Chaos Theory - Day Zero Part Two. Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Stargate SG-1/Star Wars/Star Trek/Halo/Lord of the Rings Crossover...

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Title: Chaos Theory : Day Zero
Rating: PG-13 - Language and Violence.
Genre: Crossover
Author: PitViper
Date (Part Two): 2006-09-18
Summary: This is a BtVS/SG-1/SW/ST/LotR/Halo crossover. Based on the Halloween costume episode. Very AU. Buffy and the gang get Halloween costumes... and SG-1 arrives in Sunnydale to observe the evening... in costume as well. Needless to say, chaos theory is in full effect...

Disclaimer: I don't own it, wish I did. I'm not making any money off of it – so please don't sue me. BtVS is the property of Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox. Star Wars is owned by George Lucas. Stargate SG-1 belongs to Double Secret Productions and Sci-Fi channel. Lord of the Rings is the property of J.R.R. Tolkien and his family. Halo is owned by Bungie. And Star Trek is the property of Paramount Pictures (Who obviously understand nothing about Gene's vision of the future).

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Chaos Theory: Day Zero
Part Two: "Introductions Are In Order... or Disorder."

Willow was walking along the street trying to find Xander, who had stomped off in a dark mood after Angel and Buffy appeared (nearly hand in hand). "Xander, where are you?" She called out softly, and sighed. Yoda's mask was hanging loosely from her neck, and his lightsaber was clutched firmly in her right hand. "Why did you have to go and run off, you idiot?" she mumbled more to her self than to any bystanders.

Suddenly she felt dizzy... as though she had been knocked backwards. "Whoa..." She exclaimed, stumbling back onto the street. She closed her eyes as she fell. Her head was hurting slightly... but not enough to make her worried. "oowwwie." She muttered, as the headache set in.

"Pain I sense, yes? Unusual..." Willow heard her own voice trail off somewhere in front of her. Opening her eyes, she stared at her own body slowly rising from the ground. A slight gasp emanated from the being, "Not where I thought I was. Not at all, it seems."

Willow's shocked expression became one of slight panic as she got up herself, "Wha...What's going on?" She stepped forward and her hand passed through her body. "I'm...I'm a ghost!"

She watched as her own eyes became larger with shock, "A ghost you are not." The person in control of her body said softly. "Know not I what is the reason. But no darkness I sense to cause this. Your body I have, but your mind wanders as a free spirit. Half there, half not."

"Y...Yoda?" Willow asked still shocked.

A soft chuckle emanated from her former body. "Know my name do you young one?" He watched the ghost-like person nod. "Give me your name, will you?"

"Willow." She said, amazed.

Suddenly several screams pierced the air. Yoda frowned, "Hurry we must, Much confusion there is. And..." Willow watched as her body frowned even more, "And the Sith I sense. Solve this riddle quickly we must, before innocents are lost."

---

"Chief!" Cortana's voice echoed through the helmet.

The being in the Mjolnir armor had been laid out flat on the ground. "Co..Cortana. I feel like a truck ran me over."

Cortana let out an electric sigh of relief, "Luckily for you that you have such a hard head."

Master Chief John 117 chuckled lightly, "If that's so why does it hurt so much?"

"Want the truth, or a nice happy lie?" Cortana asked seriously.

John mulled it over, "The truth."

"You've somehow possessed the body of a seventeen year old kid."

John blinked, "What?"

"Good news is your Spartan modifications are happily attaching themselves to this kids' biology. Bad news: You're not going to be able to do squat until the nanites finish."

"How long? And why isn't it killing him?" Half of the prepared Spartan's died during the adaptive phase. An unprepared body didn't stand a chance.

"My estimates, five more minutes. As to why it's not killing you..him..whatever... that's... Well... simply put: I don't know." Cortana admitted reluctantly. "The suit's doing a lot to keep you alive though, including administering pain killers. You should only have a slight headache."

John couldn't help but smile through the pain. "Well... since I'm just a hitchhiker here..." He thought about it though. Once the Spartan upgrades started... "Whenever I leave this kids body, what happens to him?"

"I... he'll probably die unless the armor and the nanotech remain." She admitted softly, "But don't worry. I'm sure we'll think of something before this funky-ness is done."

"So says you." John muttered, finally able to move his legs and arms. The feeling was ever so slowly returning to his extremities.

Cortana spoke with a smile. "Oh come off it. You know you love me. I help you find all the cool toys." Suddenly her voice seemed to fade into the distance, "Well I'll be..."

---

"...Damned..." Cortana finished. "Chief, how's it going?"

"Couldn't have found me a younger model?" Master Chief asked blithely.

"Sorry. But hey, he should be good as new in about... two minutes forty two seconds."

"Wonderful. Maybe then the dull ache in my knees will go away." John frowned in his armor, "So what'cha going to be 'damned' for?"

John could practically feel Cortana raising an eyebrow. "I decided to check the Tac-Net, just to see if there were any friendlies around. Imagine my surprise when I got a ping back from myself."

John blinked several times as the pain slowly left his knee joints. "Ok... so?"

He could almost feel Cortana's scowl, "I swear, I should have the med-nanites check for Alzheimer's." Cortana muttered darkly, "There's another version of us out there."

"You mean another Spartan with a copy of your program?" John asked, knowing he was the last Spartan II.

"No... there's another you and another me. Complete... whole... Not a copy." Cortana informed him. "Well, at least the other me is not a copy... this John is in the body of a seventeen year old."

John muttered a dark curse, "So another me hijacked another body? And turned it into a Spartan... with another you floating around in his head?"

Cortana paused for a moment, "Yeah. That about covers it."

John summed up his thoughts with one word: "Fuck!"

---

"Data?" Beverly Crusher asked looking at the female-android look-a-like. It should have been impossible... but something deep inside her was saying this was Data. She had just managed to drag her companion into a small shed off the main path they had been on. A quick glance in the sky told her that she was on Earth - the autumn constellations out in full force in the rapidly darkening sky. She could smell the sea-salt on the air and the ocean breeze. And she could tell it was the Pacific Ocean by the smell alone.

Data's eyes blinked. "I...error...detect...data...overflow...processing..."

Beverly pulled out her medical tricorder, scanning the person before her. Sure enough, readings consistent with a Soong-type android began flashing across the screen... curiously intermixed with human organic components. A positronic net interlaced with a human organic brain.

Data, for his part, simply twitched randomly as he worked to overcome the sudden differences in his basic construction. Finally after several minutes of reprogramming, he initiated a restart of all his primary systems.

Beverly watched as Data shut down for a few seconds then quickly restarted himself... or herself - considering that this body was female. Finally the android's eyes rested upon her, and she gave a warm smile at the confusion on the android's face. "Hello Data."

Data blinked, "Identify yourself?" He quickly noticed that his voice was quite feminine and his body had the features of a female humanoid. "Have you changed my internal and external construction for some reason? Why have you integrated biological material into my cybernetic matrix... And how do you know my name? The last thing I remember was being aboard Shinzon's flagship."

Beverly's face scowled for a moment, wondering why Data didn't recognize her. "Data, its me... Its Beverly Crusher."

Data looked carefully at the Doctor's uniform. It was a medical officers uniform, rank commander. "That cannot be. Your physical appearance is not at all similar to Doctor Crusher's. In fact, several key elements of your physical composition are incongruous with Doctor Crusher's height and mass. Also, your voice is only a forty two point seven percent match with my vocal records of Doctor Crusher. Although your voice inflections and enunciation are accurate, your tonal quality and modulation are off. Therefore I find it unlikely that you are indeed Beverly Crusher."

Beverly frowned. "There has to be an explanation for this, Data. I know you, You went over to Shinzon's ship, and sacrificed yourself to destroy the Thaleron Radiation weapon. Your brother's name is Lore. Your off-switch is in the lower base of your spine. You created a self-override for that after Lore used it to deactivate you and take your place. Your mother is a Soong type android created by your father..."

Data blinked, "Enough. Authenticate with your access code clearance."

Beverly thought for a moment back to that time. It had been five years since Data had sacrificed himself... it took only a second for her to remember it, since she had to use it to create his death certificate and log file. "Crusher Beta Two five six nine."

Data blinked for a moment, as though surprised at the response, "Confirmed. Doctor... how is this possible?"

"I think... somehow... we've possessed other people's bodies. I can almost sense someone else in my mind... but they're blocked off from me. If Deanna were here maybe..."

A small smile graced Data's lips. "I see... I have a large memory matrix file I cannot access. The file is similar in construction to my memories of the colonists... but larger. However all attempts at accessing the contents have been denied... although there is a name: Samantha Carter." Data looked down at herself. "I believe that this may be her body."

Beverly, meanwhile, was concentrating on the fleeting feeling of someone else in her head. Deanna had taught her various tricks should there be any kind of mental incursion... however nothing she did let her get more than a cursory glance at the surface thoughts of the isolated presence. "Jamie...no Janet. Janet Frasier." She sighed with the effort. "That's all I can get. Whatever it is that's keeping her mind away from me is too good for me to beat."

Suddenly a scream pierced their quiet conversation. Followed rapidly by another.

In an instant Data was on her feet, although feeling a bit awkward with the mass on her chest. She quickly compensated for her new physique. "Fascinating..." She muttered, "Not even the Borg had the ability to so flawlessly integrate biology and technology in such a manner." Quickly she shook her head, "We should investigate..."

Another scream pierced the night as Data pulled her phaser.

"Are you armed doctor?"

Beverly pulled her type two phaser from her utility belt. "Ready. Stun?"

Data rapidly checked her weapon, "Set."

"Lets go." Beverly commanded.

---

After the pain subsided from his... death experience... Jedi Master Mace Windu quickly regained his senses. The first thing he felt was an oddness around his stomach area. He looked down and noticed a rapidly sealing scar. Then he noticed a small creature writhing on the ground. The snake-like being exuded evil from what he could sense of it in the Force. In disgust, Mace ignited his lightsaber and sliced the creature in half.

As the Jedi Master looked around him he sighed. "What in the name of the Force?" He muttered as he took in the primitive village or town he was in. His Jedi sense of smell detected traces of spent hydrocarbons and noted that most of the ground vehicles had wheels. Wheels! No advanced society in the Republic still used such primitive technology in a town of this size.

"Such wonders..." Said an awed-voice nearby.

Mace directed his senses toward the being and was overwhelmed by what he sensed. His immediate reaction to the Force-presence of this being was to ignite his lightsaber in a defensive posture.

The being took a step back and held his staff and free hand out in a submissive posture: "Stay your weapon, young knight. I mean you no harm."

Mace for his part blinked, and extinguished his saber. As he looked at the aura this being - for it was no mere man here - he realized that he reacted to the sheer power radiating from his form... without realizing that this power was firmly rooted in the light side of the Force. "Forgive me... my last memories are... disturbing. I was in a life or death situation, more directed towards the death side, moments before I found myself here." He placed his weapon within its holster on his belt. "I am Mace Windu, A Master of the Jedi arts within our order."

At this the man lowered his arms and rested the staff in the crook of his arm. A soft smile came over his features. "I can see the pattern of your studies, young master. Its very strong in your aura." He gestured between them, "I am unsure of what your senses are telling you, but I sense chaos magic is responsible for us taking these forms."

At this Mace's eyebrow shot up, "Chaos magic? Forms? What..."

He was cut off by a dismissive wave, "We refer to the manipulation of ethereal energies as magic. There are various forms, of course, drawing upon various sources. Some draw the magic from their environment. Some from within themselves. Still others depend on higher beings to provide the energies they wish to project.

"The spell I sense is one of the latter type - I am unfamiliar with the god called upon to create this," The man gestured around himself with his free hand, "but its stench reeks of chaos and disorder. If you have not already sensed it, we've been placed within bodies that are not our own." He gestured to himself again, "I am known as Gandalf in the human tongue. The elven folk know me as Mithrandir. I am a powerful wielder of our magicks, similar, I sense, to a Master within your order."

A scream pierced the night, and Gandalf turned sharply in the direction of the sound. "We must be cautious... dark creatures walk this land."

Mace nodded as he watched Gandalf begin to move in the direction of the scream. "I sense a disturbing amount of dark energy... and there must be Sith nearby... certainly more than one, since a single Sith would not stand out in this morass of dark energy." He moved quickly to the magician's side.

Gandalf picked up his pace. "I agree. There are many practitioners of the dark arts here. Although I sense that the spell that brought us here in itself was not evil. The intent seems merely to be to cause chaos..."

"Something that we seem to have plenty of." Mace noted darkly as he and Gandalf proceeded in the direction of the yelling.

---

The first thing that Padme noticed was that she was in a quaint small town. She knew towns such as this to exist on a multitude of worlds - although this one did seem more primitive than most... still... She observed her surroundings with a cautious eye as she felt for her hidden weapon. It should not have been there, but she was relieved that it was present - especially since she had not brought it with her when she went to face Anakin. She looked within her own mind, and brushed up against the consciousness she was sharing.

It had not taken her long to discover that she had invaded another being's body. At least she assumed so since the last memory she had was of having died giving birth to her precious children. If it hadn't been for Obi-wan stowing away on her ship, she could have confronted Anakin and turned him back - but as it was she had been in no position to fight him. Indeed it was as though something was sucking the living force from her - ensuring her death. She wracked her mind for the answers... but found none except that, perhaps, it had been the will of the Force. She had died before she could tell Anakin the full truth. And before she could raise her precious children.

She didn't know why she was here, but she could sense chaos and darkness intertwined in the night. She lifted a part of her dress robe, and noticed that there was a strange glyph located on the interior of the sleeve. The glyph reeked of chaos and disorder... and was tied to the source of the madness she sensed around her.

She tentatively reached out with the Force, trying to find some familiar pattern. She had to cautiously feel within the Force however - if there were Jedi or Sith around, her probing could attract their attentions. Something she wished to avoid. She tried to sense the threads attached to the glyph - they were so tenuous, so slender.

A scream less than a block away interrupted her probe, and she reached out with her senses looking for other dangers. And what they told her was shocking to say the least.

She used the Force to enhance her speed. She might be willing to keep her secret if it were only her life at stake. But her life was not the only life at risk, and there were few defenders here that would be unaffected by the chaos.

She knew that she was far from home. Perhaps not even in her own galaxy or time. As she raced towards the frightened girl, she decided that her secrets meant little here.

With a flick of her wrist a silver handle extended into position from a hidden arm-holster. And with a snap-hiss a brilliant purple-white blade flared to life. Padme watched as the 'creature' pulled back the young woman's head so as to expose her neck. All her senses screamed that this abomination needed to be dispatched.

The creature noticed at the last second the woman racing towards him. As he made note of the weapon in her hands, he exclaimed, "Fuck me!" The Padme leaped into the air... and instant later the laser-blade cut cleanly through the vampire's head and neck, causing it to turn to dust.

The victim collapsed bonelessly to the ground. Her breathing coming in short, ragged gasps.

Padme risked reaching out with the Force to calm the young woman as she extinguished her blade. "Be still, you are safe now."

"W...who are you?" The woman asked, finally getting enough control over her breathing to ask.

Padme sensed a Jedi and a... very powerful being... approaching. "Its not important miss. Just remain calm..." Padme's force-danger sense flared, just as a vampire came flying out of some nearby shrubbery. Padme's lightsaber was ignited in an instant, and slicing the flying vampire in half in the next heartbeat.

At the same time that Padme dealt with the nearby attacker, three other vampires had launched themselves at the two approaching men.

Gandalf merely raised an eyebrow, "Vampyres how... pedestrian."

Mace had ignited his own lightsaber, dispatching the closest blood-sucker with a single slash. "These things reek of the dark side." He said as the dust from the vampire settled around him.

Gandalf extended his staff outward before him, as the two other vamps closed more cautiously. "Darkness has many weaknesses. And for these foul demons... 'Solari'!"

The crystal embedded in Gandalf's staff glowed a brilliant yellow-white as sunlight streamed from it.

The two nearby vampires howled in pain for a moment, then caught fire and crumbled to dust. Two more vamps that had been hiding nearby in some shrubbery had ran quickly away - their clothes smoldering as they raced from the small sun.

The spell faded quickly as Gandalf blinked his eyes and sighed. "Always leaves spots in my vision, that one does."

He heard Mace breathe out a slight chuckle, "A handy tool, that staff of yours."

"Its not so much the staff as it is how well one wields it." Gandalf noted. Suddenly he sensed Mace stiffen. "What is wrong my friend?"

He noticed Mace staring at the young women nearby.

"That's Padme Amadala - The senator from Naboo." Mace noted to Gandalf, then raised his voice so that Padme would hear: "And she should not be holding a lightsaber."

Padme gently touched the young woman, lifting her up from the ground. As soon as the woman was steady they made their way towards Mace and Gandalf.

Padme glanced at the stoic Jedi - who was scowling at her. She brought her head up into a superior position and met his gaze. "What's bothering you?" She asked with a touch of anger.

"How is it that you've come by a lightsaber, Senator?" Mace asked, trying to feel her with the Force. His senses came up against a formidable wall that resisted all his attempts to breach. She was strong in the force. If he had not known beyond all doubt that Palpatine was the Sith Master, he would have considered her a very likely canidate.

Padme sighed, feeling the Force probe and easily resisting it. After all Mace did not have the right to try to force his way into her mind. Still, she could explain: "Its a long story. The short side of things... I was born a Force sensitive. But my parents were unwilling to give me to the Jedi. So many had been taken... My parents didn't want their youngest daughter to be taken as well. Xao'cha Ning was a friend of my parent's. Knowing that I would need training, she took it upon herself to train me.

Mace scowled, "There is no Jedi by such a name. Neither with the order, or out of it. Was she a Sith?"

Padme practically growled, "Never! She was the gentlest person I ever knew."

"If she was not Jedi or Sith, then how did she learn enough to train you?"

Padme lowered her eyes slightly. She didn't want to reveal this, but Xao was long departed from Naboo. Her trail was cold, and the odds of either the Jedi or Sith ever finding her were slim. She raised her eyes to meet Mace's gaze once more and answered, "She was Ja-dai."

Mace's eyes widened. So close that name to that of the Jedi order. But so very far in its philosophies. While it was true that the Ja-dai gave birth to the modern Jedi... they also gave birth to the vicious Sith. But the Ja-dai fell long before the first struggles of Jedi versus the Sith. So he responded with the only word that entered his mind: "Impossible"

At this Padme blinked, and suddenly realized what it was that Xao had told her. As the realization struck her full force... she couldn't help but release a dark chuckle. "Master Windu... I'd expect you of all people to not be so narrow or closed minded about such things. Of course, Xao told me that this would eventually happen, that the Jedi had closed their minds to the true nature of the Force. She had thought it funny then, too." She sighed as she looked towards the young woman who was staring at her, Mace, and Gandalf. "This must seem all too insane for you." She directed towards the younger woman.

The woman sighed, Vampires she could understand... but this? Jedi? Ja-dai? Lightsabers? She shook her head. "After what I've seen tonight... not really. I think I can get home now... its just a little ways away."

Padme nodded and the woman turned, walked for a few seconds, then broke into a full-out sprint. Padme wanted to sigh again.

Gandalf, meanwhile, leaned upon his staff, watching the proceedings. He resisted the urge to chuckle at the woman's obvious panic and clear inability to accept what her senses were telling her. Gandalf cast a small tracking spell on the fleeing woman, and then turned to the two individuals he was with. He looked at them and realized that his newly-made friend Mace was being quite hostile towards the young lady. "Not of the same order, I take it?"

"She cannot be Ja-dai. Their kind were extinguished long ago by the false teachings and weakness they nurtured. She's more likely a Sith infiltrator." Mace said, his fingers brushing over the activation stud on his weapon.

Padme's head swiveled back to Mace, "Master Windu, while I accept that you are a master of Jedi... compared to the Ja-dai... you are merely an acolyte. Xao trained me in nine different forms of lightsaber combat. I've mastered six of them. You would have a difficult time defeating me. Because I am Ja-dai." She looked him in the eye carefully and said, "Stop thinking about attacking me."

Gandalf's grip on his staff tightened as he watched his younger companion. "Master Windu, I sense no darkness within this one. I do not believe she is your enemy."

Mace, who had almost decided to attack after having sensed that Padme had torn through his mental defenses without effort, backed down. Part of him was more than a little curious how the man had managed to get any sort of sense out of Padme - the sense of the Force around her was powerful, but he could not tell the difference between the essence that was Padme and the rest of the Force. "If what you have said is true, then this is most disturbing. After all, the Ja-dai spawned the Sith. How can I trust you? Especially after lying to the Jedi for so long."

Padme groaned, "Is this what it comes down to? Mistrust and disorder? Even here? Even now after so much has gone to ruin and despair?" She looked at him noticing the differences in his features. He too was in a different body. Yet, they had recognized each other instantly. She shook her head, no use contemplating the why of it - it was unimportant. "The Sith were a disease upon the Republic. And the Republic became decrepit and stagnant enough to fall to that disease. The Ja-dai had warned both the Sith and the Jedi that their way was madness... Strange that it took me this long to understand why."

Windu's eyes narrowed, "What are you saying? That there's something inherently wrong with our philosophy?"

"The Jedi are at one extreme, the Sith at the other. And there is an imbalance between the Sith and Jedi. The universe hates imbalance and will solve it through entropy. Since there are so few Sith, and so many Jedi... it only makes sense that the Sith would be far more powerful as to compensate for the numbers of the Jedi." Padme looked deeply into his eyes, "That is why none of us saw Palpatine for what he was... until it was too late. Poor Anakin. He never stood a chance."

Mace blinked at her. "Are you saying that Anakin betrayed me and joined Palpatine to correct an imbalance in the Force?"

Padme's stare turned into a glare. "No." She re-holstered her lightsaber, "He joined Palpatine because the Jedi order denied him the one thing he truly needed."

"We denied Anakin almost nothing! He was the Chosen One! He already had everything he needed!" Mace raged.

Gandalf closed his eyes as he realized what had happened with the young man, "You poor fool." He whispered in pity. "You gave him everything except love." Gandalf could almost see Padme nodding in agreement in his mind's eye. He could also see that this 'Force' was a primal energy source - perhaps the very source of earth-bound energies. Therefore the person's state of mind could drastically alter the intent of how these Jedi wielded the Force. So the Jedi, probably realizing this themselves, made the ultimate mistake - limiting emotion. Gandalf knew that some races could do it, but for a human...

Mace spun around toward Gandalf, "There is no emotion, only Peace." He repeated the Jedi credo. "For a Jedi to have emotion is to fall down the dark path!" He turned back to Padme, "That is why I will never accept the Ja-dai philosophy. You thrive on emotion! All emotion must be denied or there's a chance that the Dark Side will prevail."

Padme felt a tear come to her eyes, "And that is why the Jedi fell." She began moving towards the nearest concentration of Sith energies. "To this subject I will only say this: there is no light, there is no dark... there is only the Force. Until the Jedi realize that, no power in the universe can save them." She sensed the darkness moving towards a place where the barriers between reality were weak. "Arguing about this is pointless, there are innocents out there to save and evil to slay. We must go, now!"

Gandalf began to join the young woman, "She is correct Master Windu. We should not waste our time here. Let us be off and protect those we can... and perhaps find the source of this chaos."

---

Siri Tachi spun around with her saber catching the Dark Lord of the Sith Vader's blade with her own. Random photons shot off at the interface of the two energy fields. She did not think of how this was possible, that a beam of coherent light, little thicker than a strand of hair surrounded by an equally nebulous electromagnetic field could block another such device. She simply trusted in the truth - not bothering with the physics nor technologies involved. It worked, and she accepted that.

Behind her, Obi-wan fought another Darth Vader. Siri could feel more Sith Lords approaching. This was madness! But they could not leave this spot. She could feel the twisted energies here - the dark corruptions coming from planes of existence infinitely more rooted in evil. If they did not defend this place, and the Sith were to attempt to breach the dimensional barriers... It would be the end of all.

Vader hissed angrily, "Fool! You cannot escape your destiny!" Vader pushed his advantage, his cybernetic limbs pummeling the smaller woman with brute strength. "Join us, it is the only way."

Siri dug into the ground for leverage as she parried the Dark Lord's strikes with Jedi grace, "I remember you saying that once before, Vader." She spun around, catching the sith off balance for a moment, "Only fate had permitted you that victory." Vader parried poorly and suddenly Siri ducked under his defenses, slashing into his breathing unit. "As fate has granted me this victory." She spun, taking the Sith Lord's head from his shoulders.

She looked at the decapitated Sith with pity. The creature had been previously... a corruption of the force. Some sort of blood-fiend. There had been rumors in her childhood of such things existing. Creatures empowered solely by the dark-side. Dark creations of ancient Sith Masters - Creatures that fed upon the blood and life force of living beings, cursing those who were forced to drink the corrupted blood to become like creatures. However when the Sith Lord Vader had taken the animated corpse... It had become alive again. Granted it was the life of the Sith that filled it, but its body was no longer dead.

But even this was not the most amazing aspect of the situation. No - it was the fact that she was physically stronger... she barely felt the blows that the Sith had rained down upon her. When last she had fought Vader, and lost, she could not stand up to his droid-like strength and single minded devotion to the powers of the dark side. Now, even without a Jedi trance, she felt her fatigue melting away. She put it down to her host - that she must possess such strength and the ability to fight these things she sensed.

A prodding in the Force made her turn to parry another Vader's strike. "Siri Tachi." This Vader breathed.

Siri sighed in despair. How many times would she have to hear this useless prattle from Vader? "I will not turn." She thought back to one of the defining moments in her existence. She had a force dream - a dream that had revealed her place in prophesy. She had a choice - one direction would lead her down a dark path, serving a dark master and culminating in her eventual termination by Vader's squads without much of a challenge. Her second path was to remain with the Jedi - and most likely be killed by Vader in his assault on the Temple. The final choice had been to disappear. Vanish without a trace and confront Vader much later and preferably after having learned more of the Jedi arts. She had chosen the latter - but it had not been enough for her confrontation.

Vader drew himself up, his saber at the ready, "We shall see..."

---

In the distance, behind a bookcase, a man in a hooded robe and what appeared to be a female version of a corrupted Anakin Skywalker stood observing the battle.

"Master Yoda approaches..." She said, beginning to move forward. The robed man's hand shot out to grasp her shoulder.

"Patience my young apprentice. Allow these..." The man gestured to the growing number of Vaders approaching the two Jedi combatants. "Acolytes to whittle them down. Even Yoda cannot face such overwhelming strength with the pitiful support he has."

"Yes... my master." She said, looking at the battle. She did not understand how she came to be in this form. Even more curiously, she didn't understand why her connection to the past and the future were so strong. She could practically hear the stars singing! And the song they sang... She had tried to warn Palpatine that they would find no victory here this evening. But the evil Dark Lord was unwilling to recognize the danger.

She realized her fealty to Palpatine was fading rapidly. The sith were not more powerful than the Jedi. They could not be, for as he looked at the strands that formed both future and past, he only saw the Force. The force at points was violent and shallow - and at others calm and almost infinitely deep. But there was only one Force. To manipulate this force was to cause ripples or torrents within it. And every mote of Force energy that was used could either help or hinder - based on how it was used.

Yes the Sith could cloud the future. They could corrupt and twist it with ease. Even to the point of blinding the Jedi Order. But there was a price - to blind others, one must also blind themselves. It was only Palpatine's arrogance that kept them from retreating.

Anakin realized that the soul of the body he inhabited was tortured. Much in the same way he had been tortured. He also realized that the body he inhabited had been corrupted by a force as dark and destructive as any Sith energy. In fact, he realized... her body had been dead.

Since the living could not occupy a dead body, he had to conclude that the chaos energies he could sense brought this... creature back to life. After all, he could breathe, and he could feel his heart beating. He could also sense that the demon... for there was no other word he could conjure for the vile presence he had briefly sensed when he had arrived in this body... was gone. And with that disruptive presence vanquished, the poor soul in this body had experienced its first true peace in a very long time.

And to some extent he could feel the spirit of the woman within him - she had, for lack of a better word, loved the creature which Palpatine had inhabited. Although that love was created by the twisted insanity brought by the demon. Perhaps that trapped... creature within Palpatine was what kept the Sith Master from ordering him into the fray. And oh how he so wished to join that battle! To fight beside his friends and vanquish these dark shadows of himself. But so long as Palpatine retained control of that other vessel, however... She would be restrained to his side. And though he wished to destroy the presence of Palpatine... he could not bring this female body to commit the act. Love was powerful. So very, very powerful.

So Anakin Skywalker fingered the handle of her blue-bladed lightsaber, unable to strike down the darkness next to him, and unable to join the battle before him.

---

Author's Notes: Well, here's the second part, with a hint of what is to come. So far I have eight completed parts out of a planned ten or eleven, and my target is between 35,000 and 50,000 words for this first "chapter". As I said, I'll be posting them one part at a time every two weeks.

Now, I'm probably not as familiar with the Star Wars universe as I should be, but I decided to insert a "Pre-Jedi" order into this story called the "Ja-dai" I know that the story is that the Sith broke off from the Jedi, but I needed to have a Force-sensitive order that would seemingly be extinct yet have a few followers that were fluent in its arts and usage. I made Padme a Force-sensitive because I always thought that she was over-aggressive and too confident (not to mention good) when it came to battle scenes. Even at the age of 14 a queen would probably not be willing to be involved in the things she chose to take on by herself. Her insistence, for example, of accompanying Qui-Gon into town on Tattooine. The fact that these decisions were not only instrumental, but also surprisingly insightful, seems to suggest that she was at least being guided by the Force.

Later,
P.V.