Chapter 31 - Nightfall and the Day of Blood

AN:

Welcome one and all to another chapter of this story. I hope everyone is doing well and that they enjoy what I've written.

The lack of Beta continues, but hopefully that may change shortly. I'm hoping that I've learnt enough over the years to have fixed a lot of my bad habits… wow, its really been that long! I hope it's not too bad to read without the assistance. I admit that sometimes I can write my streams of thought and while they make sense to me, they may not for others. Also that I imagine the scenes as if they were a film or show and try and capture that in words. Hats off to all those script writers and directors out there, I don't know how you manage it to get that cross over to your audience.

As a note, I know that Harry hasn't appeared much in the last few chapters, but that will change. Please keep in mind that I cut up my original chapter and spread it over a number of chapters when it hit over 60k words and wasn't done... some things had to be swapped around, expanded and neatened up to reach this stage.

These are troubling times in the world right now and the news is worrying with everything happening. Things will get better, we've just got to work together to get there first.

Enjoy!

-o-o-o-o-o-

Mors Mothma watched from the alcove in the Senate towards the area around the Chancellors Offices. He observed the security teams guarding the Chancellor from where he could see them and ran it against the plans he had helped write.

Each door had at least two guards on display, there would be at least another two in cover and away from view. Then, if Palpatine was smart, which Mors would never claim otherwise, then he had at least another fully equipped and ready combat team. That was ignoring his Jedi bodyguards and whatever had dealt with the four Jedi Masters who had entered the Senate.

Sighing in frustration, he turned away and marched towards his private shuttle, he lacked the time and resources to strike here and now. If Palpatine was fast enough, he'd have agents already en route to certain individuals who would suffer an unfortunate and completely unrelated series of accidents.

As he walked, he tore open a specially lined pocket in his suit and pulled out the small device contained within. If he couldn't kill him now, then he could at least cost Palpatine as many assets as he could.

The first button was pressed and the connection formed almost instantly to his aide, "Go to my office, at my safe input the code 'Mon was right.' A panel will open with a data device. Plug it into my console, input 'Tyrant Protocol' as a password, two words, capitals for each word and a space between them, no numbers. Leave the office and lock the door behind you. If someone comes for me before I have returned, then call my desk comms, let them in after it rings and there is no answer after twenty seconds. Do not enter the office yourself. Leave at the first opportunity and take my speeder, your next instructions are in the glove compartment. If no-one comes, finish your shift as normal, but take my speeder."

He cut the link and pressed the next button, "Agent, we have been burned. Send the call and then maintain silence as you follow your orders. Salt and burn. Break into separate cells as instructed."

Again, he cut the line and pressed the next button, "You have a green light. Repeat, green light. Good hunting."

Another line cut and a fourth button pressed, "Palpatine is compromised, dump the files onto the news networks. Purge our stores. I don't care if its subtle or not, just make sure they are gone."

The fifth line connected, "Confirm code red light. Repeat red light." He left the lift and saw his shuttle through the armoured window, he sighed in relief at the lack of unexpected guards and that it wasn't a smoking wreck.

Another cut line and button press opened the link to the last connection on the device, "Captain, you are cleared for launch. Maintain silence as you go to the rendezvous point. You are to support the cell you meet there. Treat the commander as if they had my full authority and security clearance. In my room there is a safe, the password is Truth. You and the commander are to watch the data on the white storage device first, it will explain everything."

Cutting the link, he relaxed slightly as he reached the landing pad, before he pulled a small cord on the device and threw the now burning comm device off the edge of the landing pad for it to fall the immense distance below and the molten remains would splatter on the levels below.

Pulling out his own comm link and a scrap of paper, he quickly input the numbers and waited for the call to connect.

"Yes?" the voice asked, calm and cold in its tone.

Mors managed to control his voice as he began, doing his best to hide the disgust at the actions he was taking, "You know who I am. I know who you are and where you are. Let's cut out all the posturing and get to business. I've been burned. I want several things to happen. What will you want in return?"

The voice was silent for a few moments, "To begin, we require access codes for… let us say… Site Three. It would be best to talk in person in, let us say, two hours?"

Mors simply keyed in a code and sent it as an attachment, "That will get you through the front door. Two hours." With that he cut the link and threw the device into the levels below as well, he no longer had any need for it after all.

He quickly hurried over to his shuttle and nodded to the pilot as he entered. Taking his seat, he sighed as he relaxed and opened a private comm line through the shuttles secure comms, smiling softly as his wife's voice filled the passenger area. An answering message on the comms system in their apartment.

It was very late and she would be sleeping. She would already be waking though at the call, but he couldn't wait for her to pick it up, the beep signalled for him to talk and he spoke his final words to her. "Hi honey. I'm not going to be home tonight. You know how it is, works running me ragged. Why don't you take the kids to your mothers for a break? I'll message the school to let them know that it's a family emergency. If the head of Republic Intelligence can't use his power to get his family a surprise holiday, then what good is he?" He paused for a moment, "I love you. I love you all, never forget that."

Cutting the link, he rubbed the tears away. His wife had been an agent alongside him and would understand the message.

"Sir?" the pilots voice called from the front, "Are we returning to command?"

Mors shook his head, "No Jaras. Site three, if you would. I'm expecting visitors and I need to do some preparation first."

-o-o-o-o-o-

On the climate-controlled and heavily shielded facility hidden amongst the molten ruin of Dar'Yaim, a young human placed a small data pad on the communications controls, joking with the soldier on duty about the panic amongst the CIS council members present. It added a message to the queue for his handler, using his superior's access codes to authorise its transmission.

Republic Intelligence needed to know what was happening.

Meanwhile, a cleaning droid moved up to the communication systems at the edge of the force field. One of its side panels opened and arms that were not on the standard production model moved to remove a panel on the comms dish. A cable was used to make the bridge and a tiny data burst was sent to those watching and waiting for it.

On his hidden base, James mentally grinned and forwarded on the data to his Father. There was no way Sidious wouldn't cut those loose ends off and there was really only one person he would send.

Father would be happy.

-o-o-o-o-o-

As the moon rose in the night sky, high above the events about to occur, Anakin strode with purpose towards the great entrance hall of the Jedi Temple, Olana matching his stride as the 501st followed in their upgraded equipment. The Coruscant Clone Battalion moved to secure the access points to the Temple and began to blockade them, waiting for what would follow.

Anakin could feel Olana's anticipation in the Force and touched her on the shoulder in query. "You okay?"

She smirked at him, "There are a number of conspirators that kept bullying me and stopping my progress in their jealousy, just like you. I'm looking forward to showing them what I can do."

Anakin grunted at that, the thought of another being punished for doing the right thing, just like Ahsoka, just like himself, stoked the fury that was building within, but he took a deep breath and channelled that pain and anger through himself. Let it strengthen him rather than distract.

She paused a moment as they continued climbing, "Beware Battlemaster Cin Drallig, he's one of the conspirators and wants to kill you personally." She reached up and touched him gently on the cheek, "Do not let him succeed, you are… too important."

Anakin turned his cheek into the touch slightly and nodded in agreement as they reached the top of the stairs, between the ancient pillars engraved with the deeds of their predecessors, a group of Jedi waited for them, several Masters and Knights amongst their numbers, lightsabers ignited and ready to fight.

Anakin stepped forward, his new blade ready but unlit, drawing on the fear of those before him to strengthen himself further. His voice was calm and clear as it was heard by all present, "Jedi. You are under arrest for the crimes of treason against the Republic and the attempted murder of the Chancellor. This rebellion ends now. Surrender your weapons and we can resolve this peacefully; this is a one-time offer. Think carefully. Refusing will see you taken by force."

Masters Hran and Jurokk stepped forward from the group to talk, their lightsabers deactivated, but still in hand. Hran motioned to his peer to hold and made an extra step forward, "Knight Skywalker, might I know the fate of the Masters that went to arrest the Chancellor?"

Anakin frowned for a moment but nodded, "Its General Skywalker now, and to answer your question, they are dead."

Hran seemed to sag in despair for a moment, before his resolve strengthened and he returned to look Skywalker in the eye, "If we surrender, I have your word that no harm shall befall any others?"

Anakin waited for a moment before nodding, "Surrender peacefully and you will be detained. Those guilty will be found and punished, the others will be processed and sent for re-education or retirement. I swear it on my honour."

Olana frowned at that and made a small hand gesture, four of the Jedi present accepted their fate and their sacrifice, moving through the crowd to begin their last acts.

Hran stared for a moment and nodded, "Obi-wan always did say you were a man of your word, and there has been enough bloodshed." He turned slightly to speak to his peer, "Master Jurokk..."

"Death to the Traitors!" one of the Master's in the crowd yelled and he surged forward, three of the Knights following, screaming out "Death to the Sith!" as they did so.

Master Hran died with a look of shock as the face of one of his fellow Masters glared down at him, bisecting him with a single blow, before turning to face Skywalker. Anakin simply slammed his cybernetic hand into his attackers face and ignited his blade through his attacker's torso, ripping it free as he did so, the look of shock rapidly fading to be a furious mask of rage instead.

Jurokk managed to barely ignite his blade and deflect the swipe from one of the knights, freezing in horror at the commands of Knight Chion behind him. "Treachery! They attacked first. Kill them all!"

This hesitation meant that he barely managed to turn in time to see the look of absolute rage on Skywalker's face as the purple blade ripped through Jurokk's organs.

Anakin snarled, "Look what you've made us do." as he discarded his dying opponent, then, with a flicker of motion, Anakin surged forward and smashed into the ranks of the Jedi, roaring like a berserk Rancor.

Jurokk blinked in shock as he fell back, his life fading with each faltering heartbeat as he stared at his lower half before him. Straining, he managed to get his hands on his communicator and as blood began to pour from his throat, he managed to signal the full evacuation order.

With his last breath, he saw Knight Chion smirking at him as she dropped the body of his former padawan beside him, the one he had chosen instead of her.

Seeing the eyes glaze as the spirit faded, she chuckled and reached down to pick up Master Hran's lightsaber. With a smirk, she clipped it to her belt, it would be a good trophy to remember tonight with.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Kato stood in the shadows of the street, watching for danger as Elia helped the last of the younglings out of the tunnel and into cover behind the advertising boards.

Between them, they had saved a dozen younglings when Jurokks evacuation order came.

Out of the hundreds in the Temple, this was all they could do.

He turned to glance around the entrance to the tunnel and struggled to hold the shifting weight of the bag at his shoulder, filled as it was with dataslates, relics and holocrons stolen from the library and the vault as Master Hran had instructed them months ago.

Above them, chemical fires burned through the data storage, destroying millenia of records in an attempt to deny the resource to the Sith. He just hoped that Master Hran had managed to complete the hidden data storage facilities he had been planning on, otherwise there would be lifetimes of work to rebuild the library.

Looking back, he watched as Elia secured the bindings around her, holding the toddler on her chest, before she nodded and motioned him to lead on.

It had taken nearly an hour of careful travel and climbing through the tunnels under the Temple, but eventually, they reached a public section linked to the spire the Temple sat upon.

Glancing around, they saw no Clones and he gently moved across the open space to reach the side of an old vehicle, looking past it, he saw a few shops and he thanked the Force. One was a clothing store and there was a food store beside it.

He moved across the remaining gap to the clothing shop and looked within, reaching out with the Force, searching for anything that could threaten them. Sensing nothing, he reached out with the Force and turned the lock securing the shutters in place, followed by pressing the button that activated the mechanism.

He froze as the metal screeched as it opened and he stopped it as soon as there was room to squeeze under it. He rolled in and hurried to the alarm panel and connected the over-ride key he had acquired from an old slicer friend, to turn off alarms.

Returning to the shutters, he waved the others over and helped them under the barrier, Elia being the last to enter after passing him the toddler. A quick press of a different button sealed the shutters behind them to hide their presence.

Elia had already led the younglings off to the children's section, finding them different things to wear. The older children helped the younger ones to get changed and then Elia began to help remove their braids. The Force shuddered at the children's pain and fear, but he managed to keep smiling as he helped them, calming them with his confidence and surety.

Elia nodded to him and moved off to get clothes for them as Kano guided them through a few exercises to make the clothes look rumpled and to hide the fact that they were new and straight off the rack.

Quickly, Elia returned, now wearing a plain dress and shawl, with a set of clothes for him, amongst them was a sturdy belt with a series of pouches for the sand he was using to form a fake limb.

Nodding in acceptance, he collapsed the sand into the pouches and began changing with her help, tying the empty sleeve to his shoulder with a small loop of leather.

A second set of clothing for everyone was gathered and bundled together.

Soon enough, they were done and he led them through the back alley to the food store to acquire supplies. Another few uses of the Force opened the backdoor to the store without setting off any alarms.

A quick and careful period of looting ensued and whilst the children ate some cold food, Kato shaved his head whilst Elia dyed hers blonde and cut it short. He looked over a number of the reading glasses he had been provided and found a set that worked and frowned as his vision was slightly distorted. He would just have to manage until he could get a pair that were proper fakes for him to use.

He took a photo of his new appearance and used one of the many illegal devices he had been supplied by Master Hran to update the false identity on his ID chit, leaving the equipment for Elia to do the same.

"Eyebrows." Kato said as he walked past her to leave the bathroom.

Elia blinked in confusion, "What?"

Kato smirked, "Don't forget to dye your eyebrows as well, it's a big sign that you dye your hair if you're not careful. I'm going to get a vehicle; I'll be back shortly."

He chuckled slightly at her frown before he moved back into the alley. A twenty-minute walk brought him to a parking lot, where he was blessed to have found an old family vehicle that could carry them all. It would be a tight squeeze, but they'd manage.

He apologised to the owners as he began to hotwire the vehicle, the moment the engine started, he took off and brought it into the back alley behind the store.

Quickly, Elia and Kato managed to get the children in their places and bags of food and water as well as the clothing into the back seats of the vehicle. Kato moved to drive but at a polite cough from Elia and a pointed finger, he took the toddler and sat in the passenger seat allowing Elia to drive.

Roughly, they took off, gaining a few scratches due to the unwieldy balance from the weight, they began the journey to the ship that had been hidden by Hran and his allies.

Less than two minutes later, they were being signalled to pull over at a security checkpoint.

Doing so, she smiled at the clone as he moved up next to the full speeder. "Can I help you sir?"

"Licence and registration please." the clone asked in a tired monotone.

"Of course," she said, turning to Kato, "Honey, can you..." she sighed and leaned across to pick up the bag with their fake identities in, "Never mind." turning back to the clone, she calmly passed him the ID chits.

The clone swiped them and looked at them, then at the selection of children in the back of the vehicle, noting the range of species. "The children?"

"It's Jolla's birthday and we're on the way home from her party. I know it's really late, but they were really enjoying themselves and we lost track of time. Is something the problem sir?"

He glanced over them again before shaking his head and passing them the chits back. "No. You're good. You'll have to detour ahead, the area around the Jedi's been sealed off."

She blinked in surprise, "Oh. What's happened?"

The clone looked at her for a moment before answering, "I'm not at liberty to say ma'am. But if I were you, I'd get home quick and if you see any Jedi, avoid them and call the nearest law enforcement. Have a safe journey home ma'am."

"Of course sir, thank you." She said with a nod and a smile as the clone walked away. Returning to the flow of traffic, she followed the signals and moved on towards the Senate district, before parking for a minute and taking a deep breath to settle her nerves. "Okay," she breathed out as she focused, "Okay. We're clear for now, how do we get to the ship from here?"

Kato shook his head, "We don't. We're going to visit an old friend of mine, he'll smuggle us off world. We have to presume the ships compromised already. If we're going to survive all this, then we need to be careful and hide well."

"Any ideas you can think of?" she asked, worry in her eyes as she tried to be calm and controlled so as to not scare the children.

"I've got one." Kato said as he stroked the toddler's hair, "You're not going to like it, but we'd be hidden and it would be a nightmare to find us."

Elia took a deep breath and released it before asking the dreaded question, "Where?"

Kato winced as he looked at her, "Nar Shaddaa."

-o-o-o-o-o-

As Anakin finished installing the modification to the emergency beacon, he felt frustrated at the stupidity of the Jedi. It had taken nearly an hour to reach this position within the Temple. All they had to do was surrender and this would have been over. But, no. They had to stand and fight the very people trying to save them.

He glanced across at the remains of one of his childhood heroes, Battlemaster Cin Drallig had been the only one who had been a challenge in battle. The others he faced were weak and cowardly. He recognised so few of them from the reports on the warfronts. Most of them had remained here for no reason he could think of other than they were part of the conspiracy.

He had hoped Olana was wrong about the Battlemaster, but her warning had saved his life and been proven true. Drallig had tried to ambush him with his two students. Ambush him! Where was the honourable duellist he had been expecting?

No matter, this would all be over soon.

As he looked around, pondering where he would be of most use next, a disturbing twist in the Force shaped by immense violence and brutality thundered through the Temple.

Barely holding back his vomit, he rushed through the Temple. It took nearly ten minutes to get through all the damaged sections and cross so much of the Temple. Forcing his way past a group of clones dismantling some equipment, he came upon a sight that would haunt him and stoke his hatred for years to come.

Olana stood in the Hall of Fountains, the fountain waters once clear and clean, now ran red with the blood of the children that covered the surfaces of the room around her. A ring of dead Jedi Masters surrounded her, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition.

He carefully came closer to her, the Dark side flowing around her and saturating this room in the acts performed. Gently, he took her into his arms and held her as she shuddered and let the tears fall.

"They killed them. The Jedi murdered the children. I tried to stop them but I was too late."

Anakin nodded as he held her closer, gently he raised his arm and activated his comms, "Rex. If it's a padawan or higher, kill it. No mercy, no warning. Kill them all. Protect the innocent at any cost. The Jedi are monsters." He cut the line before he could hear a response and gently stroked Olana's hair as she wept in his arms.

Holding him close, Olana smiled as she wept crocodile tears, feeling the power of the dark side saturate her after killing so many, so easily. It was a pity that so much potential was wasted, but it would be worth it in the end. She could feel the rage and hate cycle through Skywalker around her, each slaughtered child etched into his memory, each one a victim of the Jedi.

Victims he would avenge.

It was so much easier to make a man fall when they did all the hard work for you.

His comm chimed before she was ready to relinquish his hold around her, but she stepped back and nodded at his comm as she wiped the tears away. "Duty calls."

He snorted in anger at that, ignoring the Chancellors call, "Are you okay?"

She nodded as she straightened her uniform, pleased at his attention to her before his oaths to Sidious. "I'll be okay. You had best answer it. Sidious doesn't like to be kept waiting." As he turned slightly to answer the call, she allowed herself a small smile, his reactions to her bode well for her long-term plans.

Anakin nodded and opened the link, "Chanc... Master."

Palpatine's chuckle carried over the comms line, "I have a mission for you Darth Vader. It is time to remove the Separatist threat in full, once and for all. I am sending you the co-ordinates for their location. Deal with them as you wish."

"Immediately?" Anakin queried, "We haven't secured the Temple yet." His voice twisted with the new hate, "There are still Jedi on the loose."

"Do you doubt that Darth Lumiya is strong enough to clean up the dregs?" The tone of Palpatine's commands were cold and like iron, he would brook no refusal, "You will deal with the Separatist's. Lumiya will have information for your hunt of the Jedi that escaped you when you return. I expect a report as soon as your mission is complete."

Anakin nodded with a look of disgust on his face, "Yes Master." Cutting the comms, he saw a string of co-ordinates and the name of the world he was to travel to. He growled in annoyance and looked at Olana, "Are you good to continue?"

She nodded and took a deep and shaky breath, "Yeah. I'll manage. Just get those bastards and hurry back."

He nodded at that, "I will do." Looking around he made sure to memorise this nightmarish vista.

The Jedi would suffer for this.

None would escape his vengeance.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Blood spattered from the new corpse embedded in the wall, miss-matched armour let Harry know that these were not enemy agents but rather scavengers who were picking at the still warm corpse of the CIS. Storming into the trophy room, he paused at the sight of a dozen of the scavengers around a male pirate, a pirate Harry had all but forgotten about.

Nym the Feeorin stepped back in shock at seeing Jade enter the room. "This isn't part of the plan." he growled in anger before realising this was his chance to break free of the man's hold. No-one would know if Jade were to die at his orders.

"You!" Harry snarled, "You dare to steal from me?!"

"Why not?" Nym sneered in return, "you took everything from me and fed me scraps as my men and I bled for you. You gave a slave girl fit only to be used for my pleasure command over me. I lost over half my fleet at your orders and what did I get? Nothing. So I'm here to take what I want and you can't stop us." He gestured to his men around him, "There are twenty of us and only one of you."

Harry nodded at that, "Normally I'd agree. But as you might have guessed, I am really pissed off." Reaching out a hand, a display shattered and an ancient sword leapt into his grip, his lightsaber ignited in his other hand and he gave them a maniacal grin. "Let's see who's right."

"Kill him!" Nym screamed and immediately grabbed at his arm. Agonies he had never felt before tore through his limb, the golden lines he had forgotten appeared and began to move, parting his flesh like a hot blade through butter. With a twist of golden light, the meat of his hand fell away, leaving behind only blood covered bone, somehow still in place even though there was nothing holding the bones together.

He took in a deep breath and opened his mouth to scream, but only a whimper escaped before the golden thread tore through him. He managed a single blink before his body fell apart, blood pouring from the ruined remains.

Unfortunately for his men, they fared little better.

Harry surged into their midst and their fear of firing into their allies stayed their hands for just a second, long enough for three to fall with missing limbs. Laughing, he kept close to them, forcing them to die or start shooting at the whirling dervish amongst them.

Every blaster bolt that neared him was either deflected by his lightsaber or simply dodged. Their panic did more damage to their numbers than he did in the end.

Flipping over the last pirate, he threw the metal sword and smirked in amusement as it pierced the man's torso, rupturing his heart as it pinned him to the wall.

Harry waked over the ruined flesh of the scavengers and raised an eyebrow at the damaged display he had come for. Frowning, he reached out with the Force and the lightsaber tore free from the pouch at the pile of flesh and bone that had been Nym and into his hand.

Glaring down at the remains of the betrayer, "I almost wish I could raise you from the dead to kill you again for touching this blade."

With a gesture and a flicker of power, the path back to the door was clean of blood and gore, allowing Harry to continue with his quest.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Coruscant was covered in a hazy glow as dawn broke and Bail Organa waited restlessly for his aides to return. During the night the pillar of smoke over the Jedi Temple was easy to miss, but in the light of the rising sun, it was a pillar of darkness that cut through the light.

He had tried to go himself, but now he waited, drink in hand, for the report. His aides had been very insistent that he not put himself in danger.

After what felt like an age, he started at the beep from his comms. Opening the link, he frowned at the sight of his speeder's interior, one of his aides was driving with a slowly spreading darkness in the blue of the holo from his shoulder, the second aide was in the passenger seat, her head half gone with her hair covering the scorched ruin of her face, and the third was trying to staunch the blood loss from a young boys chest in the back seat as his own stomach showed another spreading darkness.

"What!? What happened?" Bail demanded in shock.

The driver coughed and nodded respectfully to his Senator, "The Jedi are gone sir. Clones killed them all. They spotted the boy and began attacking him, then turned on us as well. We killed the clones and managed to get the lad before we had to escape. We lost... It's not good sir. I'm not sure if they realised who we are, but there's a LAAT on our tail."

The aide in the back sighed and leant back in his seat, "He's gone." He coughed and grimaced at his stomach wound, "I'm not going to make it either."

"You'll be fine." The driver snapped back, "We're not far away."

The aide laughed angrily at that, "We're dead and you know it. I need to be in surgery now, you'll bleed out before we get there. Fuckers had their blasters set on a weird mode. Tore through us but didn't cauterise properly. Fuck, this hurts."

Bail dropped his glass on the floor and leant over the image, "Get here as fast as you can. I'll have a trauma team waiting. I won't let you die for my curiosity."

The driver barked a laugh at that, "No offense sir, but fuck your curiosity. You needed to know, we did our job and you're safe. We all served in spec ops, we knew the risks." He jinked the speeder as he dodged something off screen. "Fuck! They just fired on us. Damn it."

He sighed and seemed to wilt slightly, "No witnesses. Sir. They're gunning for a vehicle with diplomatic IFF in public. You need to get out. Now. We'll buy you what time we can. Tonas, you okay for a last stand? Tonas?" He glanced behind him at his now slumped friend. "Fuck! Tonas, you bastard. Leaving me alone like this."

Bail slammed a hand down on the table, "Damn it. Get back here, I won't lose any more people for this!"

The driver chuckled as he turned the speeder around hard, "Sorry sir, but that's an order I'm going to ignore." He laughed slightly as he leant over the controls as if bracing himself, a chunk of the female aide disappeared as a large blast tore through the windscreen in front of her, through her and the seat behind. "Gonna ram the fuckers. Do me a favour sir and tell..."

Bail stared at empty air as the call was abruptly cut. After a moment, an error screen appeared stating that the signal was lost.

He waited for a few breaths before he jerkily stood up and walked to the door to his office, gesturing for his secretary to follow him as he walked.

Within a few minutes, he had reached the lift and they descended down to the platforms where the diplomatic ships were stored.

"Call the captain, we are leaving immediately." Bail said in a hollow tone.

"Sir?" his secretary asked in confusion, "May I ask what's happening?"

He glanced at her, "I... It's better that you don't know."

She frowned but nodded, "Of course sir, I'll send the message immediately."

As the lift opened, he froze at the sight of some of the Senate Guards, unlike their normal blue, they were dressed in red.

One of them motioned for Bail to stop, "Identification."

Bail nodded and calmly stated "Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan." His secretary passed across his and her security passes which were checked thoroughly.

The guard was silent as he waited for the clearance to be approved, nodding at nothing as the HUD in his helmet likely told him the results, "You have approval sir. Might I enquire your business?"

Bail forced a smile, "A personal matter, it's been too long since I saw my wife."

The guard's visors seemed to stare at him, accusing him of lying for a minute before the second guard who had been silent so far chuckled, "Let them go. I know you've wanted to do the same for a week."

The first guard shrugged at that, "Sorry sir, but I had to ask. Orders from above you know."

Bail's smile turned more genuine, "I understand completely."

The guards moved away and the secretary took their passes back before they left.

He waited as his platform was raised with his ship warming up on it and went straight to his quarters.

Captain Antilles stood waiting for him with two troopers in Alderaan uniform at their posts by his door. "Sir, what is our destination?"

Bail waved at him to sit, "Just get us out of here and into the dark. Do we have a Jedi homing beacon or their comms frequency?"

Captain Antilles frowned at the question, but answered as duty bound him, "We have their comms channel on record for emergencies sir. Surely your aides could tell you this?"

Bail closed his eyes and sat back, "They're dead. They died investigating something which is why we are leaving like this. The worst part is that I never bothered to learn their names. I sent them to die and I don't know who I need to inform."

The captain frowned and stamped his boot on the floor, the sharp noise of his heel on metal demanding his superior's attention, "Sir. Pull yourself together. Everyone on your staff and this crew would sacrifice themselves for Alderaan. If they died warning you to escape? Then that's a good death. What's happening?"

Bail rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palm in horror of what he witnessed this morning. "The end of an age Captain. And I'm not sure what's going to be left in its wake."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Standing at the edge of his office, where the armoured glass had once resided, Palpatine stood firm and strong, allowing himself this minor moment of peace before he returned to his Great Work. His plans were in motion and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. Not even Jade and his Imperium, they were a problem for tomorrows Palpatine.

He took another drink of his whiskey, careful not to cut himself on the broken edge of the glass, as he looked across the shining lights of the heart of the Republic to look at the Jedi Temple in the distance, the rising sun torn in half by the black plume of smoke that rose high into the atmosphere.

He saluted his long-term rivals and dropped the glass into the void below before stepping back into the wreckage.

A flick of his hand triggered the security systems he had ignored during his battle with Windu, the idea of sealing himself in the room with that man was a stupid one, one he was glad he hadn't even considered doing. He couldn't imagine how that would have ended. No, he could imagine it clearly and it would not have been good for him.

The force field snapped into being, cutting off the furious wind that had been tearing past, the view of Coruscant was blocked shortly afterwards by the reinforced bulkhead that dropped over the gap where the window had once been.

With a huff of annoyance, he gestured with the Force to the comms system, righting it from where it had fallen. A quick check showed it was intact and ready to work.

He started up the connection sequence, waiting for the green lights to confirm access before he began, "Priority over-ride. Link me to all clones. Over-ride deep cover security. Over-ride Republic Intelligence authority. Over-ride reserve status. Confirm Buffer to Update contacts in transit."

The system ran the commands as additional text appeared and turned amber, within a minute they had nearly all turned green and about ten percent were amber whilst around five percent remained red.

The amber he had expected whilst the ships were in hyperspace, the network would update them as soon as they re-joined the network. The reds were annoying, a chunk of those were Maldorin's soldiers within the Jade Imperium, but they numbered only a dozen or so and he had expected that. The rest were wilfully ignoring him. Ah well, their codes had been recorded, they could be dealt with later.

He took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

This was it, centuries of preparation and it would soon be done.

The darkest day in the history of the Jedi.

The greatest moment in the history of the Sith.

"The Time has come. Execute Order Sixty-Six."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Known in galactic history from that moment forward as the Day of Blood, the Force screamed in anguish at what was unleashed.

Across the galaxy, clone soldiers with the first gen biochips turned on their Jedi commanders.

Those with the second gen biochips, turned on everyone.

Luckily for many worlds, the second gen chips were only implanted in the latest reinforcements, therefore only a squad or two of many battalions turned into Rakghouls. These were rapidly killed, the infections contained before it escalated too far. The worst losses were on the ships that joined the network and received their updated orders. Many clones had stowed their weapons, and as such, when the order echoed through the corridors of the ships, few could hold off the mass of attackers. The majority of the ship's crews were unarmed which did not help.

Once there was no threat, those surviving Rakghoul, gathered together in a safe location and entered a deep slumber, waiting for fresh prey to wake them.

Several space stations fell to auto piloted ships docking with their nightmarish cargo, alongside several pirate bases where undercover clones were on missions, whilst the majority were armed, the undisciplined nature of the combatants were their downfall.

On other worlds, the reinforcements were used as garrison troops for recently rebellious worlds, here, chaos reigned. Waves of Rakghouls swarmed from the military bases into the civilian populations they were guarding, rapidly spreading the infection.

Battle lines collapsed in confusion as some clones killed the Jedi present whilst the rest rapidly mutated and tore apart their brothers. The survivors rapidly mutating and joining their attackers in the slaughter.

The separatist droids saw no difference in their attackers and carried on firing, but their programming turned against them as they ignored the injured to fire on the strongest combatants. Those 'injured' rapidly tore apart the armoured shells of the droids in their wound fuelled rage.

Thousands of worlds drowned in the blood of the innocent as the infection erupted.

The population of thousands more screamed in terror and confusion as to what was happening.

And in all that, the Jedi, having felt a sickly disturbance centred upon the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, were ready and on edge. Many would have survived the slaughter due to the unintended warning, had they not been reeling from the massive loss of life and their trusted allies trying to kill them.

The tide of darkness that rippled across the galaxy slammed into the initial survivors, the shock and horror cost them greatly, hundreds of their brethren were slaughtered in those moments, the ripples of their deaths adding to the stain in the Force.

It couldn't be called a slaughter, or even a massacre.

It was butchery.

-o-o-o-o-o-

On the LAAT, flying towards the military landing area where his fighter was waiting, Anakin frowned as every one of his men around him all raised a hand to listen to a comms message. In unison, they all nodded and seemed to tighten up before relaxing at the sight of him.

Rex, removed his helmet and looked at his general, he had just opened his mouth to speak when the shockwave in the Force slammed into Anakin.

He staggered and began to fall, before being caught and carefully lowered by his men, as the Force twisted and writhed in pain and anguish. He blinked tears from his eyes as he felt a sensation like a cold mantle fall across his shoulders, forever weighing him down.

Anakin coughed and choked for a second before swallowing the sensation down, feeling stronger but less clean for it. "What happened?" he asked before spitting the taste from his mouth.

Rex passed him a bottle of water to wash his mouth out, "Order Sixty-Six sir. We just received it on a priority override."

"But the death, the destruction?" Anakin gasped out, his mind still reeling from the experience.

"Sir?" Rex queried as he glanced at his brothers, motioning the medic closer.

"What have they done?" He looked at Rex in horror, "What did the Jedi do?"

"The Jedi sir?" Rex frowned as he seemed to struggle with the concept, "They're traitors to the Republic, what wouldn't they do?"

Anakin groaned in pain and shakily returned to his feet, waving off his men's support. He took a deep breath before nodding to himself, "Alert traffic control that I will be making a side journey before leaving atmosphere. I need to talk to someone before I leave Coruscant."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Within an empty corridor in the depths of the ancient temple used by the Seperatists on Yavin Four, Obi-wan fell to a knee as the hurricane of anguish and pain rippled through the Force, he gasped as he clutched at his chest, before vomiting from the taste of death and surge of power that poured across the galaxy.

Wiping his mouth, he stood up and barely managed to ignite his blade to deflect the shot that came down the stone corridor at him.

There, with his blaster rifle raised, stood Commander Cody, "I'm sorry sir. I'm so sorry."

"Cody?" Obi-wan gasped in shock, "What are you doing?"

Cody simply raised his rifle to take another shot, his dull and emotionless voice echoed along the cold stone, "Good soldiers follow orders. Order Sixty-Six has been authorised." then he twitched and lowered his rifle as his tone turned emotional from the cold dedication from before, "I'm so, so sorry." He shuddered again and the rifle rose once more as his voice turned almost robotic, "Good soldiers follow orders." With a scream, he threw down his rifle and pointed behind Obi-wan, "I can't stop myself. Go!"

He suddenly jerked and drew his pistol quickly firing a shot at the Jedi who deflected it again in reflex. "No! I won't! You can't make me!"

Cody seemed to relax for a moment, before straightening to an almost parade posture, "Save yourself." With that, he jammed the barrel of his pistol under his chin and pulled the trigger.

Obi-wan stared for what felt like an age at the slumped corpse of the clone... No! The man he called friend. His shock was broken by the sounds of armoured feet running in his direction, the urgent calls of the soldiers hunting him down.

Turning, Obi-wan ran, Grievous had a fighter in the launch bay, he just prayed it was still intact and ready for launch.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Olana Chion fell to her knees in the bloodied halls of the Jedi Temple, keening in pleasure at the flood of icy and cloying sensation through the dark side. She fell to her side, with shuddering gasps as she blinked the shock away.

Whatever that was, it was exquisite. It was like sex, alcohol and the finest euphoric drug all rolled into a single moment of ecstasy.

It was even better than the banquet of anguish she had gorged herself upon as she slaughtered the children.

She sighed as she sprawled on her back, taking deep breaths as her muscles twitched and her nerves sang as she let the aftershocks run through her body.

Her clone guards looked around at each other in confusion, before the lowest ranked clone was nudged forward, "Uh, ma'am. What just happened?"

She grinned at him, "The birth of a new age soldier, the birth of a new age."

-o-o-o-o-o-

In a corridor of the Lily, on the way back to the Thunderchild, Harry fell to one knee, grunting in pain as the wave of blood and death rippled across the heavens. The Force screaming in agony whilst his magic surged around him to strike out at those who dared to inflict such pain on him.

A cloying taste of blood filled his mouth and he spat to one side, trying to clean it out.

Dooku had warned him of Sidious' plan, but he had not expected that.

Growling in anger and hate, he staggered to his feet and returned to the bridge, dropping out of hyperspace and rapidly openning a comm channel to Yushan. They would be scared and confused; his Pillars would have to hold things together for now, but mentally promised them that he would make Sidious pay for his crimes.

The signal distorted for a moment and then Xora's image appeared, her appearance calm to those who didn't know her. "I've redirected your call to me. What happened? Ahsoka was on a call with me when she screamed and collapsed. They were taking her to medical and every other Force user around is on the ground."

Harry snarled at that before taking a deep breath and letting the anger smoulder rather than rage. "Sidious. Order Sixty-Six is what happened, this was his great plan to kill the Jedi. I want our borders locked down and recall all troops to secure positions. How's the Wall?" He gestured to one side and summoned a cup and a flask of water with the Force.

Xora gestured to one side herself and a datapad was passed to her, she quickly input her codes and rapidly reviewed the data. "Full of holes. Arcadia is finally active as are several other checkpoints, Subject Fudge is already receiving the expected bribes and smugglers have already begun to use the facility. Yushan has its orbital station up and running, no major damage from towing it, construction is running to schedule."

"The path into the nebula?" Harry asked after swirling water in his mouth and spitting it into the cup.

"We have a rough fleet stationed there and construction of a space station is a little behind schedule, no concerns there yet." She answered, "Do you want me to recall Anhur or Heka?"

Harry shook his head, "No. Let them continue for the moment, but they should be made aware of the situation. Let them make the choice."

Xora nodded and made a note before passing the tablet back out of sight, "Just keep safe."

Harry smirked, "I will, I'm on my way back to the Thunderchild now, probably a couple of hours."

Xora seemed to relax slightly, "Good. That's good." She let out a sigh, "Riyo is dealing with the Senate at the moment, trying to keep them calm. Harry, this is a mess. We've lost contact with over a dozen worlds outside our borders so far and its probably much worse."

Harry nodded at her, "It will be. This is just the start."

-o-o-o-o-o-

In the ancient meeting hall of Clan Kachirho on Kashyyyk, Yoda stood before a holo-table depicting the troop movements for the nearby battle, opposite him stood his old friend, Chieftain Tarfful and his second in command, Chewbacca. If the Republic won here, the droid lines would collapse and the Republic would be able to take the Separatists main command post. If they lost, then Kashyyyk would fall.

The Wookies of Kachirho, had long been under siege, the wroshyr tree bore many scars from the droid's bombardment. The loss of the Wookies capital would have been a major blow to their morale and would likely destroy what cohesion existed between the Wookie tribes. The terrain suited the droids attacking; the Wookies natural advantages in the forested wilds of their home world with their guerrilla tactics style of combat were of little use in the open fields of the Archipelago.

The Droids had first landed on a nearby island and hammered any resistance in the area before building a command post with landing pads before a more organised defence could break their hold. Within days, what had once been lush grasslands swept by the sea winds, with a small town nestled within a wroshyr tree had been burnt away, leaving a blackened husk of a tree, the dead left where they had fallen, leaving only a single surviving child who had been sent before the advancing droids as their herald of what resisting would bring.

Now, dull reinforced concrete covered large fields, shuttles scorching the platforms as they struggled to supply reinforcements to the front lines. Large towers of gleaming metal stood vigil over the military base where the war for Kashyyyk was led from. Multiple shield generators protected the facility from bombardment and protected the vital resources that turned this war into a bloody grind.

The droid tactician in command, estimated that once Kachirho fell, it would take less than two months to bring the rest of the world to heel at the longest. Even taking into account the native's natural affinity for the terrain and conflict style. The victory at Kachirho would allow vital resources to be reassigned to other areas, thus speeding their resolution.

If certain key elements were killed or executed, and certain strategic locations were taken before others, the subjugation of Kashyyyk could be over in a fortnight. Hence, their dedication to burning Kachirho and publicly executing Chieftain Tarfful, the greatest hero of the Wookie's in living memory.

The arrival of Grandmaster Yoda and two other Jedi had already disrupted this plan, adding an extra month to the tactician's timetable at least. The clone reinforcements that came with the Jedi had rapidly reinforced weak points and the Capital, turning a slow victory into a delicate balance.

The victor of Kashyyyk would be decided upon by this last battle.

Against a normal army, the Wookies attitude of having warriors and champions for their tribes over soldiers would have cost them dearly, fortunately, against a droid army programmed to only combat a disciplined and ranked army of clones, this flaw had been turned into a strength. Droids hesitated to fire as others were shooting at the same target which wasn't a Jedi, the constant flow of the battle line confused their programming, as droids tried to run to cover but stalled their advance when a Wookie acted outside expected procedure.

Then, when they finally began to adapt to the Wookie style of combat, the Wookies and Clone soldiers would trade locations and the droids would start fighting the clones as if they were using Wookie tactics.

Never mind what happened when some of the local flora and fauna decided to get involved in the conflict.

Kashyyyk was a primal and violent place, it detested outsiders intruding upon it and those intruders rapidly learnt this at great cost.

Added to all this were the two Jedi that had arrived with Master Yoda. Each one was positioned on a flank of the clone army, both pushing towards the centre, forcing the droid tactician to reinforce those areas with its already limited resources, pulling more from the Forest advances to support this battle.

The besiegers were starting to become the besieged.

From his position, guiding the Republics advance with the help of Tarfful, Yoda nodded at how matters were progressing. He was just raising his gimer stick to point out a minor weakness that could be exploited by the nearby troops when he stopped in horror, clutching at his chest as his heart froze and the icy sensation poured across the galaxy.

He began to cough and choke, falling to his knees, as he felt cold blood pour down his throat and burning fire rush along his veins, flashes of visions rushed through his mind as hundreds of the children he had helped raise and guide died in various painful and horrible ways.

It was only that collapse, which saved his life.

The clone bodyguards at the doors burst in and fired at where they had expected the Jedi to be, the table exploded in sparks as the display was destroyed and the Wookies managed to draw their weapons in the confusion and kill the clones.

Tarfful pointed at the doorway to Chewbacca and hurried to help his friend, growling out his question softly at the sight of the weeping Jedi, ignoring Chewbacca as he growled a warning and began firing down the corridor.

Yoda shook his head as he accepted the help to stand, "No, my friend, help you cannot." He looked out on the battle in the distance, the fluid control he had been using now gone in the confusion, the bloodthirsty screams of his former soldiers carried on the wind.

He flinched and looked away, "Go, I must. Protect your people you shall. An ancient plague unleashed upon your people it has. Save them, your duty it is. Chewbacca, aide me he will." He took the large Wookies hand in his own, "Goodbye old friend. Meet again, we shall not." he tugged on the hand in his grip, an intensity in his gaze that Tarfful had never seen before, "Escape. Protect your people, the ancient ways shall. The birthplace of your people, there sanctuary shall you find."

Tarfful nodded, snarling his oath as he beat a hand over his heart, then his tone turned gentle as he pointed to the battlefield.

Yoda smiled sadly in answer to the question, "No, old friend. With the Force, they now are. Saved many they did, but the Plague killed them, as many more it shall."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Palpatine staggered as he felt his order ripple through the galaxy. He blinked in shock at the surge of death and suffering that screamed across the galaxy, fuelling him and taking the aches and pains of growing age from his muscles and bones.

He hadn't felt this good in years.

He shook his head to clear the rush of sensation from it and reopened the secure link on the comms to the clones to discover what had occurred. He had expected some disruption in the Force due to the sudden mass death of Force wielders, but that had been so much more.

He frowned as he saw that a good third of the clones were no longer connected and more were following them. He brought up their general records as he pondered that, he had expected a large number of deaths as they tried to kill the Jedi, but not to lose a third of his military.

This was completely unacceptable.

The results came in, the majority were all the latest batches, all fielded in the last six months. The older clones deaths were likely due to the Jedi or whatever happened to the younger ones.

Was this some final vengeance of Dooku?

He had been in charge of the supply of the biochips to Kamino, perhaps he tampered with the later batches as he realised his usefulness was ending. Not that it mattered, but Palpatine hated not knowing.

He closed the link and turned on a screen, watching the latest galactic news, it wouldn't be long before either an agent reported, Republic Intelligence gave him a report or the news would answer his questions.

One way or another, he would have an answer.

-o-o-o-o-o-

With the red glow of Yavin falling behind him, Obi-wan finally allowed himself to relax. There was nothing on his sensors and the astromech was slaved to the cockpit controls, it was an awkward arrangement around him, but he could manage if he stretched, he just had to avoid any combat and he'd be fine.

Opening the navigation system, he began to input co-ordinates before stopping. The sensation he had experienced had been horrifying and this Order Sixty-Six, Cody had mentioned. He froze for a moment at the memory of his friend's death, before pushing the emotions down and bottling them for later, he was a Jedi, he had work to do.

Order Sixty-Six was obviously the command to attack the Jedi.

He couldn't return to Coruscant.

Opening up the comms system, he input a frequency to see if there were any other Jedi out there. The moment he connected, an automated message began to play, "...is over. Repeat. This is an emergency recall to all Jedi. Priority One. Authorised by the Jedi Council. Recall orders are as follows: All missions are rescinded. This is a blanket recall of all Jedi to return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant as quickly as possible. The War is over. Repeat. This is..."

He shut off the message with a growl of frustration.

The surviving Jedi would be confused and worried, many would have tried to contact the Temple only to hear that. Many would follow the order without thought, and they would walk to their deaths.

He had to do something.

Cycling through the comms system, he input a bypass code and once the line cleared, he began to speak, "Emergency Code Nine Thirteen... Are there any Jedi out there?... anywhere..."

He was about to repeat himself when there was a burst of static and a fuzzy flare of a hologram before the link collapsed. Obi-wan widened his search filter and when he caught the signal again, he began to refine the channel down until the image began to reform.

A man s voice came over the link, "...Kenobi..."

Obi-wan sighed in relief, "I've locked on to your signal. Please repeat."

The image sharpened and Obi-wan found himself looking at Senator Organa, "Master Kenobi?"

Obi-wan allowed himself a smile for a moment, "Senator Organa. It's good to see a friendly face. My troops turned on me, something about Order Sixty-Six. Are you in contact with other Jedi, I have to warn them."

Bail nodded at the information, "The Order was given across the entire galaxy. I'm en route to rendezvous with Master Yoda, I'm sending you co-ordinates now." He paused for a moment, "From what I'm hearing… its bad Master Kenobi. It's really bad."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Padme stood, staring out of the window in her living room, watching the plume of smoke rise from the Jedi Temple, a funeral pyre for the Jedi.

"My Lady," C-3PO said from the doorway, "There's a Jedi starfighter docking on the veranda."

Without a moment's hesitation, she rushed past the droid and headed to the Veranda as quickly as she could in her current state, hurrying, up to Anakin as he left his green starfighter. Her embrace was tight and strong, full of the fear that had held her as to not knowing what had happened to him. Anakin's matched hers with a desperation which fuelled her fear further.

From where her head rested against his chest, she could hear his heart thunder as she took in a deep breath of his scent, mixed with smoke and an odd iron tang, "Are you alright?" she asked as she pulled back to look him over for injuries, "The news said there was an attack on the Jedi Temple." she pointed towards the dark pillar in the distance, "You can see the smoke from here."

Anakin smiled as he stroked her cheek, "I'm fine. I'm fine. I just needed to make sure that you and the baby are safe."

Shy leant into his stroking hand and sighed, "We're good. We're safe. Captain Tycho has called in extra guards to secure the floor. If I need to get out, the ship is ready and waiting, the crew on standby. What's happened?"

Anakin nodded at that, "Make sure you have your pistol on you at all times, let Captain Tycho do his job, don't fight him on it." he sighed and seemed to fight the urge to not say anything, "Its... not good. The Jedi have gone crazy. They tried to enact a coup last night."

Padme stepped back, anger in her face and voice, "No. I can't believe that!"

"I watched Master Windu try to kill the Chancellor personally." He stepped forward into her reach, "He wasn't there to arrest him, he was there to kill him."

"But," Padme stammered, "That makes no sense! Why would they do that?"

"He was ranting about how evil the Chancellor was, it made no sense." Anakin sighed as he continued, "We then went to the Jedi Temple to arrest the Masters, they fought us. Many died rather than surrender."

"I can't... I won't..." Padme looked on the edge of tears in her confusion, "Why? How could this happen?"

Anakin gave her a haunted look before touching her belly gently, smiling sadly at the kick he felt under his touch, "I was there Padme, I saw what they did. It was pure madness. They... They killed the children Padme. We managed to find a few hidden in the Temple, but the rest were slaughtered."

Padme backed away and sat down, wrapping her arms around her as tears fell, "What are we going to do?"

Anakin knelt before her, taking her hands in his own, "I won't betray the Republic, I've fought and bled for it, I won't let it fall without a fight." He wiped away her tears with his thumb, "Hey, don't cry. We'll be okay. My loyalties lie with you and our family, then Palpatine and the Senate."

Padme smiled shakily at him, "What about Obi-wan? Ahsoka?"

Anakin frowned, "I don't know. Many of the Jedi in the Temple refusing to surrender, they just attacked us, I had… I had to kill so many of them. Why wouldn't they stop? It was such a waste, all they had to do was surrender and it would have been over. I gave them my word, they would be safe if they surrendered and they spat on it. Master Hran was trying to calm everything down, he had accepted my offer when the Jedi attacked him and my men. What madness drove them to this?"

He sighed as he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion, "I just hope that the madness hasn't spread to Obi-wan. As for Ahsoka. She made her choice, it hurts, but she chose Jade over us."

Padme shook her head, "I saw her eyes Anakin. Ahsoka didn't have a real choice, she chose Jade to protect you and herself. Could you imagine what would have happened if she had remained a Jedi after her trial? She would have been there amongst them when everything happened. I'm glad she is with Jade, at least there, she can do something and be safe."

Anakin grunted as if punched, but didn't deny her, "There's something else Padme. The Jedi aren't the only ones trying to take advantage of the situation. There are traitors in the Senate."

"What?!" Padme cried as she stood in anger, jabbing a finger into his chest, "How can you say that?"

Anakin frowned but held his position before her anger, "You need to be careful who you're with in the Senate. RI is already digging into records, hunting for the Jedi's co-conspirators."

She froze for a moment, fear for her actions settling within her, "What do you mean?"

Anakin answered, blind to her turmoil, "The Jedi could not rule the Republic alone, they would need allies in the Senate to legitimise them. Work on their behalf. I received an alert on the way here, that a Senators vehicle was used to break the blockade around the Temple."

He took a deep breath and held her shoulders in a tight grasp, "The attack let a number of prisoners escape in all the confusion. They were chased by a LAAT and rather than surrender, they rammed it. In the public flight lanes. A lot of good men died today, never mind the innocents. If there's one Senator aiding them, there will be more. You must be careful." He pulled her into a tight embrace, "If they discover us, they could target you and our child. If something happened to you... I don't know what I would do."

Padme muttered against his chest as she tried to pull him closer, "What if they start an inquisition? What will happen if I become a suspect?"

"That won't happen." Anakin growled into her hair, "I won't let it. The thought you could betray me? I just can't imagine it. I'd destroy them all before I let them take you."

"Oh, Anakin." She wept, "I'm afraid."

He kissed the top of her head and simply held her in his embrace.

"Have faith, my love." he said as he released her slightly, to kiss away her tears, "The war is almost over. I have a final mission and then I won't be going anywhere until I meet our child. Then we can decide what to do as a family. Wait here until I return, make sure you're both safe, things will be different, I promise you."

She kissed him hungrily; as if afraid she would never see him again. Breaking for air, she stared into his eyes, "That promise goes both ways. Where are you going?"

"Dar'yaim." Anakin answered with a smile, "The Separatist council is hiding there. My mission is to bring them to justice for their crimes. It will end this war." He stroked her hair before stepping back towards his fighter.

"Wait!" Padme cried. She rushed over to a table and grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting a lock of her hair and binding it with some ribbon from her clothes. "Take this, that way I'll be with you."

Anakin smiled softly as he tucked the lock of hair in a pocket over his heart. "Wait for me?"

Padme smiled softly at him, "We will."

As Anakin's starfighter lifted off and flew away into the morning light, Padme allowed her walls to crumble and fell to her knees, weeping for what had happened to the Republic.

-o-o-o-o-o-

In the dark between star systems, within a secure meeting room, Bail Organa stood staring out into the void whilst Master Yoda sat at the table reading reports.

With an almost silent hiss, the doors opened and Master Kenobi entered the room, the guards escorting him, joined their fellows at securing the door.

Kenobi nodded to the Senator and then a slightly deeper nod to the other Jedi. "Senator Organa, Master Yoda."

Yoda tiredly nodded whilst Bail tried to smile, "Master Kenobi. Its good to see you."

Bail smiled sadly and moved to join the Jedi at the table, "You made it."

As Obi-wan sat at the table, Yoda frowned; his presence in the Force had changed, stained by his mission to Yavin. He managed to hide his surprise at the stormy grey eyes of the tired man before him, were they always that colour? He had the distinct thought that they had been blue before. Perhaps it was the light affecting the colour? "Master Kenobi, dark times are these. Relief to see you, it is."

Obi-wan gave him a tired smile, "You too Master, were you also attacked by your clones?"

Yoda winced at the memory, "With the help of the Wookies, barely escape, I did. Many clones infected with an ancient plague, they were."

Bail frowned, "Plague, why would that be a problem?"

Yoda took a deep breath before giving his answer, "Rakghoul plague it was."

Obi-wan flinched whilst Bail looked confused at the name. Obi-wan frowned, "Correct me if I'm wrong Master, but the Rakghouls have been extinct for centuries?"

Yoda shrugged as if unsure of the answer.

Obi-wan turned to the Senator, "The Rakghoul plague was… is an ancient combination of infection and curse. A Sith Lord in ancient times, unleashed a plague like no other. All it took was a scratch and you were infected, incubation was only a few hours, allowing people to escape and spread it further, many thought they were lucky and uninjured or had simply managed to escape their hunters. Many were let go by the Rakghouls as they could smell the infection in others. Once the plague reaches a critical point in your body, rapid and painful mutation of the body soon follows, leaving a new Rakghoul in the victim's place. Luckily, the victims lose their mental ability, driven into a burning hate for all other life and to spread the infection. They have no tactics beyond swarm and attack, no self-preservation. Thankfully, they cannot breed amongst themselves, their numbers grow only through infection. Not even the Force can protect you from infection. There were stories of a cure, but those were just that, stories."

Bail looked shocked at that, "Why have I never heard of this before?"

Yoda grunted at that in frustration, "Contained on Taris it was, believed extinct. In my lifetime, no infection, has there been."

Bail sighed, "Until now."

Obi-wan nodded, "Indeed, until now. I don't know how it happened, but the clones must have been infected but the plague held in stasis. How many other Jedi managed to survive?"

Yoda looked away for a moment, his words heavy on his shoulders, "Heard from no-one, we have. Only the coded retreat message."

"Then we must return and stop the signal." Obi-wan commanded, "I won't let any more fall into this trap and die."

Bail raised his hands, gesturing to Obi-wan to calm, "It's too dangerous for you to return. Too many have already died."

Yoda frowned before looking Obi-wan in the eyes, judging him with the Force to see if he had been corrupted or replaced, "Suggest dismantling the coded signal, do you?"

"Yes, Master Yoda." Obi-wan stated with a firm nod, his presence in the Force just as firm and sure as he had always been, but scarred and stained by recent events. "We have already lost too many, better that I sacrifice my own life to save just one other, than do nothing and be the last of our Order."

Yoda stared at him for a moment before giving a slow nod, accepting what he felt in the young man, he had been marked, but he wasn't lost yet, perhaps he could be cleansed of the darkness before it dug too deep, "I agree. In a dark place we find ourselves. Darker than any I remember. Knowledge, light our path, it shall."

-o-o-o-o-o-

In the command room of the base on Dar'yaim, the remnants of the Separatist Council, stood around the holo-emitter, staring at the hooded image of Darth Sidious.

Many of those present glanced at each other in fear, their glorious future had already turned to ash before it could truly get going. The fact that they were hunted targets by all their enemies and still gathered into one location concerned most. Only the fear that if they were found, they would be alone, stopped them from leaving.

Nute Gunray stood proud before his master, sure of his place in the new order that was finally coming together, "The plan has gone as you had promised, My Lord."

Sidious nodded at that, "You have done well, Viceroy. When my new apprentice, Darth Vader, arrives, ensure that you provide him the hospitality he deserves. He will take care of you." Sidious cut the connection before the viceroy could respond.

A small group of the Council glanced at each other and motioned to speak to one side in private. Perhaps running wasn't such a bad idea after all. They could probably get away quietly if they acted soon.

-o-o-o-o-o-

As they sat and discussed their plans in the meeting room on Senator Organa's ship, a chime sounded from the internal comms.

"Yes?" Bail answered.

"Sir. We are receiving a message from the Chancellor's office. What do you want me to do?" The comms officer informed him, a tone of worry in his voice.

Bail glanced at the Jedi and motioned them to hide behind a partition, "Send it through." As soon as they were out of sight, he confirmed the link, inputting his Senatorial codes.

The holo displayed an image of Mas Amedda, "Senator Organa, we were concerned with your safety."

Bail smiled and displayed a relaxed posture, "I am on my way to visit my wife, you're lucky, we've just arrived in the Alderaan system. What seems to be the problem?"

Mas stared for a moment before smiling in return, apparently, he hadn't detected the lie, "One of the diplomatic speeders was destroyed in an incident, it was registered to you and we were concerned for your safety."

Bail managed to fake his shock, "Is everyone okay? What happened?"

Mas glanced to one side and was passed a datapad from outside the pickup, he nodded as he read it before refocusing on Bail, "It was a collision with a LAAT, no survivors of either side I'm afraid. Republic Intelligence is investigating, but it's going to be a very difficult investigation. Can you confirm that all your staff are accounted for?"

Bail nodded, "I can. My staff were due a rotation which would occur at Alderaan. So, we all left as a group."

"Very well, I shall inform RI of that." Mas said as he passed the datapad back, "But back to the business of my call. The Supreme Chancellor of the Republic requests your presence at a special session of Congress. If you are at Alderaan, then you will barely make it. If you would return immediately, I shall make adjustments to the timetable to include you. Please pass on my apologies to the Queen, but this is a matter which requires the entirety of the Senate to attend."

Bail frowned but nodded in answer, "Tell the Chancellor that I shall return immediately. If I don't wait for my staff, then I should be back ahead of schedule."

Mas nodded with a pleased smile at that, "Very well. You will be expected." With that, the signal ended.

Bail leant on the table and released a deep sigh, "This is a trap."

Obi-wan shook his head as he stepped around the partition, "No. The Chancellor needs the Senate intact. Without them, he cannot control the thousands of star systems in the Republic. Especially those who will still be rebellious on their return."

"Use this, we shall." Yoda said as he returned to his seat, "Eyes shall be on the Senate, not the Temple."

-o-o-o-o-o-

On the Senate landing pad set aside for Alderaan, the red garbed guards waited for the elevator to descend from the ship. As the doors opened, The Senator and his secretary stepped out, followed by a tiny figure and an adult human in dark robes.

The lead guard stepped forward, "Welcome back Senator. May I see your clearance? How was your wife?"

The Secretary passed the cards across as before as Bail smiled sadly at the guard, "Unfortunately, I barely stepped foot on Alderaan when I had to turn around and come back. But that's the nature of my duties."

The Guard chuckled, "Tell me about it, I still haven't gotten away myself. I'm going to need to get her a nicer gift than normal. Thank you, you can proceed, we will take care of the Jedi."

Obi wan, waved a hand as he made his suggestion, saturating his words with the Force, "It would be better if we stayed with the Senator."

The guard nodded slowly, "It would be better if they stayed with you."

Obi-wan started to step past the guard when he stopped, the Force still saturating his words, "Return to your commander. Cite protocol twenty-seven fifteen J and the date of your last leave." He patted the man on the shoulder, "It will get you the weekends leave at least."

With that, the Jedi broke away from the Senator and his secretary to complete their mission as the politicians headed towards the Senate chamber.

-o-o-o-o-o-

As Anakin passed the last door and entered the command room of the facility of Dar'yaim, he felt the flicker of hope ignite amongst the politicians clustered around the holo-displays as they saw him approach in his heavy robes. Those workers present, just kept their heads down, happy to leave all the arguing to those above them.

A beep from his comms told him that R2 had shut down the outside comms system. There would be no warnings, no cries for help. Silence would be all the warning they would be given.

He broke into a wide grin beneath his hood as vindictive pleasure ran through his veins. All these years that these monsters had inflicted suffering on the galaxy and finally, he could give the galaxy the justice it deserved.

No, not justice.

He had to be honest with himself.

This was vengeance.

It was a pity that everyone in the facility had to die, but there could be no witnesses.

With slow, methodical movements, he let them see him draw his lightsaber and ignite the blade, positioning it to light up his face beneath his hood.

As their terror flooded the room, he finally understood why the Sith did that. It might have been excessively dramatic, but it definitely got results.

A few managed to break through their fear and flee deeper into the facility, trying to hide from him and pray that they could escape his wrath. The rest stood frozen like jawa before a rancor.

Nute Gunray had been one of the first to escape the room, ahead of the small cluster of those with greater survival instincts than those that remained. For that, Gunray would be the last to die.

It would be fun hunting him down.

Then, Anakin moved and the screams began.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Obi-wan froze at the sight that had been calling him through the Temple.

The fountains had been stopped, now the white marble floors and cream stone of the fountains were painted a dull brown that had once been red and his boots stuck to the floor with every step he took.

Over a hundred small bodies were lined up and wrapped in body bags in the centre of the room.

Left behind as if they were of no consequence.

Left there to rot and be forgotten.

Voices echoed in the tainted and still waters and he felt their tormented spirits cry out for freedom and peace, bound as they were by their final torturous moments. Flickers of motion at the edge of his vision added to the nightmare this most peaceful of rooms had become.

Yoda stopped at the edge of the room, horror suffusing his form as he opened himself to the Force and saw the spirits caught in their final moments, the children falling as a blade tore through them, some were lifted high, choking until their necks twisted under the strain, the few adults fought as one, trying to slay their attacker whilst protect their charges.

They failed.

Oh, how they failed.

Their spirits were bound and chained in their failures, unable to look away from the spirits of the innocents murdered here. Their wounds still open and scorched from the killing blows.

Obi-wan turned to follow Master Yoda as he walked away, massively aged from before. Killing the clones at the gates had been easy between them, walking through the corridors, seeing the scorched marks on the walls from blasters and lightsabers had turned concern to horror.

Finally, they came to the Beacon chamber.

With a few minutes work and Master Yoda's over-ride codes, the signal was changed, warning the Jedi away and to wait for further information. A slow contact with a lightsaber melted sections of the device, no longer could the message be changed, not without destroying it and building a new one, something that would be obvious to the Jedi when they listened to it.

Obi-wan looked across the chamber and frowned at the sight of the security post. Growling in frustration at his curiosity, he marched across and began opening the security feeds to find out what happened that night.

Quickly, he began a search for Anakin on the night everything had changed, soon watching glimpses of him amongst an army of clones, brutally and efficiently carving through any Jedi he faced as if they weren't even worth his attention.

Horrifying was the look of rage and hate in Anakin's face and posture as he wielded an easily recognisable lightsaber with a golden hilt and purple blade against his former brethren.

The only time he seemed to come to life was when he faced a skilled opponent, and even then, that rapidly faded as the fights continued.

He looked... disappointed.

Master Yoda had come across and sat beside Obi-wan as he watched the clips of Anakin fighting, Obi-wan grimaced at every death he witnessed, until he tried to access recordings from the Room of a Thousand Fountains. This, was locked down by security codes he didn't recognise.

Yoda sighed at that, "Republic Intelligence, those codes are. Hidden over-ride, I have. Legacy of the Grandmasters from the last time the Temple was attacked."

He began typing in a serious of nonsense commands and Obi-wan blinked in surprise as a core control security system activated. Yoda began searching for the events they sought of that night, finally, he found it and watched as the Jedi Masters hurriedly began to gather the younglings into the room, each access point was guarded by three or four Jedi whilst the remainder of the adults and padawans walked amongst the younglings, trying to keep them calm.

For nearly an hour this continued, with the agitation increasing amongst their number until finally, a single figure walked through the doors.

Knight Olana Chion.

The defending Jedi relaxed, believing that it was over or reinforcements had arrived, but Knight Chion simply cut through those before her as if they were wheat before a scythe.

Small sparks and faint glows told him that the other entrances were being sealed, the only way in or out was past Chion. In that doorway, stood a portable shield generator blocking the way and a squad of clones in blood red armour.

With a look of enraptured glee on her face, Chion rushed amongst the crowd and started carving.

Yoda flinched and almost fell, but forced himself to watch as the butchery continued. Obi-wan couldn't take the horror and looked away, flinching at the sounds of her laughter and the deaths of the Jedi.

Four minutes, twelve seconds.

That's how long it took for her to massacre everyone.

Only a few minutes after it was over, Anakin burst onto the scene, ignoring the clones as they were packing up their equipment.

There, they watched and listened as Anakin swore vengeance upon the Jedi for Chion's work. The discovery of Anakin and Chion's new names as well as their masters was of little help.

Silence ruled for a while, before Yoda began to speak, "Sidious, at the Senate he is. Face him, my duty is. Lost to us, is Anakin, consumed by 'Vader'. Follow your feelings, Darth Vader you shall find, face him you shall. Together, shall we face Darth Lumiya."

Obi-wan nodded, "She will be ready for us."

Yoda grunted in agreement, "Good. Stop us, she will not."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ahsoka glared across the room at Harry as he stood, gathering his equipment in his private quarters. She had rushed to the Thunderchild the moment she could and barely made it in time to try and stop him.

He gestured to the greaves near her, "Pass me those."

She snorted in annoyance and threw them towards him, "I thought we were going to arrest Anakin?"

Harry frowned as he began to connect the armour panels to the under suit, "We are."

Ahsoka shook her head in frustration, "No. You are. I'd barely taken a step off my shuttle and was given instructions to return to Yushan to review the Academy."

Harry managed to hide his reaction to that beyond a curious "Oh?"

"Yes. Oh." she said as she crossed her arms and frowned at him, "Why? Is this a trust thing? Haven't I proven myself to you?"

Harry sighed as he straightened up and looked at Ahsoka, the Force practically sung with her fear of rejection running through her. "This isn't about trusting you. This is about Skywalker and what follows."

He gestured to the breastplate and she passed it across without maintaining eye contact. "If all goes well, then I will return with Skywalker arrested and Sidious dead," he said in a calm voice as he settled the armour in place, "Can you get the backplate please."

As she began to attach the armour panel, he sighed, "But you know me, we've worked together enough for you to know. When was the last time something went well on a mission for me?"

At her amused snort, he continued, "If I beat Skywalker, then I'll not long after face Sidious. If I win, then we have him. If not, then they go free and I'll be dead."

"Then let me come with you. I can fight beside you, together we can take them both." Ahsoka said as she yanked the bindings tight with a little too much force, "Sending me away makes no sense."

Harry sighed deeply as he passed her his pauldrons to attach before he began to connect the bracers, "Always presume it will go wrong. If we both die and they get away. Who will bring Justice to them then? Xora? She'd lead a crusade to avenge me, half the galaxy would be drowning in ashes before she was done." He gestured and his gauntlets jumped into his hand, "No. I need someone to protect the Empire if something goes wrong."

She rested her head against his back, the cold armour seemed to burn against her skin, "Take me with you, face Skywalker alone if you must, but I can help. Even if it's just to take Skywalker to prison while you face Sidious."

Harry chuckled softly, "No. Skywalker needs to be there to draw Sidious into my trap. Without him, Sidious would never come."

"Why does this have to be so hard?" she moaned on the edge of tears, "Why can't we get a break?"

Harry patted her hand resting on his shoulder, "Because we're the good guys." He turned and pulled her into a hug, resting her head on his chest as he gently stroked her Montrals, "We do it so no-one else has to. This is the right thing to do Ahsoka, no matter how much it hurts, no matter how afraid we are."

Ahsoka nodded and wiped her eyes before stepping back, moving across to gather his cloak and begin attaching it to the armour. "I'm not going back to Yushan, but what do you want me to do?"

Harry turned to face her and leant forward slightly, placing a gentle kissed her on her forehead, "Thank you." He picked up his helmet and connected it to his belt until he would need it. "I need you to do the most important thing of all. If something happens to me, I need you to look after Xora in my place."

He reached out and lifted her chin to make him look in the eye, "Promise me Ahsoka Tano, promise me that you and Xora will both live good lives and die old and happy, surrounded by many grandchildren. Promise me that no matter what happens that this is worth it."

She took hold of his hand holding her chin in both of her own, squeezing it gently, "I promise that when you return, you can help us fulfil that promise."

-o-o-o-o-o-

In the large dull grey vault of the Emperor's personal landing bay on the Thunderchild, the Lily stood refuelling, waiting for the most important mission of its existance. The droids for this bay, scurried around it, rearming its weapons and performing final checks. A large droid was struggling to replace an armour panel on the belly of the ship, but it looked like it would be done in time.

Xora stood in her casual clothes at the bottom of the ramp, her skin rippling in colour alongside her nerves as she waited, shivering not from the cool air, but rather that she knew what this was likely to be.

The droids working, moved around her and paid her no attention. Mehen stood at the edge of the Lily's cargo bay, in the shadows of the ramp, a watchful sensor on his charge, whilst the rest focused on the bay around her. Connected as he was to the ship's security feeds, he began walking down to stand beside her as he saw Father approaching with Montu flanking him.

"He is here." he quietly informed her, "I will wait by the door." At her nod, he squeezed her shoulder gently in support and moved to the bulkhead.

As the armoured figure of Harry entered the bay, Mehen saluted him and nodded to his brother as they passed and he moved to wait outside.

Harry came to a stop before Xora and seeing her distress, he passed his helmet to his son, nodding towards the ship as it was taken from him. Montu nodded and did as he was bid, placing a hand on Xora's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze as his brother had done, then he was gone and performing the final checks of the ship for the mission.

Xora looked over the young man before her, taking in everything as she slowly committed this moment to memory, to sit alongside the image of him at peace whilst he slept, or the look of enraptured joy when they made love.

He looked very strong and powerful in his black and green armour. The ornamental cloak was black with a rich bottle green lining with the Imperial Heraldry on display in the middle of his back. An annoying item, but good for morale as the crew watched him march through the ship to fight a battle, one that they could not even fathom.

She reached out and took his gauntleted hands, frowning at that before gently removing the armour to reach the gentle hands beneath. She examined them in detail, running her fingers along the scars and over callouses, gently touching the gold rune carved ring on his right hand, refusing to look at his face, "You're going after him?"

"Yes." he breathed out the word as he struggled with his urge to just hold her and never let go.

She turned his hands over and examined the backs, running a fingertip along the sigils scarred on his right hand, a rigid tension in the muscles of her hands as she tried not to shake, "And there is nothing I can say or do to stop you?"

Harry pulled a hand from her grip as he raised a finger to catch the tear that ran down her cheek. "No. This needs to be done, if I send anyone else, he will escape and they will die."

She frowned at that, "Even Ahsoka?"

He chuckled sadly at that, "Even Ahsoka."

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes, "Then I'm coming with you. You can't stop me."

"Yes, I can." he said as he smiled slightly at her, clasping her hands between his own.

She snorted in pained amusement at that, "How?"

"Please." he whispered.

"And that's supposed to stop me?" Xora snorted in annoyance.

"I would prefer that to other methods," Harry sighed, pain and fear in his words, "I can't lose you too."

Xora flinched and stepped back from him, sighing in frustration at his stupid nobility, "I need to know." she said as she wrapped her arms around her, holding her elbows tightly in her grip, "Do you love me?"

Harry froze as he seemed to struggle with his response, before sighing out the answer, "Yes."

She held back her gasp at him finally admitting to what she had only suspected over their time together, trying not to reach out and clasp hold of him, to never let him go, "How long will you love me?"

He stepped into her space and wrapped his arms around her, his warmth and scent were intoxicating to her senses. He gently rested his forehead on hers and whispered his answer over her lips, "A thousand years and more."

"No." She smiled and kissed away the tears he wasn't aware he had shed, "Just love me now, that is enough."

He smiled and kissed her deeply, showing her how much he felt for her. Pulling away, he gently kissed her again on her forehead and moved past her to end this war and protect those most important to him in the best way he could.

Without turning to him, she let her last question spill from her lips in a terrified rush as she clenched her eyes closed. "Will I ever see you again?"

Harry stopped at the top of the ramp, turning slightly to look back and soak up the image of her in his mind, he gave her a knowing smirk that she could hear in his voice, "In this life or the next."

And then he was gone.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Sabe smiled as she watched through the window as the children in the alley below, played a ball game, she chuckled as a little girl kicked out at the ankles of a larger boy and stole the ball from him, "Good girl." she muttered as her hands washing the plate and putting it to the side without thought as she lost herself in wistful day dreams of a future that never was.

She started slightly as her door buzzer went, frowning as she wasn't expecting anyone, grabbing the towel to dry her hands, she turned and walked down the short corridor to look through the peep hole of the door.

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, she slung the towel over her shoulder and opened the door with a smile, "The great negotiator, Obi-wan Kenobi himself. What can I do for you? Oh." She stepped to the side and gestured for him to enter, "Please, come in."

Obi-wan smiled tiredly, "Hello Sabe. Thank you." He entered the kitchen and sat at the table as Sabe directed, his eyes looking over the small apartment as subtly as he could.

Sabe chuckled at that, "Don't hold back. I know it's a poxy little place, but its home. I've got walls, a roof, electricity, heat, water and food. Everything I could need. Plus, I think Jorro, he lives a few doors down, is gathering his courage to ask me on a date. He's no..." she waved her hand in Obi-wans direction, "You. But, he's pretty cute."

"Very ascetic of you," Obi-wan nodded at that, "but why live here? Like this?"

"Wow," Sabe shook her head, "it's been a while since you slummed it, hasn't it?" she poured herself a glass of water and turned to look at him, "Drink?" She sat as he shook his head and she gestured out the window, "No-one likes living here, but its home. It's also cheap and it's in walking distance from my job, so that's good."

"Job?" Obi-wan blinked in shock, confusion clear in his voice, "But why? Surely you wouldn't need a job around here."

"Obi-wan, what did you think would happen to me when I was no longer needed?" She waited a moment and took a drink until his confusion told her he had no answer, sighing, she continued, "So... If, by some miracle, such as with yours truly, you survive your duty as a body double, eventually, you either no longer resemble your charge enough, or are just no longer needed. Say, if they retired from public service as many do. Most go home and train the next generation of Handmaidens or Pages for the next King or Queen. It's a time honoured and respected job. But, after Corde's death, I'm the last of us."

She sighed and drank the remainder of her water to give her time to settle her nerves, "Padme couldn't bear another person dying in her place, she always took it hard, but it was our purpose, our reason for being. None of us would blame her. Did you know, most of us were orphans or from pretty crap backgrounds? We were chosen, trained and prepared to die for her. Without pause or thought of ourselves. And we were happy to do it."

She coughed as she took a seat in her rickety chair, "Anyway. So, I was debriefed, signed a mountain of paperwork, given my pension, assigned a small house on a high security military base, relieved of my duties and they gave me a first-class ticket back to Naboo. I would have gone home, but after the Imperium conquered it, I thought it would be too dangerous for me to return." She leant forward to whisper, "I know too much." she burst into laughter at the confused but amused look on his face as she sat back in her chair.

Obi-wan nodded to this, "So you stayed."

"So, I stayed." she saluted him with her near empty glass in agreement, "I kept fit and healthy, train when and how I can. I have a job that keeps me fed at a cafe nearby and the pension covers the majority of my bills. I'm lucky to even have the job, there's so few around here as it is. But sometimes some little creep turns up to cause trouble, I have a few words and they leave pretty quickly after that. Oh, I saw a couple of those Jedi Masters of yours a few months ago in my cafe, the little green one and the angry brooding one. That was a weird day. Some idiots tried to rob us."

She stared at the silent man before her, taking in the exhaustion in his frame, his shoulders bowed as if under a great weight. The bags under his eyes didn't help, although she was sure he had been blue eyes before, the stormy grey seemed to see through her to her core, not that she was complaining. Even in this state, there was a presence to the man that drew you in, made her want to do unspeakably wonderful things with him.

Mentally shaking those day dreams aside, she smiled at him, "So, back to my first question. Why are you here? What does Padme need me to secretly save her from?"

"Secretly?" he responded as he visibly gathered himself, "Why do you say that?"

She raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Because she isn't here herself. If she knew that she needed me, all it would take would be a call and I'd be there. So, either she doesn't know or is trying to protect me. I swore an Oath, I will sacrifice everything in her service."

Obi-wan sighed as the weight on his shoulders seemed to increase, "I need to find Anakin. The only person I can talk to who might tell me is Padme, so, I need someone there who will get through her defences to find the truth. I have to stop this, before it gets worse."

Sabe took the drying cloth from her shoulder and dropped it on the table, "You had me at 'Hello'." She stood and walked to the door, grabbing her keys from a bowl on the way, "I'll get my coat."

-o-o-o-o-o-

The representatives of the news stations were muttering at each other as they waited for someone to arrive and talk to them all, several datapads were waved at each other as the discussions began to get heated.

Olana strode into this mess with a smile and motioned for her guards to stand at the door.

"Is this true?" One of the representatives demanded as he noticed her, the others falling silent as they waited for her to respond.

Olana nodded slightly, "Some of it is true, important secrets held quiet, due to the war. But the majority is lies and attacks intended to sow chaos and confusion amongst our allies."

"But, the death tolls, the worlds with populations slain by our soldiers?" Another called out.

Olana raised a hand, "Those are lies and propaganda. Let me explain a few facts and then I will leave you to think things over. Maybe one in ten of the facts in those leaked documents is real. The rest are lies and distractions. Releasing any of the information you have been sent will be seen as an act of sedition and treason against the Republic. The source is known to us and we are hunting for them as we speak."

She took a pad from one of the representatives, "You will each maintain silence on this information and once the war is concluded, the true facts held in these documents will be given to you to be distributed in your networks. As I said, anyone releasing this early or to cause disruption to the war effort will be dealt with appropriately, you have all been warned, so you have no excuse."

She gave the pad back with a smile, "Should you discover other sources to state this information, we only ask that you contact us first to make sure you are not going to cost loyal soldiers of the Republic their lives. You will be free to release anything that does not cause such an issue. Then, as I've already said, once the war ends, we will be able to provide more detailed information."

As the representatives began to talk over each other with their questions, a beep from her comms cut through the noise. She raised a hand for their silence, "If you will excuse me, I have a traitor to hunt and we have found him."

The moment she left the room, the Intelligence Officer waiting for her saluted and began to speak, "We have teams ready and waiting for the call to go Ma'am. Blocks are in place, the moment any of them try and leak the reports, security teams will storm their offices and arrest everyone. I have capture teams in place to grab their spouses and children to ensure their compliance."

Olana raised an eyebrow at the cold and brutal style of the officer, "Good. I like your style officer?"

"Isard, Ma'am. Armand Isard." He answered with a polite nod to her.

She smirked and motioned for him to follow her, "When the first attempt is made I want everyone arrested, from the board of directors down to the janitors, no exceptions. Make the arrest a public matter, I want lots of coverage for the treasonous and seditious agents of the Seperatists."

He nodded at that, "Of course, Ma'am. I'll have our informants leak the intel to trusted reporters. When it comes to the interrogations, do you want us to start with the individuals or with their families first? Many would break before we even begin work."

She paused in her stride at that, examining him in the Force and liking what she felt. She gave the man a nod and smile after a moment, "I do believe that we are going to work brilliantly together Isard. Start with the spouses first, leave the children until last, they break too easily to be of much use."

Isard nodded and saluted her, "I'll get to work immediately Ma'am. I look forward to working with you in the future."

Olana watched him march away motioning his men to follow him and opened a private comm line to her Master.

"Speak, Darth Lumiya." Sidious' annoying drawl came from the comm device.

Olana smothered her disgust at the man and smirked as she began to stride towards her speeder, "Master. I believe that I may have found a potential replacement for Mothma. If I didn't know better, I would presume you had trained him."

-o-o-o-o-o-

At the heart of the Senate, Palpatine stood proud and strong at his podium showing no sign of exhaustion or injury to counter many of the rumours running around this emergency session. He closed his eyes and sighed before he began, the carefully sculpted image of a statesman performing a duty he wishes did not have to occur. "Senators of the Republic. Today is a dark day in our history."

The crowd began to murmur, fear of terrible news from the war twisting their mood, Palpatine raised his hands to signal for silence, "Today marks two major events in our history. On one hand, I am relieved to confirm that General Grievous has followed his master Count Dooku from this existence. This leaves only the Separatist Council to arrest and then we can return the rebellious regions back into the fold, where they belong."

"However," he continued, "by the laws of the Republic, once the Council has been arrested, I must return my emergency powers over the Republic to you, the Senators of this august institution. Here, you will choose who to lead you further into the future and bring order to the galaxy."

Polite applause stuttered out amongst the Senators as they looked at each other in confusion on who would lead them. Palpatine hid his amusement at the flickers of naive ambition amongst them, although Mothma stood resolute and wary of him. That was pleasing, had she been one of those he sensed with a sudden flare of ambition, he would have been disappointed.

"Therefore, it gives me great regret," he continued, talking over the polite applause, "that as one of my final acts in my current post, that I must report that the Jedi Order has raised arms in treason against the Republic."

He gave them a minute to calm from their terrified and confused outcry, "Indeed. The Jedi served the Republic for centuries, always acting as mediators and guides for peace in the galaxy. But it appears that this was a mask from the truth. They did secretly and with despicable malice, orchestrate the galactic war that has taken so many lives from both sides."

He held up a datapad and pressed a button, sending the files enclosed to each Senator. All the evidence he had 'found and acquired' proving the Jedi's crimes. "It was a Jedi Master who began the production of the clone soldiers. It was a Jedi Master who created the Separatist faction. The Council and their secret allies have played both sides of this conflict for years, bleeding their rivals dry and bringing the galaxy to its knees."

He motioned for the boos to quiet as he continued. "Their actions, led them to attempt a coup. Four Jedi Masters came to my office, assaulting the guards and staff of this Senate, all in order to take me hostage. Of those four, two honestly believed they were there to arrest me, to protect the Republic they served. The others were there simply to kill me. It is only through the sacrifice of Jedi Masters Fisto and Tiin and the timely arrival of Generals Skywalker and Chion that I am alive today."

He nodded sagely and bowed his head in mourning for a moment before continuing, "Last night, I authorised the creation of an Inquisition to search the galaxy and hunt down any treasonous Jedi. General Olana Chion has been promoted to lead this group whilst General Anakin Skywalker leads the hunt for the Separatist Council as we speak. He will then join Inquisitor Chion as the primary hunter of the terrorist Jedi. Their first combined mission was the arrest and containment of those present in the Jedi Temple."

He looked pained and clutched a hand at his chest before continuing his story, "It is to my great regret that many Jedi chose to fight the legally authorised servants of this Senate, choosing death rather than capture. Further crimes to their names include the slaughter of hundreds of children studying their abilities in the Temple."

He slammed his palm down on his podium, the sharp crack of noise demanding their attention and focus, displaying his anger to his audience, "Rather than these innocents being taken into custody and interviewed to find the truth, their murderers chose to slaughter them to hide their secrets. Anakin Skywalker and a few other loyal Jedi managed to save less than fifty such children. Inquisitor Chion found the bodies of hundreds more, slaughtered in a suicide pact by the very Jedi Masters who should have protected them. There is even evidence that suggests that the silence from over a thousand worlds across the galaxy was part of their despicable plan. Loyal servants of the Republic are already on their way to investigate their actions further."

He waited a moment to let the horrified silence press upon his audience. "No matter how I may be judged by future historians, I cannot allow such a heinous crime to remain unpunished. Therefore, in the name of Republic mercy, I will be declaring an amnesty for all Jedi in the galaxy, with a duration of one week. I pray that they will hand themselves into the authorities for investigations into their history to occur."

He sent another set of files displaying his proposal to the Senate, "Those who are innocent will be transferred to the authority of the Inquisition. Those who are guilty will be tried for their crimes under the honest and fair justice of the Republic. Those Jedi arrested after this point will be held as part of the traitor's faction and will share their punishment in full. Those who are padawans or younger, they will be given leniency based on their age and actions. Those who are unable to hand themselves in by the deadline but have attempted to do so, or those who have secluded themselves and are not aware of what has occurred, will also be treated on a case by case basis."

He stood silent for a moment, listening to the approving grumbles around the hall as his final use of his emergency power as the Chancellor of the Republic was written into being. "I now open the floor for any further motions to be heard."

Several chimes sounded from Mas Ameeda's platform, nodding to Palpatine, he chose the pre-agreed Senator to begin, Ameeda stood tall and slammed his staff down to call for silence, "The Senate recognises Senator Halle Burtoni of Kamino to speak."

Halle Burtoni stood as tall and proud as she could due to her age, her white skin shining like a beacon as the lights fell upon her, "Senators, I speak not now on the threat of the Jedi, as that is all a matter of public record, especially for how my people have been used in this conflict. I speak now, upon the threat we face with the Jade Imperium at our borders."

She glared around the chamber, daring any to contradict her, "They are a young power, vibrant in their youth and victories, sure of their belief in the corruption within this Republic. And they were right to do so, this corruption, was proven beyond all doubt, with the Jedi's attempted coup. They will see us as tired, broken and weak. Poisoned from within and scared by the shadows in the depths around us. Easy prey." She waited a moment, her large eyes seeming to judge and weigh the worth of those she looked upon, "This cannot stand."

She straightened as much as her ancient frame would allow, "I therefore, propose to reorganise the Republic into a new government of law, safety and stability. Let us cast off the blood-stained and rotten robes of our past, to stand tall and strong, pure of focus. Let us be reborn as a new order, a Galactic Order."

Burtoni waited a moment a minute or two for the cheers and applause to reduce, before continuing, "But for this to work, we require a leader to stand for such ideals. One who has proven their ability and drive to do what is necessary, no matter the personal cost. One who is not afraid of the burden. Therefore, I propose that should the reformation of the Republic into the Galactic Order be approved, Chancellor Sheev Palpatine be offered the position of Supreme Leader of the Galactic Order."

At this, the Senate erupted into cheers of support.

Palpatine stood with his hands raised to call for quiet, for which his audience slowly did as they were bid. "Kind words, Senator. Whilst your trust warms my heart, I cannot accept such a position. Surely, a younger, more vibrant leader would be better suited to such a duty?"

The mob roared its disapproval of such a concept. " .Tine. .Tine." chanted by those Senators already in his service and rapidly picked up by those around them until it rose to a cacophony of noise that thundered through the chamber.

Palpatine smiled sadly and motioned for quiet once more, "Very well. It appears that the Senate has spoken of my suitability for such a post should it happen. I will accept such an offer, if it occurs."

Mas Ameeda stood and slammed his staff down to demand silence once again, "The motion by Senator Burtoni of Kamino has been put forward. Do we have a second, to move this motion to a vote?"

As the mob roared once more, Ameeda nodded. "For the public record, the second shall be noted as the Senate. Are there any to speak against such a motion?"

Padme was about to speak up when she caught motion from Mon Mothma nearby. Frowning, she saw that Mothma was motioning to sit and remain silent. Padme did as bid, but glared at the older woman in return.

Ameeda nodded at the silence, "Very well. Then the vote shall be put forward. May the future of your people guide your voice to say For or Against."

Mon Mothma guided her platform to link up to Padme and Bail's pair. "We have lost already; this is all bread and circuses for the mob. We must not give our new tyrant any more ammunition for us to follow the Jedi's fate."

Bail frowned in frustration, "Is there nothing we can do?"

Mon shook her head, "Vote as you feel, it will make no difference. We're already on a list to be watched. He's played the Jedi well and no-one can afford to be seen as supporting those who slaughtered hundreds of children. The army and navy are his, the Jedi are destroyed and those few that remain will blindly follow a hero like Skywalker. They'll be fanatical in their hunts, refusing to provide any doubt as to their loyalty to the new regime."

Padme just looked around and allowed herself a tear before slamming down on her emotions, "So, this is how liberty dies. To thunderous applause." She took a deep breath and signalled her vote of 'Against.'

Bail blinked in shock at what Padme had chosen, looking at his own vote in disgust at what he had sold his soul for.

Mon Mothma just sighed as she looked at the woman before her, "Why? You gain nothing by provoking him."

"He has taken nearly everything else from me." Padme said with a relieved sigh as she sat down, a burden gone from her shoulders that she hadn't realised had been weighing her down, "I will not let him take my morals or my voice. Plus, it might be petty, but I will not let him have his perfect victory."

-o-o-o-o-o-

AN:

First of all, thanks to all of my Reviewers: Incendie de Glace; AnimeA55Kicker; RoyalTwinFangs; orion0905; tf330129; mwinter1; Rebell 01; WarChicken; starboy454; anthonym3; Svenion; Peter Tool; The Shadows Mistress; carbon1923; EP (Guest); comodo50; fraewyn; The18thDoctor; Lycan01; killernooch; peachx89; bellapom; s.k.f.f.f; willam and jack and jake; .9279; TheScottishLegend; moozga; .7; Glas Blaidd; jc (Guest)

Thank you to all the guests who also reviewed.

Bearmauls: The Jedi were cocky and thought they couldn't lose. After all, Mace Windu went with 3 combat focused masters as support, what could possibly go wrong? Well… that for starters is a good answer. Feels weird to you? It feels weird to me, but that's because the last few chapters were actually written as one large chapter and I had to cut it up and neaten it up, so Harry disappears for a bit, but he'll be back in the next chapter in his proper place.

Light Lord Cybergate: Actually, Chapter 33 is an epilogue to this arc, 34 is where the next Arc starts. Don't worry though, I'm working on the SW side of things as well to show how events are progressing on that front. Apparently, my characters have gained a life of their own…

Seros109: Some will escape, some already have but the Inquisitorius is starting with a larger number to begin with. Bringing them up to a suitable standard will take years, but they have a head start now.

TriniRandy86: And I'll keep going in JK's world too :)

raw666: Harry wants his people protected before he starts another war. He knows he could win, even with the disparity in resources, but he doesn't want to accept the cost. Not that he won't use such information to weaken his rivals if given the chance. Palpatine doesn't actually realise the true threat Harry poses, he thinks he's just another rising Sith Lord who's gotten ahead of the curve. All it takes is a bad day involving an assassin and the threat Harry possesses is gone. How wrong he is :)

Jostanos: This version of Sidious recognises that he needs more minions with talent rather than a few elites. He's lost too many other assets elsewhere to afford to waste the opportunity. Not that it worked out entirely to plan, but some is better than nothing. Obi-wan has definitely had a change of perspective through his experiences and they are not over yet.

cengland: Thank you for the correction, I'll try to remember it in the future.

DanielHimura: Most of Harry's actions against Palpatine are small things that aren't much alone, but rapidly add up and cause bigger problems down the road. One battle almost cost Palpatine the war (Kamino), another took a large number of threats and hid them from him to be trained. Then there was Dooku's alteration to the master plan on Harry's behalf. Alone, they aren't too much, other than Dooku's nightmare plan, but together, the only reason the Republic still stands is that people believe it does and that they've won the war. The belief that outsiders think this is true is enough protection for now, but that protection is brittle.

aceron: The films show anakins fall as: he's a hero, he's a dark broody hero, he's stressed about the war and threat to Padme, gonna kill kids now! It never made sense to me. Clone Wars showed his drift from lightside to a grey mentality and then how his trust and faith were abused and broken.

DarthLux01: I'd say spoilers, but that's in the next chapter. Unfortunately this is a written story and not a tv show or it would look more epic.

red demon161: And more to come :) I'm pretty much completed this arc, so that's good.

hvm2k2: Theres a lot more to go before it gets to the end of this story, several years of Hogwarts yet in fact. I don't think it will be 70 chapters, but then again, I originally thought that it wouldn't be more than 10 or 15 for this arc… I can't really complain about George RR Martin anymore either, he only planned for 3 books, look where he is now!

Ariadne Venegas: Slight spoiler wise, I've already written snippets for Luke and Leia. Mara will know her parents well. This chapter should have given you an answer to your last question (better than cannon and in some ways worse).

l4w: Harry has fallen into the background a lot recently, but I was trying to wrap things up for the shift in setting. Don't worry, he'll be back with a vengeance.

juhiko02: Sorry that you felt that way.

brokenstrings001: Whilst you seemed to like the earlier work, I'm sorry that the later chapters don't seem to be of interest to you.

Face Yourself: The offer of Knighthood to Ahsoka is actually canon as per the clone wars cartoon. Some do get promoted that early, but it is a rarity in normal times. Its noted in the support material that the Jedi losses are forcing the Council to promote those not ready yet, and too young for the responsibility, to fill gaps and spread their numbers across the warfronts. The Jedi have very limited numbers and a slow replenishment rate. The CIS do not.

RngrThorne: Sorry that you feel that way with my story.

Tscchope: I'm sorry that you don't seem happy with the way the story has progressed.

ChildofDragons: Harry as a Jedi just doesn't really interest me for a story, if he was indoctrinated properly by the Order then he would just become one of many with a few unique powers. Whilst he might have wanted to return home early in events, he would have eventually accepted his place and let such desire fade. I could definitely see Harry becoming a Jedi and finding his place amongst them, finally reaching peace with himself. But that's not this story. Cloning a Force user is noted in the old canon as possible but the results are full of side effects if they work at all. Sidious doesn't want Harry, but he does want access to his power, hence he has plans for what to use the samples for.

RonneeM: Thank you very much and I hope that you keep enjoying my work. Harry's return is already written, I just have to get there with the rest of the story now. I was torn between two specific points, and wrote them both, but I liked one more than the other, so thats whats going to occur in Chapter 34. Hopefully you will enjoy how I twist things in the HP side of the story as much as you seem to have enjoyed this half.