BOOK 1

Chapter 1

All afternoon, Padmé had been pacing back in forth in her apartment, struggling to keep her sense of dread at bay. A few hours ago, she had watched in horror as the Jedi Temple was consumed by an ominous dark grey smoke. Had Anakin been there when it happened? She couldn't bear to ask the next question if that was indeed the case.

She was therefore relieved beyond measure when C-3PO came into the room to inform her that Anakin's ship was approaching. Running out of the apartment onto the patio, she let out a huge sigh of relief when she saw Anakin stepping out of his fighter. Jumping into his arms, Padmé gave him a kiss before pulling away

"Are you alright?" she asked, running her hands through his hair. "I heard there was an attack on the Jedi temple, you can see the smoke from here!"

"I'm fine," he insisted. "I'm fine. I came to see if you and the baby are safe."

"What's happening?" she asked.

"The Jedi have tried to overthrow the Republic," Anakin said.

Padmé's eyes widened in shock. "I can't believe that!" she said.

"I saw Master Windu attempt to assassinate the Chancellor myself," Anakin said with a steely edge to his voice.

"Oh, Anakin! What are you going to do?" she asked, still in a state of disbelief. None of this made any sense. Why would have caused the Jedi to launch a coup? Were they intending to seize power for themselves or was this about removing Palpatine from office?

Anakin hesitated, turning away from her without answering. Padmé watched him with concern, detecting that something was amiss with him. "I will not betray the Republic," he said eventually. Turning back to face her, he continued. "My loyalties lie with the Chancellor, and with the Senate, and with you."

"What about Obi-Wan?" she asked as Anakin stepped back towards her.

"I don't know," he said grimly as he looked away from her concerned eyes. "Many Jedi have been killed. We can only hope that he has remained loyal to the Chancellor."

"Anakin, I'm afraid," she said softly, her eyes wide as she analyzed Anakin's somber expression.

"Have faith, my love," he said, placing a hand on her cheek tenderly. "Everything will soon be set right. The Chancellor has given me a very important mission. The Separatists have gathered on the Mustafar system. I'm going there to end this war. Wait for me until I return. Things will be different, I promise." Padmé nodded, trying desperately to convince herself that everything was going to be alright. Anakin leaned down to give her one last kiss. "Please, wait for me," he added before turning to return to his ship. Placing her hands over her belly, Padmé watched him step into the cockpit and fly away. Taking off, Padmé watched the ship until it had disappeared into the bright lights of Coruscant's skyline.

"My lady, is there anything I might do?" C-3P0 asked her, oblivious as always to the magnitude of the situation.

"No thank you, Threepio," she said, waving him away. As C-3P0 wandered off, Padmé stood transfixed on the spot. She should have felt relieved that Anakin was alive, yet she couldn't shake off her sense of foreboding. Something wasn't right with all this. The Jedi were peacekeepers, not power grabbers. Something was off about Anakin as well. His demeanor was different. She couldn't help but fear that something horrible had happened.

The next morning Padmé was sitting on her couch on the patio, contemplating everything that Anakin had told her when her doorbell rang, startling her. "General Kenobi is here to see you, my lady," C-3P0 told her, emerging from the hallway.

"Let him in," she said, relieved that Obi-Wan was alright. Perhaps he could provide her with some much-needed answers. C-3P0 turned around and waddled down the hallway to let Obi-Wan in.

Standing up, Padmé glanced at the landing pad where Anakin had arrived late last night, irrationally hoping that perhaps he would return. Padmé turned around to see Obi-Wan watching her from the hallway, his expression grim.

"Obi-Wan, I'm so glad you're alright," she told him as she walked over to greet him. "What are you doing here?"

"It's about Anakin," he said solemnly. Immediately on guard, Padmé did her best to remain calm although internally she was panicking. "When was the last time you saw him?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yesterday," Padmé said neutrally as she turned back towards the couch.

"Do you know where he is now?" Obi-Wan asked.

Padmé inhaled sharply, fearing where this line of questioning was leading. "No," she lied confidently.

"Padmé, I need your help," Obi-Wan said, descending the stairs and approaching her. "He is in grave danger."

"From the Sith?" she asked sharply, spinning around to face him.

"From himself," Obi-Wan replied, a concerned expression on his face. Obi-Wan paused for a moment, then reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "Padmé, Anakin has turned to the dark side."

"You're wrong!" Padmé retorted instantly, recoiling from him. "How could you even say that?"

Obi-Wan looked down and walked away from her slowly. "I have seen a security hologram of him… killing younglings."

"Not Anakin! He couldn't!" Padmé insisted, yet internally she knew that Obi-Wan was being truthful with her. But how could Anakin have done that? And why? None of this made any sense!

"He was deceived by a lie, we all were," Obi-Wan said, turning around to face her once more. "It appears the Chancellor is behind everything, including the war. Palpatine is the Sith Lord we've been looking for. After the death of Count Dooku, Anakin became his new apprentice."

Padmé's heart was thudding in her chest as she absorbed this terrible information. Blinking rapidly, she turned away from Obi-Wan in disbelief. "I don't believe you," she said eventually, hoping against hope that Obi-Wan was mistaken. "I can't."

She sat down, a crushing sense of dread and guilt crashing down on her shoulders. Palpatine was the Sith Lord? The man she had trusted for her entire political life? The man she had helped assume power? And Anakin had joined forces with him? But why? Why would he have done that?

Vaguely, she noticed that Obi-Wan had sat down next to her. "Padmé, I must find him," he said to her.

Padmé turned to Obi-Wan, a terrible realization hitting her. "You're going to kill him, aren't you?" she asked, suddenly understanding why Obi-Wan was here.

Obi-Wan said nothing for a long time, his somber eyes boring into her own. "He has become a very great threat," he said finally.

Padmé shook her head and looked away. She couldn't bear the thought of telling Obi-Wan where Anakin was. But if half of what he had said was true, didn't he deserve to die? Killing younglings? Turning to the dark side? How could her Anakin have done that?

Yet she couldn't tell him. She had to find out for herself if what Obi-Wan said was true, although she knew deep down that it was. Dismayed by her silence, Obi-Wan stood up to leave.

"Wait!" Padmé said, before she realized what she was saying. Obi-Wan spun around to look at her. "He's on Tatooine," she told him. "Palpatine sent him to Tatooine."

Obi-Wan frowned at her as he considered this. "Tatooine?" he said, sounding incredulous. "Why would he go there?"

"I don't know," Padmé said hurriedly, fearing that Obi-Wan might sense that she was lying. "He didn't tell me why."

Obi-Wan stared back at her silently for a long while. He had to believe her, Padmé thought to herself. That way Anakin would be safe and she would be able to find out the truth. "You're absolutely certain?" he finally asked.

"Yes," Padmé said confidently, her hands resting over her belly defensively. Obi-Wan nodded, his eyes drifting down to her midsection.

"Anakin is the father, isn't he?" he asked.

Padmé's heart skipped a beat. Unable to meet his gaze, Padmé looked down in shame.

"I'm so sorry," Obi-Wan said as he turned to leave.

Stepping over the charred remains of a battle droid, Anakin made his way into the command room where he had just destroyed the Separatist leadership. The war was won. He had been the one to end it.

So why did he feel so conflicted? Looking around at the carnage he had reaped on the room, Anakin felt a strangely detached sense of guilt. This… this hadn't been how things were supposed to end. He had thought that the war would end with a triumph, not with a silent massacre.

Everything he had thought he had known no longer made sense. His whole life, he had thought the Jedi were the epitome of goodness and selflessness. Now it had been revealed that they had been plotting to overthrow the Chancellor. They were the perpetrators of the war, not its reluctant participants! But was that really true? How could that possibly have been the case?

Yet Anakin forced himself to ignore these concerns. They were peripheral to his real motivation which was to save Padmé. There the Jedi had undeniably failed him. It was there fault that they had been forced to keep their relationship a secret. Only Darth Sidious was powerful enough to help him save Padmé's life. All other questions or concerns about Sidious' intentions or morals were moot to Anakin.

Sidious guaranteed Anakin that he would be able to save Padmé's life if Anakin fulfilled his end of the bargain. And so he had done it unflinchingly. He had destroyed the Jedi at the Temple and now he had massacred the Separatists on Mustafar. The end would justify the means, Anakin had told himself. Anything to save Padmé.

Reaching the hologram table in the center of the command room, Anakin entered the Chancellor's code and waited. After a few seconds, the disfigured form of Darth Sidious appeared before him.

"The Separatists have been taken care of, my Master," Anakin said neutrally, his arms crossed in front of him.

"It is finished then," Sidious said. "You have restored peace and justice to the Galaxy."

Anakin felt his chest swell with pride, his doubts quickly evaporating. Obi-Wan had never spoken to him this way! The Jedi had never given him credit for his victories, never acknowledged his talents. His new Master appreciated his true worth!

"Send the message to the ships of the Trade Federation," Sidious continued. "All droid units must be shut down immediately."

"Very good, my Lord," Anakin said. As Sidious' hologram faded out, Anakin turned his head when he heard a beeping sound. Noticing that the sound was coming from a nearby RADAR screen, Anakin saw with a start what appeared to be Padmé's distinctive ship approaching. What could she be doing here? Had something gone wrong?

Leaving the command room, Anakin stepped out onto the platform leading to the landing pad. Confirming that it was indeed Padmé's ship, Anakin removed his hood and began running towards the landing pad where he could now see Padmé descending the on-ramp. Reaching the ship, Anakin received Padmé's crushing hug. "I saw your ship," he said, holding her trembling figure tightly. Letting go, he held her at arm's length and gave her a questioning look. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"I was so worried about you," Padmé said, slightly out of breath "Obi-Wan told me terrible things."

"What things?" Anakin asked stiffly, displeased at the mention of his former master.

"He said you've turned to the dark side," she said, shaking her head with each word as if to convince herself that Obi-Wan hadn't been telling the truth. "That you… killed younglings."

Anakin hesitated, suddenly afraid of what Padmé would think of him if she didn't understand the full scope of the story. "Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me," he said.

"He cares about us," Padmé told him.

"Us?" Anakin asked.

"He knows. He wants to help you." Anakin smiled humorlessly at the prospect of Obi-Wan helping him. "Anakin, all I want is your love."

"Love won't save you, Padmé," Anakin said. "Only my new powers can do that."

"But at what cost?" Padmé asked. "You're a good person, Anakin. Don't do this!"

"I won't lose you like I lost my mother," Anakin said, determined to make her understand. "I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has dreamed of, and I'm doing it for you. To protect you."

"Come away with me," Padmé said, running her hands through his hair. "Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can!"

"Don't you see?" Anakin said, beginning to feel irritated. "We don't have to run away anymore. I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the Chancellor, I – I can overthrow him! And together, you and I can rule the Galaxy! Make things the way we want them to be!"

Anakin didn't know what he was saying. He had never before considered overthrowing the Chancellor. He certainly had never thought about ruling the Galaxy. But he thought that Padmé would appreciate this. She would understand that that he was doing this for the greater good.

Yet Padmé didn't seem to be convinced by his proclamation. Instead, she took a step away from him, her eyes wide with terror and disbelief. "I don't believe what I'm hearing," she said, shaking her head. "Obi-Wan was right. You've changed."

Anakin clenched his jaw in frustration. "I don't want to hear any more about Obi-Wan," he said, waving his hand in front of him. "The Jedi turned against me, don't you turn against me!"

Padmé's face contorted in a mixture of horror and sorrow. "I don't know you anymore," she said. "Anakin, you're breaking my heart. You're going down a path I can't follow!"

"Because of Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked.

"Because of what you've done! Because of what you plan to do!" Anakin looked away, trying to keep his anger at bay. Why couldn't she understand? He was doing this for her! "Stop! Stop now, come back! I love you!"

Anakin closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "Then why don't you understand?" he asked angrily. "I'm doing this to save you!"

Padmé suddenly doubled over in pain, her hands clutched around her midsection. "Padmé?" Anakin asked, afraid that he had somehow caused this. Padmé looked up at him, her eyes wet with tears, whether of pain or of sorrow, Anakin couldn't be sure.

"The… the baby." Padmé suddenly cried out in pain and collapsed to her knees. Terrified, Anakin dropped to his knees as well and put a hand around her back.

"What's wrong?" he asked urgently.

"I think my water broke."

Anakin gaped at her silently for a few moments. Now? The baby was coming now? What was he going to do? Somehow, he doubted Mustafar had adequate facilities for childbirth. Fully panicking now, Anakin felt lightheaded as he considered his options. He had to get Padmé off planet to somewhere safe.

Another groan of pain from Padmé kicked Anakin into action. Standing up, Anakin reached down and scooped Padmé up into his arms, his legs straining slightly with the effort. With the utmost care, Anakin carried Padmé back onto her ship where he laid her down on a conveniently placed cot. "You're alright, I'm going to get you out of here," Anakin said, somewhat out of breath. "Threepio, look after her!" he ordered, noticing the golden protocol droid standing nearby.

Glancing back down at Padmé, Anakin felt a jolt of abject terror when he saw that she seemed to be barely conscious. "Stay with me, alright!" he said hurriedly, his whole body beginning to shake. "I'll be right back!"

Rushing off to the cockpit, Anakin jumped into the pilot's chair and began the ignition process as fast as he could. Lifting the ship into the air, Anakin maxed the throttle to get out of Mustafar's toxic atmosphere as quickly as possible. Shifting over to autopilot, Anakin began frantically fumbling with the navigational computer, trying to find a nearby place to land. Why did the Separatists have to base themselves in the most remote part of the Galaxy? There were no planets anywhere near! Then he saw it. A tiny asteroid field called Polis Massa. It was so insignificant that Anakin had to zoom in for it to even register on the navigational computer. Hoping desperately that there would be someone there to assist them, Anakin punched the coordinates into the computer and jumped the ship into hyperspace.

Obi-Wan kicked a rock as he made his way back towards his ship on Tatooine. This had been a colossal waste of time. He had known the second he had landed on this inhospitable planet that Anakin wasn't on it. Yet nonetheless, he had spent the entire afternoon asking around in Mos Espa. Predictably, he had come up with nothing. It was theoretically possible that Anakin was somewhere else on the planet, but Obi-Wan knew deep down that he had been lied to.

Padmé had lied to him to protect Anakin. Obi-Wan had suspected that she might have done so even back on Coruscant. After all, what reason did Palpatine have to send Anakin to Tatooine? The planet was remote and entirely insignificant to the war. Yet Obi-Wan had went anyway. Was it because he had trusted Padmé so deeply? No, that wasn't why. It was because Obi-Wan hadn't wanted to find Anakin at all. He knew he wouldn't have been able to kill him if he found him.

So now what would he do? The Jedi were finished. As far as he knew, he was the only one left. He could keep trying to find Anakin, but Obi-Wan suspected that the window of opportunity to confront him was closing; Anakin was increasing in power by the second, Obi-Wan could sense it. Darth Vader would soon be the most formidable Force wielder the Galaxy had ever seen. Obi-Wan wouldn't stand a chance against him.

He would have to go into exile, as depressing as that prospect sounded. Perhaps he could retire somewhere nice, however. He certainly wasn't staying on this rock any longer than he had to. Yet as he approached his ship, Obi-Wan felt a surge of panic when he saw it had been surrounded by Jawas.

"No! Get away from my ship!" he yelled, pulling out his lightsaber. The Jawas scurried away, but the damage had already been done. His once proud Jedi Fighter had been stripped bare. There was no way he would be able to get off planet with this ship. Obi-Wan kicked the side of the ship in frustration. Ignoring the pain in his foot, Obi-Wan sunk to the ground in a state of utter dismay. Literally everything had gone wrong in the past few days.

A vibration in his pocket stirred Obi-Wan out of his despair. Producing his comlink, Obi-Wan stood up and placed it on the shell of his now useless ship. Turning it on, Obi-Wan was greeted for the second time in as many days by the hologram of Bail Organa.

"Senator Organa," Obi-Wan said, relieved to see a friendly face. "What news?"

"Master Yoda and I have escaped the capital and are on our way to an asteroid field called Polis Massa," Bail informed him.

"What of the Chancellor? Did Master Yoda defeat him?" Obi-Wan asked, although he knew the answer already.

"No, Master Yoda only just escaped with his life."

Obi-Wan gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. That had been his last hope. Now he knew he was stranded on this planet for good.

"Where are you Master Kenobi?" Bail asked.

"I am stranded on Tatooine," Obi-Wan informed him. "I received faulty intel that Anakin was sent here. My ship has been stripped by Jawas and I have no way to leave the planet."

Bail's forehead creased in concern. "Stay where you are, Master Kenobi. Master Yoda and I will contact you again when we reach Polis Massa." With that, Organa's hologram flickered out. Sinking to his knees, Obi-Wan put his face in his hands. How could this have happened? he wondered for the umpteenth time. Anakin, why did you do this?