Empire Day ✓

Chapter 45 - This Is My Fight

The Jedi twirled, sending the sabers in elliptical orbits, gaining momentum to cut swathes through four stormtroopers at a time. 

Master Yoda lifted himself above the soldiers. He spun in Ataru form and sliced through the second row as Obi-Wan took out the first.

Ahsoka somersaulted under Anakin's blade and came up in his second row. Once she had taken out that row, she flipped to the wall and bounced off the four-meter-high ceiling.

Anakin's strong swipes took out the first row. Padmé's accurate blaster shots took down two in the third row. 

Bail, not to be outdone, stayed in Obi-Wan's wake for protection. The senator fired once, then twice. Finally, a soldier fell down.

The mêlée continued. White dual blades, a green blade, and two blue blades swirled in mesmerizing patterns. They connected with their targets, never missing. 

Half the legion demolished. The other half, more vicious than before.

Ahsoka and Yoda returned to the group, ready to defend. 

With a battle cry, the remaining forces charged the Jedi. The first wave fired on the group as they rushed across the corridor. 

The Jedi held up their hands and pushed back their foes. They ducked and twisted to avoid the incoming fire. Padmé and Bail continued to fire, taking out the front line in four quick shots each.

Anakin and Yoda tossed the next wave back, sending them into the oncoming rows of troops. Three rows fell, but they quickly returned to their feet and pressed forward. The Jedi advanced, reclaiming their lost ground.

Ahsoka sprung forward. With a rapid swipe, two soldiers' heads rolled to the side. Anakin thrust the other two to the wall and choked them with the Force. Pressing on, he swiped through the next wave of soldiers.

Yoda and Obi-Wan moved in unison. Swipe up to the right, then down to the left. Their movements were so quick that Bail could not even register when they changed from one direction to the other. It was all he could do to fire and not ricochet off one of their blades.

As Anakin and Ahsoka advanced on their cohort, blaster fire increased. The front row lay on the ground, with the second row kneeling. The third row squatted, and the fourth row stirred. Blaster fire from sixteen guns at once was too much even for this pair. 

"Ahh!" Padmé screamed from behind Anakin. She clutched her right shoulder and fell to the floor with a thud.

Anakin glanced at her and let out a pitiful wail. "Nooooooooooooo!" He swiped his left arm to the right. All sixteen blasters scattered across the floor. He advanced on the front wave. He pushed out at the rear waves, sending them tumbling. 

When he reached the first wave, he pushed them down to the floor. No longer paralyzed with fear but paralyzed with the Force, the armor crackled under them as the intense pressure collapsed their rib cages and punctured their lungs and hearts.

The Chosen One moved forward, more a machine than a man now. He stepped on the armor, compressing the men further. The remaining soldiers's shots were no match for him. Anakin aimed each blast back into another soldier, no longer content with mere ricochets. 

When Anakin reached the captain of the cohort, he reached out with the Force and held the man above him. His Force-grip squeezed the man's trachea, but it did not collapse it. 

"Please. Have mercy, Lord Vader. Please." The man shook as his face paled.

Anakin looked at Padmé who rested against the corridor a few meters behind him. Bail held a cloth to her wound, but her head lolled. He stared the man in the eyes and tightened his grip. "You don't deserve it."

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan yelled. "Anakin, let him go."

Ahsoka cried, "Anakin, don't. Don't do this."

The man continued to gurgle.

Master Yoda merely stood, his hands crossed in front of his chest. "Trust you, I do, Anakin. You must do what you feel is right. Find the balance."

Anakin turned his face to the man. His eyes were bulging now. The veins on his neck protruded. The smell that now permeated the corridor confirmed that the man's bowels had emptied in the armor.

The black helmet tilted. Anakin extinguished his saber and attached it to his belt. With precision, he lifted his helmet from his head and tossed down the corridor behind the man. "I am Anakin Skywalker, The Chosen One." He relaxed his grip on the man's throat and lowered him to the tile. "You are free."

Anakin returned his attention to the still body of his wife on the floor. 

A blaster shot aimed for his back, but Ahsoka jumped in between the two. She crossed her dual blades, ricocheting the bolt directly at the officer's chest.