Anakin didn't go down the shaft all the way, or even most of the way. When he saw an empty platform that didn't look like it was being used, he jumped off and abandoned his ride, ducking around a corner and leaning against it. It would take hours for the clone troopers to get down here, and he finally had a minute to rest.
He sunk against the wall and sat on the ground, catching his breath. Now was the appropriate time to wonder: What the BLAZING HELL was that?!?!? What memo had Fox and his men gotten that the 501st hadn't, and more importantly, what exactly was the memo??? What had Anakin done?
Did the chancellor know? Kayla Kanai had authority over all of the clone troopers, maybe she could tell him what was going on. Anakin activated his comlink, intending to give her a call, but his finger hesitated over the controls.
Something was gone. Something, someone. A piercing hole ripped into his chest, creating an emptiness that was too familiar to him. Anakin Skywalker knew the sting of death, he had felt it before.
He didn't know who it was, though. A friend, someone he knew well enough to sense in the Force, but he couldn't pinpoint who it was. Anakin kept trying to identify who had been lost, but another tear in the Force broke his concentration.
No! Not right now!!! Holding his head in his hands, he tried to focus, tried to see who was gone, but a third death punched him in the gut, and then a fourth.
Another,
another!
Another!
NO!!!! No more!!
But they didn't stop. He felt more of them, like an onslaught of blaster shots hitting his chest. It came like rain, how a single drop turned into a downpoar, all inside of him. People kept falling, one by one, with no warning and no hope of survival. Life was fading, disappearing in all directions and leaving nothing behind.
It wasn't the only thing that was fading, though. Anakin tried to find comfort in the Force, in the Light where he knew life thrived, but the Light itself was beginning to vanish. It grew dimmer with every death that pained Anakin, finally alluding to who it was that was dying:
Jedi.
The clones hadn't just been trying to kill him, they were after all Jedi. That was the only explanation for both the death he felt and the betrayal of the clones. For some reason, Dogma and his men weren't on the same page, but he couldn't depend on that for protection. Anakin breathed hard, his chest heaving with the weight of so much loss. Why? I don't understand!
A horrifying thought dawned on him. The Temple. Fox is going to go after the Temple next! Scrambling to his feet, Anakin ran back out to the shaft and caught a ride going up, not down. If the clones were about to march on the home of the Jedi, there would be no warning unless Anakin gave them one. He activated his comlink, making sure the call was encrypted. "Master Windu!"
No reply came. There was no verbal response or even a connection with the Jedi Temple. Fox is jamming all transmissions, he realized, groaning in frustration. Of course he was. It's what Anakin would have done.
He had to get there first if the Jedi had any chance of fending off an attack. The only problem? If he showed his face at all above the surface, he was going to get shot down. He needed a way in that wasn't going to expose himself.
It took a minute of concentration, but he vaguely remembered one occasion where such an entry had been made. Years ago, Cad Bane had snuck in through the ventilation system of the Temple. Anakin looked to the side of the shaft, seeing an exhaust port that looked promising. Using the Force, he ripped the cover off of its bearings and jumped in, hoping the clones weren't going to be checking this particular tunnel system. He didn't have a choice though, not if he wanted to protect the rest of the Order.
The deaths he felt were starting to slow, but they weren't stopping. The initial wave of casualties was over, but those who had fended off the first sign of danger weren't all able to escape it completely. Clones didn't miss their targets often, Anakin knew. If a Jedi wasn't expecting to be betrayed, most of them wouldn't raise their guard in time. He hadn't even been worried when Fox first came up to him holding a blaster, back at the Senate Building. While he had guessed that something was up, he didn't think it was his execution.
Execution...the familiar word brought something else to his attention. What about Ahsoka?
Anakin paused long enough to reach out into his Force bond. Upon sensing that she was alive, he breathed a sigh of relief, but he could tell she was panicking. She feels it too, he assumed, dropping his hand and continuing to run towards the Temple. Ahsoka's not a Jedi, though. She'll be fine, he told himself.
Who he needed to be worried about was Obi-Wan. Anakin didn't think he was dead yet, but his master was now up against the entire 212th Battalion with Commander Cody at its head on Utapau. That wasn't a situation Anakin would want to be in, much less did he want it for Obi-Wan. He couldn't help him though, not from Coruscant. He had to focus on those in the Temple.
It was quite a run, but when he reached the edge of the Temple's ventilation system, Anakin was stunned by the number of security measures down there. Cad Bane's work had been cut out for him, especially if he had gotten past all of this without anyone realizing it. Unlike the bounty hunter, Anakin had no intention of being so subtle. He wanted the Jedi to come to him, it might be their best chance at getting out before the clones got there.
The further into the building that he delved, though, the more he realized it was too late. He could already hear blaster shots echoing through the tunnels, and he could feel more of the Jedi dying. It was even stronger now because he was so close to them. The Order was falling.
He pushed on harder, using his lightsaber to disable another set of lasers as quickly as possible. Every second he spent was another death he failed to prevent. It seemed to take ages, but Anakin finally found a vent that led directly into the Temple. He kicked out the covering, drawing his lightsaber and activating it. The first thing he saw was a group of Younglings, deflecting blaster shots but about to be overwhelmed.
Anakin pushed the clones shooting at them back, slamming the doors to the room they had retreated into. Glancing, he realized that he recognized the Younglings in question: the ones whom Ahsoka had taken to Illum, along with a little Twi'lek girl and O-Mer.
O-Mer was the first one to speak. "They just started shooting at us, we don't know what's going on!"
"No one does," Anakin told him, stepping in front of them to stop any more clones that were on the way. "Get in the vents and run! All of you, now!!!"
"What?" the Younglings protested, indignant. "We can fight, we-"
Anakin didn't want to spend the time explaining this to them, but he knew they wouldn't listen to him otherwise. "This isn't the time to prove yourself! If you stay here, all of you could die! This isn't about honor, this is about survival! Now GO!!! That's an order!"
At his harsh command, no one dared to object further. One by one, they deactivated their lightsabers and crawled in the hole, but O-Mer hesitated one more time. "Master Skywalker, Jinx is still in there!"
"I'll send him out if I find him," Anakin promised, not bothering to hide the uncertainty with a 'when' instead of an 'if'. "Protect the Younglings! Get them into hiding!!!"
He could tell that the Padawan didn't want to abandon his friend, but he knew his duty was with the little ones. O-Mer pulled the vent cover back onto the opening and followed the Younglings down the path Anakin had just come from, taking the Twi'lek girl, Lura, from Katooni and leading the way. They had to trust Master Skywalker.
The clones broke down the door to the room but Anakin pushed them back again, jumping out into the hallway and intercepting fire wherever he could. Gathering his strength in the Force, he sent a shockwave towards the soldiers, pushing multiple squadrons down the hall and into each other. It was enough to buy time for the Jedi behind him.
"Everyone move!" he commanded, ushering them backward and away from the clones. When he didn't think the soldiers could hear him, he ordered the oldest Jedi nearby: "Get everyone in the vents! We need to evacuate!!!"
Nobody questioned what he said. There was only one Jedi Master in the building to answer to otherwise, and no one had seen him. In the absense of all other Council members, it made sense for authority to fall to Anakin Skywalker.
They started rushing towards the nearest vent openings, but an explosion from the floor below stopped them all in their tracks. Anakin could feel the stability of the ground lessening, and he looked out to see tons, maybe even a hundred Jedi Knights, Padawans, and Younglings in danger of falling if the floor caved in.
He didn't think, didn't even hesitate. With one swift motion, he used all of his strength to push the crowd back, shoving them all to the end of the hallway. The ground had more support there, and they might be able to get to the stairs if they had enough time. It was the best chance they had, especially the little ones who couldn't survive a fall.
As he predicted, the floor began to crumble, and Anakin readied himself for a drop. The Jedi he had pushed back screamed as he fell through the floor, but Anakin slowed his fall easily, keeping calm as he descended to the level below. When his feet hit the crumbled stone, he pulled out his lightsaber and got ready to deflect anything. Whoever had destroyed the supports of the floor above wasn't going to be alone.
What Anakin hadn't counted on was how much damage had been done to the floors above him. One of the clones called for the other soldiers to cover, and Anakin barely looked up in time to see tons of concrete descending on his head.
Forgetting his lightsaber, he held his hands up, knowing there could be other Jedi by him that needed to get out of the way. Gritting his teeth and yelling, he closed his eyes, refusing to move or break. More debris kept falling but Anakin didn't budge. This whole Temple might collapse on his head, but he had to give the other Jedi a fighting chance.
And the rubble held. The Chosen One did not fail, did not waver in his concentration. Those who survived the initial destruction ran to escape the looming danger, trying to pull the fallen to their feet and out of harm's way. There was no time to marvel at the incredible feat being performed before them.
Unfortunately, the clones recognized who was holding the debris as well. They saw Anakin standing firm, not paying attention to them. The first clone to rise raised his blaster and fired, hitting the Jedi Knight in the arm.
The blaster wound itself wasn't fatal, but it broke Anakin's concentration. He stumbled backward only to see the wreckage he had been holding come crashing down on him. The last thing he heard before he knew nothing more were the screams of the remaining Jedi.
Author's Note: Can we stan Master Anakin Skywalker for acting like a Jedi Master? Yes we can, in AU's.