#where is the condemnation for the senators who never ONCE stand up for the clones?

[antianakin]

Well, for one, this post asked for bad Anakin Skywalker takes, not bad Jedi takes. This entire thread started because I had to see a bad Jedi take, so thanks for this, this is totally helping my fandom experience right now.

This is an EXHAUSTING conversation to have to keep having over and over again. I've definitely addressed it before, as have a few other people within the anti-Jedi community on Tumblr, but fine. Let's go through it again.

Generally when this topic comes up, there's a few follow-up questions it's helpful to try to answer.

If the Jedi refused to lead the clones from a moral standpoint, what is the alternative for the clones now, and is it better or worse for them in the long run?

Were the clones INTENDED to be seen as slaves or (also) closer to a draft and the writing of their situation is just done very messily and in a way that's very uncomfortable due to how close it seems to slavery? Follow-up to that, if it's uncomfortably close to slavery, perhaps this is where we discuss how close a draft is to slavery which brings up some interesting discussions about the Jedi having also been drafted and how much power the Jedi truly have in this situation.

Let's start with the first one because it's honestly just easier.

So the scenario is that the Jedi choose to refuse to fight in the war at all (because presumably fighting WITH the slave army is equally as bad as LEADING the slave army so long as we do not see the Jedi as slaves themselves because it still means they're supporting the use of the slave army). What becomes of the clones? Well, they still have to fight the war. The Jedi refusing to fight won't save the clones from that. But who will lead them now?

If your answer is "a bunch of fascist pricks who are probably in Palpatine's pocket," you'd be right! It'll just be a lot more people like Tarkin or Yularen.

How does this change the clones' experience? It means there's no longer a superior officer with heightened reflexes and instincts on the ground with them anymore, standing in front of them and blocking fire so that more men can survive. It means there's no longer a superior officer whose primary priority is going to be to preserve as much life as possible and will choose to surrender a fight to save more clones rather than push forward to victory regardless of the cost. It means there's no longer a superior officer whose teachings and morals allow them to inspire and encourage individuality amongst the clones, so it's entirely possible that all of those beautiful armor designs and different hair styles wouldn't even happen if the Jedi weren't leading them.

So I'm going to say that it's entirely canon that the Jedi leading the clones makes life better for them overall. If the Jedi refused their draft entirely the way you argue they should've on moral grounds, it leaves the clones in a way worse place overall. We can probably assume the Jedi are least SOMEWHAT aware of this, which means they're left with the choice of choosing to go along with the draft to do what they can for the clones even if it goes against their own morals, or they dodge the draft to try to adhere to their morals and ultimately leave the clones to fend for themselves against people less capable of protecting them and less willing to care for them. Which, once you look at it that way, sounds pretty selfish doesn't it? It's kind-of a lose/lose situation for the Jedi where they're damned if they do (support the slave army) and damned if they don't (abandoning people they could help for the sake of their own well-being).

The argument from the anti-Jedi crowd on this always seems to be just "well they shouldn't have done it" and never seems to actually address what the Jedi should've done INSTEAD. And I imagine that this is because the options there are pretty slim on the ground. "Dodge the draft!" Cool, how does this help the slaves you're so worried about? What does this allow the Jedi to actually DO to help the clones instead? Is this actually making life BETTER for the clones overall or is it actually making life WORSE? "The Jedi took down the Zyggerian slave empire in canon!" Yes, with the support of the Republic we must assume. Something they will NOT have in this case if they try to free the clones. So now we're just heading into "the Jedi should've destroyed the Republic themselves because it was basically a lost cause" and oh whoops now we're just saying Dooku was right and look at where that led.

I recognize that you say above you don't really give a damn about how kind the Jedi were to the clones and that it doesn't matter to you at all, so this was all probably a huge waste of time on my part, but it DOES matter to me on this topic and, I'd argue, it seems to matter in canon to the clones.

So that's the Watsonian analysis I have. In universe, the Jedi are faced with a nearly impossible lose/lose situation and they choose what is arguably the lesser of two evils by putting themselves in the position to actually do some good for the clones and save as many as they can.

Now let's hit that second point and dive a little deeper into a more Doylist analysis. Does the writing support the interpretation of the clones as slaves or is it just really badly written in the most uncomfortable way possible?

Now, this is where I will readily admit that the writing sucks, it's definitely racist, and I don't support the way they've chosen to depict the clones and their situation. But this is also where I will point out that there is a major difference between "the writing of the clones isn't done well and it has some perhaps unintended implications about the Jedi that the writers never meant to come across that way" and "the Jedi are intended to be viewed as slave owners and I am going to critique them based on that." Because I don't personally believe the second one and land way more in the realm of the first.

To begin with, I don't think that Lucas intended to write the clones as fully sentient beings. The dialogue we hear in Attack of the Clones about it when the Kaminoans are talking to Obi-Wan about them seems to imply more that the clones are sort-of sub-sentient, somewhere between a droid's programming and full sentience. What the fuck that means is anyone's guess, we're definitely in space magic bullshit territory here. But the implication IS THERE that the clones are perhaps not actually entirely sentient. So the reason that Cody seems perfectly friendly with Obi-Wan one moment and then immediately happy to shoot him down the next moment isn't because he's been mind controlled, but because he's just... not entirely sentient and he's just going to do as ordered, whether that means being loyal to the Jedi or killing them all. It's left a little unclear within the films, but that's the implication I got based on that dialogue from Attack of the Clones.

Which means that when TCW decided to make them fully sentient and sort-of change the narrative there, it's faced with a few difficulties. It's one thing to have an army of droids, or human-like men who are perhaps not fully sentient anyway. Can they truly be slaves if they aren't really sentient? Star Wars obviously faces this same question about the droids themselves, and the general consensus is that absolutely nobody intended the droids to come off like slaves because this would make Luke and Leia slave owners and that seems like a really obviously wrong interpretation doesn't it? Star Wars is by no means advocating for slavery by making two of its primary heroes droid owners. Subsequently, we can make the same argument here. Star Wars is not advocating for slavery by making the obvious good guys slave owners via leading the clones. That is not and never has been the message of the prequels, part of which is helped by making the clones less than human.

This is where the godawful racist writing bit comes in, obviously, and like I said earlier, I'm not denying any of that. It's absolutely fuck off racist to have written the clones this way, especially given who they chose to cast in the role. But if we choose to believe that Lucas was NOT intending the Jedi to be seen as slave owners in the prequels just because they led the clones in war, then it follows that the clones are NOT intended to be seen as slaves.

And this continues in The Clone Wars, despite the fact that the clones are now fully sentient. Granted, this is ALSO a really uncomfortable writing choice because while we could sort-of write off the fact that the clones weren't fully sentient and so the morals behind using them as an army is kind-of gray and nebulous, once the clones BECOME fully sentient, you lose that argument. You definitely do. And once again, I'm not denying that this was an absolutely terrible writing choice to have made given that they don't address it enough within the show to really dig into the morals behind it. Because all of the other characters still sort-of act like the clones are somewhere between droid and sentient in terms of them being in an army.

I will point out here that the ONLY characters who we see regularly advocate for the clones are the Jedi. So from a more Doylist standpoint, even if we are intended to see the clones as slaves (which I'm not convinced of), the Jedi are the only ones who we see doing a damn thing about that at all and arguing back about the clones' rights. Shaak Ti has an entire line where she tells Lama Su that the clones are people, not objects and fights for the Domino Squad to not just be "cast off." She practically bends over backwards to help Tup and Fives as much as she can.

And yes, the Jedi accept the explanation they're given about the "aggression inhibitor" chips, but we also see the Jedi actively looking into the creation of the clones and they discover that the clones are a literal Sith trap for them (even if they don't know how). When they don't have any further information to go on, they end up deciding that the clones are sentient people who have earned their trust. You could condemn that choice, obviously, call them idiots for not looking further or not assuming mind control I guess. But the Jedi ARE looking into things canonically, and when offered the choice between abandoning the clones for their own self preservation and trusting the clones enough to keep working with them, they choose to trust the clones. I'd argue the bigger issue here is not "The Jedi chose to ignore the chips that are a human rights issue regardless of whether they're mind control chips or not" but that the Jedi are now canonically given WAY too much information, making it seem a little silly that they don't connect things together that seem fairly obvious. Narratively, they obviously are incapable of connecting things completely since they need to be caught by surprise and all killed in Order 66. But once they know a chip EXISTS that had at least SOMETHING to do with a clone murdering a Jedi and then find out the clones are a Sith trap, it stops being quite as understandable that they didn't put those pieces together and look further into the chip issue.

Regardless, the reason they accept the "aggression inhibitor" explanation and don't look further is because the narrative prevents them from doing so. They CAN'T look further into the issue because they'd inevitably figure everything out and then the story doesn't happen. They're literally just prevented by the writing from doing the thing you want them to do. That's not the writers intending to make the Jedi out to be cruel and uncaring, it's just the writers of this show being kind-of stupid about how much information they're giving the Jedi and how unrealistic it is that they DON'T look into it more.

All of that tells me that even if we as the audience are expected to interpret the clones as slaves, we're NOT expected to interpret the Jedi as slave owners who should be condemned for their treatment of the clones.

Which brings us to Slick. Yes, Slick explicitly calls them slaves and condemns the Jedi for it. But do you recall what ELSE Slick does in that episode? He teams up with Asajj Ventress (someone who you could argue DOES enslave people quite a lot by virtue of being a Sith working for the Separatists) to help MURDER a bunch of his own brothers for money. So by no means does the narrative present Slick as a reliable source of information. He's a traitor who is basically in this for himself and that's it. He tries to excuse his actions with some grandiose cause, but Rex and Cody themselves see right through it. Neither of them seems to agree with Slick and they're both far more reliable and trustworthy characters. If we were meant to know that Slick was right, we'd have heard Rex and Cody say something similar to back it up, and we don't.

The best parallel to make here is to Anakin's comments about the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith. Anakin says he should've known the Jedi were plotting to take over and that from his perspective the Jedi were evil. We have literally watched the Jedi trying to arrest Palpatine because HE'S plotting to take over, so we know Anakin's LYING. Anakin says he's brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to his new Empire, but we've seen what the Empire does, we saw how Anakin just murderred children, so we know that Anakin's LYING. Anakin is making excuses for his own atrocities to justify them to both himself and Obi-Wan (and Padme).

Slick's comments about the Jedi enslaving the clones aren't intended to be taken as true. He's just betrayed EVERYBODY and caused the deaths of hundreds of clones because Ventress (a Sith who works with the Separatists who we know are ACTUAL enslavers of innocent Republic civlians) promised him money in return. He's making up excuses for his actions to justify them both to himself and to the people around him (Anakin, Obi-Wan, Rex, and Cody). And you'll notice that nobody in that scene is buying what he's selling. This is why this comment really never has any follow-through, they never discuss the clones as slaves in any other episode really, even when it would make sense to do so (like Umbara or Zyggeria). You as the audience are supposed to just automatically recognize that Slick is LYING, so there's no real follow-up needed to this acccusation.

The problem here is predominantly that the change to the clones' level of sentience leads to them feeling a LOT more like literal slaves, so Slick's accusation doesn't seem as obviously inaccurate as Anakin's accusations do. In fact, it starts to ring as entirely true because, well, I don't know what ELSE you'd call sentient human beings who are considered products (something we know the Kaminoans call them, even though the Jedi themselves disagree). And this is an issue I am placing squarely at the feet of the writers for not recognizing. There is no way a more adult audience isn't going to hear Slick call the clones slaves and think that that's a lie when everything we're seeing says it's true. That's an issue, and I'll never deny that it isn't. But I still don't think that it's what was INTENDED to be understood by this scene.

The final piece of evidence I'll use to back that argument up is Cut Lawquane. The episode he shows up in is called "The Deserter." Not "The Escapee" or "The Runaway" or "The Freedman" or anything that might bring to mind slavery, but "Deserter" which is a lot more indicative of a DRAFT. Cut himself does condemn the Republic and some of the ways the clones were treated in general, but as I recall, Cut has exactly nothing negative to say about the Jedi specifically nor does he ever really refer to the clones as slaves. All of which tells me that the clones were being used as a metaphor for a DRAFT, but the writing was done so clumsily that what they ended up writing instead was a slave army. And that now comes with a ton of really unfortunate implications that are never addressed because the writers didn't recognize it enough to address it.

The point of the narrative is not to condemn the Jedi, it never has been. The Jedi are placed in an impossible situation with nothing but lose/lose options of evil and lesser evil. Who are we to condemn them for doing the best they can to keep choosing a lesser evil? Condemning them for being forced to make an impossible choice IS propaganda because that's literally what Palpatine intends to do by putting them in that situation to begin with. If the Jedi had refused to fight, refused to lead the clones, I imagine people who hate the Jedi both in universe and in fandom would be calling them cowards who abandoned their responsibility to the galaxy, selfish elitists who prioritized their own morals over people's lives. They can't win. And that's the whole fucking point. That's the tragedy of the prequels. The Jedi can't win, it doesn't MATTER what they choose to do or not do, they'll always lose. And if you missed that, you might have missed the entire point of the narrative.

I'm in the mood for bad faith Anakin Skywalker takes today, so if you have any of those to share, please do!

[perpetuallyaiming]

Imperial Sniper

CHAPTER ONE: Where’s Your Respect?

CHPT 1 | CHPT 2 | AO3 |

Plot: The Separatists had been defeated, and it is the dawn of the new Galactic Empire. Y/N, who abandoned her former Jedi ways now walk among the ranks of the Empire as a Sith as means of survival. Her actions fueled by her pain and anger towards Emperor Palpatine and the devastating Order 66 are what keep her alive, as she struggles to find her way through the broken galaxy.

Her new mission pairs her up with local sharpshooter CT-994, Crosshair, the two of them tasked with eliminating a Senator conspiring with the Rebels and harboring a Jedi.

Pairing: Crosshair x Reader

Word Count: 1k

Author’s note: You know what, now I’m writing fics. Crosshair goddamn you, you make me do things I never imagined I’d do again.

Currently, this is a standalone story where we get to see a snippet of Crosshair's continued allegiance with the Empire after the events of Season 1. I may tie this into a larger picture where Cross reuinites with his brothers and expand this into a Bad Batch x reader, but for now, I hope you enjoy a lil bit of Crosshair tribute!

———

The Separatists had been defeated and the rising Galactic Empire was quickly spreading its generosity and order throughout the galaxy. Currently, its top priority is to quietly eliminate the remaining Jedi the clones may have missed, as well as eradicating any remaining individuals in seats of power voicing against the new political power.

Y/N marched down the pristine halls at a rhythmic pace, ready for her newly assigned mission. The once amicable Jedi who enjoyed the company of her garrison now was hate-filled Sith—due to the sudden revolt of her own trusted garrison, and the death of her fellow Jedi. She managed to seek means of survival by channeling her hatred towards the Sith and ironically becoming a Sith to avoid the Empire’s condemnation.

For this mission, she was being accompanied by a renowned trooper, a sniper who never misses, and one of the last few remaining clones in the Imperial army at that.

His name was Crosshair.

She turned a corner, entering the armoring she was notified to meet her soon-to-be partner in. The lights were dim, the room seemingly empty, so she waved her hand to slide the door shut, and waited.

“Didn’t anyone teach you to knock… ?”

The armory was in fact, not empty. The sniper decked out in his sleek dark trooper armor lounged casually in the darkest corner of the room, slowly and meticulously polishing his rifle. Upon the intrusion, Crosshair merely cocked his head to the newcomer, barely acknowledging his assigned partner. He silently stares the girl down, closely observing her attire and demeanor.

Y/N paused, returning the glare. “Didn’t anyone teach you to treat those who exceed you in rank with respect?”

The enhanced clone’s face remained unreadable, but his voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Didn’t have any… higher ups to answer to,” the man drawled, finally standing up. He holds his gaze with a little spark of curiosity. Crosshair was more wary of his new partner than scared, the latter of which seems to be the effect the girl was attempting to instill.

He finds it almost laughable.

Clearly this girl was still new to the horrors of the battlefield of this dark new era, yet she was already trying to assert the authority her status in the Empire had granted her. That aside, a mission was a mission, and he had a job to complete.

“The mission…?” He inquires slowly.

Choosing the wiser path and ignoring the clone’s impudence, Y/N pulls out a holoprojector, summarizing the mission brief.

“This is senator Ca-laan,” she nods at the projected image of a regal figure adorned in fine robes and jewels. “He leads a small outer rim planet. We have eyes on him because of a coded transmission we intercepted carrying the news of their allegiance to the Rebellion. As well as their harboring of an escaped Jedi.” The last part brought a bitter taste to Y/N’s mouth, as this would have been the same fate for her had she not managed to convince Lord Vader of her uses as a Sith.

“We are to cleanly eliminate the senator and neutralize the Jedi. I was told you would be the best for the job,” she notes as she stowed the device back into the folds of her robes and readjusted her mask.

Crosshair shared a curt jerk of his head as a response before he donned his own helmet. The little smirk tugging at the corner of his lips did not did not go unnoticed, however. Clearly this man is confident of his skills, and enjoys the brief acknowledgement like a proud bird displaying its plumage.

“Lead the way, miss.”

Another snarky response, another eye-roll. Y/N spun on her heels and began making her way towards her ship’s docking bay.

“We will be taking my ship, a modified Theta-class T-2c shuttle, my Infinity Atlas,” the sith starts, not turning back to see if the man is caught up. Upon entering the hold of the ship, she fluidly begins powering it up, flicking switches here and pressing some buttons there. She smiled as she took in the familiarity of the hum of her ship, the engines quickly igniting in beat.

“Have you ever been on one of these ships?”

Crosshair steps on board, scanning the interior, “I’ve seen my fair share of ships. Tech—” He hesitated, but quickly recoups his pace, “—Doesn’t shut up about em.” The man follows Y/N onto the bridge, faintly impressed. His gaze swept over the buttons and levers, no doubt breaking down the piloting hardware in his head in case it ever came down to him piloting.

“Your ship cloaked?”

The girl was certainly proud of her handiwork on her ship, as she smiled for the first time since she was assigned this mission. “Of course it’s fully cloaked. Best imperial tech in this bad boy.” Taking a seat, she begins charting their course, quickly disembarking on their journey.

“Tech… he is one of the troopers on the rogue force… ninety-nine, was it?”

Pointedly turning a deft ear to the question, Crosshair turned around to head back into the cabin. “Give a call when we’re there.” He calls, finding a perch on one of the seats, and setting his helmet on his lap.

The sniper doesn’t actually plan on sleeping, he is merely resting his eyes for the upcoming job. Sniping does make one’s eyes dry, so he knew to prepare so that he doesn’t reach his limits. However, he sits still as a stone, unmoving.

The sniper listens. He listens to the humming of the engines. He listens to the occasional clicks and beeps. He listens for the other life form piloting the ship. Shuffles in the seat, tapping of the foot, with his main sensory input tuned off, Crosshair utilizes his others.

Now that he had a moment to himself, he realized he was a bit put off by his own mentionings of his former teammates. It almost felt… normal.

But now is not the time. He reorganized himself and continued listening.

———

If anyone knows how to use the read more function on mobile please teach me

[dalekofchaos]

What if Mace Windu trained Anakin Skywalker

In an au where Mace is chosen to train Anakin, The council decides to honor Qui-Gon's wishes and train Anakin, but recognizes his emotion and age would make a poor combination as a first student for a fresh Jedi Knight. Mace Windu is given the task of guiding Anakin's force potential and emotional tendencies. How does Vapaad's capacity to harness emotion harm/help Anakin?

First off we know that Anakin is controlled by his emotions, and the Jedi Council senses his emotions such as fear for his mother that could lead him down to the path to the Dark Side. Mace Windu knows how to control the dark side, he uses his dark and volatile emotions and channels them into his lightsaber fighting form. He walks a fine line and knows how to control both sides. This is exactly what Anakin needed. Where Obi-Wan was inexperienced (and barely being a Knight) and believed in always remaining calm, not using his emotions at all, he didn’t help Anakin. Anakin couldn’t ignore his emotions, it is who he is, he’s a very emotional person and ignoring his emotions isn’t going to help him. Mace could’ve straightened him out and taught him how to channel his emotions into his fighting, that is what he needed. Not ignoring his emotions but learning to control them. Had he done that, he wouldn’t be the same Anakin in AOTC.

Few scenarios

During the Republic and Clone Wars

Windu's and Anakin's personalities mesh really well. Windu sees Anakin as like himself when he was younger so he gives him plenty of attention and helps him to avoid pitfalls that he otherwise would have fallen prey to. Anakin seeing Windu as a mentor that gets him. 

Anakin’s Lightsaber is just like that in canon, only this time his hilt is made of Electrum and has a purple Crystal.

Depa Billaba is like Anakin’s big sister. Always being there for Anakin to confide in before he gets close to Master Windu. And when Anakin was still in training she promised to kick anyone’s ass who dared bullied Anakin or calling him slave(followed by Mace yelling NO YOU FUCKING WON’T) needless to say, Anakin would never confide in Palpatine while Mace and Depa are around.

Despite Anakin and Obi-Wan not being master and apprentice, they form a close friendship

Mace would encourage Anakin to make friends with his fellow Padawans. 

Mace eventually instructs Anakin in the philosophy and use of Vapaad. During their first training session Anakin instinctively grasps the binary concept of the style and gives himself to the intense, synergistic heat of the battle, fueling his moves with both the light and dark side of the Force. Mace, realizing he's sparring with someone who truly gets the style, lowers his mental defenses and fully commits to the passion and intricacies of Vapaad. The duality of the style creates a closed feedback loop where the energy of the Force flows freely between the two in a way that has never happened before.  

With visions of his mother troubling Anakin, perhaps Mace would send a Jedi to Tatooine to make sure Shmi is alright. Maybe make it in time to stop the Tusken Raiders.

With Mace captured, Anakin would want to save Mace as much as Padme.

Anakin might never have lost his arm to Dooku. Logically, he wouldn't even have been there since he'd be with his master, Windu. Even if he had been sent to help Kenobi, he would have acted less brashly, being better disciplined by Windu. So there's significant difference just through ep2.

With their closer relationship, I can see Anakin confiding in Mace about his relationship with Padme. Anakin is afraid. Mace first instinct would be to tell the Council, but perhaps Mace Windu can tell Anakin the legend of Jolee Bindo. Basically telling him. "Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Passion can lead to rage and fear, and can be controlled, but passion is not the same thing as love. Controlling your passions while being in love.” “The lesson is that you need to beware of your passions and control them, but love itself will save you, not condemn you." this way Mace can keep Anakin with the Jedi, while also helping Anakin controlling his emotions. Jolee is Legends, but fuck it, this is my AU and it really would’ve helped Anakin.

Obi-Wan will train Ahsoka.  By the time the Clone Wars rages on, Obi-Wan has become a master of Ahsoka Tano. I do believe Anakin and Ahsoka would’ve been friends at least.

Anakin must guide Ahsoka into not giving into her anger as Obi-Wan fakes his own death to get closer to Cad Bane

Anakin and Obi-Wan work together to bring the truth of Ahsoka’s innocence and exposing Barriss.

As the war nears to the end, Depa introduces Anakin to her Padawan, Caleb Dume. During his time as a youngling, Caleb was in awe with Anakin and looked up to him, shy at first but eventually they become close. Anakin becomes an older brother to Caleb and Anakin tells Caleb the same thing Depa told him. Depa then tells Anakin “Oh Anakin.....that’s my job” followed by Mace saying “NO IT FUCKING ISN’T”

As the incident with Fives happens, Anakin and Mace decide to investigate Fives’ claims. Nearly everyone in the 501st and 187th Legions remove their chips.  

Anakin would not be so easily convinced into killing Dooku. Anakin starts questioning the Chancellor. “I cannot kill an unarmed prisoner. This man is a Sith Lord and the leader of the Separatists, he is too valuable, why would I kill him?” Palpatine is shaking in his boots, he must play along without looking suspicious. Once Mace regains consciousness, he congrats his apprentice in defeating Dooku and taking him alive. 

For Anakin’s valor in The Clone Wars and for successfully bringing in Count Dooku alive, Anakin is granted the Rank of Jedi Master and joins the Council.

Dooku is brought before the senate and put on trial. Before Dooku can reveal anything about Palpatine’s true nature, Cad Bane assassinates Dooku on Palpatine’s orders.

Now there is a man hunt for both Cad Bane and General Grievous.

Obi-Wan is tasked with finding Grievous, Mace is tasked with finding Cad Bane. Anakin is tasked with spying on Palpatine.

Because of Palpatine’s suspicious actions and Count Dooku’s sudden assassination, Anakin is given more incentive to spy on the Chancellor. 

Anakin confides in Mace about his visions about Padme’s death. Mace tells him “these could be falsely implanted visions by the Sith, the dark side clouds our ability to perceive the future. Do not trust in these visions Anakin, until we can uncover the true Sith Lord behind everything, trust your feelings and the force” Anakin is assured that these dreams are not real.

When Padme tells Anakin “What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists, and the Republic has become the very evil we have been fighting to destroy?” this time, Anakin agrees, he starts to believe that something isn’t right with the Chancellor. This will have Padme bring Anakin in on the meeting with Bail, Mon Mothma and the other senators. They say what they say in those deleted scenes, but when Anakin speaks, he will say “when I was on the rescue mission with Master Windu, Chancellor Palpatine wanted me to execute Count Dooku....when he was brought on trial he was assassinated. Something isn’t right.” This affirms that everyone must rebel if the Republic is to survive, even Anakin must join them. “I will report to the Jedi Council, the Jedi serve the Republic not one single politician.”

When Palpatine tells Anakin the “tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise” Anakin immediately stops him, “if the Jedi do not tell this story, how do you know this?” Once again, Palpatine must act quickly. Plays it off as “an old tale I heard from Chancellor Valorum to warn us of the Sith.” Anakin still remains suspicious but hears the tale. Anakin does not ask the question of “if it’s possible to learn that power?” Anakin knows the visions are false. There is a complete divide between Anakin and Palpatine. He knows he cannot be turned, so all Palpatine needs is an excuse to execute Order 66.

Mace Windu tracks Cad Bane to the moon of Concord Dawn

Cad Bane killed Dooku because Palpatine payed him, but also so Bane can draw out Mace Windu, so Boba Fett can finally have his revenge. I know what you must be thinking, “Cad Bane was killed by Boba Fett in the cut CW storyline” yes, but since it did not happen and as it looks like the new TCW will not feature that storyline, this is what I am going with.

Mace Windu started out as the hunter, but he is now the hunted. He is being hunted by Cad Bane, Boba Fett, Aurra Sing, Bossk and Dengar. Mace uses his wits and Vaapad to guide him out of his ordeal.

One by one, Mace cuts the Bounty hunters down. They are either dead or severely injured. All that is left standing is Mace, Bane and Fett. Bane and Fett barrage Mace with blasters, rockets, flamethrowers, thermal detonators and he’s still standing motherfuckers. Boba gets one good shot in Mace, severely injuring the Jedi Master, but deflects his last shot to hit Boba Fett in the head giving him his iconic dented helmet. Finally Mace and Bane are alone. Mace disarms Bane and demands to know who ordered Dooku’s assassination. Bane mocks Windu “isn’t it obvious Jedi? Darth Sidious. One who controls the Senate..now who do you think that i-” Boba Fett shoots  Cad Bane dead before losing consciousness.

Anakin and Palpatine talking about the scene where Palpatine tells him of the dark side. Anakin puts two and two together. And reports him to the council. Without the Chancellor twisting his mind against the Jedi and decency in general, Anakin maintains his place and respect for the Jedi.  

Mace just arrives. back. “Anakin, Cad Bane is dead, he was hired by Darth Sidious to silence Dooku.” “Master, Chancellor Palpatine is Darth Sidious” The scene plays out as usual, but because Anakin is his apprentice, Anakin goes with Mace, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin.

The confrontation will happen. Sidious kills the Jedi masters, only Mace and Anakin remain. Palpatine knows Anakin cannot be turned, so he fights serious and uses both of his Lightsabers. The fight is on even footing, but both Anakin and Mace are able to disarm Palpatine. “You have lost, my lord” “no, no YOU HAVE LOST!” Palpatine fires force lightning upon Mace but he blocks it. Palpatine pleas to Anakin “you must choose” Anakin stands with Mace and declares “I am a Jedi” “So be it, JEDI! EXECUTE ORDER 66! Clone Troopers storm in and starts firing upon Anakin and Mace and Palpatine force pushes them out the window. 

Anakin and Windu rush to the Jedi Temple to warn the Jedi of Sidious' treachery, only to discover that Clone Troopers have already begun an Operation Knightfall. They manage to locate and rescue Masters Shaak Ti and Cin Drallig. Anakin contacts Padmé and tells her to meet him and the other Jedi on Sentor Bail Organa's starship.

Because the 501st and 187th Legions all removed their chips, Rex and Lieutenant Law are still loyal to Anakin and Mace. 

Ahsoka would do the same to Cody as she did to Rex. When returning rendezvous point with Obi-Wan, Cody makes peace with Obi-Wan

The Jedi later meet up with Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Yoda, Plo Koon, Padmé, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Senator Organa and agree to put a stop to Darth Sidious.

Sensing a disturbance in the force, Anakin and Obi-Wan head to Mustafar while the others decide to head back to Coruscant.

Yoda, Plo Koon, Shaak Ti and Cin Dralling attack Sidious, who has reformed the Republic into the first Galactic Empire. Despite their best efforts, the Jedi are unable to destroy the Sith Lord, who kills everyone but Yoda

Anakin and Obi-Wan  have discovered that the Republic Commandos have slaughtered the Separatist leaders. After killing the Clones, the Jedi prepare to head back prepare to return to Coruscant, only to find Darth Sidious waiting for them.

Padme suddenly goes into labor, so Mace and Ahsoka takes her to the remote asteroid Polis Massa.

After Anakin again rejects an offer to join the Dark Side, Sidious engages the two Jedi in a fierce lightsaber duel that spans across several levels of the volcanic world. Ultimately, the Jedi win and Sidious is buried under rubble, allowing them to escape into space with R2-D2 before Sidious can dig himself out. Anakin and Obi-Wan head to Polis Massa, where Padmé has given birth to twins that she has named Luke and Leia. It is decided that the twins must be separated in order to protect them from Sidious. Anakin will give Luke to his step-brother Owen and asks him to keep Luke safe. Bail Organa agrees to keep Padme and Leia safe on Alderaan.

The Jedi then scatter across the galaxy until the time is right to challenge the newly established Empire, with Yoda heading to Dagobah and Obi-Wan heading to Tatooine to watch over Luke as a request to Anakin.

Padme made the hard decision to separate the twins. Padme chose to keep Leia, while she gave Luke to Owen and Beru to keep him safe. Padme is not only the mother of Luke and Leia, Padme is the mother of the Rebellion. Padme fakes her death, and goes on to lead the Rebellion to fight Palpatine in the shadows. Known across the Empire as a mysterious and unknown but powerful political figure under the code name Tython, she is among the Empire’s Most Wanted and Public Enemy No 1. 

Mace has left to gather surviving Jedi and lead his own Rebel cell. Think of Mace as the Jedi Saw Gerrera

Anakin, meanwhile, disappears into space in order to secretly combat the Empire. Fighting for the Republic, for freedom and for his family   

Sidious launches a manhunt for Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Mace Windu, vowing to "terminate the Jedi once and for all."

The Dark days of the Empire

Palpatine brought Maul back into his good graces. As Maul attempts to kill him, Palpatine simply tortures him until he knows his place. Once again he is Darth Maul. Apprentice to Darth Sidious and the new enforcer for the Empire.

Palpatine has gained a secret apprentice. Mara Jade The Emperor’s Hand and powerful within the dark side. Groomed from childhood to adulthood She holds authority over the Grand Inquisitor, but The Emperor’s Hand isn’t the only title she holds, known by The Inquisitors as The Last Sister. Her goal is to hunt down the Jedi and exterminate the Skywalker family and bring order to the galaxy

In place of Vader’s Mustafar castle, Darth Maul has a castle on Dathomir

Mace alongside his Jedi squadron and 187th Legion has brought the hurt to the Empire. He has gone to numerous lengths to stop the Empire at every turn.

Anakin has become a shadow like figure to the Empire. The one Jedi they all fear. He’s assassinating Moffs and high ranking members of the Imperial military. Freeing aliens enslaved to the Empire. Anakin leads the 501st Legion to bring justice to the galaxy. Whenever Anakin is ever cornered by Stormtroopers, the 501st is there, especially his ever faithful Captain Rex. Whenever Inquisitors are sent Anakin is always victorious. He saves apprentices, younglings and Jedi who are all struggling to survive the Empire’s Might. Anakin directs all survivors to Ach-To. They will be safe there. At some point Anakin reunites with Ahsoka and Kanan.

Anakin, Mace and Kanan all reunite. All of them grieve for Depa. They know this will probably be the last time they will ever see each other again. Anakin hugs Kanan goodbye  and says “until we meet again little brother” and all 3 of them says “may the force be with you” all going their separate ways. Before Mace leaves, all Anakin can do is hug him

Anakin instructs Ahsoka on where to find the Jedi he saved and tells her to guide them. Ahsoka will take them to Mortis.

Mace launches a suicide mission against The Emperor. An entire squadron of Jedi Knights and the 187th Legion makes one last stand against The Empire and The Emperor. The 187th Legion and Mace’s strike team have all been destroyed by Palpatine. The fight between Mace and Palpatine is even and is laying destruction within the Imperial palace. Mace feels as though this is a trick, the last time he had Palpatine where he wanted him, Order 66 was executed. Why is he still alive? He could’ve destroyed him along with his Legion and fellow Jedi...something from the shadows is clouding his vision. The lightning stops and Palpatine simply sits back on his throne. “Attack me master Windu, I am unarmed. You want to kill me and end the Empire do you not” Mace understands he wants to unbalance him and Mace refuses. “I will not play by your games, my lord.” “Oh my old friend, you’ve already lost” Suddenly a piercing crimson blade pierces Mace’s chest. Mace looks behind to see Darth Maul. And then as Mace clutches his chest, Palpatine unleashes a torrent of force lightning, killing the Jedi master once and for all.

Anakin feels Mace’s death and falls to the floor. His mentor and his brother died. All he can do now is continue his attack on the Empire and restore the Jedi.

After the destruction of Jedha, Scarif and the reveal of the Death Star. the time for Rebellion is now. Padme contacts Anakin that the time to unite the family is now.

Darth Maul boards the Tantive IV. He kills everyone but Leia, she is the only prisoner worth taking. 

Anakin goes to Luke and Owen. When Anakin arrives, Luke immediately knows who Anakin is and embraces Anakin in a hug. Anakin thanks Owen and Beru for keeping Luke safe. It isn’t just Luke Anakin is reunited with, it’s R2-D2 and C-3PO. R2 is all happy beeps. 3PO was memory wiped but Anakin understands. They bid Owen and Beru farewell.

Anakin and Luke goes to bring back Obi-Wan. As old friends reunite, Anakin informs Obi-Wan about the situation and of Mace’s death. Obi-Wan tells him he felt it as well but Mace trained him well. But Luke tells them both that R2 has a message for Obi-Wan. Leia’s message plays and Anakin is in tears and reaches his hand for his daughter. As Anakin left Captain Rex with Phoenix Squadron and the rest of the 501st must remain with the Rebellion, they seek out a pilot. So they find Han Solo. When they are talking payment, to Obi-Wan’s surprise and to Han’s joy, Anakin dumps a shit ton of credits. “Is that enough to pay for our passage?” Han who cannot stop smiling “More than enough, ten times over.” Obi-Wan just stares at Anakin “and just WHERE DID YOU GET ALL THAT???” Anakin says “you’d be surprised as to how much credits the Moffs are all carrying.”

Thanks to Anakin’s generous donation, Han is able to pay off his debt to Jabba the moment he comes to him. Oh he still shoots Greedo first, but he just needed to do that to get Jabba’s attention

Anakin admires the Falcon while Luke calls it a piece of junk. After hearing Anakin’s compliments of the Falcon and seeing Han in all smiles, Obi-Wan has a horrible thought “Oh no.....there’s two of them”

Anakin and Han fight over who flies the Falcon and Obi-Wan is regretting his life choices

Anakin and Obi-Wan teach Luke the ways of the Jedi

During their flight to Alderaan, Anakin tells Luke the truth of Leia and his mother. How beautiful, kind and strong Padme is and how both him and Leia were separated. The time is now to join and train his children and end the Emperor together.

Unlike Vader, Maul takes sadistic glee in The Death Star. He still chokes those who dare question Tarkin’s rule as he finds kinship in Tarkin’s brutality

Obi-Wan knows Maul is on board and must face him and disables the tractor beam. Anakin must save his daughter.

Maul senses Obi-Wan and Anakin, but his main focus is “KENOBI”

Han asks why he cares so much about one blasted princess. Anakin simply says, she’s his daughter and Luke’s sister and she is more important than he could possibly realize....also she’s rich and will reward him just as much and that’s all Han needed to hear. 

Anakin sees what Luke’s trying to do with Chewie  and points out, no need and ignites his lightsaber

Everyone in the detention center lies dead.  and Anakin and Luke go to find Leia. 

Leia recognizes Anakin almost immediately. Leia was shown holo recordings of her father by Padme since she was a child and embraces her father. Anakin tells  Leia who Luke is and the siblings embrace in a hug

Darth Maul and Obi-Wan duel to the death. “You can’t win Maul. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Maul isn’t having any of it and fully intends to kill Kenobi 

As the Skywalkers, Han, Chewie and the droids prepare to escape, they see Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan makes the sacrifice. Anakin is in tears and Luke shouts “NO!” Darth Maul prepares to do the same to Anakin, but they shoot the blast doors in time and escape.

Anakin and Luke reunite with Padme. Finally, after 20 years The Skywalkers are reunited. 

The 501st assist the Rebels in the Death Star assault. It is going well. Anakin must stay behind on Yavin with Padme and Leia. He has faith Luke and The Rebels can destroy the Death Star

As he senses Maul destroying the X-Wings one by one, Anakin feels helpless as he has Luke in his crosshairs

Maul feels a pity, as Luke would’ve been the perfect apprentice to help him kill the Emperor

Han makes the save and Luke destroys the Death Star

Han and Luke are given their medals

Throughout the years between ANH and ESB, Anakin would train his children. By now they have both achieved the rank of Jedi Knight. As Maul and the Empire finds them, they must go. Anakin directs them to Dagobah where Yoda will complete their training. 

However Anakin tells them he will meet them there. He intends to face Maul on Hoth. The fight is what you expect. Anakin uses Vaapad against Maul and Maul’s arrogance gets the better of him. Maul dies in Anakin’s arms. “Are....are you the chosen one? Are your children the chosen ones?” “We are.” “You will all avenge us”

Han does not like the thought of going to Dagobah, especially with the Empire on their trail. With Leia assuring him all will go well, Han is a little assured. When the Falcon crashes in the water. Han and Chewie looses it

Luke and Leia are very patient when it comes to Yoda but as soon as Chewie comes over, Chewie confirms he is Yoda. Han goes “and how would you know that???” “I fought in the Clone Wars, Han” “Well, what do you want, a medal???”

Luke and Leia are put through Yoda’s training and during that time, Han makes his move on Leia and embraces her in a kiss. 

Luke and Leia together lift the Falcon out of the swamp and Han gets to work fast to clean the Falcon.

Luke and Leia sense their father on Bespin and in great danger. They want to leave, but Yoda strongly advises against it.  Han talks them into it. He owes Anakin for getting him out of debt to Jabba, so it’s the least he can do. 

Han and Lando reunite like old friends and treats Luke and Leia with hospitality. But they feel something’s off

Mara Jade reveals herself and holds Anakin hostage. “Draw your lightsabers and your father dies. Fortunately for you, The Emperor wants you all alive.” 

Before Anakin could be put into carbonite freezing, Anakin gives one last moment with his children and Han.  He hugs Luke and Leia goodbye and tells Han to keep them both safe. As Anakin is frozen into carbonite, all Leia can do is hug Han and her brother and all Luke can do is cry with his sister.

Mara Jade tells the Twins “If you wish to see your father ever again, come before the Emperor. This is your only hope.” 

Lando signals to Han of his plan via wink and both Han and Lando starts blasting Imperials and hands the twins their lightsabers. 

Leia is absolutely furious with Lando. He explains himself that Bespin was held hostage. Luke understands, but Leia almost loses herself. “We can bring him back.”

As both Luke and Leia explain everything to their mother, they all plan to bring Anakin home

Palpatine has Anakin where he wants him as a decoration aboard his throne room in the Death Star II and his lightsaber right by his side. Palpatine would monologue to the frozen Anakin. “Anakin my old friend, I know you can hear me. This is what loyalty to the Jedi got you. Servitude, loss and imprisonment. You were nothing but a slave when you were found and a slave you shall remain. The perfect punishment for denying me 20 years ago. And when you’re children arrive, they will be made into what you should have been. Mine. They will embrace the dark side of the force and only then will you be free. You will watch your precious Padme and her Rebellion die, your children will die and then my old friend, you will die.” A single tear leaves Anakin’s face

Mara Jade heard everything. She’s beginning to question everything Palpatine ever taught her was lie. 

Luke and Leia surrenders themselves while Han leads the ground assault on Endor

Luke and Leia feel the conflict within Mara, but Mara puts on a front. She has to. 

Luke and Leia are brought before the Emperor and he makes them both feel the hatred and rage at seeing their friends die one by one.  They both draw their lightsabers and aim to kill the Emperor

Mara Jade intervenes....for the plan to work, Mara must play her part

Mara and the twins are evenly matched. 

Luke and Mara duel, while Leia attempts to save her father

As they duel, Luke attempts to get through to her. “You are not what he made you. you have a choice” “What? the be a Rebel? a Jedi?” “A choice to be better.” “You sound just like your father. He thought I could be saved, I was the Emperor’s since childhood” There’s nothing for me.” “You have me. I am offering you a chance, you only have to take it” Luke extends a hand to Mara Jade and she takes it. 

Mara fills Luke and Leia telepathically about the plan. After Maul fell on Hoth, she hunted Anakin down. He waited for her to come. She told him she had every intention of killing him, the Jedi and the Skywalker family. Anakin would not allow that to happen. But Anakin sensed something within her. That she knows that this isn’t right, some part of her knew that this isn’t right. The Emperor raised her to be his hand and weapon. Anakin tells her there is a better way. “Living as a Jedi is not worth it. No, not as a Jedi, the choice to choose and live free. A better way of life. Help me stop the Emperor and you will be free.” So they devised a plan, something The Emperor could not resist. The Emperor could keep Anakin as a trophy to punish him and turn his children against him. At the right moment when he is free, Anakin will strike. It will weaken him momentarily and together his family will kill The Emperor and destroy the Sith once and for all.  

Luke, Mara and Leia stand before the emperor and bow

The Emperor is pleased. His arrogance clouds his judgement “Good. Good. Soon your father will be free and he will watch helplessly as his Rebellion ends. As the Rebellion ends, the Jedi will be no more and your mother and his precious Pad-” Anakin’s Lightsaber pierces Palpatine. To his horror, Anakin is free. “You do not dare say her name ever again.”

Anakin, Luke and Leia stand united. Father and his children. Jedi Masters. The Skywalkers. The Chosen ones. 

Palpatine has had enough defiance from the Jedi and unleashes storm after storm of force lightning. 

Palpatine asks Mara Jade to kill them and to fulfill her destiny. Anakin asks Mara to help them. “You FOOL Anakin, she is my weapon and slave, she is mine, she knows nothing else, something you should have learned LONG AGO”

As Palpatine is focused on destroying the Skywalkers. Mara Jade stabs him in the back. “et tu, Mara?” and the Skywalkers pierce thee Emperor and tosses him down the reactor shaft. Vanquishing him forever. 

Anakin hugs his children and Luke tells Mara “you are finally free.”

They all escape the Death Star as it explodes

As they all reunite, Anakin and Padme embrace, while Han and Leia kiss and hug. 

Mara tells Luke “I am free, Farmboy and I choose you” Mara kisses Luke

The Endor celebration happens only with the inclusion of Mara and we see the force ghosts of Mace, Obi-Wan, and Yoda looking on to see that all is well

[notbecauseofvictories]

Anything about the line 'sext: people died for you. i bet you liked it.' from How to Make Love to the God of War for Leia Organa pretty please, your writing is so gorgeous and it would fit Ashe Vernon's poetry so beautifully. ILY thank you so much I hope this promptathon is fun for you.

War—what is it good for?

….well, you.

Mostly you.

Almost exclusively you.

(This is not an apology. It is maybe an explanation.)

.

Something you don’t realize until you’re standing in the control room, watching the battle for the Death Star: there’s very little screaming. 

You’re intel, not military; the only experience you have of a warfront is battle sims and holos. The stories you’ve read have all been infantry battles—sentients dodging blaster fire and scattering their blood on the earth, calling for a meddroid even as the concussive missile shakes the air. The sound of AT-ATs, all creaking joints and thunder; clone troopers calling out commands. Droids, screaming. War was loud, full of mud and blood, you knew.

But here, from the control room on Yavin, there’s just the quiet whir of the servers, orders given and received. You can’t hear the chatter of the squadrons—they’re talking to the controllers, who are bent over consoles furiously reading out data. Sometimes one of the sensors beeps—but quietly, as if it’s worried about making a fuss in the huge, heavy silence. Blue Squadron goes down in a rain of fire, their ships immolated against the vast shell of the Death Star, but all you know of it is Lieutenant Rula’s announcement in a cool, flat voice. 

It’s all very civilized.

Somehow, even in victory, you feel a little—cheated.

.

(This is not true. It is not all battle sims and holos; you remember war.

You are eight when you dream of your father on the battlefield. He is holding a sword of fire, and he breathes too loudly, harsh in your ears—you are scared, and so you reach for him, seeking comfort. He turns on you, and he is shadow and death and that awful sword of fire, not your father at all.

He says in a breath of smoke, who—?

You wake up to your father’s arms, real and warm, cradling you to his chest. It was only a nightmare, Bail says, as you cry wracking sobs. Shh, it wasn’t real.

You can still taste it on the inside of your mouth sometimes, ash and fear. Later—after you kiss your brother and find blood in your teeth; after you watch Darth Vader’s corpse burn from the safety of the treeline—you will learn this is your inheritance.)

.

INT. HANGAR ON YAVIN IV - NIGHT

LEIA

is trailing her fingers along laser burns deeply-scored into the side of an X-wing. HAN SOLO approaches, and leans against the body of the ship. He clears his throat pointedly, startling her and making her turn. For a moment, they look at one another, their faces shadowed by the half-dark.

HANAren’t princesses supposed to need their beauty sleep?

LEIAYou need it more than I do, Solo.

HAN(clutching his chest in feigned agony) You wound me, your worshipfulness.

Leia snorts, turning back to the X-wing. Han watches her, and when her back is turned, his expression is something tentative, on the verge of adoring. He seems to catch himself, and swallows, ducking his head and scuffing his shoe against the duracrete floor.

HANSo—uh, you ever flown one of these things?

LEIAI learned once, when I was young. My father gave me lessons on an old A-wing, my mother hated it. But…not much since. 

HAN(hesitantly) Probably for the best, right? You’re an—asset, too valuable to risk.

Leia’s expression twists, and her hand spasms on the side of the X-wing, almost curling into a fist.

LEIA(bitterly) Don’t you think I’m willing to take the same chances as everyone else? That I’m not—I’m not willing to fight, or die for the Rebellion?

HANWell, I don’t think you were on that Death Star for kicks, no.

Leia relaxes slightly, mollified.

HAN (con’t)But you don’t…have to, you know. That’s what I  keep trying to tell Luke, you don’t have to. The galaxy is a big place, not all of it belongs to the Empire. You could go, you could run—find some…handsome farmer somewhere, have lots of kids. Live happily ever after.

Han glances at her. She is staring at him like he’s grown a second head.

LEIA(slowly, incredulously) Is that…is that supposed to work?

HANWhat?

LEIAAlderaan—my planet, my home—was burned out of the sky. Everything and everyone I have ever loved is gone. Even before that, I spent five years in the Imperial Senate, listening to heartless men condemn entire species to extinction because they were greedy, or afraid. Even if I could run, even if that wouldn’t be the—most cowardly, evil thing I could think of, what makes you think—why wouldn’t I want to see them all dead?

Leia’s voice has been gradually getting louder, until she is almost shouting. The hangar is silent in the wake of this pronouncement, all but for her uneven breathing. Her eyes might be wet, but she she is staring at Han with such fury that he knows better than to bring it up.

LEIA(breathlessly) I would kill them myself, if anyone would let me.

HAN(swallowing, looking away) I’m just saying, you’ve got a choice.

LEIAFine. I choose this.

Han watches her walk away, into the dark of the hangar.

[FADE OUT]

.

It would be inappropriate to return from your first battle—really only a skirmish, with a cadre of stormtroopers you weren’t aware were scheduled to refuel there—dancing on the balls of your feet, still humming to the awful song of concussion-blasts and shouting. Your arm and shoulder ache from holding a blaster, bracing against the kickback.

There are things you are allowed to be pleased about, and you are: you brought all your squadron home, Luke is safe; the mission was a success and the people of the planet will be able to better mount a resistance of their own. You’d have to be spice-addled, cruel, to love how unerring your sight was, watching bodies in white armor crumple. There’s blood on your uniform from the officer, who took a blast to the chest and coughed up scarlet and bile as you interrogated him—you wear it like a badge of honor, all through Ra’vik Base.

You’re glad to have served the Rebellion, even if the means were violent. Any other reason to be glad would be fucked in the head, wouldn’t it?

….well, would it?

.

When you are ten you hide beneath an antique chaise and listen to your father plot rebellion, with strangers who come and go through palace carrying the smell of blaster discharge in their clothes. 

At twelve you will stand very straight beside your mother as she mother focuses the power of her name, her crown, and the institutions she upholds into a laser-shield in defense of her world. (It wasn’t strong enough, in the end, but then the Death Star wasn’t finished in those days.)

At fifteen, you are a Junior Senator in the Imperial Senate, where no one is elected and the floor votes are perfunctory—everyone knows the Emperor will have the last word. You don’t know if Palpatine even bothered to buy or coerce them anymore, your fellow senators are so desperate to please him regardless.

In hindsight, all this gives you very confused questions about whether power is a good thing, or bad, and when the exercise of it is just. Given the war you fought (are fighting) you probably should have sat down and figured out your answer at some point.

Or at least picked a better one than (b) I know the difference between right and wrong, stop asking me.

.

There is no passion, there is serenity, Luke recites solemnly. He’s growing a beard these days, and the light is slanting into his eyes—he looks like he could be a Jedi of the stories, a knight.

Neither of you lasts more than a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

.

The worst part of the New Republic is how much you try. You do, you try, you contort yourself into a dozen unnatural painful shapes, trying. You are the daughter of Bail Organa and the New Republic is a dream you’ve fed since infancy—you fought and killed for the concordance, for the constitutional charter, for words stronger than the beam of the Death Star because the Death Star is dead and the words have survived. You try so hard to be proud at ‘peace’ and ‘justice’ and ‘right’, with Organa written beneath them.

(Somehow, you are still that little girl, chasing her father down the halls of the palace, trying to get him to come back, trying to make him to stay.)

You’re never sure whether the trying made failure harder to stomach, or if it would have almost killed you either way.

.

Addendum: At some point between wars, you bear a son with a battlefield inside him. (This is also your inheritance.) He is loud, full of mud and blood and horrible violence, and if you were a better woman, you would have loved him less for despite it.

.

The second war has swallowed you up before you realize that’s what’s happening—though you probably should have guessed, based on how much better you’ve been sleeping. Still, it was by the grace of the Senate that you began building the base on D’Qar, and it was to the Senate you reported First Order movement in the Outer Rim, and it is the Senate that funds, feeds, and keeps this little defense initiative of yours—

You thought you’d finally found some aspect of being a senator that didn’t make you want to tear at your skin. You were grateful.

It’s Poe Dameron who slips up. (You really should have figured it out earlier, not even the kriffing names have changed.) He’s the first to call you ‘general’ instead of ‘senator’ and it spreads like a fire, clings like starship oil, and you aren’t strong enough to resist accepting it. You hadn’t realized how long you had been holding your breath, waiting for it.

When Han stops by, hauling a cargo he won’t talk about and looking older than you remember, he makes that face you hate. The tired, grieved expression you associate with late-night arguments, Ben’s absence, and the horrible irony that was your marriage. (You were fight and he was flight and after the adrenaline wore off, there was nothing left.)

What happened to peace in our time? Han asks lightly, half a joke, and your throat aches with how much you want to scream. If you think of all the people you’ve failed in this, in loving this, you really will.

I didn’t have a choice, the First Order—you say, and his mouth turns down at the corners.

No, he says, you told me truthfully, once. You have a choice, princess. This is…this is just it. What will you do, I wonder, once there are no more Imps to kill?

It is your turn to watch him walk away because it is always your turn to watch him walk away these days. Only this time, he doesn’t return, except to kiss you, and then die on the battlefield in your son’s soul.

You might have grieved more, if you had lost less.

.

People have died for you. This isn’t an apology—after all, you liked it.

[mademoiselle-cookie]

#why is it always that when the topic of 'are the clones slaves' comes up that the only ones condemned are the jedi?#where is the condemnation for the senate that ACTUALLY chose to use them as their army?#where is the condemnation for the senate that forced that choice upon the jedi?#where is the condemnation for the senators who never ONCE stand up for the clones?#somehow it all comes down on the jedi alone#as if the jedi could have spared the clones from having to fight and freed them all by just saying no#add a little nuance back into this worldbuilding why don't you#look beyond the jedi for your vitriol because the options for where to aim it are honestly endless163 notes

I'm in the mood for bad faith Anakin Skywalker takes today, so if you have any of those to share, please do!

[vetinarivimesy]

excellent tags @antianakin #pro jedi#slavery#clones#jedi#why is it always that when the topic of 'are the clones slaves' comes up that the only ones condemned are the jedi?#where is the condemnation for the senate that ACTUALLY chose to use them as their army?#where is the condemnation for the senate that forced that choice upon the jedi?#where is the condemnation for the senators who never ONCE stand up for the clones?#somehow it all comes down on the jedi alone#as if the jedi could have spared the clones from having to fight and freed them all by just saying no#add a little nuance back into this worldbuilding why don't you#look beyond the jedi for your vitriol because the options for where to aim it are honestly endless

I'm in the mood for bad faith Anakin Skywalker takes today, so if you have any of those to share, please do!