(A/N: Hey all, sorry for not posting this last week. I've honestly had little to no desire to write, and on top of that I had finals. But I was able to finish my finals which went super well, and I also got done watching Maul: Shadow Lord, which just had the coolest final episode. I feel like it helped reignite my desire to write.
I appreciate you all being patient with me while I struggle dealing with things in my personal life.
Your words of encouragement mean so much to me.)
=== Obi-Wan ===
Obi-Wan walked through the endless corridors of the SunEater, the Force flowing uneasily around him like a current warning of unseen danger. The stolen officer's uniform rested awkwardly across his shoulders, foreign in a way Jedi robes had never been, yet it concealed him well enough among the sea of officers, technicians, stormtroopers, and clone veterans flooding through the SunEater's interior.
Beside him walked Rex in his old armor, the aging clone blending naturally among the countless soldiers preparing for deployment, though Obi-Wan could feel the bitterness radiating from him every time another regiment marched past.
Everywhere they looked, war preparations consumed the ship. Entire formations of clone troopers moved in perfect synchronization toward massive embarkation bays while newly recruited Imperial stormtroopers followed in enormous columns behind them, their armor still pristine, their posture still carrying traces of eagerness rather than exhaustion.
Officers barked orders from elevated walkways while supply servitors dragged ammunition crates large enough to crush a man beneath their weight.
Through enormous viewports lining sections of the corridors, Obi-Wan could see Mandalore hanging in the void, half consumed by fire, countless ships swarming around it as orbital bombardments flashed across its atmosphere in violent bursts of orange and white.
Rex finally broke the silence between them as another wave of young stormtroopers hurried past. "They don't even know what they're walking into," he muttered quietly, his voice edged with disgust.
Obi-Wan glanced toward him briefly. "War has always sold itself as glory to those who have never fought in it."
Rex gave a low grunt beneath his helmet. "Yeah. Then the first artillery shell lands and suddenly everybody remembers they're mortal."
Before Obi-Wan could respond, the entire corridor vibrated beneath their feet as a loud warning alarm echoed through the nearby hangar sectors. A moment later, the shriek of damaged engines tore through the air loud enough to overpower even the noise of the massive warship itself.
Both men instinctively turned toward the nearest hangar opening just as a heavily damaged ship came screaming through the magnetic barrier, sparks and fire pouring from its hull as it slammed violently against the deck.
The vessel skidded sideways across the durasteel floor, nearly clipping a line of parked starfighters before finally crashing into a maintenance platform hard enough to collapse part of it.
Smoke immediately began pouring from the ruined craft as emergency crews and nearby troopers rushed toward it. The scene itself was not unusual aboard a ship engaged in open warfare. Damaged fighters and transports were returning constantly from the battle over Mandalore, many in far worse condition than this one, but the moment Obi-Wan felt the presence inside the ship through the Force, his stomach tightened.
The hatch burst open under the efforts of several stormtroopers, and a struggling figure was dragged from the interior.
"Ahsoka…" Obi-Wan whispered.
She looked terrible. Her clothes were stained with blood and ash, one side of her face bruised from the crash, and exhaustion clung to her so heavily that she could barely stay upright as the troopers restrained her. Behind her stumbled C-3PO, waving his arms frantically while protesting at maximum volume about improper handling, while R2-D2 rolled out after him, angrily beeping at anyone who got too close.
Rex immediately started moving. "Come on."
The two of them pushed through the growing crowd. Obi-Wan straightened his posture as they approached, slipping fully into the role of an Imperial officer while letting irritation sharpen his voice.
"What is happening here?" he barked sharply.
The nearby troopers snapped to attention instantly. One of them gestured toward Ahsoka. "Sir, this individual isn't a pilot. We have placed her under arrest and she is attempting to escape from Imperial custody—"
"And now you're clogging an active hangar during wartime," Obi-Wan interrupted coldly. "Do you intend to stand around gawking while ships are trying to land?"
The trooper immediately stiffened. "No, sir."
"I'll handle the prisoner personally," Obi-Wan continued without missing a beat. "Return to your duties immediately, and get this wreckage out of the way!"
Years of conditioning took over. The troopers obeyed almost instantly, dispersing back into the organized chaos of the hangar while mechanics and crews resumed rushing between damaged ships. Within moments, only Obi-Wan, Rex, Ahsoka, and the two droids remained near the wreck.
Ahsoka stared at Obi-Wan in complete disbelief. "Obi-Wan…"
Obi-Wan moved closer and lowered his voice. "We need to leave. Now."
Her confusion only deepened as she looked between him and Rex. "How are you here? What are you doing on this ship?"
"The Force guided us here," Obi-Wan answered quietly. "We came to find Anakin."
At the mention of his name, something dark crossed Ahsoka's face.
"No," she said immediately, shaking her head. "No, you don't understand."
"Ahsoka—"
"He's gone," she interrupted, her voice tightening painfully. "Whatever part of Anakin Skywalker still existed died on Mustafar."
Obi-Wan held her gaze steadily. "What are you talking about?"
"You can't save him," she whispered. "Master Qui-Gon, Dooku, and I fought him, and he toyed with us like we were children." Her breathing became uneven as memories surfaced. "The dark side has consumed him completely. And now…" She swallowed hard. "Now it's crowning him. Feeding him. Making him stronger every second."
Rex folded his arms across his chest. "Then we need to stop him."
Ahsoka turned toward him sharply. "He can't be stopped. We need to leave, now!"
Obi-Wan shook his head slowly. "If Anakin continues down this path, there may not be a galaxy left to survive in."
Before Ahsoka could answer, Rex suddenly went still.
The old clone's posture changed instantly, decades of battlefield instinct surfacing as his hand subtly lowered toward the blasters at his hips.
"That may be more difficult now," he said quietly.
Obi-Wan turned, and saw they were surrounded.
Hundreds of troopers had silently formed a massive perimeter around them while they spoke. Clone troopers and stormtroopers alike stood shoulder to shoulder with weapons raised, their formation airtight.
Ahsoka's hand slowly drifted toward her empty belt before she remembered her lightsabers were gone.
Then the crowd parted.
A single figure in crimson armor stepped forward from the formation, his polished plating gleaming beneath the harsh hangar lights as his black visor settled upon the three of them.
"General Kenobi. Captain Rex. Commander Tano."
His voice was calm, almost courteous.
"The Emperor is expecting you."
Neither Obi-Wan nor Rex moved.
The crimson trooper approached another few steps before extending one armored hand outward expectantly.
"If you would surrender your weapons," he continued evenly, "I will escort you to Lord Vader."
Ahsoka looked toward Obi-Wan anxiously. "This is a trap."
Obi-Wan gave the smallest nod imaginable. "Yes," he admitted quietly. "But I suspect we were always meant to walk into it."
Rex let out a tired breath before slowly removing his blaster and handing it over. "Never liked subtle missions anyway."
The crimson trooper accepted the weapon without reaction.
Obi-Wan hesitated only briefly before surrendering his lightsaber as well, feeling its absence immediately through the Force like the loss of a limb.
Once the weapons had been collected, the crimson soldier turned smoothly toward the corridor beyond the hangar.
"Follow me," he ordered.
The sea of troopers parted as the four of them began walking deeper into the heart of the SunEater, toward the waiting presence Obi-Wan could already feel watching them from somewhere ahead in the darkness.
The deeper they were taken into the vessel, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. Massive banners bearing the newly forged sigil of the Empire hung from vaulted ceilings, draped between towering statues of armored clone troopers and hooded figures that looked almost Sith in design.
Everything about the place radiated power and fear, as though Anakin, or someone else, had sought to forge not merely a government, but a monument to domination itself.
The darkness here was suffocating. It pressed against his senses, thick and poisonous, clinging to every corridor and every passing trooper.
Eventually the crimson guards stopped before an enormous pair of obsidian doors nearly three stories tall. Ancient-looking symbols had been carved into the metal, glowing faintly red between seams of black iron. Obi-Wan felt Ahsoka tense beside him as the doors slowly began to part with a grinding groan that reverberated through the corridor.
Beyond them waited darkness.
The throne room was colossal, large enough to house entire gunships, its distant ceiling lost in shadow while rivers of crimson light illuminated the chamber in jagged lines across the floor. Massive windows overlooked the void of space where fleets of Star Destroyers drifted over Mandalore. At the center of it all stood a solitary figure upon a raised dais.
Darth Vader.
His back remained turned to them as they were shoved forward into the chamber. The doors thundered shut behind them, sealing the room and leaving only the heavy mechanical rhythm of Vader's breathing filling the silence.
The crimson trooper approached the dais first, kneeling before extending Obi-Wan's confiscated lightsaber upward in both hands.
"My Emperor," the trooper said respectfully. "The prisoners."
Vader took the weapon slowly, turning it over in one gloved hand while remaining facing away from them all. For several long moments he said nothing at all. He simply examined the lightsaber in silence, thumb brushing against the worn metal casing as though studying a relic from another life.
Then he finally spoke.
"I knew you would come."
The voice that emerged was deep and slightly distorted.
"Even now, after everything, you cannot accept failure." He slowly lowered the lightsaber to his side.
Obi-Wan's jaw tightened, though he forced himself to remain calm.
Vader finally began to turn.
The sight of him fully facing them sent a chill through the room. Black armor gleamed beneath the crimson lighting while the lenses of his mask stared at them like the eyes of some ancient predator. The cape hanging from his shoulders swept across the floor behind him, and at his belt hung three familiar hilts.
His own Lightsaber, and next to it, were Ahsoka's lightsabers.
"Your guilt brought you here," Vader said, looking directly at Obi-Wan. "Just as I knew it would."
Then his gaze shifted toward Ahsoka.
"And you…"
For the briefest moment, something almost human flickered beneath the mask.
"After Mustafar, I allowed you to live," Vader said. "You fought well. You are stronger than the others. Stronger than the Jedi." His mechanical breathing deepened slightly. "I thought perhaps you would understand. I thought perhaps you would join me willingly once you saw the truth."
Ahsoka stared at him in disbelief, grief and fury warring openly across her face.
"You murdered children," she spat. "You slaughtered the Order. You murdered Padmé!"
Vader said nothing for a moment, though Ahsoka saw his fist clench at the accusation.
"Watch your words, apprentice." He said coldly, watching as Ahsoka recoiled at the words.
Silence settled again before Vader took several slow steps down from the dais, his armored boots striking the floor with crushing weight. The dark presence surrounding him intensified with every step until even breathing felt difficult.
Then he stopped.
"I will offer this once more," Vader said. "Kneel. Serve me. Help me bring order to this galaxy… and I will spare your lives."
Ahsoka was the first to answer.
Her eyes dropped briefly toward the hilt hanging from Vader's belt before rising back to his helmeted facemask.
"No," she said firmly. "I would rather die."
Vader regarded her silently for a moment before turning toward Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan looked at the thing Anakin had become and felt his heart ache. He remembered the reckless young man on Tatooine. The gifted Padawan on Coruscant. The brother who had laughed beside him through impossible battles and terrible wars.
That man was gone.
Obi-Wan slowly shook his head.
"I failed you once," he said quietly. "I will not fail the galaxy by helping you destroy it."
Vader turned toward Rex.
The clone removed his helmet slowly, revealing the aged, scarred face beneath. Exhaustion and sorrow lined every inch of him now, yet he still stood tall before the man he had once followed across a hundred battlefields.
"General Skywalker…" Rex said carefully.
Vader said nothing.
Rex took another hesitant step forward.
"Please," he continued. "This isn't you. Whatever Palpatine did to you, whatever the dark side is telling you, this isn't the man we followed." His voice cracked slightly. "You fought for people. You protected people."
Still Vader remained silent.
Rex mistook that silence for hesitation.
"You can stop this," Rex pressed desperately. "You can still—"
The red blade ignited so fast that none of them had time to react.
A violent crimson flash illuminated the chamber as the lightsaber punched clean through Rex's chest.
The clone froze.
Shock spread slowly across his face as he looked downward at the blade protruding from his armor.
"A… Anakin…"
Vader stared at him without emotion.
Then he ripped the blade free.
Rex collapsed hard onto the black floor, looking back up at the man he once trusted beyond all others.
"Why?" He asked quietly before going limp.
"REX!" Ahsoka screamed.
Vader casually deactivated the blade and let the clone's body lie where it fell.
"Anakin Skywalker is dead." Vader said coldly.
Something inside Ahsoka shattered.
With a furious cry she lunged forward, ripping one of her lightsabers from Vader's belt in a blur of motion with the Force before igniting the hreen blade and slashing directly for his head.
Vader met the attack effortlessly.
His crimson blade exploded to life again as he caught her strike one-handed, the impact sending sparks showering across the chamber while the surrounding troopers hurried backward to avoid the fight.
Ahsoka attacked again immediately, rage consuming all restraint as she unleashed strike after strike toward him.
"You killed him!" she shouted between blows. "You killed all of them!"
Vader blocked every attack with terrifying ease.
"I knew you would refuse," he said almost calmly, parrying another slash before backhanding her hard enough to send her skidding across the floor.
Then, without even looking, he tossed Obi-Wan's lightsaber behind him.
The weapon clattered across the floor before stopping at Obi-Wan's feet.
Vader slowly raised his own blade into a ready stance.
The crimson glow of his lightsaber reflected across the black armor as his cape billowed behind him, the dark side swirling violently around him like a storm given flesh.
"Prepare yourselves," Darth Vader said. "you will not enjoy this."
===
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