FicWad

His Serene Highness, Prince Bail Prestor Organa, Senator, First Chairman, and Viceroy of Alderaan, floats in a bacta tank, suspended somewhere between total unconsciousness and true sleep. Though the explosive collision in which he was injured during the attack on Coruscant had occurred roughly four and a half days previously, Bail's injuries had been so extensive and severe that, after being put in the healing tank roughly an hour after that crash, he has been taken out of the tank, still unconscious, only for brief periods of time - as his healing progressed enough for it to become possible for the surgeons to work on him safely, delicate surgeries repairing traumas so grave that not even bacta could completely heal all of his hurts - before being put back in it again. Despite the fact that the last of the required surgeries were successfully completed roughly a day and a half before, the medical droids don't expect Bail's body to mend rapidly enough to support either true sleep or full consciousness for at least another handful of hours, at which point it will be time to remove him from the tank and take him off the ventilator that is breathing for him while he is submerged in the bacta. Bail, however, has always been both extremely healthy and an incredibly fast healer - physical traits that are, fortunately (given injuries that could have easily killed someone less strong), rather common in his immediate family, something that is usually attributed to higher than normal Force-sensitivity, since the Organa family is historically known for a tendency to produce Jedi and Force-sensitivity also consistently runs fairly high on his mother's side of the family - as the members of the Organa household are all well aware, and so various Senatorial aides and friends have been taking turns keeping watch over the badly injured Prince since soon after Mon Mothma was able to contact Bail's residence in the apartment complex at 500 Republica Way, where the Alderaanian senior Senator has his home away from home, keeping spacious apartments for his immediate household and staff during his time on Coruscant, and inform them of Bail's status.

Fortunately, since their skimmer crashed quite near to Hospital Plaza, C-3PO and Mon Mothma had been able to get the badly injured man to help almost immediately - a very good thing, considering the fact that the combination of his many injuries, including some bad internal bruising and bleeding, were life-threatening and required full-submersion bacta treatment to be fully dealt with. In realizing that Bail Organa was not dead - as Mon Mothma had, in her dazed condition following the crash, at first wrongfully assumed - and assisting in getting him to the nearest medical unit, C-3PO had indeed literally saved the Alderaanian Senator's life.

Which is why, at approximately the same time Chancellor Palpatine began to drop his disguise and lash out with Force-lightning first at Master Dooku, then at his own door, and then at Master Mace Windu, Bail Organa begins to show signs of stirring prematurely and regaining consciousness within his tank.

***

Alderaan, the second planet of the Alderaan Sector, is one of the Core Worlds, meaning that it is located within the Galactic Core, an ancient region that borders the outlier areas of the Deep Core, that relatively small - and also generally, if wrongfully, considered to be inaccessible - region of space hidden within the extremely densely packed mass of stars at the heart of the galaxy. The Galactic Republic was originally born in the Galactic Core and spread out across the galaxy from the Core Worlds, which remain some of the most prestigious, well-developed, well-known, and heavily populated planets in the galaxy. Given the advantage of a good hyperdrive system, the Alderaan Sector is, relatively speaking, quite close to the Coruscant Sector and the capital world of the Galactic Republic. For the surviving ships of the Separatist armies that took part in the engagement against Coruscant, Alderaan also unfortunately happens to lie along the path of one of their safer, more direct escape routes, despite the fact that the planet is actually closer to the Core than Coruscant itself is. This is due to the fact that the attack, including the eventual disengagement and escape of key vessels, was all carefully planned out beforehand utilizing Dooku's knowledge (thanks to his many, many years of unrestricted access to the Jedi Archives) of the secret routes that safely traverse the enormous gravitational pull of the vast number of stars in the Deep Core, which severely warps the local space-time and makes most hyperspace travel within the region difficult and dangerous at best.

Thus, the enormous Separatist fleet sent against Coruscant avoided detection by the Republic commanders monitoring hyperspace reversion points by jumping from the Deep Core directly to Coruscant along one of the few safe hyperlanes into and out of that region. Much of the remains of this badly battered attack fleet - especially the surviving ships that were ordered to linger behind to ensure General Grievous' safe escape - avoided capture or outright destruction by fleeing past Alderaan to the designated regrouping area, using a safe route between Coruscant and the Deep Core and a more direct route from that region out to the Utapau System of the Tarabbaa Sector in the Outer Rim Territories - that last widely settled expanse of loosely allied primitive worlds and frontier planets that lies between the enormous body of the Republic proper and the reaches of Wild Space, the true frontier of galactic society and the final barrier between the areas of known or at least mostly charted space and the true mystery of the Unknown Regions.

The HoloNet was down during much of the beginning of the attack on Coruscant, since surface communications were badly distorted by both the planet's own defensive shields and the interference of some unknown jamming source. However, by the time Mon Mothma and C-3PO had gotten Bail out of the remains of the crashed skimmer and safely into the nearest med unit, the HoloNet was back up and enough communication had been restored for the conscientious Chandrilan Senator to send a message out to Alderaan, informing the proper authorities of their Viceroy and Prince's condition. Thus, Breha Antilles Organa - inheritor of the title of Queen of Alderaan due to her status as Prince Bail's wife and Alderaan's classification as a hereditary constitutional monarchy with a High Court and legislative High Council traditionally presided over by the heir of the Royal House of Organa - who normally does not travel with her husband, even during his longest trips to Coruscant, because of her slightly fragile health, received word of her beloved husband's injuries quite soon after the crash. Though the Tantive IV was unavailable for her use, having taken Bail to Coruscant, Breha quickly made arrangements with another ship of the Royal Alderaan Civil Fleet to be taken to Coruscant and her husband. Sadly, the volunteer defense fleet formed to protect the people of Alderaan during the Separatist crisis and the ensuing Clone Wars, though an effective collective deterrent against most threats, had not been assembled with an eye towards individual ships that would be able to easily survive large-scale, concerted attacks. All of the fleet's vessels are equipped with both offensive and defensive weaponry and machinery, but its specific ships were never intended to have to withstand the desperate might and savagery of a tattered and fleeing but still mainly fully operational Separatist fleet.

Unfortunately, though Grievous and much of the fleet have already passed Alderaan by the time arrangements have been made, the departure of Breha's ship from Alderaan coincides with the passing of the last sizable organized wave of fleeing Separatists.

Given the fact that the Separatists refuse to honor even the general rule of not attacking medical vessels in war - which had become standard throughout most of the galaxy in the wake of the Great Hyperspace War and remained so for thousands of years, right up until the era of the Clone Wars, when the Confederacy of Independent Systems broke the unwritten law of war - for many it will come as no great surprise, when word breaks regarding the latest Separatist atrocity: the surprise attack upon and complete destruction of the Queen of Alderaan's ship, the small Corellian Corvette /Winter's Heart/. For Breha Antilles Organa, death comes mercifully swift.

Neither the Queen nor the crew of Winter's Heart even have time to see the end coming.

***

The Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the main Temple of the Jedi Order, is an enormous structure consisting of what amounts to a kilometer-high ziggurat and five slender towers, each tower devoted to a different aspect of the Order's governance. The ziggurat itself is several thousand years old and houses innumerable classrooms, meditation chambers, instruction amphitheaters, and exercise rooms, but it is far more than simply a glorified school. It is the living heart of the Order, central to the maintenance and growth of the Jedi Order itself, and it is here that a majority of the process of recruiting new members to the Jedi Order occurs, including the recording, testing, and training of Force-sensitive candidates. Within the myriads of rooms within the ziggurat, thousands - tens of thousands, prior to the advent of the war - of Jedi hopefuls work towards the goal of becoming Jedi Knights. Thousands of Force-sensitives as young as three, two, or even one year of age live in the Temple crèche (generally up until the age of about nine, when they often move out into the dormitories) their ability with the Force having been identified early enough to bring them to the Temple for training. They live and study within the walls of the ziggurat, rarely leaving except for on short, mainly educational trips while under the direct supervision of various Jed Masters. Visitors to the ziggurat are often left with the impression that the structure is a self-contained city, complete with everything that might ever be needed by the young initiates who live there and study the ways of the Force, though in truth the Temple normally more accurately functions as a monastery or commune, with each Jedi working towards the common goal of the growth and development of the Jedi Order.

At any given time, the main ziggurat of the Jedi Temple is filled with thousands of beings of many different species. The vast majority of Temple residents either have a strong connection to the Force or could develop such a connection, given the proper training and dedication. While Jedi hopefuls make up the largest number of these Force-sensitives, and the second largest group of beings found in the Jedi Temple are the Jedi Knights and Padawan learners - although, given the ever-dwindling numbers of the Order since the construction of the Temple a millennium previously, since the beginning of the Clone Wars far less than the normal ten to twenty percent of the ten thousand or so Masters, Knights, and Padawan learners guarding the Republic are typically in residence within the Temple at any given time - a sizeable non-Jedi staff provides vital technical services as well as more general everyday labor onsite. Some members of this staff are failed Jedi hopefuls whom the Reassignment Council have determined would best serve the Order within the Temple, and although these non-Jedi enjoy a somewhat restricted movement within the Temple, generally limited to those areas where they work and other such related locales, their offices and living quarters are, similarly to those of the bonded Master-Padawan pairs and newer Knights, scattered throughout a goodly part of the main ziggurat. Other Temple inhabitants also include various dignitaries, ambassadors, and other non-Jedi personnel who have business with the Order or have come to the Temple specifically to take advantage of its rightly famous and enormously extensive Archives. During periods of heightened galactic tension - and especially since the beginning of the Clone Wars - the Temple positively bustles with Republic personnel who coordinate matters of joint concern with the Jedi Order. Entire complexes of rooms within the ziggurat exist solely for such eventualities. During quieter times, the Temple generally hosts only a few dozen visitors at a time. But many of the rooms that have become empty since the beginning of the war have since been filled with Republic personnel and junior ambassadors as well as other such government officials in training. As with all other non-Jedi personnel, their movements are restricted, though the Council makes exceptions for individuals they either implicitly trust or whose immediate assistance they cannot risk losing.

In addition to the main ziggurat, there are also the Temple's five spires. Certain of these spires are more densely populated or staffed than others. For example, the central tower of the Temple is the Temple Spire itself, which stands somewhat taller than the other four that surround it and, while acting as an adjunct to the libraries in the ziggurat below, also contains the Holomap Room at its base - a enormous area that contains a holographic projection of the entire galaxy, drawing on the transmissions sent in to the Temple from Jedi on active duty off-planet as well as their agents on thousands of Republic worlds and receiving continual monitoring from twelve teams of Jedi for sources of trouble that require the attention of senior Jedi. Though extensively staffed, this spire usually is not incredibly densely populated. The southeast spire is similarly situated. A subcouncil of the Order known as the Council of Reconciliation occupies this spire, working for the peaceful resolution of disputes between individuals as well as groups and entire worlds. This spire contains countless meeting rooms, both large and small, as well as small libraries and research areas, since the Jedi firmly believe that ignorance is a prime cause of the hate and anger that often boil over into violence. By providing ready access to information, the Council of Reconciliation hopes to resolve disputes before they became too violent to control. Of course, since this approach doesn't always work, the site also includes many intervention and meeting rooms as well. This spire also serves as the nerve center for Jedi operations off of Coruscant, coordinating with the Holomap Room in the Temple Spire to pinpoint sources of trouble and disturbances within the Force all throughout the galaxy.

The Jedi Council Spire is located atop the southwest corner of the ziggurat, with the Jedi Council Chamber sitting at its summit. Though not as thoroughly staffed or densely populated - though most of the Council Masters live within the confines of this spire - when occupied it tends to function as both the heart and the brain of the Jedi Order. On the other hand, the northeast spire of the ziggurat is normally both densely staffed and populated. This spire is the home of the Reassignment Council, which answers to the Jedi Council and performs the vitally important though often overlooked task of finding placements for Jedi hopefuls who either do not pass their trials or who are not chosen as Padawans by Jedi Masters. Unsurprisingly, given that thousands of Force-sensitives are detected and brought to the Temple every year, only a small percentage of them ever become full-fledged Jedi. Rather than simply casting these Force-adepts out, thereby squandering valuable resources, the Reassignment Council attempts to find useful work for them either outside of the Order or upon the Temple staff. Because of the sheer numbers of failed hopefuls whose needs the Council attends to, the Reassignment Council spire is jam-packed with offices and administrative personnel. Even the war has not put a dent in the sheer amount of work accomplished by or the workers employed within this particular spire. The northwest spire of the Temple is also normally densely populated and staffed, since it houses the Council of First Knowledge, which works in concert with the Jedi Archives in the ziggurat (as well as the Temple Spire) to bring ancient Jedi wisdom to bear on more modern problems. Because the Republic has been steadily growing more impatient with the Jedi and their traditional ways within the past decade or two, this task has become increasingly difficult. Consequently, the Council employs increasingly large numbers of researchers and philosophers skilled in both Jedi lore and galactic laws and customs who attempt to provide solutions that are both true to Jedi principles and accessible to the larger public of the galaxy - a monumental undertaking even before the war broke out, though the Council of First Knowledge has, nevertheless, enjoyed notable successes over the years, such as the settling of the E9D8 Rebellion and the Vestas Ruling. It was a Jedi sent from the Council of First Knowledge who helped mediate the slight controversy surrounding the most appropriate line of ascendency upon Alderaan and who subsequently oversaw the ascendency of Bail Organa to the position of Viceroy of Alderaan.

Technically, along with the main ziggurat and the five spires, the Temple itself also includes four protruding wings. The west wing, between the Council of First Knowledge Spire and the Jedi Council Spire, houses the trainee dormitories, for those Jedi hopefuls who are approaching the age when they can be chosen as Padawan learners and spend the vast majority of their time in classes and in training, so that they are no longer entirely considered to be just younglings of the crèche. The south wing, nestled between the Council Spire and the Council of Reconciliation, houses a majority of the actual training facilities for young Jedi hopefuls as well as for more seasoned Jedi Knights and Masters, including some of the training rooms and wards of the Healers (who also possess living quarters, as well as rooms for their wards, within the nearby body of the ziggurat proper, though the entire area occupied by the Healers, in both the ziggurat and the south wing, is sometimes referred to inclusively as the Healers' Wing). The east wing, in between the Council of Reconciliation and the Reassignment Council, houses the administration center for the day to day goings on at the Temple, including requisitions and actual storage spaces for inventoried staples as well as more specialized supplies, information on classes and special events being hosted by the Temple, etc. The last wing, the north wing, is between the Reassignment Council and the Council of First Knowledge, and simply known as the public center. Most casual visitors to the Temple do not pass beyond this section of the Temple. These four wings are quite likely the most vulnerable sections of the entire Temple complex, more vulnerable even than the spires (which are far less open to the surrounding area), and the east and west wings are almost always full almost to the point of capacity with young ones and civilian noncombatants. The Temple complex is itself also surrounded by an extensive Precinct, which also offers docking space for larger spaceships, and contains other buildings - many of them administrative, and several of them also devoted entirely to specific families of craftsmen and tradesmen who cater exclusively to the Temple and have, in many cases, done so loyally for generations - that were built after the construction of the main Temple structure. These buildings also often tend to be filled almost exclusively with civilian noncombatants and families, including young ones.

The Jedi Temple was not built with an eye towards defensibility. The vast structure of the Temple complex sits upon a flat plain. Unlike so many other buildings on Coruscant, which tend to be towering monuments of efficiency and spare design, the Temple is itself a vast, sprawling work of art, with many elaborate mosaics and ornate columns - carved out of or formed from and often also fitted with the beautiful precious, semiprecious and otherwise rare or expensive or just simply lovely materials of easily thousands of worlds in the Galactic Republic and its surrounding territories - and soft, rounded lines that draw in the eye and hold it. Courtyard areas and sheltered nooks scattered from the rooftops on downwards filled with bas-reliefs, statuary, fountains, and free standing sculptures show in many areas of the complex, especially in and around its public center, with lights set at varying angles to distort even the shadows into designs of beauty and mystery. There are also extensive gardens, both wild and formal, on the rooftops of much of the Temple structure, both for practical purposes for the Healers and the kitchen staff, meditative purposes and purposes of communing directly with the Living Force for the Jedi, Jedi trainees, and, in some cases, for the rare souls known as friends of to the Jedi Order, and also for purely decorative purposes, meaning that some of the more famous garden areas are discretely open to the entire public for viewing. The Jedi believe that growth and harmony are fostered by a setting of beauty and tranquility. Thus, the Temple was specifically constructed to foster the safe and continual growth and harmony of the Order, to act as a centralized authority for the discovery, testing, and training of Force-sensitive candidates, and to at least nominally house all full members of the Jedi Order, all in a place of harmony and beauty.

The Jedi Order is made up entirely of the most elite, powerful, and highly trained Force-adept warriors, peacemakers, and diplomats in the galaxy. Until quite recently, it had never even occurred to those whose job it is to make sure that the Jedi Order continues to operate smoothly and safely that there might someday be an actual need to be able to truly defend the Temple against any kind of outright attack. While it is entirely possible to completely seal off and to even barricade all of the many entryways and exits for the various sections of the enormous Temple complex - even the landing areas lining the open sides of the ziggurat proper can all be locked up tight - and the Temple does contain several shielding devices that can conceivably protect the Temples walls against small arms such as handheld weapons and the weapons common to most of the smaller shuttles that can only operate within a planet's atmosphere, the whole of the Temple structure is not truly protected against the threat of long-range weapons or the more powerful weaponry of space-worthy vessels.

The clone troopers who answer the Sith Lord's call when he orders the Jedi Temple to be attacked and razed have access to many weapons that the Temple walls and its shields simply are not configured to easily withstand, at least not over an extended period of time or if struck with a heavy bombardment.

Unfortunately, Obi-Wan's worry about the Temple younglings in the event of such an attack is entirely appropriate.

***

Gate Master Jurokk - an almost startlingly youthful-seeming Fierrerreon Jedi actually in his mid-seventies, his age betrayed only by the tracery of laugh lines on his face, creased deep around his gentle sea-green eyes, and the fact that his two-toned hair (once a vivid bright red and a shade of brown so dark that it had often been mistaken for black) has faded to a mixture of pale silver and dark, brown-flecked gray, giving the appearance of a distinguished mix of salt and pepper from a distance - is given the shock of his life when the brightly glowing blue Force spirits of Jedi Masters Qui-Gon Jinn and Dooku abruptly manifest in the middle of his common room. He is so stunned that he doesn't even attempt to catch his dropped teacup, instead allowing it to shatter against the patterned tile at his feet, splashing its contents up across his boots and out over a surprisingly wide section of the floor.

"There is no time to explain! Palpatine is the Sith Lord! He has commanded the clone troopers to attack and raze the Temple! You must come /now! /Quickly! Sound an alarm to warn the Temple staff and the other non-Jedi while I go rouse those who are in charge of the crèche and fetch Master Yoda! We /must keep the children and noncombatants safe!"/ Qui-Gon snaps.

"Shut down all of the nav beacons and signal lights, get all of the older Padawans armed, and make sure that all of the blast doors are sealed and code-locked. We can keep the clones from penetrating the Temple with the more destructive weapons, but you must get the Temple sealed off against actual incursion by the troopers. /Hurry! /They are already halfway here!" Dooku adds, appearing on Qui-Gon's heels and then vanishing upon them as well.

They are not Force-commands, but there is such command in those voices - as well as such complete honestly and utter naked urgency - that Gate Master Jurokk automatically leaps to do several things that he has never before done in his entire career within the Jedi Order. For one thing, he initiates a total lock-down of the Temple, without being ordered to do so by either the High Council or Master Yoda. For another, he trips the Temple-wide alarm system - a fairly new security measure that was installed in the Temple following a barely thwarted plot to assassinate many of the highest ranking Jedi Masters via a bomb within the Room of a Thousand Fountains and which has never been seriously used, though there have been practice drills since the start of the Clone Wars - and then locks the system so that only he can unlock it and the system cannot be overridden by anything short of a formal request by the Council. Last of all, he retrieves the two spare lightsabers he has squirreled away - ironically, Gate Master Jurokk has, since return of the Sith became an undeniable fact after the death of Qui-Gon Jinn on Naboo, secretly taught himself to effectively and elegantly wield two blades at once - and, leaving his primary lightsaber clipped securely to his belt, runs from his chambers towards the main holocomm center of the Jedi Temple, the hilts of the two spare lightsabers held securely at the ready - if not yet ignited - in his hands.

***

Master Yoda has surrendered himself completely to the current of the Force, and he is lost within its flow.

There are times, when the current is swift and steadfast, that Master Yoda can see through the eyes of his fellow Jedi, almost as if they were acting as the Temple's remote sensors. And there are also times, when the current is especially forceful, when it surges as if descending from great heights, that he can hear a voice that sounds much like Qui-Gon Jinn, just as clearly as if the stubbornly independent Jedi Master were still alive.

Master Yoda, that familiar voice might say, we still have much to learn. The Force remains a code only partially deciphered. But another key has been found. Given time and effort, we will become stronger than we have ever been . . .

This has not been one of those days, though. No, today the current has been continuously interrupted by whirlpools and random eddies, hydraulic traps whose roar overpower the words of advice Yoda seeks, the calm inner voice of reason he longs to hear. Meditation is the surest way for a Jedi to obtain the unvarnished truth of an objective opinion from within when circumstances would otherwise impair that Jedi from being consciously impartial. It also helps to attune a Jedi to the will and fluctuation of the Force. The utter lack of understanding between Master Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi regarding Anakin's usefulness as a spy within the Supreme Chancellor's office is so troubling that Yoda desperately needs the added focus and aid in achieving true objectivity. Unfortunately, this has been a day not for a pellucid and tranquil flow, but rather for a furious and tainted rush, as of a flooding river muddied by red soil eroded from distant shores, treacherous with shifting obstacles and inconstant.

Though Yoda is scarcely aware of it, his eyelids have squeezed tight, his eyes dancing beneath them as if incapable of focusing on any one thing. He is haunted by an image of himself drawing aside a veil only to find another one beneath it, and another one beyond that, and another and another and another.

The Dark Side frustrates Master Yoda's every effort to see clearly.

This humbling and frustrating experience is still something new to him, so new that he is at something of a loss as to how to proceed, other than by continuing to struggle to see. Master Yoda has had centuries to grow used to his abilities with the Force and to hone his skills in using the Force, especially his sight within the Force, and even though he is still working on perfecting his far-sight ability, he has become used to being able to easily see far more than others. While the taint of the Dark Side never completely disappears from the Force, mainly it simply scrabbles along the surface, scratching away at the edges of perception, like an insect skittering across the furthest edge of a transparisteel panel. Only within the past century or so has Yoda been able to truly sense its incremental increases in strength whenever the Jedi have erred, or the Republic itself has erred, and only much more recently, as these instances of error began to come hand in hand, fast and furious, has that increase in power become so great that the actual extent of the taint has grown markedly more difficult to avoid, to work around.

Drawn into the mistakes of the Republic, the Jedi have been. But knowingly, I fear, and sometimes with full complicity, as Dooku claimed when still one of us he was. Allowed the Dark Side to take root, the Jedi have. Allowed arrogance to infect the Order, the Jedi have. A priority, holding on to power has become. Inflated by their own conquests, the Jedi have become.

There are many - even some Jedi - who believe that Master Yoda is not aware of these things or think that he hasn't done enough to stem the rising tide of the Dark Side. Some even believe that the High Council has acted improperly or, worse, ineptly. What such beings fail to understand, though, is that the growth of the Dark Side, once rooted, is not only inexorable but can only be reversed by the one born to restore balance to the Force.

Yoda is a powerful and wise Jedi Master, a living legend within the Order, but he is not that person. He is not the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy.

Venerable, experienced, knowledgeable and wise, diplomatic and informative, brilliant with a lightsaber, and enormously powerful in the Force . . . yes, certainly, Yoda is all of these things. And he is also not unacquainted with the power of the Dark Side. For that last reason alone, he understand just how dangerous this final Sith Lord is. Unfortunately, he hadn't had a sense of the true extent of the danger until he had fought Dooku on Geonosis. However, he had understood completely, afterwards.

In self-exile for a thousand years, the Sith have not merely been waiting for an appropriate time to reemerge and exact their revenge; they have been awaiting the birth of one strong enough to embrace the Dark Side fully and become its dedicated instrument. And that is who and what Sidious is: powerful enough to hide in plain sight. Powerful enough to instruct his apprentice, Dooku, to expose him, and still remain hidden from the Jedi. And just as arrogant as - if not more so than - the Jedi. Convinced that his way is the one and only way. An implacable foe of the worst possible kind: fanatic about his goals and utterly devoted to the source of his powers. And indisputably brilliant, doubtlessly literally off the charts, intelligence-wise. Smart enough that even now the Jedi cannot seem to ferret him out.Did Sidious know about Anakin Skywalker, know of the prophecies of the Chosen One?

Surely he must. After all, what better way to ensure complete victory over the Jedi and the Republic than by killing or corrupting the Chosen One? Even if the prophecies and signs have all somehow been misread and Anakin Skywalker is not the Chosen One, there is still the fact that the boy is so overwhelmingly strong in midi-chlorians - birthed by the Force itself, as Qui-Gon would put it, and never a thought of the possibility that Anakin's mother might have been lying to him when she had declared that there had been no father and that she couldn't explain what had happened or how, only that she had carried the boy and given birth to him - that his presence within the Force is like a blazing sun when most are merely a flickering candle. Oh, yes, the Sith Lord is surely well aware of young Skywalker. The real question is how would the unstable young Jedi Knight react when Sidious finally, inevitably, tried to ensnare him? Given his affection and loyalty to Palpatine, his dependence and devotion to Obi-Wan, his excessive emotionality, and his intractable nature, his stubborn independence and insistence upon acting according to the whims of his heart as opposed to obeying the orders of the High Council . . . Yoda fears that the boy's ties to Palpatine must be immediately severed, at all costs, and that Obi-Wan must be won over utterly to the side of the Council, without delay, or else the boy may not prove strong enough to resist.

And if that were to happen, if Anakin were to be slain or if he were to fall . . .

Yoda's body shudders as he suddenly gasps, his eyes flying open. "Hmm?" he mutters, stunned, still rattled from a sudden disturbance in the Force, of so great a magnitude that it has hurtled him entirely clear of the Force's flow.

At his thought command, the window shutters in his quarters swiftly open, allowing Yoda to gaze out upon Coruscant, over the vast plain that holds the towers of The Works and beyond. There is something wrong with the view, though what little Master Yoda can see is so indistinct - shrouded by the darkness of night and curtaining rain from the storm - that he cannot pinpoint what that wrongness might be.

He has a bad feeling that whatever it is, though, it is something that is advancing on the Temple, swiftly.

In the next instant the Temple's alarms begin to sound and, without stopping to wait or to look any longer, Master Yoda snatches up a spare lightsaber and hurtles himself forward at a dead run, out of his rooms and into the hallway, seeking out Gate Master Jurokk and the reason, the source, of the alarm.

***

Bail Organa is showing strong signs of stirring as he prematurely regains consciousness within his bacta tank, his eyelids fluttering until they finally open partway, his dark gaze heavily clouded with medication.

Swiftly laying his datapad aside as he gathers himself up out of his chair, only turning momentarily away from the tank, one of Bail's patiently waiting watchers, Raymus Antilles - Captain of the Alderaan Diplomatic Cruiser Tantive IV and younger brother of the Prince's wife, Breha Antilles Organa, who is both Queen and Minister of Education of Alderaan - slaps on the comm and barks to the healer on duty, "He's awake! Get in here and get him out of that tank!" Turning back, he unthinkingly reaches out, pressing one of his hands up against the transparisteel that separates him from his Prince, whose limbs are beginning to move now - strangely slow and fluid movements that would doubtlessly translate to jerky thrashes without the resistance of the thick suspension fluid and bacta.

The healer or medical droid or whatever ought to be responding to his call isn't moving quickly enough to suit Raymus, who has not yet recovered from the shock of learning that his Prince and brother by marriage had nearly died in the chaos of the attack while Raymus was essentially safe at home, in his wing of the Alderaanian apartments, and who is trying not to imagine the worry that his second oldest sister, Breha, is doubtlessly suffering over her husband's injuries. The suspension fluid and bacta seem to be draining so slowly! Only the knowledge that too quick a transition would be a shock that the Prince's battered body does not need to have to withstand keeps him from urging a faster speed. The moment Bail is tilted out onto the stretcher, Raymus is there, moving out of the way only long enough for the breather mask to come off and for Bail to begin breathing again on his own, clearing his lungs with the usual nasty sounding hacking cough that accompanies such a mask being pulled away.

The Crown Prince of Alderaan is covered in shockingly bright slimy goo and rather resembles a half-drowned feline - a far cry indeed from his normally thoroughly poised, polished, proper, and usually extremely fashionable appearance. Raymus Antilles could care less, though, as his Prince and much-loved brother-in-law draws in one unaided breath after another and immediately begins making motions as if he were trying to sit up. Shaking his head, Raymus Antilles laughs and helps lever Bail into a sitting position, pressing a kiss to the center of the Prince's forehead and ignoring the bitter taste of the wet bacta residue. "Easy, Bail, I have you. You're safe in a med unit on Coruscant. Your skimmer crashed, remember? You needed several surgeries and a lot of time in the bacta tank to get you well enough for all of them, so the doctors weren't expecting you to wake nearly so soon. Those of us who know you know you better than that, though, and we've been taking turns watching for you. They'll have someone in here soon to check you over and then we can see about getting you clean of the bacta and suspension fluid, alright? We can see about getting you home after you're clean."

Bail shivers a little, coughing again wrackingly, convulsively, before he can manage to ask, "Others?"

"My Prince, I am pleased to inform you that Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila survived the crash with only minimal injuries. She did not wish to be in the way and so did not remain any longer than was required for a medical droid to give her a quick once over. C-3PO, the protocol droid, was barely damaged at all and was, according to Senator Mon Mothma, largely responsible for saving your life - for which we are all very grateful," Raymus answers, still smiling despite his slightly more formal mode of response, before a tired look of quiet sorrow creeps into his eyes. "However, I regret I must inform you that Senator Amidala of Naboo perished from the injuries she took during the crash. Senator Mon Mothma reported Amidala's passing as a swift one and was quite firm in exhorting us to inform the senior Senator of Alderaan that the crash was the fault of a vulture droid and he is not allowed to blame himself for Senator Amidala's death - unless, of course, he wishes to be visited by the spirit of said Senator, who will doubtlessly box his ears for him and set him straight on the matter. Or so Senator Mon Mothma claimed, in any case."

Bail's shoulders and head bow momentarily with grief at the news of the death of Senator Padmé Amidala Naberrie of Naboo, formerly Queen of the Naboo, but he nods at Mon Mothma's words, sorrow in his eyes but a faint smile upon his lips as he straightens back up. "Coruscant?" he asks, eyes mutely pleading for a full answer.

"Brother, you must hear the HoloNet recording I made for you of Anakin Skywalker's statements!" Raymus shakes his head, voice and eyes full of awed amazement. "I've never been entirely sure of that boy, but by the Force, Bail, he and Kenobi have truly outdone themselves this time, and Skywalker could not praise Kenobi enough for his part in the day's events."

Bail's right hand clamps with surprisingly strength around Raymus' arm, considering how uncoordinated and weak he is. "Obi-Wan! He is - ?"

"Master Kenobi is fine, Bail," Raymus quickly assures the agitated Prince. "Perhaps slightly concussed, from the sound of things, but he went to the Temple to make an immediate report to the High Council once they were safely back on planet, and you know that Skywalker would never have allowed him out of his sight if he had been truly hurt. You've missed most of the battle, so you have no idea how close the Republic has come to ruin. Palpatine was captured during the fight. He was taken prisoner by General Grievous himself. We truly thought that would be the end of the Supreme Chancellor, but then Kenobi and Skywalker came roaring in with the Open Circle Armada from the Force only knows where out in the Outer Rim and worked their way through the battle until they reached Grievous' ship, the Invisible Hand/, so that they could make their way onto the ship and rescue Palpatine. Bail, you really /must see the recording and hear this all in Skywalker's own words. His recounting of the rescue is a labor of love. Kenobi planned the entire rescue, knowing that it would be a trap, and it was, a trap meant to capture them, specifically. Count Dooku himself was on Grievous' ship. Kenobi and Skywalker were forced to fight him and Kenobi was knocked unconscious as he protected Skywalker from Dooku and the super battle droids set to guard Palpatine, destroying the droids before he fell. Skywalker recovered and defeated Dooku, but the three of them - Anakin and Obi-Wan and Palpatine - were captured by General Grievous' droid bodyguards before they could find a safe way off of the ship. According to reports, a ship of the Open Circle Armada - RSS Integrity/, under a Lieutenant Commander Lorth Needa, who was no doubt following orders from Kenobi - harried /Invisible Hand incessantly, until the ship began to break up. The Jedi had fought their way free at this point and were about to take on Grievous when the Invisible Hand began to deorbit. Grievous fled the ship, of course, jettisoning all of the escape pods in the process, but Skywalker actually managed to pilot a good-sized chunk of the ship in for a controlled crash landing on Coruscant, out in the industrial zone somewhere, with Kenobi's help. It was the most amazing thing, Bail! They got part of it on the HoloNet and I have to tell you that I've never seen such a thing before. That boy has got to be the best pilot in the galaxy. There is no way he should have been able to land that ship, even if it was only a piece of it," he swears, a look of complete awe in his eyes.

Bail frowns and coughs again, not quite as violently as before. "Palpatine - safe?"

"Well, he looked a bit worse for wear, but it certainly didn't keep him from politicking as if it were the last chance he'd ever have for it. The man is shameless, Bail. Knight Skywalker was speaking quite eloquently about his former Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, when Palpatine rather abruptly cut him off. The young man was very gracious about it, though, despite the Chancellor's rather rude dismissal of him as well as the entire Jedi Order. He simply said that he was due back at the Temple and did not wish to monopolize the anyone's time," Raymus shrugs. "Knight Skywalker has been on the HoloNet so much since the war started that I was beginning to wonder if the boy wasn't a glory-hound. But he was quite clear about the need to give Master Kenobi his due for planning the actual rescue and for risking his own life to protect Skywalker during the confrontation with Dooku. If the young man learned his manners from Obi-Wan, I can see why you approve of Master Kenobi so much. If this cursed war ever ends, then perhaps Alderaan should issue Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker both a formal invitation asking them to consider relocating to the Jedi's smaller chapterhouse on Alderaan for a time. Force knows we could benefit greatly from such advisors."

With a small smile, Bail admits, voice rasping only a little, "Been drafting and redrafting the request ever since Anakin made Knight. Dooku's truly gone? For certain?"

"He would not surrender and Skywalker defeated him," Raymus shrugs again. "The Jedi seem a bit . . . mystified by the Chancellor's response to the news, though. Personally, I think the man is just not willing to consider ending the war unless it's on his terms. I happen to agree with the Jedi's assessment of the situation: Dooku was the impetus behind and the leader of the entire Separatist movement and I cannot believe their alliance will hold long without him. Palpatine, however, does not see things in this light. Unfortunately, our beloved Chancellor believes that the war cannot and will not end while Grievous is still at large. In fact, he claims that things will get even worse now without Dooku to keep Grievous in check, and he's declared that the Republic should not and will not even consider offering the Separatists the chance to surrender until after General Grievous has been dealt with. Palpatine is utterly determined to keep fighting, Bail, and the people of Coruscant - not to mention quite a few of the Senators on Coruscant - are frightened enough that they're agreeing with him." Shaking his head, Raymus grimly adds, "Leave it to Palpatine to use a disaster like this attack and the people's fear as an excuse to get more and keep more power for himself. The man is power-mad. He's throwing away a real opportunity to end this war."

Bail's face is grim and his voice rough as he bitterly notes, "I'd feared something like this would happen. Mon Mothma and I spoke about it briefly, as we were searching the Rotunda for Padmé. Now that he's a rescued kidnaping victim, the Senate will be blamed for sure, for voting to escalate the Outer Rim Sieges that have tied up so many of our ships and troopers, as if this war could never come to Coruscant, even though the Senate voted as Palpatine wished, believing his arguments that the war could be won with such tactics." Shaking his head, he quietly adds, "I am blessed with a strong working relationship with the Jedi. More than many others do, I understand the true depth and reach of their power. Obi-Wan himself assured me, soon after this war began, that the Jedi could have prevented the events of Geonosis from sparking a full-fledged war, if only they had been given the time and leave to hunt down and deal with Dooku, before Palpatine and the Republic had declared war. He spoke the truth to me that day. So I have always believed. And in my heart, I have always believed that the Jedi could have long since stopped this war, if only Palpatine would cease interfering with them and limiting their ability to act. He has so much power now that they are little more than his pawns in this. If Palpatine's supermajority in the Senate votes to give the Chancellor control over the Jedi Order - a vote that I know Palpatine was planning to have called soon - and if he then refuses to allow them to make the remaining Separatists an offer of peace, they will have no other choice but to abide by his decision and begin seeking Grievous out so that Palpatine will no longer have the General to hold on to as an excuse for refusing to consider peace. In the meantime, though, Palpatine will doubtlessly only continue to usurp more and more power from the legislature. By the time the Jedi have managed to deal with Grievous, I fear it may no longer even be possible to force Palpatine to resign from his seat of power, as he swore to do several emergencies ago, when he was first asked to remain in office past his term limitations. The Senate may have only granted the Chancellor executive powers for the duration of that one emergency, but they've followed on the heels of each other and now it is only Palpatine himself who has the authority to declare when the Republic's state of emergency is over. We must find a way to make him surrender power back to the Senate: we cannot allow the man to become a dictator/. We /must do something to keep that from happening. To begin with, perhaps a petition of some sort: a strong show of solidarity within the Senate might possibly stop Palpatine from further subverting the Constitution. But then, if he were to pass an executive decree regarding the governance of specific systems or sectors, as I've feared he might be working towards doing, with the steady buildup of his own personal power base . . . " Bail closes his eyes and shakes his head despairingly. "If Palpatine installs his own sector governors, placing them in positions of power over the already existing planetary governments, the Senate will not easily be able to force him to withdraw them again, war or no war. As a practical matter, the Senate would no longer even exist. Palpatine would have effectively subverted and dismantled the entire democratic system of governmental checks and balances. How would we be able to stop him? Palpatine could easily gain control every planet in the Republic directly/, just by placing his lackeys in power over all of the local governments. He would be able to enforce a dictatorship: all he would have to do is garrison troops on every planet to ensure the 'safety' of his handpicked sector governors, and his clone troopers would gain power over /all of our systems. Thousands of years of democracy . . . " Bail shakes his head again, shivering. "We cannot allow him to destroy all of that. But we cannot allow this to become another war, either. Many of the Core Worlds are like Alderaan: they no longer have armed forces and their planetary defense systems are mostly either supplied by volunteer organizations or through some combination of a local police force and a part of one of the Jedi-run armadas. Unless the Jedi are presented with an option to stand against Palpatine - and they are the sworn protectors of the Republic, so I cannot imagine that they would not oppose such a dictatorship - and are allowed the chance to take it, a political solution will be our only option. And that may not be enough. We will need the support of the Jedi for this. I need to speak to Obi-Wan or Mace Windu or both regarding this threat."

"I know you have made plans against such an eventuality, Bail. You are not only our greatest voice within the Senate: you are our Prince, and the people of Alderaan know that you will fight to defend and preserve our freedom. Alderaan will stand with you, whatever you decide is necessary. The Jedi are likely still occupied with reports and probably will be for much of the coming day, considering their part in today's battle. Do you want me to arrange an early meeting with Senator Mon Mothma?" Raymus asks, voice and manner completely serious. "Palpatine has called for an emergency session of the Senate in the morning, but she will likely wish to meet with you beforehand, if possible."

"I would prefer to speak to Obi-Wan first, but if he is not available, then Mon Mothma will do. Now help me get to a 'fresher, please. This is taking too long and I can't waste any more time waiting on some med-droid to give me a clean bill of health. I'll be fine," Bail insists.

"Of course, Highness. At once."

***

Sidious attempts to run and the two Jedi follow, advancing with inexorable swiftness upon the fleeing Sith Lord. From the shadow of one black wing of a sleeve, a small weapon - the part of the object hidden for decades within the neuranium "statue" that Sidious had twisted off of the larger whole and slipped undetected into the voluminous folds of his robes earlier, while he was still pretending to be only Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and trying to either bend one of the Jedi to his will or else to defeat them by turning them against each other - an easily concealed yet still incredibly powerful backup, a tiny bit of treachery expressing the core of his Sith mastery, slides down into one withered hand and spits out a flame-colored blade, just in time to bring it into a defensive block against the two blue blades seeking the Sith Lord's flesh.

Blade-to-blade, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker may be identical, but shoulder to shoulder, they are irresistible. After thousands of hours in lightsaber sparring, they know each other better than brothers, more intimately than lovers; they are complementary halves of a single warrior. In every exchange, Obi-Wan gives ground. It is his way. And in every exchange, Anakin presses the attack, for that is his way. Together - the one bending and swaying and yielding only to dance inexorably back, unshakeable and unable to be overwhelmed, and the other challenging and pushing in to cut closer and ever closer, skirting the edge until it is impossible not to give ground - neither the rage- and anger-fueled Dark power and hate-driven swiftness that almost was enough to utterly destroy Mace Windu nor the howling fury of the unnatural Dark lightning is enough to stand against them. More, Anakin and Obi-Wan burn like fusion torches, like sunfire, like stars exploding into supernovas, within the Force. Exchanges flash, with leaps being sideslipped or met with flying kicks, ankle-sweeps being skipped over and punches parried, and doors fall before them in pieces, furniture tearing up away from the floor to fly towards targets that inevitably skip gracefully out of their paths, lash out to cut the items to pieces, or call upon the Force to blast the missiles to splinters. Eventually, the ornate furniture and occasional pieces of genuine artwork are replaced by consoles that explode in fountains of white-hot sparks as they rip free of their moorings and hurtle through the air.

When they reach the Senate Arena, tangible evil forks from the hands of the Sith Lord in the form of Force-lightning and a thousand years of hidden Sith exult, through Sidious, in the darkness of what they have achieved. "Your time is over! The Sith rule the galaxy! Now and forever! Your beloved Republic is /mine/!"

"Your rule is at an end; the Sith are at an end," Anakin, the Sith'ari, firmly counters.

"And I must say that neither one ended quickly enough," Obi-Wan, the Chosen One - the pinnacle and the might of the Jedi Order - quietly adds.

When their blades meet, it is more than Anakin and Obi-Wan against Sidious, more than the climax of millennia of Sith plotting and teaching and adaptation against the refined essence of the wisdom and power of legions of Jedi and the inexorable press of the ultimate culmination of the Sith's own prophecy: it is the expression of the fundamental conflict of the universe itself.

Light against darkness. Growth and creation against death and destruction. Love and trust against the deceit and betrayal of treachery.

No holds barred. Winner take all.

And eventually there comes a turning point in this clash of the Light against the Dark.

It does not come with a flash of Dark lightning or the swift slash of a shrieking, blazing energy blade, though there are these in plenty; it does not come from a flying kick or a surgically precise punch, though several of these are traded, too. Instead, it comes as the fight shifts from the holding office to the great Chancellor's Podium; it comes as the hydraulic lift beneath the Podium raises it on its tower of durasteel a hundred meters and more, so that it became a laserpoint of battle flaring at the focus of the vast emptiness of the Senate Arena; it comes as both the Force and the Podium's controls rip delegation pods free of the curving walls and make of them hammers, battering rams, catapult stones crashing and crushing against each other in a rolling thunder-roar that echoes the snarling roar of the storm that still rages over Coruscant outside of the sheltering confines of the Senate Building. It comes when one half of the avatar of Light resolves into the lineage of the Jedi and the enormous breadth and depth and length of that lineage refines into one single Jedi. It comes when the other half of the avatar of Light resolves into the culmination of thousands of years of Sith prophecy and the pinnacle of that prophecy refines into one single Jedi. And it comes into that lightning-speared tornado of feet and fists and blades and bashing machines when the final Dark Lord of the Sith reaches out into the Force and seeks among the shifting paths of far-sight for a victorious resolution for this battle . . .

And seeks . . .

And seeks . . .

Until, finally, he sees the truth.

The truth that he, Darth Sidious, the avatar of Dark, the most devastatingly powerful and staggeringly intelligent and utterly implacable foe that the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic have ever known -

Simply cannot win.

After that, the end comes swiftly and with shocking suddenness.

Sidious screams in denial and releases his hold on the power of the Dark lightning for an instant, just long enough to whirl away through the air to alight on one of the delegation pods as it flies past -

Half a second too slow.

Sidious misses the pod.

As he crashes down against the Podium and falls, hurtling down the long, long distance to the floor of the Arena that lies so very far below where they have been fighting, easily a hundred meters straight down, Obi-Wan backflips and dives gracefully off of the Podium, hurtling with inexorable swiftness after Sidious, while Anakin simply leaps out into space, throwing himself headfirst off of the Podium, rushing headlong in his pursuit. Dazed, all Sidious can do is blindly throw off more Force-lightning - lightning that the two Jedi easily catch with the blue blades of their lightsabers, deflecting it safely away from themselves and from each other. Gentle pushes of the Force bring them slicing down over, across, under, and then back around Sidious' tumbling body, and then they are turning in upon themselves, rolling up into balls that hurtle like cannons towards the floor until, at the very last moment, they spin gracefully out and right themselves to alight, as lithely and as lightly as feathers floating to the floor, upon the ground, their bodies naturally ranged shoulder to shoulder.

The pieces of the former Sith Lord hit the floor with much less grace.

Arms and legs fall free of the trunk of the body and scatter out across the rubble-strewn floor, no single piece coming to rest within less than twenty meters of any other. The head, however, by some vagary of chance, manages to fall on top of the body.

Anakin and Obi-Wan are standing over that head and the trunk of that body immediately, lightsabers not just at the ready but already leveled out towards the bulk of the Sith Lord's remains.

They need not have bothered to be so cautious, though.

Sidious is well and truly dead.

Blue blades vanish and then the two Jedi tumble together, arms desperately tight about one another.

"Hold on," Obi-Wan warns. "It's coming now."

The next moment, the entire structure of the Senate Building rings as though it were a violently struck gong, the vibrations rapidly spreading out from an epicenter that seems to be based halfway between Obi-Wan's physical location in Anakin's arms and the location of the head and trunk of the Sith Lord's body. In that instant, in the nearby Jedi Temple, every Jedi, every Force-adapt, and every Force-sensitive, from the eldest Master to the youngest new initiate in the crèche, feels and is simultaneously rocked to the core by an enormous explosion of power from within the Force, so enormously disturbing and yet so painfully ecstatic that it wrings tears from the eyes of many. As if in answer to the sudden rise of the violent storm of darkness surrounding the remains of Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi's body abruptly seems to violently erupt with a brilliantly incandescent and white light, Anakin Skywalker's own presence within the Force burning white hot in answer to that light, so strong that there comes a strange sense of barriers starting to shake, starting to crumble and to give way, at the outermost edges of their firmly intertwined perception. The disturbance within the Force as the power of the two Jedi literally burns away the darkness of Sidious' evil quickly doubles and then redoubles in strength, Anakin's own body flaring and then exploding into light, blazing in time with Obi-Wan's, the resultant conflagration of power within the Force so strong that the galaxy itself shivers, ringing at its strength, vibrations racing across space and time to shake Force-sensitives and Force-users both within and without the bounds of the Galactic Republic, regardless of age or strength or personal affiliation, whether they claim to be of one particular aspect or side of the Force or not.

If anyone else had been present amongst the twisted wreckage at the base of the Arena and if that being had somehow been able to see past the blinding explosion of light surrounding Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and quickly swelling to fill and even somewhat overflow the entire enormous structure of the Senate Rotunda, then that being would have seen the Force itself lifting and cradling Anakin, much as he has lifted and cradled Obi-Wan to himself, so that the two come to hang suspended in midair, surrounded by white light. The holorecordings pick up nothing but what appears to be a sudden storm of dark energy - like an exploding maelstrom of barrage after barrage of the evil Force-lighting - being swallowed up or burned away by a blaze of whiteness centered around where Obi-Wan and Anakin are embracing, wrapped in each other's arms. For perhaps two minutes, two minutes that are simultaneously far too short and yet far too long, the holorecordings capture nothing but this weird blaze as the Force all but screams with joy, boiling around this one seemingly impossibly intense concentration of power, of light, a whiteness that lovingly embraces and supports Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in midair, burning away all possibility of any lingering taint to the actual physical location of the Sith Lord's death. Once more one with each other, reflecting each other, completing and fulfilling each other, the two men are one light within the Force, one limitless conflagration of power and illumination, their bodies not just overflowing transparent vessels for the Force but actual open conduits to the seemingly limitless and pure energy of the Force, unrestrained and simple and /white/. Anakin and Obi-Wan embrace each other and the Force embraces them, with no barriers between them or it.

A moment or an eternity later, the darkly raging storm passes and, soon afterwards, that whiteness appears to bank itself, shrinking in on itself until it finally vanishes from view, leaving behind it Obi-Wan Kenobi in Anakin Skywalker's arms, standing over the head and trunk of the body of the Sith Lord Sidious, a strange and terrible awesome light seeming to linger, almost like an afterimage or some perceptible sign of afterglow, on every single bit of their exposed skin.

"You are alright?" Obi-Wan's voice is surprisingly harsh in the silence.

"Yes. You?" Anakin's voice is shockingly fierce.

"Yes. Temple?"

"Temple. Master Windu?"

"I'll fetch him. You'll come?"

"Immediately. The window?"

Obi-Wan nods silently and then the two Jedi spring into motion, one sprinting towards the nearest route back up through the building and the other racing for the nearest door that lets out of the building.

Soon, a small Jedi shuttle bearing the Sith'ari and the Chosen One and one deeply unconscious Korun Master is blasting off towards the Jedi Temple.

***