Chasing the shadow

Taking a speeder, you waste no time and drive right to the Senate building. You hop off and use your senses to search for anything. You are immediately struck by two strange things. The first is a woman's unusual expression of feelings, a strange mixture of sensation and suffering. You cannot tell what that is or who it is coming from, but her presence is awfully familiar. The other thing is what captures your attention with greater gravity, you sense a very dark presence, one that's so powerful it could only be the dark lord himself. And you sense it near Anakin! Spending no more time searching, you run straight for the chancellor's office, caring little for the formal appointment requesting protocol. It just slows you down, forcing you to **** mindtrick every single security and civil personnel trying to stop you on the way from just enterring the chancellor's office like that. As you climb the stairs and get closer and closer, Palpatine is having a talk with Anakin.

Palpatine (shaking his hand in appreciation): ... Excellent news Anakin! I knew you would be the one to put an end to this threat of secession! I assume the council gave you the most important task of them all, to hunt down General Grievous!

Anakin (uneasily): Actually, your excellency, that task was given to Master {if Obi-Wan = true}Kenobi{endif}{if Obi-Wan = false}Yoda{endif}. I was responsible for finding and uprehanding Wat Tambor on Skako Minor.

Palpatine: I see, well, I still believe that was just as important as the other mission I mentioned, am I right? The Jedi would never take your deserved fame from you, to bolster their own. They are way better than that, are they not?

Anakin (uneasily): They should be...

Palpatine: What do you mean, my child? Jedi are the beacon of wisdom and selflessness in the whole galaxy, as far as I am told.

Anakin (emotionally): They used to be, maybe, once! But not anymore... Now the Jedi are just a scheming institution, trying to fight political battles. I did not want to be a part of this, when I joined the order.

Palpatine: You were signing up for a higher cause, I know how your story with the Jedi started. I was there on Naboo all those years ago, when the great Anakin Skywalker's story started. And it has taken you very far since you were that little child from Tatooine. You have become a powerful Jedi, a master swordsman, a shrewd general, and a celebrated war hero. You know, there is little you have not achieved so far and you are only in your twenties. You will become Grand Master of the Jedi Order one day, I am positive about it. Or, if you please, you could be the Chancellor of the Republic!

Anakin: Thank you for your encouragement your highness, but I am unfit for such leading titles. There are people far more capable than I am.

Palpatine: More capable of what? You have not met your match on the battlefield yet, not even that evil Count Dooku could best you when you saved me on Grievous's ship. The council bows before your wisdom anytime you speak, they would be fools not to listen to your words after all.

Anakin: Hm! If only that was the case... But they do not let me speak freely, they restrict me...

Palpatine: It is only natural for them if you think about it. You are more powerful than they are now, they have grown to fear you. Fear that you will replace them and you will realize that you do not need them any more. That day, the Jedi Order will be reborn under your enlightened rule. And that will be a glorious day!

Anakin (conflicted after a little pause): This is wrong... Jedi should not intend to rule. I... I should not wish to rule the order.

Palpatine: What is wrong with a little power over others? The just and right people must have their authority strengthened, so they can make the world a better place. I am certain that is what the Jedi had in mind when they asked you to spy on me. Because they did just that, have they not?

Anakin (confused what to say): Y-yes, they did, your excellency...

Palpatine: Just as I expected. They fear not only the powerful within their own ranks, but even those outside of it. Tell me Anakin, can I trust you?

Anakin: Y-yes, o-of course, your highness! I did not take this task lightly, I have not reported them anything so far anyway...

Palpatine: No need to look for excuses, you received an order, you had to fulfill it, like any soldier in the army. But you realized the order was a bad order, that is what makes you better than a simple soldier. That is why I need to ask you something. I need your help, son.

Anakin: My help? With what?

Palpatine: With the war at an end, the Jedi will soon attempt to take control over the Senate to fully control the Republic. I cannot let them destroy this democracy we have built for many millennia. When their coup happens, can I count you among those who stand with me? To protect what is right from those who only wish to accumulate more power for themselves?

Anakin (conflicted): I... I am a Jedi, my lord, I... It would not be right to turn away from them... I...

Palpatine: I am certain you will make the right decision when the time comes and do what needs to be done. For the people's and the Republic's best interests. And those who live for the Republic. Like... Senator Amidala... Your friend...

Anakin (impulsively): What of her? She has nothing to do with any of this scheming!

Palpatine: My son, if, forgive me, when, the Jedi try to take over, do you think they will leave the senators alone? Do you think they will spare them and not imprison them? Or worse...?

Anakin (louder): They would never...! The senators have done nothing to...!

Palpatine: Who did what and why matters little in times like these. The Jedi have fallen far from their original ideals, they are nothing more but hypocrats these days. Little better than the Sith. If I were you, I would stand to protect my... Friends, in the Senate. And especially those you care about deeper than mere friendship...

Anakin: Your excellency... You seem to know a lot about the Jedi and the Sith... Back in the Opera, that story you told me... That Sith legend... You are the Sith lord! The one we have been looking for!

Palpatine (calmly as Anakin ignites his lightsaber): Are you going to kill me?

Anakin (angrily): I would certainly like to...!

Palpatine (with satisfaction): Yeees, I can feel your anger. It makes you powerful. It gives you focus.

Meanwhile, you reach the Chancellor's office and find two more guards standing there, stopping all from entering the room.

Guards: Halt there!

You sense the great emotional shift of Anakin inside, without further due, you **** freeze the guards and prepare to enter.

Lana (to yourself): Oh no, I hope I'm not too late...! If Anakin loses his temper, not even Master Yoda can predict what he's about to unleash!

Lana (barging in through the door): Anakin watch out, he's...! Oh!

You see Anakin having the chancellor at the tip of his sabre, so explaining what's going on isn't going to be your job now.

Anakin: Lana stay where you are, he's the Sith lord!

Palpatine (smiling calmly): Wonderful! Now that both of you are here, we may sort out this grievous misunderstanding.

Anakin (with deep anger): There is little to discuss about this! Lana, signal the masters in the temple! He must be taken into custody as fast as possible!

Lana (signalling Ranvi): Right! Hm? It seems to be jammed!

Palpatine: I have taken the liberty of blocking all outgoing communications from the Senate building for today. I did not want any interruptions in this little conversation with you both.

Lana: Hah, as if we had anything to talk about!

Palpatine: I do believe Anakin has many reasons to listen, especially when I mention that I happen to know the way to save his beloved wife...

Anakin: What? How do you know...?

Lana: Anakin don't listen to him! He's trying to manipulate you!

Palpatine: As I told you once, not long ago... The darkside is a pathway to many abilities, some consider to be unnatural. I know she is going to die soon... Only through my knowledge of the dark side can you save her from certain ****! Kill me, and the hopes of saving Padmé die with me.

Anakin (conflicted): This...! This cannot be...!

Lana: Anakin, Ranvi knows more healing techniques than any other Jedi, she certainly can save Padmé from whatever is threatening her life!

Palpatine: Your humble powers pale in comparison to my experience and ancient knowledge. Your powers will be too weak by the time the need arises. As it is going to be needed very, very soon...

Anakin is swapping his gaze between you and him. Then, Palpatine continues to urge him to join him.

Palpatine: Use my knowledge, I beg you. It would pain me terribly to see you lose your beloved one!

Lana: This is just a trick!

Palpatine (turning to you): Is it? Is the dark side powerless? You, of all Jedi, should know otherwise, as you have been using it routinely. Why resort to it in times of need, if the light is more powerful?

Lana (speechless): Ehm...

Palpatine: What about your desires? You have been a selfless Jedi for so long, serving the order above all. I know of the little extra privileges you have been granted by the council, like making love, temporary love. But have you experienced true love? Anakin has, do you not desire it too?

Lana (suspiciously): What are you pointing at?

Palpatine: Have you not thought about leaving the order behind and starting a new life? One without the restrictions of the order? What if I told you that you could both remain where and who you are, with a different Jedi order? You could be its grand masters, lifting the outdated and pointless thresholds of selflessness and widening your freer way of life to a whole generation of **** users.

Lana (seeing Anakin giving in to him): That way, we... We wouldn't be Jedi anymore!

Palpatine: Tell me, what a Jedi really is? Are you both Jedi, or are you not? Is being a Jedi about righteousness and benevolence? Then why are you allowed to use the dark side, make love, and experience pleasures no other Jedi can? Why deny them what you have been granted? Is that righteous? Is that the equality and justice they deserve? The three of us could achieve more than any living being has ever dreamed of! All you have to do is join me and learn from me, to become the most powerful **** users in thousands of years with the combination of the teachings of the greatest Jedi and Sith!

Lana (with little confidence): I already know the dark side...!

Palpatine: My child, your knowledge is like a glass of water, in comparison to my knowledge of an ocean. You are barely scratching the surface! The possibilities are endless, but only, if we are to work together! All three of us!

Neither of you says a word, just look at each other. There is much truth and sense in his words, yet it contradicts your whole belief in the Jedi. Even thinking about joining him is worth a lifelong exile. You have been tempted many times before, maybe this is going to be the last. You have seen how powerful your clone has become in short notice, imagine what you could achieve with his knowledge? However, this all might just be a trick to deceive the Jedi and finish everyone off in a single blow. Anakin is standing with similar conflicting ideas in his head. What will your decision be? You could decide the fate of the galaxy forever.