The Force of Ichigo
Making the right decision
It is on the space station known by many as the Death Star that we find the main character of this story, Ichigo Kurosaki, currently hiding his presence from all that resided within the spacious chamber. He was watching the battle between Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Starkiller.
The man had just put himself in a situation of sacrificing himself, so that the members of Rebel Alliance could escape. Darth Vader was just entering as Garm Bel Iblis, Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Rahm Kota were preparing to run. Ichigo could even see the Rogue Shadow, Starkiller's ship preparing for its escape.
Before he could do anything, he saw a vision of the future, of what would happen if he didn't interfere. He did not like it one bit, but before he could act, he was hit with another vision, or visions, depending on how you see it. Instead of the future, this one showed him of his past.
XXXXX
Something that many didn't know was that Galen Marek, Starkiller's real name, was in fact not Darth Vader's apprentice. Well, he was for the first couple of years. When the dark lord first found Galen, he felt that the child was strong in the force and took him as his apprentice.
Four years into the future, Vader was passing by a galaxy that had inhabitants that had yet to travel further than their planet's moon. It was during this passing, that Darth Vader sensed something. Something that put to shame the power held by Galen.
Taking his personal TIE Fighter and using the force to cloak it from prying eyes (not sure if possible, but it's my story), he landed close to the source of the power, which happened to be at the side of a river. He exited his fighter into the pouring night, his cape soaking with water within moments as the sound drowned out the deep breathing of his suits respirator.
He looked at the source of the power and saw a young boy with orange hair on his knees, looking at a body covered in blood with a blank expression on his face. Darth Vader realised that the child was in shock.
He took a step towards the child, only to stop as the boy raised his head and looked directly at the Sith. Vader raised his hand, using the force to raise the boy off the ground and brought him closer.
Turning, he walked with the boy floating behind him back into his TIE Fighter.
Years had passed and Ichigo had trained under Darth Vader's tutelage, replacing Galen Marek, named Starkiller by the Sith lord as his new apprentice. Ichigo had picked up quicker than Starkiller, surpassing the ex-apprentice and surprising Vader by becoming friends with him. They trained together with Ichigo becoming stronger much faster than the other.
When Starkiller asked why this was happening, Darth Vader simply replied;
"Through training, Starkiller you become stronger, but it is in true battle that Ichigo gains strength. For he knows that if he falls, he will not be able to aid you. The force is strong in him but it is even stronger when he must protect what he considers family."
Starkiller left, thinking about what his ex-master said, while back with Darth Vader, Ichigo hopped out of the vent he was hiding in.
"Do you regret having the force be a part of you?" the master asked his apprentice.
Something that Ichigo had never told Starkiller was that when he had accepted the force and gained the ability to use it, he had started to have visions. Visions of the future, the present, and even the past.
"No, my master." Was the reply given.
Darth Vader turned his back to his apprentice, a sign that he was dismissed and walked to the glass, looking out into the expansion of space.
Before he left though, Ichigo spoke softly, but loud enough for his master to hear.
"I also consider you family." With that he left the Sith, having sensed the surprise that his master felt from his confession.
It was a short time after that that Darth Vader took his apprentice with him on a covert mission from the Emperor, leaving Starkiller with a droid named PROXY to train with.
It was when he came back from that mission that Starkiller noticed something was wrong with his friend. Ichigo slowly stopped showing his emotions, started distancing himself from Galen, and the only times that he would be seen was when he wanted to speak to his master.
Starkiller tried to get answers, but was warned from Vader himself to keep his own distance away. It was shortly after this that Vader had informed Starkiller that he would be acting as the Sith's apprentice in case his plans for overthrowing the Emperor was ever found out.
He started training under his pseudo-master, only catching glimpses of his old friend throughout the years. Until one day he was called to by Vader.
Coming up to the Sith, he kneeled and awaited his orders.
"Rise, my apprentice." Darth Vader spoke. They both knew that he wasn't his apprentice, but you never knew if someone was listening in and they could not let the truth come out.
"What is your will, my master?"
"Your training is nearly complete. It is time to face your first true test." The implications of what Vader said made Starkiller look at the Sith in surprise.
"Your spies have located a Jedi? He asked.
"Yes. Master Rahm Kota. He is attacking a critical imperial shipyard. Destroy him and bring me his lightsaber."
"I shall leave at once, master." Before he could walk to far away, his 'master' spoke one last time.
"The Emperor cannot discover you. Leave no witnesses, kill everyone aboard, imperials and Kota's men alike."
"I shall pass it along." What Starkiller said would sound strange to anyone that hadn't known of the true apprentice, but since there are only four beings that know this, it shouldn't matter much.
It was just as he entered the hangar, that Starkiller felt a presence that he knew all too well. He quickly drew and activated his red lightsaber and swung around, blocking a blue-coloured one from striking him down.
They swung at each other before Starkiller used the force to push his assailant onto the ground before stabbing him in the abdomen, causing the hologram to disable, revealing the attacker to be none other than PROXY.
"Ah, master. Another excellent duel!" the droid spoke in a jovial tone.
"PROXY. You did catch me by surprise. I haven't fought that training program in years. I thought you'd erased it." Confessed the fake apprentice.
"I hoped that using an older training module would catch you off guard and allow me to finally kill you. I'm sorry I failed you again." PROXY actually sounded remorseful with his apology.
"I'm sure you'll keep trying."
"Of course master." The droid told him.
They started walking between containers on their way to their ship.
"Yeah but do me a favour. Don't ambush me anytime-" he stopped himself when he saw a beautiful blonde woman wearing an imperial uniform working on his ship.
"PROXY!" Starkiller whispered, dragging said droid behind a container.
"Yes… why are we whispering?" the droid asked.
"Who is that?"
"Ah, yes. Your new pilot has finally arrived, master." PROXY informed him. "Accessing imperial records."
The next thing that Starkiller saw was the same woman standing in front of him. PROXY then, presumably in the woman's voice, explained who she was.
"Captain Juno Eclipse. Born on Corulag, where she became the youngest student ever accepted into the imperial academy. Decorated combat pilot with over one hundred combat missions, and commanding officer during the bombing of Callos. Hand-picked by Lord Vader to lead his Black Five Squadron, but later reassigned to a top-secret mission…"
"Is there a psychological profile in there too?" spoke up the same voice, but coming from a different body.
Both Starkiller and PROXY turned the corner to see Juno Eclipse looking at them with an unhappy expression gracing her face.
PROXY dropped the hologram and looked at the pilot.
"Actually, yes. But it's restricted." He told her as he leaned towards Starkiller. "Oh, master, I can tell you she's going to be impossible to reprogram."
"Do you know why you're here?" he asked the woman.
"Yes. My orders are clear. I am to keep your ship running and fly you wherever your missions require."
Starkiller made the decision to tell her something that would hopefully keep her from doing anything that would cause her serious trouble.
"Did Vader tell you that he killed our last pilot?"
"No. but I can only assume that he gave Lord Vader good reason to do so. I will not." She told him with certainty.
'Keep your distance. You have to be careful around her.' He thought to himself before looking at her. "Well let's hope so. I'm sick of training new pilots. What have you done to my ship?"
"I've, uh… taken the liberty of upgrading the Rogue Shadow's sensor array. Now you'll be able to spy on any suspect ships within the entire system." She stopped and looked right at Starkiller. "You are one of Vader's spies?"
Turning to look at her, Starkiller was about to reply when suddenly his hand shot up, surprising Juno as he caught an item the size of his fist. They and the droid looked up and saw a figure sitting on the edge of the ship with his legs hanging over the side, holding another of the same item in his hand.
While Starkiller war the simple training gear, this character wore the Sith robe. A suit usually worn by Sith warriors, combining a hooded robe with basic armor.
"A Sith warrior!" Juno whispered under her breath with fear in her eyes as they stayed focused on the unknown stranger. That is until Starkiller stepped in front of her, as if to protect her from the other being.
The apprentice looked at the stranger with suspicion in his eyes, until he looked at the item still in his hand. Realisation came across his face, causing the Sith to gain a small smirk before he spoke.
"Miss me, Galen?" he spoke as he hopped of the ship and landed in front of the other man.
Ignoring what the man said, Starkiller unwrapped what was in his hand to reveal a burger. Raising it and an eyebrow, he asked his long-time friend.
"Why this?" his friend, using the hand that wasn't holding a burger, removed his hood, revealing to Starkiller the face of Ichigo, along with showing that he had let his hair grow down to the bottom of his neck with his fringe almost covering one of his eyes.
"A peace offering." At Starkiller's look, he continued. "I know that for the last couple of years I've been distant. I don't want you to blame Lord Vader for that. I asked him to keep you away from me."
"Why?" his old friend asked.
"As you can see," he pointed to his armor, cape and hood before continuing, "I needed to get myself in the mindset of a Sith."
"What do you mean by that?" Juno asked as she must have finally gotten over her shock of being in the presence of another Sith.
A playful smirk overtook Ichigo's face as he then told them what he meant.
"You know, all moody, prideful and without any friends."
Starkiller stared at Ichigo before letting out a little chuckle and patting the other man on the shoulder.
"You've always had a terrible sense of humour, you know that right?" he asked Ichigo.
"Yeah, yeah. Doesn't matter. Now, why don't you introduce me to your pilot." He told Galen.
"Okay… Ichigo Kurosaki, Juno Eclipse, my pilot. Juno, Ichigo, my old friend and a Sith warrior from the looks of it."
"You know it! Oh, just so you guys know, I'm gonna be taking over some of Starkiller's missions." He informed them, receiving nods of acceptance. "C'mon, let's get on with this mission."
Starkiller walked into the ship, leaving Juno and Ichigo standing out of it. Juno started to enter the ship when a hand grabbed her wrist and held it in a vice-like grip. Turning her head, she saw a serious expression on Ichigo's face and in return he saw the fear return to her eyes. Leaning in he looked her in the eyes and whispered quietly.
"I can sense feelings for him, a small amount right now, but in the future they will build. No matter what you try, they will grow stronger. My only warning is that if you break his heart, you will learn just how electrifying a Sith using lightning can be. Do you understand?"
Receiving a succession of quick nods from the terrified woman, he let go of her wrist and gave her a small smile. He then proceeded to enter the ship, not before calling over his shoulder.
"Make sure to keep him in the light."
XXXXX
Having seen a few short and one longer visions of the past, he made up his mind. Planning to run at the Emperor, he was surprised when he felt some kind of energy other than the force course through him and towards his legs, powering them. He did not have any time to think about it, as his friend was about to die.
He activated his lightsaber, letting the black inside surrounded by the white glow calm him, he tried to take a step out and suddenly appeared behind Palpatine. Letting his instincts take over, before the Emperor could react, he stabbed his blade through his chest, destroying Palpatine's heart.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the new arrival in confusion, as the stranger was wearing Sith robes. Palpatine slowly turned his head, eyes wide in shock as he saw who had killed him. He quickly turned his head towards Vader and asked in a weak and shaky voice.
"Another one! You had another apprentice?" at receiving a nod from Darth Vader, the Emperor released a pathetic, humourless laugh out before speaking again. "Why didn't I think of that?"
With that, Ichigo deactivated his lightsaber and hung it on the right side of his hip as the left currently held three lightsabers. He made sure to lower the dead body of the Emperor to the ground, receiving looks of disbelief from all but Darth Vader and Starkiller, as they knew the real reason he did it.
"Why did you do that, boy?" asked Rahm Kota. Even if he couldn't see, he could sense the power that the boy held. He held even more than Starkiller.
Ichigo removed his hood and gave the blind man a small but kind smile.
"I could not let my friend die." He told him before moving two of his fingers slightly, unlocking and removing the cuffs that held the Rebel Alliance members. He then turned towards the Stormtroopers that came with Vader and told them, "You can leave now. There is no need for you lot to be here."
The troopers exchanged looks of confusion, until Vader himself gestured for him to leave. They quickly left, leaving everyone else confused as to what was going on.
Bail Organa was the one that broke the silence.
"You three planned all of this?" he asked, pointing at Starkiller, Ichigo and Vader.
Starkiller was about to answer when Ichigo appeared right next to him, placing his hand on his shoulder and answered instead.
"No, Galen had nothing to do with this. Even Vader didn't know about what I was going to do. It's as I said, I didn't want to lose my friend and the only way to keep him alive, was to kill the Emperor." Ichigo explained.
It was Garm Bel Iblis who brought up something that needed to be answered.
"Does this mean that the Rebel Alliance is no longer needed?" he questioned, looking at the dead body of the Emperor as if it would come back to life.
"That's right!" Ichigo answered, before continuing, "The Rebel Alliance is no longer needed. But an Alliance is needed to rebuild all that was destroyed by the Empire. One with the Empire."
The outrage that came over many of the faces there were removed by Kota's question.
"Why would Darth Vader join an alliance? He is a Sith."
Ichigo released a sigh before replying.
"He was also once a Jedi. Galen," at this Ichigo pointed at Starkiller, "Started as a Sith-in-training, but is now technically a Jedi. And I do believe that I am neither a Jedi or a Sith."
"And why is that boy?" Kota asked.
"Because I believe that nobody is pure good or pure evil and to be honest, the biggest reason is that it seems like such a hassle." Ichigo explained calmly. "And besides, I'm sure he would rather find out about his kids."
"You have children!?" Bail exclaimed.
"I have children?" Darth Vader questioned Ichigo, only to receive a nod in return.
"Yeah, and an alliance will benefit both you and Senator Organa. Also on this piece of paper is the whereabouts of your other child, your son Luke Skywalker. Don't go doing anything to the people that raised him you hear?" Ichigo handed the piece of paper over to the man that was no longer his master.
"I am willing to try for this alliance." What Vader said shocked all but Ichigo, who started walking over to his friend, and began dragging him in the direction of the Rogue Shadow.
"Hope you guys work out your differences." Ichigo called over his shoulder, before stopping and calling to Vader. "Also on that paper is a list of things I'm going to need before Galen and I leave. Can you do that for me?"
"…Very well, Ichigo."
Ichigo and Galen quickly left, not wanting to deal with the politics that were bound to come up. It was as they neared the hangar that held the landed Rogue Shadow, that they saw a group of ten troopers loading two crates into their ship.
"That was fast." Ichigo said in surprise.
"Let's just go already." Galen told him.
They both entered the ship and before they could react, they were both attacked by different people in different ways.
Starkiller was attacked by a bear hug and lots of kisses from Juno, while Ichigo was attacked by two blue-coloured tonfa lightsabers, from none other than Maris Brood, the female Zabrak he had taken from the planet Felucia and was currently trying to help from becoming dark.
Ichigo looked into her yellow eyes and gave a smirk as he spoke.
"I know that you wanted revenge against Vader, but I hope that the Emperor's death can make up for that." What he told her, received three gasps. One from Juno, who had gotten off Starkiller with a blush covering her cheeks. The second was from Maris, and Ichigo could sense the happiness that the lost woman gained from hearing that piece of information.
The last gasp, however was from none other than one of the last remaining members of the Jedi council, the female Togruta Shaak Ti. Ichigo had saved the woman from sacrificing herself to the Sarlacc, and was able to convince her to leave the planet with him.
The relief on her face was quickly wiped away as she asked a question.
"What about Darth Vader?" they all looked at Ichigo, who gave a nervous chuckle.
"I may have given him information that has convinced him to join in an alliance with the others… and since I have no intention of pretty much ever involving myself in politics, I quickly grabbed Galen and left."
Luckily, they all had known Ichigo long enough to trust his judgment. After all, he did trust them enough to confide in all of them that he had the ability to see better into the future than any other force aware being that any of them have met.
"So what do we do now?" asked the pilot. They all looked to Ichigo as they saw his smirk turn into a genuine smile.
"So, who'd like to see my home world?"
EXTRA
Darth Vader pointed to himself and repeated himself to the young boy for the seventh time.
"Dar-th Vay-der."
"Dar-tuh Fay-dar?" replied nine year old Ichigo.
The Sith slowly raised his hand, contemplating whether or not the child deserved to live with his horrible language skills.
"I am starting to dislike you." He told the child
"I amu stu-ruting to dis-ru-ike yoo."
Vader stood up and walked to the door, within his helmet, his eye was twitching in annoyance.
'That is it! I am leaving this up to the droids.'
Within the room, Ichigo let out a chuckle as he repeated what he said, only better and with a smile on his face.
"I am staruting to ruike you."
XXXXX
[A.N.]
Hi… another story… must be getting annoying right?
Anyway, a couple of things I want to talk about.
First will be of how quick Vader was to accept the alliance. In this, Ichigo had just given him information of his children, that Palpatine had lied to him about them being dead and because of Ichigo calling him family, I feel that he would truly trust Ichigo's judgement, compared to the evil Darth Vader you get in the game.
Second, I don't know if you can use the force in a way that would allow you to shield something from people's eyes, but I'm going to have it be that way.
Last, if you have any questions, please put it in a review and if I can, I will answer it in the next chapter. I also love criticism that helps me improve the story.
Also if there is anyone out there who is willing suggest either a better title or better chapter title after I put them up, that would be very welcome, as I am not that creative with names.
Thank you for reading this.