AN: It may not make much sense initially, but it will, at least if you pay attention, I promise. :P
Edit: Looking back on it, I think it was too early to have a music suggestion here. Leave that for later, my bad.
It was cramped within the confines of a snub fighter.
There were some people in the galaxy that enjoyed being behind the controls of small fighters and interceptors. They found the direct application of skill and finesse that characterized space dogfighting to be a thrill and a great challenge that would bring their very being to the brink and back.
The young man that was sitting on his StealthX was not one of those individuals. As a matter of fact; unlike the rest of his family, he pretty much preferred to keep his feet grounded on land wherever possible. Ironic, given his name and what it was famous for.
Regardless, given the nature of the galaxy, spacefaring was obviously going to be one of those things that the pilot was going to have to deal with, especially with his mother acting as protective as usual...
He wasn't blind, he knew why he was sent to this section of the galaxy; away from the hot zone that has been brewing between the Chiss and those weird bug creatures. Or, so he had heard anyway.
Unlike his parents, Master Durron was always forthcoming with information about the issues affecting the wider galaxy. Though he had the presence of mind to inform him only when the younger man asked...and when away from his parents.
He really did love them dearly, but surely they knew that he had to leave the nest eventually?
Sighing the pilot stayed on watch within the confines of his snub fighter, utilizing the stealth capabilities that were built into it's design to stay out of anyone's sensors. Useful for the job that he was pretty much forced to take.
Mara Jade Skywalker rarely took no for an answer when she was determined enough, and her son knew a lost cause when he saw one.
His poor younger brother was only beginning to learn that, unfortunately.
Raising a ration bar from the stack that he always kept within the small compartment inside the cockpit, the young pilot bit into the flavorless food, grimacing even as he glanced at his screen for any blips.
Still nothing.
It was frustrating, really. While the rest of the Order was off making sure that the galaxy was safe from whatever crisis popped up next, the pilot was here on anti-pirate duty. On the other edge of the galaxy from the Unknown Regions.
"Fair play, mom." grumbled the youth, ripping another piece from the ration bar when he glanced at his viewport again.
And then paused.
Leaning forward, blue eyes squinted at the small dot that seemed to be moving within the atmosphere of the planet he was watching over at the request of a baron on Sikurd. Who, apparently, has been seeing a sharp uptick in piracy recently in the Esstran Sector.
His mother was probably hoping for this mission to occupy the young man for at least a month, seeing as he was supposed to essentially watch the many planets within the Esstran Sector by himself...but apparently the Force was with him.
The planet he was watching over; Ziost, was a barren wasteland, and frozen tundra planets like that tended to be the perfect places for pirate bases to be established. Which was precisely why the young man decided to narrow down his watch towards those types of systems in this sector.
It seems that his logic paid off, because he had just won the sabacc pot.
Grinning from ear-to-ear, the pilot stretched out with the Force, sending tendrils out towards the ship that exited the dead planet's atmosphere, hoping that he remained hidden to their sensors-
Cold.
The pilot gasped, retracting himself from the Force at the chilling feeling that he had just received from touching the inhabitants of the far off ship with the Force, eyes wide as his heart hammered in his rib cage painfully. An inlking of a clue worming it's way to his brain of what he had just experienced.
But his heart, no, his very soul didn't want to believe it.
Yet, he couldn't deny it, not with the immensely dark regard that had just been fixated upon him, and the swift turn that the freighter had just made towards his position. Feelings of hostility blatant in the Force.
He had heard the stories of the Dark Side and of the Sith. He was informed through holovids and holobooks of them and the danger that they had posed to the galaxy before they were vanquished once and for all. And yet...
And yet nothing could've possibly prepared the pilot for the feeling that was crawling up his spine, or the abject and naked fear that clawed at him, rooting him in place. Paralyzed.
It was only through the thought of the very real danger that these people presented to not only him, not only to the galaxy, but to his family, that young man was finally able to act.
Acting on instinct, the young warrior started his sublight engines and put all power into his rear deflector shields, calculating a jump to lightspeed, only know regretting not taking an R9 unit with him to help him out.
Centering himself with a calm focus that he wasn't even aware that he had, the newly minted Jedi Knight of the New Jedi Order let go of his conscious self and entrusted himself to the Force. Allowing it to guide his hand as he punched in the coordinates that would lead him to safety.
He took a tiny bit of grim amusement from the thought of possible death by ending up in the middle of a star. It would be kind of embarrassing to go into the Netherworld of the Force by randomly punching in hyperspace coordinates.
Still, there were worse ways to go, he supposed. Which was why that, with great trepidation, the young man pushed the lever that would send him into the strange dimension known as hyperspace. An act which would either be his death...or his salvation.
Blue eyes took watched the forward viewport as the stars stretched out into lines and the famous blue tunnel of hyperspace enveloped his craft, praying to the Force that he would get out of this alive.
There are things that are universal in the galaxy, truths that cannot be brushed over or ignored unless one was seeking to close their eyes and blind themselves to the world.
To many, no matter which society they were a part of; status was always sought out as a means to elevate oneself within their own native society, and the galaxy at large.
In some cultures, that status could be achieved through honor, leadership, or military prowess. But to most; it was achieved through material wealth.
However, the wish to attain status could go to far, especially in the case of certain planets that promoted naked ambition and self-interest at the cost of all other factors.
That was the case of Nar Shaddaa.
Within it's dirty streets, it's smog-filled air, and it's rampant corruption, there were numerous beings that were barely scraping by while the wealthy and greedy beings on the top of the food chain lounged around and reveled in their ill gotten gains.
Of all of the places in the galaxy that anyone would want to go to; this was definitely not among anyone's top choices. Not by choice at least.
Then again, most people weren't exactly there by choice.
Throughout the bustling and crusty streets of the planet, where numerous men and women desperately clung to life by doing whatever possible regardless of any moral qualms, there were many who moved with urgency. Covering themselves up in an attempt to remain anonymous and hidden. To become just another stranger amongst strangers.
So it wasn't exactly uncommon for many beings to cover themselves up with heavy cloaks, hiding their features for numerous reasons. Perhaps to hide from a bounty, or creditors, or even jilted lovers.
One such cloaked being, a man that had ample reason to hide his identity, was blending in with the disgusting crowd, stalking down narrow streets that were built without an ounce of thought to sanitation. Or to the general population.
Said man kept himself tightly bound by his long brown cloak, keeping his long hood over his face to make sure that no one could recognize his face, even with facial recognition scanners. Just in case.
Despite the cloaked man's obvious wish to retain his status as another faceless nobody down on his luck in the armpit of the galaxy, his purposeful stride forward and his straight back indicated that he wasn't just a typical broken youth on the run from his problems. The very opposite, as a matter of fact.
He looked like a man that was on the hunt, and that he was far from broken, unlike the many poor denizens of the planet.
Keeping his gait steady and his eyes hawkish, the nobody drifted through the unwashed masses, gritting his teeth privately at the abject feeling of hopelessness that literally filtered through the air of this planet. Doing his best to focus on his objective as he repeated line that kept his sanity intact as he lived this false life.
"None of this is real..." he whispered under his breath, his doubts and his hope intermixed in his voice as he trudged on. "None of this is real..."
The man didn't say another word as he quieted down, aware that he was nearing his destination by the change in environment. His actions had to be carefully thought out from here on in; a concept that he was only nominally familiar with.
Somehow, the dirty edifice that made up the many buildings that occupied the streets of Nar Shaddaa became more rundown and desperate than before, and the occupants seemed more listless than he ever thought possible.
He had entered Hutta Town, and it was a territory that was still being fought over by the local Hutt Crime Lords in the area. A fact that left the local inhabitants with even less prospects than before. Something which seemed like a near impossibility to the youth.
Yet one could not deny the feeling that this area of Nar Shaddaa had, not one such as him at any rate.
It was a depressing reality that the hooded man did everything he could to ignore, thus; he continued his mantra that helped him retain his off-hands approach. That helped him remember that this reality was not his own.
"This is not real..." blue eyes narrowed into slits, fists clenching tightly and painfully. "This. Is. Not. Real."
"You think so, Me?"
The cloaked man winced and growled all at once, all while resolutely ignoring the voice that just piped up in his head. Convinced that his sanity was more compromised than he was willing to admit to himself. The voice that started to speak to him was hard to argue with.
Especially when it claimed that he; Anakin, was technically a descendant of it.
"I am!" the voice exclaimed, sounding offended. "I told you; my name is Uzu...oh wait, right. Different language. Your language is called "Basic", right? A kinda stupid name, if I say so myself."
The youth didn't say a word, too focused on his objective and thus; unwilling to jeopardize his chances of learning about any possible ways back home.
Home. His galaxy.
Ignoring the dull pang of longing he had always experienced when he thought about his native galaxy, the young man was forced back to reality when he neared the magnificent castle that lorded the area, ostentatiously declaring itself as the home of the most powerful being in Hutta Town.
At least once upon a time.
Like the general area, it seemed that the castle has fallen upon hard times, leaving the once towering structure in severe disrepair. It's thick walls were torn down and brought down to it's foundations, three out of the four spires surrounding the structure were torn apart, and the towers within the castle were caved in completely. As if the castle itself was destroyed from above from orbital bombardment.
If the rumors about the fate of it's original owner was true, then the cloaked man wouldn't have been particularly surprised.
Grakkus the Hutt; a member of the Hutt species which excelled at gathering Jedi artifacts due to his obsessive fascination with the ancient Order, used to be the ruler of Hutta Town. But apparently the local crime lord somehow garnered the attention of Empire's most infamous enforcer, and was captured and arrested. His entire collection was then confiscated by Imperial forces.
Pausing, the man's hooded features pinched up at the thought of that man before shaking his head, refusing to get distracted.
With that information bought from some Bothan information brokers, he privately searched for any rumors surrounding that incident, and almost all sources that he found agreed that Grakkus' palace has been stripped bare of anything of value. Including any Jedi trinkets that could be found and sold in the black market.
However, there was one little tidbit that Anakin made note of; one key piece that gave him a bit of hope.
Darth Vader himself never went planet-side to get the artifacts collected by the greedy hutt, rather; his agents were the ones that gathered anything of value. Which meant that maybe, just maybe...the Imperials may have missed something.
Sometimes there were items that only force sensitives could find, so hopefully the Empire's goons and the scavengers in the area missed something vital in their quest for loot.
More than that...there was something in the Force that seemed to call to him about this place, like a little nudge that was urging him to seek it out. As if this place may lead him to the answers that he sought.
Trust in the Force.
"Wow, this Force-thingy is pretty important in this incarnation, eh?"
Stepping foot inside the front gate of the castle, the young man craned his neck to check behind him, leery of letting anyone see him enter the shattered home of Grakkus the Hutt. Throughout his young life he had learned that one could not be too careful at times. And for him, that time was definitely now.
Especially since that incident on Bothawui...
"That was messy." Shut up.
Satisfied, Anakin rushed inside the fallen building, scampering towards the shadows so that he could be hidden from any lingering and interested eyes in the area. Privately, he had to wonder why there didn't seem to be any squatters that occupied the ruined castle grounds. Was it, perhaps, more unstable than he realized?
Those thoughts would lay forgotten as soon as Anakin expanded his awareness; his feelings stretched beyond the man that he was and encompassed the area. Opening himself up to the Force as he had done time and time again, but this time; aimed specifically at the area he had entered.
At first, he was bombarded by feelings of depression and resignation, but the young man steadily narrowed his search to the barren and battered land that he was immediately surrounded by. Focusing on the very, very faint inkling-
Got it!
Something resonated with the youth as he scrambled towards something at the very back of the castle, taking care to watch his step as he zeroed in on his target. Calling upon the Force as his ally, he defied the laws of gravity in order to clear away hills of long-forgotten rubble that was in his way, keenly aware that there was something hidden underground, stashed away. Somewhere.
After a few moments, his trek ended at the back of one of the many innocuous supply closets, which was obviously emptied out for anything valuable long before he had arrived on planet. At first glance; one would think that there was absolutely nothing here that could capture the interest of a force sensitive. A somewhat reasonable assumption, given the circumstances.
But thanks to the mystical powers of the Force, which brushed at the edge of his awareness, informing him that this spot was of importance, he would hopefully find what he needed in this ruined concentration of power.
At the end of the closet, the wall cracked as the man simply...pushed.
The entire wall crumbled under the invisible weight that he applied onto it, throwing dust into the air that brought a cough out of the cloaked man before he waved his arm in an attempt to push the cloud away from him. A futile gesture in the small enclosed space.
Except, as it turned out; it wasn't so enclosed anymore.
Blinking as soon as he could see, blue eyes widened fractionally at the flight of stairs that became available to him, a sense of giddiness capturing him at the sight. Of his accomplishment.
Rushing forward haphazardly, the man descended down the rather wide steps, following the spiral stairs down without much thought. Feeling pretty impetuous at the light-headed prospect of more knowledge. Knowledge that could help him achieve his end game; his escape.
He was so excited that he barely noticed the danger that quickly descended from above, the Force alerting him to the danger that he should've noticed with his own intuition and native skills. Somehow, a trap was sprung without his knowledge, and a portion of the ceiling immediately aimed to squash him into a bloody paste under it's weight, probably as a safety measure against intruders.
Augmenting his movements with the Force, Anakin leapt out of the way right before the huge slab of rock crashed on top of him, landing on his shoulder with a grunt as displaced air slammed against him in a rush, throwing soot and dirt all over him as he kept himself low to the ground. Thankful that his cloak covered him and gave him a measure of protection.
Staying still for all of a few moments, the young man warily raised his head and peeked behind him, eyeing the destruction behind him with a curse under his breath. "What did mom always drill into my head? Always be aware of your surroundings..."
"Sounds like a good mom to me dattebayo."
"She was. Is." he refused to believe that he would never see her again. Determined to search the underground cavern -or was it an emergency escape tunnel?- and take as much Jedi lore as he could find.
Climbing back onto his feet, the youth found himself in a cavern that was surrounded by weapons and Jedi artifacts as well as a bunch of other miscellaneous items that he couldn't quite pin down. He even saw elaborate robes placed in display cases lined up on his right across the smooth and hard walls that were carefully dug out.
Anakin pursed his lips, uncomfortable with the idea of staying in this cave where he could be easily forced into a confrontation, where he was vulnerable. And yet there was no way that he could check all of these items thoroughly without quite some time passing, nor could he take even a fraction of the items that he'd like to abscond with.
That meant he only had one option; and he didn't like it. If only because he didn't like to ask him for anything...he'd prefer to just ignore his existence, really.
"Awww, you do care!"
Anakin sighed. "So you know then. Can you help me out?"
"Yep! I've been waiting for you to cave for a few months now, and boy...you really do have my stubborn streak, eh?"
"If you say so." blue eyes scanned the assortment of items around him, touching at a specific spot on his right shoulder; the spot where the spirit that stuck with him gave the young man his -it's?- gift. A symbol that he has never seen before, a tattoo, really. Of some kind of ridiculously stylized leaf.
"Remember what I told you when you first entered this timeline? About the fire that you brought forth? Concentrate on it."
Biting his bottom lip, the trained warrior swallowed the misgivings that he had about the spirit that he privately kept. Naturally suspicious despite the fact that it...he had given him no reason to be so mistrustful. To the contrary; he has done nothing but help him on his quest of survival.
So, for the first time since Naruto Uzumaki has appeared within the depths of his mind, Anakin Skywalker allowed himself to trust in the man that claimed to be his original self.
Spreading like warm caf throughout his belly, an azure fire burned, and empowered him beyond anything that he has felt before. And with it's entrance, and the tutelage that he continued to receive; the young man got to work, determined to save as much Jedi treasure as he could.
It took a few hours to exit out of hyperspace, and Anakin Skywalker was surprised to find himself in a very...dark portion of the galaxy.
Staring out of his viewport, he uneasily gazed upon the infinite nothingness that characterized the Maw Cluster and it's many black holes. Unsure of why the Force would lead him to such a desolate place.
He supposed that he should be grateful however, since he was able to escape those darksiders at all, especially since he had pretty much traveled through a quarter of the entire galaxy.
Force, he technically just created a new hyperspace lan just now, didn't he? This would be one hell of a story to tell once he returned back to the Jedi Academy on Ossus.
A giggle escaped through his lips at the thought, completely giddy now that the danger has passed. His frayed nerves winding down now that he was sure he wouldn't exit hyperpspace in front of an asteroid field or a star. Or a black hole for that matter.
Honestly, Anakin would've just sat there, coming down from his high, if it wasn't for the absolute alarm that he felt through the Force. His danger senses urging him to action with shaky fingers grasping at the controls of his ship.
Fear shot through him like ice at the cold feeling that just locked onto him with nothing but ill intent.
How? How was it possible?
Could these darksiders have possibly pinpointed his destination by checking his last trajectory? But the chance of that, with all of the systems between Ziost and the Maw...
Gnashing his teeth in frustration, Anakin accelerated his fighter right when a stray laser bolt hit his starboard engine, which was thankfully absorbed by his deflector shields. Aware that a few more clean hits like that would bring his shields down and leave him vulnerable.
Stray laser fire lanced through the side of his viewport, lighting up his sight with the fiery bolts of death, enhancing his desperate swerves as he did all he could to make himself as an elusive target as possible. Perhaps if he was an expert pilot like his father, uncle or cousin, then he could pull off some kind of incredible maneuver, but as it was; all he could do was haphazardly dance around the stream of deadly energy.
On some level, the young pilot knew that he was being shepherded towards the black holes near the center of the Maw, but for the life of him; he couldn't find a way out of his predicament. If he tilted his ship around to veer away from the powerful celestial phenomenon, then his profile would be laid bare to the enemy. A prospect that would probably end with him becoming a temporary fireball in space before all of the oxygen was expended.
But if he didn't...
Knuckles turning white, the inexperienced teen began to shake at the stark realization that just hit him while his hand continued to tighten around the stick of the StealthX. A pit forming in the middle of his stomach.
He couldn't get out of this. There was no way he could.
He was going to die here.
Time seemed to slow at the prospect, images of his friends and family crossing his mind.
His loving and overprotective mother, with eyes like the forest and hair as fiery as her personality, much like his own.
His trusting and proud father, with blue eyes so much like his own that reflected his dry humor and wisdom.
His rough and casual uncle, a man that always managed to put a grin on his face with his wisecracks and worldy attitude.
His diplomatic and quietly affectionate aunt, a woman that always seemed to know what to do in times of duress and kept him in the straight and narrow even when his mother wasn't looking.
His cousins, so much changed after the war, but always determined to do what was right. Especially Jaina, who has become far more doting ever since...
Anakin's eyelids squeezed shut, mournful at the idea that Jaina would be forced to lose another Anakin, despite her insistence that she was over it.
But it wasn't just them. There were so many more...and yet none of them would see him ever again. Nor would they know of the dangers that lurked in the Esstran Sector. Unaware of the presence of the Dark Side in the galaxy still, plotting just like Sidious had, once upon a time.
And just like that, with his grip faltering, a wave of determination overcame him, filling him with one single desire.
To live.
"Do you want to live?"
Anakin wasn't really even aware of the voice that entered his subconscious, or of the little fire that seemed to spark unilaterally within his body, providing clarity as he focused on his single desire. But he still nodded, regardless.
"Then trust me."
He did, at that moment. So Anakin piloted his ship into the deep and infinite abyss of one of the many black holes in the Maw Cluster while laser bolts rained around him, promising solemnly in his heart that he would find a way to warn the galaxy.
The Galactic Alliance.
The Jedi.
His family.
Anakin Skywalker made such a vow, and for whatever else he was, there was still one simple fact that he would always stand behind.
He always kept his word.
"Found something interesting, Jedi?"
Anakin cursed under his breath. Was he so distracted that he could get caught so off-guard by a random bounty hunter?
Then again, with a slight tilt of the head, the young Jedi realized that this wasn't just a 'random' bounty hunter. And that was infinitely worse.
Being caught with his his pants down by the former was just embarrassing, but being caught by the former was much worse for his health.
The armor gave him away, since there were very few individuals in the galaxy that would ever dare to impersonate someone of such deadly skill and renown. Though Anakin had to seriously wonder about his luck recently.
He was pretty sure that his luck wasn't anywhere near this bad until-
"Yeah. About that...my bad." Yeah. That pretty much figured.
"Nothing of value to you, Boba Fett." both hands were raised up high as blue pupils swerved towards the edge of his eyes. Locking onto the infamous bounty hunter with forest camo mandalorian armor and that somewhat intimidating T-shaped visor.
Of all of the individuals in the galaxy that had to remain in this new timeline, why did he have to be among them? And how did he even track him down after the mess on Bothawui?
As if privy to his private thoughts, Fett inclined his head as he aimed his heavily modified EE-3 carbine rifle at the back of his bounty's skull. "I asked a couple of questions to a few of those information brokers that you spoke with, it doesn't take much to make such men spill their guts. After that, all I had to do was wait until you showed up and got your trinkets."
Anakin clenched his teeth, air leaving his nose in frustration, understanding why the castle was empty. If what the man had just claimed was true, then there was literally no point to his erratic small hyperspace jumps to anywhere but Nar Shaddaa before he entered the system. He didn't want a repeat of Ziost back in his own galaxy.
"Now enough chit-chat, Jedi. Toss your lightsaber away, and no funny business...unless you want to personally test out my Type-12B capsule, they are quite powerful...but I never tested them against one of your kind before." the implicit threat was obvious, and Anakin had no doubt that he would follow through with it.
Thankfully, it seemed that the infamous bounty hunter was rather rusty when it came to force users after all of these years, because he was definitely caught unawares when the broken arch that he was standing on top of suddenly became a little...unstable.
It wasn't much; all the cloaked youth had to do was shift a few rocks under his feet, leaving him bereft from any steady footing. A fact that would only hinder his aim, no doubt.
Boba Fett didn't garner his reputation for nothing however, since the deadly mandalorian still had the presence of mind to raise his arm to fire at his target preemptively with that wrist rocket of his. Settling on taking him down with more than a few singes rather than risk losing him.
If it wasn't for his extended period on the run, he might've actually fallen to such an attack too. But if there was anything that Anakin has been forced to be recently, then it was creative.
Raising a hand as soon as the bounty hunter raised his own arm, the ground below responded to his commands and created a wall of rubble which protected the Jedi from most of the fallout of the explosion. Giving him a precious few seconds to get away from the area.
When the rocket detonated on his newly created defense, it quickly spewed out some kind of gas that rapidly expanded throughout the interior of the shattered castle, leaving behind a fragrance that made the edges of his vision a little fuzzy...
"Nerve gas...!" Anakin snarled to himself, sprinting back from the point of impact, using the Force as his ally to augment his physical abilities and to provide a modicum of protection from the gas. He was no expert, but he could at least keep it from affecting him too much before he got to his ship.
"You're not getting away!" Fett snarled, the sound of blaster fire and a jet pack firing up accompanying his declaration, obviously irritated that he was forced to give chase.
Seeing no other option, Anakin pulled a cylindrical object from his belt, feeling it's familiar weight and comforting warmth from the crystal inside as he thumbed it on.
In a snap-hiss, an azure blade -and it was a blade- shot forth and batted away a stray blaster bolt that would've caught his leg. It's deep blue light making him seem like a beacon on this depressing planet.
Everything afterwards seemed to fast forward for the cloaked force sensitive. Anakin easily recalled how he ran down the streets of Hutta Town towards one of the more private hangar bays that he never obtained permission for; utilizing his ship's famous stealth capabilities to hide it from flight control.
Time moved like a blur where the young Jedi was continuously forced to jump and weave through the garbage that littered the disgusting streets, doing his utmost to keep the civilian casualties to a minimum as he batted every bolt towards the puke-colored green sky. Cloak billowing behind him, keeping his identity a secret for the most part.
Where, once upon a time, the sight of a lightsaber seemed to inspire hope and respect in the galaxy's inhabitants, all he saw was nothing but complete and abject fear in the eyes and faces of the many denizens of Hutta Town at the sight while he ran. And that was something that disturbed him on some intrinsic level.
But he persevered and charged through the city streets, augmenting a jump with the Force to narrowly dodge a concussive missile that would've thrown him off balance and left him vulnerable. Though it did destroy someone's shoddy stand and fling chunks of wood everywhere. Unfortunately, the sonic waves that emitted from the detonation still managed to stun him for no longer than a second despite his clear dodge.
A second far too long.
Fett was on him in a moment, crashing into him with his jetpack blazing with such force that he felt something fracture, his sword arm violently seized by the deadly hunter. With a twist, Anakin's blade left nerveless fingers as his face was introduced to the ground, the bones and cartilage within his nose shattering at the point of impact.
Dazed and in severe pain, the young Jedi only began to struggle again when he felt Boba Fett's fibercord wrap around his bound arms, his knee placed painfully between his shoulder blades. It wasn't until Anakin called upon the fire deep within his belly to give him a burst of strength that he literally ripped through the fibercords, throwing the bounty hunter off of him.
Throwing his hand out, the teenaged warrior called for his lightsaber -so much like his father's- to his hand, wincing at the sudden movement to his arm and the bloody nose he was sporting. Thumbing the blade on as soon as he had it in his palm to swipe back at the charging man; who's anger and dark intention to take a limb was palpable.
With his mighty blade on hand, Anakin honestly expected to take the legendary bounty hunter's arm in his arrogance. But, instead, he felt his blade stop, as if meeting another lightsaber instead of the durasteel armor that he was expecting. It took a second to actually register what he was looking at, but when he did, he gaped.
His lightsaber was stopped by the bounty hunter's wrist guards.
"Cortosis gauntlets." Fett said simply, his grim tone twisted by his helmet. "How do you like them?"
"...I, for one, don't like them that much." Anakin admitted slowly, watching his azure blade sputter and return back to it's hilt. His chances sinking faster than the prospect of a newborn vornskr against an adult gundark.
He only had one option left to him now. Anakin Skywalker knew that he was a part of a family that was extraordinarily powerful in the Force, but he also knew that he had yet to truly reach that full potential, let alone scratch the surface of it. But, in times of duress, he knew that Jedi have been known to accomplish god-like feats of power with the Force. Things beyond their normal output, as trained force sensitives.
And right at that moment, the son of Luke Skywalker was desperate. And so he opened his mouth...and screamed.
It was an innocuous movement that wouldn't alert the infamous bounty hunter, but when Skywalker's shout became amplified by nothing more than his limited connection with the Force, he was thrown away like trash as the buildings around them cracked and severed apart. The ground shattered and his scream echoed across all of Hutta Town, blowing back anything that wasn't nailed down from the epicenter.
Then, as abruptly as the storm came, it petered out. Leaving the Jedi drained and tired, forcing him to limp into one of the abandoned buildings nearby to catch his breath, mentally keeping a picture of the deadly mandalorian's presence in the Force. Knowing damn well that there was no way that he was taken out from that.
It was frustrating, he knew that he could do better than that, that Force Scream was probably only a fraction of a fraction of what his father could do. The thought lingered before he felt the mandalorian rapidly approach from above with his jetpack, forcing the teen to call upon the Force again, despite his fatigue. He levitated the junk that littered the streets, including; broken holopads, broken astromech chassis, and other miscellaneous items that he couldn't make heads or tails of.
With a swing of the hand, all of those items flew through the sky in such a manner that he could probably be compared to a humanoid-sized flechette launcher. And like such a weapon; his projectiles spread over such a wide area that it made it difficult to dodge, even for a Jedi.
He could sense the brief consternation that burst from the legendary bounty hunter before explosions erupted from above, a clear indication that he was, at the very least, distracted from his quarry.
Taking a gulp of air, Anakin sprinted out of his hiding spot with what was left of his stamina towards the building at the end of the street, cupping his nose and ignoring the pain in the joint of his right arm.
Unlike the last time he entered the building, he didn't bother to use the Force to enhance his feeling of 'insignificance' to everyone around him, an ability that helped keep wandering eyes away from him, just in case. But that required a fair bit of concentration on his part; which meant that he really didn't have the time or the energy to spare this time around.
Besides; it wasn't like anyone was going to question him, thanks to the chaos in the streets.
Running through the recently abandoned halls and the petrified inhabitants that were too busy hiding to care about what anyone else was up to; Anakin eventually reached the hangar bay that kept his precious ship. Untouched thanks to the gravitas that these private hangars provided. If nothing else; money definitely earned loyalty on this planet, albeit barely.
It didn't even take him much to land the ship, seeing as no one apparently checked whether the hangar doors could be opened manually from the outside or not. Though, he supposed that was a moot point with the Force.
Regardless, Anakin quickly took off his cloak and laid it down on his seat before setting himself down shortly after, starting up the StealthX's flight procedures. Not that he would be able to give his fighter much time to warm up or anything, since they were in a bit of a hurry.
Glancing down, Anakin sighed at the flight suit he was forced to wear thanks to the shortage at the Academy. An Imperial-style flightsuit that replaced the Imperial insignia on it's shoulder pads with the New Jedi Order, and lacked the chest-mounted atmospheric converter. But thanks to the wear and tear that this one had gone through throughout his time in this strange galaxy, it was a little battered.
He had to get new apparel, and soon.
Checking the engines, Anakin swallowed his misgivings and clicked the button that would lock the cockpit viewport into place as he used the Force to forcefully open the hangar doors. Kickstarting the engines as soon as an opening was made, activating all of it's sensor dampeners as soon as he lifted off the ground.
Without waiting another moment, the pilot activated the thrusters and blasted away from Hutta Town, ascending higher into air without preamble. Justifiably tense.
Bounty hunters were known for looking for ships that left the planet in a hurry, mostly because it meant that someone had double crossed a hutt and had just earned themselves a new bounty. A concept that no doubt left many a greedy bounty hunter salivating, or so he's heard from a certain smuggler.
The moment that his StealthX breached the upper atmosphere of the sick planet, the comms within the system began to go abuzz with activity. Indicating that he was being hailed by the freighter that just so happened to be hanging around near the hyperspace lane he was trying to get on. Waiting like a predator was ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey.
Especially since they probably noticed that his ship didn't show up on their scanners, hiking up the value of his capture even more. Still, the Jedi Knight refused to answer or even acknowledge the comm's beeping and veered his ship portside to get out of the way of the hostile freighter's ion cannons, doing his utmost to accelerate out of it's effective range while driving his poor fighter's engine to the brink.
It only took a sparse five more seconds for the gunners in the freighter to understand that he wasn't going to come willingly, which was why they began to open fire upon the hard-to-see snub fighter, their greed palpable in the Force at the prospect of an easy bounty and the sensor dampening technology that they could sell.
Something that seemed to draw every suspiciously idle ship that could make visual contact with the the interaction towards them, rushing to capture the ship that never popped up in their radars and it's pilot.
And then there was the grimly determined man that had just begun to leave the planet from below, his infamous ship soaring towards young Skywalker with the full intention of capture as well.
To all of this, Anakin could only growl and pull up on the stick, rushing through some hyperspace coordinates as ion lasers nearly crashed into his starboard. He needed only to make a small jump away from here before he targeted his real destination; if only to get away from these opportunistic bounty hunters and lose their trail. Getting a breather from these ridiculously close calls was another plus to that idea.
Though such a thing seemed like a minor miracle at right that moment, as the fiery pilot did all he could, and more, to keep his pursuers from getting any clean hits upon his craft. On some level thankful for the small size of the StealthX series.
As Anakin continued to struggle for is survival, another entity watched the proceedings with curiosity, glancing about him as the small ship twisted and tilted, barrel rolled and turned on it's axis. It's young occupant doing absolutely everything he could to dodge as blue streams of laser fire blinded him. All while trying to keep some momentum to keep Fett from catching up to him.
That entity; Naruto Uzumaki, pitied his newest incarnation's situation, but refused to say as much.
If he recalled anything from his own youth, then he knew that he didn't really like to be pitied by others. He just wanted acknowledgement, really, if his old memories served him still.
But this man -teen, really- was different from how the shinobi was, back then, wasn't he?
Different circumstances brought about by different environments and different upbringings forged a different person from the teenager that forged forward with the intent of proving himself to his village, and then; to save it. While Anakin II Skywalker lived a life of comfort, surrounded by love and family as the galaxy burned around him.
A different man, but at the same time...maybe not so much.
Naruto wasn't sure how he should speak to him at first, admittedly, but he realized that deep inside...they really weren't so different, weren't they? Not really.
The core of what made up Naruto Uzumaki now made up Anakin II Skywalker, and that core was driving him to warn his family and loved ones and to return to their arms. It was giving him the strength to keep forging ahead in a different world, no, a different galaxy that he knew.
There were things that he disapproved of, privately, but he kept it under wraps until he had a chance to breathe properly.
Lips upturned devlishly upon the older entity's face as Anakin whooped in triumph. It seems that he managed to duck over a large blastboat and trick two of the other bounty hunter ships to fire upon one another, giving him a shield and breathing room to go into lightspeed safely. Allowing the ships behind him to rip themselves apart as they experienced the cold vacuum of space as their hulls became compromised.
Watching the stars stretch into lines, Naruto glanced at the young man that finally allowed the breath that he was holding in to be released. "Feel better now?"
Anakin jolted a bit, before forcefully calming down. "Yeah. Actually, I do."
The specter of the past cocked his head to the side, despite the fact that he knew that this young man couldn't see him. "Then is this a good chance to ask what you're going to do?"
"What kind of question is that?" the Jedi replied, focused on gently putting his nose back into place. A feat that was far more painful than he gave it credit for. "You live in my head, right? You know what I want to do."
"Yeah, I do." the spirit retorted. "But you don't. Not really. Not when it comes to this galaxy."
Shoulders squaring, Anakin finally realized what this was all about. "...This galaxy isn't real, you said so yourself, didn't you?"
"I didn't. I said that this galaxy was formed when we broke through the barrier of space and time when we went through that black hole in your galaxy. That this new timeline was created when your determination to live met with my power."
"So it's fake then." blue eyes hardened into stone, lips forming a flat line. "It's artificially created. A carbon copy."
"And yet real people live real lives here, and you know that, don't you?"
"Don't give me that shavit!" the teenager bit out, wincing when he put a little too much pressure onto his nose. He took a moment to calm down, using Jedi calming techniques. "...You must surely understand my situation, right? You must understand that I can't focus on the people here, that I have concerns with my home, first and foremost."
"Of course I do, Me." Naruto lowered himself to place a hand on his newest self's shoulder, though he knew that he couldn't feel it. "But it doesn't change the fact that I know how we work...and that the only reason you're telling yourself this lie is to keep yourself from helping. And that's one thing that I think you definitely shouldn't do. If you turn your back on this galaxy; fine, but don't claim that it's because they're fake. Own up to it."
Anakin didn't say a word, choosing to stare out into the vast expanse of hyperspace instead of answering, still fiddling with his nose. In the end; he didn't speak again to the specter, keeping himself wound tight as he placed his nose back into place carefully leaned back. Ready to exit hyperspace to go somewhere else, still intent on losing any pursuers.
Naruto sighed to himself at the sight, figuring that this was as far as he could go for a while. To the ancient being, it was pretty obvious that Anakin wanted to help, but he was using his obligations to his galaxy as a way to avoid thinking about the people suffering around him. And he could clearly see it take it's toll on him.
Anakin would cave one day soon, he could see that, just like the original Naruto did. The question was; what would happen to this new timeline when he did?
Instead of answering, Naruto chose to close his eyes, delving into the possibilities that lay in this life's future with the abilities that he had garnered over the course of his other lives. Seeing what could be, not necessarily what would be. The future was always a guessing game in the end, and it was something that he always took care to make note of.
At first; he saw nothing. Nothing but the inky blackness that kept all blind and deaf. That swallowed all.
But, for a split second, he saw the slight stirrings of something at the absolute center of what felt like the expanse of life and death, of a bond that connected all things irrevocably and interchangeably.
A spark. The slightest of stirrings in the depths of the universal rule of cause and effect, something which lit into a fire that began to spread across all of space. Across the galaxy.
'Hello, my name is Anakin Skywalker, and I'm here to rescue you.'
Instead of watching that fire burn everything in it's wake, he saw it push away the shadows that seemed to encroach upon the very depths of the heart and soul of the lives of many. Saw it touch individuals and planets that seemed far off and distant, and yet intimately familiar.
'I trust you. I don't know whether it's a good idea or not, but...I don't think you're like your grandfather before you.'
Then he saw other fires break out across the map of the galaxy laid out before him, bringing forth their own warmth and glow, pushing back the malaise that infected their systems. The apathy that infected everyone and everything in order to aim for something much bigger and larger than themselves.
'Senators of the New Republic, I have come bearing news from your counterparts in the Imperial Remnant.'
All started from that spark and that initial fire; a bonfire was created that swept the galaxy, and would stand guard as the shadows of doubt and confusion attempted to reestablish itself.
Then, all at once, that vision gave way to faces and sights that moved too fast to make sense, with an assortment and different beings from across the galaxy that would react differently to the catalyst that alight a galaxy.
An imperious man with set rocky features and jet black hair with strands of pure white intermixed, gazing around with suspicion.
A young dark-skinned man staring at the remnants of what looked like a lightsaber with uncertainty.
A group of gruff soldiers that glared at everything and anything foreign and different with a leader that looked away from his men, gazing towards the future.
An elderly woman surrounded by officers with weary eyes, but her grim determination was still set upon the firmness of her jaw.
A young woman wearing light loose-fitting clothing surrounded by the overwhelming sandy heat of her planet, munching on something as she gazed up towards the sky with hopeful eyes.
And so, so many more.
'You're a Jedi, aren't you?'
'Beware, Skywalker. That naivety of yours may well kill you one day. Though it seems that that day hasn't arrived...'
'Are you really...related to Luke?'
'We must help the Resistance and bring sanity to the New Republic, somehow. Someway.'
'I was dead. They were dead. We were all dead...who are you to change any of that?'
'It's been far too long since I've killed Jedi...'
'Anakin...Skywalker...?'
'Don't you worry, Anakin...I will make sure that you will become the new Darth Vader!'
Naruto winced at that last one, the dark and twisted emotions were blaring out from the ichor-colored pupils and in the words spoken. The absolute certainty in that sentence almost worried the ethereal blond. Almost.
Almost as a passing thought, there were still images of a woman laying comatose in a coffin, a group of hateful soldiers aiming the scopes of their blaster rifles, an ice planet with a massive weapon implanted within it's crust, a massive ship shaped like a wedge that stalked the dark regions of space...
And a the ambitious glare of those gold ichor eyes from before, starving for power at all costs, even the very concept of morality.
Then they were all gone, all possibilities thrown into the vast blue expanse of hyperspace without any proof that they even existed. For all anyone knew, they may as well not have, since they were only for Naruto Uzumaki's viewing pleasure. If one could call such visions a 'pleasure'.
Dragging his gaze down, he marveled at the fact that Anakin Skywalker had managed to fall asleep while traveling, even with the broken nose and the twisted arm he had gotten, did he really delve so deeply into the divinely predicted for so long? There was no way that his newest incarnation would go to sleep unless he believed himself safe, which meant that he already made his last jump already.
He was safe for now. Somehow.
Naruto grinned, shaking his head. "You did good, kid. You did good."
The ancient shinobi allowed himself to return to Anakin Skywalker's subconscious, aware that unlike his original self; Skywalker was taught to be suspicious. Skywalker would definitely want to speak with his former incarnation -that did make him into an ancestor, right?- after he calmed down and found a safe spot. If only because he knew that they were just like one another.
They couldn't allow a kind act like that go without giving a proper thanks.
They'd talk, and then; Naruto would finally give him the proper rundown, just like his last incarnation.
As Naruto faded back into Anakin Skywalker again, the blond had to click his ghostly tongue in slight jealousy. "Lucky bastard doesn't realize how nice that mane of red hair is..."
AN: Hello all, I know. For those who know me, I really should be focusing on other stories. But after seeing SW: Episode VII: The Last Jedi, I was inspired to do something Star Wars. Then this plot bunny popped up and ruined my attempts at other stories. Mostly because of my frustration with the movie. (Yeah, I didn't like it. Sue me.)
Don't get this twisted, I refuse to go further with this until I am satisfied with my other stories enough to temporarily set those on hiatus. This is just a springboard for something later.
For those who don't know; this is a Naruto Uzumaki reincarnated into the Legends timeline by Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade Skywalker, and has been transported into the new Disney Canon timeline. Since there aren't too many names to the timeline, I will add some non-vital characters from Legends into the Disney Canon timeline to bring more life into it. As well as factions in general. (One of my complaints in the new Canon.)
As for Anakin Skywalker, (Anakin II Skywalker if you wanna be specific.) he's only a recently Knighted Padawan, so his skills aren't too advanced. Meaning he can be trounced if he's not careful. It also means he has plenty of room for growth. As for the direction of it, who knows? He may go Sith or stick to Jedi, but I doubt that I'd entertain a pure Grey path, at least in the short term...that feels a little too fanfiction-y for my...fanfic. Yeah. Makes sense.
I'd also like to stress the fact that Anakin hasn't gone through what Naruto has at his age and has had a different environment, so his personality will reflect that for better or for worse, and he *will* go through trials and grow from them. As you saw in this chapter, he pretty much had to throw everything to even get away from Boba Fett, so he's nowhere near Jedi Master-level yet.
As for chakra, yes, he will gain more control of it, but it will never get what Naruto had, it will only be a trump card at max. And there will be limitations to what he could do.
Also, I will probably have this as a harem crossover, but I will probably leave the characters already in the Sequel Trilogy out of it. Including Rey, unless convinced otherwise. In return, I'll probably leave A Power's Convergence as a single!pairing to make up for it.
Lastly; Anakin comes to the new "D Timeline" at roughly 30 ABY while 15 years old, afterwards a few months passed leading to 31 ABY. In current time, he recently turned 16 years old. In the old "L Timeline", he was born in 21 ABY and got sent over in 36 ABY. Basically; traveling through space and time is confusing. It will all be elaborated upon more as soon as I get around to this in a year or so. (I actually don't know when.)
...Oh, and there will be some liberties with certain decisions and general "things that happens" when the TFA and TLJ stuff comes along. There were some decisions in the movies that I...didn't quite agree with. A lot, actually.
Ok, think that's it. Feel free to leave reviews critiquing my cringey SW lingo, it will only make me far more powerful than you could possibly imagine. Yeah. I went there. :P
-RekkingPride