Learning from the Past

Chapter III: Escape!

It had been a few hours since Anakin had constructed his new lightsaber. He stood alone in the cargo hold, swinging his blade in a meditative form, designed to work the body and focus the mind at the same time. He had been at it for a good while now, so the effects were starting to tell on his body. His face was drenched with sweat and his Jedi robes were becoming more uncomfortable each second. The heat radiating from his lightsaber was also raising his body's temperature.

It didn't matter. He didn't even notice. Anakin had been so engrossed in his meditation that his mind had left the secular world. It was sort of like he was lost in a dream, though his body was completely conscious. His senses were still active and registered his surroundings, but the information being transferred to his brain hit a brick wall. Anakin's mind was focused purely on one thing; Count Dooku.

In his mind, Anakin wasn't alone. The fallen Sith Lord stood in the room with him, his crimson lightsaber drawn. The meditative battle he found was against the man he had… murdered. It had raged for some time now and was beginning to erode his strength of mind. His body was weary and his heart was heavy. Count Dooku was invincible. His strength had not faltered. He moved with speed that most men his age could only dream of. His moves were so well calculated and execute with such precision that it was a miracle Anakin had lasted so long. Dooku seemed to be immortal now that he was one with the Force.

In a desperate flurry of attacks, Anakin actually managed to knick Dooku's cape, startling the Sith Lord. The Jedi kicked his opponent's hand out of the way and swung his saber. Dooku backed away and threw a volley of Force lightning at his opponent. Anakin quickly brought up his saber to soak up the attack. The widespread attack was mostly absorbed on his saber, but a few volts managed to go around, sending painful shocks through the young Jedi.

"You grow weary, Skywalker. Surely you have more power than this!" Dooku goaded.

Anakin growled as he began another futile attempt against his enemy. Dooku parried every blow, aggravating Anakin greatly. "I hate you!" he screamed as he swung madly.

"Good," Dooku said with a laugh. "Release your rage on me!"

Anakin screamed as he attacked again. Dooku still had no trouble keeping up with the weakened Jedi. Anakin on the other hand was swinging madly, focused only on killing his opponent. He didn't care about anything else. All he wanted was to see Dooku dead!

"Anakin!"

Anakin stopped. He was suddenly back on the Ebon Hawk, in the cargo hold. Dooku was no where to be found. He was still completely alone.

"Obi-Wan?" he asked.

He was certain that he had recognized his master's voice, but how was that possible? Obi-Wan wasn't even alive yet and wouldn't be for nearly 4000 years. Anakin shook his head. He was hallucinating. The intensity of the Force trance had made him hear things, nothing more.

He sighed as he deactivated his newly constructed lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. He was exhausted and it was only now that he was able to realize it. He left the cargo hold, intending to go back to the dorm, but accidentally bumped into the small utility droid as he went.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

The droid beeped cheerfully and cranked its disc shaped head up to look at Anakin. It beeped a few more time excitedly. "Nice to meet you, T3-M4," Anakin said politely. The droid beeped back at him cheerfully and rolled off. Anakin frowned at what the droid had said and followed after him.

The droid led him into the main room where Juhani had been a few hours before. The cathar had probably gone to bed by now, seeing as how the room was empty. The droid stepped up to the holotable and plugged in. A long page of words appeared and Anakin skimmed them briefly.

"This is what Revan wanted me to see?" he asked.

The droid beeped an affirmative and Anakin began to read the pages in depth. It was a historical encyclopedia detailing the Mandalorian Wars, the rise and fall of Darth Revan, his return to the light, and the Jedi Civil War. It took quite awhile to read all of the information. When he was finally done he had more questions than before… and a deep suspicion of the man whose ship he was on.

Anakin leaned back in the chair he had taken. He thought deeply for a few minutes before sighing. He would have to speak to the Jedi Council about this. They would know what to do. According to these articles, Revan was a Jedi Knight and a servant of the Republic, but so was Chancellor Palpatine. The Sith Lord could easily be waiting for a chance to strike. Maybe he had brought him to this time. Maybe it hadn't been Master Yoda. Anakin had intricate knowledge of the future, great power, and had been very near to falling to the dark side of the Force. Maybe Revan planned on using him, turning him to the dark side and using his knowledge of what would happen against the Republic. Four millennia of Jedi and Sith knowledge that he alone possessed… it was possible.

True, Anakin didn't sense the dark side in Revan, but he hadn't sensed it in Chancellor Palpatine either. Besides, his ability to differentiate between the light and the dark had been thrown off since his arrival in the past. Revan had probably done something to him to hide his true motives until the right time. That meant that he couldn't trust anyone on board either. They were either his servants or he planned to turn them the same way.

Anakin stood up and nodded to the droid. "Thank you T3," he said as he walked by, into the cockpit. The ship was on autopilot and it seemed that Carth had locked the systems, but Anakin wasn't concerned. He was used to working with technology that was four thousand years more advanced. These old systems were helpless before him. He quickly unlocked the navi-computer and began to scroll through the list of planets that the Hawk had been to. It was a rather long list, but there was one planet nearby he knew he could rely on; Tatooine. It was less than two lightyears out and the Hawk could probably arrive there within a couple of hours. All he had to do was keep the others out of his way and they would probably be asleep for most of that time.

He quickly changed the ship's course for Tatooine. From there he could obtain safe transportation to Coruscant where he could speak with the Jedi Council. Now all he had to do was kill some time. He was tired, but sleep would be a dangerous choice. Knowing he would need to be at his most efficient level, Anakin decided to enter a meditative sleep. It was sort of like putting the body to sleep, while the conscious mind remained awake and fully alert. He would sense any presence coming near him if it should. He was reluctant to choose this, seeing as how his body would still be temporarily drowsy when he woke up, but he really didn't see another choice. His plan was already in motion, so he closed his eyes and let the Force put his body to sleep.

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"Revan! Revan, wake up!"

Revan shook his head drowsily as Bastila's urgent voice roused him from his dream. He was alert within seconds and looked around. "What's wrong?" he asked as he threw aside his blanket and stood up.

"It's Anakin!" his wife informed him. "He's gone!"

"Gone? We're in the middle of space!"

"No, we're not! He must've hijacked the ship. We're on Tatooine!"

"Tatooine?" Revan repeated stupidly trying to think for a moment. "Why would he…" his voice trailed off. "Where's T3?" he demanded.

Revan stormed into the bridge of the Ebon Hawk to find his crew already assembled. "Where's the droid?" he demanded. T3-M4 rolled up to Revan and chirped happily.

"Where's Anakin?" Revan asked. The droid beeped an uninformative answer. "Did you show him the holobook?" An affirmative beep followed. "I told you to wait until I was present!" he shouted. The droid beeped an apologetic answer. "You misunderstood?" Another beep. Revan swore. "Alright," he said turning to his crew. "We have a serious problem. Get out into the city and find him! Who knows what he's planning!"

"Planning," Mission repeated. "How do you know he's planning something?"

"He hijacked our ship and stole off in the middle of the night," Revan replied. "I'm sure he doesn't have any idea as to what he'll do next!"

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"Now what?" Anakin asked himself bitterly. Transport to Coruscant would cost him at least eight hundred credits and the money he did have wouldn't be active for another three thousand years, at least. He needed money and he needed it fast. The crew of the Ebon Hawk would be awake soon and he needed to be out of Anchorhead before they were. He had seen two ways to obtain money. He could either gamble with a hutt, which usually didn't work in his favor, or he could solve a small problem for a corporate manager.

A woman who was managing an office for a company called Czerka. Some years back, a Jedi had apparently come and settled certain affairs with the Tusken Raiders. The Jedi had, however, refused to kill them. Instead he had negotiated with them and convinced them to leave the settlement alone. In the last eight years, the sand people had forgotten their promise. They had begun raiding caravans and attacking the settlement. Anakin had been hired to one purpose; to kill them all.

The moment he had heard the offer he had accepted it. Not only would he receive private transportation to Coruscant, but he would also be doing some good in the process. Those animals needed to be put down! He remembered bitterly how he had slaughtered an entire tribe after his mother had died in his arms. These were sand people of a different era, a previous era. Perhaps killing one of them would prevent the birth of a future tribe. Maybe his mother would survive and they could be a family and she could see the baby once it was born.

The Czerka corp. had provided him with little more than a speeder, but that had been more than enough. He had raced through the Dune Sea and now stood a little less than half a mile from the Tusken fortress. The woman at the office had mentioned steeling weapons, but this wasn't what he had expected. The sand people were patrolling the fortress in waves and the place was armed with repeating battery turrets.

The speeder would be destroyed long before it got close enough to the fortress to do any real harm, so he would have to proceed on foot. He drew his lightsaber and ignited the blade. The dark blue blade burned against the white sands beneath him. He charged towards the fortress, using the Force to speed his way. He cut down the first group of sand people without difficultly. Using the Force, he leapt to the next group, severing their heads with one fluid strike. The others began to realize what was going on. They growled viciously as they ran at him, gaffi sticks raised. Anakin sliced through their sticks, killing them one by one. Soon he managed to infiltrate the base and his hunt for the chieftain began.

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"You hired a Jedi to do what?" Revan asked dumbfounded.

"Some Jedi came in here about three hours ago and said he'd take care of the sand people," the Czerka manager replied. "I really hope he's more efficient than the last one."

Revan ignored the comment. "What's he asking for in return?"

"Nothing special," she replied. "Just safe passage to Coruscant. Have we met? You look familiar."

Revan frowned. He had been wrong. Anakin wasn't planning something; quite the opposite. He feared that Revan had been plotting something against him. "Damn it!" he swore as he bolted out of the office.

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He swung his lightsaber, cutting down the last guard that stood in his way. The young Jedi looked up at the chieftain and smiled. The chieftain raised his gaffi stick and fired a blaster bolt at his enemy. Anakin cocked his head to the left, easily avoiding the fatal shot. He held his blade high, ready to strike. The tusken fell back into his throne and growled.

"Goodbye!" Anakin shouted as he brought his blade down.

The lightsaber blade collided with the chieftain's gaffi stick, but it didn't cut through. Instead, the blade began to waver until it deactivated completely. Anakin looked at his weapon and swore. The false crystal must have shorted it out. "Ugh!" he growled as he threw down the weapon. The chieftain took his chance and swung the gaffi stick, hitting Anakin in the side of the head. He groaned with pain as he felt blood begin to pour from his temple. He fell to one knee and clutched the side of his head.

The chieftain rounded on him, gaffi stick poised to stab. Anakin quickly gathered the Force into his hand and threw it at his enemy. The tusken's neck snapped from the impact and the gaffi stick fell to the ground. The damage had been done. Anakin was beginning to feel weak. His eyes were blurry and his head was spinning. The numerous superficial wounds he had received suddenly seemed like so much more. His body ached, but at least he had succeeded. He had killed the sand people again… but nothing happened.

Anakin had been expecting something to feel different. He had expected the knowledge that he had changed the future to suddenly overtake him as if it had always been there. He expected to see his mother's beautiful face added into all of the happiest moments of his life, like his wedding, his acceptance into the knighthood, and his victories in battle. Nothing happened.

"No!" he screamed. "Damn it!" He began to swear viciously as he lost control of his power. He unwittingly began to hurl objects about the room, tearing through the dewback and bantha skin walls and durasteel frame.

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Revan shivered as he felt the darkness emanating from up ahead. He quickly keyed in new velocity orders into his speeder and it shot forward even faster. By the time he arrived at the fortress, it was already gone. Anakin stood alone, surrounded by a mess of mangled bodies, animal skins, and durasteel. He simply stood there, clutching his fists, looking off into space.

Revan dismounted his speeder and walked up to Anakin. "Is this what you want, Anakin?" he asked. "This is all your anger can bring you," he said as he gestured to the carnage around them. "Death."

Anakin looked at Revan with hatred in his eyes. "You brought me here," he snarled. "Now I'll make you regret it!"

Anakin lunged at Revan, taking the former Sith Lord completely by surprise. The tackle knocked them both to the ground, though it only dealt damage to Revan. The two went rolling in the sand as Revan struggled to get Anakin off of him. The two Jedi grunted and growled as they fought on the ground, neither giving the other a chance to attack. Anakin smashed his forehead into Revan's face, breaking his nose. Blood began to pour from the former Sith Lord's nostrils and it began to swell up immediately. Revan retaliated by kneeing Anakin in the stomach. This gave him a chance to roll over, giving him the better position. His hand went for his lightsaber, but Anakin quickly used the Force to hurl it as far away as possible.

Revan scrambled to his feet, but his opponent swung his leg, tripping the fallen Sith Lord. The younger Jedi jumped on top of the older and began to punch him in the face repeatedly. Revan grabbed his fist and, using the Force, sent shocks through Anakin's wrist. He hissed as he was electrocuted and was forced to relinquish his hold on Revan. It was a big mistake. Revan took his chance to jump up and throw a volley of Force lightning at him. Anakin rolled out of the way, watching as the sand was blackened by the electricity. He grabbed his lightsaber and turned to face Revan. The older Jedi had already called his weapon back to him and ignited it. Anakin pressed the switch on his, but the blade did not appear.

He knew he was beaten.

Revan and Anakin looked each other hard in the eyes. Revan sighed and deactivated his lightsaber. He clipped it to his belt and turned away from Anakin. "Are you just letting me go?" The younger Jedi sounded dumbfounded.

"No," Revan replied. He spun around and punched Anakin in the face as hard as he could, knocking him out. Revan looked down at the young Jedi with a grim look on his face. "You're going to be a real problem, aren't you?" he muttered. "The darkness I sense in you… it's too great to come from one person."

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Revan had been partially right. The darkness he sensed had been too great to come from just Anakin Skywalker. There was another who had fallen to the dark side in the area. He confidently strode up to the strange devise he had seen only once before and smiled. The Star Map began to open, revealing partial coordinates that would have led him to the Star Forge, were it still around.

The man extended a pale hand towards the Star Map and began to pull the dark side energy out of it. The map's dark power began to waver as it was slowly transferred over to the dark Jedi that stood before it. A rush of energy and adrenaline shot through the man, causing him to laugh mechanically. The map began to fall apart. The three legs collapsed and the orb that held the coordinate data fell to the ground and began to roll. It was stopped by a booted foot.

The man would have smiled if he were able to. His sick yellow eyes shone with triumph. "I sense something," he said to himself. "Something familiar…"

He kicked the ball away and turned to leave the cave. A dead krayt dragon was lying beside the entrance to the cave. The two tiny pearls that had belonged to it now sat in its slayer's belt. He looked at the dragon without much pity. It had been a quick fight. He had used his lightsaber to tear through the dragon's stomach, allowing its insides to pour out, staining the sands of the Dune Sea.

His red mesh armor shone brightly in the hot suns of Tatooine and his violet cape billowed in the wind. "You're here, Revan," he said happily. "It's been a long time. Now we settle this, once and for all!" Darth Malak began to laugh again as he considered the possible outcomes of his battle with his former master.

"This will be a day to remember," he said the dragon's carcass.