Chapter 1
The Wanderer
Draggin Vlostin had traveled the galaxy for nearly one hundred years at the helm of his own ship. He'd visited a couple thousand different planets, met more people than he could hope to remember, and seen a lot of strange things. But the scaly Besalisk had never encountered anyone quite like Ankahr Skyy.
The young Human, impossibly young by Besalisk standards, had skill with machines that was at odds with his age. For weeks his well-loved ship, Cassie's Promise, had not been her usual self. Draggin wasn't much of a mechanic and the problems had been beyond his limited knowledge. And unfortunately his old mechanic had retired to a permanent planet-side job to be with a female he fell in love with.
Worried that he might lose a critical system, like the hyperdrive, at an inopportune time, he poked around the port he'd been in at the time for a temporary mechanic. After much searching, he found an odd little Human, Ankahr Skyy. The boy was young, but Draggin had a good feeling about him and decided to take a risk and hire him.
His risk paid off big time. Ankahr had fixed everything. Cassie's Promise was purring like a Khrys-Kitten, better than new! He had a feeling the boy had done some extra work, little modifications here and there. He couldn't remember his ship ever running so smooth.
In fact, Draggin was so impressed with the kid, he was trying to hire him permanently…
"C'mon kid, this is the best pay I've ever offered any of my crew to start off." Draggin frowned, crossing both sets of arms across his barrel of a chest. "Are you saying it's not enough?"
"No, that's not it at all Captain Vlostin." Ankahr assured him calmly. "All I wanted when I signed on was a ride to someplace new, and I've gotten that. Now it's time for me to move on, find a new ride, meet new people."
"So, don't wanna tie yerself down to one ship, one crew, 's that it?" Draggin asked.
"Yeah, you could look at it that way," Ankahr smiled slightly, though his smile didn't quite make it into his blue eyes.
"You sure you wanna do that?" Draggin grumbled. "I gotta say, I like ya kid. You're good, you're damn good, 'specially for a youngin like you. I don't ask just anybody to be the mechanic fer my girl Cassie."
"I understand," Ankahr nodded, "and I'm flattered, but still I fell that I must decline."
"Well alright," Draggin sighed. "I'll miss ya kid, an' thanks fer all you've done for us. May the stars light your way, wherever that may be."
"Thank you," Ankahr gave a slight bow. "And may the stars light your way as well."
Draggin grinned widely and offered one of his four hands for a shake. Ankahr politely shook it and turned to leave. The massive Besalisk felt his grin fade as the painfully young man disappeared from his sight.
Poor kid, I know Humans grow up fast, but he's too young to be on his own. Draggin sighed and ambled back towards the small bridge of his freighter. And I wonder…what happened to his face? Did someone try to cut his head open with a vibro-blade?
Shifting his pack on his shoulder, he trotted down the boarding ramp of the Cassie's Promise and set foot on the duracrete of the landing pad. From there he slipped into the spaceport building and the milling crowed within it. And with very little effort, he disappeared.
As he disappeared, he shed the name 'Ankahr Skyy' like a reptile sheds its scales. Now he would be someone new. Who that would be, was yet to be determined. So for now, he was no one at all.
Darstatt was a muggy planet, just inside the bounds of the Mid Rim. It was officially a world of the Empire, but it was so far from the Core and so far from any of the old Clone Wars battlefronts that any real Imperial presence here was negligible. As far as he knew when he'd looked into the Cassie's destination was that a few of the spaceports had small garrisons of troops, and so long as he was careful, he'd never see any of them, and they wouldn't see him.
The Darstatt System had originally been settled by Rodians, making the main languages spoken here Rodese and Huttese. After the Rodians came a decent-sized population of Twi'leks and a few enclaves of Squibs. And, of course, there were Humans here too.
This System was a hub of trade, more than anything else. Few people outside of shipping companies knew of the place since the world was rather plain, lacking anything unique or attractive enough to catch the eye of any tourists. The constant muggy weather was a turn-off for most wealthy visitors anyway. And Darstatt lacked any significant resources of its own. Only its convenient placement along major hyperspace routes accounted for its many spaceports and high System traffic.
He slipped out of the spaceport building and into the sprawling city beyond. Every vice that a spacer could want was catered to here. Some sections were clean, some were dirty. It reminded a lot of the vast underbelly of Coruscant.
After a half hour of aimless wandering, he found a bar that looked good. He sauntered in, sat down on an open stool, dumped his bag at his feet, and studied the available selection. Choosing a glass of purple Vosh ale, he settled back and waited to see what would happen…
Within five minutes, a ruby red (Lethan) female Twi'lek of generous assets appeared beside him. She smiled at him as she leaned provocatively against the bar, her black leather outfit leaving little to the imagination. Her lekku writhed slightly, doing their best to attract his eyes towards her impressive bust.
"(Hello good sir,)" she purred in Huttese. "(Can I be of some assistance?)"
"(I doubt it,)" he replied, sipping at his ale.
"(Oh come now, a handsome, young, lonely man like yourself needs companionship.)" The Twi'lek smiled.
"(Not interested.)" He declared flatly.
"(Hmm, or perhaps you are the type who wishes for chemical stimulation?)" She mused thoughtfully. "(I know who can get you whatever it is that you desire, from GlitterStim Spice to the finest Ryll credits can buy.)"
"(No thank you, I'm fine with what I have.)" He insisted.
"(Well, if you change your mind…)" She produced a small business card from…somewhere…and slid it in front of him. "(You know where to find me.)"
The Lethan woman then sauntered away, doing a great deal of hip-swaying and lekku-swishing. He didn't notice though. He was too busy studying the shades of purple in his drink. And then he flicked the business card behind the bar when the Rodian bartender had his back turned.
A whore and a drug dealer, he snorted, busy girl…
After finding a cheap hotel and renting a room, he settled down on the bed for the night. It wasn't really late yet, and he wasn't tired, but he had no more desire to wander around the city until he was. Tossing his bag on the floor, the room instantly became as close to home as any place he'd spent the past few months in.
Four months. That's how long it had been since the Temple fell and the galaxy changed…for the worse. And just under four months since he'd learned the most terrible news imaginable.
He peeled the leather glove off his right hand, exposing the gray durasteel underneath. Idly tracing the joints and edges of the mechanical prosthesis, he stared blankly up at the cracked, stained ceiling. Through the thin walls, he could hear people having sex in the next room. It was probably some lonely spacer on a break blowing his paycheck on a prostitute.
Closing his eyes, he worked his way into a trance. He retreated into a place within himself were the muffled groans and screams from one room over couldn't reach him. But there was a downside to this inner sanctuary. Here, he couldn't stop remembering.
…Padmé apologizing to him and giving him a kiss on the cheek as a good-bye in the Palace Hanger on Naboo…
…Obi-Wan laughing about his weather joke while they were dripping wet, scraping mud off their boots…
…Padmé's delighted smile as she accepted his old gift of the carved Japor pendant…
…Obi-Wan's tired smile as he lay beaten and exhausted, but alive, under a tree on some random world called Riflor…
…Sabé's amusing confusion as she was confronted with an alive-and-well Obi-Wan Kenobi while she was dressed in little more than a nightgown and bathrobe…
…A foggy memory of Padmé dancing with him at some party that he couldn't identify…
…Obi-Wan's calm explanation of the utterly bizarre reason behind his new haircut…
…Padmé smiling and sitting at her kitchen table in her nightgown and robe, her pregnant belly clearly visible…
…The feel and smell of his beloved Angel as he held her in his arms…
Pulling himself out of the meditative trance, his eyes snapped open to stare blurrily at the crumbling ceiling. He simply couldn't bear it anymore. Remembering all of that just hurt so much. He still had Obi-Wan, but…
She was gone. Padmé, his Angel, was no more. Sabé had gone with her, and Typho too, deep into the anonymous currents of the Force, far beyond his reach. And his child, whatever it would've been, was gone too, before it had even come into the world.
He was alone now. He would be alone for the rest of his days. Even if he ever found his way back to Obi-Wan's side, he would still be alone.
Rolling over, Anakin pulled his limp pillow over his head and sighed. In the morning he'd look for a new ship. A new ride off this wretched muggy planet. A vessel that would take him someplace new. There was nothing for him here. Nothing at all.
In the morning I'll be gone…