AN: Anakin Skywalker gets some pointers from the Force Ghosts of an ancient Jedi and Sith after he becomes Obi-Wan's apprentice. That leads to a quite different Anakin eventually confronting Mace Windu and Palpatine in the Chancellor's office at what was supposed to be the last days of the Clone Wars.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Wars movies, games, TV series, comics or anything related to the franchise. They belong to their copyright owners and/or creators. This story is not written with profit in mind. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.
A Tale of Light and Dark
=ATLD=
Prologue I: Shatterpoint
Chancellor's Office
Coruscant
Anakin Skywalker was torn. All his training, his three masters, none of that had prepared him for this moment. His eyes darted around the demolished office, refusing to look straight at either Master Windu or the small form of the Chancellor curling away from the purple blade of the older Jedi.
"It has to end now, Anakin! He has control of the Senate! Of the Courts!" Master Windu averted his gaze from Palpatine to look him straight in the eyes.
"I can save her, Anakin." A tired, exhausted whisper came from the Chancellor's burned lips. "I can save Padme." The old man pleaded.
Anakin looked at the small, deformed figure that was Palpatine and winced.
He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what was right or wrong anymore.
A soft hand fell on his shoulder, startling him. Skywalker's head snapped up and he looked at the newcomer. An ethereal shimmering figure that one could easily mistake for hologram was standing behind him. It was a middle-aged man with short black beard similar to Obi-Wan's. The similarity went further – the man wore brown Jedi robes over a heavy armor that had superficial resemblance to what the Clones and their generals were equipped with. Even the emblem the newcomer had on his shoulders and chest was similar even if much, much older than the modern symbol of the Republic. It was the sigill of the old republic, complete with the sword in it's center.
Anakin sighed in relief as he felt one of his masters through the Force, confirming that this wasn't some kind of trick. A moment later, another figure materialized on his other side. This one was a head taller and wore black from head to toe; a long black cape that snapped behind him from un-existing winds, sinister armor, a pair of yellow eyes sparkling with mischief.
Both Sidious and Windu froze as they stared at Anakin with confusion. They could sense the Force coiling around him, gathering as if holding its breath.
"We're here at last." The man in black chuckled.
"All you've been through, all your training - it all led up to this point." The ancient Jedi added.
Anakin narrowed his eyes. "You knew. Both of you. Was it all some kind of a sick game?!" Skywalker snapped at his two oldest teachers.
"You can look at it that way." That maddening smirk never left the Sith's face.
"A game? It depends on your point of view." The Jedi interjected.
"According to you, everything depends on my point of view!" Anakin glared.
"Yes." The old Jedi smiled.
"All you've both taught me…" Skywalker shook his head. He remembered their teachings. Both the different, older Jedi Code and an interpretation of the Sith creed that he was quite certain most Sith would have not agreed with. Oh, those two dead men who took such an interest in him taught him a lot. More than enough to change the course of a war, help shape the galaxy in what it was today despite his young age. Yet… Was it all a set up?
Anakin could feel the Force. Sense its intentions.
Skywalker knew that right here and now he had to make a decision that was going to change everything. He simply had no idea what was the right thing to do.
Anakin could see either of his teachers letting the Chancellor die or saving him – that by itself said a lot considering that they were a Jedi and a Sith. Natural enemies who appeared to be friends despite the constant arguments and snarking that he had grown accustomed to.
A Light Sith so to speak and a Dark Jedi who have never actually fallen to the Dark Side – something that even now, after more than a decade knowing them, Anakin still found hard to believe at times.
Heh. The right thing. If there was one thing that both his teachers had agreed about was that what a right thing was could be debatable in many if not most circumstances. Actions had consequences. Doing what was good, right sometimes could lead to unanticipated suffering. Another time a cruel act could save thousands.
The galaxy wasn't black and white, there was nothing simple in the real world.
Anakin could see it.
Saving Palpatine. With the Sith Lord's knowledge, he was guaranteed to keep Padme alive. Yet… that was something he had good chances of pulling on his own anyway. His masters taught him a lot of thins that were lost in the last few thousand years.
However, that path would lead him to the Dark Side. Anakin had been balancing on a knife's edge ever since the war began. Perhaps even longer. Skywalker knew himself well enough that if he took that step, if he became a Sith, he wouldn't be coming back… and he might very well become someone who Padme would hate.
Yet…The war changed him. Opened his eyes even more than his masters did. He saw both the Republic and he Confederacy for what they really were – rotten piles of corruption that he hardly thought worth saving.
Becoming a Sith, seizing power and using Palpatine for the time being – that was his best bet to straighten up the galaxy. To finally bring order, justice and peace. To destroy slavery.
On the other hand… Letting Master Windu cut down the defenseless Chancellor – that might very well end the Sith for the time being. At least until someone Force Sensitive discovered another Sith Holocron and started learning from it. Despite what most Jedi in the Temple thought, Anakin knew better. Eradicating the current Sith, which really meant Palpatine right now, wasn't going to be the end of it. Merely a respite. Ironically, the same was true for the Jedi. Even if they were gone to the last Padawan, eventually they would be reborn, even if not in the same image as the current Order.
Anakin could do what was expected of him as a Jedi. Let the last known Sith die. Let the Jedi execute what amounted to a coup and pray that they find enough evidence fast to actually convince people that Palpatine was evil. Because otherwise… Anakin shook his head. Even if it was true what Windu said, if Palpatine controlled both the Courts and Senate… No, especially if it was true, then the Jedi were doing the right thing by executing a coup and potentially signing their death sentences. That of the whole Order too.
Anakin wasn't blind. While there was some dissent, Palpatine was widely popular and had huge support base. Without iron clad proof…
There was another thing, just as important. Cleaning up the Senate, the Republic itself. Were the Jedi ready to do it? Could they do it without sparkling another civil war? That was important. Thanks to his Sith teacher, Anakin had no doubt that unless Palpatine had been much less cunning than he suspected, the Chancellor had planned the transformation of the Republic in Empire in such a way that he would have absolute power in few years, decade at most.
Playing his part in that could actually ensure clearing up the galaxy in a mostly peaceful way once he replaced Palpatine.
Either path was fraught with peril. Either path could see him fall – Anakin knew that if he did the right thing here and now and let the defenseless Palpatine be cut down would taint him. Bring him that much closer to the Dark Side.
He almost laughed at the very thought.
"Anakin, please!" Palpatine moaned.
"Becoming a Sith doesn't mean that you have to be a monster." Naturally that was his Sith Master.
"Well, I would advice you to remain a Jedi, though don't forget that sometimes you do have to dirty your hands in order to preserve the Republic." His other Master added.
"One of you wants a reformed Sith Order led by me. The other wants the Republic saved because even after all these years he takes his vows seriously more than anything." Anakin sighed.
"Among other things. Reforming the Jedi into what they could be is high up on my agenda."
"You can pull that as a Sith too. Force them to change."
"Of course you would say that."
"Do either of you think that if I save him, Palpatine won't send me to take out the Jedi?"
"Oh, he might order you." The Sith laughed. "My apprentice, you're ready to take the mantle of a Sith Lord. That most certainly doesn't meant that you should obey if Palpatine orders you to do something you're dead set against."
"I'm afraid I had to agree with the maniac." The Jedi sighed. "Yet, what do we know? We've been dead for a long, long time and this is your life Anakin. Your time. Your choice."
Skywalker looked at Windu, then at Palpatine.
His masters words were less than helpful. There were many, many reasons to choose either way swirling in his head. He knew what the right thing was supposed to be. Palpatine was a Sith. He was almost certain the one behind the war too. The man had to face the consequences for his actions.
Yet… What was that going to change? The war was far from over even with Dooku dead and Obi-Wan engaging Grievous right now backed by a large fleet and an army group.
Even if victory was in sight – something that was debatable, simply defeating the Confederacy wasn't going to solve anything. The Republic was rotten to the core.
Anakin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The question was simple really. Did he trust the Jedi to reform the Republic? Did he trust himself to save Padme from the death he had dreamed of? Did he trust himself not to let the Dark Side rule him if he decided to save Palpatine and back the man in his bit for a galactic empire or something like that?
Kriff it! This was supposed to be simple! Capture or kill the villain, end the war and live happily ever after!
"This isn't how the galaxy works, my apprentice." The Jedi sighed.
"That really didn't stop either of us from marrying and living happily though we had to pull a coup or two in the process." The Sith grinned.
"Not helpful at all." Skywalker growled. What was he to do?!