What If... Mace Windu survived his fight with Palpatine? (Part 19)

There has been an awakening... can you feel it?

Last time, Tarkin had approached the Jedi and the Rebellion for a truce to deal with Palpatine. Everything seems to be spinning out toward a final battle at Byss. In this corner: the armies of the Jedi, the Rebellion, and Tarkin's Imperial loyalists. In the other corner: Darth Sidious, his new apprentice Darth Abaddon, his army of sycophantic wannabe Sith Lords, and the rest of the Imperial Army and Navy.

Oh, right, and a Death Star!

Ding! Ding!

I really feel like that's a good intro, right there. The Executor has dropped out of hyperspace in the Byss system and the united fleet of the Rebel, Jedi, and Tarkin's loyalists clashes head to head with Palpatine's fleet. Amidst the chaos, a single ship has managed to duck around the peril, a ship carrying five Jedi Masters ready to land on Byss and end this once and for all. Their ship actually manages to land with minimal trouble, Anakin's piloting skills bringing them through once again and they land outside what appears to be a grand citadel. Yoda recognizes it and what it is built around - a Sith monolith. The very air that they will be breathing is tainted with the Dark Side... they must be on their guard at all times.

Up in space, Padmé and Mon Mothma are coordinating the Rebel fleet whilst Tarkin mercilessly directs his own forces, leading to a clash between the two command styles. Tarkin is utterly ruthless and efficient, thinking nothing for the lives he is sacrificing to bring down Palpatine. It is a very clear case of the enemy of my enemy being my friend... but one is given to wonder for how long? 

On the surface, the Jedi Masters are assaulted by visions. Yoda battles an illusory Palpatine in an equally illusory Senate Chamber, the most difficult duel of his life. Obi-Wan finds himself on Mustafar again, facing down an angry and twisted Anakin in combat. Kento finds himself facing a potential future his son might have had. Anakin himself finds himself face to face with a tall, menacing figure clad in black armor and wielding a red lightsaber.

And what of Mace? Mace finds himself back in the Chancellor's office, though now he is at the point of Palpatine's lighstaber as he's backed against the frame of the shattered window. His arm has been cut away, his body racked with pain from the Force Lightning from Palpatine as the man decides to torture him.

Above, the arrival of the Alderaanian fleet helps bolster the numbers against Palpatine, yet the fleet around Byss is still very strong indeed. Tarkin's ships are being torn apart as are the Rebel and Jedi fleets. It seems hopeless, but Tarkin, Padmé, and Mon Mothma all tell their forces to hold the line. They have to, until the Jedi can complete their mission. Cal, meanwhile, is dispatched with a detachment of Jedi Starfighters to tackle the Death Star... no one aware that a certain straggler has made his way onboard not only the Rebel ships, but also into a Jedi starfighter that has joined with Cal's detachment making a run on the Death Star.

On Byss, Mace breaks through the illusion, a mechanical hand forming from the bloodied stump Palpatine left him with to once more barehandedly catch the Sith Lord's saber. With a push of the Force, Mace defenestrates Palpatine and brings an end to his illusion. Kento, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin have all managed to break free as well, and the five make their way to the citadel proper. Fighting their way through Stormtroopers as well as some of the Inquisitors, they manage to reach the throne room... and find a screen set up to turn on as they enter.

Palpatine is not on Byss, but on the Death Star. He intended for the Masters to see the full power of the Death Star, the display switching to show shots from within the Death Star as the primary ignition is activated...

Back in space, the battle is not going well. Palpatine's forces seem limitless. For every ship the Rebel-Imperial Alliance takes down, two more seem to be deployed. Nevertheless, the line is held... for now. Things take a turn for the worse when it's revealed, however, at Cal's squadron has a stowaway on one of the Jedi starfighters - young Luke, who snuck aboard not only the command ship but also into a starfighter along with R2-D2. Padmé angrily shouts for him to turn around and come back, but it's too late. Cal's squadron has already gotten into the Death Star trench and are engaging hostiles.

On Byss, the Jedi Masters fight their way back toward the ship. Along the way, they come across Palpatine's cloning factory and work quickly to destroy the vats of clones, making sure that none are left. For good measure, they also find the power generators and set them to overload, assuring that Palpatine has no more assets to call upon and thus cheat the Prophecy once more. It is here that Mace once more battles Trilla, now going by Darth Abaddon. The fighting is ferocious, but Mace manages to gain and maintain the upperhand through the use of Form VII lightsaber style. He attempts to reach her, trying to reignite the good of the former Apprentice within her. Soon enough, though, he realizes that there is nothing left to reach. The darkness that Trilla is using against him... is all that is left.

As they fight, the other masters escape to head to meet Palpatine head on at the Death Star, leaving Mace on the planet fighting Trilla. Mace does actually manage to cut her down and is going to move to get to a ship of his own to follow them... when Trilla rises again. Through the Dark Side, Palpatine has animated her and mocks Mace for his failure to stop him before the two fight again, heading back into the Clone Factory. It seems that Palpatine holds the upper hand in the encounter for a bit, but it becomes clear that Mace is baiting him back into it. When they reach the exact center of a factory, Mace does the unthinkable. He deactivates his lightsaber, tosses it aside, and kneels down.

"...what is this?"

"Come, Sith. Destroy me."

"..."

"Do it."

Palpatine, faced with one of his own meme catchphrases, brings the saber down toward Mace's head. The robes of the ancient Jedi master fall to the floor, empty, his body having vanished entirely. Trilla's face is scrunched up by Palpatine's confusion, and then the Sith Lord begins to hear the loud beeping of several thermal detonators activating. The entire clone factory explodes as Palpatine screams in rage, the robes and lightsaber of Mace as well as the body and lightsaber of Trilla being atomized... as are likely everything within a few miles of the facility for good measure.

Yep. Mace Windu is actually, really dead... and at the hands of Palpatine, too.

Onboard the Death Star, Palpatine is beyond outraged at his factory being destroyed. He sends an order for the Death Star to "fire at will". The result is a macabre flash of emerald light that streaks through space... and slams right into Mon Mothma's command ship. Padmé and the rest of the Rebel and even Tarkin's Imperial detachment are beyond shocked at this sudden and extreme brutality.

...and that's where we're going to end off. Mace Windu is dead, Mon Mothma is dead, and things are looking dire for the good guys even with the big victory of destroying the cloning factory under their belts. How will the battle turn out? Will the Light Side overpower the Dark once and for all? It all comes down to Part 20, the final part...

Be. THERE!