"A Sith Lord?" Mace asked. "Really?"

"He said he was," Anakin confirmed. "I… don't know what to think, Master Windu. He's been my friend for so long, and now…"

"I understand," Mace told him. "You're questioning everything he's ever told you, because he's been lying about that for the whole time you've known him – you're asking how much he's responsible for."

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, then paused. "And… I'm… I'm not sure why he revealed himself to me. He said he wanted me to use his knowledge, to – well, to do something that I want to do."

He leaned against the wall. "I wish Obi-Wan was here. He usually helps things make sense."

After a moment, he looked up at Mace. "...what are we going to do now?"

"Stop him, probably," Mace replied. "I'll take several other Jedi and arrest him."

"Arrest him?" Anakin repeated, still trying to process. "Are you sure?"

"No," Mace admitted. "My first instinct is to kill him, as soon as possible, so he can't use his Force powers to do… something. Something dangerous."

He rubbed his temples. "We're right near the end of the war, we think. Obi-Wan destroying General Grievous is devastating to the Confederacy's war effort. So why is he revealing himself now?"

Then Mace glanced up at Anakin. "Do you have any ideas?"

"No," Anakin admitted. "I… guess it might be something political?"

"Political," Mace repeated. "Political… perhaps that's it. If we're getting right to the end of the war, and he is a Sith, then… the war has let him accumulate all kinds of power to himself. We were going to make sure he surrendered the emergency powers, but-"

He cut himself off. "This is bad news."

"I know," Anakin said. "I know! And – I don't know what to do. I don't know what we should do. We need to stop him, right?"

"We need to stop him," Mace agreed. "But we need to be as certain as possible of success. We cannot fail – if we attempt to kill him, and we fail, then Palpatine will have the justification he needs to keep his emergency powers."

"Why would you need to kill him?" Anakin asked.

"If this is his plan, he will not come quietly," Mace replied. "He will not submit to arrest."

He frowned. "I need to think."

"We need to hurry, don't we?" Anakin said. "And – are you sure he won't be arrested?"

"Anakin, if he's told you, then it's for one of two reasons," Mace replied. "Either he expects you to turn to the Dark Side and help him out, or he expects the Jedi to come for him. There's no way that being arrested would help him out, not that I can see – and if he does agree to be arrested, then that just means he has a plan for that situation as well."

Anakin clenched his fist. "Then what do we do?" he asked. "This is – it sounds like he's planned for everything!"

"Maybe he has," Mace replied. "Or – maybe not."

Palpatine looked up. "Master Windu," he said. "And… Masters Kolar, Fisto, and Tiin. I take it General Grievous has been destroyed then."

He looked thoughtful. "I must say, you're here sooner than expected."

Mace Windu stepped forwards a pace, his expression glassy calm. "In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor."

"Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" Palpatine asked, eyeing the lightsabers all four Jedi had ready – not ignited, not yet, but held in preparation to do so.

"I am not," Mace replied, evenly. "You have been credibly accused of being a Sith Lord, specifically by the name of Darth Sidious. You have also been credibly accused of the murder of Darth Plagueis."

That was enough to make Palpatine look confused.

"...what?" he asked. "Why do you care about Plagueis?"

"You murdered him, did you not?" Mace replied. "Chancellor, if you submit to arrest and to the judgement of the Senate, then this can be resolved peacefully."

"I am the Senate," Palpatine grated out.

"Not yet," Windu denied.

"I don't think there's enough of you," Agen Kolar murmured.

Palpatine stood, flicking his wrist, and a lightsaber appeared in it.

"It's treason, then," he said, igniting it, then a spike of blue light smashed though the glass and took his head off.

"...all right, I understand up to that part," Padme admitted, less than a minute later.

She looked at the hologram of Anakin, in the council chamber, as the footage from the holorecorder Saesee Tiin had been carrying faded away. "The Jedi Masters summoned Palpatine to surrender, and he drew a lightsaber. But what was that?"

"It was Master Fisto's idea," Anakin said.

He'd been relaying the imagery to Padme for her input, since she was the only politician he trusted at this point, and he shook his head. "Master Windu asked the others what was something that a Sith would never expect the Jedi to do, and Master Fisto pointed out that something that would qualify was – sniper overwatch."

He shuddered. "Also, I'm never returning any holobooks late again… so, uh, what do you think the Senate is going to think of this?"

"Well," Padme began, then stopped and frowned. "With that kind of evidence, I think – it's going to be very hard for anyone to be a public supporter of Palpatine in the Senate, now. He literally proved their accusations when he drew that lightsaber."

She frowned. "And I'm not sure why he exploded, either…"

"That's because of the Dark Side," Master Windu contributed. "The Dark Side is self-destructive, that's one of the dangers of the Seventh Form… admittedly it's not usually quite that literal."

AN:

I'm trying not to overuse the sniper librarian, but really...