Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any other referenced item used in this story. This is written purely for pleasure without the intent to profit.

A/N: It's basically an AU where Anakin doesn't kill Mace, and is allowed to raise his family with Padme. Twenty years later though, the Clone Wars have since ended, but have changed the galactic scene, with many new factions arising. There's also the fact that Luke disappeared at the age of ten. This is what happens when he returns. This story was formerly called Star Wars: Galaxy in Crisis; but I've made the decision to change the name, combine chapters one and two, and split it up into three acts.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Luke Skywalker; Human male
Anakin Skywalker; Human male
Leia Amidala-Skywalker; Human female
Padme Amidala-Skywalker; Human female
Obi-Wan Kenobi; Human male
Mara Jade; Human female
Ahsoka Tano; Togruta female

STAR WARS
Another Time, Another War

ACT ONE
Awakening

Chapter I – In Media Res

There is no emotion, there is peace
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge
There is no passion, there is serenity
There is no chaos, there is harmony
There is no death, there is the Force

~ The Jedi Code (As established by Odan-Urr)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

CORUSCANT

Underneath the star-speckled sky of Coruscant, with metal spires and domes stretching skyward and airspeeders zipping about overhead, Luke Skywalker did battle with a Dark Jedi. A battle of swordplay and Force ability and sheer will. Green and red shafts of light danced and struck each other with brutal precision and efficiently. Luke blocked a strike, ducked a follow-up swing and returned with one of his own.

He had tracked the Dark Jedi to Coruscant only the day before. A slave-trader by the name of Danton Tok; he mainly operated in Hutt Confederacy space, but was meeting a contact on Coruscant about a potential shipment of new slaves. Not that Luke was going to let that happen of course. He was the Darkslayer; a being of urban myth. He had started out as a simple wanderer, gallivanting around the galaxy in search of adventure but was now the scrounge of the underworld, hunting down slavers and murderers and pretty much everyone who was immoral and unjust.

That was where Tok came in. Luke had been hunting him ever since he had caught wind of Tok delivering a shipment of Twi'lek slaves to a world of the Trade Alliance, where they would be put to work in the factories. It had taken him best part of three weeks to drudge up the contacts and trails to find his whereabouts. He had been mildly surprised to find that Tok was on Coruscant. Infamous slaver, in the heart of the Republic? Luke supposed that the Republic didn't really care unless the slaves were in its territory. The Clone Wars had left it a shadow of its former self, with over two thirds of its systems breaking away to become neutral or join with others to create a smaller multi-system government.

"Y'know, Danton," Luke called out, amused, "You really need to consider changing where you meet your contacts."

"Darkslayer, you truly fail to meet the rumours. You are but a boy."

Luke blocked another slash, and settled into a defensive pattern, waving a cage of green about him. The simple, static rhythm would lull Tok into a false sense of security and eventually reveal a weakness to be exploited. Or so Luke hoped. "I reckon I'm doing alright."

"You will die, Darsklayer. You have no idea what lurks in the corners of the galaxy, waiting for a chance to step out of the shadows."

"And what would that be?

Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano raced across the Coruscant skyline in a government airspeeder, with her apprentice Mara Jade in the seat beside her. The Jedi Council had heard that both the slaver Danton Tok and the galactic vigilante referred to as the Darkslayer were present in the Republic capital.

"So, this Darkslayer guy," Mara started, "Why's the Council so keen to have him brought in?"

"The Council isn't." Ahsoka corrected, "The Chancellor is. Maybe he wants to put him on Republic missions or something."

Mara nodded and looked out the window thoughtfully. Republic intelligence had informed them that the Darkslayer was actually synonymous with a number of other urban legends: there was the Doctor, a sort of wandering wizard who did good deeds, and the Wise Man; who preached non-violence and could turn around entire armies with a few well-picked words. RI believed that it was the same person, or at least the same group.

Ahsoka carefully extended her senses, stretching out into the Force and tried to find the signature of the Darkslayer. Faintly, she could feel it, along with the darker presence of Danton Tok. She adjusted their flight path and sped up. They were to bring both in, although Ahsoka had gotten the feeling the warrant for Tok had come from the Council alone.

"Master –"

"I know, I feel it too." While Danton had the obvious signature of a Dark Jedi, the Darkslayer was a bit of an anomaly. They could both feel him in the Force, but it was almost as if he could control what he wanted others to sense. They couldn't tell if he was light or dark. That worried Ahsoka.

Blue lightning arced towards Luke, who barely managed to get his lightsaber up in time to block it.

"The Sith are coming, Darkslayer!"

"The Sith are gone." Luke retorted, "They died with Palpatine and Dooku."

"Their breed of Sith, yes." Danton acknowledged, "But Sith kind comes in many forms, of which their order was but one. And there are other evils in the galaxy besides."

Luke leapt forward, sweeping low, then reversed it and swung high. The two blades collided with a crackle and locked. Vaguely, Luke could sense the imminent arrival of other Force-wielders. Jedi.

"Such as?"

Danton parried the stab, and sent another fork of lightning his way. "The Old Ones are returning."

Luke slammed into him with a telekinetic wave and sent him stumbling. Luke charged forward and pressed the assault. Danton managed to block the first slash, but was blindsided by a swift kick to the side, and he followed through with a stab to the chest which ultimately connected.

If it had been any other lightsaber, Danton's heart would've been turned to cinder. Luke however, abhorred killing if unnecessary, and so had modified his lightsaber with a secondary setting; the stunsaber. Like a stun bolt, it merely incapacitated the victim. Danton Tok collapsed to the ground in a heap, lightsaber slipping from his hands and sizzling out.

Luke stared at his defeated foe, considering what he had said. An ancient foe and a new breed of Sith. That could not possibly be good. He would have to investigate further.

A ripple in the Force told him the Jedi had arrived. Two. Probably Master and Apprentice. He extended his Force sense out, careful to keep his nature hidden. Yes. Master-Apprentice pair, the Master was a Togruta, the apprentice a human. Both female. Luke realised that the togruta was Ahsoka Tano; his father's former apprentice. Definitely time to go, the Jedi could have Danton.

Luke slipped over to the edge of the rooftop they were on and looked below. He was hundreds of stories up, and yet was barely half-way into the city-planet's depths. He could see the red triangle of the Jedi airspeeder hurtling towards him. He had to go, now.

He looked back down, trying to see if there was anything suitable for him to jump onto. He could hide his Force-presence and slip away, with the Jedi unable to trace him. Nothing useful jumped out at him.

The Jedi speeder reached his roof. It swung around before settling down, and the canopy slid open with a hiss. Ahsoka Tano and her apprentice – a red-haired woman with emerald green eyes. Ahsoka was the first to notice the unconscious slaver on the ground, and seemed puzzled.

"Why is he not dead?" She asked simply.

Luke shrugged, glad the mask he wore hid his face. "Not a fan of killing. Too messy."

"Master?" The apprentice spoke up, "What do we do?"

The torguta eyed Luke up. "Mara and I have been instructed to bring you into Republic custody by the authority of the Jedi High Council and the Senate of the Republic. Will you come peacefully?"

Luke simply shook his head.

"Thought as much." Ashoka sighed. The apprentice – Mara – pulled out her lightsaber and ignited it with a snap-hiss and charged forward, obviously hoping for quick and efficient capture. Luke, however, was unsurprised and simply pulled her forward with the Force; Mara overshot and nearly fell past Luke and off the roof before catching herself. Ahsoka hissed something under her breath about impatience and ignited her own lightsaber.

Luke examined the situation, before seeing the perfect getaway vehicle; a food truck. He looked at the two Jedi almost apologetically. "Sorry, but you know how it is. Places to be, planets to save."

And with that, Luke twisted around and with help from the Force, launched himself off of the roof, through the air into an arc, before landing almost weightlessly on the truck. Within a few seconds he had shut down his presence in the Force beyond what the Jedi would be able to follow, and was away before either could make any attempt to follow.

Mara couldn't help but feel annoyed at herself as Ashoka helped her to her feet. She had been impatient, acting before thinking and allowing the Darkslayer to escape. She should have let her Master continue talking, until a suitable opportunity presented itself.

"I'm sorry, Master." She said quietly.

Ashoka simply nodded. "You acted far too rashly, my young padawan. However, I feel this is not the last we have seen of him."

Mara nodded. "And we have the slaver."

"Indeed."

As her Master commed the Temple to update the council and request that someone come to detain Danton, Mara reflected on the Darkslayer. He was a powerful Force-user; that went without saying. His attire was some kind of hybrid of Jedi and bounty hunter; the dark and tight-fitting robes he had worn were interspersed with chest armour, greaves and gauntlets which to Mara looked like they had a lot of gadgets built in. Then there was the faceless mask, largely featureless save for the gold slit of a visor. He certainly looked the part of a vigilante at least.

Ashoka returned from her call. "I've informed the Council and Master Skywalker wishes us to return to the Temple for debriefing."

Mara simply nodded, still fuming at herself. "We all make mistakes, Mara."

"It was completely stupid of me."

"Perhaps." Ashoka conceded. "But you are a very gifted student. The best you can do is learn from your mistakes. After the debrief, take some time to meditate."

"Yes, Master." Mara said.

It is my belief that the current annual budget for the Jedi Order is unnecessarily large and grossly misallocated when compared to agencies of similar size, and only allows them to spend more on unnecessary pursuits. Given the current economic climate, I suggest that their budget be reduced. I feel they should be reclassified as a military or judicial branch, and adjust their budget to fall in line with sister agencies.

DECLARATION BY THEN-CHANCELLOR MERK QUIXAS AT ANNUAL BUDGET ALLOCATION MEETING

JEDI TEMPLE, CORUSCANT

Mara Jade and Ahsoka Tano stood before the Jedi Council, giving their rather brief report of events that had taken place during their assignment to bring the Darkslayer and Danton Tok into Jedi custody. The Council Chamber was a circular room with a marble floor, set in one of the Jedi Temple's towers; wide transparisteel windows overlooked the Coruscant cityscape. Twelve memory-foam chairs were arranged around the room in a circle, and each one bore a Jedi Master.

The Council consisted of twelve high-ranking Jedi Masters, chosen for their wisdom and ability in the ways of the Force. At the centre of the circle was Grand Master Yoda; And the Council's three other permanent places were held by Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The eight remaining Masters held Council places for a period of three years before standing down unless given a permanent seat. There was Kaja Metra, a Twi'lek who had served with distinction in the Clone Wars and an expert swordsman. There was Alisis Kre-Te, a human woman from Belis V; Rotarrack, a Wookiee whose mastery and wisdom of the Force belied his fear-inducing stature. A powerful Watchman called Omal Cante and the historian Terys Te. The Mon Calamari Jedi called Mal Portalum was present only as a hologram and Healer Yu-Cas wasn't present at all, being busy dealing with a viral outbreak on Chandrilia.

"Do either of you have anything further to add to your report?" Master Windu asked.

"No Masters." Ahsoka answered. "Unless Apprentice Jade has something to add?"

Mara shook her head negative. There really hadn't been all that much to discuss in the first place. The Darkslayer had incapacitated the slaver then escaped. They hadn't bothered to bring up her mistake since they both secretly felt that he would have escaped anyway.

"A mystery then, this Darkslayer remains." Yoda said, in his unique manner.

"We need to discover where he trained." Mal Portalum suggested. "He is powerful, and there is no way he was self-taught or not of any official Force order."

"I agree." Terys added, "If we can find out where he received his training, then we might be able to figure out who he is."

"Is it possible he is dismissed from our Order due to the reforms?" Kaja considered, "We've put a lot of freelance Force wielders out into the galaxy."

Omal Cante shook his head. "Unlikely. We managed to resettle a lot of them and all those that fit the bill are accounted for."

Rottarack rumbled in Shyriwook. "Does it matter? We have seen no indication that he is a Dark-sider. Unless that changes, I see no issue in turning a blind eye to his efforts."

Kenobi chose that moment to interject: "The problem is not his actions, it's the fact we know so little about him; how someone could obtain such skill without us hearing about it."

"I agree with Rottarack." Skywalker said. "He's obviously a good person; he obviously has a moral code that works with ours. He mainly operates in areas we can't which is another bonus."

"The issue," Kenobi repeated, "Isn't what he's doing. It's the fact that we don't know how he does it."

"So we investigate, but don't interfere." Skywalker summed up simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The problem is that the Chancellor wants him brought in." Mace pointed out, "We can't just turn a blind eye."

"Maybe we should." Rottarack said, "The Republic simply does not give us enough support."

"We're still bound to serve it though." Terys retorted, "We cannot simply ignore that."

"Maybe we should. We're the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy." Skywalker began, "Except we only act in the Republic, and the worst of the galaxies' troubles are out in the rim, beyond said Republic."

A few of the Masters nodded in agreement, but Kenobi and Mal were not among them. "The Republic is the best medium we have to aid the galaxy." Portalum snapped.

Yoda finally decided to reign in the tangent the meeting had been going on. "A discussion for another time, this is. Decide what to do about the Darkslayer, we must."

Kaja was the first to offer a suggestion. "How about we assign Master Tano and Apprentice Jade to investigate him until we are able to determine the best course of action. Gets the Chancellor off our backs and we get more information that'll help us decide whether or not to actually bring him in or not."

Yoda nodded in agreement. "Merit, your suggestion has. Vote, the Council will."

The Council agreed. Master Windu turned to Ahsoka and Mara. "Do you accept this assignment?"

The two exchanged a look of silent discussion, before Ahsoka nodded. "We accept."

"Very well. You are dismissed."

"May the Force be with you, Masters." Ahsoka bade them.

"And with you."

Outside the Council Chamber, Mara turned to her Master. "Where do we begin?"

Ahsoka shrugged, not entirely sure. "How do you find a vigilante practically ripped from the holovids?"

"Watch a lot of them?" Mara joked. "We could try and find something in the Archives."

Her Master nodded in agreement. "You search the Archives. I'll try to find something from some old contacts."

Later in the evening, Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker sat in his apartment, awaiting the return of his wife. He reflected on the events of today; the Council meeting, the debate of what to be done about the Darkslayer, and the heated debates about the Jedi's relationship with the Republic that had had occurred after his former apprentice had left.

Anakin was finding it increasingly hard to find reasons why the Order should stay with the Republic. They were keepers of the peace, defenders of the innocent. They were servants of the galaxy and the Force, and the restrictions the Republic kept heaping on them were beginning to run directly contradictory to that mantle. They refused to let them operate in Commonwealth or League territory; they piled on layers of bureaucracy and administration; and perhaps worst of all, they had completely slashed the Order's funds. Prior to the war, the Order had maintained everything to a peak efficiency; all the asked for in exchange for the work was the funds necessary to keep and maintain equipment at its full efficiency. Now; the shuttles were falling apart, the Temple was run-down; they had to constantly recycle old clothes since they couldn't afford to buy new robes. Perhaps worst of all, they couldn't even afford to keep all their Jedi. For the first time in the Order's history, they had been forced to dismiss Jedi. Over two thousand had been made to leave the Jedi Order to find work.

Although the Chancellor who had forced this situation on them was no longer in power, the one that had succeeded him hadn't done much to help. For all of Padme's arguments on the matter, Chancellor Bail Organa simply wasn't helping them; and seemed to be working on his own galactic ideals and wasn't in touch with the reality of the galaxy that had been born after the war. Anakin felt that Organa believed that eventually the galaxy would return to the Republic. It had been a point of confrontation with Padme, who had long since retired as Senator and had become advisor to the Chancellor's office.

Anakin sighed, looking out of the window across the Coruscant skyline. He could forget the Order's troubles until tomorrow. Leia would be coming over for dinner; he hadn't seen her since she went to visit the Hapes Consortium. Anakin hadn't been particularly happy to discover that their Prince Isolder was courting her affections. But still, it would be nice to see her. C-3PO was in the kitchen cooking nerf-steak and mash.

Luke should be here.

It had been ten years since Luke had disappeared. It didn't make losing him any easier. The war had just ended; for their safety, they had sent Luke and Leia into hiding. Leia had gone to stay with some of Padme's friends on Alderaan, while Luke had been sent to Tatooine to be watched over by Owen and Beru Lars, Anakin's stepbrother and his wife. He had taken well to the farm lifestyle, and his Jedi studies had progressed well despite the relative isolation from his Jedi trainers.

Three years after he had gone to live on Tatooine, there had been an attack. The Order had never managed to find out who had done it. They had come in the cold Tatooine night; and absconded with him, leaving the two injured Lars behind. And they had never found Luke again. They couldn't even find him in the Force.

Anakin let out a breath, and opened his mind to the Force, letting its cool currents wash away his stress and sadness. "Threepio, how's the food coming along? The girls are arriving soon."

Luke Skywalker looked around the nightclub with mild amusement. Of all the places on Coruscant, Han Solo had to meet him in a nightclub. The inside of the Liquor's Lust was bathed in orange light; neon holo-banners of blue and green and purple danced around the bar, and in the corner were a trio of dancing humanoid women.

He didn't need to search particularly hard for Han. Instead of looking for the "legitimate" smuggler, he simply looked over the heads of the other patrons for Han's partner and friend, Chewbacca; a Wookie that owed him a life-debt, which was a spiritual oath to protect someone that had done the Wookiee a great service. Sure enough, at one of the circular cubicles the mass of shaggy fur towered over the others in the bar.

Luke made his way over. "Han, why the nightclub?"

The roguish Corellian grinned and took a swig of amber as Luke sat down. "Why the mask?"

"Keeps my face hidden." Luke shrugged. Chewbacca yelped something in Shryiwook. "Are you trying to procure a mate?"

Han burst out laughing while Luke simply cocked an eyebrow behind his mask. "No, Chewie, I'm not."

"Hey, you're getting attention anyway." Han noted, "You've got the whole mysterious stranger thing going on."

"That's nice." Luke said absent-mindedly, "Han, what do you know about the Sith?"

"The Sith? You mean the evil Jedi guys that started the Clone Wars and got wiped out? Pretty much just that."

Luke nodded, he hadn't been particularly hopeful. "Just heard a whisper, is all. There could be another group of Sith out there."

Han cocked an eyebrow. "You really don't get a break do you? Ancient Dark side spirits, that Abeloth monster from the Maw, then there was that Yuuzhan Vong invasion we ended up preventing. Oh, and let's not forget all those crime lords and slave rackets you hunt down."

"I didn't do it alone." Luke protested, "There was always help. Sometimes I didn't really do anything."

"Except get seriously injured every time in direct combat until you learned patience and cunning." Chewie chimed in. "You may be powerful, but you always seem to come off worse in fights until you get lucky."

"That's my luck rubbing off on him." Han smirked.

"Or the will of the Force." Luke chuckled.

The smuggler rolled his eyes. "Here we go."

Luke was about to argue back when his wrist gauntlet beeped. "Y'know," Han commented dryly, "You've got more toys than Boba Fett. We've had enough run-ins to compare with."

He ignored the jibe and examined his wrist; the holographic panel lit up and displayed a HoloNet report from the Coruscant Security Force. A revolutionary group locally known as the New Age Hand had kidnapped a bus of civilians and held them in an abandoned construction site nearby. They were refusing to release the hostages until they were granted audience with the Chancellor himself to discuss reforms to the system. Like that was ever going to happen. They must be kriffing idiots, thinking that'll work.

"Duty calls?" Han asked in amusement.

"Duty calls." Luke acknowledged. Han considered before downing the rest of his drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Whaddya think, Chewie? Want to play heroes again?"

Chewie roared an affirmative. Han snorted, before speaking again; "Guess it's the old team back together again then." He paused. "We better not end up on Felucia again. I am not running away from another pack of water gnashers."

Luke laughed, before standing up. "Don't forget about Hoth."

Chewie shuddered. "I thought we agreed never to bring that up?"

"As long as we don't need to fight another Gorog, I think we'll be fine."

Excerpt from Major Post-War Galactic Governments , by Jetsun Tarilla.

Galactic Republic: Formerly the dominant galactic government, events and concessions after the war had caused the Republic to split and fragment, effectively losing two thirds of its overall territory, predominantly in the mid-rim regions. Due to the war and later concessions to member-states, the Republic is facing a deep economic downturn and struggling to regain any real post-war stability.

Galactic Commonwealth: Successor state to the Seperatist movement, the Commonwealth was established simultaneously with the signing of the Treaty of Kamino and consists of the majority of the two-thousand odd systems that were part of the original Seperatists. Post-war it has fared significantly better than the Republic due to the higher number of industrial and service worlds within its territory.

Trade Alliance: An alliance-government of many small systems and trade unions, it has generated much friction with both the Republic and Commonwealth due to its overall lack of sentient rights; meaning both a low quality of life in much of the territories and the effective presence of slavery.

League of Independent Systems: Created from systems that split from the Republic after the war and based on Corellia. A true military super-power, it maintains a large military and industrial sector; and produces much of the Galaxies' war ships and technology.

Hutt Clans: The Hutts continue to have a strong grip of many of the impoverished outer-rim worlds, with little true law or order. Hutt space is a large area for criminals and smugglers.

A/N:Like it so far? Hate it so far? You know the drill, you read/review, I write more. Ideas and constructive criticism are welcome. And If I've gotten anything wrong, tell me about that too.