refined force. And even if he could, he still could learn from Sidious.
In the end, Sidious still had to complete his promise, save Padme's life.
—-
Ahsoka Tano was besieged by the sensation of sadness, the lack of understanding of the situation made her feel like she was alone in a Galaxy that had an unimaginable number of people. The clones, her only honest friends, betrayed her and tried to kill her. Not only that but Rex also tried to kill her until she pulled the chip out of him.
When Rex talked to her about the chip, the sensation of relief was big, because that meant that her friends didn't want to kill her because of some hidden reason but because they were forcefully manipulated by Darth Sidious. The bastard that caused all this war and suffering. Sadly, that sensation of relief was now gone and the only thing she felt was loneliness and pain.
Her breaths were ragged, as she leaned against one of the trees of one of the numerous forests in the planet she hid after burying her old friends. She tried desperately to push the feeling of betrayal into the force, as the Jedi Order and her master had taught. To force herself to simply not feel. Jedi weren't supposed to be affected by emotions as well as they weren't supposed to have attachments. But she had attachments and feelings. She started crying. The flow of tears were impossible to stop and Rex to her right, still unconscious, couldn't give her the emotional support she needed in that moment. She needed someone there with her. She needed a hug, she needed her master to be with her, or Obi Wan, or Ploo Koon. But they were probably dead… Her cries became even louder in that realization.
When she escaped she made sure that no one in this Galaxy could track her, no being in this Universe would even imagine where she was. But, she was alone. And she didn't want to be alone. She had some friends, some spice dealers from Coruscant, some Separatist that were nice. She had to start finding a new life for her in this broken galaxy… and discover what happened with her Master, her friends and Ploo Koon. She couldn't live on this planet forever, isolated from the galaxy. Not only because of her needs but because Rex would die if he stayed longer without medical treatment. As she stopped crying a little bit, but still having a few tears flow down her face. She took the pieces of the dismounted holo-communicator that she dismantled and started to build it again. Almost three years of being with her dear Master taught her many lessons. And one of them was how to dismount and build almost anything that she used.
After a long hour, her holo-communicator was again fully functional. Not only the hardware but the software. She rapidly checked if anyone tried to communicate with her… More than five hundred calls from her master…
What has she done? She was a fucking coward, again, escaping reality and hiding like a rat. Her master has never abandoned her, he constantly called to her, trying to reach her while she cried like an adolescent idiot.
The last time he called was two hours ago, but before that he called her for an entire hour… she asked herself. Was he caught? Was she late to hear her master's voice? Fearfully, she called Anakin. A minute passed and nothing happened, only the call waiting to be accepted. Was this her punishment? To suffer the same thing her Master suffered during these last three days? Suddenly, the call was accepted. Her master's Hologram appeared in front of her and Ahsoka knew that he was seeing her hologram. He looked differently to the last time she saw him. His entire clothes and robes were dark. His hair wasn't even half as cared for as it usually was. He clearly has not been able to sleep and the way he was breathing it was clear that he was desperate… somehow.
"Ahsoka, thank the force you're okay" Ahsoka felt the angst in his voice, like he had for the last three days imagined the worst possible scenario. To be fair, she has been imagining the worst case scenario possible the last three days.
"It is great to see you well Master" Ahsoka knew that the hologram detected her tears and that he was seeing her cry. But she didn't care.
"I am alone, I don't know what is happening. I wanted to warn you about the plot of Darth Sidious, but then the clones started to try to kill me, and then they threw the ship against a planet! And then!" She was speaking hysterically. She wanted to be direct and informative but she couldn't afford it. Everything seemed so normal a week ago. Even if the misery of war was what she considered normal as she has been a soldier since she was 15 years old. But then everything disappeared, the world around her disintegrating. For a moment, when she met her Master again a few weeks ago, she had the audacity to think that she was now more mature than him. But that was a lie, she was still a Padawan that needed someone there to support her emotionally.
"I know, I know, Thank the force you are alive. I don't know what would have happened if you had died… thank the force…" He was surprised but also relieved. Like he did not care about the clones or the plot of Darth Sidious but only cared about her security.
"Maul said that you were the key for everything, that you would be the reason that the Republic and the Jedi Order would fall. But I am thankful to see that you are still you Master… Please I want to-"
She stopped talking, the force bond both shared made her realize something. When she said that Anakin felt an immense pain, a pain that felt like regret. Like what she said was true. But that was not possible. Was it? He was the Hero of the Republic. He was her master. There could be no way that he was part of this somehow. He was her master, the person she could trust more… and she betrayed him twice already. Could she afford to betray him a third time and later come back?
"It is a difficult situation…" Said Anakin, taking the silence of Ahsoka as his opportunity to talk. "I am on Coruscant… thousands of things are happening at the same time and I need you here, with me. Please"
All suspicion she could feel towards Anakin's weird attitude disappeared as she felt his complete honesty in that sentence.
"How can I land on Coruscant master? The Clones will kill me when they see me"
"I will send you a location. Land there and no one will stop you nor identify you. I promise you"
Ahsoka nodded. "Rex is here with me, he is wounded and needs medical attention… I took the chip out of his head so now he is not like… the rest of the clones"
"Chip?" Asked Anakin in surprise.
"Yes, the clones have chips that force them to act against their wills, it is part of the conspiracy. Darth Sidious did this to kill all the jedi!"
Anakin nodded, murmuring something -Fives was right- but Ahsoka couldn't hear him.
"Thank you for that information… I wasn't aware…" He was thinking something that she didn't know what it was about. "Please, when you are in that location contact me. I will go for you and help you and Rex"
Ahsoka nodded.
"Thank you master… for being there…" She said, Anakin only gave one answer that for her felt strange.
"Thank you for not betraying me… Ahsoka'' -Padme… Obi Wan… they betrayed me… but you didn't- She didn't hear what he said after he said her name. But it felt weird. Like a sudden cold invading her body.
"I will never leave you again… Master"
—-
Anakin paced in the halls of the jedi temple. Well, paced was perhaps the wrong word, it was honestly more akin to stomping; although not quite as loudly as one might expect. He was sent here to kill a rogue jedi that returned to the temple. After some small fighting he died in his hand. Three days have passed since he contacted Ahsoka and for six days Padme has been in medical care from droids and his master. He was angry. He was worried. He tried to calm himself. He reminded himself that his children would come soon. He reminded himself that Ahsoka was on the way. He grew nervous again. Why didn't he have news about Padme? He had to think about something else.
Ahsoka! He could think about Ahsoka. He could go back to training her as his padawan! or, well, the sith didn't have padawans; they had apprentices. "It's basically the same thing," Anakin muttered to himself. Yes, Ahsoka, right by his side again. He just had to keep focusing on that mental image. He tried to make it firmer, not just him and Ahsoka side by side like they had been back in the day; but Ahsoka as a proper sith. He pictured it, black robes, red lightsaber in hand, by the side of Anakin not as he was but as he is now.
The mental image shifted. It was Ahsoka, dead in his arms, slain like the rest of the jedi. He hated that he traded so many lives just for Padme's, but it was worth it, right? He had to tell himself that. Ahsoka was still completely fine and he killed the order to save Padme, and now his master would follow through. He hated that the order had to die, he hated even more, the fact that he had to kill them. But it was all to save Padme. Yes, that's what happened, he had saved Padme. He had saved her. That's what was important. She was saved, the visions wouldn't come to pass, his master would save her. And he would make sure that his padawan survived to be by his side.
The chips… the chips were a problem… Believing that Sidious would betray him was something that has moved in his head constantly. He betrayed Darth Maul, he betrayed the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He betrayed Dooku, he betrayed the Jedi Order. A person that has betrayed so much could be trusted? What had he done? He has left Padme in such hands.
No! Anakin screamed to himself. Palpatine was the only way he could save her life. He didn't have to act paranoid. But… But he couldn't allow the 501st to harm Ahsoka.
With the disappearance of Rex and Appo. Palpatine put an officer of the Coruscant Guard as commander of the 501st… could he trust him to follow his orders?
Darth Vader frowned. Of course he couldn't trust that little bitch of Darth Sidious'. He didn't even have the certainty that he would allow him to have her as his apprentice. The rule of two, only one master and only one apprentice. He had to hire her with the 501st and he had to keep the loyalty of the 501st. Not because he did not trust Palpatine. But because he needed to hide Ahsoka.
Taking out his holo-communicator he confirmed that no one called him and then proceeded to call the Captains of the 501st. Giving one simple order.
"Do not trust Commander Hire and start a secret operation to remove the chips from your head. No one has to notice it"
The Captains, who had explicit orders to follow Anakin without thinking, who had voluntarily followed him for years. Only nodded in agreement.
The 501st was moving and no one knew it.
—-
Commander Hire walked through the corridors of the Resolute, the Venator was… silent. And it was scary for him. His armor was still red with paint from the Coruscant Guard but he was now Commander of the 501st.
The Emperor's orders were to be followed and he would enforce them. But it was different, dealing with civilians and politicians… and dealing with the 501st.
"Commander Hire to all the Captains of the 501st. What is happening? '' He asked through the holo-communicator. But no one answered. He continued to walk through the corridors of the Resolute but he was still alone.
Not a single corridor had a clone, not a single food hall had a clone.
Where was everyone?
Why didn't he know what was happening?
He finally saw a group of clones. It was one of the hangars, around twenty clones. Together doing a circle. They were… vomiting? Why were they vomiting? The cleaning droids were taking care of the vomit but the clones seemed somehow traumatized. Like if they just witnessed terror. Approaching them he saw how they looked at him.
He saw that face many times. In manifestations and revolts, a face that showed pure fury and will to kill.
"Soldiers, what is happening?" He tried to put his authority to work over these soldiers. But they didn't care and that frustrated him. "What is all this mess"
They did not answer, they just looked at him. With fury in their eyes.
"Soldiers, I know the 501st's traditions are different from the Coruscant Guard. But I am your superior officer and you need to answer me when I ask a question. It is not a matter of tradition but of discipline"
One of the clones finally answered. His armor had many decorations. In the 501st's tradition the more customized you had your armor, the more veteran you were. A tradition that appeared thanks to Commander Rex and many famous members of the 501st.
This clone probably has been in the 501st since the start.
"Was it nice? To sit in Coruscant while we fought around the Galaxy? Killing the enemies of the Republic and now of the Empire? I wonder, where was the Coruscant Guard when we… massacred… the jedis?"
The way he said Jedis made Hire think for a moment that somehow he was disgusted by that act. But it was impossible. Killing the jedis was something normal, something that had to be done. He knew that, his head assured him that.
But, aside from how weird his tone was, he felt humiliated. All the clone legions have always belittled the Coruscant Guard. Saying that they were nothing more than glorified police. That they never did anything and failed to do the most basic task of a Clone Legion.
"We the Coruscant Guard were securing the capital from any advance, we protected it from the separatist scum and we of course participated in the killing of the Jedis! Of course, we were not sent to assault the jedi temple. But who do you think killed them when they escaped from the temple? We did it! I will not tolerate this disrespect. Not even from a brother. You will spend the next week cleaning the bathrooms of this spaceship!"
The clones raised up, all of them.
"With what authority reddie?" He asked, mocking the red colours in his armour.
"With the authority that has given me the Emperor, to which you have declared loyalty!"
"We will only follow orders from Anakin Skywalker!"
Rapidly, the twenty clones started to argue against the Emperor's authority, only accepting Anakin's authority. It took a long hour for Hire to accept that he might be Commander by the authority of the Emperor. But to be Commander your troops had to accept you. And against all discipline understanding. His troops did not accept him.
And they were doing something without him knowing.
—-
To Anakin, it felt as though an eternity had passed since he last received news on the subject of Padme's health. Three days have passed since he gave the order to take out the chips. For six days he had to suffer the uncertainty of what would happen with Padme's health.
Anakin paced around the empty entry to the Jedi Temple, both fists clenched tight, teeth grinding in rage; as his patience wore thin. For these six days he had only been in the Jedi Temple. Eliminating anyone that came, taking care of his Legion and awaiting news from his apprentice and his wife.
Around half an hour ago, Ahsoka informed him that she was landing at the hidden locale. The clones would meet her and recover Rex to take care of him. They went unarmed to prove to Ahsoka that they were harmless. He knew her, she wouldn't damage them… but she has been away for so long … she could have changed… No, it was better this way. He had to trust her.
His holo-communicator indicated a call. Palpatine was calling him! Finally, he had news! Anakin's body seemed all at once to unwind, as muscles he didn't even know he had unclenched from his previous near-tantrum.
Palpatine's wizened face appeared on the holo-communicator, grinning widely. "Come Darth Vader" his voice croaked "come to the hospital, your children await their father" Anakin straightened suddenly. His children were out!? What great news! Anakin grinned almost as wide as Palpatine "Tell Padme I'll be there as soon as possible" Anakin said, trying to remain calm. It looked as though Palpatine was about to say something else, but Anakin had shut off the communicator.
His children had been born! And Padme has survived! Anakin's excitement came from knowing he avoided those horrific visions, and his relief came from knowing that all was worth it. That the murdering, the assassinations, the destruction. All was worth it for the feeling he had now. Taking his communicator he called for a LAAT transport. In mere 30 seconds a LAAT appeared, it had the blue paint of the 501st and inside were heavy clones that had extra armor and carried Z-6 miniguns. Designed to act as a support team when chasing a Jedi that infiltrated the Jedi Temple.
"General" Said the four men as he stepped inside, his presence in the force was so strong that he had something similar to an aura that could be felt by the clones. "Take us to the Lenterum Hospital!" Said Anakin with a smile as he grabbed the handle to avoid falling to the floor as the LAAT accelerated.
"Today is a great day" He said to his fellow clones, the four heavy clones looked at him, puzzled. They have had their chip removed from them and they still were recuperating from the trauma of their actions. Yet they did not doubt to follow Anakin. Like a beacon of hope.
"What is it General?"
"My wife has given birth!" He said, knowing that the Jedi rules were no longer of any relevance. The clones should have acted surprised but the rumors of him having a wife became louder every month of war to a point that everyone knew it was happening. So they could simply smile behind their helmets.
"We are glad to hear that General, will he be presented to us? The 501st"
"Of course, and it is not he, it is them, they are two, in the future they will fight together with us!"
Anakin's laugh was contagious, the rest laughed as well. Even the pilots of the LAAT smiled, hearing this conversation.
"We are in the hospital in one minute" Said one of the two pilots of the LAAT.
The LAAT traveled 700 km/hour so it was normal that they moved so fast.
When the LAAT arrived at the Hospital, stopping near the hangar but still far away they started to open the side-doors of the LAAT. Anakin didn't wait for them to be fully open to jump, using the force and landing in the hangar. While in this week Palpatine had been doing governmental acts he spent more than half day of the last six days ensuring she survived.
Running through the hospital corridors he saw how somehow the entire hospital was full of Coruscant Guards. He ignored them and continued to run until he entered the place where his wife and his master were. An entire area of the hospital reserved for them. Opening the doors he entered, traveling through a hundred meters of corridor without a trace of life. Finally to enter the ending room, that was full of light and medical droids. Together with his master.
"Darth Vader," Palpatine said, looking him in the eyes. In the room there was only Padme, who was still lying in the bed, without the presence of his children.
"Darth Sidious, where are my children?" He asked, slowly approaching, feeling that there was something bad. Darth Sidious acted cautious and got far away from him.
Slowly, Anakin's steps made him approach Padme, who was lying in the bed, not breathing, without a trace of life. Anakin's eyes opened widely.
"I have moved your children to a safe place, fearing for what would you do once you find the truth"
The old, corrupted voice of Darth Sidious talked.
"You killed my wife… and kidnapped my newborn children?"
Anakin's voice was cold, not like the heat of Anakin, but as the fury of a monster. Palpatine could see it, the two dragons inside Darth Vader's heart. Expressing themselves. Forcing themselves out. His dark side and his light side.
"I did not kill your wife, the force did. It has a conscious will and her death was part of its actions"
"Her death was inevitable?"
Anakin's body, in its prime, boiled. But Anakin's soul was broken. Like he could not ever recover from this. A dragon then approached him, his dark side, the only thing that was at the moment left.
-Allow yourself to enter in rage, accept the dark side… have your revenge against the treacherous Master that made you kill all you had for a false promise-
"Darth Vader, do not do something you are unable to handle"
Darth Vaded ignited his lightsaber.
"You couldn't save Padme from death, you will not able to save yourself from it either"
—-
Outside, in the upper part of Coruscant life happened normally. Even with the raging civil war in the Galaxy, even with the recent events of the destruction of the Jedi Order and the declaration of the Galactic Empire. The normal citizen couldn't care, they had to pay their loans, buy their food, sleep, and care for their close ones…
Even if history happened just right in front of them. They couldn't gain enough will to care, for their lives took most of their will.
So, when part of the Lenterum Hospital fell apart most of Coruscant city did not care.
In the middle of the destroyed hospital, Darth Sidious' body flew through the air after being pushed by Darth Vader's force. Using his power of the force he mitigated the fall until it became safe to him. But when he landed he didn't have an opportunity to rest. As immediately Anakin jumped with the force towards him. Trying to kill him with one penetrating attack to the heart. Sidious' ability with the lightsaber proved worthy when he stopped his attack, and used his free hand to try to use force lighting on Darth Vader, he answered by blocking it with his lightsaber and force pushing Sidious.
A moment of tension between the two forces of nature was mortifying. On one side, the refined work of thousands of years of Sith planning. The representative of a plan to make the Republic collapse and create an Empire to the image and ideology of the Sith. On the other hand, a messiah, a savior, the one that should bring balance to the force. Something that should have never existed if it wasn't for the will of the Force.
"Stop this madness before it consumes what we have built together" Said Sidious, trying to convince Darth Vader with his intent to kill him. "You are not powerful enough, and if I die the Sith teachings will be lost. And you will never be able to follow the path you have already chosen"
"I destroyed the Galaxy, established order, in a pursuit of survival for my wife. You didn't give me the only thing I did all this for. I don't care if I destroy the Galaxy today. Your death will be inevitable"
The ground around Sidious started to levitate fastly upwards as Vader using the force destroyed the area where Sidious was. More than two hundred meters of durasteel flying, trying to catch him in a ball of durasteel that would kill him. Feeling himself accelerated Sidious threw his lighting force towards the floor near Anakin, conducting the electricity towards him and making him lose his concentration, making all the now debris fall to the floor.
"Your death is inevitable" said Vader, as he force dashed a second after Sidious' attack. Approaching Sidious rapidly and preparing a killing hit, that was avoided by Sidious in a force jump.
"You lack the skill to do that!" Sidious screamed back.
—-
Commander Fox readed the reports in his hand, the official numbers of the Jedi and the amount of Jedis that have been killed laid in his hands. He had to count them personally to ensure that the paper work was done correctly. If not, there could be a chance that a Jedi is declared dead without him being dead. Allowing him to escape persecution.
The door of his office was slammed repeatedly. Such acts were uncommon among the elite of the Coruscant Guard, so a little bit confused he opened the door remotely. Soon in front of him a Captain of the Coruscant Guard appeared. He looked worried.
"A Jedi attack?" Fox asked.
"Anakin Skywalker…" He said, without breath, Fox frowned in expectation of the bad news. "Anakin Skywalker has attacked… The Emperor Sheev Palpatine"
At first it was declared that Anakin denounced the betrayal of the Jedi Order so the order 66 was ignored in regards to him. But time had proven that General Skywalker was also a Jedi traitor. Fox stood up from his chair.
"Is the Emperor safe?"
"He is fighting Anakin"
Fox looked surprised. "What do you mean fighting Anakin?"
"He has a red lightsaber and is using the force to attack him! Like a Jedi!"
Fox looked confused, but inclined to believe these were fake reports put these thoughts to a hidden place in his mind as he advanced.
"Deploy the entire Guard to atack Anakin Skywalker, our priority is to save the Emperor's life from Anakin!"
—-
Commander Hire, who had in front of him all the captains of the 501st, looked angry. They ignored him from the last hours and he reunited them all to have a conversation about the future of the legion under his command. When he felt it was time to talk, a call stopped him. It was his holo-communicator.
Accepting the call, Hire looked to the armor of Commander Fox.
"Anakin Skywalker has betrayed the Empire by attacking the Emperor. We request the support of the 501st to hunt and kill the traitor Jedi"
The information took Hire by surprise. He thought that Anakin was a loyal person to Palpatine. But one could really not trust anyone in this galaxy.
"It will be done"
Closing the call. Commander Hire looked to the Captains.
"I have reunited you all here for a discussion about authority. But it seems that your General has betrayed the Empire. The orders are the following: deploy the 501st…" He looked at the map integrated in his helmet, seeing the place where Anakin was.
"In the proximity of the Jedi Temple, where the battle against Anakin Skywalker is happening right now."
Hire turned around, ready to contact Admiral Wulf Yularen about the situation when he felt his body paralyzed and fall to the floor. He asked himself what was happening, but before he could form any thought, dozens of blaster shots hit him continuously. Ensuring his death even if he wore the Type 2 armor.
The captains of the 501st looked to each other, each one of them killed him after receiving the order to kill Anakin. This was treason of major order. Taking out his helmet one of the captains, with one scar on his eye, approached the dead body, taking its helmet and putting it on his head.
"I am passing the location to everyone" He said, "The orders are clear, mobilize all the 501st to protect the security of Anakin Skylwalker. Now!"
Everyone agreed and started to run toward their own companies, in the middle of the brothers running to their companies, one of the captains of the 501st stopped and looked to the one that took leadership.
"What will you do?"
"Ensure the loyalty of the Venators assigned to the 501st"
The captain nodded.
—-
Ahsoka looked from a skyscraper at the battle between Anakin and what seemed to be Darth Sidious, from so far away she could not see him or how he looked. But she could identify the red lightsaber and the force lighting that came out of his hands. Her force bond with Anakin showed her how angry he was. She felt bad for not interfering, but when she landed the members of the 501st awaited her. Without thinking she ran away and saw how they took care of Rex. She didn't know if they were with Anakin or not. But she couldn't risk herself, so she only hoped that they really took good care of him.
Looking at the battle again, she saw how hundreds of meters of the Coruscant surface were destroyed in the force battle between her master and Palpatine. Thousands of tonnes of durasteel and other material flying and being thrown away like secondary weapons in their lightsaber duel. Every second that passed they approached more and more towards the Jedi Temple.
She felt like she should enter the battle, but at the same time she felt that it was too soon. That she had to wait a little bit more.
A hundred LAATs traveled in the air, both blue and red. Clones of the Coruscant Guard and the 501st started to land in an area of thousands of meters around the actual battle. The 501st brought with them AT-ET and other vehicles. They were going to absolutely destroy Anakin… and she was going to watch them kill him. But what could she do? She traveled here expecting to find her master but instead she found a 501st patrol and her master fighting Darth Sidious in a battle that was destroying hundreds of meters of the planet.
Dozens of explosions ripped through the air, and what she thought was going to be her dead master, she instead saw how the Coruscant Guard positions were destroyed by the 501st. Without knowing what was happening she saw how the 501st started to attack the Coruscant Guard in the middle of the battle between Darth Sidious and Anakin.
The Coruscant Guard, who didn't expect such an attack tried to respond, but with the surprise factor in their favor, the 501st started to annihilate them in open field. Soon the fighters and bombers of the 501st started to dominate the air, taking down the surviving LAATs of the Coruscant Guard. She thought she was becoming crazy.
No, she had to interfere. Crazy or not, the tides of the battle were changing and if she was to die some day. At least she could die together with her master and the 501st.
Jumping from the skyscraper, she felt how the air impacted her as she descended at high velocity. Pushing herself with the force she rapidly found herself traveling to the general direction of the battle. A war battle, not a plot and treason from the back. A battle she could fight, a battle she was used to since she was 15. A battle where she matured and became a proper adult too.
A type of battle where she has already killed thousands if not more.
—-
Darth Sidious suffered the wrath of Darth Vader. The raw strength of Anakin overpowered him even if he played all the tricks he had. A battle that lasted 20 minutes, where he was already starting to fail, in contraposition Darth Vader was still as if the last 20 minutes had not happened. Being old and wounded affected him greatly. But he still had many cards he could play.
He just had to survive long enough.
"Darth Vader, you are fighting the wrong enemy, I failed to save Padme not because I lied to you, but because the cause of her death was not natural. But a machination of the force, that has enslaved this galaxy for millennia. A slavery that the Jedi accepted and defended. In contraposition we, the dark side, fight against this slavery, by using the force. If you kill me, you will never have your revenge against the force, you will never be able to fight the force's will"
"Obi-Wan" Replied Darth Vader, "The Jedis" he said as he throwed more debris to Palpatine, "The younglings! All for nothing! For a promise not even the dark force could ensure me!" He said, trying to choke Sidious, he responded by using his power in the force to deny such an action.
"Can you not see that this is what the force wanted? It created you and it knew that you would kill the jedi order, and it killed Padme to ensure you destroyed us, the darkforce, the ones that fight against its slavery"
Even for how convincing his arguments were, Darth Vader didn't hear them. His fury and rage, his absolute surrender to the madness of one of his dragons.
Using the force push he charged Sidious with an intention to bring a killing blow. But Sidious parried it, for more than a minute, Vader attacked constantly and Sidious tried to desperately parry. In a velocity that to a normal eye it would seem just two blurred images. In the last attack of this sequence of attacks Palpatine managed to break Anakin's position, by using the force to move himself to his right, making Vader's lightsaber attack downwards and penetrate the floor. A moment that Sidious used to cut Anakin's fake hand. This made Anakin fall to his back. The battle around them happened as the reinforcements of the Coruscant Guard attacked the forces of the 501st.
"I didn't want to kill you, but if you failed me, your son and daughter will not"
He was ready to move his lightsaber downward to kill Darth Vader but the sudden presence of a jedi warned him, moving to a defensive position to his back, he parried the attack of Ahsoka that with the kinetic force of falling for two kilometers pushed Sidious to the floor. A moment that Anakin used to recover and advance to Sidious, running and using his lightsaber to penetrate Sidious' heart and then cut his head off.
Darth Sidious was dead.
Ahsoka looked surprised, to the realization that the Grand Chancellor always has been Darth Sidious. Ignoring how Anakin approached her in the middle of the battle, the smell of death, burned skin and blaster penetrating both of them.
"Snips," He said, hugging her with his broken hand and using his other hand to touch her face. Like he didn't believe that she was there.
"Thanks, thank the force…"
"Master…" She said, with a fearful voice, "Why are your eyes yellow?"
Anakin realized he was still full of hate, he was still in his dark side, representing his dark side inside him, he tried to control himself, but found it difficult to do it. Like it wanted to stay more, like it tried to corrupt him more. But after several moments, finally his blue eyes returned.
"It is a long story… do not worry… I am thankful you are here" He said, with a sad tone of voice.
"I will never allow you to leave my side again" He said then, hugging her with his flesh hand too, making Ahsoka feel appreciated and finally with someone. But at the same time, feeling fearful of the future to come.
Around them, the battle was already decided. As the Coruscant Guard tried to retreat from the attack of the 501st.
A speeder approached Anakin and Ahsoka. Ahsoka for a moment felt that she needed to run, but Anakin kept her in his hug, a hug that was of despair, as he again remembered what has happened, what he did and how her beloved one died.
When the speeder stopped, the Captain in it approached Anakin.
"Orders General?"
"I want your company to search for my sons that are still somewhere in the hospital… the Emperor kidnapped them. I want the rest of the companies to follow me.
"To where sir?"
"To the senate"
"Roger that" answered the Captain. Ahsoka felt like a mouse surrounded by Rancors. She tried to end the hug but Anakin didn't allow her to.
"Please, do not abandon my side… you are the last one alive"
"The last one, what?" She asked, almost in desperation.
"The last close one"
—-
All the Senators looked at how when the Emperor declared the Empire one week ago, there were two new occupants. The General Anakin Skywalker and a Togruta knows as Ahsoka Tano. In all the seats of the Senate, the senators sat with soldiers of the 501st near to them.
"Emperor Palpatine was not a human that believed in the Republic or Galactic unity" Anakin stated to all the senators, "He was a user of the dark force, a sith, he started the clone wars and planned the destruction of the Republic together with the destruction of the Jedi Order… I will cooperate in the investigation of the true scope of his plans and make public his crimes."
Everyone looked surprised. So much happened in less than one week: the death of the Republic, the death of the Jedi Order, the birth of the Galactic Empire, the death of the Emperor. The Galaxy was in chaos for this week.
The senator of Aldeeran stood up and approached the microphone, ready to ask his question.
"Who will lead the Galactic Empire during this time?" He asked.
"I will, as Emperor'' Anakin stated. He didn't want to be Emperor, in fact, he didn't want to live any longer. He wanted to hide on an isolated planet with Ahsoka, Rex, the 501st and his son and daughter. He wanted to never again hear of this galaxy. But he now had a Daughter and a Son. He had to care for the 501st that preferred their loyalty to him than to the Emperor, he had to care about Ahsoka. And he couldn't do that if he isolated himself from the Galaxy.
He had to take the rule of the Galaxy in his own hands if needed.
The thousands of floating holograms of the commanders of different clone legions started to applaud, showing their complete loyalty to the new Emperor. In contraposition, few senators applauded.
Ahsoka saw the scenario, and she felt like she wanted to collapse. But instead, she decided to hug his master.
"What will happen now?" She asked.
"War and politics" Answered Anakin with a smile, as he heard from the communicator that Rex recovered and that his son and daughter were found. Good news in this endless hole he was. It gave him a little bit of relief.
"I don't want to fight a war anymore… all of our friends are dead"
"If I want a good future for my children and for you, Ahsoka… I have to do this…"
He couldn't save his wife's life… but maybe he could do something good for this Galaxy. Or at least he hoped that.