I had a car swap I had to do that completely surprised me, so I am going to have to delay the latest Harry Potter Reads the Mutliverse chapter's progress until Sunday, when the process should hopefully be done. Until then, I felt like doing a bit of an experiment.
See, so far my successful story ventures in the world of Fanfiction have been limited to Naruto, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and oddly enough Jurassic Park. My attempt at venturing to Pokemon failed, though I was using a completely OC region and characters, though not OC pokemon, so perhaps that had something to do with it.
But perhaps, if I tried to see how I might go about in another fandom for a small spell...
Now, this story takes place in a world that is a rather cross over based world, though for the context of this story, these elements will only be hinted at, and will not be of great importance. This story, in fact, is about some characters in the story who will have a larger role in the stories future.
You may know them...or do you?
Regardless, this story is about how a trio of characters got to a particular story, and thus its rather independent in its own right. You do not have to read the original story, Harry Potter reads the Multiverse, to understand it.
In a Galaxy, Far, Far Away, over 4 years ago
"I'm sorry Master, but I'm not coming back"
She was once a Padawan of the grand order of the Jedi. Her master was a charming young Jedi Knight whose heroics were well regarded by the people of the Republic, and feared by the enemies of the Separatists. A hero in the light, who knew the touch of darkness, but didn't let it so dominate him that all in contact suffered pain and suffering. A darkness born not out of greed, or lust, but from emotions that should be far more gray.
Regardless of what his morality may be, she came to trust him beyond all others. The dynamic between them was not master and student, but more like brother and sister, or perhaps even father and daughter. However, politics, hate, and policy came to strike her down and break them apart. She was humiliated, declared guilty of a crime she didn't commit, and nearly executed.
Her master had saved her from this undeserved fate, but the real culprit was...someone that she had never expected. Why she, of all people, would do this, she had no idea. It came so far out of left field...not even the force could have ever foreseen it.
"I understand, more than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from the order"
"I know"
She knew about her master's greatest secret. His anchor, his light, his happiness...
His wife.
She defended her in the travesty of a trial she was given by a decaying institution that barely resembled democracy. She was a source of political insight, of the true beings that made of those that were considered rebels.
She had figured out something, that no one else seem to have. Perhaps the master of her master knew, or at least suspected, but he did not speak of it. Was it because of his respect for her master, or just something that was left be until the end of the war, another chosen deviation of morality?
What was the motivation behind those who said one thing, yet did something completely different?
In a Prison Cell, a Galaxy, Far, Far, Away
A black robed figure, whose skin was green was electro cuffed to a wall, but did not seem to truly despair. There was something...else to her. An cocktail of emotions, ranging from resolve, to regret, to annoyance, to even a pinch of relief.
"You have done well...Bariss Offee"
The green skinned female figure looked up, her uniquely tatooed face dotted with black diamonds over both sides of her nose to see the oddly dressed figure appear in her cell, his suit and hat alien to the worlds she had seen.
"The Force is a power that is polarized, yet you see it as it once was: a power than is not so Black and White, but gray. You can see that Dark can be used for good, and Light for bad. You saw that the Jedi were approaching that latter threshold. You saw how their failure to spy the darkest of serpents amongst them would doom your worlds to centuries of unnecessary suffering. Pointless wars of empires and republics, alliances and remnants, lives lost to pointless desires to return to the old, forgetting why they were no longer around. When I saw fit to give you the pathways that time may travel, you took the path that would bring your worlds to this safest of places, and for that you are applauded" the figure's dipped head rose up to reveal pure white, soulless eyes under his hat.
"At what cost? You refused to tell me who this snake is, and instead told me that the key to saving the future is destroying..." Bariss looked down in rage "How does breaking one of my only true friends, one of the only people who I have felt...strange emotions about, supposed to save entire worlds?!
"How cruel the Jedi Knight is" the enigmatic stranger spoke, a phantom to the monitors in the room, as was every word spoken "To feel the emotions generated by caring for someone, yet not know what they are. Even in the paths I normally walk, and the scum I see, even they understand, better than most Jedi, the connections of family, of friends, of love."
Bariss seemed confused "Of love? You speak of these, strange emotions I have...love for Ahsoka? That can not be, we are both girls..."
The strange man shook his head "Jedi fools...your heart feels great confusion, so I shall remind you of the good your actions have done. Had you not removed Ahsoka Tano from the Jedi Order, she would have been killed in approximately a month from her departure by the one known as Darth Tyrannus, or Count dooku. This death would have been merely a part of a cascade of choices made by the snake to see the fall of the Chosen One of the Force, Anakin Skywalker, fall to his control. The war has been a carefully laid plan to see more and more darkness take seed in his heart, emotions that the emotionally stunted Jedi are so vulnerable to. Darkness build upon by the return to Geonosis, and the parasites that would have never gotten the weakness of without the darkness. Darkness born of the Blue Shadow Virus, reborn for no true reason on the world his beloved called home, whose selflessness would have drawn her in to stop it herself. Darkness bubbling from the pains of the past, of Slavers and the industry that led him to endless pain. Of countless battles with those who were bathed in hate and corrupting darkness, and of the simple and true fact that war will darken any heart who ventured into its tendrils"
"Does it matter what forms pain, if the pain still happens? Why not just make it so I ensure that Ahsoka lives? Why not strike both Sith Lords down? And is not the pain of this failure, the cruelty of the council, the darkness perceived in the Jedi, are these not all weapons that the Sith will use on Anakin as you had explained it to me?"
The Stranger did not smile "It is a calculated risk that has paid off in ways that Ahsoka living could never had. A fact of life, of biology, of desire, that will protect the Chosen One from the Depths of the Sith in ways that Ahsoka never could. The pain of this day, has forged chains of light that will ensure that the path to the galaxy's best hope for a somewhat peaceful future is most brightly lit. However, do not think that we have forgotten the choices you had to make to bring this path to light"
The electro cuffs around her arms and legs deactivated as the Padawan landed on the ground, a lightsaber and bag of credits in each hand as the Stranger began to vanish like a phantom.
"The Stress you created, is the savior of worlds and lives uncountable. May you always take comfort in this unassailable fact, that stress can accelerate what may normally be a near year long ordeal by weeks or months even"
As the doors opened before her, the cameras deactivated, and the guarding clones suddenly running off in other directions, Bariss knew this would be her only chance to live, but one question remained vested in her mind, a question that greatly puzzled her.
What did the Stranger mean?
Two months later, a ruined city world in a Galaxy Far Far Away
The grand city of the Republic, lay in shattered ruins from the rage burning since the Rule of Two was founded in the age of Bane.
However, this rage was doused in more ways, that the death of the Apprentice.
The sole point of the Apprentice was to die by the hand of he who the master sought to become his new Apprentice, manipulated by the chains of duty and the seeds so carefully planted and cultivated.
However, the former Apprentice, the Count, died not by the loss of a head, but by a far more careful plot of missile blast as the Chancellor, in truth the true mastermind behind the battle and everything before it since well before even the future Apprentice was created, was spirited to safety by the Jedi Master of the theoretical new Apprentice of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The dark robed figure knew of this change not. The young Skywalker, he who was meant to be his ultimate weapon, was a brave, risk taking hero. It was his Modus Opporendi, a phrase in a dead tongue that he knew of from Sith Lore, to engage such enemies as his former Apprentice, blade to blade.
Why the change? To figure this riddle out, the hooded Master had followed the young Skywalker in the aftermath of the great battle...and found something that made the Dark Lord sick in his stomach.
The one who would become his apprentice, was hovering over a cradle, a child's rattle in hand, as he shook it inside it, making obnoxiously heart warming noises as two sets of pudgy little hands tried to grab at it. As the Dark Lord watched, his appearance cloaked by the same darkness he hid himself from the Jedi in such plain sight, the obnoxiously caring Senator from Naboo, a thorn in his side perhaps more aggravating than even the Jedi in her steadfast resilience against his plans embraced him with a great kiss as they looked happy.
Far too happy in the opinion of the Sith and the Jedi, in a rare agreement that only he knew of, and those Light Sided fools knew of not.
How ironic, that his greatest asset, and aggravation, were joined by more than bonds of friendship. Bonds of love, bonds of marriage, bonds of shared blood...bonds of joy.
Darth Sidious could not have this at all.
Before, he had noticed that Anakin had taken things a tad more seriously once the Clone Wars, as they were so dubbed, had begun in true earnest. He had assumed it had been merely due to his loss of hand by his Apprentice the Count.
He knew that the Senator and the Padawan were good friends, hence why she was included at many a time as a target for death. Friends in death, burned quite nicely and released the sparks of darkness that he needed to simmer in the young Jedi's heart.
But this close...this he had not known.
This, he could not accept.
There were many levels of duty between two beings in love. A duty to themselves, they had most likely seen as duty to the Republic in their respective theaters. They could risk themselves to death, be in on the battle field or by the assassins blade, to preserve the Republic they foolishly believed to be salvageable.
But with the birth of those...things were of a completely different level of problem. Skywalker was no longer taking his great risks, a change born out of a desire for the odd desire of a parental being, sentient or non sentient, to see their offspring again. The death of Dooku was supposed to begin the process of winding down his investment in this war, where he could begin the reforging of a Republic, to an Empire worthy of him.
But now, his overlooking of those two spawns may have cost him everything. Once the war ended, his powers would not last long under an onslaught led by the Mother in the chambers below. Her motherly instincts would not even be detrimental, not with an army of handmaidens who could easily watch the child.
And how aware those...things were, it would seem that the power of the father was passed on to them. While the loss of his hand may have reduced his powers, it was but a transport of sea water from Doc for all it did to Skywalker's power. In a few years, even without his hand, his already incredible powers may advance to something less deserving of the title of man, but of the title of god, and those children were clearly of far more intact sinew than their father.
Unless the boy had all his limbs turned to metal, and much of his tissues burnt away, he would reach a god like state one day. Even if he was reduced to a feeble living corpse, his powers would still be grander than most, if not all, Jedi and Sith.
The Jedi would not even be of aide to him here. If he was to point them at the arrival of those Amidala Spawn, without even speaking of who sired them, they would have a tricky time in obtaining them as they generally did in the Republic. The people of Naboo revered Amidala enough to offer her the throne indefinitely, an entire world standing with an unwilling Amidala would be something the Jedi may not be willing to take on, and that was without even considering Skywalker aiding her.
Even if the twins were taken, even the most mindwiped of droids could see how Anakin would react. His fatherly caution would be thrown to the winds as he would go on a rampage, retake his children and escape with them back to the Senator.
What darkness that would generate for him would be inconsequential to the fact that such a scenario would likely forever leave Skywalker out of his reach, blocked by Naboo and...Gungans.
Horrible, horrific Gungans.
As it was, Sidious saw only one true path to getting Skywalker as his, and even then it was a path with many areas for failure. Though in the scenario that was forming now, the removal of all Skywalkers may be a survivable alternate to the loss of his plans irreversibly.
A week later, the Chancellors room
Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi of more emotions than most, a chaotic stew of gray, recently turning more towards the white end of the color spectrum due to two adorable little bundles of flesh, but even he could be somewhat stoic as necessary with formal meetings.
However, in this he had no ability to compose himself
"Naos..." Anakin demanded in shock "Naos...as in perhaps the most remote world from Coruscant...Chancellor, Masters...is it really wise to send any forces there, let alone a Jedi, after the recent attack..."
Naos was a planet in Wild Space that was virtually unknown to most, with no available data on it (A/N...really its just a name with no canonical data about it at all)
"Anakin" Palpatine gave a smile that was oozing hidden darkness "We have reliable intelligence to suggest that Naos may be home to a Droid Foundry, hidden from us for years by the Trade Federation. The Separatists may have lost their leader, but they are still a threat so long as their generals and backers remain on the loose. We must ensure this hidden weapon is destroyed"
"Long the trip may be, but longer still, the peace that will follow" Yoda said sagely to the still unconvinced father, the little green dwarf...thing looking older than he normally did. The battle took a lot of out of him, from the sheer death toll, to civilian, clone and Jedi alike.
"It is also due to this attack that the Jedi will be maintaining a stronger presence in the Capital" Mace Windu explained, the tall and imposing dark skinned human looking contemplative "We can not risk leaving the planet available for a second wave, not with Grievous still at large. In addition, many of the clones of your division, the 501st, are still intact as an army, a status most of our other forces not already on the front can not attest to..."
"Fine" Anakin finally relented, mostly so this war could get over with so he could leave the Jedi and have more time to adore his newly born son and daughter: Luke and Leia. It was something that he had discussed to great lengths with Padme; since they could not join his world in the Jedi as a family, he would join their world as civilians.
In all honesty, it was probably better that way. Ever since Ahsoka had left, he and Obi-Wan had been butting his more, he had no idea how to react to peace time as a Jedi, and being officially married may be enough deterrent to get all the lonely single woman of the Galaxy off his back.
For some reason, they found him attractive, and kept trying to throw themselves at him every time they liberated a Republic World. Not even the force could drive them back...somehow it only seemed to encourage them (He heard something once about a famous dirty romance novel saying that the Force made on a god in bed. While Padme did enjoy the sex, he had never asked Padme if that was true or not)
Was it just his tall, dark looks? The Scar? His lack of a beard?
He had no idea that Fan Girls were that persistent, no matter the force use, the clone summoning (For both guards, and virgin sacrifice) or the one time he just resorted to jumping into the nearest flyer and riding away, they never gave up.
Hopefully that would change soon. The only thing to repel most fangirls was a wife who was powerful...and Senators were quite powerful. Particularly former queens who still hold great popularity.
As Anakin left to prepare his force to depart, the Jeid exchanged looks.
"Too easy, that was" Yoda mused
"Yes, perhaps he has finally matured" Ki-Ali suggested as the other Jedi in the room just gave the large headed Cerellian lengthy stares.
"Yeah, somehow I don't think that is the case" Mace admitted as the three Jedi exited the office, the door closing as the Chancellors grin became truly frightening to the micro-organisms who could witness it.
While he was no fiction writer, the little tale he was about to concoct would be worthy of the greatest of libraries. What he would accomplish today would be a swift and sufficient removal of all his obstacles, and the achievement of his greatest trophy.
The game would begin, as soon as the 501st entered Hyperspace.
The living quarters of the beloved Senator Padme Amidala, the next day
A gentle and motherly humming echoed through the room as the female Senator gently put the little bundles of joy named Luke and Leia in a pair of High Chairs at her breakfast table as a handmaiden brought to them a typical Nabooian morning repast.
It was simple, fully functional nutrition wise, but easy enough for a Naboo to eat on the go on their way to their reguired public services.
Well, for herself and the Senator anyway, this meal had been prepare: the little Skywalkers really couldn't ingest anything that was not milk at the present time.
As little children tended to do when not sleeping or crying, the little tykes were making the sort of noises that made most adult humans, and a good many non humans, grin. Those who didn't grin...well they tend to be labeled as either irritable, cranky, or psycopathic.
This heartwarming moment, a regular old Halmark moment that inspires people to create families, treat their own better or suddenly break out the baby albums, however, was interrupted as the door to the senatorial apartment opened unexpectedly.
Padme looked up, guessing who it was "Jar Jar, the messages from Theed and the Gungan Representives haven't come in yet..."
The steps that followed were not the clumsy, flat footed, semi-aquatic Jar Jar of goofy action that she was used to hearing, but something different...
She looked up to see a robed figure with a, at least to the ever observant senator, a blank and glassy look in his eyes. The person was a Weequaian, wrinkled skin and slightly sunken face, with a lightsaber pinned to his belt.
The same species as an infamous pirate who had once held two Jedi and a Sith Lord captive in exchange for Spices...a decision that Padme had never been quite sure of when he demanded them. The Senate had warehouses of Spices from seizures, though they were kept for mostly scientific purposes for finding a true cure for the addiction.
She had only changed her mind when Anakin had been kidnapped as well.
"Master Jedi?" Padme questioned in surprise, having never seen this Jedi before.
"You are to hand those children over to the Jedi at once" the Jedi rose his blade up to her and activated it, causing the Handmaiden to flinch in shock.
Padme, however, stood up and glared at him. Motherly protective instincts, plus Skywalkerness, equals a very utterly wrong person to ever dare to say such a thing to.
"How dare you barge into the residence of a Senator and demand my children! Just who do you think you are, I've studied Republic Law on force sensitive younglings and I know quite well that what your doing now is illegal to both the Republic and the Jedi..."
"Be silent"
Padme was suddenly grabbed by the force, pulled towards him, and impaled on the blade. Her face widened, taking on a visage of the mask of death as the Handmaiden got serious, the shock of this more maid ish more than the previously more body double types who were trained with knives and other deadly things, but she still was utterly loyal to the well respected former queen.
"My lady!" the maid exclaimed in a horrible mix of emotions: from hate at the Jedi for killing her lady, to self pity for failing to save her lady, to basic human-pack maternal instinct for the children in the room, as she rushed at the Jedi with the eating knife in her hand.
The Jedi responded with a force push that sent the table flying at the handmaid, crushing her, but more horribly, knocking the little forms of Luke and Leia into the air and throw the nearest window, sending the wailing babies falling down the possibly endless levels of the city planet below to certain death.
"What the..." a utterly horrified sounding Palpatine, who arrived at the home of his world's senator with a gift basket in hand and a couple of guards following him like robots moments too late, dropped said basket in very convincing shock; dozens of rare fruits from Naboo and several other worlds of the Republic rolling across the ground as the guards opened fire on the Jedi, striking the jedi in a odd, somewhat robotic trance, and knocking him to the ground dead.
"Someone, get the security data!" Palpatine yowled in fury at the death of the beloved senator, as the entire event zoomed out, revealing that that entire event had been in fact a holographic recording, witnessed by the entire Senate.
The shock, the rage, the anger in the room was so palpable that not even the Force could overcome it, and the poor Jedi who happened to be in attendance were overwhelmed by its sheer intensity.
In fact, one master Eeth Koth suddenly wished he didn't agree to take Mundi's place for the day.
"This is why our beloved friend, the now, departed Senator from Naboo, Padme Amidala, did not show up today...for it would appear that she was murdered" Palpatine said the last word of power "Murdered, by the Jedi, hungry for our children..."
"Hardly, while it is in fact true we are always on the lookout for more potential Jedi, we had no idea that Senator Amidala even had children. Even if we had known, and that they were apparently force sensitive, we would not have sent such a freshly knighted Jedi as Brittle Mindles to do it" the dark skinned and horned Master Agen Kolar declared with less tact than Anakin at his worse, as the differently horned Eeth Koth face palmed, regardless of the pointed stubble on his face that left painful pricks in his hand
Why, on a day that somehow went its way into a fracking mess, was it only them in the honorary Jedi Seat? They could have really used a more politically savy master with them, like Kenobi or Mace...or even Yoda just because in his attempt at being wise, he might just confuse enough Senators for them to run for their lives.
"How can you be so detached! One of your own just murdered a Senator...one of the only Senators left that still liked the Jedi!" Bail Organa of Alderann was normally a level headed fellow, with a lot of traits that most senators did not have.
He was not racist, not corrupt, never cheated on his wife, who he loved very much even if they couldn't have children, and in most versions of the story would actually help the Jedi in such a situation.
But there was a line that the calm man could be made to cross where he'd not have this Jedi fondness, and this was one of them. Padme Amidala was one of his closest friends, and in a perfect world the kind of person he'd ask to be his children's godmother.
"Master Kolar did not mean it like that..." Koth began as he really began to realize that Bail had a point. At the moment, everyone in the room looked quite ready to kill them, even the Gungan currently bawling his eyes out and the golden plated Protocol Droid who was probably cursing him in some obscure tongue.
It was an understatement, that things were not looking good.
The Jedi Temple
Yoda's closed eyes opened up in a unusual level of panic for the centuries old master.
The three Jedi masters in the chambers with him as this reaction was observed: Mace Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi and the Togurta Jedi Master Shaak Ti, a dusty red skinned, head tailed humanoid species, looked at him in alarm.
Jedi were, by nature, rather stoic. That level of panic would not alarming if a regular person had it: it probably just meant they had left their communicator in their speeder and locked it inside.
For a Jedi though...it was the equivalent to realizing you left your R2 unit a few Parsecs away right before you were about to fly around a Nova.
"What is it, Master Yoda" Ki-Adi questioned "Have you sensed a disturbance in the force? Has another Jedi fallen? Did Skywalker revert back to his reckless behavior again and blow something up he shouldn't of?"
Ki Adi had the 'fortune' of having to listen to a Admiral rant about the last time Skywalker had used a ship as a battering ram against a blockade. While victory was important in saving lives, the credits lost always got the Admirals ranting, and the Banking Clan richer, which aided the Seperatists in a vicious cycle.
Yoda sighed "An understatement, that is, though not involved in this, Skywalker is. Killed, Senator Amidala has been"
The three other Jedi exchanged looks. Even if they didn't particularly like Senators, considering how much influence money, politics and greed had on them, Amidala had always been tolerable, even if she sometimes seemed a bit too close to Skywalker for some of their tastes.
"That's a tragedy, but I fail to see why that would cause a disturbance in the force that alarming" Mace pointed out as Yoda sighed
"A Jedi Knight, her killer was. Controlled by another, Knight Mindle's mind was"
"Even though he was not the strongest of Jedi, even you wouldn't be able to use the force to control him like that" Shaak Ti pointed out to the green little old one. The Jedi Mind trick could, in fact, be used more effectively by stronger individuals. Yoda and Skywalker, if they really wanted to, could probably override most of the Senate's minds if they so wanted to, but had never chosen to.
In a more universe branching explanation of this, this was do to Yoda not caring for Politics, and Anakin wanting to avoid the couch.
Like a Catalyst, the Dark Side is in such an endeavor" Yoda pointed out as the three Masters looked alarmed. "Suspect I do, that involved in this, the Master of my former student, Dooku, is"
"The master of..." Ki felt both his twin hearts skip a beat at such a prospect.
"Doomed, we are, if act quickly, we do not" Yoda stood up to his full minuscule height, as a young Padawan burst into the room in utter panic, a brownish yellow Twi'Lek male.
Not the female, sadly enough. The male Twi'Lek were not attractive, but that was a good think for the Jedi.
"High Council...a thousand apologies but its urgent!" the Padawan was hyper ventilating, like had ran half the planet's surface "Holo...Senator...babies...unrest..."
"Calm yourself" Yoda soothingly said as he sent a wave out with the force, allowing it to waft over the young one as he calmed down.
"Now, what were you trying to say?" Shaak Tii questioned with concern as he looked up, his eyes showing unveiled horror.
"Senator Amidala is dead, they said a Jedi did it..." each master gave themselves looks saying 'so it is confirmed' "And so are her young children"
"Senator Amidala had..." Ki spoke for the entire gathered council; that had caught them off guard. As far as they had known, the young Senator was both single, and not prone to one night stands.
While it was true that the Jedi had no idea what she got herself up to when the senate was adjourned, it was hard for them to picture the very uncorrupt Senator going crazy in a low level night club and waking up with a few dozen different people in her bed.
"The Jedi who they said did it said that the children were to be given to the Jedi, and the Senator refused, causing a fight to break out..." the Padawan continued as Mace asked a question he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to.
"And how exactly do you know all of this?"
"Because I was looking in at the Senate meeting where the whole thing was showcased in full Holographic glory, and got out of there to tell you guys while the senate was breaking into a war cry" he admitted as the council felt the full scope of this disaster weigh down upon them.
"Thank you for bringing this information to us as soon as possible" Mace told the still concerned padawan, a concern the four masters shared as he turned to the other masters in the room "Prepare all communication channels, we must get the word out to the rest of the Jedi before this gets even more out of hand. The last thing we need is for some Jedi to say something tactless..."
"For once, we can leave Skywalker off the tactless list" Ki pointed out. Skywalker was not known for being a people person, but considering the fact that he and Amidala had...a friendship going on, or something, it was safe to say that Skywalker would not say something about her being 'just another senator', make a joke about it, or probably anything really.
It helped he was very, very, far away.
"But wait, weren't Masters Kolar and Koth at the Senate..." Shaak Ti realized in horror as the reality of having sent one of the most emotionally distant Jedi to a looming disaster area.
Of courser, it was just as they realized this that the lights in the Jedi Temple all went out.
"The force, I need not, to tell that a dark omen, this is" Yoda snarked.
Hyperspace Lanes
"That was the lamest mission ever" a Shiny complained as the elder soldiers gave their genetic replica looks. "There was nothing there at all. No droids, no giant monsters...my plasma is still fully loaded"
"I don't know about you Trooper, but I sort of liked nothing being there" Anakin pointed out as the ship moved through the endless expanse of hyper accelerated lights.
That meant he could get back to his wife sooner and spend more time with his young children.
"Sir, an incoming transmission from a Senator" a communications clone rang out from his post as Anakin looked at him with a frown.
Was Padme trying to contact him for some reason? That sent a few nightmarish scenarios into his mind: another attack, the children being abducted by slavers, his in laws being over...
Well, at least he assumed that last one would be a nightmarish scenario as he gripped his lightsabre in reflex, having moved it in hand as a stress squeezer proxy.
"Put it through" Anakin ordered as he prepared himself for what horror Padme was about to reveal him as he steeled his nerves.
However, nothing could prepare him for what he was about to here.
"General Skywalker" the Senator of Alderann and Padme's friend Bail Organa appeared before him in hologram form, looking graver than Padme after a political fight went south.
"Senator Organa...I was not expecting you to be the one contacting me. Normally when the Senate wants to speak with me about something, its either the Supreme Chancellor or Padme..."
"She's dead"
Bail was surprised to see how Anakin reacted. As oppose to the regular semi detachment that Anakin had, as oppose to most Jedi's true detachment, he froze, paled and otherwise looked like someone just told him his home planet had been blown up by a giant laser. He even dropped his lightsabre he had been holding onto, the powerful weapon clattering to the ground quite audibly.
"A Jedi broke into her apartment earlier today, demanding her children for the Jedi Order. She refused, and a fight broke out, and..." Bail couldn't spit the last of it out, he was so distraught "By the tame the Chancellor got there with a gift for the Senator and had the Jedi put down, all the occupants of her apartment were dead, including her children"
Anakin was beginning to shake, his head still hidden from him, though Bail, who normally was good at reading people, had no real idea what those shakes were. They seemed somewhere between rage, and utter shock.
He had seen that kind of shake on people whose entire world had fallen apart, not literally of course, but the kind of people who go home to find their entire families dead.
"The Supreme Chancellor showed us that you were sent off world right before that act of treachery was enacted, so you may the only Jedi we can still trust. We will need your help to find the Jedi responsible..."
Anakin raised his head to reveal a grimmer face than any that Bail had seen before.
"I know what scum is responsible. Allow me to take care of him personally" he said in a voice that seemed to be trapped between despair, rage and defeat.
Bail gave Anakin a surprised look "Master Skywalker...you know who is responsible for this treachery against the very heart of the Republic!? If you do, you must tell us..."
"Reset the Hyperspace Coorordinates for Utapau at once" Anakin ordered the clones with more haste and anger than normal and thus interrupted the Senator's question "Do not announce our arrival, Kenobi will not be allowed to escape"
"Obi-Wan Kenobi...him of all Jedi?!" Bail was shocked to hear that it was that Jedi who was responsible for Padme's death. He was always kind to her, a friend to the Loyalist, anti-war escalation wing of the Senate. He also actually had a general idea of what it was like to be a regular person. Bail had suspected it had been one of the more detached Jedi who was at fault here, not Obi-Wan.
At that, Anakin said in a dead tone of voice "It can only be him, because he's the only one who could have figured it out"
"Figured what out?" Bail demanded "What could he have found out that would have required the death of Senator Padme Amidala, beloved former queen of Naboo...!"
"That Luke and Leia, were my children, and Padme my wife of three years" he told the Senator, who was silenced into shock. Bail hadn't even known their names.
"Er, do we put that on..." the annoying shiny quietly whispered to the Captain Clone in the room, who shrugged.
"If you want to die, sure, go put that on the report."
A few hours later, from the eyes of Darkness
There were many things in the Galaxy that could induce nightmares.
Some of these included being digested for a thousand years in a Sarlacc, getting your body trapped in a metal suit and having to breath in rasps, the rasps themselves, the fact that the Hutts were Hermaphrodites, Geonosian hive minds, particularly the zombie variety, Gundarks, having your body filled with explosive nano droids and anything involving Umbara.
However, the victorious smile of Chancellor Palpatine, Aka Darth Sidious, was capable of making most sentient beings loose bladder control.
And what better way to show this grin, by having the man watch the burning of the Jedi Temple from his office.
In hindsight, the Chancellor thought, this plan was superior to his original in several ways.
He had originally planned for young Anakin to end up trapped between his Jedi Code and his ability to 'help' him. He would use that to get some Jedi Masters to go after him, leave one alive to fight until Anakin got in there and got him to aide him. Then he'd call the Jedi out as traitors of the state and have Anakin lead an invasion of the temple.
Of course, like any plan this had flaws. Aside for having to time it perfectly, the fact that he was gathering power as he was meant that he would have senators who would question him, like Organa and Mothma. They would most likely aid the Jedi who survived escape and cause a lot of unpleasantness for him down the line.
But this plan dealt with the entire 'Declaration of 2000' crowd. That entire block of actually intelligent senators adored Padme, and her death made them forget about his power, and focus their energies on making the Jedi pay.
Those who were in his pocket already went along with them, and for the first time in history, a unanimous vote occurred in the Senate.
The dissolving of the Jedi, and the implementation of Order 66.
As he listened to the sound of laser blasts and light sabers, the Clones across the galaxy, bar those around his future apprentice, who he had sent away to give him a pass on the death order, and make the Jedi's so called 'plan' seem more realistic.
Soon in his anger, Anakin Skywalker would be his! In joy for his success, Sidious delve into the force to feel not only the shock and confusion of the Jedi, but the darkness in Anakin finally blooming!
.
.
.
Sidious frowned as he felt the force. Yes, there was that brilliant terror, but something was wrong.
Anakin Skywalker was not filled with darkness, or light. He was filled with...
Sidious scowled. His front role seat to the end of the Jedi would have to begin another day.
Utapau
Utapau was a planet of pits. Most of them were filled with clear water that was once rumored to have healing properties.
So of course, Obi-Wan had to have ended up lost by the one pit that was filled with strange smoke and steam that would probably cause instant death for those who swam in it.
Apparently, it was a pool of radioactive acid that was the result of a industrial accident underground years ago...he had seen it on the terrain maps and specifically made note to stay away from it.
Obi-Wan had no real idea what had just happened. The bearded Jedi had been riding Boga, a Varactyl in battle, then out of nowhere Cody fired on him with a Walker.
They had promptly fallen into a watery sink hole, got separated and Obi-Wan ended up having to fight through his own men, plus battle drods, trying to escape.
In all the chaos, he had gotten lost, and ended up by this death pool, all the time he was sensing something in the force, something negative most likely, given his luck today.
Ever since he shot Grievous, things had gone downhill. Attempted murder by your own troops and bad senses do that to a day.
The bearded Jedi stroked his beard as he began mediating. Perhaps enlightenment would come if he waited...
About 10 minutes after he did this, he heard a familiar sound that brought a smile to his face as he stood up and turned to spy the familiar Jedi fighter that had landed about 10 yards away.
"Anakin" Obi-Wan hailed his dark clothed friend as he exited the space craft "I'm so glad you got here. The Clones have gone crazy and are currently on a man hunt for me, I can't seem to contact the temple and the force keeps pulsing as if it is in pain. By any chance would you have any idea what's going on?"
No response
"Anakin..." Obi Wan prompted as R2 turned his domed head towards the bearded knight and seemed to be glaring at him.
"Er, Anakin...please tell your droid to stop glaring at me..." still nothing. This silence was rather unnerving. It was creepy enough that Obi-Wan even felt prompted to feel the force around Anakin, briefly worried that somehow Anakin was responsible for everything happening, memories of the mission to Mortis flaring up again.
Thankfully, Anakin didn't seem to be corrupted by the Dark Side, based on what he could feel and how, when Anakin opened his eyes, they were still the same shade of blue.
Unthankfully, Anakin promptly attacked him with his light saber.
Obi-Wan blocked his attack as he stared at his former Padawan in alarm.
"Anakin, what in the blazes are you doing!?"
"Silence traitor" Anakin told Obi-Wan darkly as the clashing of blades continued.
"Traitor!? Anakin, your the one trying to kill me!" Obi Wan pointed out the obvious flaw in Anakin's reasoning "Your the one who told Commander Cody to kill me!"
"That's the Chancellor's doing" Anakin pointed out as he kicked Obi-Wan in the chest, sending him crashing along the ground towards the edge of the acid pit. As Obi Wan used the force to push himself back up into the fight, blades colliding again "He discovered your treachery, your crime against the republic, the galaxy, against me. What the Senate has decided to do in regards to the Jedi as a whole is of no consequence to me, only that your mine to deal with and mine alone"
"What!? Anakin, what the frack are you going on about? What did I do that is so bad?!" Obi-Wan gained some momentum as he pressed this "I voted against expelling Ahsoka, and that's the only thing occurring to me why you would suddenly think me as traitor!"
"Hiding the truth as always!" Anakin struck back, regaining ground "Because of you, Padme is dead...!"
"Senator Amidala is dead...Anakin how in the hell is that my doing!?" Obi-Wan retorted "Why would I even want to kill her anyway? Its not like she's some corrupt war monger or murderer!"
"Because you told the council to take her children away for the Jedi!" Anakin demanded as he pressed further "You sent a Jedi to take away her children...because of you they all died...my family is dead, again!"
That last line was enough to shock Obi-Wan's grip loose, allowing his blade to be knocked out of his hand. As the deactivated blade cluttered to the ground, Obi-Wan rolled out of the next slash attack as he used the force to recall his blade and continue.
Shockingly enough, Anakin didn't react until the blade began moving.
As the battle continued for a few more hours, Obi-Wan got a glimpse at what was going on inside Anakin's mind, and he didn't like it.
Anakin was not being controlled by the Sith. He had not fallen to the Dark Side. In fact, even Anakin's normal amount of anger didn't seem as dominate as he would have been if this had happened in most any other scenario.
Anakin instead seemed to have lost the will to live. In his mind, suffering a temporary break in full rationality from the shock of what happened, he figured (Somewhat logically, Obi-Wan had to admit. If any Jedi was to figure out about Padme, it would probably be him. He was around them the most, knew Anakin's behavior well, and had his own suspicions on the subject. It wasn't like he was blaming Vos or Secura or some other Jedi who would have no real rhyme or reason to notice the subtle hints) that it was his fault, because a Jedi had been responsible.
That fact alone made the whole thing very worrying. Why that had happened, was probably not something good for the Galaxy as a whole.
Because of all the emotions he could sense, read, and thus hypothesis the end game of, Obi-Wan had a bad feeling he knew what Anakin's end game was. Anakin was aiming for a double kill: taking him out at the same time he himself was struck down.
It was disturbing enough that Obi-Wan almost half wished Anakin had been corrupted instead, which was quite possibly what would happen if Anakin didn't kill himself in the near future.
Though Anakin's want for a dual death was possibly the only reason the fight had lasted this long. Anakin was not fighting as decisively as he would be if he was in a different state, Jedi or, force forbid, Sith.
Obi-Wan, who didn't want to kill Anakin, was also holding back, creating a situation that was just screaming for observers.
Hopefully, other Jedi who could help either talk sense into, or restrain, Anakin.
Probably, however...clones aiming to kill him and most likely not Anakin.
However, the presence in the force that they both felt was neither clone, nor Jedi, as a cloaked figure approached them, before a red light saber ignited in his hand.
'I hate today' Obi-Wan deadpanned
"I see you have seen the true side of the Jedi, young Skywalker" the hooded sith spoke in a voice that was vaguely familiar to Obi-Wan. He realized with a startle that the being in front of them was masking his voice with the force, and it was quite possible that this was someone that they knew.
The Senate Sith that they had heard rumors...the master of Dooku, Maul and who knows what hidden shades.
The worst part was that Obi-Wan couldn't even see the guy's face, so he couldn't tell the species. While the voice was obviously male, was obviously not as corpulent as Orn Fre Taa and was probably not Jar Jar...that still left a lot of Senators to ponder the identity of, from Bail Organa to Palpatine to hundreds of others
"They have robbed you of your padawan, your family, your happiness and your freedom. You were born a slave, and yet you still remain one, shackled to the Jedi" the charisma off this figure was playing with Anakin's berserk buttons in a true political way "Allow me to aide you in the destruction of the one who is responsible for the death of your poor wife, Senator Amidala, and I will give you the teachings for the true power of the Force, young Chosen One"
Obi-Wan felt a spike of emotion in Anakin, and feared it was about to become a two on one battle between two Siths and a lone Jedi.
It was worse than that, unfortunately.
"Chosen One, Chosen One, Chosen One, does anyone ever care about anything else but some damn words of a dusty old prophecy!" Anakin snapped in anger, going on into a rant that was probably years in the making "Do you think I asked to get branded with such a curse! If I was just some regular Jedi, I might actually have been left alone, but no. The Jedi have to have their precious 'Chosen One'" he glared at Obi-Wan for a moment, before he turned on the Sith Lord "And you...not only do you want that damn prophecy for yourself, but you caused the deaths of trillions of lives for Force knows how long! Your just as bad as the Jedi...no your worse! Padme would never forgive me if I sided with you for power alone!"
Being manipulated and trying to find a way to save her (That probably would backfire in the worse way possible), would be something Padme, if she would dislike, could understand.
Obi-Wan and the Sith Lord both got nervous when Anakin, of all things, started laughing. People laughing out of nowhere was never a good sign.
"What's so funny?" The Sith demanded as both he and Obi-Wan were suddenly lifted a few feet above the ground, though not in the force choke position, just plain force levitation.
Both the powerful force users trapped by Anakin tried to use their own force to break it...to absolutely no avail.
"What's so funny, is that both of you failed to grasp the fact that you can interpret prophecies in many ways. 'Bring Balance to the Force', to either one of you, would be eliminating the other side" Anakin had a somewhat disturbing looking grin on his face as he spoke "But, there is another way to look at it: destroying them both! After all, thanks to Obi-Wan, the Senate has dissolved the Jedi, and the last Sith was so polite to make himself known, right by a convenient pool of acid to drop us all in!"
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted in horror "That is the talk of a mad man. Do you think that Padme would want you to do..."
"I wouldn't know if Padme would want me to throw myself, a traitor and a Sith into a giant pool of radioactive acid, I never asked her...and I will never get the chance now!"
"Anakin No!/ You Insane Fool!" Obi-Wan and the Sith Lord declared in unison as Anakin threw them all into the looming radioactive acid.
Two splashes preceded Anakin as he approached the yellow death liquid with resignation, until he heard something in the force, something that snapped him out of his death seeking state once and for all.
The crying of two familiar babes, a crying he had wished he had heard more of, but still recognized above all else.
'Luke...Leia...' Anakin, finally out of his brief break from his senses, realized that they were still alive.
However, he still ended up falling into the aicd...for a few moments when a grappling hoot grabbed the edge of his boot.
"Help me pull the General out, quickly!" the ever faithful Captain ordered the 501st clones who had followed Anakin, right after delivering the message to Cody's troops that Order 66 did not apply to Anakin as well.
It had been a message straight from the Chancellor himself, who had to step out for some reason and couldn't deliver it himself.
After only twenty seconds submersion in the radioactive acid, Anakin was pulled out by about 10 Clones pulling at once. On the outside, Anakin's cloths were covered in burns and his skin was red, but he still seemed to have all his organs, possibly due to the force.
On the inside however...the clones had no clue.
"Get us out of here and arrange for us to get to the nearest medical facility!" the captain called up "The General has suffered potential radiation damage"
Hyperspace
Was everything her fault?
Did she cause the events in the Galaxy to unfold as they did, so negatively?
She had made a call...and it went absolutely horribly.
A teenage figure stood in the hull of the Techno Union cargo ship she had...borrowed, looking dejected and forlorn, more than any time in her life before this.
Her perkiness, already lost to the tragic events months ago, was now even more suppressed.
Ahsoka Tano, was now practically broken.
A few days ago, while wandering around the bowels of Coruscant, not sure what to do with herself, she had felt something in the force.
As if it had wanted her to go somewhere...to do something.
The premonition was too strong for her to ignore, so she had traveled miles through the Republic's capital, avoiding crime, hate and questionable merchandise as she found herself right below a Senatorial high rise, just as something came falling towards her.
Two high chairs to be precise.
With the force Ahsoka had stopped them mid fall, and found herself with two, somewhat familiar infants who seemed to stop crying with her around.
Was she that good with kids?
Ahsoka had thought that to be the case, until she had heard whose children she had saved.
After she had grabbed them, Ahsoka had made a run for it after civilians, who had been growing more and more anti Jedi, attempted to attack her. She had escaped with the saved children to a disused dock, where she had encountered a Techno Union flunkie smuggling in technology for a local Hutt crime lord, likely the one who had filled the void Zero had left.
As a concerned citizen, she promptly kicked their asses (not with light sabers though, she had hers as a last parting apology from the Jedi) and took the ship as she had begun to feel the force react to the attack on the Jedi Temple.
Listening in to the Holo-Net, she found out why the children seemed familiar: they were Padme's children, and thus Anakin's.
Which meant, horrifyingly, that someone was after them. Aware of this, she had set a jump into Hyperspace and fled for their lives, though not before picking up a ton of baby formula (Because Ahsoka had no idea if she could even breast feed two human children, let alone how to make herself be able to breast feed)
But...was that the right call?
Over the last few nights, she had seen visions in the force.
If she had not fled, could she have found Anakin and kept him from going temporarily insane? Her visions had shown Anakin in a Republic hospital, with cancer affecting 50% of his body. He had been fitted with a black tech armor on most of his his legs, arms, and chest to keep it from spreading any further, but now it made him sort of look like a robot.
Was everything going on her fault?
Did she doom Anakin to a half life of suffering? Could she even bring them back...if she had no idea who she could trust?
Did the Jedi really attack Padme like the Holo-Net, and Anakin, believe? Was it someone else?
The clones?
The real Sith Lord that, according to what she had seen in the force, was dissolved away just like Master Obi-Wan?
She had no clue what the right thing to do, but what she did know was that if she messed up, and gotten the little tykes killed...Anakin would be Dark Side food.
"Your right to be cautious, you know"
Ahsoka turned around, alarmed and ready to activate her blades, as a stranger appeared in her ship.
He, if Ahsoka was reading his body right, was garbed in brown and faded robes, obscuring his features. His face was shadowed, not showing her his species at all.
He probably wasn't a Wookie, at least. Or a Trandoshan, Toydarian or Hutt.
But that was rather obvious
"Who are you, how did you get on this ship!"
The figure shrugged "If I told you, I'd confuse you further. Its not worth it, but hey, I have reasons to be here. World number 306 on my long and unwanted vacation, and my third time dealing with one of these worlds..." he observed the female figure with a frown "Though I don't recall that you were this young at the conception of Luke and Leia, Shaak Ti?"
"I'm not Master Shaak Ti" Ahsoka blushed at being mistaken for a master "I'm Ahsoka Tano, former Padawan of Anakin Skywalker"
"He had a Padawan...obviously I missed something last time...yeah probably just last time" The stranger stroked his hidden chin in thought "Now that I think about, the second time I mentioned had this guy named Spock in it...it didn't seem right..but I'm rambling I guess. Well then unfamiliar person, allow me to introduce myself properly: I am Taisune the traveler"
"Taisune..." Ahsoka had never heard of a name like that one. It wasn't Human sounding, or Twi'lek, or Zabrak...
"I'm not from anywhere you would know of, so don't try to figure out what I am" Taisune deadpanned as Ahsoka nodded, still not trusting the guy "Let me cut to the chase though; I like heroes, was one myself once. I like giving those heroes I meet sound advice and wisdom to help make their lives better, so they don't die pointlessly, and today it would seem I'm helping you"
Ahsoka gave him a distrustful look "What makes you think I need help?"
"The stress lines perhaps" he deadpanned as Ahsoka absently felt her forehead "Though I do believe you will want to be aware of this observation. Your Big Bad, Darth Sidious if the timeline I got from the version of Mara Jade I met still works in this place" he took out a scroll of some type as he checked dates, much to Ahsoka's confusion. "Allow me to verify...the recent Sith Lords the Jedi had to deal with were Darth Maul, Darth Tyrannus/ Count Dooku and Darth Vader?"
"I have no idea who the last guy is, but the other two yes" Ahsoka agreed as he nodded
"Then it most likely Darth Sidious who is the Big Bad; no Thrawn, no Vong, no Jacen..." he gave her a serious look through his hooded face, which Ahsoka got a brief glimpse of tanned skin, blue eyes, a lock of blond hair and some sort of marking on each cheek "Darth Sidious has a clone fetish. To ensure his own immortality, he had clones of himself made to hold his soul" Ashoka looked disgusted as Taisune frowned
"Now, while this will inevitably damage his soul and sanity with prolonged use: your force lacking stabilization for such a procedure as FuinJutsu or Horcrux magic being ill suited to soul alteration, he is still alive. His loss of his first body will be nothing but a set back for him. I'd bet your last...what money do you use again? Berries..Denarii..."
"Credits" Ahsoka had no idea about those two he had just given
"Credits...oh yes that's probably right. I'd bet your last credit on the fact that he's still alive, and doing whatever it is he did before as a cover. As long as he still has that, little Luke and Leia over there will be in great danger. If Sidious was ever to sense them...you all would be killed and Anakin will be doomed to inescapable darkness"
That made Ahsoka pale "Then what do you suggest I do then, if you know so much about it? You could at least tell me his name"
"His name never came up when I heard it" Taisune shrugged as Ahsoka twitched irritably "However, I do know of a little place you could hide out for a while that the force would not be able to reach. My compatriot managed to detect a hidden Hyperspace Lane that will take you to a little world that will serve your purposes as a hiding place well. You can keep those two safe until either you can train them to hide themselves and or deal with Sidious's inevitable attempts to kill or turn them" Taisune held up a little data disk in front of Ahsoka's face "I can promise you that you won't regret it."
"And how do I know your not Darth Sidious leading me to a Black Hole?" Ahsoka demanded as Taisune snarkily replied
"Because I don't have a single Mid-Chlorian" Ahsoka did a double take as she felt around him with the force...
He was right
"But...but...everyone has..you should be dead!"
"Yeah, a curse is sort of working on that. Now, I don't have all my life to wait for you to take the coordinates"
Distrustfully, Ahsoka grabbed the data piece "What's this planet of yours called anyway, and where is it in the Galaxy?"
"Its a little body of rock and water, the third planet from its sun and a strange little world, all things considered, attracting all sorts of extra terrestrial activities. It's a little planet called Earth"
"Earth...that's a dumb name"
"I said it will serve you as a hiding place, not as the basis of a universe spanning story of epicness?"
And, well that went pretty well. I think I wrote something pretty nice, very long for me. I think I captured a unique story, and I hope you all agree. I have no idea how well my first Star Wars story will go, so tell me what you think.
And, all things considered, I really only had one true cameo character. Taisune, as an OC, does he really count. True, he isn't tied to Star Wars, but he's not exactly Naruto or Ichigo or Harry or anyone like that
He he he
Well, hope you all enjoyed it, and thanks for reading.