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Vader was dying. He could feel it. Palpatine’s Force Lightning had fried over half of the vital systems needed to keep him breathing, and he could feel his flesh starting to cook from the voltage still passing through his body, the aftershocks and the damaged wiring starting to cook him again, just like that fateful, horrible day on Mustafar.

Thankfully, Vader had something to focus on, something to drown out his overwhelming pain. Joy, love, and compassion, all feelings he thought had abandoned him long ago, were rising up, threatening to overwhelm him as he finally got to see his son’s face with his own eyes, and was able to die in peace. He managed to tell Luke that the boy had been right, that Luke’s love and trust in his lighter side had managed to turn Vader back to the light. Then there was a plume of smoke.

Vader was confused to find himself, in the image of his Jedi days, floating in the Netherworld of the Force, watching a funeral pyre burn, with what looked like his accursed suit melting in the center. He looked around, and saw both Master Yoda and his brother, Obi-Wan. Before the broken man could say anything, show his infinite remorse and shame over his own actions, both Master and Grandmaster floated over and stopped him.

“Thank you, Anakin.” The voice of his brother rang out, more in his head than spoken. “Thank you for bringing balance. While you did enough harm to the galaxy to completely overshadow your good deeds while a Jedi, you still managed to defeat Palpatine and bring an end to the line of Bane.”

Next, the diminutive Grandmaster spoke up. “Thank you, as well, I must. Shaped our views on the Force, you have. Shown us, you have, that the Force wills for light and dark, equally. One exists not without the other, hmmmm. Fulfilled your destiny, you have, young Skywalker. Now, some questions, have you?”

Vader was dumbstruck by the way his brother and Yoda showed him to pass on into the Cosmic Force. It was almost easy for him to do so, after his sacrifice above Endor. He joined Master Kenobi and Yoda in watching the celebration by the Rebels, and took great satisfaction in the fact that his children were free to do as they wished, not blinded by the dogmatic ways of the Jedi of old, nor jaded by the manipulations of Sidious. After watching the celebrations for a time, the ghosts moved on. Vader made a point of personally apologizing to each and every Jedi he had killed, begging their forgiveness. He was even able to properly thank Master Qui-Gon properly for all the man had done for him.

After Vader had finished making peace with the spirits of his past, he once again found himself meditating next to Master Yoda, except this time he was nowhere near as tense as he had been during his visions before Order 66. After a few minutes of silence, the wizened Master spoke. “Young Skywalker, made amends have you? Forget, you have, that a true Jedi works to let bygones be bygones for peace. However, much remorse, I still sense in you. Wish to change the past, what brought you here, you do, hmm?”

“Yes Master, I would give anything to be able to fix my mistakes, and to see Padme again. What I have done will haunt me forever, but if I can fix at least some of what I destroyed, I would be at peace.” Vader all but begged the wisest member of the council. “Is there any way for me to go back and make things right?”
“The will of the Force, it is. The Chosen One, you still are. A chance at redemption, the Force is offering you. Wish you to relive the Clone Wars, do you?” inquired the froglike being.

“Yes, Master, I do. Please let me have this opportunity!” Vader started thinking about his time as a Jedi General, all of his friends among the clones, his Padawan, and Padme. Oh, to be able to see her alive one more time! Vader would happily endure the darkest periods of the conflict just to see her laughing and smiling again!

“Then you are indeed worthy of this gift, young one…” A disembodied, feminine voice rang out from behind him. Vader twisted around and found himself looking at a floating creature clothed in black, with a carved white mask over its face. Yoda simply smiled.

“Again, we meet, Priestesses. Good, it is, to see you again.” Yoda seemed to recognize the creature, and for some reason was speaking to it as if he were speaking to a Council above him.

Vader frowned. He could not feel anything about the creature through the force, except that they were so strong they might have been made from the Force itself. His frown changed to shock as the creature suddenly split into five, each with a mask radiating a separate emotion.

“Since you have proved yourself worthy of our gift, we will give you the knowledge you need to defeat your demons and bring true balance to the Force. We are… Anger, Fear, Joy, Confusion, and Serenity.” The five beings abruptly transform into spheres of golden light, and begin to repeatedly pass through Vader’s silvery blue form. Suddenly, knowledge of both Light and Dark, current abilities and those long thought lost to the Force, begin to enter his mind, as if he had always known them.

“H-how?” Shatterpoint, Force Heal, Force Judgement, Force Absorption, and other Jedi abilities are neatly tucked into his skillset, along with Force Crush, Sith Lightning, extreme mental shielding techniques, and other secrets of the Sith. Vader’s consciousness feels nothing but a feeling of wholeness, however. He half expected to feel pain from the process.

“Now that you are prepared for what lies behind, we must make what lies behind lay ahead. You will be brought back to your body at the beginning, where Sidious’ plans start to come together. You will no doubt be weakened upon arrival, as travelling through the World Between Worlds is incredibly taxing. We also ask that you not try and force your younger self to the sidelines, as he is you, and you are him. Both of you are destined to bring balance together, one cannot do it without the other.” With that, the floating orbs begin to spin around him with increasing speed, and Vader sees an overlapping collage of masks, each looking into his very being, then a blinding light.

As the white fades from his vision, he sees a massive arena in front of him, and distinctly hears his own, younger self’s thoughts. Vader groans mentally, he can feel that a massive portion of his stamina has been worn down by journey back in time, and he recognizes the sandstone pillars he is currently being chained to. It’s the kriffing Petranaki Arena. He has arrived just in time for the war to truly begin.

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           Vader suddenly feels a strong presence next to him and feels a spike of fear from it. Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my head?! Get out! Vader smiles inwardly.

           I am you, and you are me. We will need each other in these coming years. Has Count Dooku started the festivities? Pure shock radiates from the other end of this instant bond he has formed, as the younger Anakin tries to formulate a coherent response.

          Force, why is it ALWAYS me? Yes, Dooku just finished his little speech, and I think our new friends are coming out to play. Are we going to be stuck sharing my body?

         Yes, we had best start getting along sooner rather than later. I will leave most of this fight to you, and I’ll give advice when you need it. Just let me know when you need me to take over.

         Anakin, currently fully in control, frowns deeply at the three creatures chosen to be their executioners here in this horrible sandy pit. He shivers a bit when he feels the rage this darker being is emitting, clearly another person who despises sand with every fiber of his being. An undulating roar snaps him out of his reverie, however, as the reek charges him head on. Anakin concentrates, leaps up, and lands on the massive creature’s back flawlessly. He then uses its strength to tear out his chains, and starts working to calm and placate the starving animal. C’mon boy, just calm down, if we get out of this place, I promise you will get all the greens you like, just listen to me…The sound of yowling breaks his focus for a moment, and both he and Vader instantly get quite angry at the feline attempting to kill and eat Padme. No! Padme! Both Anakins think in unison, and the elder’s rage shows on the outside, just for a moment.

         Obi-Wan could feel very conflicting feelings in his Padawan, even more so than usual. Anakin would not be called calm and collected on a good day, but the sheer strength of both the Light and Dark in his young pupil are staggering. Kenobi drags himself back to reality just in time to duck the deadly blow aimed at his head, using the power of the strike to free him from the pole, which was rapidly toppling. Obi-Wan frowned. One moment his Padawan and he were bickering good naturedly, the next, his Padawan fell silent and seemed to have a headache. He worried for his little brother, but Anakin seemed to have recovered quickly enough to try and tame the reek. Suddenly, after a single cry of pain was torn out of Senator Amidala’s mouth, Kenobi could feel a wave of darkness rising.

         Vader reacted on pure instinct, reaching out and grabbing the animal with the force, choking it mercilessly. Meanwhile, he used his chain as a bridle, and started the bull charging at the now helpless nexu. As soon as the damn thing was run over, he quickly relinquished control to his astounded younger self. We’re going to have to have a Very long conversation as soon as we get the chance.

         We can use your meditation time; Force knows you don’t meditate anyways. From high above them, Count Dooku watched the proceedings with a frown. He clearly felt an almost overwhelming darkness radiate from the Padawan, but it was almost instantly suppressed. The Duke of Serenno was extremely surprised to see that young Skywalker could manage to control his emotions so strongly, while still instinctively using a dark side technique.

         “Hop on!” yelled up Anakin, and Padme quickly jumped off the pillar she had climbed, onto the back of the massive reek. Normally, the amount of force from dropping a solid 40 feet onto one’s pelvis would turn it to dust, but Anakin made sure to catch her with the force, softening her landing and guiding her fall. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek in thanks, and gleefully watched Anakin turn redder than a Devaronian.

         Meanwhile, Obi-Wan had managed to steal the electrospear of one of the guards, and was using it to fend off the giant acklay in front of him. He constantly menaced the creature’s head and eyes with the spear, relying on the Force to allow him to dodge out of the way of each attack from the increasingly frustrated crustacean. Obi-Wan threw the spear with all his might and a bit of Force, to try and wound the creature, but it was barely fazed by the small wound it suffered. Thankfully, now that Anakin had rescued the senator, he was able to swing around and let Kenobi hop on for the ride.

         Dooku wasn’t sure whether to be pleased with how his Grand Padawan and their Padawan were doing, or to be angry that they wouldn’t just die already. From the agitated noises currently spewing out of Nute Gunray’s mouth, he was solidly in the second category. Suddenly, Tyranus felt a presence he recognized, one trying to use the Dark in service of the Light. Master Windu was about to make his appearance.

         “Ah, Master Windu, how nice of you to join us,” Dooku taunted when the amethyst blade sprang out, nearly decapitating poor Fett on the spot.

         Master Windu wasn’t in a joking mood today, it seemed. “This party’s over.”

         As the Jedi began revealing themselves all over the Arena, the faint sound of tramping feet reached their ears. Mace Windu was forced to jump down from the VIP box after a hail of blaster bolts and a flamethrower threatened to ruin his day. As Mace landed, he watched the Mandalorian Bounty Hunter start flying down to continue the fight.

         Vader watched as a pair of Jedi tossed he and his Master up two lightsabers, so they could properly join the fight. Padme quickly grabbed a blaster from a dead B-1 and got to work blasting away. Anakin went into the fight with a will, quickly working to cut down any and all battle droids that managed to come near. Vader concentrated on observing, noticing that Ani’s form was nowhere near as polished as his own, and filed it away for a later date. Trying new moves while working to protect Padme was too much of a risk. And there was absolutely no way he was going to endanger her again.

         Soon enough, Jango Fett shot and killed the reek, and was quickly disarmed by Windu. Instead of following up his movements and decapitating the bounty hunter, Mace left him there for later, if there was a later. After about a minute, young Boba lost sight of his father under a massive array of battle droids. By this time, the Geonosians had joined the fight as well, taking potshots at the remaining Jedi knights with their sonic weapons. The waves upon waves of B-1 and B-2 battle droids entering the arena were starting to show their strength, with the massive number of blaster bolts flying through the rapidly forming no-man’s-land between the Jedi and the edges of the arena. Vader especially cringed whenever he felt the cry of pain through the Force that marked the death of another Jedi, unable to keep up with the sheer volume of blaster shots whizzing around them, from all directions.

         Eventually, the remaining survivors, having managed to kill the acklay and recover a few of the wounded, grouped up in the center of the arena and formed a defensive circle.

         Count Dooku, seeing the imminent defeat of the rest of the Jedi in the arena, called a halt and prepared to give his ultimatum to his former allies.

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           Vader growled, wishing he were in control, as Dooku and Windu argued about the option to surrender. Dooku, with an outward showing of remorse, ordered the droid army to attack once more. Then, all force sensitives sensed it, almost at the same time. Master Yoda was arriving, with a bunch of non-Force sensitives. Suddenly, out of the glare, Republic LAAT gunships began to descend, their heavy guns ripping through the droid infantry, forming a perimeter. A small secondary explosion is barely noticed off to one side, from where the unconscious form of Jango Fett lay, what remained of his jetpack and flamethrower being ignited as he was struck by one of the roving green beams. Boba was silent, but inwardly he was sobbing his heart out. First his buir , the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, was defeated, then he was killed accidentally by his own sons in the crossfire to protect the Jetii . It rankled him even more knowing that that bald freak named Windu was going to be rescued and probably given a commendation for defeating the legendary Jango Fett. The young boy swore that he would get vengeance on both Windu and the gunner who finished the job.

        Master Yoda could faintly be heard over the din of combat, ordering the gunships to land and pick up the Jedi survivors, and suddenly they were aloft, flying directly towards the Acclimators deploying men in the distance. Hardcell transports. Tell the pilot to aim for the connection just above the fuel cells to disable them. The clones down on the ground are going to need to find cover of some kind, as this entire engagement is the strong suit of the droid army. Lastly, our artillery needs to be used to take down as many of those fleeing Trade Federation ships as possible. Each has everything needed to start a new Droid foundry wherever they go. Vader’s voice was positively dripping with authority and experience as he lectured his younger self. Anakin saw the logic in each point that was brought up, and quickly relayed it to the faceless clone pilot.

         Vader gasped when he realized he recognized the pilot of their shuttle. Oddball. It had been so long since he had flown with Oddball, and he was looking forward to doing the trooper proud. He watched with glee as the rockets were fired, turning half a dozen transports into so much scrap. He then started meditating, casting about for Dooku’s force presence. After a few minutes he spotted it, zipping down a small gully towards the same hangar as last time.

         Count Dooku, along with an escort of two Geonosian fighters, were speedily working to escape the planet. Dooku could sense Obi-Wan and Anakin behind him, both ready to duel. With a simple wave of his hand, both fighters sheared off, and started to fire on the LAAT. Oddball did his best to avoid the incoming fire, and successfully managed to dodge for a short time. Eventually, a few shots rattled the ship, and Padme, along with a few troopers, fell out of the transport and landed on a sand dune. Vader had to hold Anakin back from immediately ordering the ship around to go pick her up, knowing that she would be safer than he for the coming fight. Obi-Wan noticed the clear inner turmoil his Padawan was facing, and frowned. Clearly, there was something forming between his Padawan and the Senator, but Anakin was doing quite well in leashing down his emotions to focus on the task at hand.

         Oddball was worried about the fighters behind him, they had managed to lightly damage his left wing already, and were going for the kill shot. His rear gunner managed to damage one, and send it veering off before a second hit could finish it, but it wasn’t quite enough. He was able to safely drop the two Jedi off at the same landing pad Dooku had just flown into before his right wing got hit again, and the craft had to limp back towards Republic lines. Vader took control for a moment, and turned around. He activated his lightsaber and threw it at the second fighter, effortlessly chopping through the main gun before recalling the shimmering blue blade to his hand. Turning back around, Vader calmly said; “Luck, yep, total luck I managed to hit that.” to his master, whose jaw was about to hit the floor next to him.

         Vader turned and started striding into the hanger, mentally preparing himself to hold back in this fight. If Sidious gets wind of my skills, he may change his time frames. I will never submit to that bastard ever again! I just managed to get my limbs and lungs back, I’m not losing them again! Wait, WHAT?! I have so many questions right now. Can we just focus on Dooku? Alright, I’ve killed him once, I can fight him again. We really need to talk after we get out of this situation. Vader grinned; he missed this sort of interaction. He enjoyed bickering with himself almost as much as the dumbfounded face his Master seemed to have been liking recently, what with it constantly being visible. “C’mon Master, we have work to do. Also, if you don’t get that look off your face, it’ll probably stick.” Force, did he miss interacting with his brother.

         Obi-Wan had noticed a clear increase in confidence, a darker edge to his padawan’s aura, and a serious uptick in skills in the span of a single afternoon. He wasn’t quite sure whether to be surprised, annoyed, or resigned to this new development. Whichever way he was going to end up, Anakin certainly wasn’t wrong when it came to his face. Kenobi hurriedly tried to regain his composure before hurrying after his problem child.

         As the two Jedi entered the hangar, they could sense the darkness emanating off of Dooku, even through what had to be exceedingly strong mental shields. With a sigh, the Sith turned towards his grand Padawan and his young apprentice, ready to taunt young Skywalker into launching a stupid attack. When he laid eyes on the boy however, he was taken aback. Anakin seemed to be radiating power and experience far beyond his years, and a look of pure distain for the elderly man in front of him. “Ah, so this is the little boy Master Qui-Gon was so excited about finding all those years ago, it seems we finally get to meet, face to face. Tell me, Skywalker, how has your life been, staying enslaved as you have to the dogmatic ways of the Jedi?” Dooku was reasonably sure this taunting would drive the young man to attempt a headlong charge, or something equally foolish. He was exceedingly surprised when the Padawan coolly ignited his lightsaber, and winked at the Count.

         “You’re going to have to pay for all the Jedi you killed today, Dooku. And it isn’t very nice to go and poke fun at the trauma of others. My chains of slavery have been broken, what about yours? Are you not a servant, a slave to your emotions, and your Master?” Vader grinned, that thought had really resonated with the elderly man, quickly replaced by fear. “But I digress, shall we duel?” With that, Anakin leapt forward at Dooku, focused on not losing his hand this time. Dooku’s right hand came up, spewing blue electricity out of his fingertips towards the young man. To his mounting shock, young Anakin managed to catch the blast on his saber, and launch it back at Dooku’s speeder bike, utterly destroying it.

         Vader was in his element. Being back in his prime, with the skills and abilities he had honed on countless battlefields, entering this duel had felt oddly like coming home. After landing back on the ground next to Dooku, he began to slice at him, taking full advantage of his opponent’s shocked state to quickly go on the offense, leaving no room for error. Cut after heavy cut rained down on the Makashi wielder like the punches of an enraged Wookie, staggering him back and keeping him on the defensive. Somehow, he registered, young Skywalker had instantly adapted to the slanting parries intrinsic to Makashi’s delicate defense, and was using his wrist to redirect his sapphire blade directly into his opponent’s crimson one with every swing. It was unnerving, implacable, and exhausting. After a few seconds more of heavy blows slamming into his cracking defenses, Dooku registered the presence of Kenobi moving forward to join his padawan.

         Quickly, Dooku reached out with his off hand and prepared to fire more lightning at Obi-Wan. Vader, seeing this, and already starting to grow tired with the focus he was putting into his strikes after two draining ordeals, acted sloppily. Instead of letting the lightning slide past him, he swung out with his saber to intercept it. Instantly, Dooku switched his focus to the young man in front of him, and blasted him across the room with as much hatred-fueled lightning as he could muster. As Vader hit the wall, he realized he was just too tired to toy with Dooku. However, he couldn’t yet kill the man. If Dooku died on the first major battle of the Clone Wars, the CIS could ignore Sidious’ plans and either settle for peace, or conquer the galaxy through sheer numbers. Abruptly, a decision was made. Vader relinquished control to Anakin, who was hotly anticipating getting a piece of this fight, and retreated into the void that their consciousness’ shared. He really had to do some redecorating in this boring void later.

         Anakin didn’t have to wait very long for his chance to join the fight, as Obi-Wan’s Soresu was laughably easy for his opponent to overcome. With a light slash to the bicep and thigh, Master Kenobi fell to the flagstones with a pained cry. The crimson blade went up to deliver the finishing blow, when the Dark lord was distracted by two sounds; the tap-tap-tap of a slowly approaching creature with a walking stick, and the cry of protective anger released from Anakin’s throat as he charged in to halt the strike. After a few deft movements, Anakin found himself disarmed by the Sith. In response, Anakin tried to block the final strike, aimed for his forearm. With a bit of help from Vader, he managed to pull enough force energy together to block the hit, and the resulting blast threw all three men into separate corners of the room. As the wind created by the block abated, a lone creature walked calmly into the room, glaring down at Dooku.

         “Hmmm, treated you well, the Dark Side has not, my former Padawan. Powerful you may have become, but much to learn you still have.” The ancient frog seemed quite amused at finding Dooku being bested by a mere Padawan learner. That simple chuckle, however, was enough to galvanize the fallen Jedi into action. Reaching out, Dooku used what remained of his stamina to pull a large load bearing pillar in the center of the hangar down, toppling it towards where Anakin and Obi Wan lay, on the far side of the room.

         Yoda, sensing the impending danger to his fellow Jedi, focused on pulling the pillar away from it’s base trajectory, and then had to hold up a small portion of the ceiling up until Anakin could help Obi Wan limp out of the way. In those few seconds, Dooku managed to slip into his waiting craft and speed away. He was very confused about the day’s events, seeing as young Skywalker seemed to flit dangerously with the dark side at times, and would switch his fighting style almost at random, jumping from the flashy, very Padawan-esqe use of a lightsaber loosely based on Djem So, to that of an implacable juggernaut using the form to its absolute fullest potential. Yan Dooku knew that Lord Sidious would be angry with him for inflicting little more than a scratch on the Jedi, but the news about Skywalker’s flirting with the darkness would probably save his skin. Still lost in thought, Dooku watched the stars stretch into hyperspace as his droid pilot made the jump towards Coruscant.

         Anakin groaned as soon as he was able to catch his breath, he was exhausted . Between dealing with the strain of fitting two people into one body, watching Padme in pain, and the pain of war all around him, he was about ready to collapse. Dooku’s trick with the Force lightning didn’t help his mood in the slightest, as his dark robes were still smoking from the energy. Drawing in one more lungful of air, he managed to lean his Master up against the nearby wall, then collapsed next to him. “Well Master, I gotta say. This mission has beaten out that Gundark nest in terms of ‘worst jams you’ve gotten me into’.” Obi Wan groaned through gritted teeth in response.

         “Anakin, this one was on you. I got captured, sure, but you’re the one who ran headfirst into a trap to try and save me. Master Yoda, thank you for coming to help us. Anakin and I were at the limit of our abilities at the end there.”

         “Nothing, it was. Little more than catch rocks did I. Escaped, Dooku did, before involved, I could become. Troubling you, something is, Skywalker? Sense it, I do, some conflict.” Yoda stood in front of Anakin now, who was too busy having a quiet argument with himself to notice both Masters’ attentions had focused on him.

         What are you laughing about? We barely got out of that alive! You have to admit it is amusing that Kenobi thinks this is the limit of our powers. If I hadn’t been exhausted from braving the time stream, I would’ve been much more helpful. Oh yeah? It looked like you were hitting your limit with that last fight with Dooku, even if he was getting rattled. A bit more than rattled, Ani. That old fool was about to crumble. I have defeated dark Makashi practitioners through sheer, unrelenting force in the past, it felt good to break his guard at the end there. Also, bring up your mental shields. Looks like you’re about to get an earful. With that, Vader slammed his mental shields up and retired to his new shared space in Anakin’s mind, grinning as his younger self tried to talk (never his strong suit) his way out of this.

         “Sorry Masters, it feels like something changed back in the Arena, I’ve been feeling pretty stressed.” Both Obi wan and Yoda raised an eyebrow at that.

         “Anakin, would you like to explain what exactly changed? I’m pretty sure I saw you using moves that are exceedingly difficult for even Masters to pull off repeatedly, then watched you revert back to what you use in our sparring sessions in the space of a second.” The (soon to be) Negotiator looked at his Padawan worriedly, but with a hint of awe. Never before had he heard of any Jedi using the Force to redirect and empower their strikes mid swing, yet Anakin had pulled it off like he had been doing it all his life.

         Anakin looked down, gathering his thoughts before he spoke. “I’m not sure how to explain it, Master. I don’t know what it is myself, but maybe it can explain itself.” Vader muttered a halfhearted ‘fine’ from where he sat, and took control once again. He was rewarded by both his Master and Grandmaster staring at him in shock, as it was obvious he was friendly to both sides of the Force, Light and Dark. “As I just said, Master Kenobi,” Vader continued on in Anakin’s body, “I’ll tell you all about it once I understand it myself.” Vader watched, amused, as Yoda unconsciously shivered. The venerable Grandmaster could clearly sense the absolute balance Anakin had in him, accepting both Light and Dark, neither side fighting the other. It was a harmonious example of two things that could not coexist, at least according to every single lesson at the Jedi temple.

         Vader smirked, then gave control back to Anakin; they both could sense approaching craft, and Vader knew it was Padme with some reinforcements. He decided Ani deserved to spend time with her first. He may have waited over 20 years just for the slim chance of seeing, let alone loving his wife again, that didn’t mean he couldn’t afford to wait a little more. Let them be happy. He also wasn’t fully sure he wouldn’t accidentally push her away again this time, and Vader decided it would be safer if he just shared the burden of protecting her, instead of interacting very much.

         Miles away, back in the ruins of the first battle of the Clone Wars, Boba was sifting through the wreckage. After almost ten minutes of pulling droid corpses away from where he had last seen his buir fall, he saw a hint of silver. Redoubling his efforts, he uncovered the singed and battered body of his father. Both hands were cut off, his right arm was heavily burned, and his back was an absolute mess , but Jango Fett was somehow still breathing. His jetpack had taken a near miss from the LAAT gunner, but his back armor where the jetpack connected protected his vital organs from the shrapnel of the explosion. The fire and shock of the explosion had put any hope of returning to bounty hunting out of Jango’s future, but he was alive . 

         Sobbing with relief, Boba began dragging his father’s battered and broken body back to the Slave I . He knew he could find a trustworthy medical facility in the next system over, and his father had enough bacta infusions on the ship to keep his father alive until they got there. Now, it was just a matter of getting off-planet without getting shot at by those stupid jetii .

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           Anakin was exhausted, it had been a really long day. After being debriefed on the Clone situation, he was told to escort Senator Amidala back to Naboo. To his absolute relief, Threepio had sensibly decided to stay with the ship, while Artoo had managed to work his way back to the cruiser after saving Padme from the Forge. They were now on their way back towards Naboo, both glad the other hadn’t gotten too seriously injured during the battle. Padme, of course, had taken that clawing to the back in the arena, but Anakin had healed it on the spot. Anakin, meanwhile, was using this rest time in hyperspace to meditate and focus on overclocking his body’s natural healing abilities. After about an hour, he had managed to dull the pain enough to go back into the main cabin area and sit with Padme.

           Both quickly fell into talks about the future. Anakin was worried for Padme, as a Senator she would continue to be a high priority target throughout the war, even more so if their blossoming relationship became known. Padme was appalled at the news about the clones and the upcoming war. She didn’t like the idea of the Republic buying an army of men from nowhere, possibly against their will. She especially didn’t like the idea of Anakin going out onto the front lines, now that she had admitted to herself that she loved him as much as he loved her. Between the security risk of Padme being targeted to get at Anakin, and the knowledge that the Council would never approve of any of this, they agreed that they should have a small, secret wedding on Naboo, with only the droids and a few of Padme’s closest family and bodyguards from her time as Queen invited. Padme had hoped for a much larger wedding, but who her future husband was, and the current politics, they just couldn’t risk it.

           After both of them retired to bed, still waiting to arrive on Naboo, Anakin started to meditate once more. He reached out with the Force, and Vader answered. Vader had spent the last few hours resting, meditating, and watching things play out between his younger self and the Senator. He was feeling much more rested, and had even managed to think up a nice little demi plane in the empty space in Anakin’s head. It looked, unsurprisingly, exactly the same as Padme’s apartment on 500 Republica for the layout. Vader decided on a blue and white color pattern for most of the interior, with the main bedroom converted into a meditation chamber. The guest bedrooms were both repurposed into personal space for either Anakin to be able to use, and little in the way of amenities was needed. However, Vader did keep the smell of Ryoo flowers, Padme’s favorite, for the entire area. Also, he changed the windows and holonews set. If one looked out through the windows, or the patio, they could watch what was happening through the senses of whomever was in control. Similarly, the holonews set on the wall was changed, not to function as a television set, but to act as more of a way to replay memories. After getting everything set up, Vader showed Anakin around their new imaginary apartment.

           After the tour was completed, Anakin and Vader both slumped down on the plush couches in the main room. So, care to explain who you are, and how in the name of Force you managed to get in here? Anakin asked, his mental self looking exactly as his physical form does, down to the Padawan braid and the dark robes.

           The first part is simple. I am also Anakin Skywalker. The second part is complicated, and to understand it, I’d have to tell you the whole story of what is to come, should this path not change. Vader was in the same form he had chosen to take after becoming one with the Force, ROTS Anakin in all his glory, down to the scar and his cybernetic hand. I can clearly tell that you don’t believe me, so how about a demonstration? When I programmed C-3PO, I subconsciously made him the pessimist I wished I could be, since my lot in life was always full of depressing things. However, I could never manage to stop from helping those who needed my help, from Qui Gon and Padme to all those times I stopped to help old Jira with her malfunctioning tech, or assisting Kittster’s dad whenever he came back from the sweatshop wounded, and needed help getting inside.

           Only Qui Gon, Padme, Shmi, and I knew Kittster well enough to know he had a father. Only a few of us knew his work, because he was too afraid of being punished after being caught sharing about what he was forced to endure. You are either telling the truth, or spent quite a bit of time researching my past. However, even that knowledge still doesn’t explain why you are here, or how you got in my head.

           It is the will of the Force for us to create balance throughout the Galaxy. What the Jedi got wrong in their interpretation was that only the Sith would need to be destroyed. Bringing balance is not just focusing solely on the light, but for one to balance both Light and Dark evenly, like the Je’daii of old. In the end, I did manage to bring balance, and fulfill the prophesy. However, the price paid was virtually all trained Force sensitives. The Force has allowed me to travel back, and work to atone for my sins. I hope to be able to remove the dogma, lies, and fear from the Order, and restructure them into a Gray Order, not just one of light.

           I understand removing the dogma from the Order, as they have rules for everything. I am always finding myself breaking those rules by just being a living, feeling person. Why, however, do you mention fear and lies? Fear is the path to the Dark side, as everyone is always telling me.

           I mention fear because the entire Order fears the dark side, to the point that any who even show interest in studying the Sith are at the very least shunned by most members. At worst, there have been many cases of Jedi who did nothing more than ask to understand the point of view of the Sith have been sent to the Prism or the Citadel. I also mention the lies of the Jedi, for the Council keep many things from their fellow Jedi, and are no strangers to lying to themselves. The Code is evidence enough of this: 1. There is no emotion, there is peace. This is a blatant lie. Almost all sentient races have emotions, and striving to deny such a basic fact of one’s existence as the Jedi do fails their members. 2. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. This cannot be true while the Council withholds even the most basic knowledge of the Dark side to their Council members, and few others. Any knowledge discovered is instantly taken and locked away by the Jedi. 3. There is no passion, there is serenity. This simply expands upon the first tenet of the code, and brings up the idea that attachments are dangerous. This is not necessarily true. While yes, fear of loss can drive one to the Dark, all Jedi form attachments. It is unavoidable. If a Master and Padawan didn’t develop a bond during their years working together and communing knowledge I would be seriously concerned. If the Jedi only realized that holding their members back from experiencing those emotions, learning to accept and overcome their emotions rather than bury them, would better prepare them for making the correct decisions under pressure.

           As an experiment, lets say I have a pair of identical Masters and Padawans. One Padawan is taught the basic Jedi method for emotion, simply releasing it into the Force. The other Master takes note of attachments as they form, and teach their student that loss, while painful, is inevitable. Similarly, a person’s death isn’t a cause for mourning their passing, but more celebrating their life. Then, once both Padawans reached the Trials, they both watched their Master die horribly. In that situation, who would be more likely to fall? The Jedi given no experience in trying to control such strong emotions, or the Jedi who has?

           Clearly, the Padawan who was trained to ignore and suppress their attachments and emotions. I understand. You would much rather have each Jedi trained to accept their reality of life, and more experienced in handling their emotions than what the Order currently allows. But what about the last two tenets?

           The fourth line is one of the most asinine, but I agree with the fifth and final line. 4. There is no chaos, there is harmony. Life is, by its very nature, chaotic and free. It can be both harmonious and chaotic at the same time. The Force is the same. The Force is neither good nor bad, the Force just is. To renounce one aspect of the Force is to upset the balance. The Dark side is simply power, it has no need to be evil. However, those who harness such power almost exclusively use it for evil deeds. Finally, 5. There is no death, there is the Force. This is the truest portion of the Code because it is an established fact. When a living thing dies, its presence in the Living Force becomes part of the Cosmic Force. However, there are a few select ways to preserve one’s consciousness after death, some more permanent than others. Vader may have been heatedly listing his many faults with the Jedi and their rules, but Anakin was getting bored. Trying to steer the conversation back towards more current, pressing matters at hand, Ani spoke up.

           Alright, that makes some sense, but there isn’t much I/we can do about it. The Council doesn’t like me already, as you well know. They aren’t going to listen to us or try to change anything just because we bring the idea up. Tearing their rules down will probably get me kicked out of the Order. 

           That’s simple. We are the most famous Jedi among the Order that isn’t a member of the Council, and are looked up to by just about every single Padawan, Youngling, and Initiate. Jedi having issues with the Code is nothing new, but they will most often keep it to themselves. If we are able to get enough younger Jedi to bring these issues up with the Masters, the Order may evolve all on its own. And it must if it is to survive the Clone Wars.

           Anakin couldn’t think of a satisfactory response that disagreed with Vader’s points, so he simply sighed and leaned back, as Vader pulled up the memory of the Boonta Eve race, clearly still a favorite happy memory for the both of them.

Chapter Text

            Darth Tyranus, more publicly known as Count Dooku, had just wrapped up telling his Master about the events on Geonosis, Sidious being especially interested in young Skywalker’s newfound abilities. Dooku wondered if his Master’s grooming for their planned Jedi hunter was becoming fruitful earlier than anticipated. Now left to his own devices, Dooku thought to try and meditate on the matter; maybe Sith Meditation would provide some of the answers to his queries.

            Kneeling down in his Solar Sailor, as it started to set a course back towards Serenno, Dooku reached out with the Force. He grabbed at the Darkness swirling around him, bending the Force to his will, urging it to show him where Skywalker’s new powers were from. The Count was very surprised to find that the Force resisted him completely. It seemed almost as if the Force itself were shielding Padawan Skywalker from the prying eyes of the Sith. Yan Dooku tried again, this time working towards the current location of young Skywalker.

            Anakin and Vader felt the attempted intrusion in the Force immediately. Vader instantly grasped at what was going on, and raised his shields, leading Anakin to do the same. Both Anakins felt the presence of a dark Force user try to brush up against their shields, and Vader rumbled a warning, ‘ It’s Dooku. I recognize it, and it is certainly not his Master. If you don’t mind, Ani, I think I’ll lower my shields just enough to tell him to kark off and never try this stupid, obvious prod again. ’ Anakin was concerned, but did not try to stop Vader from his actions.

            “ Begone, Darth Tyranus. I have little interest in being prodded by your obvious presence, and I warn you to not try it again. This Darth Sidious shall receive this same warning if he tries to interact with me in this manner, and it will be much less cordial. ” Vader intoned in the deepest, most commanding voice he could muster, for a moment drawing on the terror his suit vocabulator could bring out in those who heard it.

            Evidently, choosing to go with the voice of the Vader of old was correct. “I am sorry, who is this? I was looking to find young Skywalker, my Master seems interested in his newfound abilities and skill. If you just tell me what I wish to know, I can be on my way and not bother you.” Came the soft response from the Sith Apprentice.

            Vader chuckled at the irony of the situation. “ Why should I help you, pitiful dar’jetii? If Sidious wishes to study young Anakin, he may try it himself, and die. You have clearly earned a taste of what is your punishment for not listening to me. When I say to leave, you should. You did not. I hope you enjoy this agony, like a true Sith. ” With that, Vader reached out, drawing upon the Force to affect Dooku’s very nerves, igniting a phantom fire across the elderly Sith’s body for a few unbearable seconds.

            When the pain hit, Dooku wasn’t sure what he had been hit by. It felt as though his very skin was about to bubble and burn off. He gasped in pain, and retreated back from the mysterious presence, only to feel the horrid sensation cease almost instantly. Dooku gasped at the aftershocks of pain lancing up and down his body, utterly bewildered at how strong that mysterious figure must be in the Force to pull off such a specialized method. Even his Master, a true afficionado of torture, both in person and remote, was limited to Force Choking at this extreme range. His first thought was to never attempt to casually go looking for young Anakin through the force; the second was that he needed some rest after this taxing day. The Count pulled himself up off the floor and went back to his seat in the cockpit, hoping that sleep would come fast. He hoped they weren’t accompanied by the nightmares again, but that seemed out of the question. The elderly Sith groaned and tried to ignore the rapidly forming dreams, these were based off the massacre at Galidraan thankfully, not Sifo Dyas. Those nightmares were much too regular.

            Vader, meanwhile, was ignoring Anakin, who kept flipping between being awed at the level of control and skill this ‘future self’ has managed to achieve, and anger and fear concerning the casual pain inflicted on somebody for simply reaching out with the Force. Neither had ever heard of Dooku being cowed in his time with the Order, and were equally surprised at the soft, unassuming tone the man used when asking Vader for information. That, Anakin, is what you must be wary of. The seduction of the dark side is strong, and with prodding from Sith and their ilk, it can become almost unbearable, just to reach out and grab the power for yourself. I can tell you that not even the Darkness has the power to save everyone. I tried, and when I failed, I blamed myself for my lack of experience in the other half of the Force, not my new Master or the true nature of the Dark side. The way of the Sith always takes everything. It never gives. Sith shun positive emotions just as strongly as the Jedi do.

            Why do they hate positive emotions Vader? I thought they used their emotions to increase their strength, at the cost of their judgement. Wouldn’t it be safer to draw on the good in their lives for strength? His younger self wondered.

            Vader barked out a laugh, short and ugly. I forgot how naïve I used to be. The Sith purposefully cut the goodness out of their lives. One of the trials to become a true Sith is to kill those nearest to you, those who keep you from using your full potential. It drives them more permanently down the path of the Dark, as there is nobody to try and reach out to them, to ground them in the here and now. It is not a pretty cycle. Vader decided that was enough talk of the dark for the day, and switched tacks. However, if they are attached strongly enough to somebody to anchor them, they can be brought back to the Light. It is not attachment itself that is dangerous, it is the selfishness and willingness to sacrifice others that comes with some attachments that lead people down the path of the Dark. Selfless love, like Mom’s, is best. Wish for those you care about to have the chance to live their best lives, no matter how much it hurts to let them leave. Trying to cling to them will just hurt the both of you, no matter how hard you try to stop what worries you from happening.

            I… never thought about it that way. I think I understand what you’re getting at. Selfless love is better than jealous love, or no love at all. The Jedi got part way there, but decided to use a stopgap measure instead of stopping the problem at the source. Vader nodded.

            Well, it has been a busy day, and I think it would be best for the both of us to just relax and explore the limits of this mental realm.

            I’m fine with that. You answered most of my questions, didn’t beat around the bush, and gave me a lot to think about. 

            Try not to do anything stupid. Wha- Hey! That’s My line! Meanwhile, the Force was laughing it’s nonexistent ass off. If an all-encompassing force of nature could laugh.

            Meanwhile, back along the Triellus Route, Boba had reached one of his father’s safe houses, (in)conveniently located on Tatooine. Landing the Slave I right by their safe house on the outskirts of Bestine, within short speeder distance of Jabba’s Palace. With a reputation like Fett’s, it was quite easy to rent a few medical droids from those friendly to bounty hunters, and a bacta tank. Thankfully, in the flight from Geonosis to Tatooine, Jango had regained consciousness, albeit for only short periods of time. He was particularly angry at the loss of his hands at the wrists, but the damage to his back was much more severe. There was minor shock damage to most of his organs, his entire back was burned to some degree, and multiple sections of armor were rendered unusable in the process of saving his life. 

            Both buir and ad could tell that Jango’s career as the most feared bounty hunter was over, but at least he was still alive, and able to help Boba in his quest to take his father’s mantle. The first thing to do was to get Jango’s back healed, a few prosthetic hands ginned up, and possibly some light cybernetics. The spine was slightly broken in at least two places, and full motor control wasn’t guaranteed. After that, it was a simple matter of getting Boba kitted with some bajur’gam , with the full sensor array, and Jango could get replacement parts for his damaged beskar’gam . Then they could think about getting some revenge .

Chapter Text

           After spending a few more hours getting used to this feeling of two Anakins in one, Ani fell asleep for the remainder of the hyperspace jump. Waking up to R2’s incessant chirping was novel for Ani, but nostalgic for Vader. After spending a few minutes in the refresher, trying to wash away the memories of back to back desert planets , he went to peruse the small refectory for something to eat. After eating actually eating a nuna egg omelet, Ani decided to get some breakfast ready for Padme. Fifteen minutes later, a cranky-looking Senator poked her head into the refectory, apparently trying to come to terms with the fact that there was the smell of bacon, eggs, and even homemade pancakes waiting for her, along with her favorite Jedi protector slaving away over the stovetop trying to make everything perfect for her. The thing that really surprised her, however, was the fact that the pancakes had the exact taste, consistency, and fluffiness of her family’s favorite recipe.

            After some good natured questioning as to how Ani managed to memorize her favorite breakfast recipes without even spending a week in her company (to which he had no answer but an infuriating knowing smile), Padme finished off her breakfast, and started getting ready to exit hyperspace. Almost an hour later, the new couple’s impromptu make-out session was rudely interrupted by the Nubian cruiser arriving at Naboo. They managed to land without incident, and headed back to the Lake district retreat where they had been staying before Geonosis.

            Seeing as they were set on getting married in secret, they decided to get it done before Anakin was called back to Coruscant to get shipped out to the war fronts. Padme, being a former Queen of the planet, was easily able to secure the venue, a private balcony overlooking the lush lake valley. Finding a priest was also work of the moment. The issue came with guests. Since Padme had been talked out of having a massive wedding, they knew there would be few to no guests, but Padme insisted at least a few of her close family be in attendance. After some short negotiations (correction: about an hour of arguing), Anakin caved and agreed that Padme’s parents and sister could come if they showed up in time. At the very least, he had managed to get her to agree to immediate family only, so it was an hour productively spent.

            By now, Anakin had found a problem, one that needed correcting before their evening plans. He didn’t have a ring! Thankfully, it wasn’t anything too bad for one of the best mechanics in the Republic, especially since he knew exactly where he could snag a gemstone for it. After an hour or two in the early afternoon, as Padme asked her family if any of them could come up to chat, Anakin got to work. He managed to purchase a simple electrum band, and used a fragment of his Kyber crystal as the gemstone inlay. Setting the thing was suspiciously easy, considering how much his hands were shaking.

            After finishing his little project, Anakin set out to find Padme, and check if any of her family were going to come up. To Padme’s annoyance, her parents couldn’t make it up, previous plans had gotten in the way. To Vader’s horror, Sola, Padme’s older sister, found the time to come up, even on such short notice. That certainly hadn’t happened last time. Vader reminded himself that things would change, even without his input. That evening, after Sola had arrived, told what she came all the way out to Varykino for, and then sworn into absolute secrecy, the marriage went off without a hitch. Sola was dumbfounded at this sudden decision from her younger sister, but couldn’t find any faults with the groom; he had saved their planet once already, and was clearly going to become a very attractive specimen of a Jedi when he got a bit older, and was allowed to do more with his hair.

            Padme was absolutely overjoyed at the sight of the ring Anakin had made for her, and Sola was slightly miffed that her wedding ring couldn’t hold a candle to her younger sister’s. Padme, kindly, gifted Artoo to Anakin, seeing as he had a strong friendship with the droid and would need an astromech much more than she in the coming years. In order to repay his wife’s generosity, Anakin quickly gave her Threepio. Since the new couple wanted at least one night together before Anakin had to leave, they retired early after a small dinner with Sola. 

            Back on Coruscant, Obi Wan was having an idea. An idea that his Padawan was very much not going to like. He knew that it wouldn’t be long until Anakin was knighted and sent to the front alone. Anakin left to his own devices with a bunch of soldiers at his back was a recipe for chaos. Therefore, it would be smart to find somebody with Anakin’s energy for him to take as his own Padawan when the time came. Thankfully, his friend Master Plo Koon had a perfect candidate, a youngling who was close to ageing out of the Initiate program. 

            Kenobi grinned as he input Master Koon’s personal comm code. “Hello Master Koon, I have a proposition for you…” Anakin needed somebody to pick him up from Naboo anyways, and who better than a certain orange Togruta?

            The next morning, after a decidedly productive night in which the star-crossed couple got very little sleep and both woke up somewhat sore, Anakin got a call from Obi Wan. “Anakin, now that the Senator has safely made it back to Naboo, your presence is required at the Temple.” The small blue hologram looked around what was obviously a garden in the Temple, and continued in a lower voice, “We also need to have a chat. Both about your actions on Geonosis, and some information on the war. There should be a T-6 shuttle landing in Theed in about three hours to bring you back to Coruscant.”

         “Master, there’s a detour I have to take on the way back, but I hear you. I shouldn’t take too long. This is my last backup saber, I need to harvest a few more crystals.” Anakin smoothly replied, making sure via the Force that Padme wasn’t in earshot. Smart. I’d like to find a few crystals that call to the both of us, I could feel that the one we used against Dooku didn’t gel with me as well as I remember. Anakin, who had been in control for the past two days, frowned slightly at the news, but had to hastily focus back on Master Kenobi, who had responded while he argued with himself.

         “ -will try to meet you on Ilum then, I am shocked to find myself in the same position.” The hologram winked off moments later. Anakin sighed, and started walking over to where his wife was, to tell her the news. Two and a half hours later, Anakin found the right landing pad, and saw a battered, somewhat worse-for-wear T-6 shuttle sitting there, with someone oddly familiar trying (and failing) to fix the loading ramp while they waited. Apparently, he had missed the part of the comm from his Master about who was there to pick him up. Between the fidgeting, flighty movements, the clearly seldom-worn Jedi cloak, and the montrals, Vader was pretty sure who it was. He and Anakin, by unspoken agreement, decided to go and hop onto the roof of the battered craft and just watch the young Togruta continue to lose her fight with the hydraulics until she noticed the little astromech droid rolling towards her. Anakin snorted at the sight of Ahsoka trying to clean the gunk off her hands by wiping it on her cloak, so as to appear more presentable for the legendary Chosen One.

         “Ahh! How long have you been up there? Why didn’t you say anything? Get down!” Ahsoka all but yelled at Anakin. The girl was clearly nervous; she had heard all the rumors and stories about this guy, who hadn’t? Still a Padawan, and on par with Masters in lightsaber skills! A great, if completely insane, pilot! Currently the best mechanic in the Order! The Chosen One! Being told by Master Plo that he wanted you to go pick up a legend among Younglings was like a dream come true! Ahsoka knew she shouldn’t be so excited, but part of her couldn’t help but stare at the human, only a couple years older than she, currently fixing the ramp hydraulics with the Force while she just stood there. “Are you even going to answer my questions, sir?”

        Vader, still sitting on top of the left wing, just shrugged. “Hmmm, Ahsoka Tano, right? I thought I recognized that exasperated sigh. Were you the lucky one told by Master Obi Wan to go pick me up?” He twisted his index and middle fingers, and the last screw on the right support screwed itself in before lowering properly. “There we go. Eh, I only got here about a minute before you noticed Artoo over there, it looked like you were having fun with the hydraulic fluid.” R2-D2 beeped his thanks to his new Master, and rolled happily up into the craft.

         Ahsoka, looking absolutely mortified at being caught unawares, suddenly brightened. “You know my name!” She tried to get some of the lubricating grease off her hands, and succeeded at ruining the front of her cloak.

         “Well, of course I’ve heard of you a few times. There are almost as many stories about you as there are about me in the Temple.” Anakin scoffed, inwardly wondering why Vader was so happy. “C’mon, lets get going. I have to swing by Ilum and make a few new backup sabers.”

         “Alright, I was hoping to go there soon anyways! Thought a shoto saber would suit me better than just the one.” Ahsoka ran lightly up the ramp, and stopped when she saw that the little astromech had already primed everything for takeoff. “Hey, Skywalker! Is this little guy coming along? Never heard of you having a personal droid.”

         As Anakin walked up the ramp, he grinned. “That’s just R2-D2. It seems that the Senator I was protecting wanted to thank me with a gift, and Artoo and I go way back. Isn’t that right buddy?” Artoo beeped happily in acknowledgement. Anakin settled into the pilot’s seat, and started taking off smoothly, even with the multiple systems still somewhat damaged. “You speak Basic? If you do, I’m sure Artoo would love to tell you about the first time I flew with him.” When Ahsoka nodded, R2 launched into a string of beeps, whirls, and low moans. “And no joking about spinning this time, you hear me? Don’t make me get a restraining bolt on you just to stop you exaggerating that part.”

         If the sheer volume of sass pouring out of his little blue and silver astromech was anything to go by, Anakin was sure something was bound to break in there sooner or later.

Chapter Text

            When they managed to land near the Temple on Ilum, they saw the half buried form of a Delta 7 Jedi fighter, with an angry R4 unit beeping in protest at the warm, sheltered, not-currently-icing-over R2 unit that had just arrived with more people. Anakin landed as softly as he could on the seizing landing gear, and got ready to disembark. R2, looking warily out at the blizzard that was approaching from the north, whined. “No, buddy. You get to stay here. We’ll be back in a bit.” Anakin and Ahsoka got off the ship and managed to make it into the Temple before the clouds rolled in. The entrance was already open, as Obi Wan was already here, so the two teenagers just walked in. After about five minutes, they split up, Anakin taking the right fork while Ahsoka took the left. Anakin could sense Obi Wan was busy shivering down the central path, and wanted to get his crystals found before dealing with his Master.

         Obi Wan Kenobi, meditating in a central hall, frowned. His Padawan had arrived with the young Togruta Master Yoda had been trying to push on Masters for the last few months, and both were currently ignoring him. He sighed, and went back to constructing two separate backup lightsabers. He had brought a large bucket of spare parts for the construction of lightsabers, and was sitting here trying to think of how to improve the design at all without changing the weight or grip of the hilt. Maybe if he fiddled with the crystal settings to improve energy flow…

         Anakin was up first, casting about for two or three crystals that suited him. After he had found a few suitable crystals that called out to him, he let Vader take a closer look. One of the kyber crystals Anakin had previously collected had lessened its call towards the man when his other half came to the forefront, but the other two were unaffected, and another crystal Anakin had passed up on earlier started to call out much more strongly than before. Anakin and Vader agreed to use all four crystals, the two unaffected ones were set aside for general use and combat sabers, for when both Anakin and Vader were going to use them. The remaining two crystals would be put to use in his new piece de resistance, a saber with an emitter at either end. Anakin and Vader decided that they would not need both blades to ever be on at the same time, as a saberstaff was just too unwieldy for their current fighting styles. Instead, their new design was oddly reminiscent of Exar Kun’s saber, albeit without the pronged flanges. A central powercell could be routed to either one end, or the other. One half, the one for Anakin’s crystal, was quickly housed in polished, shining metal, every inch screaming that it was a tool of a master craftsman. The entire assembly was capped off by a silver emitter shroud. The other side of the saber was a bit darker, and much more functionable. Part of the hilt was textured so Vader would not have it slide in his hands, and the shrouding was shorter and more utilitarian. As a security measure, to avoid the powercell from being stressed, if one activation switch was on, the other was locked in the off position. Both switches were placed next to their respective emitters, and left enough of the hilt to easily accommodate both hands for extra heavy blows.

         After deciding which role each of the four crystals would fill, Anakin made his way back over towards where his master sat, communing with his own kyber crystals and building up a stronger connection with them. Ahsoka had also found a suitable crystal for the Shoto she was planning on building, and was in the process of trying to fit it together into a shorter hilt. Anakin grinned, then sat down cross-legged, quickly starting to meditate over his new crystals. Both he and Vader were able to work on this at the same time, so communing with the crystals was quite easy. The kyber, somehow sensing that it was being set up for two similar masters, instantly latched onto the balanced, somewhat choppy stance Vader had in the force, and drew similarities to the stance of Anakin, who was much lighter than his older self, but still had that undercurrent of darkness. After some time spent establishing a rapport with each of his new Kyber crystals, Anakin began to influence the parts required to construct his new hilt around one of the more balanced crystals. He wanted to build one and test it’s design before building all four of them.

         When he opened his eyes, where once there was a small, clear crystal, there was now a silvery cylinder sitting there, almost pleading him to turn it on, to use his newest creation. Obi Wan opened his eyes at the small gasp that had just forced its way out of his Padawan, and was stunned to see a dark blue, blade. Anakin swung it a few times, feeling the exquisite balance of the weapon, before setting it in front of him and starting on the second balancer. It ended up turning out in an identical fashion to the first. The third crystal, however, was meant for Vader. Vader took charge on building this one, and was only somewhat surprised to see a deep purple, similar to Master Windu, glowing in front of him. Finally, Anakin went ahead in building the other half of the design, which came out as a brilliant blue, lighter and stronger than most of the other blades Anakin had ever seen.

         By this time, Ahsoka had finished her shoto, and her little victory dance at the sight of her new yellow blade had been cut short almost instantly when she saw the vibrant purple of Anakin’s third crystal. Obi Wan, however, was more suspicious than surprised. He still hadn’t gotten any explanation from his Padawan about what had happened on Geonosis, and took serious note of the spectrum of blue Anakin had managed to create in his sabers. As the three started to walk back towards the ships, they agreed it would be better if all three took the T-6 back to the Temple, and had Obi Wan’s R4 unit fly his ship back. Upon reaching the wall of ice that covered the entrance, Anakin simply slashed the ice at head height and Force pushed the lowest potion away. Vader was tempted to use Crush, Judgement, or Lightning, but decided to leave them as surprises for later. The three stepped out as the ice began quickly blocking the entrance once more.

         After giving some instructions to a miserable, surly R4 unit, Obi Wan strode briskly up into the T-6 shuttle, acting for all the world like he totally wasn’t five minutes short of freezing his beard off. He put his head in his hands as Anakin grabbed the controls, then noticed a familiar little blue and silver dome bumping into his leg. “Oh, hello R2, what are you doing here? Did Anakin finally follow through and steal you away from Senator Amidala like he’s been planning for the last decade?” Anakin frowned good-naturedly at his Master.

         “No, Master. Padme wanted to give me a gift of some kind for protecting her, and she was well aware of my friendship with Artoo. He was the gift.” Anakin knew what was coming up next; he had left his Master waiting long enough. Kenobi’s next words proved him correct.

         “Well, that’s all well and good, but I do believe we have some more pressing matters to talk about than your unexpected acquisition.” R2 beeped angrily at Obi Wan for being ignored. “Could you explain what happened to you back on Geonosis? I’m guessing you had a bit of time to sit on the issue and figure it out.” Master Kenobi folded his arms and looked inquiringly at his Padawan, clearly awaiting a nice, easy answer.

         “Alright Master, but it might be easier to just show you than to explain it myself.” Anakin prodded Vader to take the forefront, and the redeemed Lord of the Sith reluctantly assumed control of the body. “Hello there, Master Kenobi.” Obi Wan gaped. Anakin had just sat up straighter, his voice had lowered, and his disposition in the Force changed, and not for the better. Thankfully, Ahsoka was completely absorbed by one of her homework assignments in the cockpit, and wasn’t listening. Someway, somehow, Anakin had… switched personalities?

         “What happened? Something changed in you, Anakin. How did this happen?!” Obi Wan was appalled by this turn of events. It must’ve been the stress in the Arena that created this second personality, the Jedi Master thought to himself. Suddenly, something stirred in his master-padawan bond with Anakin, and he could actually feel two separate voices from across the bond try to speak to him.

         “That’s close enough to the truth that we’ll stick with it. It’s an oversimplification, but that’s the simplest way to rationalize it. Yeah Master, this is why I was confused and zoning out during the post battle debrief.” Obi Wan could distinctly make out the voice of Anakin, and a lower, older sounding version of the same voice.

         “Alright, that is extremely unsettling. Just to differentiate you two, how should I refer to you? I’d rather keep calling Anakin ‘Anakin’, if you don’t mind.”

         “We are both Anakin, but I understand your confusion. For ease of interaction, you may call me Vader. No, I won’t elaborate on why.”

         “Could you at least explain your muddled presence in the Force? I can sense much darkness in you, much more than Anakin. It’s quite unnerving, with the revival of the Sith.” If Obi Wan could possibly be more confused and scared right now, he would be. Instead, he just became more tired and exasperated.

         Vader chuckled, “If you look more closely, you will notice I have achieved true balance, I am not a slave to the dark nor a servant to the light. If I was to be forced into a faction, I would identify as a Gray Jedi.” Vader saw Obi Wan take a breath to ask another question, and beat him to it. “You have probably also noticed my personal dislike for the Jedi Order. I could explain if you like, but it will take longer than this hyperspace jump, and I don’t especially feel like sharing. Suffice to say that my dislike is focused on the dogmatic, overbearing, stifling rules and regulations that the Jedi cling to. You have tried to build up a large quantity of strict rules to explain and corral something that is fluid and forever changing, and in this manner, the Jedi have lost their way.”

         Vader sighed heavily, and relinquished control. Anakin took over, and instantly began fiddling with the magnetic holster attachment, flexing it so it would more comfortably hold his new sabers. “Well, then. Did your personalities switch back? This is going to be quite confusing for the Council to learn about.” Obi Wan asked hesitantly.

         “Yes Master, I’m back. Now do you see why I haven’t wanted to talk about it much? ‘He’ just popped into my head in the arena, and seems to be stuck with me for the foreseeable future… never mind, he’s saying it’s most likely permanent. He’s also saying that the Council won’t approve of him, which is correct, but that only the Force itself can let him out of my head.” Upon hearing this from his normally hotheaded and impulsive Padawan, Kenobi leaned back, thoughtfully stroking his beard. This ‘Vader’ was certainly right about the council as an entity not trusting him, but it’s possible this darker side of Anakin may be able to find favor with a few of the more disillusioned Masters, not to mention the younger members of the Order. Then a thought struck him, and he frowned.

         “So, he can see what you see, and converse with you in your mind? That is going to be supremely inconvenient in the coming months. The Senate is asking the Jedi Order to become Generals and Commanders in the new Grand Army of the Republic I stumbled across on Kamino. A few Council members will probably argue that this second ‘you’ is a security threat. Certainly they will float the idea of trying to strip it of it’s connection to the Dark Side.” The Negotiator laid out what he knew a certain few Council members would react to this news. Master Mace Windu would certainly spearhead this line of thought, as would Master Ki-Adi Mundi. Neither especially trusted Anakin to begin with, mainly for his strong attachments.

         Unsurprising. Windu is the most dogmatic of the entire Council, not a mean feat. Mundi is known for his often outlandish theories and quick suspicion of anyone he suspects of betraying the Code. Both are annoying, and both fail us in the future. Masters Koon, Fisto, Gallia, and Kenobi could be persuaded to be more reasonable with our case. Master Yoda, while blind to the corruption in the Republic, could be convinced with time and effort. The rest of the Council is somewhat of a moot point. Vader could clearly see what his old Master was implying, and realized with a start that there really was something left to learn from his brother.

         I see what you mean, Vader. Master Windu isn’t known for his trusting, easygoing manner. Are there any options you could think of that we could confide in? seeing as you have already dealt with this sort of thing. There came a snort from inside his head, as even attempting to find someone trustworthy enough to confide in was extremely dangerous. Honestly, it would probably be safer trying to make peace with Ventress than trying to find a truly kindred spirit in the Order.

         Obi Wan could tell that his Padawan had stopped listening again. The blank staring at nothing was annoyingly obvious, and annoyingly familiar. He sighed, and began to more closely inspect his Padawan’s updated saber hilts, starting with the two backups Anakin made. Unsurprisingly, very little had changed in this iteration of Anakin’s weapon. The boy had found a comfortable, solid design that fit his fighting style admirably in his first year or two as a Padawan. His constant tinkering with it at every opportunity had honed the hilt down to a simple, purely functional weapon.

         “I see that not even gaining a new personality has been able to improve your design, Anakin.” The Master began, knowing that starting a new conversation was the easiest way to get his friend’s mind off of whatever had made him so subdued. Next, his focus shifted to the third lightsaber, and instantly noticed the somewhat jarring duality of the design. The balance was very good, kriff, it even felt right in his hand! Then he noticed are those twin emitters? Was this a double bladed lightsaber? He would have to try and find out where Anakin got the idea for this unique design later.

         “Of course Master, although I did try to move a bit of the weight around; the power source was weighing the base down slightly too much in my last one, and I swear that one of the focusing crystals had started to shift. On a completely unrelated note; do you know why young Ahsoka was sent to pick me up? And in such a sorry excuse for a T-6?” Anakin hadn’t been able to weasel either answer out of Snips, but maybe Obi Wan knew something.

         “Actually Anakin, I think she was asked to pick you up by Master Plo Koon in the first available shuttle. Personally, it seems like he was trying to see if she would gel with either of us, as many think you well on your way to knighthood, myself included. Ahsoka over there will soon age out, and Master Yoda has been trying to convince many to take her on as a Padawan. As it can’t be too long until you are deemed ready for the trials, they must be thinking of saddling her with me, after how well you’ve been turning out.”

         Anakin was quite surprised to hear that for an answer, he knew he still had many things to learn before he’d be able to pass all of the trials. Still, it gave him something to mull over as their little shuttle made its way back to Coruscant.

Chapter Text

            As the T-6 shuttle exited hyperspace, Anakin was taken aback at just how quickly the fledgling GAR had managed to make its presence known in the heart of the Republic. At least a dozen Venators were either in orbit around the planet, or were docked planetside for supplies or orders. After following R4 to land in the Temple hangars, Anakin and Obi Wan were asked to report to the Council chambers. Vader was saddened to have to leave Ahsoka to face the Council, but she quickly excused herself back towards the Initiate dorms, evidently intent on doing a bit of homework.

         As the two men reached the turbolift that led to the Council chambers, Vader heightened his mental shields. Anakin, following his other half’s precautions, tried to steel his nerves for the meeting. Master Kenobi looked as if it was just a normal Tuesday on the outside, but the clench of his jaw and the stiffness of his posture were clear signs he hadn’t been looking forward to this meeting, either. Master and Padawan briskly walked past the Jedi Sentinels stationed at the doors, and rode upwards in silence.

         The council chambers brought back bad memories for Vader. He could still feel the pain he had inflicted during the Purge, and it was at its worst in this room. He quickly shoved his guilt down; now was not the time to be mourning his mistakes when he was about to deal with twelve of the strongest Jedi alive. It would cause too many questions to be asked, and now was certainly not the time, with a war starting. He squared his shoulders more firmly, and made sure Anakin was fully in charge one more time.

         The Councilors looked a bit worse for wear, what with the galaxy-spanning war that had just begun, and the pain just beginning to ring out across the Galaxy. It was abundantly clear, however, that they were not going to let that get in the way of questioning Anakin all about his newfound powers. They had received a preliminary report from Master Kenobi, whom most of the council believed almost ready to have his own seat on the council at this rate. The status of his Padawan, however, was hotly debated. Some Masters, notably Master Windu, resisted any mention of Anakin being ready for the Trials, while more and more councilors, such as Masters Fisto and Koon, saw him as more than ready to take the Trials.

         One thing they could all agree on, was that figuring out where young Skywalkers amazing new abilities had come from was of the utmost importance right now. From what they had understood from Master Kenobi, it seemed like these new abilities were tied to some sort of split personality disorder the young man had formed on Geonosis. Anakin seemed to be unchanged upon entering the room, but Master Yoda and a few of the strongest Masters could feel the slightest undercurrent of new darkness.

         Anakin waited, slightly impatiently, as the council seemed to just stare at him. After a few seconds, a fairly predictable voice rang out. “Padawan Skywalker, the Council is interested after your actions on Geonosis.” Mace Windu’s voice, deep and commanding as always, broke the awkward silence. Nobody in the room was especially surprised that the Korun Master had taken point. He continued, “You seemed to increase in potential in an instant, and managed to hold your own and nearly defeat Count Dooku in lightsaber combat. Do you have any explanation?”

         Anakin smiled softly at the query, hoping that this time it was an actual case of Mace being curious, and not simply looking for demerits in him. “Honestly, Masters, I don’t fully understand it myself. One moment I was chained to a pole in the middle of the arena, watching Master Kenobi and Senator Amidala dodge a pair of ravenous beasts, and suddenly something shifted.” Anakin sighed at the somewhat suspicious looks sent his way. “I am not entirely sure what happened, but whatever is hanging out up here-“ Anakin gestured to his head “seems content to sit back and enjoy the ride. He seems to share my memories and many of my experiences, and has referred to himself as Vader.” There. No lying, but not giving the full truth. A pretty solid compromise, and one that let the Council form their own conclusions.

         “Hmm, troubling this is. This Vader, talked to him, have you? Another personality, perhaps?” Yoda’ mind was racing at what Anakin had described. There had been cases of Jedi developing split personalities before, some even able to converse with their alter egos, but none that had their strength in the Force increased. Yoda knew that a few Councilors worried that it was some sort of Sith plant to try and sway young Skywalker. Yoda fervently hoped that this wasn’t so. The boy had such potential to be the greatest Jedi in the history of the Order, and he knew it. How couldn’t he? He was constantly being held to a higher standard, and was ostracized by his peers quite early on for it.

         “Yes Master, I have. Vader seems to be gifted with many abilities, and feels somewhat gray in the Force. If you wish to meet him, however, that is for him to decide. He doesn’t like being bossed around.” Anakin fell silent for a moment, then straightened. “He says that he would speak with you, Master Yoda, but he says he would prefer to do it via meditation. I’m guessing so both of us are able to speak at the same time.” Windu raised an eyebrow at Yoda, who was nodding at the suggestion. It was often easier to converse as a group during meditation, as nobody’s voice would be drowned out. The Council used to make tough decisions by meditating in a group on the issue. That time, however, was over a decade ago, as it was too slow to keep up with the politicians and their demands.

         “Reasonable, this is, young Skywalker. Later, we shall meditate. Another matter, there is. Master Windu?” Mace nodded at the venerable Grandmaster; he was the agreed-upon de facto leader when it came to affairs concerning the Republic, like the War.

         Master Windu cleared his throat. “Our next order of business is your first deployment. Master Kenobi, you will take command of the Third Systems Army, and directly head the 212th battalion and lead them to Muunilist. We have received reports of multiple Droid Foundries on the planet’s surface. Your Padawan will be granted the rank of Commander, at least until he passes the Trials. After that, he will be assigned to a battalion of his own. The Chancellor wishes to go over the attack strategy with the two of you, along with Master Yoda, tomorrow at 1300.”

         Master and Padawan bowed respectfully, and turned to go. As they walked out the door, it was clear that an invisible weight had been lifted off of young Skywalker’s shoulders. The Council could also sense that the dark undercurrent they had felt at the beginning of the meeting had now grown somewhat. Whatever it was, they all agreed that Master Yoda had the best chance at figuring it out.

Chapter Text

            Anakin waited outside Yoda’s personal Meditation chamber. The Room of a Thousand Fountains was better suited for meditation, yes, but it wasn’t nearly as secure. Anakin could feel that Yoda was currently deep in meditation, and so waited patiently outside the door. After a minute or so, Anakin decided to slowly lower his mental shields and unmask more of his presence, just to let the Grandmaster know he was there. He was swiftly rewarded by the door opening.

         “Young Skywalker, time it is, already? Very well. Come, sit, sit. Much to discuss, we have.” Anakin smiled at the grandfatherly tone coming from the ancient being, and moved to take a seated position on the cushion opposite the Grandmaster. After taking a few deep breaths, Anakin managed to calm himself enough to start slipping into the all to familiar trance-like meditation state. Since he and Master Yoda were meditating in such close proximity, they could easily find their counterpart’s Force signature, and speak more openly. It was similar in practice to a weaker Force bond, like what forms between Master and Padawan.

         The first thing Yoda realized was that Anakin’s Force signature hadn’t dimmed a whit after splitting in two, which was highly unusual. The second was that the other presence, this Vader, was as strong as Anakin, and muddled. No, wait. Was this Vader somehow stronger? The alter ego also seemed to be extremely gray in the Force, not a shining beacon of light like many strong Jedi, nor a pit of darkness, like Dooku’s presence had rapidly become. It seemed to be so in tune with the Force that they occasionally became indistinguishable.

         ‘Hello Master Yoda, you seem troubled.’ Two similar voices rang out in Yoda’s mind, and Yoda could see their speakers. Anakin stood to his left, the spitting image of his current self, down to the Padawan braid and somewhat childish demeanor. On his right stood a slightly taller figure, one who carried himself with much more authority. Yoda could see scars, a prosthetic limb, and enough pain to suggest that this Vader had known much suffering. The facial similarity between the two young men before him was uncanny.

            ‘Surprising, this is. Alike, both of you are, but differences, I sense. Much pain, have you known, Vader?’ Yoda got the distinct sense of painpainsufferingangerremorse emanating from the scarred presence, and the man visibly shuddered before focusing back on Master Yoda.

            Vader was unsurprised that Yoda could sense his pain and guilt, as both were too strong and too near to be able to shield it effectively. He was, however, surprised to see that the suspicion from earlier, in the Council chambers, was gone. ‘Yes, Master Yoda. I have experienced many things, many worse than others. Shall we get this over with? Anakin and I are soon to be needed at the front. Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus do not plan on letting the war stop until almost all power in the Galaxy is within their grasp.’ Vader felt horror emanating from both Anakin and Yoda at that statement, but it was certainly true. That was obvious to everyone in the room. Vader’s presence didn’t have the barest hint of a liar during that time, and he knew it.

            ‘Know the Sith Lords, you do? Troubling, that is. A Sith plant, are you? On the Council, some believers, there are. Only do so much, your actions can.’ The Grandmaster sighed with exasperation, and looked sidelong at the two Anakins before him. The younger Ani was clearly also surprised at Vader’s words, but seemed more surprised that Vader was sharing that with Master Yoda than anything else. Vader just looked bored.

            ‘Grandmaster, I am no Sith. If I were asked to categorize my beliefs, I would most agree with that of the Gray Jedi. I simply referred to both Sith Lords by name because Dooku tried to spy on Anakin here through the Force. Both Anakin and I noticed the intrusion, and I recognized it as Dooku. He, however, introduced himself as Darth Tyranus before I sent him on his way. You may also remember that Dooku spoke of another Sith controlling the Senate in his conversation with Master Obi Wan on Geonosis. It’s in the mission report. He mentioned a Darth Sidious. I would bet quite a lot of money that this mysterious Sith already has a backup apprentice picked out, almost certainly Anakin or another promising young Jedi, easily swayed by misinformation and a corrupting presence. It is the way of the Sith to constantly be working towards the fall of the Jedi, and I can think of no better source of disillusioned young Acolytes for Sith machinations.’

            ‘Hey! Rude! Like I’d ever fall to the Dark Side! You underestimate my resolve!’ Vader just sent a single, long-suffering stare Anakin’s way, and the boy suddenly found great interest with his fingernails.

            ‘Anakin, we all know you are a bit too headstrong, too compassionate to be viewed as a stalwart Jedi. And can you seriously not think of anyone that’s been manipulating you? He’s been at it for years, sowing the seeds of mistrust between you and the Council.’ Vader scoffed at the naïvety of his younger self, before stopping himself. He could feel many shatterpoints in the Force beginning to shift. ‘Ah, but I have said a bit too much. If He is revealed too soon, the Republic will quickly fall. Certain events must take place before the Force will allow me to tell the full truth. I am sorry Master Yoda, but you will sadly only have hazy recollections of the tail end of our conversation. The same will have to go for you as well, Anakin. With time, I will be allowed to reveal all.’ And with that, Vader tapped both Anakin and Yoda on the forehead, the splitting image of the Father, from a future long past. Vader focused on turning what he said after Ani’s outburst hazy and hard to discern, but not ripping it from their minds outright. This way, it was painless, and much easier on all three spirits. He decided to leave in his warning of why he muddled their thoughts, however, so they would not be quite as mad at him.

            Blinking a bit owlishly, Yoda was the first to recover. ‘Rude, it is, to remove memories, Vader. Fault you, however, I cannot. The truth of your reasoning resonates strongly with the Force. Trust your judgement, I must. However, one question remains. Why show yourself to the council, you will not? Hmm?

            ‘I would prefer not giving Master Windu and Master Mundi more fuel for their criticisms of Anakin. Mace Windu has been downright suspicious of many of Anakin’s actions in the past, ever since he was first brought to the Temple. Master Mundi has a well deserved reputation as a naysayer, conspiracy theorist, and Code hardliner, almost as much as Master Windu. Everyone knows Anakin isn’t a normal Jedi, but there’s no need to belittle or snub him for it. Anakin, you enjoy recognition, being commended on a job well done. You want nothing more than to please those you look up to. How often do you get that?’ Anakin looked away, clearly embarrassed at how direct Vader was being. It was true, however, no matter how he acted. Ani had never truly outgrown that eager-to-please mentality, and many of his gripes about his Master and the Council were that they gave him little to no recognition for his hard work, and it rankled the young man.

            ‘I can’t argue with that logic, Vader. The Jedi’s methods of not focusing on the individual, for better or worse, bring back bad memories, mainly Gardulla. I have managed to get used to calling people Master, but my past didn’t always allow it. I know I’m different from everyone my age here, but I’ve made the best of it. The fact that I remember my life before the Order has always proved challenging when many of the teachings account for only knowing life in the Temple.’ These issues were certainly known to the Council, but Yoda hadn’t realized quite how strongly Anakin had been diverged from those around him. It sounded like Anakin had just decided to accept the fact that he was always going to be too unique to ever fit in, and didn’t expect the Council to be especially nice to him. This was clearly a big issue, one that Yoda could easily work towards rectifying.

            ‘Thank you for your time, I must. Many interesting things, brought to my attention they were. If leave now, you do not, late, I fear you will be. May the Force be with you both, Padawan, Vader.’ Both Anakins bowed respectfully, and ended their meditation. Anakin took the lead and began to wind his way towards the shuttle awaiting them to take them to the office of the Chancellor. What Anakin did not notice was the fact that Vader’s presence was shrinking to barely a shadow of it’s true power. It was by no means invisible, but it was small enough to get lost in Anakin’s own slightly muddled presence. 

Chapter Text

            The trip to the Chancellor’s office was uneventful, and before long Master Yoda, Master Kenobi, and Anakin were deep into their first major briefing of the war. The two Jedi Masters got the seats facing the Chancellor’s desk, while Anakin was to stand behind his Master and listen.

            “Now, we must first focus on the Separatist presence on Muunilist. If we are to pay for this new Clone army, we need to drive the CIS from the homeworld of the Intergalactic Banking Clan.” Palpatine was droning on about the importance of the mission, and it gave Vader time to think back upon this same battle last time, the first major theatre of the war for multiple Jedi, himself included. It also happened to be the first sighting of Asajj Ventress. She would certainly be useful later in this war, but for now she was dangerous.

            Tuning back in, Palpatine was bringing up Anakin’s piloting skills to get Anakin separated from Master Kenobi and into space, so that Ventress could more easily ambush him to test his skills. “suggest that we give him command of your space forces. His exceptional skill will be quite useful.”

            “Chancellor, I feel that Padawan Anakin is not yet ready for such responsibility.” Obi Wan quickly interjected.

            “True, with his Master, a Padawan’s place is.” Master Yoda added, thoughtfully. Anakin could feel his face fall, but was certainly appreciating the Chancellor’s attempt at getting him a bit more autonomy and command. “But undeniably strong, he has become. Perhaps-”

            “Then it is decided!” Sheev was clearly having a hard time hiding his pleasure at snubbing the Council once again, and Vader was also keenly aware of the small wedge Palpatine had managed to send between the Council and Anakin, once again. He decided to try and sooth Anakin’s bruised trust with the memory of Yoda listening to his gripes with the Order, along with Obi Wan’s concern for Anakin after Geonosis. Anakin started to calm down a bit more, and it was clear that the Chancellor had read that as Anakin being glad for his new command; control over all air forces over Muunilist.

            Masters Kenobi and Yoda clearly weren’t very happy with the political maneuvering playing out in front of them, but they could do little about it. They knew from experience just how hard it was to change the Chancellor’s mind when he had decided on a course of action. They simply shared a tired glance at one another.

            About an hour later, Master Kenobi supervised the loading of his task force into a number of Acclimator class assault ships, preparing for one of the first Republic responses to the CIS opening offensive. ‘I doubt even Master Qui Gon could have prepared a Jedi for this.’ He thought to himself, standing on an overlook. This was NOT part of any of the lessons he had taken during his time as an Initiate, it had been almost entirely absent from his Padawanship, and even the past decade he’d spent training Anakin hadn’t given him any semblance of experience in this field. Jedi were peacekeepers, protectors, diplomats. They were not trained in the leading of men, in designing and executing battle strategies. It just hadn’t been necessary for the Jedi to focus on anything of the sort since, since, since the battles of the New Sith Wars, and the battle of Ruusan. None of the Jedi really knew what they were doing, and yet here they were, placed as Generals and Commanders of the fledgling GAR, and told to go protect Republic systems out in the Rim.

            The Core worlds and the Inner Rim were quite safe for now, and there hadn’t been too much movement in the Mid Rim yet, but the Outer Rim was a complete mess. Thousands of systems had seceded from the Republic, most citing a lack of protection and widespread abandonment. The rest of the Galaxy had not invested much time or money into the systems of the Outer Rim, instead focusing on stripping them of their natural resources for exploitation and commerce elsewhere. It was not an unreasonable assumption, since that had been the status quo for the last few centuries. Nevertheless, the Order was still beholden to the Senate, and so the Jedi would still do their best to restore peace to the Galaxy.

            Anakin, meanwhile, was headed over to his landing pad, where his personal, blue, highly customized Delta-7 was waiting for him, getting preflighted by Artoo. He knew it was pretty pointless, since he was a master at machinery, and anyways he’d probably strip it to the bare frame just to put it back together again on the way to Muunilist. His outlet for his pent up energy, emotions, and other perceived wrongs almost always ended up improving whatever he was working on, which explained his flight records. This was one of the only ships that could keep up with him in flight, the only downside was that it had the standard R4 unit integrated into the ship, instead of an astromech port for R2-D2 to sit in. That would have to be rectified, but probably after Muunilist. As he started taking off, R2 rolled into the shuttle Obi Wan was taking to his command vessel, like a normal General.

            Padme watched her holonet back on Naboo, cheerfully spewing Republic war propaganda, showcasing the many Jedi and their Legions going off to hold the CIS at bay. She wished she could stop the madness, but it seemed like this one was out of her hands. Still, now wasn’t the time to dawdle, thinking about Anakin heading to the frontlines. She called up Bail Organa. “Senator Amidala, how nice to hear from you! I was meaning to contact you for the past day or two.”

            “What about, Senator Organa? I was just comming because I thought we could start garnering support for a Relief Corps. A way to get medics, supplies, and other necessities to both our brand new troops and the people of the Republic.”

            “Senator Amidala, have you been taking lessons from the Jedi in mind reading or something? That was extremely close to the plan I’ve been tossing around with my staffers and a couple of other Senators. Pantora, Chandrila, Rodia, Mon Cala, and a number of other systems agree that setting up a way to provide relief and medical aid to the war torn regions is paramount in the coming days. Senator Chuchi of Pantora has also started rumbling about the public’s perception of our new Clone soldiers. Looks like we may have a lot of civil rights violations on our hands. Although she’s probably acting like that because she’s started to get to know the leaders of the new Coruscant Guard.” Bail laughed. “Whenever you get back to the Senate building, let’s start drafting up a plan for those Relief Corps. Working to end this conflict through diplomatic channels is also going to be a high priority for our like-minded senators.”

            Padme grinned at the news of Riyo finding another possible crush from the protection details. “Alright Senator Organa, I will start drafting up some paperwork for that relief effort, and I’ll try and get in contact with Senator Bonteri. Also, tell Riyo to stop making eyes at her bodyguards, protection detail, and security. If she keeps it up, eventually there’ll be a scandal too juicy for the press to ignore.”

Chapter Text

            Anakin felt Obi Wan approaching long before he saw the flash of brown in the reflection of his new engines. Rolling back underneath the Delta 7, Ani finished tightening the final armor plates covering the coolant housing. Rolling back out and sitting up, he smiled at his Master. “How’s it going Obi Wan? Just glad you aren’t stuck leading the space battle?”

            “Anakin, you have quite the valid point there, but I’m more worried about your friend the Chancellor’s insistence on you taking a major command as soon as possible. It’s nothing to do with your skills, or your courage, my hesitance back during the briefing was because Chancellor Palpatine seems to be trying to have a hand in more and more Jedi affairs. He has already asked us when you will be knighted twice since Geonosis, and has been pestering the Council for years for opportunities to take you on those ‘field trips’ of his.”

            “I understand Master, and I don’t really hold it against you.” Vader decided to take over now, to make sure Ani didn’t say something childish. Obi Wan frowned slightly, but Vader continued nonetheless. “I have little experience leading troops. Neither do you. No Jedi was trained for this sort of thing. Pushing us all into high ranking positions is a recipe for early disaster. Either way, we are here now, and those droid foundries aren’t going to destroy themselves. Might as well make the best of it, and if that means I get to cut my teeth on a space battle, so be it. Flight sims were getting a bit boring, anyways.”

            “Anakin, is that you talking, or… Vader. Either way, you hit the center of the issue. We don’t have enough experience, callousness, or numbers to match out opponents head on. I see why we must adapt to these new situations, I just wish something like this wouldn’t have to happen until you had been knighted for a few years already, at the very least. It is times like these that breed the most pain.” Obi Wan was clearly preoccupied with something, most likely nervousness for the upcoming battle. He barely knew his troops, his men, those under his command that he was sending to their deaths. Honestly, he didn’t even know the squad of ARC troopers he just finished debriefing well enough to call a single one by name.

            Anakin, meanwhile, was quite relaxed, at least enough to fiddle with the inner workings of his personal craft on the eve of battle. It certainly helped that he was raring for the fight, and that he had seniors and superiors to rely on when he couldn’t sort things out himself. And Vader too, but he was busy meditating, completely unflustered at the prospect of a space battle. The only response Anakin could glean from his darker half’s stoic silence was the simple phrase; This isn’t my first Bantha-chase. You’ll do fine, just let me know when you feel out of your depth. Nothing seemed to phase the guy, and Anakin thought that was pretty cool.

            Seeing as Anakin was nodding faintly to himself, and not moving to answer him, Obi Wan let out a small sigh and a smile, turned on his heel, and headed to the bridge. Commander CC-2224- No, Cody, was waiting to run through the battle strategy with him on the bridge. He really needed to start learning the names of all those under his command. Maybe Cody or that medic, Cory or Coric or something, could gin up a list for him.

            Left to his own devices once again, Anakin poked Vader. Hey! Any other mods you want me to make? That’s the overclocking done.

            It was enough to snap Vader out of his quiet staring at Obi Wan’s back. I mean, we could work on modifying it for a full astromech, but it would be a little rude to R4. And it’s not like we have the time to adapt it fully for R2, anyways. Doing the modifications to the weapons systems are going to have to wait, so we can be useful in the upcoming dogfight. It’ll just take too long. I can’t think of anything to add right now that we have the parts for. Man, was Vader ever missing his Eta-2. That thing had everything he needed, and had an even slimmer front/back cross section than the Delta, somehow. He also missed the stronger cannons.

            Then why don’t we do some sparring? Master Kenobi looks too busy to be up for it, so we may as well kill some time. Rex is going to be busy, and it’s the same for Fordo and the rest of the ARCs. Vader responded by simply nodding. Anakin brightened, and started putting all his tools away. Clearly, he was planning to actually go meditate the normal way. Usually, moving meditation was Anakin’s first choice whenever he needed to center himself, but doing a mindless task was going to split his concentration too much for a mental sparring match.

            Wiping the grease and oil from the last wrench, a #8, Anakin slotted it back into its sleeve, and rolled the toolset back up. Slinging the toolkit over his shoulder, Anakin made his way back to his room. Stowing the kit back on its usual peg on his makeshift workbench, Anakin sat cross-legged on the floor of his room. Taking a deep, clean breath, Anakin could feel the stress in his muscles fading away. In through the nostrils, out through the mouth. In. Out. In. Out. By the tenth exhale, his breathing had slowed noticeably. By the twentieth, he was deep into meditation. At least, about as deeply as he ever seemed to go.

            When he next opened his eyes, he was facing Vader. Vader had constructed a mockup of the largest salle in the Temple, and already had his purple blade ignited. Anakin grinned, and called his copy of the saber to his hand. Brilliant aqua light bathed his face, as he and Vader bowed once. Then the spar began in earnest.

            With a smirk, Anakin launched himself forward with a Force-assisted leap, cutting the distance between himself and his opponent in seconds. A heavy slash from the right, aiming to cleave his opponent in two in the opening round. In an instant, there was a line of amethyst light in the path of his swing. Tightening his grip, Anakin committed to the swing fully, and tried to put every ounce of his strength into breaking through the block. The most this tactic evoked was a snort.

            Vader used the mechanical strength of his right hand, along with a last second counterswing, to easily block Anakin’s opening sally. Following up the block with a bind, Vader quickly maneuvered to break the bind in his favor. Forcing Anakin’s blade to the outside, Vader tapped the tip of his blade against Anakin’s shoulder. It was almost humiliating.

            Needless to say, Anakin was quick to anger. What was that? That looked like one of those fancy shmancy Makashi moves, but with an emphasis on power. Did you invent that, or something? I’ve never seen something like that before. Resetting to their original positions, they began again. This time, Vader smirked, and settled into a one handed grip. His blade flashed forward, clearly aiming for the exact same spot on Anakin’s shoulder. Anakin moved to block, but didn’t realize the sheer amount of pressure Vader could press into a one-handed swing. It was enough to force Anakin back a step.

            Pushing the advantage, Vader began raining blows from all angles upon his off-balance opponent. Anakin was backed from one end of the salle to the other, simply defending from the rain of attacks. Inevitably, an attack got through the crumbling, tattered remains of what was once Anakin’s guard. It seems you have a ways to go on both your form and your defense. Your offensive skills are nothing to scoff at, but I’ve defeated better in a slow, restricting bodysuit. If you are to take on the best of the CIS without my help, we are going to have to work on the basics. After this battle, we are spending our free time either sparring with Kenobi, or running through katas to build up some more strength and muscle memory. If we aren’t focusing on that, I can always ask the boys to break out the training ammo and shoot at you, to increase your defense even further.

            But why focus on blaster-centric training when you’ve done nothing but see my skills at saber-to-saber fighting? Are you saying I’m not good enough to defend myself?

            No, I’m trying to drill into you the importance of blocking- not just for yourself, but for those around you. You will be leading men into battle against massive armies of droids, each with their own horrible aim. If you think your men can withstand that hail of tibanna the same way you can, you’re destined to lose them, one by one, to bolts you could’ve blocked. It’s the same principle as defending Padme back in the arena, except scaled up to protect as much as a full squad or more at once. Until you can do that effortlessly, I can and will demand more from you.

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It felt good to be back in the cockpit of his custom Delta 7. It had been a long time since Vader had flown this smoothly. Only high quality prototypes, like the TIE Defender, let him have anything approaching this level of maneuverability, speed, and shielding.

The engines rumbled smoothly around him, cleanly producing enough power to overclock about two Z-95’s and change. R4 was just finishing the last of the in-flight diagnostics, double checking that takeoff hadn’t jostled anything loose. Shields were set to about half, leaving enough energy to protect from glancing shots, and allowing for the maximum settings for his twin cannons and his thrusters. His craft was faster in atmo than just about anything else in the GAR, and more maneuverable than even his custom TIE had felt.

Filling the viewscreen ahead of him, dozens of cylindrical battle stations were floating menacingly over Muunilist. The Banking Clan execs who had funded this planetary defense really had gone all out in trying to keep their skins safe. Too bad the Trade Federation Lucrehulks were so much more popular and versatile than these models. The variety would’ve been nice to see later in the war. Upon reaching a point about five klicks out from the first of the stations, the enemy pilots began pouring out. While there were many Vulture droids mixed into this fleet, it was mainly made up of Geonosian fighters. Almost as disposable as actual droid pilots, and quite a bit more annoying to fight.

Anakin was raring to get cracking. He had some wagers to win with Rex, Jesse, and Appo. Most of Anakin’s new Torrent Squad were on the ground for this one, and they were wagering on kill counts. Anakin may have had an advantage as a Jedi, but his troopers had agreed that since he was leading the space dogfight and not the ground battle, a ship kill would count the same as a clanker scrapped on the ground. Flexing both hands on the controls, Anakin jumped forward to fire the first few shots of the battle. Both bursts hit true, leaving two clouds of light debris in his wake. That was the signal for the general melee, as Z-95 Headhunters singled out targets, and comms started to get cluttered between squadrons.

After drawing the attention of the enemy fighters, a second wave of craft were released from the hulls of the dozens of Acclimators that made up the 212th at the moment, a few still pulling out of hyperspace. This second wave held General Kenobi, Commander Cody, the elite ARC squad, and the main elements of the Republic invasion. Slipping quickly into atmosphere, a few thousand LAAT gunships flew towards the capitol city. When Obi Wan judged they had about five minutes before enemy contact, he ordered the Commandos off for their infiltration. Fordo relayed the orders to their pilot, and one LAAT broke off from the pack towards the cover of a sensor-null ridge about thirty klicks from the city. They were headed around to the right flank, their target the massive artillery cannon built by the Muun headquarters.

Back with the main force, Obi Wan checked what little there was of his kit. Lightsaber had a fresh charge pack, wrist comm was on and at full battery, and that his cloak was nice and loose on his shoulders. Looking out of the open blast doors, Kenobi could clearly see the smoke trails from dozens of shoulder-launched homing missiles closing in, with the first barrage of spears from the Hailfire droids following them in.

“Evasive action!” was the immediate response from the General. It wasn’t really needed, as his men knew what they were doing, but it was helpful nonetheless. Quickly landing in the grassy field before the city, Obi Wan’s sapphire blade could be seen leading the charge over a sea of white plastoid. A few AT-TE’s were also airdropped in for some armored strength, and they started firing their projectile cannons at the enemy strongpoints. Hailfires were quickly ripped in half with a single shot, and AATs lasted only slightly longer. Droid sharpshooters had set up in the first block or so, and were cause enough for the first few ranging volleys from the freshly landed SPHA artillery walkers to be aimed at their hidey holes. After dialing things in, they were given the order to start clearing a path towards the enemy command bunker.

On the ground, it was a pretty even fight. The CIS had more B-1 units than the GAR had clones for this fight, but the GAR’s superior armor, artillery, and squad cohesion were enough to turn the tides in their favor. For every clone that got blasted back by a lucky shot, it looked like ten clankers were taken out in turn. Wounded troopers were quickly and efficiently moved to the rear lines, into the freshly set up med tents. Upon reaching the first lines of rubble, the forward progress slowed, as clones had to clear buildings and piles of rubble before moving forward. Thankfully, this new part of the battlefield was one ill-suited for the B-1s, with their slow reaction times and bad unit cohesion in a firefight. Turns out the droids made for marching into battle in an open formation were not quite as suited for the close quarters ambush fighting that was the bread and butter of urban warfare, even on this massive scale.

It was precisely when Obi Wan was getting his hopes up about ending this battle with minimal casualties, the droning of hoverbikes and the screams of troopers reached his ears.

Having made their way through the outskirts and into the (absolutely massive) financial district of the capitol, the lone LAAT gunship zipped between skyscrapers, intent on keeping a somewhat covert presence at the moment. That moment is ruined by the inevitable warning of a hand-launched homing rocket zipping unerringly into the craft’s engines. Alarms blaring, the pilot crashes his squad as gently as he can manage before passing out from the impact. His Captain can take it from there.

Captain Fordo didn’t really expect to make it this far in before his squad was shot down, but he’s not going to complain. After all, the extra distance had cut about twenty minutes of walking through enemy territory off his mission. Peeking his head out of the uncovered blast door, the ARC checked his surroundings for hostiles. Clear. Leaping out of the debatable safety of the LAAT, Fordo moved up to check the cockpit for casualties. ARC 3864, the pilot, looked to be out cold from the impact, but there were no visible injuries. Giving the ‘clear’ signal to his waiting squad, the ARCs started to fan out and secure their impromptu landing site.

Of course, their actions weren’t unnoticed. Almost two dozen B-1 droids were scattered throughout the buildings surrounding this intersection. Fire erupted from almost every angle, quickly dropping two troopers, and threatening to do more. Thank the Ka’ra that these droids had such shoddy aim, still trying to put quantity over quality at this range. A few more silent orders, and one of his men had pinpointed the hiding spots of the snipers. Axel, designated heavy weapons guy for the strike team, got out his launcher and began clearing out the nests. Five rockets later, the shooting stopped.

Now that the LZ was cleared out, it was time to move. Hopefully, Fordo would be able to make it through to his objective without having to deal with any spider droids. Damn things could clear out entire squads without much fuss. Thankfully, the only enemy vehicle his squad could hear was the telltale whine of an AAT’s repulsorlifts. They weren’t too hard to deal with, as long as you had a scout behind them already. The Trade Federation tank got off a single shot before Gris dropped from the balcony he was scouting on. Hopping up to the roof hatch and shooting his way inside was clearly the work of a moment, as the craft began to smoke and shake. Gris hopped out the way he came in mere moments before the thing blew up.

With that dealt with, the ten elite members of the GAR moved off once more. Sending out a recon drone, Fordo got a direct view on the Command tower, and the massive anti-air cannon at its base. The cannon would need to be dealt with if the Acclimators were to land nearby, and that one cannon was the only thing capable of doing damage to the massive troop transports. Fordo signaled that they were indeed headed towards their destination before moving onto the next city block. It was time to cause some mayhem behind enemy lines.