As a stowaway on Padme's ship, I've flown with her to the remote planet of Mustafar in pursuit of my ex-Padawan. He has conspired against The Republic. He has slaughtered countless Jedi. He has force-choked his pregnant wife and contemptuously hurled her to the ground. Now it's just me and him. It is the moment of truth.

He speaks of his "new empire." I reinforce my devotion to democracy.

"If you're not with me, you're my enemy."

It hurts me to be at odds with Anakin...but I will do what I must.

I ignite my lightsaber and he ignites his. He challenges me with a coarse war cry and a huge backwards spring. Thus, the battle begins. Blue saber to blue saber, Master to student, we duel. The swordplay is quick, intense, almost desperate; we each realize that the slightest bit of letup will be fatal. Our fight soon leads us inside the Separatist's Mustafarian sanctuary. The floor is still littered with the bodies of those who were executed at Anakin's hand. I am determined to not become one of these casualties.

In an audacious move, Anakin grasps my wrist with one hand and chokes me with the other. The pressure of his grip drags me down, and as I gasp for air, I realize that my opponent is trying to force me to harm myself with my own saber! A well-positioned kick sends my former student to the floor and allows me to have a breath of fresh air. He immediately rises and returns the kick, causing us both to collapse and drop our sabers. I deflect his next attack with a blow to the chest, after which we force-grab and ignite our sabers. I, in the superior position, forcefully bring my saber down upon Anakin, but he, on the floor, draws his saber across himself horizontally; our scimitars meet at 90 degree angles, and he effectively protects himself from my attack, thus rendering this particular round a tie.

In an instant he's up again and we're swinging our sabers in Form VII style. No one has the upper hand in this struggle...we've been partnered so long and are so well-matched we can virtually read each other's minds. We simultaneously summon our force-powers, my hand 3 inches from his, each straining to gain the mastery over the other, and concurrently send one another flying across the room, crashing down onto the controls of the facility, causing the shields of Mustafar to collapse. The automatic doors are spontaneously released and we take our altercation outside onto the suspension bridge high above the lava pits of Mustafar. We battle across a beam, balancing precariously over the furiously exploding lava. I glimpse a droid hovering nearby: a spycam or a surveillance droid perhaps...but there's no time to think about it. Steam spurts from the beam, clouding my vision, and in the need to be on a solid surface, I catapult myself back onto the suspension bridge. Anakin follows behind me, and just as he clears the beam, several cubic yards of lava fly up into the air as if they were detonated, covering and melting a large part of the facility, which is swallowed by the molten river below. I make my way to the tower, which is still standing, and begin to climb, with Anakin dogging my heels. Heat rises, so the higher I go, the more I swelter. I continue to battle...one hand wielding my saber and the other holding on for dear life. I reach the top of the tower, grab hold of a rope, and swing high above the liquid conflagration below. Anakin follows course and we clash sabers as our paths intercept.

I desperately look for an out and am relieved to spot a piece of floating debris. I immediately avail myself of it. The base of the tower momentarily dissolves, creating a temporary bridge across which Anakin runs, narrowly escaping a geyser-like eruption of lava, before hopping onto a floating droid...the exact same droid which spied on us earlier! We once again brandish our weapons, and I'm sorely afflicted by the heat. The air itself is virtually aflame; searing my lungs, torturing me: a feeling almost as wretched as the loss of an apprentice to the Dark Side.

We stop for a moment and look out onto the blur of fiery red and lurid yellow which merges into this molten orange river of death. "I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you," I say, as I suddenly realize the scope of my own foundering.

"I should've known the Jedi were plotting to take over!," he shouts.

"Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!"

"From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"

"Well then you are lost!," I reply with finality.

We briefly skirt around a smelting-facility droid...

"This is the end for you, my Master," says Anakin in an ominous tone. He bounds into the air, lands on the edge of my flotation device, and teeters on the brink before clashing sabers with me once more. As we draw closer to the bank of the river, I realize that this is my salvation. With a flying leap and a double back-flip I land adroitly and address my former Padawan: "It's over Anakin! I have the high ground!"

"You underestimate my power," he replies.

"Don't try it," I warn. Headstrong and overconfident, he vaults towards me! Swift as lightning, I raise my saber and do a 360 degree spin, effectively ridding him of his 3 remaining limbs. Wounded, broken, and ultimately defeated, he falls to the ground and rolls toward the river where he lays prostrate, groaning in pain and frustration.

"You were The Chosen One!," I shout. "It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness!" As I retrieve Anakin's lightsaber, his eyes glow Sith yellow and he grapples at the sand with his prosthetic arm.

"I hate you!," he shouts.

"You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you!" I have not the heart to finish him off; this, my ex-apprentice, who'd saved me so many times. His close proximity to the boiling river causes him to ignite and even though he's giving me murderous stares, I feel anguish when he bursts into flames. His hair singes, his face chars, and as I leave him to his fate on the black sand banks of the Mustafar lava river, I know I'll be eternally haunted by his harrowing cries of agony.

Yours truly with a heavy heart,
-Obi Wan Kenobi