Chapter 10: Darth Vader

Under the pale light of a full moon, Anakin Skywalker pulled the speeder bike to the ridge of a high dune and peered across the desert wastes of Tatooine. Not too far below him, he saw an encampment spread about a small oasis, and he knew at once, even before spotting a figure, that it was a Tusken camp. He could sense his mother down there, could feel her pain.

He crept closer, studying the straw and skin huts for any anomalies that might clue him into their respective purposes. One especially sturdy hut at the edge of the oasis caught and held his attention: It seemed less tended than the others, yet more solidly constructed. As he came around a bit more, he grew even more intrigued, noting that only one hut was guarded, by a pair of Tuskens flanking the entrance.

"Oh, Mom," Anakin whispered.

Silent as a shadow, the Padawan slipped through the encampment, moving hut to hut, flat against walls and belly-crawling across open spaces, working his way gradually toward the hut he felt held his mother. He came against its side at last, and put his hands against the soft skin wall, feeling the emotions and pain of the person within. A quick glance around the front showed him the two Tusken guards, sitting a short distance in front of the door.

Anakin drew and ignited his lightsaber, then crouched low, shielding the glow as much as he could. He slid the energy blade through the wall and easily cut the material away, then, without even pausing to see if any Tuskens were inside, he crawled through.

"Mom," he breathed again, and his legs weakened beneath him. The room was lit by dozens of candles, and by a shaft of pale moonlight, streaming through a hole in the roof, illuminating the figure of Shmi, tied facing against a rack to the side of the tent. Her arms were outstretched, bound at bloodied wrists, and her face, when she turned to the side, showed the weeks of quickly cut her free and gently lowered her from the perch, into his arms and then down to the floor.

"Mom . . . Mom . . . Mom," he whispered softly. Anakin knew that she was alive, though she did not immediately respond and had come down so pitifully limp. He could feel her in the Force, though she was thin, thin cradled her head and kept repeating her name softly, and finally, Shmi's eyelids fluttered open as much as she could manage through the swelling and the dried blood.

"Annie?" she whispered back. He could feel her wheezing as she tried to speak, and knew that many of her ribs had been crushed.

"Annie? Is it you?"

Gradually her eyes began to focus upon him, and he could see a thin smile of recognition coming to her battered face. "I'm here, Mom," he told her. "You're safe now. Hang on. I'm going to get you out of here."

"Annie? Annie?" Shmi replied, and she tilted her head, the way she often had when Anakin was a boy, seeming quite amused by him. "You look so handsome."

"Save your strength, Mom," he said, trying to calm her. "We've got to get away from here."

"My son," Shmi went on, and she seemed to be in a different place than Anakin, a safer place. "My grown-up son. I knew you'd come back to me. I knew it all along."Anakin tried again to tell her to lie still and save her strength, but the words simply wouldn't come out of his mouth. "I'm so proud of you, Annie. So proud. I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too, Mom, but we can talk later ..."

"Now I am complete," Shmi announced then, and she looked straight up, past Anakin, past the hole in the ceiling, to the shining moon, it deep inside, Anakin understood.

"Just stay with me, Mom," he pleaded, and he had to work very hard to keep the desperation out of his voice. "I'm going to make you well again. Everything's . . . going to be fine."

"I love..." Shmi started to say, but then she went very still, and Anakin saw the light leave her could hardly draw his breath. Wide-eyed with disbelief, he lifted Shmi to his breast and rocked her there for a long time. She couldn't be gone! She just couldn't! He pulled her back again, staring into her eyes, silently pleading with her to answer him. But there was no light there, no flicker of life. He hugged her close, rocking her.

Then he laid her back to the floor and gently closed her eyes. Anakin didn't know what to do. He sat motionless, staring at his dead mother, then looked up, his blue eyes blazing with hatred and rage. He replayed all of the recent events of his life in his head, wondering what he might have done differently, done better, to keep Shmi alive. He should never have left her here in the first place, he realized, should never have let Qui-Gon take him away from Tatooine without bringing his mother along, as well. She said she was proud of him, but how could he deserve her pride if he could not even save her?

He wanted Shmi to be proud of him, wanted to tell his mom all about the things that had come into his life, his Jedi training, all the good work he had already done, and most of all, about Padmé. Oh how he had wanted his mom to get to know Padmé! She would have loved her. How could she not? And Padmé would have loved her.

Now, what was he going to do?

The minutes slipped past and Anakin just sat there, immobilized by his confusion, by a budding rage and the most profound sense of emptiness he had ever known. Only when the pale light began to grow around him, making the low-burning candles seem even thinner, did he even remember where he looked about, wondering how he might get his mother's body out of there—for he certainly wasn't going to leave it to the Tusken Raiders. He could hardly move, though. There seemed a profound pointlessness to it all, a series of motions without meaning.

At that time, the only meaning, the only purpose, that Anakin could fathom was that of the rage building within him, an anger at losing someone he did not wish to give a small part of him warned him not to give in to that anger, warned him that such emotions were of the dark he looked at Shmi lying there, so still, seeming at peace but covered with the clear evidence of all the pain that had been inflicted upon her poor body these last Jedi Padawan climbed to his feet and took up his lightsaber, then boldly strode through the two Tusken guards gave a yelp and lifted their staves, rushing for him, but the blue-glowing blade ignited, and in a flash of killing light, Anakin took them down, left and rage was not sated.

"No, Anakin! No! Don't! No!"

Anakin had heard the voice of Qui-Gon, imploring him to restrain himself, to deny the rage. He hadn't recognized it, though, for he was too full of pain and anger. He spotted a Tusken woman to the side, in front of another of the tents, carrying a pail of dirty water, and saw a Tusken child in the shadows of another nearby hut, staring at him with an incredulous he was moving, though he was hardly aware of his actions. His blade flashed and he ran on. The Tusken woman screamed and was impaled.

Now all the camp seemed in motion, Tuskens rushing out of every hut, many with weapons in hand. But Anakin was into the dance of death then, into the energy of the Force. He leapt far and long, clearing one hut and coming down before another, his blade flashing even before he landed, even before the two Tuskens recognized that he had jumped between them. A third came at him, thrusting forth a spear, but Anakin lifted an empty hand and set up a wall of Force energy as solid as stone. Then he shoved out with that hand, and the Tusken spearman flew away, fully thirty meters, smashing through the wall of yet another hut.

Anakin was off and running, off and leaping, his blade spinning left and right in a blur, every stab taking a Tusken down, writhing to the ground, every slash putting a piece of a Tusken on the none were standing against him, all trying to flee, but Anakin would have none of that. He saw one group rush into a hut and reached out across the way, to a large boulder in the distance. It flew to his call, soaring across the sand, smashing one fleeing Tusken down and flying on.

Anakin dropped it on the hut full of Tuskens, crushing them then he was running, his strides enhanced by the Force, overcoming the fleeing creatures, slaughtering them, and he didn't feel empty any longer. He felt a surge of energy and strength beyond anything he had ever known, felt full of the Force, full of power, full of then it was over, suddenly, it seemed, and Anakin stood among the ruins of the encampment, dozens and dozens of dead Tusken Raiders all about him, and only a single hut still standing.

He put his lightsaber away and walked back to that hut, where he gently and reverently scooped his mother's body into his arms.

"I brought you something to eat."

Anakin glanced at her, but immediately went back to his work. She noted that he was exaggerating every movement, obviously frustrated, obviously distracted from the task at hand. "The shifter broke," he explained, too intently. "Life seems so much simpler when you're fixing things. I'm good at fixing things. I always was. But I..."

Finally, he slammed down the wrench he was using and just stood there, head bowed.

Padmé recognized that he was on the verge of collapse.

"Why did she have to die?" he mouthed quietly. Padmé slid the tray down on the workbench and moved behind him, putting her arms around his waist and resting her head comfortingly on his back.

"Why couldn't I save her?" Anakin asked. "I know I could have!"

"Annie, you tried." She squeezed him a bit tighter. "Sometimes there are things no one can fix. You're not all-powerful."

He stiffened at her words and pulled away from her suddenly—and angrily, she realized. "But I should be!" he growled, and then he looked at her, his face a mask of grim determination. "And someday I will be!"

"Anakin, don't say such things," Padmé replied fearfully, but he didn't even seem to hear her.

"I'll be the most powerful Jedi ever!" he railed on. "I promise you! I will even learn to stop people from dying!"

"Anakin—"

"It's all Obi-Wan's fault!" He stormed across the room and slammed his fist onto the workbench again, nearly dislodging the plate of food. "He put me out of the way."

"To guard me," she said quietly.

"I should have been out with him, hunting the assassins! I'd have had them a long time ago, and would've gotten here in time and my mother would still be alive!"

"You can't know—"

"He's jealous of me," Anakin rambled on, paying no attention to her at all. He wasn't talking to her, she realized, but was just playing it all out verbally for himself. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. "He put me out of the way because he knows that I'm already more powerful than he is. He's holding me back!"

He finished by picking up his wrench and throwing it across the garage, where it smashed against a far wall and clattered down among some spare parts.

"Anakin, what's wrong?" she cried at him.

Her volume and tone finally got his attention. "I just told you!"

"No!" Padmé yelled back at him. "No. What's really wrong?" Anakin just stared at her, and she knew that she was on to something.

"I know it hurts, Anakin. But this is more than that. What's really wrong?"

He just stared at her.

"Annie?"

His body seemed to shrink then and slump forward just a bit. "I ... I killed them," he admitted, and if Padmé hadn't run to him and grabbed him close, he would have fallen over. "I killed them all," he admitted. "They're dead. Every single one of them."

He looked at her then, and it seemed to her as if he had suddenly returned to her from somewhere far, far away.

"You did battle..." she started to reason.

He ignored her. "Not just the men," he went on. "And the men are the only fighters among the Tuskens. No, not just them. The women and the children, too." His face contorted as if he was teetering between anger and guilt. "They're like animals!" he said suddenly. "And I slaughtered them like animals! I hate them!"

Padmé sat back a bit, too stunned to respond. She knew that Anakin needed her to say something or do something, but she was paralyzed. He wasn't even looking at her—he was just staring off into the distance. But then he lowered his head and began to sob, his lean, strong shoulders shaking.

Padmé pulled him in and hugged him close, never wanting to let go. She still didn't know what to say.

"Why do I hate them?" Anakin asked her.

"Do you hate them, or do you hate what they did to your mother?"

"I hate them!" he insisted.

"And they earned your anger, Anakin."

He looked up at her, his eyes wet with tears. "But it was more than that," he started to say, and then he shook his head and buried his face against the softness of her breast.

A moment later, he looked back up, his expression showing that he was determined to explain. "I didn't ... I couldn't..." He held one hand up outstretched, then clenched it into a fist. "I couldn't control myself," he admitted. "I ... I don't want to hate them—I know that there is no place for hatred. But I just can't forgive them!"

"To be angry is to be human," Padmé assured him.

"To control your anger is to be a Jedi," Anakin was quick to reply, and he pulled away from her and stood up, turning to face the open door and the desert beyond.

Padmé was right there beside him, draping her arms about him. "Shhh," she said softly. She kissed him gently on the cheek. "You're human."

"No, I'm a Jedi. I know I'm better than this." He looked at her directly, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You're like everybody else," Padmé said. She tried to draw closer, but Anakin held himself back from her.

He couldn't hold the pose of defiance for long, though, before he broke down again in sobs.

Padmé was there to hold him and rock him and tell him that everything would be all right.

The tunnel was dark and fittingly gloomy, and quiet, except for the occasional echo of cheering from the huge crowd gathered in the arena stands beyond. A single cart was in there, an open oval with a sloping front end that somewhat resembled an insect's head with the top half cut away. Anakin and Padmé were unceremoniously thrown into it, then strapped in place against the framework, facing each other.

Both of them jerked as the cart started into motion, gliding along the dark tunnel.

"Don't be afraid," Anakin whispered.

Padmé smiled at him, her expression one of genuine calm. "I'm not afraid to die," she replied, her voice thick and soft. "I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life."

"What are you talking about?"

Then she said it, and it was real and genuine and warm. "I love you."

"You love me?" he asked, overwhelmed. "You love me! I thought we decided not to fall in love. That we would be forced to live a lie. That it would destroy our lives." But her words had brought a wash of contentment over him.

"I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway," Padmé replied. "My love for you is a puzzle, Annie, for which I have no answers. I can't control it—and now I don't care. I truly, deeply love you, and before we die, I want you to know."

Padmé leaned against her restraints and craned her head forward, and Anakin did likewise, the two coming close enough for their lips to meet in a soft and gentle kiss, one that lingered and deepened, one that said everything they both realized they should have spoken to each other before. One that, to them, mocked their false heroics in denying the feelings they'd had for each other all along.

The sweet moment was just that, though, a moment, for a crack of the driver's whip had the cart jerking out of the tunnel and into the blinding daylight, rolling onto the floor of a great stadium filled with Geonosian spectators.

Anakin's eyes opened. They were not their primary blue color, they were golden, and he had felt himself standing up, placing robes that were not too different from his Jedi Robes on. He went to Ventress's temporary quarters and stood over the former Assassin who appears to be in a deep slumber, the suns of Tatooine likely tiring her out.

That was irrelevant as he had noticed her two lightsabers which were resting on the floor beside her. The two lightsabers she will use in the morning.

Grabbing one without even truly knowing what he was doing, Anakin stormed out, activating the ship so he could get off, golden eyes flashing as he stormed through the town.

A little part of him warned him not to proceed on. Not to repeat what happened that night.

Yet, Anakin lusted for blood, and he had wanted to avenge his mother even further. He would find an economy and he shall destroy them all.

As Anakin was soon out of the town of Mos Eisley and moved in a pace for hours after hours, much to his satisfaction, he'd saw Tusken Raiders who were moving about, obviously not noticing his presence.

All they were doing was setting up clans, and he had felt the overwhelming urge to slaughter them.

'This isn't the Jedi way! Stop!'

''Do it, avenge your mother further.'

Unleashing the rage within him with the roar of pain, suffering, and sadness, he exploded a powerful Shock Wave of terror, crushing everything in sight! Suddenly, the Tusken Raiders all held their throats, their roars echoing in the night sky, their necks snapping!

The red glow lit up the darkness on the ground and all in his surroundings. Holding it in front of his face and revealing his piercing yellow eyes, Anakin leaped forward with such power, coming down on the unsuspecting Tuskens, swiping the red lightsaber in many arcs.

One Tusken Raider's head fell to the ground, and with one singular stroke of the blade, others followed. A few tried to fight against the former Jedi, but he easily decapitated them with the blade, the dark side overwhelming his senses.

Men.

Women.

Children.

Unlike that night, he didn't care about what he was doing as the betrayal of the Jedi changed him and now he wanted vengeance! All of these animals will die for taking his mother away from him and inflicting endless tortures on her! His innocent mother! He will kill them without any care! He would avenge her further! All he did that night was wipe a simple clan but this clan was bigger and thus should fill the void in his heart!

Four Tuskens children tried to run but Anakin jump over their heads, red saber making contact with their throats, disconnecting their heads from their bodies. He saw a few Tuskens running up to him with such hatred, staffs clutched in their grips, and all he did was remain there, holding the red saber in front of him, poised to strike. Anakin has assumed they were mothers of the dead Tuskens children, but simply he lunged the saber forward and cut off one of their heads and simply impaled another one with the red lightsaber before slicing the two others up into little pieces.

More-and-more came, but none stood a chance against Anakin's speediness and his power and strength. As he showed them the true foundation of being an animal, something told him to stop and think about this but Anakin ignored whatever that something was and continued to kill each one, hacking away without any mercy, a bright orange beam radiating from his eyes.

Slowly and slowly he begins making his way inside the tent, lightsaber still drawn when two try to sneak up and stabbed him with their gaffi staffs, but he didn't turn, instead, he beheads them with a careless motion of the lightsaber, causing their heads to fall to the ground.

Anakin moved as four Tuskens approached him with their staffs held high. Anakin's blade countered their attacks before he spun around one's and slashed her hip and sliced her stomach, impaled his lightsaber through the one on the left, grabbed the other one and cracked its neck with such power he was almost shocked, before cutting the other one's head clean off.

Stalking up to the woman Tusken with her kin held tightly in her hand who was backing away from him, trying to keep her kin safe from this monster, Anakin raised the red saber over his shoulderblade and brought it down, cutting the female Tusken vertically in half, along with her baby.

Anakin cleaved a Tusken Raider horizontally in half, arcing the lightsaber and parrying a swipe from a nearby Raider before slicing the animal across the hip, quickly blocking the shots from the Tuskens, some going back to the owners who had previously fired them and for them to die at their own bolts, before raising his hand to seize all of the Tusken Raiders who were firing at him and snapping their necks immediately.

Blood was now everywhere on the camp and ground, and the smell of death was in the air, all of it coming from the Tuskens who Anakin Skywalker just murdered without a second thought. There were blood trails that leaked out of the dead Tuskens, and if one looks closely, you can almost see their sorrowful and horrified looks from within their masks.

The remaining Tuskens shouted words unknown to Anakin, but he ignored them as his blade slashed and hacked, deactivating the lightsaber at seeing there was no longer any Tuskens in this path, but his bloodlust would not stray yet.

With a power that he didn't know he could muster, Anakin Skywalker brought the homesteads of the Tuskens down, and the sounds of Tuskens horrified roars echoing into the night was what he was met with, yet off in the distance, one remained.

Anakin stormed inside of the remaining Tusken homestead, and a young Tusken walked up to him, roaring in confusion at the former Jedi. It was obvious their mothers and fathers have sent them inside so they would be protected until he was dead. Anakin bowed his head down before activating the lightsaber and begins hacking away at them in a blind rage, ignoring the inner sound of his own voice crying at him and pleading for him to stop as his blade made contact with the children, slicing them up immediately to little body parts.

The Chieftain of the clan noticed Anakin, and apparently, his mate noticed as well along with two small Tuskens who advanced bravely, hoping that they would stop this murderer before he goes too far but was quickly disarmed and the red blade was aimed at their hearts. In some strange language, the Chieftain pleaded for him not to kill them.

Anakin hesitated for a moment as he stares at the disarmed children, but thoughts of his mother and stepfather overwhelmed him: his blade came down on the female Tusken's head before he struck the two children down simultaneously.

The Chieftain Tusken roared in agony at the loss of his family, but it wasn't long before Anakin was on him, the Chieftain swiping away at the murderer of his family, but in under a second, his arm was cut off.

Anakin glared down at the Tusken, a small part of him still pleading for him to stop, but yet, there's a side who had wanted nothing more but to slaughter the Tusken Raiders across the planet.

They did things that didn't even involve Anakin completely! They sacrifice each other to the Sarlacc who was supposedly their god! They snipe innocent podracers! They would abduct innocent civilians so they would go through painful trials until they break into insanity! All of them were animals and would always be animals!

They were monsters!

They kidnapped an innocent woman who was doing nothing more than picking mushrooms off vaporators on her own property! They took her back to their encampment, where they strung her up to a post-crucifixion-style! They took turns beating her with gaffi sticks, leaving her with broken bones and internal hemorrhaging! They did this, day in and day out, for a period of a month! A search party went after them, a search party of 30 people-the Tuskens killed 26 of those 30, and chopped Cliegg's leg off!

The Tusken Raiders were brutal savages and probably did the same to others for the past decades! Anakin did everyone a favor by wiping them out before and he shall do it again now!

Anakin raised his left hand and the heartbroken Tusken was raised in the air, grasping away at his throat before the reassuring sound of his neck snapping was music to Anakin's ears. Without a care, he threw the Tusken aside.

For a moment, he stared down with golden eyes at the dead Tusken and his family before common sense returned and the shocked former Jedi Knight collapsed to the ground and begins to sob in the middle of all those dead Tuskens' bodies, his eyes now averting to blue.

'Murderer!'

'Terrorist!'

'Monster!'

Anakin winced at the voice inside his head and grasp his head in agony. What has he done?! Why didn't he just stay on the kriffing ship instead of coming out here?! Despite not being a kriffing Jedi anymore, he shouldn't have come here!

"Not again! Not again!" Anakin shouted in the darkness, unleashing a roar of fury throughout the entire land. "No! I promised myself I wouldn't do something like this ever again! What have I done?!" Anakin cried, overcome with repulsion, dread, and guilt, collapsing onto the ground and releasing sobs, noticing the lightsaber of Ventress rolling away from him.

The Tusken Raiders are very aggressive and violent people, but it's more than that. The Tuskens see everyone else on Tatooine as intruders on their land. They were there first and everyone else took their land. Something they do allow is people to join them, but only after rigorous testing that can be described as torture.

While Tuskens killed his mother before, this wasn't the clan that did so, but Anakin just snapped and he had just felt the overwhelming urge to avenge himself and his family.

Blood was all over his armor by the Tuskens who he had previously murdered unjustly. He can't even remember leaving the damn ship!

When Anakin left the Order, he had vowed to be a Jedi in heart even if he wasn't in title nor rank anymore, however, he was-was a-

Slowly, realization dawned on Anakin Skywalker that he was a Sith Lord already; a Sith, not a Jedi, not a mere human, not a simple man who wants to make his way through the galaxy!

He was a Sith!

Only Sith kills innocents! Only Sith allows emotions such as revenge and anger to blind them! Sith is Force users who allow their emotions to affect them, but it is much more than that! They don't simply draw upon their passion, they also draw on their anger which is what eventually builds and builds and corrupts even the strongest of Wills that eventually leads them to commit all manner of evil immoral acts!

At one point, Anakin was innocent, trying to see the world, wanting to be a good person, and vowing to never harm anyone, but what happened to his mother and all of the wars and deaths he had witnessed, along with the betrayal of the Jedi and closest friends who he had trusted had maimed his already wounded heart!

Currently, as he stood over all of the lifeless bodies, Anakin had wanted to convince himself that this was a nightmare, that he didn't just murder an innocent tribe, but he could feel blood on his hands, even his prosthetic one, both physically and verbally!

Anakin felt the dark side of the Force vibrating through him, and he had heard a name!

It was his name yet it wasn't! His true name was Anakin Skywalker, but something about it was familiar yet foreign! It felt more powerful and stronger!

Be that as it may, the name was odd as he had never heard it before yet something about it felt correct, felt right, and felt like he had all the power in the universe. Something about it just clicked into place.

The dark side of the Force spoke his name, its voice sounding real, and sending a tremor down the conflicted young man. The name was:

"Darth Vader..."

Arthur's note: *Imperial March intensifies.*

Okay, that chapter was dark, but I had this planned. Anakin has finally 2/3 turned to the dark side; should I have this be a Grey Sith Anakin type of story or something like that or should Anakin snapped out of it? I have ideas about having Anakin outright creating a red lightsaber if I choose to do the former, but I'm not completely certain if I should do it. Either way, Anakin ain't going to just go outright kill Jedi (probably ;) ) but he would have anger at them and wouldn't care if he damages their Order.

Such a concept wasn't supposed to be added originally, and when I decided to add it, at first I was going to have Anakin marched down there with his staff but I decided to have him use Ventress's red lightsaber as a callback to when Anakin was supposed to use a red lightsaber in the Jedi Temple in the original script of Revenge of the Sith. Not to mention he returned in canon again and slaughtered another Tusken village.

I had always hated Tuskens myself, and even I think I went a little overboard but that is the thing about this Anakin story. He is going to go overboard and he is going to do things that will hunt him. I bet many of you are mad at me for what I'm putting Anakin through but it's not my fault. It's my thoughts that are growing darker as I have many plans for Anakin. Lol

May the Force be with you all always.