THE SKYWALKERS: book one

CHAPTER ONE - The Choice

Darth Vader marched swiftly and silently in front of his troops, leaving death and destruction in his wake. It was almost disappointing how easy it was to take out the Temple guards, and he met such feeble resistance further within the once so prominent Jedi fortress. He killed quickly and without mercy, allowing his rage at all the Jedi had done to ruin his life block out any sense of right or wrong.

"Appo," Vader shouted behind him at the leader of the 501st Legion. "Infiltrate the center of the temple, I'll take care of any stragglers."

"Yes, my lord," Commander Appo nodded and motioned for the clones to follow him.

Vader, meanwhile, hurried up towards the Council Chamber. Surely there were some Jedi hiding in there. He moved towards the doors and paused, reaching out with the Force. There were many lifeforms in there. Getting his lightsaber ready but not igniting it, he opened the door with a wave of his hand, only to be met with about a dozen younglings cowering in fear—all but one, that is.

A little boy that didn't look much different from a young Anakin stepped out, looking fearful but calm. "Master Skywalker, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?"

Vader stared down at them, and suddenly he wasn't sure if he could do it. He hated the Jedi for all they'd done, yes, but these were children—innocent children who were probably abducted by the so-called righteous Jedi before the younglings could even think for themselves. They did not deserve to die. He only longed to bring justice to the galaxy, an end to the war, and save his wife. He thought of his own unborn child, and how devastated he'd be if it was killed.

If he went against Palpatine's orders like this, there was no telling what would happen to him. He could be killed, Padmé could be killed, or worse: Palpatine wouldn't help him save her.

"Master Skywalker?" the youngling pressed. "We don't have much time."

Padmé would never choose his life over innocent people. She'd always made sacrifices for those who couldn't fight.

Vader ignited his lightsaber. "We're going to hold them off for as long as possible until we get some help. I will protect you." Anakin removed his hood and assumed a battle stance facing the door, his face hardening.

"We will stand with you," the boy said, igniting his own small saber. Slowly, the other younglings followed his lead, igniting their sabers and standing behind him.

Anakin knew he didn't have much time before the clones would find them, and he had to hope he could contact Obi-Wan before then. He activated his comms device. "Obi-Wan, come in, Obi-Wan." He repeated that twice to no avail, and he hung his head. Surely his old master wasn't dead. He couldn't be.

Clones were getting closer, and from what Anakin could tell, they were a group of three, Commander Appo among them. He must've been wondering where Lord Vader had gotten off to.

When the doors to the Council Chamber slid open, Anakin was ready. He easily blocked their blaster fire, and after a few seconds, the clones realized what was going on.

"Lord Vader?" Appo lowered his weapon. "What are you doing?"

"Appo," Anakin lowered his saber as well. "You don't have to do this. The Chancellor wants you to eliminate all the Jedi, but the Jedi are who have fought alongside you all these years. You can't turn your back on your brothers."

Appo looked at the ground for a moment, and Anakin sensed a great conflict in him. The Jedi knight took a step forward, only to find Appo's blaster held to his head.

"I'm sorry, my lord. This isn't personal—it's programming."

Before Appo could shoot, however, he fell to the ground, a lightsaber through his chest. The two other clones soon met a similar fate.