Chapter 89: Darkness
A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!
Stealing a page out of the Extended Universe Playbook for this one =)
-x-X-x-
In the end, Tylo shakes his head.
“I can’t. I have to go to her. And you… you have to make sure the Padawans get to Coruscant safely.”
Even as he speaks, they both know his words are right, at least the second sentence anyways. They can feel it through the Force. Palpatine’s death has caused a dramatic shift in the tapestry of the Force. It’s like a blanket has been lifted from their bodies. However, the death of the Sith Master has not reduced the Dark Side as much as any of them might have hoped.
Instead, it’s as though the Darkness is more powerful than ever… but also more concentrated and obvious. Instead of an imperceptible blanket of shadow obscuring their senses, it’s like a black hole focused on one part of the galaxy, sucking everything into it. Tylo doesn’t think that’s Dooku… but if not Darth Tyrannus, who or what COULD it be?
There’s really only one answer to that question, even if it’s the kind of answer that just comes with more questions. Palpatine. Even though he’s dead, even though he’s been defeated, there’s not a single doubt in Tylo’s mind that this is Palpatine’s doing. One last middle finger to the galaxy on his way out.
Whatever ploy the Dark Side Black Hole represents, it can be felt by every Jedi in the galaxy. No doubt that’s partially why the Order has given the command for every Jedi who can to return to Coruscant. The Jedi High Council is turtling, trying to pull its forces back to the Jedi Temple in the hopes of weathering the storm. If not, some Jedi might go investigate. Some might get sucked in and Fall to the Dark Side.
The Jedi were in danger. Tylo and Aayla could both feel that clearly through the Force. Even though they’d defeated Palpatine, even though they’d managed to disable Order Sixty-Six with Order Zero and neutralized the threat posed by the Clone Army, it wasn’t over yet. The Jedi were still in danger. Somehow, some way.
Ultimately, the details didn’t matter to Tylo. What mattered was what needed to happen next. Aayla needed to get Maris and Ahsoka back to Coruscant and ensure their safety. And Tylo needed to find and help Annie. These were the facts, immutable and unchanging. And both he and his Master knew it too.
Letting out a soft sigh, Aayla steps forward and places a hand on Tylo’s face, caressing his cheek as she gives him a smile.
“May the Force be with you, Knight Vondin.”
And know that my heart goes with you, my love, even if I cannot.
Tylo swallows and nods, returning Aayla’s smile with one of his own.
“And with you, Master Secura.”
With that, Aayla turns away, gathering up Maris and Ahsoka. Both Padawans weakly try to protest, but Annie’s scream has left them each far more exhausted than it did him and Aayla. They can’t exactly resist as the Twi’lek Jedi Master gets them out of the room. Meanwhile, Tylo finds himself looking back to the Mandalorian Women who were unaffected by the Force Scream.
“Well… I suppose plans change. I’m going to be making a small detour on my way to Coruscant, I guess. I’ll still do everything in my power to be back in time for the births, this I swear.”
His accidental clan of warrior women share looks at that, but ultimately nod wordlessly. In their minds, Tylo can see their concern, but none of them express it outright, having little understanding for the Force or what they might dub ‘Jedi Nonsense’. However…
“I’m going with you, General.”
Asajj Ventress pushes herself to her feet, bleeding from her nose just as much as Tylo and his fellow Jedi had. The Dark Side User nevertheless pushes her way forward, staring him down as if to challenge him to force her to stay behind. As she does so, her thoughts brush against his.
Small nothing. The General might be in a state of denial, but I know what’s happening here. I know where he’s going. I won’t let him face her alone.
Choosing to put that out of his mind for now, Tylo hesitates for only a moment before finally nodding.
“Fine. Just stay masked up.”
With that final decision made, Tylo departs with Ventress at his heels. Getting his hands on a ship isn’t too difficult and once he and Asajj are in the air, Tylo places a holocall, hoping against hope that the person on the other end will pick up. When she does, he breathes a sigh of relief.
“Padme.”
The beautiful Nabooian Senator frowns as she wrings her hands in front of her.
“Tylo… pardon my language, but what the fuck is going on? Coruscant is in a state of bedlam right now. The Supreme Chancellor is dead, with the Jedi claiming that they were forced to kill him while he was resisting arrest. They’re saying he was a Sith Lord!”
Grimacing, Tylo nods.
“Palpatine was in fact a Sith, Padme. A Sith Lord by the name of Darth Sidious. Master Secura and I managed to uncover the truth of his nature and get the information to Master Kenobi, who snuck back to Coruscant to let the Jedi Council know without tipping Palpatine off. From the sound of things, they succeeded in taking him down.”
In the face of Padme’s shock, Tylo sighs.
“He was behind everything, Padme. The Separatist Movement, the Clone Army, this entire damn war. Hell, he was probably behind the Trade Federation’s attack on Naboo if I had to guess.”
“What?! No! He wouldn’t, he was born on Naboo, why would he- oh… oh Force.”
Tylo watches on the holocall as Padme is suddenly forced to sit down. The Senator has her hand to her mouth in horror, even as she comes to a realization.
“He used me. He used our people’s plight to push me into getting him elected as Supreme Chancellor. And then… then he did nothing for Naboo in turn. He said his hands were tied.”
It made sense. Tylo feels for Padme, really, he does. However, they’re not exactly in a place where she can have the time to process right now.
“He used everyone, Padme. Not just you. Members of the Jedi High Council met with that man in his office every week for the last several months to give him regular reports on the war effort… and they didn’t suspect a thing. Even as Jedi died or Fell, even as entire worlds were lost to the slaughter, no one suspected anything. But none of that matters right now.”
His last words cause Padme to jolt and look at Tylo as though he’s gone mad.
“What? How can you say-!”
“Annie. Annie is in trouble, Padme. I felt her scream through the Force. It was loud enough to make every Force User in the room I was in fall to our knees bleeding.”
Padme is on her feet again in an instant, eyes now wide and frantic.
“Wha- What’s wrong with Annie? She was fine the last time we spoke just a few days ago!”
“I don’t know, Padme. But I need to get to her… and I think I need you with me. Can you get off of Coruscant right now?”
That was the kicker. If she couldn’t, then Tylo would have to come get her and that would add time he really didn’t want to add to their trip. Thankfully, Padme hesitates for only a second before nodding decisively.
“The planet isn’t in lockdown… yet. I don’t know if the Jedi just haven’t thought to do it or what, but I should be able to slip away and join you. We’ll go to Annie together.”
Tylo breathes a sigh of relief at that… and then tilts his head to the side as a thought hits him.
“You know where she’s stationed right now, right? I’m afraid I don’t have the latest on her orders… and I fear that trying to contact the Order to find out will only cause more friction when they order me back to Coruscant and I’m forced to refuse.”
“Oh… of course, yes. I’ll send it right over.”
“Thank you, Padme. See you soon.”
The holocall ends and as Tylo waits for Padme to send over the information regarding Annie’s last known whereabouts, he tries to put a call into the Chosen One herself. Annie’s personal communicator doesn’t pick up however, the call never going through… like Tylo suspected it wouldn’t.
His jaw clenched; Tylo looks over as the information on Annie’s current mission arrives from Padme. Part of him doesn’t want to. Part of him knows what he’ll see already. The planet and battle Annie was overseeing as a General of the GAR isn’t important. What’s important are the galactic coordinates.
As Tylo prepares to head in the direction of his and Padme’s rendezvous, where they’ll meet up before heading on towards Annie’s last known location, he’s forced to finally accept what he’s been in denial about ever since hearing Annie’s scream through the Force. Her scream, her last known location… and the general location of the Force Black Hole… are all the same.
Fuck.
-x-X-x-
Back when Annie Skywalker had first been reluctantly accepted into the Jedi Order immediately following the Battle of Naboo, she’d been basically thrown into the deep end when it came to Jedi Initiate training. On the one hand, she was basically already a Padawan at the age of nine, which was certainly something for the other initiates her age to be jealous of.
However, at the same time, she was joining the Order at the age of nine as well, meaning she was hopelessly behind her peers in pretty much every way except for her immense connection to the Force. While the Jedi Council was willing to allow Obi-Wan to become her Master after he received a promotion to knighthood based on his defeat of the Zabrak Sith who killed Master Jinn, they were not willing to allow her to just go out into the galaxy at Master Kenobi’s side without having anything in the way of foundational fundamentals.
And so, there had been a period in time of a couple years where despite being Master and Padawan, Annie and Obi-Wan hadn’t actually seen much of one another, with the newly promoted Jedi Knight sent out on missions by the Council and Annie remaining behind on Coruscant to learn the things she would have learned growing up if she’d been raised at the Temple like she was supposed to.
It wasn’t an easy time for the young girl. Not in the slightest. But one of the brighter spots during those years was Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. The Supreme Chancellor had taken a shine to her, and through some finagling, he’d managed to get her permission to visit him in his office rather regularly, especially while her Master was away on missions.
Talking with the Supreme Chancellor had always felt good… better than good, it felt great. He was like the grandfather that Annie had never had, someone who understood her better than anyone else and who offered a shoulder for her to cry on. Not that Annie cried much of course, but it was nice knowing that she could speak her mind without worrying that the Supreme Chancellor would tell the Order the things she said.
And he, in turn, could do the same with her. They could both speak freely in those meetings… even if much of the time, Annie couldn’t clearly remember the things that Palpatine said, truth be told. But she’d always just assumed he’d spoken of things that would go right over a young initiate’s head. The sort of things she’d instinctively tuned out because she wasn’t a politician and couldn’t understand them.
Standing there in Palpatine’s office, barely ten years old, swaying back and forth, a dazed and confused Annie Skywalker stares forward as though in a trance-like state. Kneeling before her is Sheev Palpatine, his hand on her shoulder and a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes stretched across his wizened face.
“One day, my dear girl, you and I will rule the galaxy side by side as Master and Apprentice. They call you Chosen One without knowing the truth… you are MINE. Chosen by me, to be my ultimate apprentice. There will be others, but they are smoldering embers in the face of the raging fire you represent in the Force.”
Palpatine pauses here, before chuckling lowly.
“One day you will bend the knee and accept me as your Master. On that day, you will rise not as a Jedi, but as a Sith. You will become the instrument of my Will, delivering my designs across the galaxy. You will be Darth Vader, my ultimate weapon.”
For a moment, the Supreme Chancellor basks in his own words, even as Annie remains in a state of half-consciousness, unaware of her surroundings, unaware even of her own inability to string two thoughts together.
“Ah, but that day will not come for quite a long time yet. Patience, young one, patience. Time will see us to victory. Time and all the careful planning of the last thousand years. Still… there is always a possibility we fail.”
The smile drops from Palpatine’s face as he looks off into the distance for a moment. It’s obvious the Sith Lord doesn’t like to think about it. And yet…
“There is a possibility that I fail. I do not regret killing my Master before he could teach me the true secrets of immortality. It was the right time. The eve of our triumph, of my ascension to the Chancellorship. It was when Plagueis’ guard was lowest, and I knew I could remove him once and for all. Still, there are some things he could have taught me. Things I have made no progress in on my own…”
Scowling now, Palpatine turns his gaze back to Annie’s dazed and confused face.
“There must be a failsafe in place, in the event that I fall. You will be my failsafe, girl. If I cannot have you as my Apprentice, as my weapon, then you will be my Revenge.”
Reaching up, Palpatine curls aged fingers around Annie’s head. Sith Lightning snaps off of his digits, sparking along her scalp. Still, she doesn’t react, too deep in the trance to even cry out as Palpatine grins again.
“You WILL serve me girl. One way or another, you will serve the Dark Side. If I fall, if I die before the Jedi, you will be the instrument of their demise all the same. When you hear the news, you will know your true purpose is to destroy the Jedi once and for all. You will kill them wherever you find them, Annie Skywalker. You will slay them to the last. You will KILL THE JEDI OR DIE TRYING!”
The youngling’s eyes roll back in her head as she spasms under the concentrated onslaught from Palpatine’s Dark Force Technique. Until finally, it’s over just as quickly as it’s begun.
-x-X-x-
In the present, Annie Skywalker still doesn’t properly remember that conversation in Palpatine’s office. However, she remembers the message she received from Obi-Wan just a little while ago. Her former Master had probably meant it as a kindness. To let her know before anyone else could, to let her down gently so that she didn’t have to hear it in another way.
“Annie. The Supreme Chancellor turned out to be the Sith Lord we’ve been hunting for all this time. He’s the Mastermind behind this entire war. We, that is the Council, went to arrest him. He revealed himself then, fighting back with a red lightsaber and immense Dark Side powers. He forced us to put him down. I’m sorry, but Palpatine is dead. I need you back on Coruscant as soon as possible. We can talk more then.”
Palpatine is dead.
Three simple words with a world of meaning. The Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic is dead. Her mentor is dead. The Sith Master is dead. But for Annie Skywalker, those words hold extra meaning. Because it wasn’t Palpatine’s death that activated the trigger he’d implanted in her mind all those years ago. It was knowledge of Palpatine’s death.
Obi-Wan’s well meaning message, trying to be the first to let Annie know in order to soften the blow, had inadvertently activated the conditioning that Palpatine had left in her mind a decade previously.
She doesn’t remember what she and the Supreme Chancellor talked about during all those meetings in his office. But she doesn’t have to for Palpatine’s snarling words to fill her mind and incapacitate her.
KILL THE JEDI!
KILL THE JEDI!
KILL THE JEDI!
Again and again, on a loop. All while the Dark Side flows through her body, echoing out through the Force. Having been in her private quarters when Obi-Wan’s message came, Annie drops to her knees, throws her head back, and SCREAMS as she claws at her own ears, trying desperately to drown out the voice.
… But to no avail. It remains, pounding at the inside of her skull relentlessly.
KILL THE JEDI! KILL THE JEDI! KILL THE JEDI!
[ ] KILL THE JEDI! - 26%
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