Tython is beautiful and powerful, enigmatic and dangerous, filled with wonders and open to those comfortable with the Force. It is a wonderful planet; sparsely populated, temperate climate, magnificent biomes. The planet is orbited by two moons, Ashla and Bogan, symbolic of the light and the dark. They are ever present, equal in power. The Jedi were the ones to find the planet and over thousands of years, they have built many shrines and temples around the globe. Hidden within the Deep Core, the route to the system is hidden to all those outside of the Jedi.
The main temple resides on the edge of a large, flat meadow full of low-cut, soft grass. It lays in the valley in between two mountain ranges that tower into the sky. The meadow, while immense, only encompasses a small fraction of the area; the rest full of forests, lakes, and rivers. The main part of the temple is made of a colossal circular stone building with a rust green roof. Branching symmetrically on both sides are two more circular buildings of slightly smaller diameter and height. This formation allows the roofs to look like a mountain; rising and then falling. Extending out from the sides of the extremities are thin, longer buildings with flat roofs that round inwards creating the formation of a 'c'. In the middle of the temple lies a large yard full of training arenas. Past the yard, the temple protrudes out into the green meadow, which consists of a small town, landing pads, training arenas, and more. The back of the temple comprises more densely forested areas, containing much of the same. In the forest and around the meadow there are varying sizes of lakes coming from the rivers leaking down the mountains. Walkways connect all locations around the temple; they consist of smooth, gray stoned streets and more rugged, gravel paths branching off from them.
Out in the forest, about a kilometer away from the back of the temple, Anakin stands alone in the middle of a small, decagonal sparring arena. The ground is covered in soft, padded dirt extending to wooden planks on the circumference. The diameter is about 10 meters. The brown planks act as a division from the dirt to the soft, low cut grass in the surrounding scene. Around the arena is a lightly wooded environment, populated with short, but thick oak trees. These trees, with their low hanging horizontal branches, usually act as natural benches for observers. The northern edge of the arena sat not ten meters from a large, blue lake. The dark blue lake contrasts with the green grass and leaves. On the opposite side a rough, narrow gravel path ran through the forest. The temple can be seen in the distance, with the Moons fading in and out of the clouds above it. The breeze that is often accustomed to this part of Tython is ever present, rustling the leaves on the trees and drawing light ripples along the lake's surface. Orange lamps hang along the sides of the pathway hung up by four meter tall wooden pikes extruding from the ground. Adding to that, lamps are placed on the ground along the border of the arena at every other corner.
The dim orange light from the lamps mixes with the dark, blue lightsaber glow while the soft hum of the lightsaber mingles with the whooshing of the wind. Anakin has discarded his robes, remaining in only a light tan, thin v-neck and pants rolled up to his thighs of the same color. He is barefoot as well; feet positioned diagonally apart, knees bent. Sweat can be seen glistening on his exposed legs, neck, arms, and face and his mouth is parted, breathing slightly. His black hair is tousled more than usual and dark, black bruises can be seen under his blue eyes.
A close observer watches as his eyelids fall slowly, his breathing calms, and both lightsabers, which had previously dropped towards the dirt, are lifted back to an opening stance. In a dual saber altercation of the opening stance of Soresu, the blue saber in his left hand remains forwards pointing diagonally up in front of him, while the other is in a reverse grip just slightly extending out behind him, horizontally parallel with the ground at the height of his waist. This position is usually frowned upon as reverse grip sacrifices some defense, which Soresu is notable for, for agility. He remains in this position for a while, focusing on his breathing, centering himself in the force.
In a moment, he snaps. Both legs drop slightly lower grounding themselves, the lightsaber in his left hand flies up to block while the right comes from behind and slashes upward. Not missing a beat, the same right lightsaber continues onward, flowing up with the slash and then reversing and poking horizontally at chest height. That saber falls with a weak cut and the left, still high from blocking, slices diagonally down with a loud hum. Twisting his hips, his body glides with his sabers and turns his back momentarily to his unseen opponent. His left foot pivots with his body and his right foot steps backwards into his opponent. The sabers never pause in the air and they continue onward circling around Anakin's body. Once again, his whole body transitions and both feet rotate half a cycle. They plant hard and instantly the sabers thrust powerfully forward in tandem. After the thrust, his left foot steps forward and his sabers fall back into the opening position. This whole sequence happened so rapidly that only the most sensitive eyes could depict each movement. He pauses slightly listening to the thrum of the blades, before resuming and incorporating his Soresu based defense in between his attacks. To the left, to the right, a roll backwards and a turn, he continues onwards for more than thirty minutes.
He swings up hard blocking high once again only to surprisingly meet a crippling blow along the blade; he barely holds onto his left saber as it crackles against another. His body instinctively follows the flow of the form, slashing up only to meet nothing. Before he can thrust forward and slash down a sharp sting comes along his stomach making him wince and jump back defensively. He opens his eyes. Qui-Gon stands in front of him. His long dark brown hair falls past his shoulders and a light gray beard runs along his chin, cheeks, and above his lip. He is in his usual military attire of dark brown robes covered in similar colored vibrances along his limbs and a plated chest. A dark brown cloak falls from his shoulders perfectly uniting with the ground below.
No words are spoken, only the soft whispers of the wind and humming from the blades are heard. Qui-Gon is standing in the classic Shii-Cho stance, feet diagonally apart, knees slightly bent, and a single light green saber resting calmly to his side. The basic stance betrays nothing about his thinking. Blue meets brown as their eyes focus on one another.
Now having his attention, Qui-Gon leaps forward into the air, slashing his blade down powerfully with two hands. His swift switch to Djem So does not surprise Anakin as his right hand flips the saber into a normal grip and both of his blades rise to block the strong attack in an x-formation. They crackle as they clash intensely. Qui-Gon is relentless; strong, fast-moving attacks rain down upon Anakin not giving the chance for a counter. However, Anakin remains steady. Using his Soresu defense with his incorporation of slight dodges and deflections from Makashi he waits patiently for an opening. The opening comes in a hard slash along his left side meant to knock the lightsaber out of his weaker hand. Anakin's flips the right lightsaber into reverse grip and blocks with his left. The blocking left blade holds strong for the initial hit, but is rapidly losing the battle of strength. Foregoing defense, Anakin uses his sequence from before slashing up with his right blade singeing the armor along Qui-Gons chest. Reacting quickly, Qui-Gon partially turns his shoulder dodging the next stab. Anakin continues with a close miss on his swing down and turns and steps in towards Qui-Gon. The double saber thrust forward is blocked by a falling green blade slamming all three lightsabers into the dirt. The ground hisses. Releasing their blades, Qui-Gon steps back slightly tricking Anakin to raise his blades in the previous position. As Anakin's blades are resetting, Qui-Gon does an unorthodox high jump over his head. Not having the time to flip his grip or turn his body to block with his left, Anakin is forced to defend the same falling slash on his right hand holding an inverted lightsaber. Green slams into blue.
There is no competition, the blue blade instantly falls and disignites. The green blade continues and Qui-Gons body follows. A harsh stinging sensation rises on Anakin's collarbone and his whole body collapses as Qui-Gon decks him to the ground. Anakin falls unceremoniously to the dirt, his left blade slipping out of his hand as he sinks. His back and head slam onto the ground knocking the air out of his chest and bringing dizziness to his vision. The sound of a green blade retracting comes from above him.
"You know Soresu is supposed to be for defense. That grip holds little use there." Qui-Gon starts lecturing sarcastically, clearly reciting knowledge they both know. Anakin's only response is a groan from the floor, his hand coming to rub his aching temples. Qui-Gon shakes his head with a slight smirk. He reaches down and grabs Anakin's arm, hauling him to his feet. Anakin stumbles a bit, but is steadied by Qui-Gon's hand on his shoulder. He blinks his eyes to clear the dizziness, his hand moves up to his hair to massage his scalp.
"That was unfair." Anakin states with an annoyed tone. Qui-Gon clearly had time to watch him perform his newly created sequence. It would not be hard for a battlemaster like him to find weaknesses in such. Qui-Gon chuckles at that.
In the past year, Anakin has improved tremendously in his dueling skills. He has always been far above average, the best in his class in fact; but when a seventeen year old padawan starts challenging accomplished knights and masters in fair duels, that's a call for something else. It was one of the many reasons why his early knighthood was established. Now, a few months into knighthood, nothing has changed his rate of improvement. Although there are few at the temple who could defeat him, there are many more who he could not beat. This has been his call of action recently: he has a masterful defense, but a lackluster offense. From the instant he started learning forms, he has been drawn to Soresu. He loves it's analytical nature, efficient footwork, and ability to synergise with other forms. These traits arise from Soresu's defensive nature, where it focuses on conserving energy and reading the situation. Therefore, it can work well with an aggressive form as it is easy to switch once holes in the defense are noted. However, Anakin has yet to find an aggressive fighting style that he is comfortable with. He prefers agility over strength, so no Shien or Djem So. However, his love for Soresu has given him a strict value for footwork, so Ataru does not satisfy him. Makashi seemed to be the answer, but Anakin only feels comfortable with its defensive framework. Therefore, he is left with form I, VI, and VII; two which are too simple, and one that is forbidden for most, most of all to him.
"I gave you time to adapt; I didn't jump in and destroy your weak hand instantly. You lost fair and square." He replies cheekily. They are both competitive when it comes to dueling. Anakin never wins against Qui-Gon, but it is still annoying to him. The lightsabers on the ground shoot into Anakin's hands, he hilts them and turns to look at his master. He shakes his head frustratedly at Qui-Gons comment, his mind visualizing the duel and noticing the apparent weakness. How did he not see that before?
They walk over to the base of a tree where Anakin has discarded his outer garments. He picks up a large flask of water before collapsing down ungracefully resting his back along the tree trunk. He takes a large swig before holding it up to Qui-Gon who remains standing in front of him. As Qui-Gon drinks, Anakin rests his head back on the rough bark and closes his eyes basking in the cool wind.
"Honestly Anakin, the few I have seen use the reverse grip never use it in Soresu. It is an aggressive technique and therefore doesn't belong in a strictly defensive form. You have gained all my praise with your Soresu-Makashi combination, but this seems too much." Qui-Gon gives his opinion on the matter.
"I know, master, but you know that I struggle with attacking. Nothing suits me, all the forms and stances feel awkward. Even with Makashi. The footwork is alright, but it's too polished, too tight and rigid." Anakin says disappointedly, almost sad. It is unfounded though. Anakin's attacking, although he says otherwise, is great compared to his fellow knights. His defense is just that much better. Qui-Gon sighs, they have this conversation often. His advice to keep improving Makashi or Djem So falls on deaf ears. At least now he knows where the energy is going.
"If you put this same energy into another form, you would not have this issue." He says somewhat tersely.
"I know, I know, but the reverse grip feels so right. However, all of its known styles lack something major to me. The movements I do now flow not from a set form but from myself. It feels so correct." Anakin pauses slightly collecting his thoughts before continuing his rant. "I know there are some major holes and it's undisciplined, but I want to keep working on it. I think my problem has always been my transition out of my unique style of Soresu. However, with this I am actually making transitions for myself based on their fluidity."
"Anakin, you are talking about making another form or atleast a major subset of one. Your defensive combination is based on the framework of Soresu, but this is based on only the principle of transitioning out of your unique style of Soresu. That gives you a starting point, but nothing else. Creating something like this can take generations, not months." He says honestly. Qui-Gon does not want to disencourage Anakin, but to make him realize the task he is setting out upon. Anakin opens his eyes.
"I know." He states bluntly. "I want to do it."
"Alright, I'm here if you need to run something by." Qui-Gon replies acceptanly.
Qui-Gon turns his head to the sky, trying to find the moons hidden behind the branches and clouds. He had a late meeting with the council and returned back to their quarters well past midnight. He was not surprised to find Anakin missing. Anakin has always had some restlessness due to growing up in slavery with little sleep, but his insomnia has increased greatly in the past months: since the dream with Vaylin. Luckily Qui-Gon knows Anakin's favorite places to sneak off to. Most of the time, Qui-Gon lets him be free, he is a knight now, but sometimes he feels the necessity to check on his former padawan. Not out of obligation, but worry.
"I'm not tired." Anakin says abruptly and tersely. Qui-Gons opening mouth closes. His worry had eased its way through their bond, asking his question for him. Qui-Gon's lips purse. He is met with the same response every time, but it holds little meaning anymore. While Anakin holds himself high, emanating a powerful aura in the force, the constant dark spots underneath Anakin's eyes portray the opposite. Even more so, the tiredness eats away at his focus, allowing his feelings to sometimes slip through their bond. Part of him wonders how much better their recent duels would have been if Anakin was well rested. Definitely more competitive.
Anakin starts, "Being out here at night eases me. The wind, the moon, the lack of peo-"He cuts off randomly feeling something rushing towards him. He blinks. He isn't in the forest anymore. He isn't able to move his head, but his eyes begin to refocus. The first thing he notices is the dead, barren badland laying out in front of him. The sky is a rustic orange color, containing scattered acidic orange clouds. The ground has a similar color orange hue; light brown, almost orange dirt, with hoodoos of varying sizes protruding out of the ground. He can feel the heat too: it's scolding. There is no wind.
His body moves on its own, turning around and beginning to walk to the other side of the stone structure he's standing on. The roof does not fully cover the building as all four corners point up into the sky towards the center: like a pyramid. People come into view; three men to the left, and two on the edge of the structure in front. This side overlooks a massive city that is built into and around the rough landscape. Looking closer, Anakin notices that there is a battle happening. Vehicles and people clashing along the ground and ships soaring through the sky. Explosions from bombs, tanks, and falling fighters kick dust high into the air. This isn't a small skirmish.
He is now only a dozen meters away from the two groups of men. On the left, two similar men hold red lightsabers to the throat of a large, cuffed, pale man on his knees. The man's arms are bound behind his back and his head is falling towards the floor. Infront, overlooking the battle, a tall, gray, middle aged human male stands behind the right shoulder of a red sith on both of his knees. The human is dressed in polished white armor with golden accents running along his shoulders and waist. A raven black cloak and skirt falls from his shoulders and beneath his waist. The fallen sith is dressed in dirty all black robes and his bloody head is faced towards the ground.
Sound comes from the elegant man dressed in white, "You are unfit to carry the title of Dark Lord. Look now, watch as your reign collapses under my hand. All you have worked for is mine now." A red blade hisses to life, reaching into the sky and snapping down beheading the sith. The body crumbles lifelessly to the ground. The man turns and his blade retracts. His poisonous yellow eyes narrow on the shackled, deathly pale man to his right. With a flick of his eyes to the two men on either side, their blades retract as well and they take a step away. The man in white stands before the defeated one.
"You are a worthy advisory Darth Malgus. I offer this once. A chance for life. Come, serve me and my empire." The man in white says unnaturally welcoming and kind. His eyes remain forward, not even glancing at Darth Malgus below.
Malgus glances painfully upwards. "And what would you have me do?" he says gruffly. He understands that he has lost, but refuses to be completely submissive. That is not the way of the Sith.
The man in white does not respond instead opting to turn his back. He gracefully walks to the edge of the structure where the headless sith lay, peering out once again into the distance. He moves forward, coming to stand next to him. The battle is ending. He looks up deep into the sky, past the clouds, into space.
Anakin's heart drops.
Hundreds… maybe thousands... of star destroyers.
"Conquer."
Anakin's bolts upright gasping for air. Qui-Gon is crouched next to him with his hand on Anakin's shoulder. His face is very concerned. All he saw was Anakin slump against the tree and begin slightly seizing. Anakin drops his head back slowly against the tree stump. Adrenaline is coursing through him making his arms and legs twitchy. He tries to calm himself.
"Dream?" Qui-Gon asks hesitantly. Knowing it was not a dream, but maybe something similar.
"No, different." Anakin responds in a hush tone. He takes his time collecting his thoughts before he continues. Qui-Gon waits.
He starts, "I sometimes get glimpses through Vaylins eyes, I can see what she sees, feel what she feels, and hear what she hears. They are like flashes, usually over in seconds." Qui-Gon's eyebrows scrunch at this. Anakin has not told him of these flashes yet.
"Usually?" he presses. Anakin's previous statement obviously conveyed this time was different.
Anakin takes a while to respond again. "This time was longer. Worse. There was a battle. Vaylin's side was winning." He stops there, not knowing how to continue. They have not talked about Vaylin or Anakin's dream since that night. The meaning behind Vaylin's eyes was something that Anakin had hoped to hide. However, the flashes through Vaylin's eyes have become more prominent recently revealing more of who she is. He has been desperately trying to rationalize it, but now there is no debate. Now, other people's lives may be on the line.
"She's a Sith." Anakin whispers, a single tear falls down his right cheek, his head bowed. Qui-Gon tenses, his hand falls subconsciously to the ground. He doesn't know how to respond to that. He wasn't expecting that. Their name is a bad omen.
"Their coming." Anakin states hoarsely. The words sound so vague, but they hold so much meaning. The Sith, they are coming to conquer. War is coming.
They both sit there in silence, processing the information in different ways. At some point Qui-Gon slides down next to Anakin, resting his back along the tree as well. A full scale war with the Sith has not been seen in over a millennium. The Great Hyperspace Wars marked the defeat of the Sith and the Empire. The Sith were forced into the unknown regions beaten and broken. Most thought they were beyond repair, never to return. However, now, they are coming.
"How much time?" Qui-Gon asks quietly, fully trusting his old Padawan.
"I don't know." Anakin responds equally as softly.
They stay seated for a few moments longer before Qui-Gon rises again. He holds his hand out to Anakin, pulling him up as well.
"There is much to do. I must convene the council and force them to listen. Get some rest, you will need it." Qui-Gon says strictly, leaving no room for excuses.