The Mandalorian Jedi

Chapter Twenty Six

We weren't there for long. I should have kept him there, I should have and I didn't. I disobeyed Master Windu's direct order and it got him killed. Hell that decision could have been the cause of trillions of deaths, or maybe all of it would have happened anyway. Maybe if I had forced Anakin to stay he would have killed me and continued on the path Palpatine had set out for him. Maybe, maybe, maybe. It doesn't change anything, what happened next happened and yes, it destroyed my life but I wasn't the only one whose life was destroyed that night. There is no reason for me to sit around and mope, I survived and that's what matters right?

He was pacing. Gods he wouldn't stop. Back and forth, back and forth. I could practically feel the mental battle he was having within himself. Go or stay? Trust Mace or trust himself?
"Anakin. Stop. It's going to work out, we can trust Mace. He'll bring Palpatine in, the war will end and everything can go back to how it was before."
"Are you truly that naïve Rhea? You actually think this will solve anything?"
"Yes! Look whatever Palpatine is planning it clearly involves you and no offence vod but you can't exactly be called mentally stable at the moment. He knows exactly how to manipulate you and if he pokes the right place you're done. Anakin Skywalker is dead and whatever monster he has created for you will take your place. I can't lose you Anakin."
"And I can't lose Padme," I flinched at that but he didn't notice, "Rhea I love you, you know I do but she is my wife and she is going to die if I don't do something to stop it. He can stop it."
"So that's it huh? What the kriff do you think is going to happen when you arrive? You force the cure for death out of him and meanwhile somehow manage to resist the dark side? If we can just stop and think for a moment-"
"We don't have that kind of time Rhea. You're either with me or you're not. Please don't be against me."
"I could never be against you vod." He took that as a yes. In a way it was. It was also a lie I would come to find. I would have no choice but to be against him.

I didn't follow him for a while after he left. I just sat in Mace's chair and stroked Ka'ra behind the ears until she snapped at me to stop. I took that as a sign to get moving. I took a ship from the hangar and tried to think about anything other than the sense of impending doom as I flew across the city to the Senate. I landed my ship next to Anakin's and started the walk to Palpatine's offices. That walk turned to a run at a sudden jolt from the force.

I skidded to a halt at the entrance to the office. Mace had his lightsaber at Palpatine's throat and there was Anakin standing between them, the fate of the galaxy on his shoulders. He chose. And he chose wrong. The sound I unleashed as Palpatine sent my master over the edge of the building was something between a scream and a pained groan. Our eyes locked as he fell and the panic in his eyes unleashed something inside me, a rage I hadn't felt in years. I should have gone for Palpatine but I went for Anakin, through that torrent of pain he was who I aimed for, maybe it was because I knew I had an easier chance of beating him or maybe I somehow believed his move against Mace had given Palpatine the chance he needed. Whatever it was it was the final thread. Through the tears and the pain ripping through my heart I brought my sabers down on him. He barely managed to swing his own up in time to save himself. I don't think he fully understood why I was fighting him, it took him more than a moment to realise I wasn't holding back, that this wasn't some practice duel for the younglings, this was very real and if he wasn't careful I was going to kill him. I would have. If he had given me the chance there is no doubt in my mind that through the rage one of my sabers would have found his heart. Once I started I couldn't stop, I just kept swinging and swinging. They weren't neat or tidy, there were no fancy spins or twists and turns just brutal, anger filled hacks. All I could see was the face of the only man I had ever known to be a father to me falling. Again and again. The scared look on his face and the ease at which Anakin had done it. No hesitation. No thought at the pain it might cause me. At some point he stopped defending and started attacking. Looking back now I realise that was the moment I truly lost him. In that singular moment he switched from vod to something else, someone else.

I could have won, if I set my whole heart to it, if I didn't have to fight through the feeling as though my entire being was being ripped apart then I could have killed him then and there but that was the problem with anger, it made me weak. Years of training against the pull of the dark side with Mace meant I gained little power from such overwhelming emotions, they just made me sloppy. Anakin got me up against a wall in a few minutes but before he could do anything he was interrupted by a slow clap. Palpatine was standing by his chair smiling with something like pride,
"Good, very good. Both of you." This is exactly what he had wanted. Of course it was. I dropped my sabers to the floor in defeat and Anakin withdrew his from my neck, "You are fulfilling your destinies. Anakin, become my apprentice and together, together we can do anything and Rhea... my child you are the key."
"Stop. Stop it. I would rather die than serve you, so would Ani. So would Ani." I had to repeat myself just to try and convince myself of it. From Anakin's silence I knew I was wrong.
"You will not die Rhea. No you will serve me, rather your blood will and together we will create a new legion of sith."
"Whatever you think I am..."
"You are an experiment my child, a product of your parents greed and a dead mans genius. Did you never truly wonder why the Jedi never found you as a child? Why they decided to train you from such an old age?"
"I- they didn't have a chance to find me, Jedi aren't exactly welcome on Concordia."
"You truly have no memory? A whole year missing and you never wondered?"
"Whatever you're trying to manipulate me into believing it isn't going to work, you cannot trick me, not like you did Anakin." I glanced at him as I said it. He had collapsed into a chair, his head in his hands,
"You were not born with this power. You were weak, just like your parents, a perfect candidate. Ziro and I had a deal you see, he provides a child and is paid more than he could possibly dream. My team worked on you for months and eventually they succeeded in their mission, transferring midichlorians into your blood. Every other experiment had failed but they did something right with you, they gave you more power than thought possible, more than you can ever know. Ziro discovered this and he kept you for himself, his personal weapon. My team were killed before he could extract the details of their experiments from them, details that remain within your blood to be rediscovered. We can shape the world Rhea, together we could uncover the secret to eternal life. Anakin will be my apprentice but you, you shall be my partner."

I did the smart thing. I played his game. I wiped the tears away and backed down. He thought highly enough of himself that he turned away towards Anakin. I nodded to Naakla and Ka'ra and the retreated from the room. I barely listened to the speech he gave to Anakin, instead I made my way around the room as quietly as possible, stifling a sob as the man who had once been my brother knelt before his new master.

By the time Palpatine turned around I was on the window ledge, my lightsabers reattached to my belt. Before he could do anything I let myself fall.

Vod – Brother