Chapter Text
The engine of the Steadfast rumbled unhappily as another shot blasted in the direction of the ship, hitting uncomfortably close to the wing as the pilot of the Steadfast ducked and weaved the ship, avoiding as many shots as he possibly could.
Anakin Skywalker sat at the console, his teeth bared as he tried his best to dodge the incoming shots from the Separatist ships. The droids seemed to get better every single time they flew, and while Anakin appreciated a good challenge, he couldn't see a way this ended well for them.
He couldn't just give up. Not when the lives of six of his men and his padawan were on the line. Besides, he didn't tend to give up.
How did this all go so wrong?
One minute, Anakin left to go meet up with some Senators on some run down planet in the Outer Rim and escort them to Coruscant, the next, his ship was being ambushed by droids.
"I don't think we can take more of this, Master!" Ahsoka exclaimed, her voice coming out slightly distorted through the grainy comms. The togruta was at the back of the ship, manning the weapons, never willing to back off from a fight.
Like Master, like Apprentice.
"Hang on, Snips," Anakin replied, his mind buzzing, searching for a way out of their position
Landing on the meeting planet, Koboh, wasn't an option, the planet was too far away for him to even get halfway there before being shot out of the sky, and even if they did break atmosphere, the landing probably wouldn't be one they could all walk away from.
Koboh's moon? Another dead-end. It was nicknamed the Shattered Moon for a reason, they were more then likely bound to be hit by a rock orbiting it, not to mention they would be landing out in the open, and there was no way to tell if there was any breathable atmosphere left on the moon until they were lying dead on the floor. Not to mention the ship would be left completely out in the open, an easy target even for the Seppies.
That left them with one option. The Koboh Abyss.
It made sense to him at the time, as he turned and full force piloted into the Abyss that welcomed him warmly. He was a good pilot, the best pilot, many called him.
Yeah, maybe abysses were famous for being ship graveyards, and maybe this one was especially famous for that exact reason, but as they plummeted straight into the abyss, a swirl of colours blazing from outside the screen of the ship, he couldn't help but feel safe.
And somehow he knew, he would be safe, after all..
there was a first time for everything.. right?
--
Cold.
Why was it so cold? Why couldn't he feel the warmth when he was completely surrounded by it?
His soul was lost, he knew, but he wanted warmth.
Warmth.
Just once more.
His soul was not his, he knew.
Was he greedy, for wanting something he dismissed so coldly?
Cold.
He was so cold.
-
Anakin awoke to pain.
Not that It surprised him, it was definitely something he had grown accustomed to early in life as a slave, then once again as a padawan, though the war he was currently fighting in probably didn't help.
Not to mention pain still hurt.
It was a sharp stinging in his side, it reminded him of a knife, only the pain radiated from a much larger area on the left of Anakin's abdomen. If it were deep enough to be a serious problem, Anakin doubted he would be awake now.
"Pain is a good thing Ani, it means you're still alive," his mother had told him, a long time ago, as she cleaned the wounds little Ani had earned from the first time he had crashed a podracer, "Besides, I'll always be here to patch you up."
He wished all of what she said was true.
Anakin sighed, as he carefully opened his eyes to look at whatever was causing the pain, only to see nothing but his shirtless body, a bandage over his wound.
The soft linen had a small patch of blood that was slowly growing. The Jedi watched the crimson spread with a morbid fascination, eventually deciding to look around the room.
The brunette had been placed on a bedroll that had been laid on a tarp, acting as the tents floor, probably meaning they were on dirt. Apart from himself, the tent was empty, likely only ever meant to treat one person at a time. The only thing that hadn't been stashed away from view was a small medkit lying next to his head. The medkit wasn't Republic standard.
Anakin's brow furrowed slightly. That was odd. The Steadfast only had Republic issued medkits.
Come to think of it, the Steadfast didn't have a tent either..
Now, this wasn't any mean to panic, they had probably made it through the abyss and landed on a planet the other side of the abyss. His crew had just asked the locals for help, speaking of..
He reached out in the force, looking for Ahsoka, his men.. nothing.
That was probably cause for concern.
There were people, many, many people that he didn't recognise with dull signatures. There was a clone. Definitely not one of his men, but he'd recognise a clone anywhere. None of them were Jedi, except..
There! There was one! It was so shrouded by shields that Anakin almost didn't even notice the presence of light, yet he did, though he didn't recognise it.
Anakin didn't know whether to be more or less worried as the signature approached.
A figure walked into the tent speedily, briefly gracing the inside of the tent with welcoming rays of light. The moment was over just as it began, leaving Anakin and the mystery force sensitive alone.
The most eye-catching thing about the man in front of him was the soft, windswept ginger hair, almost as warm as the brief light that Anakin had to double check the tent wasn't still open. Jagged scars tore through his freckled face, the most noticeable being on the bridge of his nose and his right cheek. The second one was covered slightly by the beginnings of a short beard.
His attire was practical yet looked comfortable, the wear of the outfit was obvious, the clothing was built to last and the wearer liked to put that to the test. Hidden behind a poncho, attached to his belt was a lightsaber, longer than a traditional one and much more ornate than Anakin's own lightsaber..
..which he just now realised, was not on his belt.
Emerald green eyes seemed to take Anakin in even more frantically then Anakin was taking in the stranger. The ginger looked at Anakin like he was a ghost.
The two of them remained motionless for a while, each taking in the other, waiting for the other to make the first move, to reveal their first flaw. But Anakin's men might not have the time to waste, Ahsoka might not have the time to waste.
"Where are my men?" Anakin asked roughly.
The man blinked at him dumbly, almost as if he was surprised Anakin had said a word, let alone a full sentence, almost as if the man didn't believe Anakin was real.
"I sent out a search team," the force sensitive revealed eventually, after he finished wordlessly moving his mouth, "To the crash sight. We found you walk into the city by yourself. You mumbled something about getting help, before fainting."
"My lightsaber?" Anakin continued to question.
"I.. it's in the armoury. Just in case you tried to attack anyone, when you woke," The man sighed, "Trying times. I'm Cal, by the way."
"Anakin," he said after a second of deliberation. There was no use lying to Cal, seeing how the man seemed to already know who he was.
"I know," Cal admitted, confirming Anakin's thoughts.
The two men stayed quiet, each of them eyeing eachother. Anakin watched Cal suspiciously, while Cal seemed antsy, like he expected Anakin to attack him at any moment. Odd.
"..My robes?" Anakin asked eventually.
"Covered in blood, being washed now, it'll need stitching too, massive gash in the front of the robes.." the ginger waved his had vaguely at Anakin's injuries, "And you."
The ginger moved towards a chest in the room, opening it to dig out a black shirt and hand it to Anakin, who took it, trying his best not to wince as he put it on.
The ginger watched him all while he did it, not weirdly but.. wide-eyed. Granted, Anakin was used to people giving him admiring look, mostly from younglings in the halls or Padawans hiding behind their Masters, not normally from people older then him. The man had to be at least a couple of years older then himself.
"You shouldn't be here," Cal said eventually, watching Anakin wearily as he started moving to get up.
Cal didn't offer help. Rude.
"Yeah, I know," Anakin rolled his eyes as he stood, "Sorry for interrupting whatever mission the council gave you. My bad. I'll have my lightsaber back and be on my way. I'll find my padawan faster then your search party."
That caused the ginger to frown, opening his mouth to say something, but Anakin didn't want his words right now.
"Yes, I'm sure they're great, they're just not me."
"No that's not what I-" Cal was interrupted by someone else entering the tent. A green twi'lek with a datapad clutched in her hands entered the tent.
She gave a small, excited smile to Anakin before turning back to Cal, "Mosey and Trip found the crash. Reported casualties, a few are wounded. Trip requested a ship."
"Then fly a ship out with Ren," Cal instructed. For the mess the man was around Anakin, he seemed to give the right orders, as the twi'lek walked out the tent, waving at Anakin as she left.
The ginger gave a small sigh as he turned to look back at Anakin, as if he was some sort of problem, "You were saying?
"I'm going on that transport," Anakin said firmly, not waiting for an answer as he started his stride towards the exit of the tent that was interrupted by an orange lightsaber blade. Huh, unique colour.
"No, you're not," Cal frowned, standing his ground, "You may be a general, but you listen to me here. I'll take you to your saber, just let me talk to you. It's important."
Despite the confidence on the older man's face, fear leaked through his shields. Why would he of all people be scared of Anakin?
"Fine," he huffed, the orange blade turning off at the word.
As the two walked out of the tent, Anakin was met once more by the blinding sun and.. laughter?
A couple of young kids played outside a tent not too far off, one limped every other step. Two teenagers passed by, one holding a large pail of water, the other on crutches, both smiling happily. A man carrying a bunch of planks, tools on his belt as he walked through a blocked path to a construction zone, an eye patch covering his left eye.
They were in a village, a new one by the looks of it. One with too many injured people.
"This way," the older Jedi nodded in the opposite direction, to what looked like an older part of the village, more buildings in that direction.
Anakin walked next to Cal silently, watching people pass, some with scars, some with bandages. It was a bit unsettling, but the Clone Wars had hurt many people.
"What planet is this?" Anakin asked, he didn't recall any missions regarding making new villages, but then again he didn't do missions like it.
"Tanalorr," Cal answered, causing Anakin's eyes to widen.
He didn't even know Tanalorr was real. He had overheard stories from smugglers passing through Tatooine when he was younger, discussing tales and myths about a hidden planet filled with treasure that only the most cunning and thrill seeking pilots could find, he didn't believe it then but looking back, much crazier thing have happened to him.
"We're building a safe haven to get away from the Empire," Cal continued.
"Not the Separatists," Anakin stated, a frown forming on his face."
The two stopped infront of a building. The armoury, if Anakin had to guess. Cal typed a code into the panel next to the door, it opened and Cal signaled Anakin in, shutting it behind himself.
The place had blasters stocked in lines, some thermal detonators, not enough for an army, but too much for a village.
"Not the Separatists," Cal repeated, sighing. There was a person already in the armoury, looking at Anakin with a wide, shocked eyes.
Anakin didn't recognise him at first. An older man, salt and peppered hair in a uniform cut, but still a strong build. A build that held an all too familiar face.
A Clone.
How would that be possible? Even the oldest clones were biologically in their twenties, it wasn't possible for one to look like they were in their fourties.. fifties?
But he stood in front of him, as shocked to see Anakin as Anakin was to see him.
"I'll say it again," Cal muttered, "You shouldn't be here."