Phantoms of the Past/Chapter 6: Assault

''Anakin walked slowly down the hall. His legs were extremely weak from the week spent lying on a hospital bed. It was night on Coruscant, but, he did not feel like sleep at the moment. He merely wanted to go to the library. Read some good disk about past events.

As he walked, he had a very uneasy feeling. As if someone was watching him. He did not know what to make of it, so he just kept walking. An additional set of footsteps could be heard from behind him. He turned and looked down the hallway. There was a Taung walking toward him.

He turned to call him, when suddenly a burst of alarm from the Force filled him. He had no time to react in his weakened state as a hand grabbed him and pull him back in a small storage unit. He tried to call out, but, a hand covered his mouth.

“No use trying to use the Force to get out of this one,” an evil voice whispered in his ear, “For I can suppress your ability to use it.”

Indeed, he felt it much harder to feel the Force at all.

“My name is Darth Plagueis,” he whispered to him, “The Taung you saw was Darth Nero. Our master we have killed, because he led us into a trap you set up. Failure as a Sith is intolerable. You temple is being infiltrated by thirteen bounty hunters, including Bossk. Yes, the young one who is quickly rising as a Bounty Hunter.”

Anakin could feel their unwanted presence polluting the halls of the Temple. He had to alert the Temple! How did they bypass the Guardians?

“Do not worry Skywalker,” he whispered in his ear, “I will not kill you. It would be too meaningless. But, we must not let you interfere now can we?”

He felt a heavy handle of a lightsaber smash his head and stars exploded.''

He awoke with a start in his hospital bed. He looked out the window and the nearby star was rising over the skyscrappers that rose around the Jedi Temple. He could feel several Jedi simply walking about with no urgency, as if nothing had happened the night before. His brain was foggy, and his hair. But, he had no time for this. He cleared his mind with the Force and jumped up.

He rushed to a Twi'lek male who was leaning against the wall. “Is everyone alright? Did you get them all out of the temple?” he asked him.

The Twi'lek frowned slightly. “What are you talking about Master Skywalker? Who were we suppose to get out of the Temple?”

“The bounty hunters and Dark Jedi!” Anakin said, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“I have no knowledge of what you speak,” the Twi'lek said, “Are you alright?”

Anakin stared at him incredulously. Was this man so stupid? The Temple was attacked!

He ran down the halls, turning towards the stairs. Then, something dawned on him and he slowed. The Dark Jedi had been able to infiltrate the Temple without setting off the alarms. So had the bounty hunters. That power was only in the hands of the Sith.

That brought up another question. Why would they infiltrate the Temple? Obviously to disrupt the Order. But, what would cause the most disruption?

Then the answer came. The younglings.

He ran down the halls, plowing through Jedi who were to busy to notice him. Every second he sped faster, until he was almost a blur. He arrived at the turbolifts, and forced the door open. He glanced in, and seeing the turbolift further down, indeed, near the Younglings Quarters, he leaped down. He held out his hand and the top burst inwards. He dropped in, right in front of a startled Ithorian.

He threw the door open and ran down the hallways to the doors to the Quarters. There was an unusual silence in the Force in this area. He kicked in the door, and jumped in...to find two dark robed men passing a child up the vents to a hairy armed man.

“You!” shouted the taller of the two, whose voice could be identified with Plagueis, “How many times do we have to harm you boy?”

They both threw their hands out, and the combined energy blasted Anakin through the hall walls, into a petting zoo. The animals squealed and scampered in sudden fear as he crashed into a cage holding a furry creature resembling a cat. He forced himself up and taking out his lightsaber turned it on. The hum of the blade was enough to give him the extra strength. He rushed forward and Plagueis' foot came flying at him. Anakin did not have time to stop it as it made contact with the side of his head.

He tumbled side over side three yards. As he fell, the Ithorian, realizing what was going on, came forward, bellowing in his loud way. The lights in the halls shattered but, the light of blue lightning lit the hall as it struck him head on. He was thrown back towards the turbolift.

Master Yoda! Get your small butt down here NOW! Anakin screamed with his mind as he jumped up, swinging his lightsaber to life. “You fool!” Plagueis cackled, “The children are gone! You cannot save them. So, put down the lightsaber. Now!"

The lightsaber went flying from his hand, as if a hand had plucked it out of it and thrown it. He tried to grab onto it with the Force, and he succeeded at holding it in place, but even as he reached to grab it, he was picked up and bodily thrown against the floor by Plagueis.

But, it was enough to get the blade out of control, and Anakin barrel rolled to it and scooped it up. He slowly rose, and the Ithorian ran to his side. Now, things were about to get interesting.

They slowly advanced on Plagueis, who still had not drawn his own. Blue and golden blades hummed as they slowly advanced. Then, without warning their lightsabers both turned off by themselves, and before they had time to turn them back on, the hall began to vibrate, and the floor began to crumble under them. The two Jedi jumped up on instinct and used each other to throw themselves onto the walls.

“You won't get rid of us that easily,” the Ithorian said and bellowed with his four throats. The walls began to collapse around Plagueis and he was hit by the blast. It threw him out of the hall into the planetarium, blowing it open, with the imprint of his body outlined.

The turbolift opened, and Lackstar and Tindora ran forward. Their lightsabers were lit.

“Where is Yoda?” Anakin asked.

“He has gone with six others to retrieve the Younglings,” he said, “Now, let’s go take out these Dark Jedi once and for all. As they rushed down the hall, the other enemy leaped out of the door and with a swing took off the Ithorians arm. The Ithorian fell and as he did, he grabbed a hold of the man arm. He didn't have time to get out before Lackstar beheaded him.

“The other one is in the planetarium,” Anakin informed them.

“Master Jodar,” Tindora called to the wounded Ithorian, “Get to sick bay.”

He staggered up to go, and walked away to the turbolift. The three Council Members advanced into the darkened planetarium, and as they walked through the imprint, the door suddenly sealed them in, the hole no longer there. But, the many planets that were suspended by gravitational wells had lights glowing from them, giving them some sort of light.

“I can't see him,” Tindora muttered.

“Spread out to find him,” Lackstar ordered, but a voice, echoing all over the walls like the strike of a cold metallic gong said, “No, he has already found you.”

The planets creaked as they began to be torn from their gravity projection wells. They began to swirl around the room. First it was slow, but it went faster, and faster, until they could barely dodge the planets even with the Force. One smashed into Tindora as she tried to jump through them, and she slammed with a sickening thud against the walls.

Lackstar grunted. “This has gone on long enough,” he said, and threw the planets against the walls.

They ran around the base of the gravity well generator that had held up the Courscant model, and saw Plagueis turn and run the other direction, out into the meditation room. This room was a maze of ponds of still water, with waterlilies lying on top. There was also mediation pads that hovered over the various ponds, where the Jedi could sit and mediate sat.

Six jedi who were common sights here could be seen in a semicircle with lightsabers turned on and facing the fugitive, who now slowed to a stop. He turned on his blade, with it facing towards the floor.

“Come Jedi,” he laughed coldly, “I will take you all on one at a time.”

“Attack him two at a time,” Lackstar commanded, “We cannot defeat him singlehandedly.”

He turned to Anakin and nodded his head slowly. Anakin understood and waited until the last possible second. The two middle Jedi charged Plagueis at the same time. At the same time, Anakin and Lackstar also charged him and at the same time so did the other Jedi. Plagueis at the same time shoved his left hand into the water and electrical currents shot through the water. Four of the Jedi fell as lightning coursed through their legs and up into their bodies.

Anakin and Lackstar were both able to jump over the water just in time and the other two leaped to the walls where they grabbed hold but were blasted off as the lightning coursed up the metallic walls. Plagueis ran at top speed towards the wall and throwing his hand, a large circle of wall crumbled and he leapt to the wall.

“Hold it!” Zward shouted and he flew headfirst into Plagueis, who stayed perfectly still but Zward bounced back, dazed.

“And the traitor!” Plagueis shouted in delight as he took his lightsaber and sliced down Zward in distaste, “We would have killed your son, but, unfortunately, he escaped.”

He then fled, disappearing into the city. As Anakin and Lackstar went to follow, the walls around the temple rocked as several explosives set up around the temple exploded with tremendous force. Pieces of metal and window fell all over the temple grounds, barely missing the twenty Jedi outside the temple.

Anakin jumped outside the temple, and nearly fell, as he landed on some rubble that had been left outside by Plagueis exploding. Anakin, not seeing the Sith around, turned and knelt by Zward, who was gasping for air.

“Zward,” he said, “Can you hear me?”

“I....can,” he gasped out, “You must...kill him. Anakin...stop.....”

“You can’t die!” Anakin exclaimed, “I will use the Force to save you.”

“Anakin,” he gasped, his face paling, “I can now tell you the prophecy given me, since my time is short….A war will soon be raged.

Two of the Council must fall to save the Galaxy,

From the world of a man which brings a plague.”

He had barely said that when he gasped deeply and let out one last sigh. With that, his eyes blanked, and the Force withdrew itself from his dead body. His body, a few seconds ago vibrant and warm, steadily grew cold. Soon, all their was that remained was paled skin. The skin of a dead man.

Something, never been tapped into by Anakin began to stir. Like the dormant volcano it began to rise. For once, Anakin was feeling....anger and rage. He could not suppress the feelings themselves, and he noticed that the world seemed to slow. He could hear the clicking of blasters around him and the lasers flying through the air. He could hear even the flies in the air as they beat their insecticide wings. And, the more he thought about the lives lost to this Plaguis, and especially Zward, the more furious he got.

He threw back his head and screamed at the sky, with such emotion that it made Lackstar stop and turn to him.