FORBIDDEN ATTACHMENTS ─ star wars

LXVIII. The Dark Truth

I tell Padmé as much; "Taris is stronger than him, it's stronger than the dark side. I believe that it will make it through this."

Padmé kisses my shoulder, lifting her head up to look at me fully. "I guess I have to believe that, too."

-

Obi Wan

Seeing the temple has made me at a loss for words. The air is filled with ash left over from the fires the clones caused, rubble and dust litter the floor, black marks from blaster fire cover the walls. It feels like I'm walking through a tomb, encasing the death and destruction of the Jedi in what used to be our sanctuary.

Bodies of fallen Jedi and clones are what I notice most as we walk through the temple. I stare down at each of the fallen Jedi, seeing blaster marks on various parts of their bodies, their faces frozen in shock and disbelief, their lightsaber scattered across the floor. Every level of the temple looks the same, there is not one part of the once great staple of the Jedi that is untouched. It's all gone. Within a single day, everything I once knew has been stripped away and blown to bits like the temple around me has.

Not only do I have to mourn my wife, but I have to mourn my fellow Jedi, mourn the life I had, because all of it is gone now.

As Yoda and I walk towards the communications center of the temple, we find something we both had been dreading to find. The younglings, the future of the Jedi order, they all lie on the floor, massacred just like the rest of the Jedi. But these younglings look different than the others, blaster marks aren't covering their small frail bodies, clones were not the reason for their demise. Lightsaber wounds are what killed these younglings. I look down at Master Yoda, finding his eyes closed, his face filled with sorrow and mourning just as mine is.

I can't bring myself to look at the children any longer, so I press on, thankful that the communications center is just ahead.

Master Yoda walks into the center first, approaching the catalogue of data sets and communicators. He makes his way over towards one of the slots, opening it up and beginning to adjust the switches and controls, trying to recalibrate the coded message.

As he does that, I go over towards the catalogue of security footage. There is a data base for it here, allowing us to see any part of the temple at any time. It also allows access to footage in the senate building, so if I access it now, it will allow us to see who was really behind all this.

As I begin to rewind the footage, I hear Master Yoda'z voice say; "If into the security footage you look, only pain you will find." He warns.

I shake my head, continuing to rewind the footage to a few hours ago. "I must know." I tell him, meaning it no matter what I find.

But what I find in the footage, no amount of training or time could ever prepare me for. I see Anakin, my former padawan, my best friend, his lightsaber ignited, his face contorted in anger, slaughtering the younglings. He cuts through them like they are nothing, like they are battle droids and not living beings. I skip more through the footage, seeing him leading an army of clones into the temple, his cloak covering his body in darkness, his face impassive as he begins fighting the other Jedi.

I rewind the footage more, transferring over to the footage from the senate building, going off of a hunch and finding the footage from the Chancellor's office.

"From this day on, you shall be known as Darth...Vader." Chancellor Palpatine says, his face now deformed and grotesque, his voice sickly and deep.

"Thank you...Master." Anakin says, kneeling down before the Chancellor, his face hidden beneath his brown hair.

I turn off the footage, feeling like all air has been sucked from my lungs, like my limbs can no longer function. I just stand there and stare down at the frozen picture of Anakin kneeling to the dark lord of the Sith, feeling like my heart has stopped beating.