Spectre: As promised! The final Chapter of Revenge of the Sith! And man has it been a journey! And the fic is nearing 1.4 million views! Nice!

I read a lot of your comments, yeah I shed a few tears writing what's probably the most devastating chapter especially for the Audience. But I could not say for this one personally, since I'm not ahead in schedule.

Also I've been receiving reviews that you guys wanted to see Force Unleashed, which is tricky to be honest. While I did place Legends content such as references to the Old Republic Sith Lords, I personally think Starkiller would have been unnecessary, given his insane power levels (Though the novel gave him a proper power scale). While him being responsible for the formation of the Rebel Alliance for me is the catalyst of the Empire's eventual downfall, I am not so sure myself if I'm going to feature him in the next interlude chapters.

Note: For a better experience, use French Vader for the iconic scene. You'll know why.

Chapter 41: The End of an Era

Despair, uncertainty and fear.

Those were the very words that describe the end results of the people inside the Jedi Council Chamber. Witnessing the failure of the Jedi to dislodge the Sith had given them the proof that they had become stagnant and rigid, whereas the Sith evolved into a new breed that none of them had faced before. How their combined arrogance and ignorance made them exploitable tools to Sidious that he would dispose off later. How he had managed to draw one of the best among them to the Dark Side just as they had both directly and indirectly turned him away from the Light, and directed him into purging the very Order that were built on the foundations of peace and justice, by using the very troopers who aided them into bringing those two ideals to bear. In little time, failure clouded the outcome of both the Clone Wars and of their struggle against the Sith.

For Yoda, he could only reflect how it had come to this, and he finally came to terms; Ultimately the failure of Anakin, is a failure of Obi-Wan, which is a failure of the order. As Grandmaster, he failed the order by letting it remain stagnant, and letting itself be grasped by the Senate's beck and call when they have not realized that it had been under the control of the Sith. His fallen apprentice was right, on how the Order had become so prideful that they didn't even bother believing him when he already told Kenobi this back at Geonosis.

He turned to his left, to find five of the occupants inside the Council Chamber to have been shattered in spirit, he could only close his eyes in both grief and of regret as he looked at Obi-Wan pleading for Anakin, not Darth Vader, to forgive him for what he had done. But the latter assured him that it wasn't his fault, and turned to the Senator, trying to console and calm her down while repeatedly begging to forgive him for hurting her and Luke, but the Senator was so distraught that she couldn't bear to look at him in the eye that she continued to weep onto his robe. Padawan Tano and Commander Rex, took it the worst to see the man who led them through trying times and constantly looked out for them all throughout the war, suffer a fate worse than death itself.

As for the rest, all they could offer was silence, sensing Master Yoda's own regret on the future that they have grown so desperate to avoid. As Jedi, they are taught to be at peace and not let their emotions cloud their judgement. And yet, all that they could feel is uncertainty and hesitation on their next move. With the Sith in control of everything around them, how could they act without thinking what Sidious could do next? How could they save the Order when the Republic they defended for millennia turn against them? Those questions are what circled their minds all throughout the holotapes they had watched.

With their retrieved resolve, the occupants inside the Council Chamber continued to watch as they view the spectacle before them.

Lord Vader struggled to get up from the black soil, his burned body and the lack of the three limbs he once had made it difficult under these circumstances. But he was determined not to die, not now.

"It takes both hatred and unrelenting drive to survive all of that had happened to him...", Kit Fisto whispered at the horrific state that Skywalker was in, not believing himself that anyone could survive that.

Padme couldn't bear to look at her own spouse being reduced into a burned crisp, where she met Anakin's embrace where he was horrified as he is perplexed to see himself turned into this.

"There he is! He is still alive!", came the urgent voice of the Emperor, flanked by Shock Troopers Thire and Stone as they bear witness to the empty shell of a man that was once Anakin Skywalker.

The Jedi could feel the growing anger that came from both the Master and Apprentice upon hearing that familiar voice, hatefully glaring at Darth Sidious for destroying the lives that they had known for. Master Kenobi was known for his unrelenting focus in both the Force and of the Light, but all he could focus is his hatred to Palpatine, clenching his fist. "You will pay for this...Sidious", he lowly said in a whispered tone.

"Bring him to a medical capsule immediately!"

"Yes, my Lord!", Thire immediately complied as he and Stone went back to the ship in a hurry to retrieve the capsule at hand.

On Mustafar, below the red thunder of a volcano, a Sith Lord had already snatched from sand of black glass the charred torso and head of what once had been a man, and had already leapt for the cliffbank above with effortless strength.

Darth Sidious lowered the limbless man tenderly to the cool ground above, and laid his hand across the cracked and blackened mess that once had been his brow, and he set his will upon him.

Live, Lord Vader. Live, my apprentice.

Live.

Beneath that dome sat Yoda. He did not look at the stars. He sat a very long time. Even after nearly nine hundred years, the road to self- knowledge was rugged enough to leave him bruised and bleeding. He spoke softly, but not to himself.

Though no one was with him, he was not alone.

"My failure, this was. Failed the Jedi, I did."

There was no way that the Grandmaster could indeed deny those words, but this wasn't only about Yoda, it was through the Council as well. And even they shared his sentiments, for allowing their sworn enemy to slip under their very noses.

He spoke to the Force. And the Force answered him. Do not blame yourself, my old friend.

The Council recognized the voice; the same voice of the maverick Jedi distinguished himself between them. "Is that-", Shaak Ti spoke up.

As it sometimes had these past thirteen years, when the Force spoke to him, it spoke in the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn.

"Too old I was," Yoda said. "Too rigid. Too arrogant to see that the old way is not the only way. These Jedi, I trained to become the Jedi who had trained me, long centuries ago—but those ancient Jedi, of a different time they were. Changed, has the galaxy. Changed, the Order did not—because let it change, I did not."

More easily said than done, my friend.

"Master Qui-Gon...", Anakin spoke up, but he lowered his head in shame upon saying those words. The Master had freed him and was the closest thing he had to a father, even despite knowing him for a short time. He brought him to Order because Qui-Gon believed in him, but he ended up spitting his on memory by becoming the very being he had sworn to destroy.

"An infinite mystery is the Force." Yoda lifted his head and turned his gaze out into the wheel of stars. "Much to learn, there still is."

And you will have time to learn it.

"Infinite knowledge..." Yoda shook his head. "Infinite time, does that require."

With my help, you can learn to join with the Force, yet retain consciousness. You can join your light to it forever. Perhaps, in time, even your physical self.

Yoda did not move. "Eternal life..."

The audience became amazed, and yet unsure on what the late Master was trying to tell them. "But, it is not the Jedi way to gain immortality", Mundi spoke up, trying to comprehend Master Jinn's words.

"No, Master Mundi", Mace intervened for him, understanding what Qui-Gon meant. "It is meant something else"

The ultimate goal of the Sith, yet they can never achieve it; it comes only by the release of self, not the exaltation of self. It comes through compassion, not greed. Love is the answer to the darkness.

"Become one with the Force, yet influence still to have..." Yoda mused. "A power greater than all, it is."

It cannot be granted; it can only be taught. It is yours to learn, if you wish it.

Slowly, Yoda nodded. "A very great Jedi Master you have become, Qui-Gon Jinn. A very great Jedi Master you always were, but too blind I was to see it."

"He may have been different from the rest, but his own solve and his own creed had made him one of the best among us", Plo Koon spoke in high regard for the late Master.

He rose, and folded his hands before him, and inclined his head in the Jedi bow of respect. The bow of the student, in the presence of the Master.

"Your apprentice, I gratefully become."

"Then...would this explain why Master Kenobi continued to guide Luke?", Ahsoka spoke up, seeing the similarities from the second holotape to this. "Master Yoda taught Master Kenobi how?"

He was well into his first lesson when the hatch cycled open behind him. He turned. In the corridor beyond stood Bail Organa. He looked stricken. "Obi-Wan is asking for you at the surgical theater," he said "It's Padme. She's dying."

The atmosphere inside the Council Chamber became dark, as if a shadow had clouded before the, glancing over Anakin as his eyes widened in terror; it was his resolve to save Padme that drove him into serving Sidious in the first place. "No...", Ahsoka's voice trailed off upon hearing this, she didn't want to lose another friend as she had lost most already.

Anakin's face evolved into an ugly grimace of denial. "No...it can't be...", he uttered out, he could no longer weep when his eyes are already bloodshot from all the times he had wept for her. "She has to live...she has to live for Luke", he begged, desperately hoping she would make it through. He couldn't handle the idea of Luke growing up without his mother, when he himself wasn't there for him as a father.

There is no one to blame but you. Your desire for power became her and everyone's undoing, those were became imprinted onto his own mind as his heart raced in fear and regret, grasping his head with both hands.

Obi-Wan sat beside her, holding one cold, still hand in both of his. "Don't give up, Padme."

"Is it..." Her eyes rolled blindly.

"We don't know yet. In a minute... you have to stay with us."

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka's eyes become grimaced once more as they began to fear the worst to come for the Senator. And Anakin fared no better.

Below the opaque tent that shrouded her from chest down, a pair of surgical droids assisted with her labor. A general medical droid fussed and tinkered among the clutter of scanners and equipment.

Obi-Wan cast an appeal toward the medical droid. "Can't you do something?"

"All organic damage has been repaired." The droid checked another readout. "This systemic failure cannot be explained; it seems she has lost the will to live."

Caleb and Ahsoka became perplexed at the declaration. "Could that even be possible?", he asked, almost disbelievingly.

Luminara lowered her head, deciding to try and give the best answer she could. "Skywalker changed into something she couldn't accept. He chose a path she couldn't follow. She lost the one who was her whole world, her life"

Not physically, Obi-Wan thought. He squeezed her hand as though he could keep life within her body by simple pressure. "Padme, you have to hold on."

One of the surgical droids circled out from behind the tent, cradling in its padded arms a tiny infant, already swabbed clean and breathing, but without even the hint of tears. The droid announced softly, "It's a boy." Padme reached for him with her trembling free hand, but she had no strength to take him; she could only touch her fingers to the baby's forehead.

She and Anakin smiled weakly, trying to keep up with the bottled feelings that both of them were trying to hold on to. Before them, they witnessed the birth of their son, the one who gave the light of hope that was lost during the dark reign of the Empire. "Luke...", both of them sniffled upon seeing their son.

But they weren't ready on what came next.

The other droid now rounded the tent as well, with another clean, quietly solemn infant. "... and a girl."

The audience's eyes widened like saucers at the revelation before them; Luke had a sibling of his own. "I...we have a daughter?", Anakin uttered out in complete disbelief, wanted to feel elated to the fact that he wished his child would have been a girl. He never dreamed that he could have two children with her all of a sudden.

For a moment, he felt like he was the happiest man in the galaxy. But then he remembered on who he had become, and how he threw it all away, and his face became that of visible regret.

But she had already fallen back against her pillow. "Padme, you have twins," Obi-Wan said desperately. "They need you—please hang on..."

"Anakin..."

"How would Master Kenobi explain that one to Senator Amidala?", Kit Fisto spoke out in concern, seeing that one as a risky option for both him and her.

"Anakin... isn't here, Padme," he said, though he didn't think she could hear.

"Anakin, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." In the Force, Obi-Wan felt Yoda's approach, and he looked up to see the ancient Master beside Bail Organa, both staring the same grave question down through the surgical theater's observation panel.

The more time passed, the fear within Anakin grew as he twisted and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Something. Anybody. Just let them save his wife. If he had to lose his own body in the process, then so be it. Just let Padme live!

The only answer Obi-Wan had was a helpless shake of his head. Padme reached across with her free hand, with the hand she had laid upon the brow of her firstborn son, and pressed something into Obi-Wan's palm. For a moment, her eyes cleared, and she knew him.

"Padme, you have to fight on...", Anakin begged to his wife; the memory of his failure to save his mother flashed before him as he watched helplessly to see her fade away before him. "For Luke and her, please! Just live for them!"

The Masters in the Chamber became visibly concerned, remembering why his future chose to join Sidious in the first place. They knew that they were in no position to help Skywalker of his own emotional attachment, but most of them wished to do something in any way they can, even if it went against their beliefs once in a while.

For Yoda, he was willing to make an exception. If the Senator was at risk of being lost, then they will try what they can to support Skywalker, and to help him move on should things turn for the worst. But even he himself wasn't sure if he even trusted them, as they denied his chance in saving his mother a few years ago.

"Obi-Wan... there... is still good in him"

"She...she still believed that General Skywalker is still there...", Rex said out loud, wanting to believe in her words as well, even despite what had happened between them.

"He could have...he could still be there", Ahsoka's hollow voice repeated, her faith in her master withholding that belief.

"I know there is... still..." Her voice faded to an empty sigh, and she sagged back against the pillow. Half a dozen different scanners buzzed with conflicting alarm tones, and the medical droids shooed him from the room.

Everyone lowered their heads as they watch the life of Senator Amidala fade right before their eyes. In all her life, she had been the beacon of democracy that she vigorously defended for the Republic she so loyally served against the Sith, even when she did not know who the real enemy once

"No, no, no, NO, NO!!!!" Anakin cried out helplessly as he fell to pieces upon witnessing his very world being shattered in his very eyes under his own hand. Frantically, his fists punched the ground repeatedly and relentlessly while wailing in sheer anger and regret directed to himself. "What have I done...!? What have I done...?"

Instinctively, Padme wrapped him in a consoling embrace, his sobs drenching the shoulders of her dress as she tried what she could to console him. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay Anakin...it's okay...", she assured him, sniffling as she buried her face by his shoulder in an attempt to console one another.

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka's faces evolved into tearful grimaces at the two's faith with one another, mentally exclaiming themselves that they should have helped them when they could have.

"Even in her final moments, she still believed in the light within him...", Plo Koon solemnly remarked, not thinking that it could have been possible for her when she realized what he had done.

Everyone could not help but thought to themselves regarding Skywalker. He had lost his mother because he had done so little. He lost his wife because he had done too much for her.

He stood in the hall outside, looking down at what she had pressed into his hand. It was a pendant of some kind, an amulet, unfamiliar sigils carved into some sort of organic material, strung on a loop of leather.

Anakin's heart sank further when he recognized the amulet she held. He had given it to her as a sign of friendship when they first met at Tatooine. But she kept it with her in all these years when they both had their respective duties to fulfill, and knowing that cherished it as a reminder of him was enough for him to turn away from the screen momentarily.

Around a conference table on Tantive IV, Bail Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda met to decide the fate of the galaxy.

"To Naboo, send her body..." Yoda stretched his head high. "The boy be sent to Tatooine. Away from the Empire"

"This is to protect Luke from the Empire and of the Sith", Mundi said, figuring out the motive of the two surviving Jedi. Anakin could not help but agree with them wholeheartedly; as a means to protect him from the monsters that was Darth Sidious and himself.

However, before more questions could be answered, the holotape began to play oddly as it glitched in and out of existence, and the screen of Polis Massa shifted to that of Coruscant, to the dismay of everyone in the Chamber.

And surely enough, one of them wanted to know what had happened to the other child, and she began to panic on what could have happened to Luke's twin, not wanting to imagine that conclusion to her .

"My daughter...what happened to her?", Padme asked, begging for answers as to what happened to Luke's twin. "What had happened to our daughter?!

No one had the courage to tell her what had happened to the other infant; they didn't want to jump to any conclusion what had happened to Luke's twin sister. But moments later, Padme began to breathe incoherently, feeling as if she was was going through a blackout; the trauma and the stress she had went through must have caused a toll onto her and she began to collapse, to everyone's shock.

"Senator Amidala!", Rex called out as it appeared that she was going to faint, landing in the arms of Anakin, which already added fuel to the already volatile bonfire.

"Padme!", Anakin cried out, trying what he could to calm her down in any way he could as Shaak Ti and Luminara circled around to aid the Senator.

In the newly renamed Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center on Coruscant, a hypersophisticated prototype Ubrikkian DD-13 surgical droid moved away from the project that it and an enhanced FX-6 medical droid had spent many days rebuilding.

It beckoned to a dark-robed shadow that stood at the edge of the pool of high-intensity light. "My lord, the construction is finished. He lives."

"Anakin?", Ahsoka whispered in a hollow tone as she and the rest of the Council watched intently.

"Good. Good."

The shadow flowed into the pool of light as though the overhead illuminators had malfunctioned. Droids stepped back as it came to the rim of the surgical table.

On the table was strapped the very first patient of the EmPal SuRecon Center. To some eyes, it might have been a pieced-together hybrid of droid and human, encased in a life-support shell of gleaming black, managed by a thoracic processor that winked pale color against the shadow's cloak. To some eyes, its jointed limbs might have looked ungainly, clumsy, even monstrous; the featureless curves of black that served it for eyes might have appeared inhuman, and the underthrust grillwork of its vocabulator might have suggested the jaws of a saurian predator built of polished blast armor, but to the shadow—

It was glorious. A magnificent jewel box, created both to protect and to exhibit the greatest treasure of the Sith.

Terrifying.

Mesmerizing.

Perfect.

Everyone became horrified at the familiar sight before them. The black armor and the terrifying mask, the same one that inspired fear that the Empire had ruled through. All belonging to Darth Vader, the Emperor's Apprentice.

Their minds flashed to the same man who inspired fear and tyranny towards the Rebellion.

The same man who had struck down rebels with absolutely no mercy as he went ahead and tried to retrieve the stolen plans.

The same man who struck down Obi-Wan Kenobi, the man responsible for his crippling. And the one who scarred his own son mentally and physically at the revelation on he was.

And the same man they once knew as Anakin Skywalker, the Hero of the Clone Wars.

"Master/Anakin...", Ahsoka and Obi-Wan's voices whispered with a fearful gasp towards the man they once knew, which held no similarities to the Jedi Knight.

"W-what have they done to him?"

The table slowly rotated to vertical, and the shadow leaned close.

"Lord Vader? Lord Vader, can you hear me?"

"Yes my Master", spoke the first words of the Sith Lord, his voice being filtered by the mask that covered the entirety of his face.

The intimidation of those words caused Ahsoka, Rex and Caleb to shiver in fear, recalling the two previous tapes that carried malice and tyranny towards everyone around him.

"They...put him into a life supporting suit that sustained him for the rest of his life...", Shaak Ti spoke out in complete shock, never seeing such procedures being implemented to any medical patient.

"It looked more like a prison of some sort...", Saesee Tiin spoke out, observing the armor. "As if...he is his own prisoner..."

"Where is Padme?", Vader turned to Sidious, who took one step back. "Is she safe? Is she all right?"

"He...He doesn't remember does he?" Depa asked, to which caused the rest to glance at Anakin worriedly as he watched in angered silence towards the Sith Lord.

"His anger must have clouded his judgement." Mace answered his former apprentice in a hollow tone.

"Combined with the power of the Dark Side, he most likely didn't realize what he was doing." Mundi theorized further.

"It seems in your anger, you killed her." Sidious answered him.

"Anakin...you didn't...", Obi-Wan tried to tell him that it wasn't his fault, and that Sidious had been lying to him.

All of a sudden, the atmosphere in the Chamber went cold, as Anakin's eyes were ingrained with raging fury.

"I...I couldn't have...SHE WAS ALIVE! I FELT IT!" He raged as his power reached out. The droids that had given him life were now being crushed underneath his power, and several testing tubes broke open.

He broke free of his restraints, taking a few steps forward. Looking down at his new limbs, and then his hands, he had become horrified as to what he had become.

Anakin took all his willpower to restrain his anger to the point that every Jedi began to feel the tremor that came from him, hatred and rage directed at the Sith Lord who lied to him for all these years.

They began to reach out for him to calm down as Obi-Wan restrained him, and it wasn't long when Ahsoka joined him in calming down her former Master. But even she gave a resentful glare to the Sith Lord who manipulated every one he could.

But it wasn't enough for Anakin to be restrained as his eyes burned with hatred at the Sith Lord. Jedi or not, Sidious made it personal with him.

And there was no turning back now..

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!", Vader, formerly Anakin, screamed in complete despair and sorrow, having lost everything he had cared about: his best friend, his apprentice, his wife, his life, and himself. His own voice painfully overpowering the filter for a moment before seething down to the deep echo.

And just like that. They witnessed the Death of Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Knight.

And Darth Vader, the Sith Lord, was truly born.

Huge solemn crowds line Palace Plaza in Theed, the capital of Naboo, as six beautiful white gualaars draw a flower-draped open casket bearing the remains of a beloved Senator through the Triumphal Arch, her fingers finally and forever clasping a snippet of japor, one that had been carved long ago by the hand of a nine-year-old boy from an obscure desert planet in the far Outer Rim...

Everyone lowered their heads in respect as they watch the funeral processions go on. Anakin only embraced his unconscious wife protectively as he looked away from the screen, unable to bear the result of his own actions.

Obi-Wan brought over the infant to Owen and Beru Lars, where the latter was visibly joyed in holding the infant. The Jedi, now named Ben, nodded in understanding and took his leave.

"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi"

"A message?", Master Fisto quipped in curiosity, and soon enough. Those who could still listen lent their ears for the moment.

"I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic had fallen...with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take its place"

"This is indeed the end of an era...", Plo Koon mournfully professed on behalf of the Council, realizing this to be the entire failure of the Order.

"But it is a future that we can still change...", Shaak Ti added, her hopeful voice trying to spur some light into the darkness that had clouded before them.

"This is message is a warning to any surviving Jedi: Trust in the Force"

Cal Kestis wiped the sweat off his head as he finally buried Master Jaro Tapal, fighting back a tear as he placed the late Master's double-bladed saber by his chest.

"Do not return to the Temple"

Caleb Dume hid behind a corner as Commander Grey and his men searched for the young Jedi, the Padawan being filled with uncertainty and determination to live as he tried to move forward without his Master's guidance.

A hand landed on the Padawan's shoulder as he looked up to his Master, his face carrying sadness as she said. "No matter what happens, I'll always watch over you"

"That time has passed"

Ahsoka looked at her remaining lightsaber, and she let it clatter to the ground in front of Jesse's helmet and fought back a tear, as she looked at the remains of the Tribunal and the graves of the 332nd. She pulled up her hood to hide her features and began walking away, back to the Y-Wing as Rex looked over her. "And our future is uncertain"

Rex fought back his tears as they watched the graves of the brothers within the 501st Legion while mourning the loss of Jesse and countless others throughout the war, and the endgame that they were all but exoendables in the end. Ahsoka grasped her hand onto his, promising that they would change the future as they knew it.

"We will each be challenged. By our faith. Our trust. Our friendships"

The Imperial officers inside of one of the Venators looked up to the newly christened Lord Vader, walking over to the new Emperor just as Admiral Tarkin had taken his leave. And the two watched the construction of the Empire's most powerful superweapon to exist, as they establish their dominance in the galaxy.

Obi-Wan pinched his forehead in mourning, as all the three virtues had all tested him in a single stroke. And yet, he knew he had to keep moving forward, even if the road that lies ahead is shrouded by darkness.

"But we must persevere"

Watching over the twin sunsets, Obi-Wan's face remained hopeful and uncertain as he looked at Beru and Owen take the infant to their home from a distance.

Anakin regained whatever courage he had left as he looked up hopefully at his son, wishing him the best to save the galaxy from both his father and the Sith Lord who had used all of them in the oast.

"And in time... a new hope will emerge"

The screen faded to black as Kenobi's final words echoed. "May the Force be with you"

The holotape finally ended there. With silence engulfing the entire chamber as they reflect on the future that hovered above them. To everyone who viewed the first tape, each held a different interpretation for them that allowed them to realize what they all meant.

Victory and Death. Sidious was the ultimate victor in all of the Clone Wars. And the death of all his pawns; the Jedi, the Senate, the Separatists and the Republic.

This was the Revenge of the Sith. They had avenged everything that had fallen to the Jedi Order after hiding in the shadows for a thousand years.

They had seen a New Hope bring back the light that the Jedi had failed to fulfill, holding firm even when the Empire Strikes Back.

All that they desperately wished now, was a Return of the Jedi.