(A/N: hi guys, sorry i didnt upload yesterday. My parents came up this last weekend, and i was so freakin pooped on monday night, so i couldnt write at all😅)
=== Anakin ===
The ship streaked through the roiling blues and whites of hyperspace, the soft thrum of the drives humming through the deck plates like a heartbeat. Anakin sat in the passenger compartment across from the Supreme Chancellor, his arms crossed, jaw tight. The city-lights of Coruscant had long fallen away.
Palpatine sat across from him, calm and composed, his hands folded neatly in his lap. He had not spoken since they'd left orbit, letting the silence stretch until it became heavy. Only when the stars began to shift subtly, a sign that they were nearing their destination, did he finally speak.
"Anakin," he said softly, almost like a father to a son, "there are truths about this galaxy that… the Jedi will never accept."
Anakin looked up at him, eyes narrowing. "Truths? What truths?"
Palpatine leaned forward slightly, his voice lowering just enough to feel conspiratorial. "That peace is a lie, and that war is never ending. You know of the alliance, of course. The Republic and the Imperium, marching together to crush the Separatist plague."
Anakin nodded once. "It's a farce that's keeping the galaxy from tearing itself apart for right now."
Palpatine smiled faintly, though there was no warmth in it. "This alliance is a brittle thing, my boy. A moment in history, nothing more. Already, there are whispers in the halls of power, Imperial commanders looking upon Coruscant as a future conquest. They do not see you, or me, or even the Jedi as partners. They see a world ripe for the taking."
Anakin's jaw flexed. He hated how easily those words rang true. The Astartes didn't act like allies, they acted like conquerors wearing a polite mask.
"You've seen them, Anakin," Palpatine said, his tone sharpening just enough to drive the point. "You know what they are capable of."
Anakin's hands tightened into fists on his knees. "They're monsters."
Palpatine nodded slowly. "But at the moment, their guns are aimed at someone else." His eyes flicked briefly to the guards in the corner, then back to Anakin, his voice dipping even lower. "But one day, when the Separatists are gone, who will remain to challenge them? Who will keep the Imperium from deciding the Republic is merely the next thing to 'purge'? You? Your Jedi Council?"
Anakin exhaled slowly. "The Jedi… won't act. They'll debate. They'll wait until it's too late."
Palpatine leaned in, his tone turning almost gentle now. "And so they will. And so billions will die screaming, because they lack the courage to prepare."
Anakin met his eyes. There was fire there, but also a dangerous kind of clarity, the kind born of desperation and pride wound together.
"You spoke before," Palpatine continued, "about capturing one of these Astartes. Studying them. Finding a way to stop them."
Anakin gave a slow, reluctant nod. "It's the only way I can see us getting ahead of them."
Palpatine placed a hand on Anakin's arm, firm but not forceful. "It's one of many ways. Do not dismiss that instinct. It is not weakness, Anakin, it is wisdom. You think as a soldier must, not only about today's battle, but tomorrow's war." He let the silence stretch for a beat, then asked quietly, "Tell me… how many more mothers, wives, and children must be crushed under the Imperium's heel before someone dares to strike back?"
Anakin looked down, teeth grinding as the words wormed their way past his defenses.
"How many of your men must die," Palpatine pressed softly, "before you begin to wonder if the Jedi's restraint is not compassion… but cowardice?"
Anakin's hands trembled slightly, and he curled them tighter to hide it. He hated that the Chancellor's words made sense. He hated even more how much he believed them.
The Supreme Chancellor's voice softened again, losing all its edge, replaced by a tone almost paternal. "I ask you not for an answer now, my boy. I ask only that you think on it. Truly think on it."
Then, with a subtle lurch, the ship slowed, the streaks of hyperspace drawing back into the pinpricks of distant stars. The dark abyss of space unfolded around them, but this was no familiar lane of traffic, no charted system in the Republic's vast archives. Out here, the stars were cold, scattered and alien.
Palpatine straightened, smoothing the folds of his robe. A faint, knowing smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked out into the dark expanse.
"Welcome," he said quietly, almost reverently, "to the unknown regions of the galaxy."
Anakin leaned forward, frowning, staring into the abyss as if trying to pierce its secrets. "Why bring me here?"
"Because," Palpatine replied, hands clasping behind his back as he stepped toward the viewport, "it is here, in the shadows beyond the reach of your Council's sight, that the Republic's future will be forged, and saved."
The stars seemed to twist ever so slightly as colossal silhouettes emerged against the starlight, massive structures shaped like ships, yet the size of moons. Great spires and rings of steel orbiting hunks of manufactured rock. Floating citadels of cold metal. Whole worlds hollowed out and reforged into engines of war.
Anakin leaned forward, pressing a hand to the viewport glass. "By the Force…" he breathed.
Palpatine's smile widened. "Impressive, isn't it? The galaxy has never seen anything like it. Not the Separatists. Not the Jedi. Not even our esteemed 'allies' in the Imperium."
Anakin tore his eyes away, staring at the Chancellor. "What is all this?"
Palpatine clasped his hands behind his back, his voice energetic as if revealing a long held secret. "Insurance. Preparation. A future forged by necessity. You see, my boy, the Imperium has brought with it an arrogance born of endless war. They do not fear droids, fleets, or Jedi. They believe themselves gods of battle, unchallenged across the stars."
He turned slightly, his gaze cutting through the transparisteel as though he could pierce the veil of distance with will alone. "But even gods," he murmured, "can learn to fear."
Anakin's brow furrowed. "Fear?"
Palpatine faced him fully now, his expression calm, yet there was a fire in his eyes that no political mask could hide. "Yes, Anakin. Fear. The one thing the Imperium has never truly tasted here. They conquer worlds. They crush armies. They believe themselves inevitable. But inevitability is a lie. The right weapon, deployed at the right time, can unmake even the greatest empire."
The shuttle adjusted its course, banking slowly around a shadowed moon.
And then, it came into view.
A sphere of steel and black plating, its surface glistening like obsidian under distant starlight. Massive channels ran across its surface like arteries, pulsing faintly with contained energy. Entire cities clung to its shell, like barnacles on a ship.
Anakin felt his mouth go dry. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. "That… that's a planet."
"The Suneater," Palpatine corrected smoothly, his tone almost reverent. "We've been working on this for years, long before the Imperium arrived. Long before we even suspected such a thing might be needed. We feared someone or something, might one day come to challenge the Republic in ways our fleets and soldiers could not counter. We were right to prepare, if a little late."
Anakin couldn't look away. It was beautiful in a terrifying, sacrilegious way.
Palpatine gestured toward the looming metal world. "This is the crown jewel of the Republic's hidden arsenal. Powered by technology stolen and perfected from the Separatists, enhanced by minds far outside the Jedi's dogma of 'balance' and 'peace.' It is a weapon of mass destruction on a scale no one has dared imagine."
Anakin finally tore his eyes from the sphere to stare at the Chancellor. "What does it do?"
Palpatine turned slightly, signaling one of his crimson guards with a flick of his hand. "Prepare the demonstration."
The guard nodded silently, and moved quickly toward the ship's comm panel, relaying the orders.
Palpatine stepped closer to Anakin, his voice low but edged with something almost giddy. "This weapon does not simply destroy worlds, Anakin. No, no… it consumes stars. Suns. It devours the beating hearts of solar systems, siphoning their very essence, until what was once a thriving system becomes nothing but cold dark tombs."
Anakin stared at him, incredulous. "That's… impossible."
Palpatine's smile didn't falter. "You will see."
As if on cue, the planet-sized machine began to shift. Massive petals of blackened durasteel unfurled from its equator, like a steel flower blooming in the void. Enormous conduits glowed with deep azure light, each one humming with a power that made the hairs on Anakin's arms rise.
Palpatine reached into a compartment and withdrew a pair of dark-lensed goggles. He held them out with both hands, like a priest offering a sacred relic. "You will need these. The energy involved is… overwhelming to the naked eye."
Anakin took them, hesitated, then slipped them over his eyes.
The viewport darkened through the lenses, adjusting the brilliance as a nearby star, the very one lighting this corner of space, began to shiver.
It started as a pinprick, a tiny distortion at the star's surface, then widened, pulling threads of its burning matter outward.
The star began to pour itself into the weapon.
Anakin gripped the frame of the viewport, breath quickening as the star's brilliance dimmed, its surface buckling inward, torn apart strand by strand, drawn screaming into that monstrous machine.
Minutes passed. Then more. The system dimmed, the great celestial furnace reduced to a dwindling ember, and then to nothing at all.
Palpatine's voice cut through the stunned silence. "Now. Watch closely."
The weapon, now swollen with stolen stellar energy, began to rotate. Panels locked, conduits pulsed, the entire construct focusing like an eye narrowing in rage.
"Far ahead." Palpatine said softly, pointing through the viewport,
Anakin followed the gesture, his goggles amplifying the distant pinprick of light, one among millions.
A massive blue beam of death erupted from the weapon, a lance of condensed annihilation that cut through the black. It struck the distant star, and for a moment, nothing seemed to happen.
Then, the star screamed.
It flared, once, twice, then convulsed, collapsing in on itself before exploding outward in a bloom of raw destruction. Matter and energy tore free in violent convulsions until gravity itself claimed dominion, dragging every piece of the dying star inward until it folded upon itself, birthing a hungry black hole in its wake.
Anakin lowered the goggles slowly, his hands trembling.
Palpatine, still watching the dying system with an almost serene expression, turned back to him. "And this, Anakin, is only the beginning. A prototype. A child's sketch of what is to come. In a few years' time, this weapon will be fully operational. And when that day comes… no empire, no crusade, no god will dare test the Republic's resolve."
Anakin swallowed hard, still staring at the void where light actively disappeared.
For the first time in a long while, he felt something other than anger or pride or war-born fatigue.
He felt awe.
Palpatine's hands were clasped behind his back, his gaze never leaving the place where the small black hole now was. His voice was low, almost tender.
"How many more, Anakin?"
Anakin blinked, still staring at the empty abyss, trying to grasp the scale of what he'd just witnessed.
Palpatine turned slowly, his piercing gaze settling on the Jedi Knight, his tone calm yet pointed. "How many wives… how many mothers, children, fathers, brothers must perish before you and your Order finally see what stands in front of you?"
Anakin drew a sharp breath, as if struck.
Palpatine stepped closer, the low hum of the ship's systems filling the space between their words. "Every moment you hesitate, the Imperium tightens its fist. Every delay, another system is crushed beneath armored boots, another people, silenced forever. The Jedi preach balance, serenity, patience…" He shook his head, almost sorrowfully. "But patience is a luxury paid for with blood."
Anakin finally turned, his brow furrowed, jaw tight. He met the Chancellor's eyes.
"If it saves the Republic…" he said quietly at first, then louder, firmer, "…and those I care about, those I love, then I'll do whatever you ask, Chancellor."
Palpatine's lips curved, just slightly, not the politician's friendly smile, but something smaller, more personal. He reached forward, both hands grasping Anakin's arms just below the shoulders, his touch firm but warm, a gesture of confidence disguised as affection.
"That," he said softly, "is why I trust you, Anakin Skywalker. Because you see the galaxy for what it is. You act, when others sit idle."
Palpatine's voice dropped even lower, almost a whisper meant only for him. "All I need," he said, "is an ally among the Jedi. Someone who understands that the time for complacency is over. That while the Senate debates and the Council meditates, the galaxy bleeds."
He released Anakin's arms, clasping his own hands together again, walking a slow circle near the viewport. "If the day comes, if matters progress further, I may need you to work in the shadows, away from the Order's eyes, to do what must be done. Because they…" He gave a small, dry chuckle. "They simply wish to ignore the problem. Pretend that the Imperium is a storm that will pass. It will not."
Anakin stared after him, the tension in his chest coiling tighter. His thoughts felt like they were fracturing, splintering in new, dangerous directions.
And then Palpatine paused, as if considering whether to say what came next. He glanced back over his shoulder, his expression unreadable, his tone measured and careful.
"Some," he murmured, "in the Jedi Order even hold secret meetings with traitors."
Anakin's breath caught.
Palpatine turned fully now, watching him, gauging every twitch of his expression. "I won't name names, of course," he said smoothly, a politician's denial wrapped in just enough truth to sting. "But those who claim to protect the Republic sometimes… parley with those who seek to undermine it. You understand, I hope, how dangerous that is. How much more dangerous it becomes when those meetings are hidden from the Council, from the Senate… from you."
Anakin's mind flashed instantly to the corridor, to Qui-Gon's calm voice, to the faint echo of Dooku's tone before the comm had ended. The quiet, respectful way his former Master had folded his hands. The way he had defended Dooku.
His chest tightened.
Palpatine saw it, the flicker of doubt, the seed sinking into fertile ground. He didn't press, not yet. He merely turned back to the stars, hands behind his back once more.
"Think on it, my boy," he said gently, as if it were a favor, not a command. "You owe it to yourself, and to those you protect, to ask where true loyalty lies."
Anakin stood there, silent, his jaw clenched, his eyes distant.
For years he had trusted the Jedi. Believed in them. Obeyed, even when he chafed under their restraint. But now…
If the council were blind… who, then, was truly protecting the Republic?
Palpatine didn't turn, didn't push. He simply let the silence linger, knowing the battle was already turning. Not won, not yet, but the boy's heart had tilted, just slightly, toward him.
And for a man like Palpatine, that was enough… for now.
He then turned to the same guard as earlier.
"Take us home. To the ones we love."
===
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