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One late evening, Chancellor Palpatine had called for Fox. He very rarely did this, because Palpatine valued his own beauty sleep, though Fox privately thought no amount of sleep could fix that face. The office doors sealed shut behind Fox with a heavy hiss. Fox stopped three steps inside the room, bucket comms open with at least of one his corries on the other end, and hand resting near his blaster out of pure instinct.
Palpatine stood near the massive windows overlooking Coruscant with his hands folded behind his back, soft citylight glowing against dark robes, the picture perfect image of authority. Fox already hated whatever this conversation was going to entail.
“Commander Fox,” Palpatine greeted warmly.
“Chancellor.”
“You came alone?”
“You requested privacy.” A beat. “You also outrank everyone who would tell me that’s a bad idea.”
Palpatine smiled faintly. “Yes.”
Fox did not move farther into the room. Palpatine noticed, because of course he did.
“You’ve been difficult to contact recently,” Palpatine observed.
“Comms issue,” was Fox’s immediate reply.
“Yes. A persistent one, it seems.”
Fox shrugged. “Coruscant signal’s terrible.”
Palpatine studied him for a long moment. Then slowly turned away from the windows.
“The clone medical procedures must stop.”
Fox’s expression didn’t change. “What medical procedures?”
“The ones removing inhibitor chips.”
And there it was. Finally. Fox stared at him, body completely still. Because no one outside a tightly controlled circle should know that term. Not specifically. Not unless—
“You know about the chips,” Fox said flatly.
Palpatine smiled coldly. “I know everything concerning my army.”
Something ugly crawled down Fox’s spine at the wording. My army. Not the Republic’s. Not the GAR. His.
Fox’s voice went quieter. “You authorized them?”
“Of course,” said Palpatine immediately, crossing the room calmly, as if this conversation wasn’t detonating reality. “Commander, you must understand-“
“No,” Fox cut him off instantly, shaking his head. The Chancellor paused. Fox stared at him, the flat expression he got right before violence hidden under his bucket. “You put control chips in our heads!”
Palpatine sighed softly. “As a safeguard.”
“We’re people.”
“No,” Palpatine said dismissively, “You are military assets.”
Fox had heard people say versions of that before. Politicians, Kaminoans, civilians had all said things akin to it. But no one had ever said it so plainly, with such complete certainty.
Palpatine stepped closer. “You were bred for obedience. You’re entirely replaceable.”
Fox’s jaw tightened. “You planned to murder us before we were even born.”
“Dont be so dramatic, Commander.”
That did it. Fox moved before he consciously decided to. His blaster cleared his holster in one smooth motion, and he let out four quick shots into Palpatine’s chest.
Palpatine staggered backward. Shock flashed across his face for the first time in years. Real shock, Fox thought somewhat smugly, not the one he faked in polite company. Because absolutely nobody ever expected the notoriously diplomatic Commander Fox to solve his problems by simply shooting the Chancellor in the chest.
And then the Force exploded. Lightning detonated from Palpatine’s hands in violent arcs. The office walls blackened instantly, and the ugly office furniture ignited, glass windows shattering outward into the Coruscant night.
Fox hit the floor hard behind a scorched desk as lightning tore through the room. His comm crackled violently.
“What the kark was that-?!”
Fox snarled into the comm: “CODE BLACK. CHANCELLOR’S A SITH.”
There was a moment of silence before absolute chaos erupted across Guard channels.
“What?!”
“WHAT.”
“COMMANDER EXPLAIN!”
“NO TIME! CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE, NEED BACKUP!” Fox shouted into his comm, rising to his feet, only to see a hideous sight.
Palpatine rose slowly from the burning wreckage, not human anymore. Not really. His face was twisted and his eyes were glowing a molten yellow. Darkness poured off him like a poisonous smoke.
Fox stared for a second, then immediately shot him again. Palpatine deflected the bolts this time with a crimson lightsaber snapping into existence. The red glow filled the ruined office.
Fox’s entire worldview was currently rearranging itself. Because what the kark. He thought the Chancellor was evil, sure, but a Sith Lord?! “…You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
The Sith Lord advanced. “You should have remained obedient,” he snarled, raising his saber.
Fox dodged, and grabbed a fallen chair and hurled it at him. Because if there was one thing Coruscant Guard officers excelled at, it was workplace violence. Palpatine cut through the chair effortlessly. Fox raised his blaster and shot him again.
Then the doors exploded open. Mace Windu entered first, lightsaber ignited. He was followed by Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Kit Fisto, and approximately twelve heavily armed Coruscant Guardsmen.
Everyone froze for a moment seeing the literal leader of the Republic was indeed a Sith Lord. Palpatine stood in the center of the destroyed office holding a red lightsaber, lightning still crackling from one hand, face twisted into something monstrous, and stared too. Fox crouched behind a burning desk aiming his blaster directly at the Chancellor’s head.
Anakin blinked once. “…Oh.”
Obi-Wan stared. “…Well that certainly explains a great deal.”
Mace Windu looked utterly unsurprised. Which honestly offended everyone else slightly.
Palpatine recovered first. “These clones have betrayed the Republic-”
Fox immediately shouted back, “YOU PUT MIND CONTROL CHIPS IN OUR HEADS!
Anakin whipped toward Palpatine so fast it was almost violent. “…You did WHAT?!” He snarled. Fox was pretty sure there must’ve been a story behind that. Palpatine’s expression shifted minutely. It was a mistake. Anakin lit his saber.
Palpatine ignited with fury. “They are nothing but property!” Every clone in the room went dangerously still, and Anakin’s face went from angry to livid.
Fox slowly rose from behind the desk, blaster still trained steadily on the Sith Lord. Then said the single funniest possible thing he could think of under the circumstances: “Interesting legal argument, sir.”
Palpatine snarled. “You dare mock me?”
Fox shrugged slightly. “I’m just saying.”A beat. “If clones aren’t sentient, then technically I can’t be charged with murder when I kill you.”
Obi-Wan physically covered his face. Anakin made a choking noise that sounded suspiciously like suppressed laughter. One of the Corries whispered, “Holy shit,” like a whole world of opportunities had opened in front of him.
Palpatine looked moments away from stroking out from rage alone. “You are insignificant—”
Fox cut him off. “Also I’d like the record to show you attacked me with lightning first.”
“That is not how legal procedure works,” Obi-Wan muttered automatically.
Fox pointed slightly. “See? Even General Kenobi agrees there’s procedure.”
“I did not say that.”
Then Palpatine screamed and launched himself forward. Everything happened at once. Red blade. Purple blade. Blueish purple lightning. Blasterfire. The Chancellor’s office became a warzone instantly.
Fox emptied his entire blaster into Palpatine while the Jedi engaged him head-on. Mostly because he was still furious, the stupid Sith Lord kept karking monologuing, and Fox had already committed to this course of action, so he might as well follow it through.
Anakin later claimed the funniest part of the entire encounter was that he had thought Fox had genuinely attempted to arrest Darth Sidious before escalating to homicide. Fox had perhaps enabled this story by maintaining it was proper procedure.
The battle ended twenty-three minutes later with half the office destroyed, three walls missing, Mace Windu bleeding from the forehead, Anakin emotionally devastated, Obi-Wan developing a migraine, and Palpatine finally dead on the Chancellor’s floor. Silence filled the ruined office afterward, smoke curling out the broken windows.
Fox finally lowered his blaster, and looked at the corpse. “…I’m not filing the paperwork.”
Nobody argued. Mostly because after discovering the Supreme Chancellor was secretly a Sith Lord orchestrating galactic war and mind-controlling clone troopers—everyone agreed Commander Fox had earned the right to refusal of paperwork.