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Dawn of a New Age:An AU of ROTS-if Anakin allowed Mace to kill Sidious - updated 10/27
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Milteck
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Jul '06
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Date Posted:
2/19 11:21pm
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Kevin_solo wrote:
A good couple of updates! So Obi's worried about fighting Maul:
With that in mind, Obi-Wan feared that he would be put in a position where he would have to sacrifice himself in order to save those he cared about. Already he had saved his new Padawan from death and had been willing to risk everything to save him. Now the lives of Padme, her children, and the younglings hung in the balance.
Just focus on the fact that you killed him once, and can do it again.
One can only hope
I liked the description of the corridor:
Behind him, the long wide corridor known as the Pathway of Enlightened loomed over him, being pushed back toward it by his nemesis who sought to destroy all that Obi-Wan loved. The Corridor’s walls were adorned with bronze busts of the legendary Jedi Masters going all the way back to the days of the Old Republic. The busts sat on black marble pedestals with golden plaques that commemorated their names. The entire corridor was bathed in white marble along the high walls and arched ceiling.
There were no windows. All the light was artificially generated above from florescent panels and from wall lamps that were evenly spaced eight feet from each other down adorning the walls. Over each bust was also a small spotlight that basked each of them in a cone of white light. Unfortunately, most of the lighting down the corridor was deactivated to conserve power for the temples defenses and only a few of the overhead panels were still lit. It made the corridor dark and gloomy.
At least Maul's not repeating his previous mistakes, something that makes me like the writing of this story:
Maul is certainly a true Sith Lord now, but is he stronger then Sidious?
To make matters worse, Maul was growing stronger with each exchange between them and pushed him back exactly where he wanted to go. The longer blades on Maul’s weapon gave him an edge and it made it difficult for Kenobi to get underneath his defenses. On top of that, Maul’s free hand was recoiled in preparation of unleashing a Force attack against him.
I liked Obi-Wan's memories of the original fight with Maul:
That fight was my favorite moment of Episode 1 and really carried the film. Seeing Darth Maul die the way he did was an inspiration to bring him back for Dawn
His master, like him, was also a master with the blade and had fought Maul with precisely the same strategy Obi-Wan was using against him now by attempting to contain him. After Obi-Wan got separated from him, Qui-Gon had lured Maul down a catwalk leading from the Palace’s main reactor into an impenetrable laser shield security system that led to the cooling pit where they squared off. There was no where else to run and was as good of place as any to duel to the deathagainst the Sith Lord. He remembered watching his master lure the beast into the pit with the hope of finally destroying him. Kenobi had sprinted forward to try and reach the cooling pit to assist his Master, but the laser shield security system slammed shut as he reached the last barrier.
He could do nothing but stand and watch for five minutes as his Master squared off against Maul. The fight hadn’t lasted more than a minute and helplessly watched as the Sith Lord slew him. His master was one of the finest swordsmen the order had ever known and Maul still had been able to beat him. Now, Obi-Wan was regarded with the same esteem as his former master and couldn’t help but doubt if he was strong enough to actually kill him this time in a straight up fight. Maul was also stronger than before and fought like a man bent on revenge for what Obi-Wan had done to him.
Then we have the annoying banter:
I wanted Maul to talk and not be silent thug that he appeared to be in Episode 1
“Let go of your anger like you did on Naboo, Kenobi,” Maul goaded him. “Only your hated can destroy me!”
Obi-Wan laughed.
“I am not as young and misguided as I once was,” Kenobi spat back. “This time I defeat you as a Jedi and not the monster that you would like me to become.”
It reminds me of Vader and Luke in the original time line. Fortunately for Obi-Wan, Maul falls back into the standard bad guy tactic of talking too much:
Fortunately Maul seemed eager to talk to him.
It was strange for someone so determined to kill him.
“You disappoint me,” Maul scolded him.
“How so?” Obi-Wan asked dubiously.
“All those years ago in that cooling pit, I had underestimated you badly and paid for it with my life.”
“I was lucky…” Obi-Wan admitted. “But I’m far wiser now than the Padawan you remember back then.” He brought his lightsaber back up to bear on Maul and challenged, “This time, I utterly destroy you.”
This time, Maul laughed.
Like so many other bad guys, Maul's excessive talking leads him to give away important information:
“You must realize at this point that I could destroy you at any time.” Maul then stepped closer to Kenobi and asked him ominously, “You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Grievous thought that,” Kenobi rebuked him. “So did Dooku. Now they are dead and soon you will be joining them.”
Maul chastised him, “You still don’t understand Kenobi. Your victories against Sidious’ puppets are meaningless. They fell because Sidious wished them to fall.”
Kenobi’s head was beginning to clear and wished it hadn’t because Maul’s words were making sense. Sidious had betrayed both Dooku and Grievous and it had been too easy to kill them both.
Come on, Maul! You do know that this kind of behaviour is dangerous. Remember the Evil Overlord list:
6. I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.
7. When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."
I don't think he has ever read the evil lord list, and is very unfortunate he has not done so
Then, we have him offering a truce, so he can destroy his former master:
Is that really his intention?
“Allow me to head to the Hanger bay to leave the temple. I will return to Sidious’ flag ship and destroy him once and for all! Once I have control, I shall depart the Republic and leave it in peace.”
“I’m supposed to just trust you that you’ll fulfill those terms?”
“Again you have no choice.” Maul replied coldly.
“And the Jedi out there fighting for their lives, they will also be spared as well?”
“No, they must all die.” Maul kept walking toward him with a cold purpose to either pass by him willingly or destroy him. One of those two things was going to happen and the easier Kenobi made it on him to get by him, the better. “Only you and the children will I spare Kenobi. Feel fortunate I am willing to give you that much."
Kenobi paused and actually genuinely thought about the deal.
Not much of a deal. First, Maul's going to kill nearly everyone anyway. Second, why would he leave a battle that he feels he's going to win? He'll have to fight it again if he does. Nice to see that Obi-Wan's sensible:
“You know Maul, this whole thing sounds to me more like a desperate act from a desperate man who knows he’s doomed.”
“What?” Maul asked surprised. “You dare insult my honor?”
“Yes, I most certainly do you bastard,” Kenobi yelled back. “You killed my Master and now think that I would stoop so low as to betray his memory by accepting a deal from the likes of you. You truly must be desperate to think I would ever accept such a deal. Either that or a fool!”
“It’s your choice Kenobi,” Maul said admonished. “If you refuse my offer, not only will I kill you, but everyone you’ve ever loved and cared about.”
Even under his deal, Maul was going to kill almost everyone Kenobi ever loved and cared about. The fight scenes that followed were very good, like this:
Maul is certainly not to be trusted...
Maul got creative with the next attack by throwing a ball of fire and then shooting behind it a stream of Sith lightning. Obi-Wan reacted not by trying to block it with his blade, but using the Force to move one of the statues directly in front him to absorb the attack. Once it was over, he then Force pushed the entire statue at Maul as hard as he could. Maul hacked his way through the statue with his blade and let the pieces fall harmlessly fall past him.
Maul then charged Kenobi with all the hate and power he could muster through the dark side. Maul switched to Vaapad and laced into Obi-Wan with a furious combination of blows that would truly test Kenobi’s endurance.
The blows were lethal and quick, but Obi-Wan’s Soresu technique allowed him to move just a fraction of a second faster than Maul to block each of the attacks. He was thankful that he was Master Windu’s favorite sparring partner and, like Anakin, had always tried out his best moves against him. It filled Obi-Wan with confidence that neither of them had ever been able to defeat him in combat.
The description of Obi-Wan's injuries here certainly made me wince:
He was lucky not to be seriously injured or killed.
Obi-Wan was not as fortunate. He flew backwards and slammed into a white marble pedestal that had on top of it a bronze bust of the famous Jedi General, Lord Hoth. Obi-Wan felt a spike of pain roll up his back from the impact and fell forward in agony, landing squarely on his knees. Though the heavy marble base absorbed the impact of the collision, the bronze bust was not permanently attached to its base and wobbled out of it. Obi-Wan couldn’t react fast enough, too dazed from being thrown back from the Force attack. The heavy bronze bust fell on him, its forehead landing against his left shoulder blade and popped it out of place. He cried out in agony as he felt his shoulder torn from its socket and felt his left arm go numb, now unable to use it.
The blow knocked Obi-Wan onto his stomach. The bust landed next to him with a loud clank from the heavy bronze and Obi-Wan’s eyes widened in shock to see the lifelike face of the legendary face staring back at him. At first Obi-Wan only grunted as he felt a sharp stabbing pain from his shoulder, but as he tried to use his other arm to push him up he felt an agonizing stabbing sensation from his shoulder that agonizingly made him crash back down onto the floor.
Nasty!! And it was followed by this:
A seperated shoulder is one of the most painful injuries and hurts unbelieavably when someone tries to set it back in place.
Obi-Wan turned toward the pillar he was standing close too and slammed his left shoulder into it. He cried in agony from the pain that shot through him, nearly making him topple to his knees again. But he forced himself to remain standing, knowing that if he succumbed to the pain, than he was dead.
He cursed that his first attempt to set his shoulder back into place had failed, only adding to discomfort. Without the use of his left arm, he would be unable to fight Maul with the skill necessary to defeat him, be slowed considerably, and would lose his center, his balance, that was pivotal in fighting with a blade. Obi-Wan would be killed easily by Maul if he didn’t fix his shoulder.
Sensing Maul was close; he slammed his shoulder into the column again and heard the shoulder pop back into place. He grunted in pain as he felt sensation return to his left arm and fingers again, only to feel his shoulder pop back out of place when he turned to face Maul. He screamed in agony as he collapsed to one knee, turning to see Maul now standing before him and swinging his blade down to finish him.
So where's Maul gone? Wherever he's gone it's not good...
At least its not down a ventilation shaft
I liked a lot of the stuff about Yoda and his background, which ties in well with what we know about him:
Yoda has lived a long time, and really wanted to draw out more of his background. His fraility of age is also something I have added to give even the infalliable Yoda a weakness
Over the centuries, Yoda’s legacy as a warrior had been tarnished somewhat by no longer fighting in battle. The Clone Wars had been the first time in 500 years he had even used his lightsaber in a fight. Despite the injury to his leg and his age, he hadn’t lost a step and still fought with the same skill and tenacity of his prime. He now stood alone, encircled by clones bent on killing him, yet he could feel it was they who were afraid and none who challenged him expected to survive.
Very good! Nice to see that he's thinking of the succession:
The end is near for him, as we saw in Episode VI. He doesn't have much time left
Yet he was also willing to allow Master Windu, Kenobi, and Skywalker to move up into the forefront and they were now looked upon as the future of the Jedi Order. Yoda was still old, and there was no denying that his time was running out, whether he survived this battle or not. He had even given Master Windu the keys to the temple by naming him his heir and gave him his holocron that possessed all of his codes, sum of his knowledge, and last will of testament. Yoda was still the Grandmaster, but he was willing to finally pass the torch on to this generation of Jedi. Skywalker bringing balance to the Force would complete his life’s work and allow him to be at peace for the rest of life.
I particularly liked how he dealt with this attack:
Yoda certainly showed them the true nature and power of the Force
Yoda cracked a sly smile at them and simply waited for them to make their move. Psychologically he had already won and they all knew it. What they had in mind was not a surprise. They boldly made their move and all rushed him at the same time to try to strike Yoda down all at once. All of them expected to die and none of them expected to succeed.
It made it all too easy for Yoda to defeat them.
Before they even got close enough to strike, Yoda simply used the Force to pick all twelve of them up from the ground and proceeded to smash them all together as they floated helpless in the air, knocking them senseless. He then threw them all back towards the wall next to him and added to the pile of force crushed clones he had vanquished.
There's still the issue of where Anakin is:
The cliffhanger continues to build and build
“Be here, he will.” Master Yoda finally said who prepared for the next onslaught of troopers.
Master Luminara bluntly reiterated, “He had better, because I don’t think we can last much longer.
Yoda nodded solemnly, knowing that she was right.
Again, where has Maul gone? At least Obi-Wan's being sensible, in keeping his guard up. Nice to see that he agrees with Sherlock Holmes here:
All he had to go on was a sixth sense of intuition that Maul was still there in front of him. He based it solely on his intuition and simple logic that Yoda had trained him: When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Maul had not been killed by the bronze bust that hit him and had not gotten past him. The only logical conclusion was Maul cloaked himself after he regained consciousness when Obi-Wan had set his shoulder back in place. He could be anywhere now, but Kenobi was confident enough in his own abilities to wager that Maul would not have moved past him or try anything else until Obi-Wan gave him the opportunity to do so.
Sad to use a great man's ashes in that way; but perhaps he'll be amused that his remains were useful in defeating an enemy of the Order:
Hoth would have approved.
He raised the urn high up into the air until it was floating only a foot from the ceiling. With the Force he crushed the urn and its ashes spewed out. The urn fell onto the cold marble floor first, with what remained of the vessel shattering into even smaller pieces. That had been an added bonus for if Maul tried to move toward him now, stepping on the debris would surely reveal him. Obi-Wan held his lightsaber up in the ready position and watched for any sign of movement.
The dust particles slowly rained down, the thicker clods of ash came down first and Obi-Wan felt discouraged that they hadn’t hit anything. Then came the lighter particles that came down like rain until his eyes focused on a wisp of air that seemed to distort as it moved...
Good old Obi! I loved Maul's complaint:
I'd be irritated too if spent that learning such an ability only to find it was now useless
“It took two years of my life it took me to learn to cloak myself Kenobi!” Maul fumed. “There was no way you should’ve been able to detect me.”
Sometimes the oldest tricks can still be the most effective.
Then a really good fight between the two:
It really starts to pick up now
Maul continued to push forward, testing Obi-Wan’s resolve to stand fast. Neither of them backing down and unleashed against each other the full fury of their abilities. Obi-Wan did not shift technique and continued to rely on his Soresu mastery to keep him alive. But the Soresu technique’s drawback of non-aggression was quickly becoming more of a hindrance than strength. Maul was simply too good of a fighter to make a mistake that would allow Obi-Wan to defeat him. Obi-Wan’s strategy of keeping the monster at bay was beginning to turn against him because all it did was delay the inevitable.
Seeing how close they were to the Inner Sanctum, Maul pushed his advantage harder and Obi-Wan had no choice but to continue to give up ground. Every time Maul gained an advantage, Obi-Wan stepped back before Maul gain the upper hand against him. There was simply too much at stake for Obi-Wan to try vainly and stand his ground against him when he didn’t have too, and wouldn’t make his final stand until he had no choice. The lives of the younglings, Padme, and the entire Jedi Order hung in the balance. He had no choice but to continue to continue his original strategy and hold him back for as long as possible.
Again Maul tries offering a deal:
Is his offer sincere though?
“My plan is to utterly destroy Darth Sidious,” Maul swore to him. “You should want to destroy him as much as I do. He is evil.”
“So are you.”
A little obvious there, Maul. The fresco in the small circular chamber was interesting:
There was a brilliant fresco of Vodo-Siosk Bass fighting against Exar Kun in front the of the Senate steps and also one of Revan striking down his former apprentice Malak. Maul recognized this room the same way the Jedi saw it: as a pathway to choice that would determine his fate.
And the other Jedi are also really under pressure:
They weren’t going to be able to hold out much longer.
It started with Jedi collapsing from fatigue after they used up all their Force reserves and their bodies reacted by shutting down, much like a computer does after you pull the plug and its internal battery has no juice to keep it going. Both the young and the old alike fell victim to exhaustion and one-by-one, they were dragged from the line or slaughtered where they fell by the clone army. These losses had the accumulative effect on the Jedi who were left and now had to expand more energy to defend themselves from attack, having to both cover a larger area and fight more clones then they could handle.
In many spots, there was only one Jedi covering it and once they fell the Crimson Guard would break the line. The Medical Ward was packed with the wounded and critically injured, many of whom had lost limbs and were incapable of fighting further.
A good description of their situation:
It certainly is dire
The next wave of clones charged forward and the Jedi fought relentlessly to hold them back. On the left flank, Yoda still fought out on island, completely surrounded by clones that were determined to kill him. If there was any doubt among them who the greatest Jedi warrior was of all time, there was none now as Yoda was holding the left flank virtually on his own. Mace had been pulling Jedi from the left flank throughout the battle and now only Luminara and a hand full of Jedi Knights remained on that position. Those Knights simply dealt with any who got past Yoda and by far had the easier conditions to fight compared to the rest of the line.
The center rallied around Master Windu, with Shaak Ti and Plo Koon sealing up the gaps. They had recovered nicely from losing Ki-Adi, but many were fighting wounded and had lost many to the medical ward. Kai Hudoora had collapsed from exhaustion and was fortunate that Dass Jennir was able to get him out of there before the next wave of Sith engaged them. Exhaustion was now their biggest enemy, and Mace could see that others were close to their breaking point.
They wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer.
The real crisis was forming on the right flank, where the Jedi Knights there were slowly being overwhelmed. He had placed a huge burden on Aayla Secura’s shoulders by making her in charge of that position and honestly hadn’t given her the best Jedi to hold it, keeping them in the center and left flank where he had believed they would be most needed. Given time, the enemy finally figured out where they were weakest and they targeted that portion of the line, throwing the best of their ranks against that position.
Things are so bad that Mace has to give this order:
Indeed it is, Mace has just used the only card he has left and now they're quickly running out of time.
“Good,” Mace replied. “Now go to the Medical Ward and tell Barriss we need her send out everyone who is still able to fight or pick up a weapon. Don’t take no for an answer this time. Go!”
Things must be serious if he has to order that. It's just as well this happens:
They all felt the spike of power and it washed over all of them like a wake, before the storm actually hit them. Joclad felt it harder than any of them because he was closer and was actually knocked backwards from the intensity of it.
“What in the blazes was that?” Leolum asked Mace; feeling rejuvenated by whatever just hit him. The pain in his leg was suddenly gone and he found he could once again put his full weight back on it.
“I don’t know…” Mace replied uncertain, though also rejuvenated by it. The throbbing cut on his forehead no longer hurt and when he brushed the sleeve of his robe over the wound he discovered it was no longer bleeding. All the Jedi felt their aches and pains go away.
On the enemy, it had the opposite effect. They were stopped cold by whatever it was that washed over them. They all looked confused and even began to bump into each other as their ranks shifted disorderly into each other. They lost their cohesion and Mace felt it as they lost their cohesion, suddenly turning into hundreds of independent and scared minds who all believed they were about to die.
What the [adjective] was that? I hope we'll find out soon. And we do!!!
Yep, it builds up nicely to what everyone has been waiting for
The troop transport slowly lowered further into the temple and the pilot activated its search lights. The distinctive nose decal of the Corellian shark on the troop transport was unmistakable and the Jedi cheered as they recognized it.
It was the 501st and Mace had never seen a more beautiful sight in his life than that gunship. The search lights honed in on the enemy and the gunners laced into them with their turbolasers.
The Jedi cheered in triumph as the enemy ranks were laid to waste from the powerful guns. Those who were hit by the powerful laser blasts were pulverized and blow to bits. The heavy guns pounded the enemy’s positions and left nothing but craters and charred cinders of Crimson Guard armor that wasn’t completely vaporized by being hit. The Crimson Guard were ridiculously ill prepared to defend themselves from an air assault and besides their armor the only weapon they possessed for defense was their blade.
Woohoo! And Ani's here!
He's finally come to the rescue
Seeing that they were beaten, many of the Crimson Guard turned to flee for their lives. They were met by the sight of seeing their own comrades being Force hurled back into the Great Hall through what remained of the entrance. Blocking their path stood the powerful figure of Anakin Skywalker, dressed all in black with his blue blade ready to strike down any who tried to rush past him. The two unfortunate Guardsman who charged toward him were the first to fall as Anakin struck them both down with a single stroke of his blade.
“Anakin!” Mace cried out in triumph upon seeing him. Anakin stormed into the Great Hall and cut down Crimson Guardsman that charged towards him. He blocked the only way out of the temple and stood his ground as what was left of the enemy ranks charged toward him in a vain attempt to escape.
But it's all too good to be true, I see:
Maul vs. Kenobi is still being fought
Or so they all thought…
You're succeeding very well in keeping us in suspense, Milteck!
Am glad you've enjoyed it so.
I hope this next update you'll enjoy for it kind of takes a step back to explain what happened to Anakin, an update on Sidious and his fleet, and a new danger that comes to the surface.
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Milteck
Registered:
Jul '06
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Date Posted:
2/19 11:31pm
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Feedback
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Raptor517 wrote:
I must say: "Took him long enough!"
Though I predict that good ole Palpy might make an appearance at the Temple. That would be cool.
Great update, as usual!
Palpatine may or may not make an appearance at the temple, will have to read to find out
Anakin is finally there and things are certainly looking up for the Jedi.
But the battle is far from over.
Glad you enjoyed
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Darth_drachonus wrote:
Nice update. 'bout time Anakin gets his lazy *** to the rescue ~laughs~ Hmm. Perhaps he's turned afterall?
Anakin has finally arrived. The next update will explain what took him so long
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darth_kripp wrote:
Master Skywalker, welcome back! They missed you a great deal!
Unfortunately, everything still depends on Maul and Obi-Wan's duel. I rally wonder what choice Maul made.
They did miss him indeed, and now that he is there the tables have turned in the Jedi's favor. At least for now...
The choice Maul made you'll learn soon enough 
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Milteck
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Jul '06
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Date Posted:
2/19 11:37pm
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Feedback
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vaderlvr64 wrote:
Fortunately Maul seemed eager to talk to him.
It was strange for someone so determined to kill him.
“You disappoint me,” Maul scolded him.
“How so?” Obi-Wan asked dubiously.
“All those years ago in that cooling pit, I had underestimated you badly and paid for it with my life.”
“I was lucky…” Obi-Wan admitted. “But I’m far wiser now than the Padawan you remember back then.” He brought his lightsaber back up to bear on Maul and challenged, “This time, I utterly destroy you.”
This time, Maul laughed.
They always want to chat!
WOnderful post!
I wanted Maul to have some speaking lines and not be the silent thug/assassin that he was protrayed in Episode 1. Sith Lords like to taunt and chide their opponents and wanted to give him some lines.
Glad you enjoyed
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MoAngel wrote:
FINALLY! I told you he was changing his Jedi garb to look more intimidating in a darker shade of black.
Lol, you'll have to read the next update to learn if that was what really kept him
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Milteck
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Jul '06
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Date Posted:
2/20 1:41am
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azeria_jade wrote:
I really enjoy the interaction between Maul and Obi-wan. It makes me think a little of the Luke/Vader duel in ROTJ. Great update and yay for Anakin!
Glad you enjoyed the interaction between them. Really wanted it to be on the lines of the great duels in the original trilogy. In the prequals, they didn't really talk much, they just dueled with each other and last man standing wins.
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Yoda-I_am wrote
NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
EVIL CLIFFIE NOT GOOD
please hurry.
Thanks for the feedback
Hope you will enjoy the next update. Hopefully each post will make u want to continue to read more.
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Milteck
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Jul '06
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Date Posted:
2/20 1:59am
Subject:
CH 37: Part 3 of the Battle
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Part 3 of the battle is now completed.
Instead of going directly into the Obi-Wan duel, decided to step back and do an update that focused primarily on Sidious and Maul.
Would also like to note that the clone character named E'taan is actually a chareacter created by Raptor517 in the story titled Metamorphisis and would like to thank him for allowing him to include him briefly in the story.
Here is a link to his great story
http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/24997946/p1/?310
It has great action scenes and a great characters driving the story.
Now....
On with the show
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Milteck
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Date Posted:
2/20 2:07am
Subject:
Ch 37
- Date Edited:
2/20 2:14am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Milteck
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Coruscant - Outside Jedi Temple
“Sir, we are on final approach to the temple,” the clone pilot reported to him.
“It’s about time!” Anakin’s frustration over the many costly setbacks that delayed his attack Force from reaching the temple as planned. It had been a nightmare to get here and it seemed that only his strong will to get there, kept this the entire operation from falling apart. He breathed a sigh of relief that they’d finally made it and ordered the pilot, “Take us in.”
“Yes, sir.”
The detour that Cody had plotted took them on the longest possible route to the temple. The approach vector they had not discussed during the briefing and Anakin had simply assumed they would go the quickest route possible.
He should’ve known better.
By the time he figured out the mistake, they were completely out of the Senate district and nearly to the other side of Coruscant. Cody’s caution was frustrating and infuriated Anakin. He had difficulty believing that Cody hadn’t deliberately betrayed his confidence and felt there was something more going on that affected the clone’s judgment. It wasn’t like he didn’t know where the temple was or the best way to get there. Cody explained easily enough as choosing a route that the enemy would least likely suspect, but Anakin honestly did not believe it. Some other evil was at work here.
The route took them twice as long to get to the temple and was designed to elude the scanners of the enemy capital ships above. It also hurt Anakin because he couldn’t help but feel that Cody’s trust in him wasn’t as strong as with Kenobi and playing it safe was what clones did when they didn’t trust their superior officers during an operation.
But Cody was no fool either.
After he realized he made the mistake, the first thing he did was find short cuts and alternate routes that would take them back toward the temple as quickly as possible. They used passageways between buildings that weren’t on the map, but still wide enough that the ships could safely fly through. Much of the new route would also take them through civilian space lanes. It restored Anakin’s confidence in Cody and allowed his anger to fade away as they got closer to their target.
Only to again feel his temper flare up again as they ran into the unforeseen: Traffic.
The civilian lanes were clogged with speeders and ships that blocked every junction they needed to go though. Anakin almost pulled his hair out in frustration as his forces had to slowly make their way through the congested space lanes. They then came up to a intersection where there was a massive twenty speeder pile up and instead of pulling away to a parking alcove to deal with the driver at fault, they simply sat in their speeders and shouted obscenities at each other. Anakin had to order his transports to lock onto their speeders with their weapons and prepare to fire in order to get the stubborn commuters to get out of the way.
It was chaos throughout the Coruscant Space lanes, with the communication break down making it impossible to call for help and left many civilian pilots to feel like they were abandoned. They simply didn’t have the training like professional pilots did in dealing with a crisis and instead of remaining calm, most panicked and tried to get out their situation by any means necessary – resulting in more accidents. Anakin had never seen so many accidents in his life and the space lanes were clogged with angry pilots, with their ships or speeders hulls grinded and bumped against each other.
It wasn’t until they reached the following intersection that things really became chaotic. They arrived to find the entire intersection blocked with empty speeders. None of these craft were actually damaged and simply left abandoned on the space lanes. Anakin was troubled with the thoughts of where the occupants of the speeders had gone and shuddered to think of their fates. One could simply not leave a speeder while in the middle of a space lane. When the rescue emergency crews (R.E.C.) arrived, they seemed just as baffled by their disappearance as Anakin was.
It wasn’t until they found a terrified child trapped in the backseat of a family speeder that they learned the grim truth. The traffic was thick and congested and onlookers reported that they saw all the ships and speeders now blocking the intersection come to a grinding halt. They just sat there while those around them honked their horns and shouted obscenities for them to get out of the way.
What happened next was maddening.
They parked in the middle of the intersection, kept the ignitions running, opened the door, and leapt to their deaths. Some heard them cry out as they leapt that they needed to go home and couldn’t wait any longer. Only the child remained from the grisly horror, his seat restraint had kept him locked inside the car. The boy was terrified and when the R.E.C. tried to get him out, he tried to jump as well, kicking and screaming the entire time. “Let me go! Mommy is calling for me!”
“Easy son, you’re safe now,” the rescuer told him.
“No, please!” the boy pleaded, continuing to struggle. “You gotta let me see momma, you just gotta.”
“No one knows where your mother is,” the other rescuer said, trying to calm him down.
“She’s down there calling to me!” The boy cried out. “I must find her.”
None had the stomach to tell the boy that his mother was dead down below in the city depths.
Anakin was tempted to take a look down there to try and find the boy’s mother and be able to show or at least tell him for certain that she was dead or alive. He thought of his own mother and what a terrible day that had been for him when she died in his arms. But he could not do it. The mission was more important and when he reached out with the Force, he couldn’t feel anything at all to make him believe there were any survivors. It simply was impossible that anyone could survive such a fall and even if they hit a building on the way down, the impact would still kill them from such a distance.
“Let me go!” The boy protested.
It was a grisly scene as he continued to cry out for his mother and made Anakin think of Padme and his own children, huddled together scared in the Jedi Temple and praying he would be in time to save them from certain death. The delay seemed to take forever and forced Anakin to sit idly by until they got him out of the speeder.
The child continued to resist with every ounce of his strength, writhing and screaming for the rescuers to let him go. It wasn’t until he tried to bite one of the rescuers that they finally chose to sedate him. They had to heavily sedate him in order to get him out and even then the rescue workers claimed they’d never rescued anyone so deranged and insane. Those same rescuers had seen on countless occasions the maddening effects that space dementia and other oddities that pilots suffered from. They saw first hand the horrors of flying as they scraped the remains of accident victims off skyscraper walls and cleaned up high speed wrecks that left no survivors. Yet despite all those horrors they’d seen, a deranged small toddler wanting to die made them lose it. Anakin felt it the moment it happened and called out to other rescue workers as the technicians on the platform jumped. Fortunately; they had not uncoupled themselves from their safety platform and were caught by them before they could fall. The other technicians made their way quickly to their comrades before they could unfasten themselves from their harnesses.
Anakin cursed at yet another delay, though thankful there was no further loss of life.
“This place is cursed!” One of his troopers cried out.
“Stand easy men!” Anakin ordered. “We will be through it shortly.”
Yet despite his words, his men were rattled by what they saw and muttered this place was cursed over and over. It was like the boy was possessed by some kind of evil spirit and Anakin even felt cold as he reached out for the boy, hinting of a dark side presence that lingered inside him. Yet he could also feel the boy possessed no affinity to the Force and wasn’t the source of the evil. Anakin felt an urgent need to get them out of there and ordered his forces to blast their way through the abandoned speeders to resume their course through the city.
As they trudged on, many more obstacles popped up to block their path and had to be overcome. The R.E.C. worked with him to clear a path to the temple, but it was still a slow pace as they had to wait for them to clear it. The commuters were also very problematic and when one pilot saw the R.E.C. open up a lane for Anakin’s convoy, he darted out into the lane and tried to fly through it. The R.E.C. additionally made the mistake of trying to stop him, which clogged up the intersection as they pulled him over. Like fish in the sea, once the first speeder started moving forward, the others behind him followed suit and the intersection that R.E.C. just cleared was congested again.
From that point on, Anakin ordered the R.E.C. to issue warnings through their loudspeakers that any commuter who blocked their path would be shot down without exception. Lives were at stake and Anakin couldn’t allow a single civilian to jeopardize the mission to save the temple. The threat was enough to keep the rest of the way through the civilian lanes clear, though they still were limited to a crawl as the R.E.C. cleared a path in front of them.
Anakin couldn’t help but be frustrated by the delays and it felt like roadblocks were intentionally being put up to slow him down. Everything around him now had a cold touch of the dark side and Anakin originally dismissed it as the planets reaction to its old master returning home. As he looked into the cockpits of the speeders they passed, his eyes played tricks on him as he could’ve sworn he saw Sidious grinning wickedly at him, with only his face visible through his Sith robes. Anakin shook his head in disbelief and when he looked back toward the same speeder, only an irritated citizen remained, honking his horn and shouting curses toward the Republic forces as they passed.
The entire planet was now engulfed in anarchy, confused and frightened by the communications breakdown that prevented all civilians from knowing what was really going on. Up above, they could see the silhouettes of warships, but they thought they were Republic vessels and not enemy warships that were now under control of the resurrected Darth Sidious.
Anakin knew it to be true. Sidious had found a way to survive his death and he was the one responsible for this attack against the Jedi. His knowledge of Coruscant and its defenses made him the only one possible to inflict so much chaos one the planet. Knocking out the communications prevented anyone from knowing what was truly going on and either trapped everyone inside their homes or offices, or trapped in the millions of speeders and ships that congested the space lanes. Sidious had ruled Coruscant from the shadows while the Jedi were frightfully unaware of his presence as he rose through the ranks of power until he became Chancellor. Now he returned, again cloaked in shadows of deceit and his invasion force. He could sense his plan clearly, that after destroying the Jedi he would return to the capital like a conquering hero and bring order back to chaos – a trait the Sith were renowned for. Now it felt to Anakin like Coruscant was reaching out, welcoming its master back home, and engineering every obstacle to keep Anakin from saving those he loved.
Even after they cleared the civilian traffic, it seemed only his steadfast determination kept them going at all.
“Push these crates!” Anakin ordered the pilot.
“We’re going as fast as we can,” he replied.
“Really?” Anakin asked skeptically. Sure enough; when he looked over the pilot’s shoulder to see the speed gauges, they were still in the green. “Then why are you not flying this ship at its optimal speed Commander.”
“We’re on Coruscant, sir,” he replied. “Regulations forbid us to push our engines into the red while within the planets atmosphere.”
Anakin wanted to scream at the pilot for his incompetence and crush him like an insect, but he knew he couldn’t. He had to dig deep to control his temper and realized it wasn’t just the pilot’s fault, but the entire attack force because they were all flying at the same speed. Again he felt a flicker of the dark side touch him as he reached for his comlink and ordered, “Attention 501st, as of this moment I am authorizing you to push your engines into the red and fly beyond regulations. If there are any other regulations limiting your actions on this planet, you are free to disregard those as well. Skywalker out.”
He deactivated his comlink and then bluntly ordered the pilot, “Engines to maximum, best possible speed to the temple.”
“Roger that, sir.”
If it had ended there, Anakin wouldn’t have given it a second thought and allowed himself to relax. But unfortunately; he had to fight an invisible wall of resistance all the way to temple. Even after giving his order, he found himself crouched irritably behind his shoulder and push him to keep his speed up. Every time a member of the attack force fell behind, the explanation was always same that the pilots feared their transports would fly apart if they pushed them too hard. Anakin pushed them on anyway and knew the Republic transport was thoroughly tested by experts to fly a full tank of fuel in atmospheres far rockier than this and remain intact.
Even after the clones stopped fighting his will to continue to push their ships forward, they then did the unthinkable: they started making mistakes. It started with pilots starting to fall out of formation. Anakin believed initially that the strain on their transports engines was causing them to shift and veer off course.
“Enemy fighter, coming in at ten-o-clock hi!” the pilot yelled. Clones shifted nervously in the transport from the knowledge they were under attack, knowing there was nothing they could do but sit there and die. The transports gunners began to take aim, but saw what Anakin saw: nothing.
“There’s no target!” the gunner on the portside reported.
“Check your radar, Commander,” Anakin demanded.
“Yes, sir.” The pilot did as was ordered and seemed flustered to discover what Anakin already knew. “There is nothing out there, sir.”
“You are relieved.” Anakin next turned to the co-pilot and ordered, “Lieutenant you are in command of the boat now, take us to the temple at best possible speed.”
“Yes sir,” he relied nervously. “Right away, sir.”
Anakin had to relieve several more pilots in his attack force for seeing obstacles that really weren’t there. Though they started relying completely on their radars to guide them, it did slow them down. The entire attack force reacted to entire squadrons of enemy fighters that weren’t really there. It was one thing not to see them on the radar, but quite another to physically see enemy fighters on an attack run toward them. The chance that they still might be real slowed them down until they passed into nothing.
These phantom ships also scarred them half-to-death.
It took all of Anakin’s will to keep them going forward.
Perhaps the clones collectively had reason not to entirely trust him, since he was brought to him as a prisoner and could sense their inner doubts about the Jedi they now served. With his darkest secrets now exposed; Anakin knew that even if the Jedi took him back, his legacy was now tarnished forever and no one would ever look at him in the same way again. Even though it appeared the Jedi Council had secured his release and Master Windu had not relieved him of duty before they took him away, he was weary of his future and what it might hold for him, Padme, and his
children.
Even if he succeeded in saving the Jedi Order, in the end they still might choose to reject him and cast him out their ranks. His bronze bust would be cast not in the Hall of Heroes, but with the disgraced Jedi Masters who were Lost to the Order. He remembered Obi-Wan taking him one day to look at each of the busts and explain their failings in an attempt to warn him of what became of those who dishonored themselves by breaking the code. Anakin swore to him that he would never disgrace himself like they did, yet here he was on the verge of becoming one of them and even felt ashamed of his actions. Having his bust erected next to Dooku’s would be the ultimate disgrace and tarnish his legacy forever.
He felt his shame turn into anger as he thought about, cursing the Jedi for forbidding a Jedi to love and give into their passions. It made him question why he was bothering to save an order that ostracized him at every turn. Even his inclusion into the Council was an insult because they didn’t welcome him as a brother until after he helped Master Windu destroy Sidious. Thoughts of betraying the Jedi occurred to him and he could leave them to their fates.
But not all the Jedi had forsaken him. Obi-Wan had always stood by his side and supported him with the same devotion that Qui-Gon had. He also now had the respect of Master Windu for his part in destroying Palpatine and much of the order now looked to him truly as the Chosen One. Even Yoda showed him favor now. He could not abandon them in their time of need.
Even if he truly wanted to betray the Jedi, Padme was there in the temple and she was all that mattered to him. If the Jedi kicked him out, he would still have her and could live the rest of his life content with that. It would be difficult to leave the Jedi Order if he had to. He had spent much of his life among them and despite how much he may despise their traditions, he loved being a Jedi. But for Padme, he was now prepared to make that sacrifice if the Jedi made him choose between them and her.
Anakin was a hero and despite what might happen to him, he would save the Jedi Order. Perhaps for the last time…
Despite all the setbacks and delays, they had finally made it. Anakin got up from his combat seating and looked over the pilots shoulder. His comlink sounded off as he looked out toward the temple and his jaw dropped from what he saw.
“Go,” He said softly into the comlink.
“General Skywalker, are you seeing this?” Cody asked him in disbelief.
He suppressed his anger toward Cody that this wouldn’t have happened if they had just taken a direct route to the temple. “The entire front of the temple is missing,” Anakin confirmed.
“What do you want to do?” Cody asked him.
Anakin reached out with the Force and could feel that many Jedi were still alive. They miraculously had held the Great Hall and could sense they had risked everything for him. If he acted now, he could still save them.
“Move on target as planned.” Anakin ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Cody confirmed. “Moving on target.”
“There can be no more mistakes Cody,” Anakin ordered. “If we slip up now, the Jedi down there all die.”
“Understood,” Cody replied. “The 501st won’t let you down.”
“Good,” Anakin acknowledged. “I’ll see you inside the temple. Oya!”
“Oya, sir,” Cody replied with the traditional war cry of the Mandalorian.
All clones were Mandalorian in spirit and somehow, despite the scientist’s best efforts, they retained in themselves the culture that Jango Fett had embodied. Most clones could fluently speak the language and during marches or group exercises they would sing the Mandalorian war songs. The Mandalorian culture now lived in these Clones, and Obi-Wan found it ironic that those who were once the Republic’s greatest enemy was now their great hope for survival.
The transports made their final approach and Cody’s broke away to their target. Anakin changed his comlink frequency so he could talk with all the transports apart of his strike team. “Troopers, before we fall into the blackout of communications that has blanketed the temple I want each of you to understand your role in this battle. I want you all to follow my lead and provide covering fire as I advance into the Temple. Transports; once you drop your payloads, you are to provide aerial cover for the ground forces advancing on the temple. Stay on sight in case we need to evacuate the temple. Also stay alert and watch for enemy fighters.”
Anakin then remembered that Captain Cody had dispatched four specially made transports which carried an AT-ST and ordered, “Once we have secured outside the Temple, pilots of the AT-ST will create a perimeter and destroy any enemy troops that evade us. I want an AT-ST to also be deployed at the backside of the temple to cover the hanger bay. Any who attempt to leave are to be considered the enemy and shot down immediately. Clear?”
A click of acknowledgments from the Clone Commanders resonated over the frequency. They all understood their duties and were eager to carry them out.
The last thing he said to his forces as they made their descent was, “May the Force be with us!”
“Oya!” The clones all cried out the Mandalorian war-cry of the hunter and were now ready to destroy the Sith.
Hopefully for the last time…
Anxiety was now building inside Anakin. He equipped his lightsaber and held it tightly in his bionic hand. This was the kind of situation he lived for as everything depended on him to save his family and the Jedi Order. He allowed his feelings of fear over losing his family and friends to fuel him, followed by confronting his anger about the news story that revealed his deepest secrets.
He looked up at the series of red flashing lights overhead that ran vertical to the side of the transport. When the pilot turned them to green, it would indicate it was safe to deploy and Anakin would lead his troopers to fulfill his destiny. He tightened the grip on his lightsaber even more while the battle hardened clones around him simply stood ready for battle.
Anakin could feel the clones were now just as eager for battle as he was. These men he had brought with him were the very best the Republic had to offer; fighting in hundreds of campaigns during the Clone Wars. They were the perfect warriors, who felt no fear and would willingly carry out their duties without the jumble of emotions that an ordinary soldier would feel. Many Jedi had felt uncomfortable by the collective cold nature of the clones, but it had never bothered Anakin because these men could be relied to do any duty he required of them without hesitation. Even if it meant sacrificing their life, they would still be willing to do it.
Obi-Wan had set the example for him on how to lead clones into battle and the unit he led now was actually chosen from the cream of the crop from the grand army he led. It all started with respect and the easiest way to do it was to learn their names. Anakin looked at the Clone next to him and red the designation of 14A20E on his chest plate.
“Are you ready to give these Di’kuts hell today, E’taan?”
E’taan thumped his right hand over his chest plate twice and nodded his head confidently that he was up to the task.
“Good,” Anakin commended him with a pat on the back.
He then reached out again with the Force and felt something weird about it. From above, something was projecting down to the enemy forces and controlling them. He then felt it wash over him and a shiver ran up his spine as he felt the familiar icy touch of Palpatine. The transports electrical panels flickered momentarily, but power was quickly restored as they flew through it.
“Anakin…” An icy voice called out to him.
“Just passed through the interference barrier,” The pilot reported to him, breaking his focus of concentration.
“Any damage?” Anakin asked concerned. He now knew that Sidious was behind the communications blackout that prevented them from communicating with the Jedi Temple. But unlike the rest of the planet, Sidious was the direct cause of it and used his powers to disrupt all communications to and from the temple. In the sacred texts in the archives, there was an ability called a Force bubble that could be used to block, shield, or hide a location. It was an ability that Sidious was perfectly capable of wielding.
“Just our communications, sir,” the pilot reported. “We’re proceeding on target, be there in T-minus-two-minutes.”
Anakin nodded and his troopers got ready for the jump, taking the safeties off their weapons and ready to deploy behind Skywalker.
“Easy boys,” he told them softly. “We’ll be there soon enough, there is no rush.”
The troopers nodded in agreement and relaxed in their combat positions. The pilot even pulled back on the throttle a little bit to slow their rate of descent into a crawl.
“Anakin…,” Palpatine again called back out to him softly. “Leave this place at once. It isn’t safe here.”
“General Skywalker, we must leave this place at once.” The pilot advised him. “It’s not safe here.”
“What?” Anakin asked confused. The words of Palpatine were getting more frantic now, all but imposing him to turn his ships back around and leave. The men in his transport also began to feel uneasy and clenched at their harnesses tightly. “We’re not going to leave!” Anakin declared. “Take us down right now!”
“But we’ll be destroyed if we go down there!” the pilot protested.
The realization of what was going on then hit him. Sidious was more than just using the Force to completely blanket the area with interference; he was using Force Meditation against them. Not only did he control the invasion force collectively with this ability, he used the Force meditation to create obstacles to block and slow Anakin’s advance toward the temple. Cody’s decision to take the longest possible route, the speeders blocking intersection, the suicides and petrified child that needed to be rescued, the phantoms, and finally this last effort to turn back his forces were all Sidious’ doing. Anakin could feel Sidious’ icy will trying to impose itself on him.
Trying to take control him.
Anakin resisted and fought back the impulses that Sidious was now projecting upon him. Images of his former mentor flashed into his thoughts and remembered how he had always looked out for him. Palpatine and Obi-Wan were the closest figures he had to a father and as an outsider to the Jedi Order, Anakin had been able to confide in him things he couldn’t share with the Jedi – like what he did to the sand people after the death of his mother. Palpatine had told him that his anger was only natural and he did nothing that he should be ashamed of – helping Anakin deal with the great tragedy and move on from it. Anakin now realized the story that was released was Sidious’ doing and it angered him deeply.
“You betrayed me Anakin,” the voice of Sidious objected to him. “You gave me no other choice but to turn against you.”
The guilt of helping Master Windu destroy Palpatine plagued him once him again. He had loved Palpatine and he did nothing to save him from Master Windu executing him. It was wrong. Master Windu should have taken him into custody and allowed the Republic to decide his fate. Seeing Sidious helpless and badly burned from his own Sith Lightning on the window ledge brought back haunting images of that fateful day. He remembered his cries of help and Anakin had just stood there, accepting Master Windu’s decision that Sidious was too dangerous to be left alive.
“You should have done something to save me,” Sidious bitterly told him.
“I know…” Anakin said softly.
But then Anakin realized that it wasn’t mercy that his old mentor and friend Palpatine had been asking for. Sidious was finally drawn into the open for who he truly was and begged for Anakin to save him. He wanted Anakin to betray Master Windu and stab him in the back. If he had done that, he would have taken his first step down the dark path. The truth made him bitter, along with the realization that his old mentor had betrayed him.
Anakin had nothing to be sorry for.
“The lives of those you love can still be saved…” Sidious offered.
Again, Anakin thought of Padme, the babies, and Obi-Wan. The urge to do whatever Sidious wanted was overpowering and Anakin was tempted to make a deal with him. He couldn’t live without Padme and Sidious knew that, using her against him like a bargaining chip like he did before. It again filled Anakin with bitterness and anger, knowing that Palpatine had taken all he loved and allowed Sidious to use it against him.
Anakin’s eyes were wide open and could now see exactly was Sidious was: A trickster in the guise of a friend, who used his powers not just against him, but with intent of destroying the Republic. It fostered a deep hatred that Anakin felt toward any who tried to take advantage of him, going all the way back to Tatooine when he was a slave. He had never forgotten how Jabba the Hutt’s crime syndicate, shop owners like Watto, and Sebulba had taken advantage and mistreated him and his mother – exploiting them whenever possible. Even as a Jedi, Anakin sometimes felt the Jedi Council looked down upon him because of his past heritage and had fostered resentment in him – rebelling by breaking the rules as often as possible. Now Palpatine had proven himself to be just as bad as Watto who used to beat him, and in his true guise Anakin was determined to destroy him for good this time.
“Anakin…” The voice of his former mentor projected to him. “It’s not too late to join me.”
“Never!” Anakin roared back at Sidious with a surge of Force energy, breaking the grip that Sidious held not just on them but his entire Sith attack force. Anakin then closed his eyes and projected outwards his own essence through the Force, and felt the wave of Force power cut through and overpower the Sith’s hold over his own forces. It also surprised him by rejuvenating the Jedi who survived as it washed over them and even healed some of their wounds.
Anakin gasped from the power he just unleashed and had never felt anything like it before.
It surprised him to see how tight of a stranglehold he had over his own forces. Once the hold was broken, the clones in his transport became more alert and eager for battle. With Sidious’ influence gone, the final obstacle to bringing the attack force down was gone and the pilots of the transport proceeded like nothing had just happened to him. The attack formation line back up into perfect formation and continued their descent to the temple.
“Status?” Anakin asked the pilot.
“We are through the interference sir.” The pilot promptly reported. He acted like nothing was wrong and otherwise seemed to return back to normal.
“How long until we touchdown for deployment?” Anakin asked openly.
“Sixty seconds, sir.”
“Good.” Anakin patted the pilot appreciatively on his shoulder and then turned back toward his men. “Hear that boys, sixty seconds until we reach target. Stand ready to deploy.”
The men all thumped their chest twice with their fists to confirm their readiness. It was followed by a click as they took the safeties off their weapons. A few even ran a system check on their helmet’s HUD displays inside their helmets, tilting their heads as they reconfigured the tactical arrays the clones used in combat.
“Ten seconds!” The pilot called out.
“I want a clean dispersal,” Anakin ordered the men. “Look sharp!”
The clones brought their weapons up to the ready position and Anakin stood in the forefront, waiting for the seconds to click down to zero. They all watched the overhead flashing lights that flashed red for each section that passed. There was a sharp beep as the red light turned to green.
“Go!” Anakin shouted and was the first one out. As he landed, Anakin activated his lightsaber and charged toward the small enemy force protecting what was left of the temple’s entrance. Clone’s troop transports screamed overhead and fired their rockets toward the roof of the Great Hall, punching their way through.
They caught them completely by surprise and the enemy who stood in guard over the ruins scrambled to put up a defense, but the only weapons they possessed were lightsabers.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Anakin snorted with amusement after seeing these makeshift Sith soldiers. They were no match for him, or the guns he had brought with him.
“Lace into them!” He ordered his men with a drop of his hand. They opened with everything they had, blasting the enemies positions until there
was nothing but rubble left where they had taken cover. The AT-STs dropped and they charged forward toward the terrified enemy like beasts on the prowl for prey. Their powerful turbolasers cut into their ranks and dissolved before Anakin’s eyes. Where the enemy once stood, were now only smoking craters with charred chunks of their armor remaining.
Anakin did not wait for his trooper squads to get set. He charged forward into the enemies ranks and hacked his way through them.
Anakin quickly summoned a fallen Dark Trooper’s lightsaber and activated it. He allowed the Force to guide him as he spun, swiped, and cut his way through the enemy. The 501st got into position behind him and advanced forward, firing into the invaders and providing suppressing fire for Skywalker. The starfighter pilots that had accompanied them were now flying overhead like mynocks, strafing the enemy’s positions with their bombs. They dropped payloads of bombs and blasted into the enemy with their heavy weaponry while shooting rockets into their thickest concentration.
Once the last enemy fell, Anakin waved his hand forward. The 501st stormed past him and secured the objective and captured what was left of the entrance to the Main Hall. Only the shell of the structure remained, with the frame of the massive door left to indicate what once lingered there. One door hung crooked from the massive frame with only one bracket holding it in its place. The other was completely ripped off and rested against a nearby pillar.
Blaster shots continued to go off as his clones dealt with what was left of the clones positioned outside. He stood among his ranks as they secured his objective and they took no prisoners. Clones never took other clones prisoner and it was engineered into them from Kamino that if a clone ever betrayed the Republic, than they would reward their treason with death. It was a fail safe the Kamino had programmed into every clone to ensure their obedience.
“Entrance secured.” E’taan reported to him.
Anakin walked to the forefront of the new line that formed. The 501st all formed up on each other in perfect formation and Anakin sensed that his vision was coming to pass. He was the Sith Lord he had seen in his vision, except he had not turned to the dark side and led his clones forward as a Jedi. It brought much satisfaction to his heart.
“Advance on me,” Anakin ordered and stepped inside the ruins of the Main Hall to seize his destiny.
To save the Jedi Order.
Not destroy it.
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Milteck
Registered:
Jul '06
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Date Posted:
2/20 2:12am
Subject:
CH 37
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Orbit of Coruscant
The Fleet of the Dark Lord held its position in orbit uncontested, completely the blockading the planet. Tarkin stood at the front of the bridge and was troubled with the knowledge that they could capture or destroy any target on the surface below, yet couldn’t due to Sidious strict order not to proceed with the second phase until the Jedi were all destroyed. Tarkin turned back to glance at Sidious, who remained standing statuesque at the nose of the bridge, along with four of his Crimson Guard who stood guard around him. Tarkin was the only one on the ship, the entire fleet for that matter, who was allowed to penetrate the protective ‘bubble’ they formed around him.
It was a shame that his elite guardsman had failed to protect him when it mattered the most and allowed Sidious to be destroyed by the Jedi. Why they had failed him in his hour of need was beyond Tarkin’s understanding because they were always with him, shadowing his steps and present around him at all times. There was a story going around that the Chancellor had intentionally dismissed his guards that night and had remained alone when the Jedi had come for him. Conspiracy theorists were sighting that as evidence that the Chancellor had been assassinated by the Jedi, along with how badly the Republic swept the event under the rug like it never happened and the rise of the new ‘puppet’ regime that the Jedi erected in its place. But knowing Sidious as he did, Tarkin knew he had intentionally sent his guards away and his overconfidence in his Sith abilities had gotten him killed.
A flaw that might also get them all killed today if Tarkin didn’t find a way to remedy this debacle of an invasion.
Tarkin began to pace back and forth on the bridge, hoping that a lucky break would finally come their way that would end the stalemate against the Jedi and defeat them.
The problem, however, was that Sidious private war against the Jedi was crippling this entire operation due to the time it was taking to carry it out. Tarkin understood clearly that this battle between the Sith and the Jedi had to be waged and won before the real battle for the Republic could begin. Until the Jedi were wiped out, Sidious would forever be haunted by their presence and the legitimacy of his rule would always be in question. A new Sith dynasty for the galaxy could only occur only if the Jedi were cast out of power and forced to flee into the shadows like the Sith had done in order to survive.
There would never be a better time than now to destroy them, with the entire leadership and the strongest of their order present within the temple. The death of Masters Kenobi, Windu, and especially Yoda would all but decimate the order and leave it in ruins, even if a few managed to preserve its ideology, for centuries – if not thousands of years. Having them all in one place would make it easier to declare them all as traitors once they were all slaughtered and Sidious was put back on his throne. The only one left they really had to worry about was Skywalker, who Tarkin was now convinced would kill himself trying to rescue the Jedi Order from annihilation.
Ultimately the problem was time. The longer it took for them to destroy the Jedi, the more time the Republic had to come to their rescue or the defense systems of Coruscant itself to be raised against them.
What had been promised as a quick victory was now turning into a long drawn out siege. Despite their force superiority; Sidious’ Sith army was proving itself to be no match for the Jedi and were no closer to overwhelming the Jedi than they were when the invasion had begun. The massive dark clone army was now all but obliterated and even as they made their final push into the Great Hall, Tarkin had doubts it would succeed without the ability to reinforce them with more troops. Maul had abandoned them and only Sidious’ control over the dark clones through his Force Meditation gave them any chance at all for victory.
Tarkin had the rest of the clone forces on stand by for immediate deployment and the entire fleet remained at full alert, ready to fire on any target on Coruscant once it presented itself. Yet despite their superiority, the mood of the fleet was very bitter as targets of opportunity appeared below and were unable to strike. The pilots were all stuck inside their starfighters with no targets to attack and gunners aboard the capital ships were developing itchy trigger fingers due to having nothing to shoot at. Tarkin now received inquiries from every ship, all impatiently waiting for orders to begin the second phase of the operation. Admiral Hanson, especially, was most frustrated with the battle strategy and openly questioned it, demanding to know why they had even bothered to come if they were simply going to sit around and watch the battle rage below that didn’t involve them. Tarkin didn’t disagree with him, but there was nothing he could do until Sidious ordered otherwise.
The fleet would blockade the planet until the Jedi were destroyed. That was their standing order until Sidious ordered otherwise.
He grew tired of pacing and now stood at attention in close proximity to the Sith Lord, waiting patiently for him to give the order to proceed with phase two of the operation that involved capturing the Senate building and installing him back into power. The reflection on the viewpanel showed the tremendous strain on Sidious’ face to hold the Force Meditation spell he was casting. Much of his face now sunk underneath the hood of his cloak and all he could see now was his chin with his lips moving, incanting the spell that made whatever he was doing possible.
After Maul’s insolence, Sidious’ mood had been very cold and gloomy. It was clear that his former apprentice had turned against him and from what Tarkin knew of the Sith legacy, it was very likely that Maul would come challenge him for his title. Though he doubted Maul would be able to defeat him, it only added to the long list of complications that were forming from this mission. Even if they succeeded in destroying the Jedi, undoubtedly there would be survivors and it would be impossible to kill them all. Adding Maul to the long list of enemies would only make the challenge of returning Palpatine back to power all the more daunting.
There was also Skywalker.
The plan to remove him from the temple was as much for his protection, as it was to neutralize him during the battle. Why Sidious chose to protect the boy was a mystery to him, especially after his part in assassinating him. But it was widely known that Palpatine had mentored the boy and many believed that Skywalker the closest thing the man ever had to a son. Palpatine had never married and it was believed that Anakin filled the missing gap in his life. But seeing Sidious as he truly was, Tarkin knew that he’d really been grooming Skywalker to become his Sith Apprentice and drawing him to the dark side was still his goal.
Suddenly Sidious jerked awkwardly from his stance and the Guardsman closed in, tightening the bubble around them. Tarkin was tempted to go to him as well, but dared not, knowing it would break his concentration over his meditation and the Guardsman would never allow him now into the bubble if something was wrong. The Guardsman were there as much for his protection, as to also shield him from scrutiny and to maintain his image as a strong and confident leader. It was clear something had shaken him and the Crimson Guard stood ready to protect him.
Sidious seemed to regain control, but was visibly shaking now from the effort to hold onto the meld. Tarkin looked toward Sidious’ reflection and was able to make out his lips moving as though he was arguing with someone. His body movements began to reflect that as he began to sway and make subtle gestures to emphasize whatever point he was trying to make. Sidious was a master politician and could convince a man to do anything for him or accept his point of view. Being a Sith Lord was also certainly an edge he held over everyone, able to use either his powers or charisma to get what he wanted. Whoever Sidious was trying to sway to his point of view now, was receiving the full blunt of his abilities – along with every trick in the book the Sith lord knew of.
“It’s not too late to join me,” Sidious spoke softly.
Tarkin realized at that moment he was reaching out to Anakin through his Force mysticism. They had failed from keeping him and his reinforcements from reaching the temple.
“Anakin no!” Sidious cried out abruptly.
At that moment; the entire ship was hit by a tremendous energy wave that shook them hard. The emergency system came to life as red warning lights flashed brightly throughout the bridge, along with that loud buzzing of alarms that indicated the ship sustained damaged. Tarkin felt powerless to do anything as his ship rocked violently from the collision, but did manage to maintain his position behind Lord Sidious as they rocked back and forth.
It was lucky that he did.
Sidious cried out as he was hit by the tremendous surge of the living Force that Anakin threw back in him and all the Crimson Guardsmen were knocked off their feet. It hit Sidious so hard that it snapped him out of his meditation trance and made him stumble backwards toward the navigation pit. He would have fallen in, if Tarkin hadn’t remained standing behind him and managed to catch him.
Tarkin held onto the Sith Lord like a helpless old woman as the ship absorbed the wave of energy that hit them. One of his bridge officers was unable to keep his balance and fell into the tactical pit, while the others simply hit the deck to avoid sharing his fate. Computer consoles shorted out throughout the bridge and some even exploded, injuring the crewman that manned it. Cries of medic could be heard from every pit and soon the air was filled with smoke and the smell of sweat or worse from his crewmen. The ship even began to drift out of orbit as helm lost control.
Tarkin helped Sidious regain his balance and his composure and the Crimson Guardsmen quickly got back on their feet to surround him once again with their protective bubble. They pushed Tarkin away to get to him one of them brushed by him hard with his armor that ruffled his uniform.
“You’re excused.” Tarkin told the Guardsman coldly. He didn’t even acknowledge him or apologize as he resumed his protective stance in front of Sidious.
Tarkin caught a glimpse of Sidious in their ‘bubble and he now looked like a man lost in his own thoughts as he resumed standing like a statue. Tarkin dared not look into his shadowy eyes, fearing he may see defeat and despair in them. He had no idea what would happen to a Force user after their meditation was broken and from the attack that had been rendered against the ship. Tarkin could only conclude that Sidious was no longer in control – of either the entire attack force or even his own faculties.
Fortunately; Sidious had wisely given him command of the fleet and had the authority to act in his name. He would have to treat Sidious as wounded and take command of the entire operation and now try to find some way to salvage this debacle.
Without waiting for Sidious’ orders, he took command and turned to see many of his men abandoning their duties. With Sidious down, the collective control over them was gone and now was filled with panic that they were all about to die. Years of training suddenly went out the window and Tarkin could only imagine what was now happening on the surface.
Fury filled him as he pulled out his blaster and shot twice into the ceiling. He then targeted the man closest to him and sternly ordered, “Men, return to your stations at once or I’ll have you all shot.”
The clones guarding the ships entrance sealed the bridge immediately upon hearing his decree and brought their weapons up at the ready position to shoot any who tried to get past them. Even two of the Crimson Guard stepped forward and joined Tarkin, activating their energy pikes. Their secondary orders from Sidious were to keep the ship secure and they now assisted Tarkin in carrying out that duty. At least the clones had not failed him when it mattered the most.
Tarkin found Jennings. He pointed his weapon at him and demanded, “What’s our status Commander?”
Jennings promptly got back up off the cold floor and without straightening his uniform to make himself more presentable, he reported anxiously, “We were hit by some kind of energy wave from the surface. Shields are knocked out and we got several hull breaches throughout the ship. Emergency crews are responding.”
“Check with engineering and see how badly damaged we really are,” Tarkin ordered him.
“Yes, sir,” he nervously replied. He slowly turned his back to Tarkin before carrying out his orders and moved like a man expecting to be shot in the back before he took more than three steps. Tarkin kept his blaster honed on his back the entire time, wanting to hill him but chose not to because he could ill afford his loss right now. Tarkin would allow him to live for awhile longer.
“Move it men!” Tarkin ordered them.
Tarkin then proceeded to walk the catwalk, brandishing his blaster like a whip and prepared to use it on any he deemed to be either incompetent or not doing their jobs. He walked completely down it and then returned to the nose of the ship so that all the crew would know they were being watched. Tarkin was brutal on those who made mistakes and each man knew what the penalty was for making them. It was enough to clear their heads of fear and panic that they were all about to die, and resume their duties. As drilled into them, their training clicked in and all they focused on was their responsibilities. Tarkin trained the men well and now they were acting like he expected them too.
“Communications; get me an update on the rest of the fleet and their status. Tactical; keep a watchful eye on the space lanes for an enemy activity. They may be forming up to attack us now and we must be ready for them.”
A chorus of acknowledgments responded to him and carried out their duties as ordered. He then looked down into the navigation pit to see what was wrong, only to see that everyone down there was dead. He then pointed his blaster toward the two officers closest to him and ordered, “Get down into the navigation pit and get the avenger back in orbit.”
When the first of the two men hesitated, he fired on him. His blaster was set to kill and it killed the officer right there on the spot. He then pointed it at the other officer and ordered with a more menacing tone, “That means now, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir.” He acknowledged.
The Lieutenant promptly obeyed the order and dragged another of the younger officers with him. Those officers who remained were now barking orders into their respective pits with even more vigor and a resemblance of order returned to the bridge. Power was fully restored and the emergency systems clicked in to snuff out any fires that had erupted from fried chips inside the damaged consoles. Crewmen who found their consoles broken quickly climbed out of the pits and made their way to the walls where the backup consoles were housed and got to work restoring all systems. The air purifiers quickly cleared out the smoke from the air and only the flashing red lights remained to indicate that the ship was locked down in battle stations. On every deck, men prepared for battle and were ready for it. Tarkin was pleased that many of the men had not forgotten what they learned in the battle drills.
Tarkin lastly pointed his blaster back at Jennings, letting him feel as much the weight of the danger it now posed to his life along with the icy glare of foreboding Tarkin issued with it, “Get all the backup crews to their stations on the double and get all systems back online. Also; I expect an update on the rest of the fleet as soon as you have it.”
“Yes, sir!” Jennings acknowledged with a salute and carried out his orders.
Tarkin holstered his weapon, and turned back toward Lord Sidious, who remained standing like a statue where he had left him with his Crimson Guard still positioned all around him. He approached him carefully, unsure what his mental state was and if he should simply order the Crimson Guard to remove him from the bridge. Tarkin was more concerned for his health than appearances and having him removed to either the medical ward or his private cabin would be the wisest move. It was also possible that some defect came to the surface from his clone that disabled him. If true; then Tarkin would act accordingly.
Tarkin walked directly toward him and pushed his way into the protective bubble that the Crimson Guard held around him. They didn’t resist his passing between them and now stood at attention behind the Sith Lord. He then said to him softly, “My lord, the situation is under control. What are your orders?”
Sidious remained like a statue and Tarkin remained standing at attention behind him. He didn’t want the crew to think that something was wrong with their leader. But the longer he stood there and got no response from him, the more worried he became that something really was wrong.
Captain Jennings then approached, but would not be allowed by the Crimson Guard to pass him. Tarkin turned to meet him and cautioned him with his hands not to come any further. “Sir, the fleet has reported that they also sustained minor damage from the disturbance, but are otherwise fully operational.”
“Are all the ships still ready for battle?”
“Yes, sir,” Jennings reported. “All ships are standing by and awaiting your orders.”
Tarkin could have taken the reigns right then and take full command of the fleet. But he dared not until he was absolutely certain that Sidious was unable to lead, otherwise the Sith Lord would flay him alive. Tarkin decided to play it safe.
“Order the fleet to stand by and wait for further orders,” Tarkin ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Jennings acknowledged with another salute. Before turning about to carry them out, he took a quick peek at Sidious who still stood like a statue. Whether he could see the Sith Lord’s reflection on the view panel with his mouth hanging wide open as he continued to stare out into the void of space was uncertain, but Jennings certainly now had reason to believe there was something wrong with Sidious. If he had any doubts, however, he kept them to himself and carried out his orders – appearing oblivious that something was wrong.
Tarkin silently thanked him for that.
Tarkin knew that time was running out and would need to do something in the next few minutes that would decide not just the fate of this attack, but possible the Sith Lord’s as well.
“Lord Sidious, the fleet is standing by and awaiting your command.” Tarkin reported to him more urgently. “How do you wish us to proceed?”
Sidious continued to remain silent.
If Tarkin hadn’t feared him so much, he would’ve taken command by now and removed Sidious from the bridge, whether the Crimson Guard cooperated
with him or not. He would have to kill him if he did that because Sidious would show him no mercy if he | |