Chapter Text
There is no emotion, there is peace. The first line of the code. Something I've been taught since I was little, though I was never able to completely embed it in my mind. I am a Jedi, at least, I was back when there was a Jedi order.
My name is Alexander Skywalker, and ever since the fall of the Republic, many years ago, I've been on the run with my father. I should probably mention my father is Anakin Skywalker, famous Jedi knight and general in the Grand Army of the Republic.
Since the fall of the Republic, my devotion to the Light has faded somewhat and I've looked into some of the more useful aspects of the Dark side. Needless to say, my choice to explore the Dark side was met with skepticism from my father and the other surviving Jedi. While my parents and the other Jedi masters started to build up a Rebellion against the Empire, my search for knowledge on the Dark side led me away from the known galaxy and to a planet that the Ancient Sith built millennia ago. I found several Sith Holocrons there, though it wasn't until I visited Malachor that things got interesting. It was there where I found a holocron created by a legendary grey Jedi named Revan. I'd only heard of him from my Master during the Clone Wars when he was teaching me how he created the form of Vaapad, which he later taught me. That's enough background info though. When I finally decided to head back to the Rebellion I came across a small group lead by an old friend, Ahsoka Tano, or rather she acted as their informant. Though as a small side note I will say that I didn't vanish immediately, I did try and help out in the earliest days of the Rebellion. We eventually found a base in the Unknown Regions on the Ancient planet of the Rakata, Lehon. Well, I found it and showed my family the way there.
Walking through Lothal's Empire Day festivities, a hooded man stood calmly watching the fireworks display when the brand new TIE exploded. A familiar feeling and and a Lasat caught his eye as they darted into an ally from behind the now burning TIE. Glancing around he hurried after them. Ducking past several Imperial Stormtroopers, as soon as he was sure no-one was looking he took a deep breath and jumped, flipping over the lip go the roof he landed neatly. Looking around briefly, he spotted the small group running to an abandoned and condemned building. The man grinned before jumping off the building and landing in front of the door. He waved his hand calling on the Force, opening the doors. As he walked in three of the occupants spun around to face him. Two pointing blasters at him. Kanan gestured to Ezra and Sabine to lower their weapons.
"Woah woah, calm down. I’m not an Imp." The man looked at Kanan and grinned, "I thought I recognised your face. Aren’t you Depa’s padawan?” The man paused for a moment, he looked like he was trying to remember something, “You’re Caleb Dume, aren’t you?
Kanan blinked, "Who are you?" he demanded.
"Sorry, right. I'm Alexander Skywalker, Jedi Knight of the Old Republic," Alex said pulling back his hood, revealing a battle-scarred face. His sharp blue eyes were girdled with brown. Remnants of a beard decorated his jawline, "You can call me Alex."
"You're a Jedi?" Ezra asked incredulously.
"I am indeed. What happened to the Rodian?" Alex said, jabbing his right thumb at Tseebo, a silver glint coming off the limb.
"An Imperial worker, he downloaded Imperial data that could prove vital to us." Ezra supplied helpfully.
Let’s get off this rock then. This conversation can wait.” Alex spun on his heel and strode to the door, waving his hand, the door opened and he peaked out and looked around. Alex gestured to the group behind him indicating the coast was clear. The group followed him as he strode out the door. He stealthily ducked behind some supply crates. The others followed, sharing a brief look between themselves. Alex looked around the corner before turning back to the small group following him, “Follow my lead, I gonna try something. Only engage if you’re attacked.”
Alex walked confidently down the street with the others following almost single file behind him. Ahead were several stormtroopers, Alex walked up to them and waved his hand in front of their helmets, "You didn't see anything."
"I didn't see anything." repeated the troopers walking past, still searching for the Rebels who were now walking directly past them. Alex turned back and grinned, "I'm glad that actually worked, I honestly didn't think it would. I've never tried to affect so many at once before."
"You didn't know if that would work?" Sabine asked in a deadpan tone.
"There was a 50/50 chance that it would work, but it worked so let's not dwell on it. Come on let's get out of here. Where is your rendezvous point?" Alex asked.
"Just outside the city," said Ezra pointing north.
"Thanks, kid. I'll draw them off. A new Jedi should catch their attention". Alex said drawing his battered lightsaber from under his cloak, a blazing purple blade extending from it. Twirling the blade, Alex winked at Kanan and his companions before to sprinting off. The Ghost crew watched him run off for a second, they hastily took off towards their rendezvous point.
In the opposite direction Alex sprinted through the streets, racing between the tall steel buildings using the Force to violently throw various items of trash at any stormtroopers who happened upon him, trying to make as much noise as he could. Annoyingly it didn't seem to be working as well as he had thought it would. The Imperials appeared to be far more interested in capturing the Rodian. With barely a second's warning from the Force he turned a corner and almost collided with the Grand Inquisitor.
"So, you're the other Force user I sensed on Lothal." the Inquisitor stated straightening to his full height. When he spoke Alex caught sight of pointed teeth and could feel the dark side radiating softly around him. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Alex, "I know you, don't I?"
"I doubt it." Alex replied reactivating his lightsaber, held neutrally between himself and the Inquisitor.
"Do you really wish to fight me Jedi or are you just buying time for your friends?" The Inquisitor pulled his lightsaber off his back, bringing it in front of his torso, the scarlet blade illuminating his pale, red-furrowed face as it ignited.
"What does it matter to you?" Alex retorted, charging the Inquisitor. He opened with a heavy strike at the Inquisitor's head, the Inquisitor calmly deflected the assault. Alex ducked under the scarlet blade when the Inquisitor replied with his own attack, kicking at the Inquisitor's legs to knock him off balance and almost off his feet. The Inquisitor grunted in annoyance and recovered, rolling back onto his feet. Alex charged again and jumped over the Inquisitor slashing at his rival's head whilst in mid-air. His strike was blocked and swiftly returned with a strike aimed at Alex's back. Blocking easily, Alex spun around and kicked the Inquisitor in the chest hard enough to both knock him back and stun him.Alex grinned before bolting towards the last place he'd seen his ship. The Inquisitor stood, panting as he tried to catch his breath, watching as several Stormtroopers ran past him chasing Alex, before holstering his lightsaber and striding back to the Imperial barracks.
As he ran Alex pulled a comlink from his belt. "R8, get the ship ready, we need to leave now! There's an Inquisitor here!"
He got an answer in the form of several quick beeps and whistles. "Just get the ship to me!"
R8 replied again faster this time. "Yes I know the tweaks aren't finished yet, just get her in the air!" Alex shouted into the comlink. A split second before a blaster bolt connected with the back of his head, Alex ducked and rolled behind a wall.
"R8 where are you?" Alex grumbled. A squad of Stormtroopers rounded the corner from the far end of the building that Alex had taken cover behind.
"Sithspit!" Alex reignited his lightsaber and bounced back to his feet, deflecting several blasts back towards the troopers. He hit several of them squarely in the chest, before running halfway up an opposing wall and using the momentum to leap towards the opposing roof. Using the Force to assist his trajectory, he hit the sold footing running.
He heard a familiar roar, then a heavily modified RZ-1 A wing shot past firing at the Stormtroopers, before corkscrewing and flying back towards him. As it passed, the cockpit opened and he leaped onto the ship just in front of the cockpit. A purple and silver astro-droid stuck out next to the cockpit, though the slot for the droid looked as if it was an afterthought addition. Alex deactivated his blade just as he fell into the cockpit, the moment he was seated the canopy slid shut and R8 opened the throttle, "R8 see if you can pick up any tracker signals or Imperial transmissions. We need to find this cell."
R8 twittered something. Then four TIE fighters appeared, two screeching past Alex's ship. Alex gunned the throttle and spun the A-wing, firing at the two TIE's, only clipping one before the others two behind him fired again. "Blast!" Alex shouted before sharply pulling down, two of the TIEs shot past above him crashing into each other, not manoeuvering fast enough to dodge each other.
"Which way R8?" He asked, forcing himself to relax, R8 whistled a reply almost instantly. He redirected the A-wing towards another squad of TIE fighters that were chasing what looked like a small Corellian freighter. Alex grinned as he opened fire on the TIE squadron instantly destroying two, the explosions throwing the other's off course. Looking up he saw several more TIE fighters shoot up after the freighter. One he recognized as an Inquisitor's ship. The A-wing shot after the TIEs like a bat out of hell. Taking careful aim he took out another TIE before they broke atmosphere.
"R8 lock onto the tracking signal from that ship. I'm pretty sure that's a tracking device. We can use that to find the Rebels, hopefully, Ahsoka is involved with this Rebel cell." Alex pulled the ship around and followed the Rebel ship, "R8 take over, I'm going to try something."
R8 let out a low whistle as Alex closed his eyes and reached out through the force towards the Ghost. He could feel the glowing presences of the two Jedi and the strange muted presence of the Rodian in, the irritable presence of the Lasat in the rear of the ship. He reached out through the force to the one he guessed was Kanan.
On the Ghost...
"Not exactly my specialty… Arg!" Ezra shouted in pain as a Force vision mugged him for a moment, showing him something getting attached to the back of the ship. The vision was gone as soon as it had come. Tseebo input hyperspace co-ordinates directly into the ship and Hera made the jump to hyperspace.
"The Imperials put something on our ship," Ezra said suddenly.
"How do you know Ezra?" Hera asked somewhat apprehensively.
"I'm not sure, I had a vision. I saw one of the TIE's fire something at us and it latched onto the Phantom." Ezra ran back down the corridor toward the living quarters.
"Are you sure?"
"I know what I saw Hera. Get Chopper to scan the hull, I know you'll find it there." At this point, they had reached the lounge area and the rest of the crew had joined them. "Kanan, I had a vision."
"What happened?"
"I'm not sure. I was shown a vision through the Force while I was trying to fix the navi-comp."
Back with Alex...
"R8 please tell me you have the signal from that tracker. I want to help them. I can't keep flying around the Imperials, this is getting tedious." As he spoke he sharply banked and flipped his ship, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a turbolaser shot from the two Star Destroyers he was flying between. Suddenly one of them vanished into hyperspace. As it vanished R8 whistled. Alex grinned and tapped a button and the star line blurred as he shot off after the Star Destroyer. He came out of Hyperspace over an asteroid he vaguely recognized. Flicking a switch, he transferred control to R8 then closed his eyes and reached through the Force. "Found 'em! R8, there's an old Republic base on the surface. We should find our Rebels there."
As they closed in on the base Alex took back manual control, firing on the grounded shuttle before landing. "R8 keep her running, I don't wanna get caught with a long start up again."
R8 twittered irritatedly, "Shut up. What happened on Tython was your fault." Alex open the canopy, pulling his lightsaber from his belt as he vaulted from the fighter and sprinted towards the cave-like base's long opening. As he did, a Stormtrooper noticed him coming, though only just as Alex reached him. Before the trooper know what was happening, he was winded and rendered unconscious with a solid cybernetic fist to the face. Alex noted the absence of any other troops and a large number of wild animals attacking the troops. He could also hear the faint sounds of lightsabers clashing. Taking a deep breath, he charged forwards activating his lightsaber. Several Stormtroopers turned and fired at him, though they only managed to fire one or two shots each before the creatures leaped onto them, forcing them to turn their attention to the animals and fight them off. Alex, almost bored, swatted the blasts away. He watched as the Grand Inquisitor used the force to toss Kanan into an old Republic gunship, then disarm Ezra by nearly pulling Kanan's lightsaber from his grasp. Before Alex could reach Ezra, he felt something through the Force and stopped to watch as Ezra called upon a gigantic beast, which then attacked the Grand Inquisitor. The creature knocked Kanan's lightsaber from the Inquisitor's hand, who reacted by wounding the creature enough to scare it away. Alex made a quick decision as he ran to Kanan and Ezra's aid, tossing a tracker of his own onto the Phantom. Before the Inquisitor could turn to Kanan and Ezra, who were escaping to their ship, he finally reached the Inquisitor, skidding to a halt in front of him.
"Hello again," said Alex grinning. In a smooth and lethal motion he lunged to stab at the Inquisitor. The strike was batted away with the spinning saber, but Alex recovered quickly and struck at the Inquisitor's head. He pushed in with his blade, forcing a blade lock between the two.
"You again. I do know you," the Inquisitor snarled at Alex, "You're Alexander Naberrie, Mace Windu's padawan. I thought your form was familiar."
"I wasn't expecting anyone to pick up on that. As far as I know, there were only three practitioners of Vapaad." At this point, Alex pushed the Grand Inquisitor back, then launched into a brutal series of tight strikes on the Grand Inquisitor, who only barely managed to deflect the strikes and avoid getting decapitated or impaled. Alex knocked the Inquisitor's lightsaber from his hand before using the Force to throw him back, "Thank you for that most enlightening duel Inquisitor, now I really must run before your troops actually start thinking." With a small bow, Alex ran deflecting several blasts from the remaining Stormtroopers. He vaulted onto the front of his A-wing as R8 took off quickly leaving the planet. Checking the coordinates that his tracker had supplied, Alex keyed them into his navigation system, then shot into hyperspace. He exited directly behind the Ghost. Spinning the A-wing to just miss the Ghost, he quickly opened a general comm channel, as he also sensed the hostility coming from the Ghost. "My bad, I came out of Hyperspace too close to you. I hope like hell you're receiving this and aren't going to blow me out the sky."
"We hear you. Who are you and why are you tracking us?" a female voice asked over the comm, "Tell us and we probably won't blast you."
"I've already introduced myself to Caleb, some kid, and a Mandalorian girl." Alex answered, "I'm Alexander Skywalker, a Jedi Knight."
"You're another surviving Jedi?"
"Something like that. I would prefer we spoke face to face, this comms thing is old. Your cell is new to me."
"You speak as if you know of others."
"I do. Send me the rendezvous, I'll meet you there."
"Fine. meet us at these co-ordianates." this time it was Caleb speaking, "I remember an Alexander Naberrie from stories my master told me during the Clone Wars. Don't give me false hope."
"Well, then you'll have to find that out for yourself, Caleb Dume."
Alex checked the coordinates that came through from the Ghost, "R8 it looks like we're heading back to Lothal. This is going to be interesting."
R8 whistled in an annoyed tone. "It's not my fault."
R8 twittered again, "Yes, I realise it would have been simpler to stay on Lothal, but how could I resist the excitement?" Alex said, flicking pulling back on the hyperspace lever and the stars streaked around him.
On board the Ghost...
Hera silently watched the A-wing vanish into hyperspace then turned to face Kanan who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, "I think he is the real thing. He even knows your original name. How do you know him?"
"He was like a little brother to my master. From the stories that I remember from my time at the Temple and from the few times I met him as a fellow padawan, I remember him being fun. He was slightly older than me, I think he was Master Windu's padawan."
"Mace Windu? He was the Jedi Master who helped liberate Ryloth, which would make this Alexander Skywalker the padawan who fought with him. The stories my father tells about them make them sound like they were unbeatable. I think I may remember him somewhat," said Hera looking contemplative.
"We should tell the others we're going to meet him back on Lothal," said Kanan standing.
"Agreed. Hopefully, they won't be against the idea of meeting a hero from the Clone Wars." Hera stood and followed Kanan to the lounge area of the Ghost, where the rest of the crew was waiting for them.
"Who was that guy back on Lothal?" asked Ezra standing.
"Alexander Skywalker, who we are going to meet again once we get back to Lothal," answered Kanan. Chopper burbled something.
"Chopper, you knew him?" said a surprised Hera. Chopper replied in his usually snarky way, spinning his head and waving his arms in a fairly erratic manner.
"He was there?" asked Hera somewhat surprised, "I may have met him myself then."
"Then let's go meet this Jedi. Maybe he'll help us," said Ezra, "Don't you think Kanan?"
"He might actually be able to teach you some discipline," Kazan joked. Zeb snickered from the doorway, Hera simply rolled her eyes and turned back to the controls.
Later back on Lothal...
The Ghost landed alongside Alex's A-wing. They found Alex tinkering with something under his ship. "R8, did that do it?" yelled Alex. One of the cannons on the A-wing sparked before firing an incredibly weak ion shot. This was followed by a loud bang from where Alex was. "Ow, BLAST!"
Alex rolled out from under the small starfighter his hair smoking slightly and his face blackened. He'd also ditched his robe and rolled up his sleeves revealing a silver cybernetic arm attached just above the elbow. "Okay, that was probably a bad idea. I shouldn't tamper with the ion cannon's calibrations."
The Ghost crew watched with suppressed chuckles which caught Alex's attention, he rolled back the sprung to his feet narrowly missing hitting his head. "Thank you for trusting me and actually showing up."
"Chopper vouched for you. Said you were one of the Jedi who fought on Ryloth during the Clone Wars." said Hera crossing her arms, "I'm still not completely convinced you were actually there, I don't remember you myself."
"Well to be fair I was only at the third battle of Ryloth and you're more likely to remember my master than me, I was still a Padawan," replied Alex dropping his sleeves back to their normal lengths, covering his metallic arm.
"Who was your master?" asked Ezra.
"Mace Windu, Kanan's master's master. Now for a reason to trust me, hmm…" Alex stopped and looked thoughtful for a few moments, "Ah yes. I'm a friend of Fulcrum and Revan."
Hera gave him a look then nodded, "We can trust him, but I would like to make sure. I'm going to have you speak to Fulcrum, they can clear everything up. I'm not sure who Revan is."
"Ah, damn. I was really hoping Revan was your handler and not ah… Fulcrum." Alex sighed, "This is not going to be fun." This earned him a look from most of the Ghost crew. Alex dropped his head and sighed before following Hera into the Ghost. As they walked through her Alex admired the Ghost. Noting the somewhat small cargo hold and decently-sized corridors. Hera lead Alex to what he assumed was her room, and he quietly watched as Hera keyed something into the holo-projector. A hooded head appeared, "Hello Spectre 2, what is the problem?"
"We have a Jedi who recently…" Hera started but was cut off by Alex.
"Fulcrum this is AC, I've returned from the outer-reaches. I'll have my report ready as soon as I have co-ordinates to return."
"AC, I need confirmation of your true return. Speak your passcode."
Alex took a deep breath, "Anastasia found the lothcat. Legion petted her."
"Welcome back." Hera heard something strange in Fulcrum's voice, it trembled before returning back to its normal almost steely tones.
"It's good to be back Fulcrum, it's been far too long. There is so much I feel like I need to say, but can't I like this. It'll have to wait." said Alex in a robotic voice, "I wish to help this cell. I believe there is at least one person here who may need my help." Fulcrom nodded and the holoprojector switched off.
"What was that about?" Hera asked giving Alex a strange look, which Alex returned.
"Long story, maybe I'll tell you one day. Now shall we get acquainted with the rest of the crew?" said Alex as he strode out the room. Hera just shook her head and followed Alex back out the ship where they found Chopper and R8 attempting to kill each other. Hera almost knocked Alex over when she was exiting the Ghost as he had stopped walking and was doubled over laughing. He stumbled forward, almost falling flat before catching himself and shaking his head. With a giant grin plastered on his face he called out, "R8 leave him alone, he's probably just cranky."
R8 twittered at Alex, "I see. Well then perhaps he does deserve it."
Ezra and Zeb were rolling on the ground laughing at the two droids wile Sabine and Kanan looked bored and slightly embarrassed. Hera then decided to speak up.
"Guys, this is Alex Skywalker, I know you've met before, but I'm happy to say he will be joining us for now."
"What makes you so sure we can trust him?" asked Sabine looking skeptical.
"Fulcrum vouched for him. He appears to be part of Fulcrum's network."
"He also knows her identity?" asked an incredulous Kanan.
"Yes. However I am one of the few who knows the entire leading council of that particular group." said Alex his grin slipping a bit, "Now, since the sun appears to be setting, I think we should get some rest. I also need to get fully brought up to speed on the current situation with the Empire."
"You're going to talk with Fulcrum again?" asked Hera curiously, "Do you know the frequency?"
"Not exactly. But what I do with this is strictly my business." Alex walked back to his A-wing, "I haven't slept for two standard days. So I'm gonna get some sleep." He jumped onto the starfighter. "If you need help with any ship repairs, R8 will probably help, though I can't promise anything."
R8 beeped an affirmative, singnaling Chopper to buzz angrily and spin his arms at R8, who replied by zapping him with his electrical prod. R8 then spun back to the A-wing and followed Alex, hopping into his slot and switching to low power mode. Alex just shook his head then closed the canopy of the A-wing. As soon as the canopy snapped shut he keyed in the frequency that he'd seen Hera input before contacting Fulcrum. The hooded head shimmered into existence again, this time pulling back the hood revealing a face Alex knew very well. "Hello, my love. It's been awhile."
"Yes, it has, husband of mine. Too long." said the somewhat irritated-looking face of Ahsoka Tano-Skywalker.