An Even Greater Sin

Chapter 10: ...impure becomes pure

Anakin Skywalker strode into Chancellor Palpatine's office to find him locked in deadly combat with Mace Windu. They seemed very evenly matched, and Anakin's heart caught in his throat to see two strong leaders combat in such a foolish way. If he helped Windu, he would be the savior of the Jedi Order for killing the Sith.

If he killed Windu, then he would be the savior of the galaxy- and of Padme`.

In the end, there was no choice. He would not betray his mentor- his true mentor. He needed Palpatine still.

And yet, the shock of betraying the Order pounded through his skull, decrying him as a traitor to all he believed in.

But he believed in Palpatine.

And so it was, that as he sliced the hand off of Mace Windu, he knew that there was no turning back.

"What have I done?" he begged the Cosmos for an answer.

Palpatine was the one to offer one. "You're following your destiny. I need you to help me bring order to the galaxy. Think about Padme`. I can help you save her. Become my apprentice."

Indecisively, Anakin murmured, "But what about..." He decided not to finish his question.

"What about Luke?" Palpatine asked. With a start, Anakin's eyes snapped up to those of the Chancellor.

"How do you know about him?"

"I know who he is, and why he's here."

The truth! Anakin fought to keep from grabbing Palpatine and shaking the answers out of him. Instead, he quietly queried, "Who is he?"

With a grim sorrow on his face, the Sith returned, "Luke Skywalker."

Skywalker! "But- how can that be? Who is he?"

"He is from the future."

"The future?"

"The Jedi must have sent him back in time using some diabolical plot to destroy us. He is very strong with the Force, is he not?"

A sigh of resignation escaped Anakin's lips. "Very. Even stronger than I am."

"Not if you join with me."

"But... if he's a Skywalker, then he's related to me!" Anakin felt diseased, used... tricked.

"The boy is your son, Anakin. He's come to seduce you away from his own mother- he plans to kill her to keep you loyal to the Jedi."

It was terrible, disgusting, too horrifying to believe, but... it made sense. A sick, perverse kind of sense. The type of sense Obi-Wan would use. Obi-Wan must have trained the boy- another lie on Luke's part. The rage swelled within Anakin, and he clenched his mechanical fist. "He must not be allowed to kill Padme`. I want the power to stop him." Kneeling before the Sith's feet, Anakin let out a shuddering sigh of resignation... pain... hatred. "You were right. The Jedi betrayed both of us. My... my son... has betrayed us."

"The only way to stop the boy from killing his mother is to turn him to our side before he has a chance to return to this time."

"Yes. We must stop the Jedi from corrupting him." Anakin felt a strange kind of calm, like the void of space, rushing through him. He felt clear, focused, energized by his rage. "I pledge myself to the ways of the Sith."

He felt Palpatine's hand pass over him with his blessing. "Anakin Skywalker, you are one with the Order of the Sith Lords." Anakin felt a tingling excitement at hearing this formal declaration. "Henceforth, you shall be known as... Darth Vader."

Anakin felt a fierce satisfaction in the name- Vader. The name of Luke's enemy. His own name. His son would meet justice yet.

"Go to the Jedi Temple. Do what must be done, Lord Vader. SHOW NO MERCY."

Luke had cried himself into a fitful sleep, his stomach having emptied itself of its contents right next to the crimson-stained bed. He had dreams, then- frightening dreams of pain and death and betrayal. He was stuck, knowing that it was all a nightmare, but unable to escape into the land of the waking.

A Cerean Jedi blasted down by clones.

A female Twi'lek shot down by her own commandos.

Surrounded by Wookiees... Master Yoda, just barely escaping.

A human riding a feathered lizard- was it Obi-Wan?- falling into the depths of a sinkhole, swimming to relative safety.

But worst of all...

"NO!" Luke shot up, drenched in sweat and blood and vomit. His surroundings were dark, and for a moment, he dared to believe that it had all been a horrible nightmare... but he was covered in his own almost-dry blood, every millimeter of his flesh burning.

And he knew that it was no mere dream... he had been seeing events occur across the galaxy... the deaths of many Jedi at the hands of what was now in all but name the Empire.

And at the head of a massive force of clones...

Rushing to the window, Luke threw the shades open to look upon the darkened city. His head ached, crying out in protest at every Jedi death. Less than a megablock away, the Temple burned, the soul of each Jedi lost symbolized by a plume of smoke. Falling to his knees, Luke buried his face in his hands, wishing that he were anywhere else. Anakin's- or was it Vader's now?- rage was tangible, swallowing him in as he felt the cause of the hatred.

He knew.

Anakin knew who he was- Palpatine had told him. Luke could sense the half-truths that the Sith had fed Anakin- although the full nature of them was still hidden. A Jedi could sense intent, but never could they read a mind.

Luke's eyes drifted to a tall building- an apartment, most likely- and he sensed his own self, unformed and confused, kicking from within his mother's womb. Leia, too, was protesting the pain, the death, the hatred that came from someone so closely linked. Luke's heart ached to think of his mother- his mother who had glared so fiercely at him- suffering the confusion that he knew she must be feeling. Did she know, at all, that Anakin himself was committing the slaughter at the Temple?

He prayed that she didn't.

Padme` Amidala took one final look at her husband- there was something horribly wrong with him- as he took off in his fighter... for Mustafar.

Bail Organa took one final look at the burning Temple, and fled in his speeder to the Tantive IV.

Obi-Wan was scared. Not with the type of fear that one thinks of when watching horror vids... but with real, pure, fall-to-the-darkside fear. He struggled to maintain control as he felt the Force scream with a collective cry of pain.

So many deaths... so many voices...

He had to get to Coruscant.

Master Yoda sensed each death like a dagger running him through, feeling his energy sap away at the loss of each brother or sister. In his escape pod, he tried to meditate, but failed.

It had been many decades since Yoda could not reach the calm within himself.

Anakin Skywalker surrendered to his hatred for his son.

And Luke Skywalker surrendered to his love for his father.