Act 1: Rise of Darth Vader

Chapter 1 – Knightfall

Author's Note: Okay, so I know I said I wouldn't start posting this first act until I was done writing it, but since when have I ever been good at waiting? Lol. So, no, this is not done being written, but I don't want to keep waiting any longer. I'll be updating every other week on Wednesdays. I hope y'all enjoy the first chapter! :D

WARNING: Order 66 and on-screen child death.

~ Amina Gila

"You are under arrest, my Lord," Windu declares firmly, pointing his lightsaber downwards, close enough that Sidious can feel the heat of it. Foolish. He had miscalculated during the fight, and it cost him. But he has not been beaten, and if Windu really thinks that he has been… well, it is something else that he can use to his advantage. The Jedi Master might have the advantage in his use of Vaapad, but Sidious has studied that lightsaber form extensively, knowing that Windu would eventually be one of his greatest enemies.

"Am I?" he drawls, mockingly, reaching out with the Force to check that no one else is nearby. No one is coming, as he has expected. The Jedi never stood a chance; they had no warning when they showed up. Once Windu has been dealt with, he will have to move on to the next part of his plan. This day will yet end with him on the throne, and his most sought-after apprentice at his side. He has foreseen it.

"The oppression of the Sith will never return. You have lost," Windu retorts arrogantly.

Smirking internally, Sidious lashes out quickly, hurling a burst of the Dark Side at Windu and rolling sideways as the Jedi Master swings his purple blade down for the kill. Calling deeply on the Force, he lets lightning burst from his fingertips, arcing towards Windu's lightsaber, the hilt not the blade, as he draws his second lightsaber to his hand, swinging towards the Jedi Master's hand. Windu twists, trying to avoid it, but the blade strikes true, slicing through his wrist.

Windu stumbles back as the electricity connects with his body… and his falling lightsaber. The kyber crystal flickers violently in the Force as it absorbs the charge, radiating back and outwards, exploding in a purple shockwave of energy. Sidious has barely enough time to flip backwards, shielding himself with the Force, and shoving outwards to push it all away from him, but Windu isn't as fortunate. Tiny fragments of the exploding kyber crystal embed themselves into his body, and he stumbles backwards, flying through the broken window as Sidious' Force wave hits him.

The last thing Sidious hears is Windu's cry of pain as the Korun falls from sight.

He sniffs, brushing off his robes. "I lost, did I?" he remarks snidely, as he turns, moving back towards his desk. One victory after another. He's nearly drunk on the feeling. It is only a matter of time before he will have Skywalker himself kneeling at his feet. It was unfortunate that the boy has been so frustratingly reluctant to begin an affair with Senator Amidala. The restraint has made him more controlled, and it has made him… lighter. Disgustingly lighter.

Sidious hates that, but it's nothing that he can't work around. He already accounted for the possibility that the boy, his boy, would not willingly join him. He will manage, and he will win, as always. Pushing a button on his communicator, he opens a channel to all of the clone commanders. "Execute Order 66," he commands, listening to their agreements, before making a special transmission to one of his agents who is among the Temple Guard.

He will make do, as always. The Jedi will be destroyed on this night, and if Skywalker will manage to escape from him… Well, there is a reason why he… created a contingency. He will, eventually, end up with a powerful apprentice, though whether it be Skywalker himself or… the other, remains to be seen.

Sidious has never left anything up to chance.

It is why he is now winning and emerging victorious while the Jedi die at his feet.

**w**

Days earlier

"Are you certain that Anakin should not accompany me when I pursue Grievous?" Obi-Wan can't help but ask, looking towards Windu and Yoda. He doesn't know how he feels about Anakin staying here, especially after he was given the mission to spy on the Chancellor, which is treason, like Anakin himself had said. Anakin had not been happy, to say the least, and in truth, Obi-Wan has no idea how to feel about it.

On one hand, the Council is right. Palpatine seems to be up to no good, and the best way to ascertain his intentions would be to have Anakin spy on him, especially given the way they are so close. But on the other hand, if there is a conspiracy of some sort, Obi-Wan doesn't much like the idea of Anakin being dragged into the middle of it.

"Anakin is one of the best duelists in the Order," he continues. "He was not wrong about how I struggled against Grievous previously. His help would be invaluable. I feel that the war is coming to an end; we may find Grievous this time."

"Feel it too, I do," Yoda agrees, his hologram crackling.

While this additional, private conversation was not strictly necessary, Obi-Wan had to ask. He – if he is to be going after Grievous, he would feel much better knowing that he has Anakin at his back, even though he understands why Anakin's mission here is so important.

"No," Windu states firmly, "Skywalker should remain here. He has a mission of great importance, and I am not satisfied by his report about his defeat of Dooku. He all but admitted to tapping into the Dark Side."

"He killed Dooku," Obi-Wan retorts, feeling angry. "That is all that matters, is it not? All of us have been tempted by the Dark. It is not fair for us to castigate him for his own struggles, struggles which each and every one of us have faced in the past."

If possible, Windu's expression only hardens. "No," he repeats, "Skywalker stays."

Yoda's ears twitch, and he almost appears disapproving, but he doesn't argue. Nor does Obi-Wan. The decision is already final, and there is no use arguing it. Still, he wishes, and he doesn't know how much he likes Windu's attitude towards Anakin. If Anakin is struggling with the Dark, he needs help. The mission with Palpatine is only stressing him, and he would undoubtedly feel a lot freer if he was to accompany Obi-Wan.

But the mistrust is… disconcerting. Anakin has always been faithful to the Jedi, and Obi-Wan trusts him implicitly. With everything. What does Windu see that he doesn't? Or is the real question: what does Windu refuse to see that Obi-Wan does?

**w**

Anakin feels the ripple in the Force the moment it begins, a growing crescendo of screams and death. Danger prickles at his senses, and sitting in the Council chambers, he lets his eyes fall shut, drifting free into the currents of the Force as he tries to sense what is coming. He – he needs to do something. He has to stop it. Somehow.

All he can feel is blaring alarm of dangerdangerdanger.

He opens his eyes, standing and stepping to the window, looking outside the Temple. The sun has set, letting him know that it's been many, many minutes since he started his impromptu meditation session, and all Anakin knows is that people – Jedi – are dying. He doesn't understand why. He doesn't – why is this happening? The war is over, right? Sure, they haven't found the Sith Master yet, but… the war is over.

Dooku is dead. Grievous is dead. Windu and three other Jedi Masters went to speak to Palpatine, to deliver the report and ask that he step down from his position. Everything was fine. So, what is this, then?

Cold chills run down Anakin's spine and his hands clench reflexively as he sees lines of clones, hundreds of clones walking into the Temple. And as he reaches out deliberately, towards the entrances of the Temple, he can feel… death. He feels death and cold and wrongness. What is happening? What could possibly have gone wrong now?

It's the Coruscant Guard, he notes, and before he even registers moving, he's dialing the comm frequency for Commander Fox, ready to demand answers. Nothing. Fox doesn't respond. Which is unusual, because Anakin might not be a Jedi Master – though by all rights he should be, given that he was put on the Council on Palpatine's orders – but he is a Council member now, and he is still a very prominent Jedi. Fox always answers him. He is very prompt like that.

But not now.

Apprehension skyrocketing, Anakin tries comming him again, desperately hoping to get an answer. He isn't surprised when he doesn't, and he then tries to contact one of the clones from whom he should get an answer, or insight at the very least.

Appo.

Except, Appo doesn't answer him, and that's when Anakin knows for certain that something is wrong. Appo, and most of the 501st Legion, returned from helping Ahsoka on Mandalore with capturing Maul and defeating his Death Watch warriors. Anakin had spoken to them after they returned, congratulating them on another successful campaign. Something is wrong if his boys aren't even answering his comms.

A part of him wants to leave the Council chambers, even though he was told not to; he knows that having someone of his rank here in case something goes wrong somehow is important, but if that had happened, wouldn't Windu have contacted him? Anakin can't imagine Palpatine putting up a major resistance, even if he can understand the reason for caution. The Chancellor has amassed a lot of power during the war, power he has only ever used for the greater good. Anakin does not agree with the Jedi's fear, but he respects it.

He turns away from the window, striding to the internal communicator in the corner of the room and contacting the Temple Guard. There's nothing, no frequency whatsoever. It's as if… as if communications are being jammed. He spins away, eyes scanning the room calculatingly before making up his mind and heading for the doors of the Council chambers. Whatever has happened, Anakin will clearly not be finding out if he stays here.

As the doors open, he sees a group of younglings, Padawans actually, no older than maybe ten to twelve, running towards him, their fear pouring into the Force, and in the distance, Anakin can now hear blaster fire, something which sends dread coursing through him; he might have heard it earlier if not for the sound-proof doors of the Council chambers.

"Master Skywalker!" cries the boy in the lead, looking immensely relieved to see him. The others echo his greeting, clustering around him, looking up at him, waiting for guidance, vibrating with a barely concealed terror.

"What has happened?" Anakin asks, ushering them back inside the Council chambers and shutting the door, instinctively knowing that it will be safer for all of them. "I have heard nothing." He drops down to one knee in front of them, aware that it will make it easier for them to talk to him if he brings himself down to their level. "Tell me," he requests.

"We don't know," a young human male with blonde hair answers him. "We were accompanying a Master, and the clones came and starting shooting everyone. We were told to run, and we ran."

Anakin shudders internally, reeling from the words. The clones are doing what? Why?! "Is that what happened?" he asks the others, levelly, keeping his voice calm.

"Yes," concurs a young female, who is huddled behind the others, "Sors is right." The others murmur their agreements, and Anakin scrambles to figure out what to do in the face of this very unexpected turn of events. But maybe he should have realized the moment he saw the clones and felt the death. He simply hadn't wanted to think that the clones, men he's known for years, men he's protected with every ounce of his strength on the frontlines, would agree to go along with something like this.

No, they wouldn't. Not his boys.

Then again, he only saw the Coruscant Guard here. Maybe this is – he hardly wants to think it, but he doesn't know what else to think – the Chancellor's work. Maybe the Jedi were right about him, and he's scrambling to keep his power by launching a failed rebellion. Well, it's one that Anakin will have to foil. In truth, he doubts that Palpatine would ever go this far. Ever. They were friends. Anakin has known him for years. It's merely a desperate, wild thought as he struggles to wrap his mind around what has happened, what is happening.

"Don't worry," Anakin soothes the children, laying a hand on Sors' shoulder as he meets all of their eyes. "I will protect you."

He can feel their relief and their gratitude, and he immediately shifts his mind into his General-mode, as he likes to call it, trying to figure out the best way forwards. "I assume all the exits have been barricaded?" he queries, still kneeling in front of them.

They nod.

"From what we saw, the clones are everywhere. There are… so many of them," Sors' voice breaks, face filling with fear again.

"It will be alright," Anakin reassures, or tries to reassure. He cannot bear the thought of something happening to these children, and he can't let himself question if the clones would really be willing to kill children, younglings. The men he knew would never do that. Never. They are soldiers, not an execution squad.

The Force screams, and Anakin registers the doors to the Council chambers sliding open. He doesn't even have a chance to stand before two stun bolts slam into him. He shrugs them off, rising jerkily and igniting his lightsaber, deflecting more stun bolts that come towards him. He's hit by a third when his attention is pulled away by one of the younglings who is hit and goes down, crashing into the floor, unconscious.

His muscles seize, twitching painfully, and he stumbles back, drawing on the Force to hurl the clones backwards. They're trying to stun him, not kill him, and he doesn't understand why. Maybe, just maybe, it's because they're his men. He recognizes them. Appo is one of them. That, he thinks bitterly, explains why he didn't answer me.

"Appo, what are you doing?" Anakin demands, "Stand down!"

"Negative, General," Appo replies, and Anakin can't help but notice how he feels strangely blank in the Force, empty, almost as if he's devoid of feelings and thoughts of his own. "Good soldiers follow orders."

The words jar something in his brain, an important memory tugging at the edges of his consciousness, demanding his attention, but he doesn't have time for reflections right now.

From behind the clones, a Temple Guard approaches, face masked, double-bladed gold lightsaber ignited. Anakin's eyes flicker to him, but he doesn't stop moving, twirling his lightsaber in front of him, blocking the stun bolts that are coming towards him and the children behind him. He doesn't know what to do, where to go. Maybe he should just take a chance at knocking out his men. A stun bolt might knock out some of the children, but it won't kill them, either. Then, they can run. Maybe the Guard can help –

Instead of attacking the clones, like Anakin expected, the Temple Guard raises a hand, blasting Anakin backwards. The Force wave catches him so suddenly and unexpectedly that he doesn't have a chance to block it. He's slammed hard into the wall of the Council chambers, and his lightsaber falls from his hands. Three, or more, stunbolts hit him in rapid succession, and though he struggles hard to shake them off, the world begins to get fuzzy around the edges, his muscles seizing and twitching as he gasps for breath.

"Hold him," he can hear the Temple Guard ordering, and Anakin's men comply without hesitation, dragging him to his knees, though his body refuses to respond to his command – he can't quite feel his limbs properly right now – and he's struggling to stay conscious through sheer willpower, trying to brush off the effects, because the children. He – he has to protect the children. He promised –

"Skywalker, do you see?" the Guard taunts, and it's only now that Anakin can feel the Dark Side in him. He blinks sluggishly, swallowing, trying to say something, but only a groan slips out. "Hold him," he barks to the clones, brandishing his lightsaber in front of the terrified younglings who are huddled together against one of the walls, eyes wide, frozen with terror.

If Anakin could talk, he would scream at them to run.

Instead, all he can do is watch in a mute horror as the Temple Guard approaches them and swings his lightsaber. That's when the screaming starts. They are young, and they have lightsabers, but they're still children, and they're trapped here. One by one, the Guard cuts them down, blocking their attempts at fighting back single-handedly as if it's no more than a nuisance. One of the children who tries to run is shot down by the clones standing guard at the door.

Sors is last, and the Temple Guard throws the child against the wall, pinning him there and cutting off his head.

It lasts no more than a minute at most, but it feels like it could have been hours.

A furious rage bubbles up within Anakin when he sees the dead bodies of the children, the children that he had promised to protect, the children that he had failed, the children that were slaughtered senselessly in front of him. He reaches towards that anger with both hands, uncaring that it's the Dark Side. The chilling cold washes through him, burning him with its ice and with a brief touch of the Force, the lingering effects from the stun bolts are wiped away and he's burning, burning with an energy that he has never before felt.

"Traitor," Anakin snarls, sounding totally unhinged, and the Guard doesn't have a chance to even turn around before Anakin is reaching out with the Force, grasping and hurling him through the windows of the Council chambers. They shatter, and he falls down out of sight, hopefully to his death.

The clones begin to raise their blasters on him, and Anakin lashes out on instinct, tapping into the Force and crushing their spines where it connects with their skull. All of them, ten or so, collapse instantly, dead, and he lunges for his lightsaber, rolling to his feet and standing there for a moment, panting, in the midst of the carnage.

He thinks he should feel guilt for this, for killing his men, his boys. Force, Appo was one of them, and instinctively, Anakin's eyes flicker to him. He's dead, his light in the Force gone. He closes his eyes, feeling a quiet grief at their deaths, at the children's deaths. He failed them. He failed to protect them after he promised, but there are more children in the Temple, more Jedi who are in need of a savior.

Anakin might be Fallen now, he might have tapped into the full power of the Dark Side, but that will not stop him. The Dark Side holds the power that he needs to save people, Jedi from an untimely death. Right now, with so much death and despair hanging in the Force, he feels as if his power is unlimited. He almost feels sick at the thought of allowing it all to fuel him, but these are desperate times, and looking at the dead bodies of the younglings in the Council chambers, he finds that he doesn't much care what he has to do so long as he can stop this from happening again.

He is Anakin Skywalker, and he is free.

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