Alone

The Confrontation

Author's Notes:  I'm not dead. Sorry this chapter has taken so long, I got distracted by other fics I was writing and by the start of school. I just finished editing the first couple of chapters and have finally completed this one. The POV is Fox's

   As Fox strode into the icy and foreboding office, he tapped his armor's gauntlet, activating the camera on his helmet. Fox's gut roiled as a shiver slithered up his spine, the wave of cold penetrating his armor and seeping into his bones. Pushing his nausea away, Fox forced himself to march fully into the room, coming to parade rest with his arms tucked behind his back in front of the Chancellor's desk.

As the Chancellor pivoted to face Fox, turning from whatever he was doing and swiveling in his foreboding throne-like chair,  his icy blue eyes sought Fox like a beacon, seeming to track Fox's every shift. Fox caught sight of a brief sneer before Palpatine smoothed his mouth into a neutral position. Fox felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge at Palpatine's 360 shift in emotions, and he had to fight the urge to either fidget, flee, or shoot something, more preferably the Chancellor himself.

Finally, the silence became oppressive and Fox knew that he had to break it for his own sanity. "You wanted to see me, sir," Fox stated, proud of how steady his voice was.

"Ah, my dear Commander. I hear you were successful in your mission and that the threat has been eliminated. Good, good!" The Chancellor crooned.

Fox resisted the urge to pivot, trying to hide his discomfort and anger but some of his emotions must have bled through his shields and into his posture because a pitying look washed over Palpatine's face."I can sense your unease and roiling emotions, Commander. Do tell me what troubles you. That traitorous clone has been disposed of, for which you will be rewarded, so what could possibly be bothering you?" The Chancellor queried patronizingly.

Balling his fists at how demeaning and dismissive the Chancellor was of Fives, Fox felt his anger begin to reignite. Taking a deep breath, knowing that he would need to remain calm, Fox reminded himself of the stakes and who was depending on him. 

Fox knew that he would have to provoke the Chancellor into attacking him without becoming distracted by his own emotions. Knowing that his time was running low, Fox opened his eyes and took the leap, boldly exclaiming, "The problem, Chancellor, is that you manipulated and controlled me so that I would kill my brother for your own convenience! I am sick of having to bury my brothers because of you, I am done being your puppet, Sith Lord! Yes, I know that you are the Sith Lord that the Jedi have been searching for!"

At Fox's outburst, Palpatine's face became hooded, his face transforming, with the sweet and grandfatherly act dropping to reveal a twisted monster. Palpatine's lips curled upwards into a sick sneer and his icy blue eyes flashed dangerously, revealing sickly yellow eyes. Slowly, Palpatine rose like an angel, more like devil, of death, his figure blocking the artificial sunlight and casting an ominous darkness throughout the room. 

Suddenly, Fox felt a great pressure on his body as he felt a foreign and cold presence seize his body, and Fox had to fight off the panic that threatened to choke him as he realized that Palpatine had frozen him in place with his Sith magic. 

When Palpatine side-stepped his desk and stalked towards Fox, all Fox could do was glare murderously, he could do nothing as Palpatine circled him, pacing like a hunter that had just caught juicy prey.

"Well done, Commander. You have discovered my treachery far before the Jedi, but the problem is that you'll never have the chance to tell them because as you know, I control you, and I can dispose of you as easily as I did the Arc-trooper! Ah, but what a waste! You have already proved to be quite useful and have served me well, I had such great plans for you in the future. So what fun would it be to just dispose of you? In that case, I think I'll teach you a lesson before I send you to have your memories wiped!" Palpatine gloated.

Palpatine must have seen Fox's clenched fists because he patronizingly replied, "Don't worry, you won't remember any of this when I am done with you, you'll go back to being my obedient and oblivious slave!''

Fox had to use every ounce of his self control he possessed to stop himself from launching himself at the chancellor with his guns drawn. But A, Fox was frozen in place by Sith magic, and B, Fox knew that the consequences of such a choice would be even more severe than what he was about to receive.

Instead of unleashing his anger, Fox clenched his fists tighter, which Palpatine ignored. But while his fists were clenched, Fox was able to move his fingers enough to activate the button on his comm. As he already programmed his comm to send his next message to the GAR channels, all Fox had to do was press a few buttons in order to attach the live recording his helmet was taking. Fox hastily pressed send, praying that the information reached the GAR and the Jedi in time and that it would be enough, seeing as he would most likely be dead soon. 

Focusing back on Palpatine, Fox heard him exclaim, "I can feel your hatred and your fear, and it is positively beautiful. Too bad all of those dark and negative emotions will be erased along with your memories. Now, I'll teach you the true consequence of defying me!" And with that proclamation, Palpatine raised his gnarly pale hands. Before Fox could so much as blink, he was tossed against the wall like a rag doll by an agonizing blast of electricity. 

Fox screamed as his body seized and coursed with a searing heat, the pain was unbearable, and even after the barrage of lightning ceased, Fox continued to seize, his head swimming and tears streaming down his face. As Fox lay there shaking, his ears rang violently and his head felt as if it were underwater, everything was stuffy and dizzy. 

When Fox finally stopped seizing, it felt as if his body was becoming soup inside his armor. As Fox began to lose his battle with conciseness and his vision began to tunnel, his thoughts turned to his brothers and to those he had failed, There were so many I failed to save, I deserve this. I'm so sorry, I couldn't save you all! And I'm sorry Fives! Finally, I'm sorry, vod! It looks like this is the end, I wish I could have explained myself,  that I could have apologized.

Just as Fox was about to surrender to the oblivion that called him, Palpatine loomed over him and sneered, "Giving up already, Commander, that was only round one! You are more pathetic than I initially thought!"

With the last of his strength, Fox spit the blood he had drawn biting his tongue near clear through in the Chancellor's face. "Fuc* you, Chancellor!" Fox wheezed, finally surrendering to his injuries and passing out.

Notes:

Oops, this was a lot more angst than I actually intended, but don't worry, Fox will be alright 

I actually borrowed the outline of Fox's confrontation with Palpatine from another fic I wrote called Redemption

Who knows when I will write my next chapter, but I will try to update soon

I would love comments on what you think so far