Confrontation in the Republic Executive Building

"I trusted Palpatine; I thought he was my friend. I couldn't have been more wrong; I know that he was, is, and always will be, truly evil. I am truly fortunate that I resisted him that night; if I had not, then I fear things would've been much different."

- Anakin Skywalker, referring to his confrontation with Darth Sidious

The Confrontation in the Republic Executive Building, also known as the Duel in the Chancellor's Suite and the Showdown on Coruscant, was a lightsaber duel between the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, and Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar, in the Chancellor's Suite, of the Republic Executive Building.

The duel originated from Anakin Skywalker's discovery that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was none other than Darth Sidious, the Sith Master who was behind the war, controlling both the Republic, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. When Sidious revealed this to Skywalker, the latter informed Mace Windu, and Windu, along with fellow masters Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar, went to arrest Sidious, in order to stop the Sith threat and remove him from power.

The Jedi made their way into Palpatine's suite at the Republic Executive Building, and prepared to arrest the Sith Lord. However, after a very brief conversation, Palpatine attacked the Jedi, quickly killing all but Windu. The two engaged each other in a brilliant lightsaber duel, but Palpatine eventually proved victorious, slaying the Jedi Master.

Sidious appeared to be victorious, but as he prepared to order the of the Grand Army of the Republic to attack the, and issue  to the clone troopers, turning them against their Jedi commanders, galaxy-wide, Skywalker entered the Chancellor's suite, along with Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, who had just returned from Utapau and Kashyyyk, respectively. Thus, another lightsaber duel ensued, in which Sidious urged Skywalker to join him, but the young Jedi tore off the influence of the dark lord, destroying the darkness within himself in the process.

Overpowered, and realizing that the one he'd sought to turn to the dark side would never embrace it, Sidious was forced to abandon his plans, and flee Coruscant. As a result of the confrontation, Palpatine's insidious schemes were revealed to the public, which changed public opinion on the former leader of the Republic.

Shortly after, the Jedi Council took temporary control of the Galactic Senate, and this lasted until elections were held for a new Supreme Chancellor.

Prelude
"Be careful of the Jedi, Anakin. Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi; learn to know the dark side of the force, and you will be able to save your wife from certain death." "What did you say?" "Use my knowledge, I beg you." "You're the Sith Lord!"

- Palpatine reveals his true identity as Darth Sidious to Anakin Skywalker

In his dreams, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker had been tormented with prophetic visions of his secret wife,Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, dying in pain during the birth of their child, which greatly agonized the Jedi; he became convinced that, like the vision he had of his mother dying, 3 years before, the one about his wife would come true, and both she and their child would die.

Meanwhile, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Anakin's mentor and friend, invited him to a show at the Galaxies Opera House so they could speak in private. While they sat in Palpatine's private box, the Chancellor told Skywalker a Sith legend, "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise," informing him that Plagueis had discovered the ability to save others from death by manipulating the midi-chlorians within the cells of living bodies; Plagueis had taken a Sith apprentice and taught him everything that he, as a Sith Lord, knew. However, Plagueis' apprentice, wanting to usurp his power and position, murdered the Dark Lord in his sleep. Because of this story, Skywalker became very intrigued in this power, believing that he would be able to learn, and use it successfully to save Amidala, and their child, from death.

Later, in the Supreme Chancellor's office, Palpatine finally revealed himself to be Darth Sidious, Plagueis' former apprentice; the current Dark Lord of the Sith, causing divided loyalties in Skywalker, as he was greatly conflicted, inside, between his desire to learn the power of a Sith Lord, and his duty as a Jedi to turn the dark lord in. He thought of killing Sidious on the spot, as it was his duty as a Jedi to eliminate the Sith, but he could not bring himself to kill his former mentor and friend. Departing from Palpatine's suite, Skywalker quickly went to the Jedi Temple, informing Jedi Master Mace Windu of Palpatine's true identity, though he was greatly conflicted about doing so.

Sensing his internal struggle, Windu sent Skywalker to the High Council Chamber, advising him to spend time meditating upon his raging emotions. Windu then took a squad of Masters: the Nautolan Kit Fisto, the Zabrak Agen Kolar, and the Iktotchi Saesee Tiin—to arrest Palpatine in his office.

Sidious expected a showdown, and he prepared well for it, after sensing the approach of the Jedi Masters onboard a gunship. Sidious recovered his lightsaber from its resting place within a neuranium sculpture, and he hid it in the sleeve of his robe.

When the Masters dispatched the Chancellor's private guards beyond the office's outer doors, the Sith Master triggered a concealed recording device—that was audio only. The Jedi strode into Sidious' private office, where Master Windu told the Chancellor that he was under arrest. However, by altering the audio recording, the Sith Lord ensured that, when the recording was released publicly, he would be portrayed as the victim, with the Jedi appearing unnecessarily aggressive towards the seemingly innocent old man.

The duel
"Master Windu; I take it Master Kenobi has destroyed General Grievous, then. I must say you're here sooner than expected." "In the name of the senate of the Galactic Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor." "Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?" "The senate shall decide your fate." "I am the senate!'" "Not yet, Lord Sidious." "It's treason, then."

- Mace Windu and Palpatine, immediately prior to their duel

Declaring Windu and the other Jedi traitors to the Republic, Sidious withdrew his lightsaber, and, with a howl of animalistic rage, lunged towards the Jedi, which caught Agen Kolar completely off guard; he was promptly stabbed through the heart by Palpatine. Even before his body even crumpled to the ground, the Zabrak was already dead.

As Saesee Tiin registered the development of events happening right next to him, he tried to bring down his blade upon the Sith Lord, but Palpatine was too quick, as his blade cut through Tiin's abdomen, ending his life as well.

Kit Fisto, thanks to his mastery of Shii-Cho, was able to survive longer than his two counterparts, but still, he was no match for Palpatine, and he fell to the ground, lifeless, a gash in his midsection, leaving Mace Windu to contend with Sidious' master swordsmanship.

Thanks to Vaapad, a style he himself created, Windu was able to hold his ground against Palpatine, even though he was rapidly driven back through the suite. In the Ceremonial office, the battle continued, and the massive window, that gave an outlook into the Galactic City, was completely shattered by Windu's blade.

The battle intensified in its last moments; Windu managed to force Palpatine's saber out of his hand, but the latter unleashed force lightning upon the Jedi. However, Windu was able to deflect it with his weapon, turing Sidious' dark power back upon himself, which resulted in a grotesque deforming of the Sith Lord's face. (It is also speculated that the lightning unmasked Sidious' true face. It was belived by some that Palpatine's face was always repulsive-looking, because of decades in immersion in the dark side; he had simply used Sith Alchemy to hide it with a fairer face.)

Despite looking feeble and finished before Windu's violet blade, Sidious was far from defeated. Using the force, the dark lord summoned his lightsaber to him. However, it took an unorthodox path to reach it's wielder's hand; the crimson blade cut clean through the right arm of Windu, sending his lightsaber careening out the window, and leaving him totally defenseless. Screaming out in pain, Windu was blasted by more Sith lightning from a cackling and now-boastful Palpatine, who rose to his feet.

"You have failed, Jedi. Soon, your pathetic order will die, and the Republic you defend along with it. Once more, the Sith shall rule the galaxy! Did you really think that your feeble skills were a match for the power of the dark side? You have now paid the price for your arrogance. Now, you shall become one with the force; goodbye, Mace Windu."

- Darth Sidious, to Mace Windu, moments before Windu's death

Upon uttering his final taunt to the Jedi Master, Palpatine force pushed Windu, launching him out of the broken window, and he fell over twenty stories, where he met his demise on the ground, far below the Executive Office of the Supreme Chancellor.

Retribution of the Jedi
"At an end, your reign of evil is; and not short enough, it was."

- Yoda, to Darth Sidious

After Windu was thrown to his doom, Palpatine was sure he'd won; the Jedi were dead. At the moment, it seemed that no one could stop his plans. The only thing that hadn't gone according to Sidous' plans, was the arrival of Skywalker, who hadn't arrived at all, but, the Sith Lord resolved, in time, to deal with the situation of the conflicted young Jedi.

Sidious would now execute the final stages of his plan, and seize control of the galaxy, completing the Sith's ultimate revenge. First, he would order the 501st Legion, one of the most elite legions of clone troopers that were a part of the Republic army, to attack the practically defenseless Jedi Temple. Then, he would issue Order 66, a special order that only Palpatine could give, to all of the clone commanders around the galaxy. The clones, once hearing these orders, would see the Jedi as traitors to the Republic, and turn against them; causing the Jedi to be slaughtered, as they had no idea of the clone's capability to turn on them, at the orders of Palpatine.

However, as Sidious prepared to wipe out the Jedi, and instate the Sith as rulers of the galaxy, he was interrupted by a most unwelcome sight (to himself); Skywalker had finally arrived, but with him was Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Grand Master Yoda, who had returned to the Jedi Temple, minutes earlier, and Skywalker had informed them of the situation, and the three most powerful Jedi in the galaxy had gone to Palpatine's office, with the intent of arresting the Chancellor.

Now very concerned at the situation developing before him, Sidious knew that he could not defeat all three of them, together, however, he had a plan: he would remove Yoda from the battle, overwhelm Kenobi, then goad Skywalker into slaying his former master, ensuring his fall to the dark side, and then the two of them would be easily able to dispatch the Grand Master of the Jedi.

Exchanging unfriendly pleasantries with the Jedi, Sidious sprang from his desk, not holding back the full power of the dark side he wielded, like he had done in the duel with Windu.

Using a combination of force speed and Ataru, Sidious was able to avoid being cornered by the Jedi, while biding his time to execute his strategy, and, eventually, he seized his chance, sending Yoda flying from the main office, and into the private office, with a barrage of force lightning.

Now more free to be more aggressive, Palpatine focused his attacks on Kenobi, through the master of Soresu was able to hold his own, for a time; however, he ultimately succumbed to the dark lord's furious use of Juyo, and his saber was destroyed in one fluid moment from Palpatine. Knocking down the Jedi Master, Sidious told Skywalker to kill his former master, join the Sith, and embrace the dark side, while Kenobi pleaded with his former pupil to turn from the path of darkness.

More conflicted then he'd ever been before, Skywalker was faced with a fate-deciding choice: either join Palpatine, and become a Sith Lord, or remain with the Jedi, and continue to be a Jedi Knight. The former choice would allow him to unleash all of his pent-up negative emotions, unleashing the full power of the dark side, which would allow him to save his wife and unborn child from death. However if he chose this path, he'd be betraying thirteen years of commitment, and promises, to the Jedi Order, his mother, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Confusion raging inside him, his inner being slightly shifted towards darkness with Palpatine's promises of galactic peace and order, but most of all, the power to save Padmé. However, during Obi-Wan's speech to him, Anakin sensed the truth in Obi-Wan's words, and realized that Obi-Wan cared about not only him, but Padmé, as well; which shocked the young Jedi, as he had never before seen his master like he was, at that moment, radiating selfless love for him. The deciding point though, was when Skywalker discovered that, in the end, even if he didn't want Amidala and their child to die, it was her life, she carried the child within her, and at the thought of this, he felt ashamed of so carelessly disregarding her opinion of the situation.

Finally, Skywalker uncovered the fact that his wife's reaction to him becoming a Dark Lord of the Sith, would be far less, than disappointed; the reaction would be appalled, horrified, and heart-broken, which was the absolute last thing that he had wanted. He knew that he couldn't live without her, but she couldn't live without him, either. At that moment, Anakin realized what would be the cause of his beloved's death: his turn to the dark side of the force.

With this, there was not even a decision to make. Banishing the anger, lust for power, and most importantly, fear, from him, Anakin deactivated his azure blade, tossed it aside, and boldly faced down Palpatine.

"Never; I'll never turn to the dark side. You have failed, your excellency; I am a Jedi, like my master before me."

- Anakin Skywalker to Darth Sidious, as the former completely removes the dark side from within him

The result of this declaration, was a relived and proud Kenobi, but an enraged Sidious; his carefully-woven plan had fallen apart: his prize had completely purged the darkness within him, and was a lost cause; a real threat to his power. Declaring his hatred for the young man, Sidious unleashed Sith lightning upon Skywalker, but his prey was ready for the attack; he both reflected and absorbed the lightning, avoiding it's deadly effects.

At this moment, Kenobi had retrieved his lightsaber, and Yoda had re-entered the office; all looked lost for the Sith Master, who, with a strong effort from Skywalker, was blasted off of his feet, crashed into a desk and chair, knocking them over.

Cornering Sidious at the shattered window, they demanded that the dark lord surrender, and give himself up to Jedi custody. However, Palpatine had other plans.

Leaping out of the window, Sidious landed on his personal spacecraft, which had been in wait ever since Mace Windu had entered the Executive Office, and vowed, that one day, the Sith would have their ultimate revenge against the Jedi.

With the sworn pledge of vengeance by Palpatine, the shuttle screamed into and out of the atmosphere, and jumped into hyperspace, heading for the far reaches of space, where, even then, Sidious new plan of galactic domination, and Jedi destruction, had already begun to take shape.