A/N: With the self-quarantining, I've found myself with plenty of time to spare. I had this Star Wars fanfiction idea in my head for weeks, and I've finally decided to do something with it. I won't be following canon religiously in this fic, and I may slightly alter some events that took place in the Clone Wars. Those changes will be clear as we progress through the story. I'll incorporate elements from both Legends and Disney's Canon. It's kind of a take on the story had Anakin not turned. It would be most kind if you overlooked any grammatical errors (I will try my best to ensure they are to the minimum). I hope you stay with me until the end. Don't forget to subscribe and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. If only I did :( .. I also do not own the Cover Art of this fanfiction.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1: GOOD SOLDIERS FOLLOW ORDERS

"What I remember about the rise of the Empire... is how quiet it was." -501st Journal

Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine overlooked the Coruscanti skyline through the shattered window of his office. His long robes were billowing behind him in the breeze. Though the Sun had set for some time now, there was no shortage of citizens of the capital of the Galactic Republic populating the horizon. Numerous ships and speeders flew by his viewpoint, rushing about their day. Desperate to get home or to something of the sort. It would look no different at any other time, even past midnight. Coruscant did not sleep. Not even the recent attack on the planet had deterred its people. As of the moment, they did not know that the perpetrator of the assault had been defeated. Palpatine had taken care of that. He needed precious time, lest the Senate, like the Jedi Council, demand he immediately relinquish his hold on his emergency powers.

Palpatine briefly wondered how his plan would immediately affect the lives of the capital's citizens. Would it finally result in a pause in the lives of the Coruscanti? He would find out soon enough. All those species in those clusters of vehicles were painfully unaware of what was to come. They had not a clue that the galaxy would change that night. That the Clone Wars would finally find its end. That the Jedi Order would cease to exist. And the Sith would rule once again.

Palpatine's deep yellow eyes found the massive structure that served as the headquarters of the Jedi. It loomed over the buildings that surrounded it. The Jedi that resided within, sparse as it was with the majority of the members deployed around the galaxy, also were unaware of their imminent eradication. The 501st legion was on its way to the Temple at the very moment. Hundreds of elite clone troopers, having no choice but, would storm its grounds.

The Sith Lord had personally overseen the commissioning of the Five Hundred and First. He had ensured that its troops were given special training. He had assigned them to Anakin Skywalker for the very reason. He had hoped that the legion would continue to serve under him in the advent of Palpatine's New Order. Disappointingly, the powerful Jedi Knight was absent among its ranks on the fateful night.

Palpatine's plans had proceeded without a hitch. He momentarily admired how intricate and ingenious his plan was. Everything was in its place. Everything, but Skywalker. The young man was supposed to be on-world, within his clutches by now. But Kenobi had taken him to Utapau to eliminate General Grevious. Palpatine had strived to guarantee otherwise. He had volunteered Anakin's name for the mission, knowing that the Jedi Council would do otherwise out of mistrust and spite. He had almost got his way. Until Kenobi interfered.

The High Jedi General had insisted that Skywalker accompany him to the Outer Rim. He had argued for his former apprentice till the Council relented. It was a rare public show of affection and stark loyalty on his behalf. It had ruined the pinnacle of Palpatine's plan. Rage seeped into Palpatine's veins as he remembered that the supposed Chosen One was yet to become his Sith apprentice. Skywalker was the key to much that he desired. To the great power, he did not wield. He let the rage simmer, channelling it so that he could immerse himself in the immense dark energy of the Force. Skywalker would return. For his lovely pregnant wife, if for nothing else.

Palpatine turned away from the window to his office that was cluttered with shards of glass, broken pieces of furniture and antiques, and the bodies of three Jedi Masters. He stepped over the Jedi weapon of the late Master Mace Windu, whose body now lay in depths of the Coruscanti low levels. It had been no easy feat to defeat the skilled, there was simply no denying it, duelist. It had been decades since Palpatine had enjoyed such an intense duel. He pulled the hood of his dark robes farther down his face, trying to hide his disfigured face.

He made his way to his holoprojector. There was still much to be done. The 501st had likely reached its destination and had begun fulfilling its objective. Now, it was time for their clone brothers to do the same. He pushed the buttons on the device, and a miniature-sized, blue version of Commander Cody appeared before him. Palpatine smiled a sinister thing that would likely be obscured to Cody's view by his hood.

"Commander Cody, the time has come." He spoke the words that all his work in the last decades had culminated into, "Execute Order 66."

Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker ran his lightsaber through the torso of a B1 battle droid and slashed the head off another. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he moved on to the next cluster of battle droids. The victory was all but assured for the Republic forces. Obi-Wan had successfully dealt with General Grevious and the number of Separatist forces was quickly waning. The battle was theirs for the taking and the whole of the war with it. Three years of destruction and bloodshed would finally find its end.

And yet, the victory felt hollow to Anakin. He continued to cut his way through the clankers. His pattern of movements was almost mechanical and did not require much thought. He had been doing this for the entirety of the Clone Wars. Slashing down droid after droid. Dedicating his life for victory after victory for the Jedi and Republic. Anakin usually thrived in battles and victories made all he sacrificed to achieved said victories worth it. So he couldn't help but wonder why this grand victory felt more like a defeat. He wiped the sweat sticking to his forehead with the back of his hand, and tried to compose himself without becoming vulnerable for enemy fire.

"General Skywalker." Anakin tilted his head to the right, in the direction of the clone trooper who had addressed him. "General Skywalker, are you alright?" He cursed under his breath when he realized that he was breathing heavily and his unease was showing on the outside. Something wasn't right. Anakin could feel it in the Force, he just didn't have the time or the luxury to meditate upon it at the moment.

He nodded as he used the Force to push a handful of droids off the edge of the platform that the habitations on the planet Utapau were populated with. "Never been better, trooper." He turned to look at the man, forcing a grin upon his face. "Let's finish off these clankers once and for all, shall we?" Anakin began fighting with a renewed vigour for the sake of the men who followed him. The droid numbers were rapidly falling on his front of the battle.

Anakin decided that his men could handle this part and that he would join the fronts where he would be more of use. A gunship flew towards their platform, deploying more clone troopers, effectively surrounding the Separatist forces. Anakin leapt over the increasingly sparse number of battle droids, enhancing his jump with the Force to land near the gunship. He easily blocked the blaster fire that the enemy shot at him with his lightsaber.

"You'll take it from here, trooper?" He shouted over the blaster fire at a clone who had exited the gunship. He moved to replace him on the hovering vehicle. The soldier in question saluted him, "Yes, Sir. We will secure the area." Anakin nodded at him gratefully. He moved on to address the pilot of the gunship. "Let's go."

"Right away, Sir."

Anakin surveyed the battle from above. The fighting was still going on, but he knew that it would soon cease. The exchanging of blaster fire was more intense on the higher levels. They needed to start focusing on those parts. "Take me to Commander Cody's position." He heard the pilot retrieving Cody's coordinates over the comm. He used the time to reached out in the Force, locating Obi-Wan. The uneasy feeling was yet to fade away, and Anakin wanted to make sure his friend was alright. Anakin found Obi-Wan not far from them, apparently in the direction the gunship he was in was headed to. His former master's Force presence did not appear weak or injured, to his relief.

The pilot landed the ship a few yards from Cody's position beside an AT-TE. Obi-Wan, seated upon a huge lizard-like creature was talking to him. Anakin made his way towards them and watched as Cody handed Obi-Wan his lightsaber. Anakin suppressed a chuckle at the implication. This weapon is your life, Anakin. Obi-Wan was rather fond of reminding him of that. Well, it would appear Obi-Wan forgot his teachings this fine day. His master seemed to not notice him approaching for after dispensing his orders to Cody he made his way to the higher levels.

Immediately, Anakin felt a great disturbance in the Force. He slowed his pace, his vision blurred as he tried to steady himself. The bad feeling he had been experiencing throughout the battle intensified what felt to be by a thousand times. He began running to Cody, stumbling over debris. He saw the clone commander receive a transmission. Anakin's stomach twisted in horror as he watched Cody directed the AT-TE to focus fire on Obi-Wan, who was on a narrow ledge. Anakin shouted as the blast toppled Obi-Wan off the creature he was riding. He watched as the two made a fall into the deep pit that the dwellings of the Utapau population circled. The chances of surviving such a fall were slim.

No. No. NO! The single word was the only thing that ran through Anakin's head. Nothing else registered in his mind. Nothing else made sense.

He turned to Cody, Obi-Wan's second-in-command who just betrayed him for no apparent reason. Anakin ignited his lightsaber with a snap-hiss and raised his hand murderously as he approached the traitor. Cody noticed him a moment too late, he lifted the man off his feet using the force, clenching his fist. He watched with pure rage and a sick sort of satisfaction as Cody struggled to breathe under his grasp. The feeling calmed him. Distracted him as the feeling of dread and betrayal echoed through the Force. He couldn't even tell if it was his feeling alone anymore. He tried to reach out into the Force and see if Obi-Wan survived, but he couldn't concentrate.

The clones around Cody aimed their blasters at Anakin, but he paid them no mind. He focused on the man before him. "You shot down Obi-Wan." Anakin snarled. He made no attempt to tamp down the anger that exploded within him as he heard his own words.

Cody struggled to speak and Anakin loosened his invisible grip. "We had orders, Sir."

"Orders?" Anakin bellowed as he raised his lightsaber, placing it a few inches away from the man's heart. There had been rogue clone troopers before, but none had acted so blatantly before. Nor were they ever support by their brothers. Cody nodded, his gaze not wavering from that of Anakin. If Anakin was not wrong, he detected a minuscule of horror in them. Or guilt. He couldn't tell, nor did he care to try and decipher it. A traitor was a traitor. And he had fired on Obi-Wan.

"From the Chancellor, Sir."

"The Chancellor?" Anakin regarded Cody incredulously, "You expect me to believe that." He noticed that many of the surrounding clones were trying to decide a course of action. Unsure who to strike. Anakin or Cody?

"Orders are orders, Sir." Cody elaborated, the effort to get the words were taking a toll on him. He responded almost robotically as though they were not his own words. Anakin scoffed at the commander, but did not interrupt him as he continued, "Order 66, eradication of the Jedi, is no different."

Now, Anakin struggled to breathe, to comprehend what was being said. Eradication of the Jedi? Ordered by the Chancellor? By Palpatine? No, Cody had to be wrong.

"You served under Obi-Wan for years," Anakin said quietly. It had to be a lie. It had to be. "He was your friend."

"Good soldiers follow orders."

He stumbled back, releasing his grip on Cody, as something registered in Anakin's mind. It hit him, robbing him of his breath. Cody gasped for air as he fell on the ground. He slowly got up, rubbing his neck. He stared at Anakin, unsure of what to do. He must have decided to put the moment behind him as directed his troops to move onto the higher levels. As though Anakin hadn't been inches away from killing him, he went on to carry out Obi-Wan's orders.

Good soldiers follow orders. Tup had said the same thing when he had turned on Jedi Tiplar and later attacked her sister, Jedi Tiplee. Anakin did not pay attention as Cody conducted the movement of his troops. He didn't even know what to do. He buried his head in his hands as he remembered. He barely registered the tears that were streaming down his face as the betrayal continued to ripple through the Force. This time he knew that it was not his own betrayal that he was feeling. At least, not just his own.

Fives had warned them of a plot to kill the Jedi. Of an inhibitor chip in the clones to make them do whatever a certain someone wants. A plan the Chancellor had been in on. Anakin had dismissed it. So had everyone else. It started to make some sort of sense. Sort of.

Why, but why?

Palpatine could not be behind this. Behind the clone betrayal. He was Anakin's friend. Anakin had trusted him. Defended him when the Council wanted him to spy on him. There was no other explanation though. Cody would not have betrayed Obi-Wan otherwise. Fives must have been right in the end. Anakin lifted his head and turned around to stare into the pit Obi-Wan had fallen into. If the Chancellor had implemented the orders on Utapau, it had been implemented elsewhere as well. He struggled to wrap his head around the implications. The betrayal of the clones and Palpatine.

Why would Palpatine wish to get rid of the Jedi? They had their disagreements. True. But, total eradication? That was extreme. Palpatine simply was not capable of such an act. He had been his friend. Rage bubbled through Anakin once more. He needed to do something. Anything. He knew he had to. But, for once in Anakin's life he put much thought in his plan before he acted. He had to check on Obi-Wan without the clones noticing. He had to get off the planet and try to warn those he could. He was desperately forming a plan in his head when he realized something, He whipped his head in Cody's direction. Cody and his men ignored his presence as they moved up to finish off the battle with the Separatists. Anakin stared at them, puzzled. Their orders were to kill all Jedi.

They weren't shooting at him.

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