Chapter 31

The windows of the Jedi Temple shattered as the avatar of light met the champion of the dark. Red and blue sabers flashed back and forth, faster than the human eye could follow. Luke snarled as he brought his lightsaber crashing down where Anakin's head had been, only to find that the Jedi had whirled away from the blow. Anakin's blade met the follow-up stroke, and the Jedi struck out with the Force. Luke's own Force met the blow, and the impact scattered around them.

The seats of the Counil were ripped from the floor and began to circle alongside the shattered glass of the windows as the swirling energies of the light and dark battled each other. This was where the true battle between the most powerful Force users in the galaxy was taking place, not the side-show they were engaged in with their lightsabers. The will of father and son clashed again and again as each strove to gain an advantage over the other, but they were too closely matched.

Anakin held the advantage as the battle began, but it was too small to exploit effectively. He drove Luke back slowly, trying to gain an advantage of position by summoning the air from outside, driving gale-force winds around the two.

Luke responded by raising his hand and unleashing a storm of lighting which filled the entire room.

Anakin didn't bother to block it. Instead he drew the hatred which powered the bolts of energy around him, and redirected them into the open air. A passing LAAT shattered under the bolts of energy, its contents falling into the streets far below. The entire exchange had lasted barely a second, but it represented only a small microcosm into the greater battle which was ongoing.

Chancellor Dooku stood firmly in his office. Across the horizon he could feel the Jedi Temple on fire as the remnants of the Order battled the invaders. Light and dark clashed there in power that dwarfed any battle the Count had been in. Even Palpatine could not have held his own against the two that did battle in the Council Chambers. But that wasn't Dooku's immediate concern. There were clones in the Senate building. Most of the Senators had evacuated before the attack. Or tried too. The evacuation ships had been shot down with ruthless efficiency, until the entire body had been virtually wiped out. Some small number might have survived, but not enough.

Most people believed Dooku was a fool for believing the war could still be won. But he wasn't. He knew the war was lost, but to accept that, to surrender to it, was worse than defeat. If the Republic was to fall then its death throes would be remembered at the very least.

And so Dooku of Sorenno, Master of the Jedi Order and last Supreme Chancellor of the Republic would die on his feet, in his office, and he would take as many clones as possible with him.

His opportunity soon arrived as the door was blown inward, and the first blaster bolts reached out toward him.

The Jedi contemptuously batted them away, then raised his lightsaber and advanced.

"Kenobi," Cin Drallig said as the fallen Jedi advanced on his former lightsaber instructor. "You were always a poor student, but you were the last person I'd expect to be serving the Sith."

Kenobi shrugged, "Sith or not Luke has been on my side since the beginning. More than I can say of the Order. He has done more than anyone in your order ever has. So we will rebuild the Order, into something greater than it ever was."

Drallig raised his saber and launched a quick strike which he believed would overcome Kenobi's shoddy bladework. The other man blocked it with ease. Drallig frowned and adjusted his attack, coming in from Kenobi's left while preparing to shift his blade in a feint that would allow a rightward attack immediately afterward.

Kenobi was not fooled, catching Drallig's saber as he attempted to change the blade's attack position. "Finally learned," Drallig noted.

Kenobi said nothing, only shifted his stance slightly to block the next attack. Drallig was preparing to thrust this time when he felt the point on his back. He whirled, but felt the pain enter his side. Lorana Jinzler swept her lightsaber to the right, burning through Drallig's upper body as she did so.

The Jedi Master fell, and Kenobi stepped over his body before answering, "Yes."

Raising his lightsaber again Kenobi ordered, "Tear this place apart until we find the younglings. Execute anyone else."

Jinzler nodded, "It will be done sir."

Kenobi scowled as the woman departed. The Jedi seemed to be under the impression that if they hid their students the Alliance would not find them. But there would no escape.

Bodies were piled on the threshold of the Chancellor's office as Dooku cut through the clones. A thermal detonator closed on him, but with a gesture he flicked it back, killing another half-dozen troopers in its blast.

He barely had time to savor the victory when more clones poured down the hallway, firing the entire time. Dozens of bolts were flicked back at the originators,and then he made a mistake. His lightsaber was out of position by perhaps a quarter of an inch. Just enough for the bolt to slam into his upper torso.

Dooku's armor-weave held, but he was staggered. Another bolt impacted, then another. The Supreme Chancellor pushed himself up, and threw his saber forward. It decapitated two clones, and impaled a third. But the attack had been a last gasp of defiance.

More bolts impacted on Dooku, and his armor weave was burned away under the stream of bolts.

He fell to the ground, and a final bolt hit his head.

"Sir," the clone announced as Kenobi demanded a status report. "We've searched the entire premises. There are no younglings inside the Temple."

"Impossible," Kenobi snapped. "They can't have left during the attack."

"Understood sir," the clone answered. "But they are not here."

What had been the Jedi Council chambers was completely unrecognizable. Stone had been peeled from the walls, ceiling, and floor, the chairs reduced to little more than flying bits of stone and metal. The room itself was held up mostly by the energies of the two beings who fought at its center.

Both felt the death of Count Dooku, but it did not affect their conflict in the slightest, as both had known it was going to happen.

What had begun as a battle primarily about power had degenerated until that was all that mattered. This immersed in the Force lightsabers were useless, every blow countered before it could begin, every avenue of attack covered. What mattered now was who was stronger, and who could keep their strength up longer. Finally Anakin blew the debris away and disengaged.

He landed on the far side of the room, breathing heavily.

Across from him Luke did not follow, his own exhaustion shining through. "We looked alike," Anakin commented, gathering his power once again.

"Understandable, between father and son," Luke said, likely expecting the revelation to shock Anakin enough to give him an opening. Anakin however offered no such weakness.

"Your mother would be disappointed," Anakin answered back, sending his power outward, checking if his plan was working. To his relief it seemed to have worked. Which meant that all which remained was to finish this battle.

"Mother is on my side," Luke countered, moving his lightsaber into a defensive position, seeming to sense a shift in Anakin.

"Not your Padme, the original," Anakin noted. "She was a freedom fighter. She died opposing me." Luke blinked at that and Anakin laughed. "I was the Dark Lord where you came from. Darth Vader, enforcer of the Empire, and Dark Lord of the Sith. But you can't see the irony here."

Luke shrugged, "Then you gave in once. Give in again, now. Let the hatred flow through you and accept your destiny."

Anakin turned away from his son, paying close attention to what Luke was doing through the Force. "Never." He said finally, echoing the words his son had used in that other life. "I will never turn to the Dark Side." He raised his own lightsaber. And threw it out the window. As it departed Anakin exerted his will upon it, shattering the crystal and the handle as it fell.

The Jedi turned back to his son and continued, "You have failed. The prize you sought escaped before you arrived. Even now Mace Windu leads much of the Order in deep space, taking the Padawans into the Outer Rim to become a new generation of Jedi. And your little experiment will follow them. You may have won the war, but you will lose Luke."

His son's face was distorted by rage, which was growing with every word.

Anakin smiled a little and knelt. "So do it," He said mockingly. "Strike me down. You will accomplish nothing. If I die I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

Moments later the red blade descended, and Anakin felt it impact on his neck. He watched with a cold detachment as his body fell, or rather his clothes fell. His body disintegrated as his consciousness become one with the Force.

Even as it did he felt the full weight of that other life hit him. Two decades of life as Vader was added to his own memories, and with a final sad thought Anakin turned his attention outward, pushing himself to where Windu would still need his help to escape Alliance patrols.

Behind him he knew, the battle for Coruscant was over, and with it the war.

Three days after Coruscant fell the remnants of the Republic met to declare a new constitution drafted, one to replace the old government which was tied so inextricably from the Core. In addition to Kalee Mon Calamari and Kashyyk were represented, as well as members from dozens of sectors in the Outer Rim. Still more were connected by Holonet, the infrastructure of which had been taken from Coruscant before the planet fell.

While getting so many people to agree on one law system would normally have been difficult the looming Alliance threat, and some Jedi assistance led to the new Constitution being adopted in just five days, officially founding the New Republic.

Three weeks afterward New Republic negotiators successfully negotiated a ceasefire with the Alliance, which was simply an opportunity for both sides to lick their wounds and prepare themselves for the next round of war.

Asajj Ventress watched all of this with detachment, her new master was instrumental in all of it after all. As the final documents were approved by the Senate, now based on Mon Calamari, she asked, "How long will it last?"

The blue spirit of Anakin Skywalker shrugged. "Long enough I think. The Alliance is trying to hold down a population larger than their own, will require many years to solidify their holdings. They will not strike again before that is finished. In the meantime we will continue our own work. Darth Rhamnous will die, but I could never have done it. No matter what he had done Luke was still my son. The son I failed."

Ventress nodded, she understood. She understood Skywalker more than anyone else most likely, and she had known he was going open-eyed to his death from the moment they'd first spoken on his return. "There is one question I still have," she said finally. "The source within the Alliance. It sent us another message on the day the ceasefire was signed."

Anakin nodded, "The smallest candle can keep the darkness at bay," he commented. "I know."

"But…who was it?" she asked.

Anakin smiled at her. "Everyone looked in the wrong place. The information pointed to someone high in the structure. Someone above reproach. But that wasn't the case at all. The source was someone beneath suspicion."

The spy had long wondered idly if he should come up with an interesting name to sign the messages sent to the Republic. But he could never come up with one that would be suitably vague, but also a personal signature. And so he had ended up rejecting the idea. Reading through the data available however he sifted through the details rapidly, picking out the most important information and uploading it into the Naboo communication system, which with a bit of work could be temporarily connected to the Holo-net. The message would be sent out at a random time, following normal courier messages. Tracing it was virtually impossible. And the spy should know. He had helped design the system.

Across the room his queen wasn't paying attention. She never did, not really. Even now she stood as her chronometer announced it was time to meet the Alliance delegates who would be using this place as the temporary capital.

"Come along," Queen Amidala told the spy as she began the trip.

The spy beeped in acknowledgement. R2-D2 withdrew his socket from the terminal and followed, his work done. Some part of him was sad about the betrayal. But Padme wasn't like this. Not HIS Padme. His Padme would have died before turning on the Republic like this. And he would never let THIS Padme win. Not when his own had sacrificed so much. That Padme had failed, and this one would suffer the same fate eventually.

He wasn't sure what, but something stopped the little droid and he thought back to the memory wipe. He'd known it was coming. And so had needed desperately to find some other receptable for his memories, to keep the knowledge of what had happened intact. The only suitable one had been his own past self, and that body still served him nicely. And really, who would ever suspect loyal little Artoo.